Daoqi Huangcheng

Chapter 15.15. The Four Realms
A white sparrow in the mountains was startled and took flight from a branch. The leafy branches swayed, and a white feather drifted leisurely down. But when it reached mid-air, a sudden mountain gust of wind blew it away to one side.

Song Chen's black hair also danced. He called out, "Senior Brother Zhang, be careful!" As soon as he finished speaking, he pointed with two fingers, and a sycamore branch that he had casually picked up in the mountains suddenly shot out, as if a person was steadily holding the branch and handing it forward.

brush!
Two branches imbued with golden energy collided in mid-air, and one of them was sliced ​​open as easily as a tofu block slicer, its spiritual energy being completely dispersed.

Zhang Yi took two steps back, paused to catch his breath, looked at the severed branch of his tree, and said with a wry smile, "Junior Brother Song, you've already comprehended the Golden Edge Divine Power?"

Song Chen said, “Supernatural powers are not like cultivation. They are just a method. Learning them is only the beginning. Adding your own sword intent is the key. Once you get the Golden Edge Jade Slip, you will definitely be able to learn it quickly.”

"Then why didn't Junior Brother Zhong comprehend the sword intent?" Zhang Yi asked back, then waved his hand and said, "I'm not going to compete with you for the sword intent jade slip, it's pointless. I'll compete with Junior Brother Zhong for the Golden Edge jade slip instead."

After saying that, he went to the side.

The four fellow disciples gathered here, and the competition was the same as last time, only now it was divided into two rounds.

Song Chen, Zhang Yi, and Que Tan'er competed for the jade slip containing the "Sword Intent".

Zhong Xu, Zhang Yi, and Que Tan'er are vying for the [Golden Edge] Jade Slip.

At this moment, after Zhang Yi withdrew, Song Chen looked at Que Tan'er again.

Junior Sister Tan'er pouted, her fingers twitched slightly, and golden spiritual energy wrapped around a tree branch. Then she took a deep breath and said, "I'll come and experience Senior Brother Song's skills."

Song Chen nodded, and then used the power of the Qi Gathering Realm to ride the phoenix tree branch.

The two fought back and forth for more than ten rounds before Song Chen used his golden spiritual energy to create a golden peak, coating the tip of the branch and splitting Tan'er's branch in two, thus scattering its spiritual energy.

Zhang Yi, who was adjusting his breathing nearby, watched with twitching eyelids and shouted, "Junior brother, you only fought me for one round, but you've been fighting Junior Sister Tan'er for so long with back and forth. Are you feeding me a move?"

Song Chen smiled and said, "Junior Sister Tan'er is from the second largest branch of my Que family. I'm trying to curry favor with her, so of course I have to give her some face and confidence."

Que Tan'er, taking advantage of the situation, ran to Song Chen's side with the [Sword Intent] jade slip, handed it to him, and then glanced at Zhang Yi, saying, "Senior Brother Zhang, Senior Brother Song and I are family. If he doesn't take care of me, who will he take care of?"

As she spoke, she stuck out her tongue cutely, made a funny face, and clung to Song Chen's side like a little clingy person.

She wears two masks: a disdainful noblewoman and a quirky, clingy girl.

Song Chen was fortunate enough to experience all of these things.

However, he himself liked the harmonious atmosphere among his fellow disciples, and given his current status as the second master of the Que family's Crane Mansion, he would not refuse his junior sister's closeness for both personal and practical reasons.

He smiled and said, "If Junior Sister Tan'er wants to spar or have a sword duel, she can come to me anytime."

Zhong Xu called out from afar, "Brother Song, I want one too!"

Song Chen said, "Then let's go together."

Zhang Yi suggested, "Why don't we all practice the 'Tai Bai Jin Gang Jue' during the day and get together in the evening to exchange tips and techniques?"

Zhong Xu said, "We couldn't be happier, but wouldn't we be disturbing this family?"

As he spoke, he winked and smiled at Song Chen and Que Tan'er.

