Chapter 20: Guiding Qi into the Body - Who knows what to say?

The moment the Bone-Eating Serpent escaped, Gu Zhinan, who had been guarding the entrance to the secret realm, suddenly opened his eyes, his expression extremely solemn.

He relayed the message to the main peak, and then called out to summon Yin Simiao, who was not far away.

"Uncle-Master Gu, what is it?" Yin Simiao ran over, slightly confused. This Peak Master Gu was always a loner and didn't like to get close to them, the younger generation. This was the first time he had called her over to talk to her alone.

“Someone has cut off the passage to the secret realm,” Gu Zhinan said in a deep voice.

"What?!" Yin Simiao exclaimed in surprise, but when he saw the disciples not far away all looking at him, he quickly covered his mouth.

"When did this happen? How could the secret passage be cut off?" he asked in a low voice.

"The passage was just cut off, and the specific situation is still unclear. I have sent a message to the main peak, and Song Wenzhuo should send someone over in a while," Gu Zhinan explained, then turned his gaze to several disciples who came out of the secret realm. "Go and talk to those disciples and ask them if they found anything unusual inside. I'll see if I can repair the passage."

"Yes." Yin Simiao quickly accepted the order and went to find those disciples to inquire about the situation.

At this moment, inside the main hall of the main peak, after Wen Xun uttered those words, the atmosphere became deathly silent. A suffocatingly heavy atmosphere, like a giant, oppressive curtain, tightly enveloped everyone in the hall; each person's expression was tense, and they dared not utter a sound.

After a long silence, Song Wenzhuo spoke: "A few days ago, my second disciple, Yin Simiao, said that he discovered demons in Huayang Courtyard, where the new disciples are staying."

He raised his eyes, his sharp gaze fixed on Pan Hongru: "Now that the secret realm has also encountered an accident, I don't believe it's just a coincidence."

Pan Hongru, standing among the elders of Beast Taming Peak, remained unmoved and as steady as Mount Tai, seemingly unaware of the gaze directed at him.

Song Wenzhu sneered inwardly, suppressing his anger, and said, "Wen Xun, Ye Xiuzhu, you two go to the secret realm to find Gu Yuan and see if there's any way to open the passage."

"Yes." Wen Xun and Ye Xiuzhu accepted the order and left in unison.

After the two figures completely disappeared from sight, Song Wenzhuo flicked his sleeves, and the main hall door slammed shut with a "bang".

"Sect Master, what does this mean?" an elder asked anxiously from below.

"It's nothing special." Song Wenzhuo raised his eyes and observed carefully. Although the scene reflected in the water mirror of Pan Tianlei and his group was no different from that of the others, a closer look revealed that it was just an illusion.

He casually straightened his robes, his expression icy. "I just want to ask everyone—"

"Just enjoy the trial in the secret realm."

While everyone outside the secret realm was racking their brains over the matter of the passage, Fu Yunshu and Qiu Nan were not exactly relaxed either.

Logically, the poison of the Bone-Eating Flower should be neutralized within a quarter of an hour after ingesting the blood of the Bone-Eating Snake, but now almost half an hour has passed and Yin Lisheng still shows no signs of waking up, which is highly illogical.

"Brother Su, what's going on? Didn't you say it would be better in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn? It's been so long already!" Qiu Nan's eyes were full of anxiety and unease.

Fu Yunshu squatted down, placed two fingers on Yin Lisheng's wrist, and probed in a wisp of spiritual energy.

This investigation revealed something amiss. Yin Lisheng was an ordinary person who had not yet learned how to guide qi into the body, so there should be no spiritual energy in his meridians. However, he discovered a faint trace of spiritual energy within Yin Lisheng's body. Although it was so weak and inconspicuous, it was undeniably present.

However, the first step in guiding spiritual energy into the body requires allowing it to circulate for a full cycle. But now, this wisp of spiritual energy is stuck in Yin Lisheng's meridians. Why?

Fu Yunshu cautiously continued to probe into Yin Lisheng's body, and finally discovered something amiss in his spiritual meridians.

Yin Lisheng's spiritual veins were not opened, or rather, something was preventing him from opening them.

A familiar yet eerie blood-red seal covered the center of the spiritual vein; it was the strange seal that Fu Yunshu had seen in Yin Lisheng's blood that day.

Fu Yunshu carefully touched the seal with his spiritual power, but was immediately repelled and had no choice but to withdraw his hand.

Although the seal blocking Yin Lisheng's spiritual veins is the same type as the one discovered a few days ago, it seems that this seal is not entirely impossible to break.

If they were outside, with his cultivation level, he might be able to try to break the seal so that Yin Lisheng could successfully draw qi into his body. However, now that they are in the secret realm and his cultivation level is suppressed, if Fu Yunshu were to use his own cultivation level, it would probably cause instability in the secret realm.

If that's the case, then we'll have to try other methods.

"Well, Brother Su, have you found out the reason?" Qiu Nan asked.

Fu Yunshu nodded: "I guess so."

"The blood of the Bone-Eating Serpent has neutralized the poison, but it is estimated that the blood has activated something within him, allowing him to draw qi into his body."

