After the Great Dao died

Chapter 8 Ancestral Mountain Mother Qi

Despite his teasing remark, Wang Kong moved again!

But then he clenched his fist and charged straight at Chen Ling's face!

This punch was crude in technique but ruthless in force. The wind from the punch produced a sharp sound as it passed through the air. Chen Lingxi could even clearly sense that the wind from this punch carried fiery blood energy, which was extremely hot.

Chen Lingxi's breath hitched, her blood and qi surged naturally, and she took three steps back, her left arm blocking the river like a dam!

"Bang!"

When their arms and fists collided, they produced a muffled, drum-like sound.

Chen Lingxi felt an excruciating pain in his forearm bones. Wang Kong's qi and blood surged into his body, and instantly, a metallic taste rose in his throat!

Wang Kong was also shaken by the recoil, his body swaying slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

"You dare to hide?" After the initial surprise, Wang Kong's smile turned icy, his narrow eyes squinting into slits: "You lowly government slave, it's an honor that Steward Zhao gave you the opportunity to test medicine! Now that you've climbed the social ladder in the West Courtyard, have you forgotten who you are?"

He rubbed his wrist as he approached step by step, his muscles taut like a bowstring beneath his robe, like a cheetah poised to hunt!

The snow-sweeping laborers nearby had already shrank back and retreated; how could they dare to wade into such muddy waters?

"Has Wang Kong gone mad? How dare he make a move in the Marquis's residence!"

Chen Lingxi endured the excruciating pain in her forearm and couldn't help but frown.

Just then, a soft cough came from around the corner of the corridor, followed by a soft whisper.

"Consul Wang, you're really angry."

His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a gust of wind, instantly tightening the air in the garden.

A figure could be seen slowly approaching from not far away.

He was about forty years old, with a fair complexion and no beard. His eyebrows and eyes were gentle and refined, like those of a scholar. He wore a spotless indigo silk robe and held a copper cloisonné hand warmer in his hand. The lid of the warmer was carved into the head of a lion, and wisps of sandalwood smoke wafted from its mouth and nose.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Wang Kong paused in his punches, his expression changed slightly, and he finally bowed, saying, "Manager Liu."

He was impeccably polite, yet there was still a hint of hostility in his eyes.

Chen Lingxi naturally recognized the person who had come; it was Liu Que, the steward of the West Courtyard. He also clasped his hands in greeting.

Liu Que walked slowly between the two, not even glancing at Chen Lingxi, but only at Wang Kong's clenched fists, and smiled slightly: "Consul Wang, Steward Zhao only took you as his adopted son a few days ago, and today you're already here in the west courtyard teaching the servants manners?"

He continued speaking, still stroking the hand warmer, his tone as gentle as if chatting casually: "But this servant is now solely responsible for arranging flowers for the young lady. If your punch lands squarely and injures his hand holding the pruning shears and branches... what am I supposed to say when the young lady asks?"

Veins bulged on Wang Kong's forehead. After a few breaths of silence, he gritted his teeth and said, "It was Wang Kong who acted rashly."

He bowed even deeper: "Steward Liu is right to teach me a lesson."

"I dare not accept such praise." Liu Que chuckled and handed over a plain handkerchief from his sleeve: "Wipe your sweat. It's freezing cold, be careful not to catch a cold! Manager Zhao's adopted son is a man of great status in Yuanjiang Prefecture."

Wang Kong reached out and took the handkerchief, but his fingertips suddenly trembled slightly—the handkerchief was icy cold, it must have been soaked through with snow water.

When he looked up, the anger in his eyes was like charcoal doused with oil, crackling and about to explode, but he managed to suppress it, squeezing out only two words through his teeth: "...Thank you, Steward Liu."

Liu Que stopped looking at him and turned to Chen Lingxi: "The purple clay vase you ordered has been delivered to your yard. Why don't you go and arrange the flowers?"

He turned and left without lingering.

Chen Lingxi put the rattan into her sleeve, lowered her head, and followed.

As Chen Lingxi walked past Wang Kong, she suddenly heard a very soft, almost whispered, cold laugh.