Que Tan'er shouted angrily, "Zhong Xu! You'll be sorry!"

Zhong Xu burst into laughter.

Song Chen smiled.

He wouldn't take it seriously, nor would he think that Que Tan'er was interested in him. A young lady from a truly prominent family, who was well-informed and experienced, had a very heavy mind. If he thought that Que Tan'er was interested in him and wanted to get closer to her, then he would be falling for Que Tan'er's little fishhook.

In this respect, Que Tan'er is different from the Pei sisters.

The Pei sisters were not born into nobility; they joined the Que family later.

At this moment, Song Chen suddenly saw Zhang Yi looking at him and Que Tan'er with surprise, as if to say, "When did you two..."

Song Chen patted Zhang Laoshi on the shoulder speechlessly and said, "What nonsense are you thinking, Senior Brother Zhang?"

Zhang Yi still looked at him strangely, and even opened his mouth to ask, "You and Junior Sister Tan'er, could it really be..."

Song Chen said, "Junior Sister Tan'er, are we really...?"

Que Tan'er stamped her foot and said, "Senior Brother Song is teasing people too. I'm ignoring you all."

After saying that, she ran to the side to quickly regulate her qi and recover, so that she could do her best to compete for the [Golden Edge] jade slip later.

Zhang Yi was still hesitating. He lowered his voice and asked, "Junior brother, are you really all better?"

Zhong Xu laughed from the side, "Senior Brother Zhang, let's stop discussing this and compete for the [Golden Edge] jade slip."

Zhang Yi was still conflicted, muttering to himself, "Are you two okay or not?"

Song Chen felt quite helpless.

However, after spending these days together, he has come to understand Zhang Yi's personality.

This senior brother must have been a ruthless killer in the martial arts world back then, and he must have had some tragic past. But if you peel away his fierce and unapproachable exterior, you'll find that he's actually a simple-minded person who doesn't interact much with others but yearns for friendship.

Ultimately, it no longer matters who gets the [Golden Edge] jade slip.

Importantly, the relationship between the four became increasingly harmonious.

Outside the cave, under the moonlight, the fragrance of flowers and grasses carried by the distant mountains drifted on the wind. The four sat around an open space, chatting amongst themselves, and every now and then two of them would get up and use branches to compete in magical abilities.

In Fengling County, almost every household has wind chimes hanging from their eaves. It is said that when the bells ring, any evil spirits that might sneak in will be scared away. The four of them then enjoyed a hearty meal at Zhong's Restaurant in the county, with some drinking wine and others having their own drinks.

Zhang Yi didn't drink alcohol because he needed to be constantly vigilant in the martial arts world and couldn't drink. But now, after being provoked by Song Chen and Zhong Xu, he started drinking heartily.

In the end, the three of them got completely drunk, and Que Tan'er had no choice but to drag them into the carriage and transport them to Jinxia Mountain.

However, Que Tan'er only dragged Zhang Yi along. When she dragged the other two, she kicked one of them and said angrily, "Still pretending! Still pretending!"

So, Zhong Xu woke up with a smile; he wasn't drunk, he was faking it. However, Song Chen remained lying down.

Que Tan'er nudged Song Shixiong's arm gently with the back of her foot and called out, "Stop pretending."

Song remained unconscious.

Que Tan'er was about to rub his face with the back of her foot again.

At this moment, Song Chen woke up.

Zhong Xu feigned regret, saying, "Brother Song was just a hair's breadth away from getting close to Junior Sister's jade feet. He truly missed a golden opportunity."

Que Tan'er said, "They are a loving couple."

After saying that, she gestured with her lips, indicating Song Chen's neck.

There, a small jade Buddha strung together with a red string was hanging.

The small jade Buddha was brought by the Que family when they sent supplies and silver notes to Song Chen a few days ago. It was obtained by Pei Qingyue when she prayed for her husband at the Zen temple.

