Chapter 168: Hibernating and Cultivating [Two Chapters Merged]

"Alright then, since that's the case, Master, you mustn't say I'm usurping the throne!" Xia Daoming said.

"Haha, you rascal!" Liang Jingtang couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this.

The others followed suit and laughed as well.

The originally solemn atmosphere suddenly became cheerful.

Xia Daoming liked this kind of atmosphere.

He had always enjoyed getting along with Liang Jingtang and the others like family and friends; if things were to turn sour because of the position of Mansion Master of the Tenglong Mansion, he really wouldn't want to bother with any Tenglong Mansion at all.

After chatting and laughing for a while.

Since the Tenglong Mansion was no longer the original Tenglong Mansion, the group soon began to seriously discuss the structure and personnel of the Tenglong Mansion.

After some discussion.

It was finally decided that the Tenglong Mansion would be temporarily divided into seven major pavilions: the Immortal Fate Pavilion, the Martial Arts Pavilion, the Grandmaster Pavilion, the Immortal Ascension Pavilion, the External Affairs Pavilion, the Internal Affairs Pavilion, and the Elder Pavilion.

Among them, the Martial Arts Pavilion was basically the predecessor of the Hidden Dragon Martial Arts Hall; the Grandmaster Pavilion, as the name suggests, was only open to those with the qualifications of a Grandmaster; the Immortal Ascension Pavilion was only open to those with the qualifications of a cultivator; the External Affairs Pavilion was in charge of intelligence gathering, commerce, and all other external affairs; and the Internal Affairs Pavilion was in charge of rewards, punishments, resource allocation, and other internal affairs.

The Elder Pavilion was composed of Supreme Elders and Elders.

Ji Yuanzhen and Liang Jingtang were Supreme Elders, while Yuchi Xiao, Zhuo Xingji, Jiao Yongbao, Liu Xiao Qiang, Gu Ren, and Ji Shouli were Elders.

Liang Jingtang would temporarily serve concurrently as the Master of the Grandmaster Pavilion and the Internal Affairs Pavilion, while Ji Yuanzhen would serve concurrently as the Master of the Elder Pavilion and the External Affairs Pavilion.

Yuchi Xiao was appointed as the Master of the Martial Arts Pavilion.

After the structure and personnel of the Tenglong Mansion were initially decided, the group discussed the development blueprint for the Tenglong Mansion.

However, none of them had any ambitions for hegemony or outward expansion for the time being, so the focus was placed on how to strive to improve their own strength and that of their descendants, as well as protecting and developing Li Cheng and Luoguicheng.

Of course, to improve strength, besides one's own diligent cultivation, there was the issue of resources.

When talking about cultivation resources, the group only then realized that Xia Daoming not only already had a foundation in Li Cheng and Luoguicheng, but was also able to collect protection fees in the Ten Thousand Snail Xianshan; they couldn't help but be dumbfounded, only then realizing that Xia Daoming had already gone much further than they had imagined.

After the discussion, Xia Daoming took out the elixirs and medicinal herbs he had specifically purchased from the market a few days ago and distributed them to everyone.

These elixirs and medicinal herbs could not only greatly enhance a Grandmaster's blood energy and strength, but their medicinal properties were also mild.

Of course, the price was also not cheap.

However, that was only for some Qi Refining cultivators; for a wealthy person like Xia Daoming who had tens of thousands of spirit stones, casually taking out two or three thousand spirit stones was enough to purchase many such elixirs and medicinal herbs.

The real bulk of the cost was in purchasing the Tong Ling Tongxuan Xuanguo and the potent medicine for strengthening meridians.

Needless to say, the Tong Ling Tongxuan Xuanguo cost over a thousand spirit stones each.

And although the potent medicine Xia Daoming used to strengthen his meridians was not that exaggerated, each item basically cost hundreds of spirit stones, which would make even Foundation Establishment cultivators feel a pinch when buying them.