The two figures gradually disappeared into the distance, vanishing through the moon gate deep within the corridor.

Wang Kong remained standing in the same spot, his five fingers slowly closing, squeezing the damp cloth into a lump of ice.

After a long while, he suddenly let go, allowing the handkerchief to fall into the snow.

The anger on his face receded like a tide, replaced by a strange, almost pleasurable smile.

"It's done..."

He muttered to himself and began humming a little tune.

The tune is the most colloquial folk song, "Snowy Ballad," with a light and cheerful melody that is almost slick.

He walked on the snow, keeping time, bypassing the frozen pond, passing through the trellis covered with icicles, and heading straight towards Ginan-in.

The servants and servants along the way, seeing his beaming face, all gave way and bowed their heads.

Inside the East Warm Pavilion of Yin'an Courtyard, the underground heating was burning brightly.

A middle-aged man sat on a rosewood couch with scrolling grass patterns.

He wasn't wearing a brocade robe, and his appearance was ordinary, with light eyebrows, narrow eyes, and a low nose. Only his thin lips were pursed as if cut by a knife, and even when he didn't speak, he exuded a sense of authority.

At this moment, he was looking down at the account book in front of him. The incense burner that Lin Su had given him on the table was burning with straight smoke, casting a flickering glow on his profile.

Wang Kong entered and knelt down before speaking.

"Godfather".

He prostrated himself on the ground, his posture extremely respectful.

The middle-aged man was Zhao Yong, the steward of the Baosu Marquis's residence.

He didn't look up, but simply turned a page of the ledger: "Have you tested them?"

"Yes." Wang Kong looked up, his eyes no longer showing any frivolity: "That government slave has indeed undergone a complete transformation. My son used three-tenths of his strength in that punch. Anyone who hasn't entered the Iron Body Realm would never have been able to dodge it, yet he was able to dodge it twice. The force of the rebound from his arm bones when he parried... was no less than three hundred jin, as if he had just glimpsed the Iron Body Realm."

Zhao Yong finally put down the account book, a glint of malice flashing in his narrow eyes: "In just over ten days, from a dying drug slave to someone who has just begun to see the Iron Body... that [Dragon-Inducing Powder] really worked on him."

"Father is wise." Wang Kong bowed again: "What should we do next? Should I secretly capture him and bring him back...?"

"No need." Zhao Yong leaned back on the couch, closing his eyes as if asleep: "Since it is a good medicinal ingredient, it should be well cared for, and even... further tempered."

"In another month, the effects of this dose of Dragon-Guiding Powder should have worn off. At that time, secretly find a few people to break his bones and tendons, then give him another dose of Dragon-Guiding Powder so that he can grow into a suitable medicinal catalyst."

Wang Kong initially agreed, then suddenly hesitated: "What about the young lady...?"

The smoke from the incense burner suddenly dissipated, obscuring Zhao Yong's face, but his eyes remained as calm as ever.

"In this house, if you disobey the young lady's wishes, I don't even need to say anything; someone will naturally protect you."

A figure flashed through Wang Kong's mind, and his doubts vanished instantly. He bowed and withdrew.

Zhao Yong stood up, and a smile finally appeared on his lips.

"Two medicinal ingredients, enough to refine two dragon pills, enough to poison you to death."

-

Chen Ling washed up and returned to the courtyard, feeling as if her forearm was about to break.

He closed the door, lay down on the couch, his body hunched over, and began to breathe deeply again.

As that wisp of Qi flowed into his forearm, Chen Lingxi clearly sensed that there were many cracks on the bones of his forearm.

"Wang Kong's blood and qi are like fire. He must have entered the copper-red realm and has already cultivated his blood and qi to have a fiery nature. His blood and qi are like the fire of a furnace, circulating throughout his body!"

No wonder Wang Kong held such an extraordinary position among the many servants and earned Zhao Yong's favor!

"He attacked me because I was originally Zhao Yong's servant, his drug slave, but then I switched allegiance to the West Courtyard?"