After a while.
The carriage returned to Jinxia Mountain under the moonlight. In the moonlight, Zhang Yi woke up, sat on the imperial seat, raised his hand to pat the seat, and began to hum an unknown song, noisy and unpleasant, yet exuding a sense of desolation.

Zhong Xu felt it was too sad, so he took over singing.

Amidst the gentle breeze and bright moon, the path of cultivation seems to be more than just competition; friendship can still exist among fellow disciples.

Three months have passed in the blink of an eye.

Song Chen completely absorbed the [Sword Intent] supernatural power.

At the same time, he easily broke through the fourth level of Qi Gathering.

With four golden spiritual roots, he has access to more spiritual energy and recovers faster, making any spell he uses more powerful.

However, compared to his cultivation speed, Zhang Yi and the others were much slower.

They are still at the first stage of Qi gathering, gathering Qi every day and striving to break through to the second stage. The process is stumbling and they will encounter bottlenecks and things such as "the metal Qi is not in harmony, so we should stop observing to avoid damaging the internal organs".

Breaking through the second realm would take an ordinary person nearly a year, unless they encounter a bottleneck.

It gets harder as you go on.

The path to gathering Qi is fraught with peril and is by no means smooth sailing.

However, these principles do not apply to Song Chen.

He possesses extraordinary wisdom unknown to others, so he faces no bottlenecks in his cultivation.

He concealed the power of the Devouring Crane Demon and the fourth level of Qi Gathering, and his progress was only slightly faster than Zhang Yi, who was the fastest cultivator. Even so, he was already admired by everyone as a cultivation genius.

However, that's the end of the road.

Just as Steward Tang said before, outer disciples who reach the fourth level of Qi Gathering will be transferred back to the Imperial City Temple to become inner disciples. At that time, cultivation will require spirit stones with high concentrations of spiritual energy, and these spirit stones will be priceless.

After breaking through to the fourth level of Qi Gathering, Song Chen tried it out. The four spiritual roots had actually spread out in his body. Any spiritual energy that entered his body would be absorbed by these four spiritual roots and could not be reconstructed. Only high-concentration spiritual energy could be reconstructed.

Jinxia Mountain is no longer suitable for his spiritual practice.

But in the eyes of outsiders, he is still only at the Qi Gathering stage.

Fortunately, cultivators can gain experience, take on missions, and seek opportunities, without needing to stay in Jinxia Mountain permanently.

As early autumn arrives, the intense sunlight begins to lessen.

Song Chen was sitting deep in the mountains, wondering whether he should try to take on a mission from the Imperial City Temple.

His cultivation level is assessed as Qi Gathering Stage 1, but his actual strength far exceeds that. Even if he encounters an unexpected situation, he should be able to handle it.

But then he dismissed the idea.

Que Shenyun only went to the cannon fodder camp to test his aptitude, and he still encountered the "Marrow-Eating Demon Crane". The risk and the difficulty of the mission are not necessarily related. The upper limit of the accident is really hard to estimate. One careless move and he will die miserably.

Although he needs to use contribution points to buy Night Dew Pills to cover his tracks, doing tasks is not the only way to obtain contribution points. He can also barter, for example, he could exchange the corpse of the "Marrow-Eating Crane Demon" for some contribution points.

Song Chen thought about it again.

He believed it would be safer to explore the surrounding terrain first.

But he felt that exploring inch by inch was too risky, and it would be better to do a mission.

At this moment
The words "Puppet Divine Power" entered his mind.

He knew that the [Puppet] supernatural power of the Imperial City Temple was of the wood element.

Wooden puppet!

He knew nothing more than that.

'Perhaps there will be independent cultivators in the market, or pawnshops or something like that?'

Song pondered, his mind too focused on cultivation to understand his surroundings.

Just then, footsteps came from the mountain path outside the cave. The guard in the mountain knocked on the door and said respectfully, "Master Song, Steward Tang is looking for you."

Song Chen asked, "What is it?"

The guard shook his head.

Song Chen said, "Lead the way."

(End of this chapter)