Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Who is it…”
A very displeased voice could be heard from within the room.
This was a voice Rong Kaixuan had been extremely familiar with from a young age. It was the incessant discipline of this voice that had enabled him to practice his boxing every single day without fail for the past ten odd years. Because of that voice, he had now accumulated a sufficient foundation to successfully gather true Qi.
Rong Kaixuan smiled as he quietly replied, “Father, it’s me.”
“Oh, Kaixuan? Give me a minute.”
This estate belonged to the Rong family. There weren’t any powerful people in the vicinity who would dare threaten ordinary folk. Those ferocious wild beasts in the deep mountains were also limited by some mysterious force, so they never stepped into the estate either. Rong Yiyang had been overseeing this estate for the past 10 or so years without suffering any attacks from any form of enemy. One was easily able to imagine how poor his vigilance was.
After some time, Rong Yiyang and his wife came out of the room together.
“Kaixuan, why are you looking for me at this hour?” Rong Yiyang asked in a low voice.
Rong Kaixuan’s mother, Fang Xiuli, looked worriedly at her one and only son.
Rong Kaixuan couldn’t hide the excitement on his face. Besides, he was a young man who wasn’t even 15 yet. If he was able to remain calm and collected after suddenly being able to gather and refine true Qi, that would have been very strange.
“Father, Mother, I’ve succeeded.”
“What?” His parents looked at one another and didn’t understand what he was talking about.
Rong Kaixuan glanced around the room. He took a deep breath, clenched one fist, and threw one punch toward a large closet.
The moment he swung his fist out, the true Qi in his energy center flowed along his blood vessels and filled his fist.
PAAAK!
Of course, the poor large closet was unable to endure the impact of the true Qi. It fell to pieces the moment the force hit it.
“Ah!”
Rong Yiyang and his wife exclaimed at nearly the same time.
The reason behind their yelps was completely different.
Fang Xiuli was completely in shock. She didn’t know what was wrong with her son. He had come knocking on their door in the middle of the night and suddenly blasted the closet to pieces. She wondered if her husband had pushed this poor child too hard in practicing boxing and now her child had gone bonkers.
In Rong Yiyang’s eyes, the effect of the punch was seen very differently.
He had dreamed of gathering and refining true Qi all of his life, so he was fairly familiar with the effect that true Qi could cause.
When he saw that his son could exert such power with a simple punch, he understood immediately that this boy had most likely managed to gather and refine true Qi.
Rong Yiyang reached a hand out to pat his son. His fingers started trembling as he asked with great excitement, “You… Have you succeeded?”
Rong Kaixuan nodded profusely and replied, “Yes, Father. I didn’t let you down. I’ve succeeded.”
“That’s wonderful. Wonderful. Wonderful!” Each time Rong Yiyang said the word “wonderful, its emphasis and his joy both increased by one level.
He had finally seen his wish come true after so many years, and this wish had come true just when he had decided to give up hope.
The feeling of getting something back after it had been lost filled his heart with tremendous joy.
Fang Xiuli was stunned for several moments before she tried to confirm her suspicions. “Kaixuan, have you gathered and refined true Qi?”
She was the woman closest to this father and son. Even though she had never cultivated or trained in martial arts, she was familiar with the one thing that they had both been fixated on for years.
When she saw how happy they both looked, she was able to make a pretty good guess.
Rong Kaixuan nodded and said, “Mother, I have indeed gathered and refined true Qi.”
Fang Xiuli’s eyes lit up. She said, “My dear, this is certainly something worth celebrating. Kaixuan has managed to gather and refine true Qi before he turning 15 years old. Now, he can become an inner disciple of the clan.”
Rong Yiyang paced the room for a while. He finally managed to calm himself down.
“Kaixuan might have managed to gather and refine true Qi, but he’s only managed to do it right before turning 15,” Rong Yiyang said in a slow voice. “Within our little estate, he’s the only one around. When it comes to the Rong clan, then he’s nothing special. But…” There was a faint smile on his lips as he said, “As long as you can gather and refine true Qi and you’re a direct descendant, then you can be part of the Inner House. So, you’re definitely going to have a much brighter future than me.”
Fang Xiuli nodded her head several times. When hearing that her child had a bright future ahead of him, any woman would have felt a tremendous joy deep within.
Rong Yiyang went into deep thought for a while. He finally said, “Kaixuan, go back to your room and stabilize your true Qi first. I’ll take you back to the Main House after three days and let them test your true Qi level. Once you pass the test, you will become one of the disciples of the Inner House.”
Rong Kaixuan nodded vigorously. His eyes were filled with happiness.
True Qi was not something that disappeared after it had been successfully gathered and refined. The exceptions were if one lost control of one’s soul during cultivation or suffered such a severe injury that it caused damage to the energy center.
After successfully gathering and refining true Qi, it would go through a fairly unstable and erratic stage. It usually took a few days of cultivation to stabilize it.
After taking his leave, Rong Kaixuan headed back to his room. All three family members were too excited to go back to sleep that night.
Once in his room, Rong Kaixuan started thinking about the various scenes in which he fought the ferocious tiger. He had grown to better understand that situation.