"So Li Sheng has stepped into the threshold of cultivation," Qiu Nan said with some surprise, but quickly realized something was wrong. "But it shouldn't take that long to draw Qi into the body, right?"

"Yes, Yin Lisheng's Qi induction was not going smoothly. Something blocked his spiritual meridians, preventing him from circulating Qi throughout his body, which is why he has been stuck in this stalemate."

"This item has a strong exclusivity, so I cannot forcefully unblock Yin Lisheng's spiritual veins."

Qiu Nan: "So what should we do now?"

Fu Yunshu pressed several acupoints on Yin Lisheng's body, then took out a bottle of pills from his sleeve and fed them to him.

"Since outsiders can't help him clear his spiritual veins, let him clear them himself."

Yin Lisheng's consciousness seemed to have fallen into an endless abyss, in a state of chaos.

He was surrounded by thick, inky darkness, so dark that he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face. Unable to discern his location, he could only wander aimlessly in one direction.

Gradually, a faint light appeared around them, but the light seemed to be emanating from some blood-red unidentified creatures, making the entire space even more eerie and sinister.

He walked slowly forward along these lights, and before him appeared a blurry figure sitting on a throne.

"Who are you? And where is this place?" Yin Lisheng's voice was a little hoarse, and he tried his best to maintain a calm expression on his face, staring coldly at the person as if trying to see what he looked like.

For some reason, he felt uncomfortable from the first moment he saw this person.

The man seemed to chuckle softly, one hand resting on his forehead, the other gently tapping on the armrest of the throne. "Who am I?"

"You are not worthy to know yet."

Yin Lisheng wasn't annoyed; he hadn't expected to get any information from this strange man anyway.

“But I can tell you where this is,” the man stood up and slowly stepped down from the throne, “it’s your sea of ​​consciousness.”

“But now, it seems more appropriate to call it the Dead Sea,” the man pinched Yin Lisheng’s chin, forcing him to raise his head and face him directly. Looking into those stubborn yet familiar eyes, he chuckled softly again, “Let me give you a gift since we’re meeting for the first time.”

After saying that, his figure disappeared from Yin Lisheng's sight, leaving only one sentence echoing in the dark space.

"I'm really looking forward to our next meeting, and I hope you won't disappoint me then."

As he spoke, the surrounding scenery rapidly changed. The environment transformed from pitch black to a blinding white, the sudden visual impact of the colors causing Yin Lisheng to blink uncomfortably.

"clank--"

It was the sound of a sword ringing. Yin Lisheng walked curiously toward the source of the sound, but even though he quickened his pace, he still seemed to be quite a distance away from the source of the sound and could not reach it no matter what he did.

Yin Lisheng wanted to continue chasing after them, but he no longer knew what he was. At that moment, his body began to change.

A warm sensation came from his lower abdomen. Yin Lisheng blinked blankly, completely unsure of what to do.

A familiar, clear voice echoed in my mind: "Meditate."

—It's Su Yun.

For some reason, the moment Yin Lisheng heard the voice, his panicked mind subconsciously calmed down.

"Next, do as I say, clear your mind of all distractions, concentrate and calm your breath, and feel the warmth in your lower abdomen. That is your dantian. At this moment, there is a spiritual energy in your dantian."

After taking a deep breath, Yin Lisheng did as instructed and carefully sensed the condition within his dantian.

"That ball of spiritual energy is in your dantian. Now you need to guide it into your spiritual meridians and circulate it for one cycle."

Yin Lisheng carefully probed his consciousness towards his dantian and quickly found the spiritual energy. He tried to guide this heat.

At first, the spiritual energy was somewhat uncooperative, rushing around in Yin Lisheng's dantian like a wild horse. But under his guidance, the spiritual energy gradually became docile and began to flow slowly along Yin Lisheng's spiritual meridians.

However, when it reached a certain place, a barrier appeared in front of it.

"Yin Lisheng, I don't know why there is a seal in your body. You are currently in an illusion. I cannot help you break this seal. You will have to try to break through it yourself."

“Okay,” Yin Lisheng replied firmly.

“Very good,” Fu Yunshu’s voice seemed to contain a hint of a smile. “I fed you a top-grade Jade Purity Pill, which should be taking effect now. With the combined effects of the Jade Purity Pill, try to break this seal.”

Yin Lisheng did as instructed. He mobilized the spiritual energy within his body, gathered the medicinal power of the Jade Purity Pill, and charged towards the seal with all his might.

Fu Yunshu saw veins bulging on his forehead, and sweat pouring down like rain. However, although the seal trembled violently a few times, it still stubbornly blocked his path, just a hair's breadth away, yet he could not break through.

Yin Lisheng was anxious and gritted his teeth, wanting to try harder, but Fu Yunshu stopped him.

"This is your first time introducing spiritual energy into your body. Your spiritual veins are still weak. You must not be greedy, or you will explode and die."

Yin Lisheng did not make a move, but Fu Yunshu knew that the stalemate could not continue and Yin Lisheng would still be in danger.

Just as he was furrowing his brows, preparing to break through the suppression of the patriarch, a bright light came from afar and pierced straight into Yin Lisheng's body.

Qiu Nan raised his sword to block, but it had no effect.

"What went in?!"

A note from the author:

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[Heart]