As the pain in Chen Ling's forearm gradually subsided, he kept pondering, "What exactly was that medicine that Chief Inspector Zhao gave us to test?"

He suddenly realized that he hadn't heard from Zhao Changle for a long time, and a sense of worry crept into his heart.

"However, Wang Kong said today that I am one of the two people who survived the drug trial, so Zhao Changle should still be alive."

With this in mind, he felt a little more at ease and focused on using that wisp of Qi to heal his injuries.

Two hours passed quietly, dusk fell, and the moon was in the sky tonight.

The pale moonlight shone down on the courtyard, and Chen Lingxi finally awoke from her breathing exercises.

He raised his hand to look at his forearm. The cracks were still there, but the pain had subsided considerably.

"Wang Kong, Zhao Yong..."

Chen Lingxi silently recited the two people's names in her heart, but her eyes remained quite calm.

He smelled the incense smoke and closed his eyes again.

As Chen Lingxi practiced breathing exercises daily, his spirit became much stronger.

With a strong spirit, they could spend more time sightseeing.

Chen Lingxi used his supernatural powers to travel for the first time, but he fell out of the divine chamber in less than a quarter of an hour. He also felt a splitting headache and could not continue. He needed more than a day to recover.

But today, fourteen days later, Chen Lingxi is able to continue washing for half an hour.

Just like breathing exercises and practicing the Seven Forms of Ceasefire, daily sightseeing also became a habit for Chen Lingxi.

Lin Suri's life in the Marquis's mansion was extremely monotonous, consisting only of breathing exercises and cultivation. Chen Lingxi had also seen Lin Suri practice martial arts. He held a bow in his hand, but did not nock an arrow. Under the bow, his golden blood energy transformed into a sharp arrow, which he easily shot out and disappeared into the clouds.

Although it was unknown what it hit, for Chen Lingxi, this was already a miraculous skill.

"When I first came to the Baosu Marquis's residence, and even in the last few months, I often heard that Lin Su Ri was extremely tyrannical, frequently whipping and torturing his servants. Even Wang Chu, the steward of the South Courtyard, had been tormented by Lin Su Ri."

But these days, such rumors seem to be rarely heard.

During my travels, I never witnessed Lin Su committing any acts of cruelty.

Chen Lingxi's consciousness retreated into the shrine, but her thoughts were still swirling: "Thinking about it carefully, the servants were also saying that Lin Su's temperament has become better and better ever since he held his birthday banquet."

He pondered silently, while tadpole-like characters swirled in the air within the shrine.

Chen Lingxi suddenly raised an eyebrow.

【Shenshi】

[Supernatural Power: Travel (Ready)]

[Supernatural Power: Thorough Awakening (Unusable)]

"The tadpole-like script of the [Chejue] supernatural power has changed from gray to light gold..."

Chen Lingxi was startled. He had a premonition that he would soon be able to use this mysterious power of thorough understanding.

"The biggest change in me compared to before is that Qi... or the blood and energy produced by practicing martial arts."

Could the supernatural powers within this divine chamber be related to my cultivation level?

Chen Lingxi secretly guessed, "As long as I cultivate diligently, perhaps I will be able to use this penetrating enlightenment supernatural power soon."

He was overjoyed, and his thoughts drifted to the south courtyard of the Baosu Marquis's mansion in the divine chamber.

With the change of perspective, Chen Lingxi immediately heard someone talking to Lin Suri.

"The ancestral mountain's mother energy, if obtained, can grant one the appearance of a spiritual aperture; if drunk, it can cause the marrow sea to churn and the bones to surge, making the whole body feel like an old cauldron being reborn."

Even in this place where spiritual energy is scarce, if one develops the potential for spiritual enlightenment and persists in cultivation for a long time, there is hope of reaching the third level of the Ascending Heaven Realm, escaping the shackles, and going to the Great World!

"Brother Lin, we don't know each other's backgrounds, but we do know that we are not the only ones coveting the Mother's Qi; there are even people coming from the capital!"

"Why don't we... join forces and obtain it, to enjoy its precious aura?"