He wanted to go back into the deep mountains to see what happened to that strange body.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried to apply his will elsewhere, he simply couldn’t sense what had happened to that body. It was as if that strange and mysterious body had disappeared from the face of the earth.
Rong Kaixuan sighed softly and closed his eyes as he quietly sensed this peculiar power within his energy center.
After one was able to cultivate true Qi, one could use various methods to keep refining and accumulating it, as well as gradually making the true Qi more powerful.
The methods for cultivating true Qi were classified information within each sect and clan. Although Rong Yiyang was a direct descendant of the Rong clan, he had never managed to gather true Qi until now. That meant he was not given the opportunity to view the family’s secret cultivation methods.
Rong Kaixuan had managed to cultivate true Qi. He was able to sense and shift the peculiar force within his energy center, but he could not use any methods to further develop the force.
His heart suddenly skipped a beat as he suddenly remembered something.
He had been able to gather and refine true Qi because of that battle with the ferocious tiger that was the king of the mountain. He had come to the verge of death, so all the boxing techniques and training that he had been working on for the past decade had all been unleashed. That also activated his potential in one shot.
If it was because of that strange body that he could gather and refine true Qi, then it must be coming out from somewhere else in his body.
All of this was thanks to that strange body. Rather, it was from that creepy Qi flow that came out from between his eyebrows.
Without that Qi flow, he wouldn’t have achieved what he had.
He shifted his consciousness and focused his will on the area between his eyebrows.
To his surprise, even though he was sure that everything had flowed out the day before, the area was full of Qi flow again. Even more surprising was that the amount of Qi flow seemed to be a wee bit more than the last time.
It was just a little bit more and didn’t seem to be significantly more, but it was enough to make him feel wildly excited.
He didn’t say anything. He just tilted his head as he thought about all these things for a long time.
In the end, he decided not to tell anyone else about this secret. He couldn’t even tell his parents what he had seen and experienced.
****
Three days later, the true Qi within Rong Kaixuan had completely stabilized.
He had also accidentally discovered that even though he had never learned any method of cultivating true Qi, the amount of true Qi in his energy center could increase very slowly. It was much slower than the rate of the Qi flowing inside the area between his eyebrows, so it was considered negligible.
Regardless, he was pleased with the discovery.
Rong Yiyang had made sufficient preparations for the trip. He got onto a large horse with his son and quickly rode off to the Main House. Everyone else on the estate enviously looked on.
The Rong family was a huge clan that was ranked right at the top in the region.
There were many powerful and highly skilled martial arts practitioners from the family, so they were a very powerful and influential clan in the Yuntan Region.
The Rong clan’s Main House was built on a beautiful and scenic piece of land within Yuntan Region. This piece of land stretched on for miles on end under the endless skies. It was as calm as the high tide on a day without wind and waves.
Disciples and descendants of the Rong family lived there with their servants and other officials. At least 100,000 people were living in the Main House.
It was only natural to call this huge gathering of people and buildings a city.
There was a high and strong city wall surrounding this entire area. This city wall protected the Rong family inside. If any enemies tried to attack them, they could forget about entering this city if they didn’t pay a painful price first.
Even though Rong Yiyang was not eligible to stay in this place, he was still a direct descendant of the Rong family.
When he took out his waist tag, which identified who he was, he easily entered the city.
This was the first time Rong Kaixuan had entered this so-called city. He looked at the hustle and bustle around him. There was a very curious look in his eyes.
Rong Yiyang looked at how his son’s attention was captured by everything around him. He shook his head and laughed bitterly. He felt ashamed of himself.
He had forced his son to train every single day without fail for more than 10 years, but he had never brought his son out of their estate to have fun or to relax.
He felt as if he was a bad father.
After Rong Yiyang let Rong Kaixuan wander around within the city for about an hour, he finally took him to the Main House Courtyard.
It was called the Main House Courtyard, but, in reality, it was a building.
People unqualified in terms of status were not allowed to enter the building.
Rong Yiyang took out his waist tag to prove that he was a direct descendant and took his son into the courtyard. They walked for a bit before finally reaching the front of a large structure.
Rong Kaixuan looked up and saw three beautifully written words on top of the structure.
Ability Testing Hall.
Rong Yiyang smiled and said, “Kaixuan, this is the place where the family will test for any disciple’s true Qi, as well as the quality of the true Qi. As long as you pass this test, you can become an inner disciple and also enter into a hall to start official training in martial arts.”
Rong Kaixuan quietly nodded. His heart was filled with great anticipation.
Rong Yiyang sighed quietly in his heart. He had seen much more than his son.
His son had managed to gather and refine true Qi, but this had happened at the moment just before he turned 15. Even though he would was able to get into the Inner House and train, and his son would go way further than he had, it was likely impossible for him to rise above the countless talents within the clan.
After they entered the Ability Testing Hall, Rong Yiyang locked away his emotions. He looked around. His eyes lit up as he led his son toward an older man.
When they reached the old man, Rong Yiyang politely said, “Uncle Ming, it has been a long time. Your nephew has come to see you.”