Xia Daoming spent a full nine thousand spirit stones on the potent medicine for strengthening meridians.

"Th-this seems to be the legendary Dragon Elephant Pill; it is said that even Martial Arts Grandmasters can greatly enhance their blood energy and strength after taking it. I don't even recognize the rest." Ji Yuanzhen was full of shock after receiving the elixirs.

"These are all elixirs suitable for Martial Arts Grandmasters to take. Although the Immortal Dao is basically unlikely for you, there is still hope for becoming a Great Grandmaster," Xia Daoming said.

"What? We have hope of becoming Great Grandmasters!" Ji Yuanzhen and the others were all shaken to the core, standing there like clay statues.

In martial arts, a Great Grandmaster is the peak and also the end.

Ji Yuanzhen and the others didn't know how many people in the entire Great Ming could reach the end of martial arts.

But they knew that there wasn't a single one on the surface in Mangzhou currently.

In the prefecture city of Yuancangcheng, the most powerful ones only stopped at the eleventh-rank of martial arts.

Now, Xia Daoming told them they had hope of becoming Great Grandmasters; in reality, for those of them who had dedicated their lives to martial arts, the shock was even greater than stepping into the Immortal Dao.

After all, even if they stepped into the Immortal Dao, they would basically only be lingering at the bottom.

And the bottom of the cultivation world, in reality, after they had seen Ding Chuding and the three other outer sect disciples of the Profound Origin Sect like Lan Xue, was nothing more than that.

Especially Ding Chuding back then; Yuchi Xiao, who was a Great Wu Shi, could give him a sneak attack and knock him unconscious—he was simply too useless.

But if one became a Great Grandmaster, a single blade strike could reach ten zhang; let alone someone like Ding Chuding, they could even kill the demon daoist who attacked the city last time.

How powerful, how majestic!

Who would still care about the Immortal Dao?

"It should be said that the hope is not small," Xia Daoming smiled.

Once his meridians at the Great Grandmaster realm finished strengthening, Xia Daoming was confident he could fight any cultivator below the False Core stage.

Even for a False Core cultivator, if they really dared to underestimate him and let him get close, the outcome would be hard to say.

Of course, everything would only be revealed after the meridians finished strengthening and after he had witnessed the strength of a False Core cultivator.

Everything now was just Xia Daoming's own estimation.

But regardless, with Xia Daoming's powerful strength, and being a Martial Arts Great Grandmaster himself, he understood the true meaning of martial arts best; if he really put his heart into it, there was still a not-so-small hope of cultivating a few Great Grandmasters.

Looking at Xia Daoming's smiling, confident face, Gu Ren suddenly stood up and bowed solemnly, saying: "Mansion Master, I have a request."

"Xu Shixiong, go ahead."

"You don't need to consider the Immortal Dao for me. I am already old, and unlike the two younger siblings who are a genius in formations and a genius in alchemy, if they can step into the Immortal Dao in the future, they will surely have a different world; as for comparing myself to you, there is even less need.

So, rather than spending a lot of resources on me to pursue an Immortal Dao path with a pitifully small chance of success—and even if I were lucky enough to succeed, I wouldn't see any future prospects—it would be better to put the resources into martial arts.

You said we have a not-so-small hope of becoming Great Grandmasters, but is the path of a Great Grandmaster easy? Even if you help us gather the best resources, if we don't wholeheartedly pursue martial arts and instead divide our attention to cultivate immortality, I'm afraid that in the end, we will end up with nothing.

Therefore, my mind is made up; in this life, I only seek to cultivate martial arts to the peak, not the Immortal Dao. The exploration of the Immortal Dao shall be left to you, the two younger siblings, and our descendants," Gu Ren said firmly.

After Xia Daoming pondered for a moment, he nodded and said: "Since Xu Shixiong's mind is made up, then we shall follow your wishes."

He had the help of the system and had obtained several great opportunities, which allowed him to reach the Great Grandmaster realm so quickly.

But in reality, if it were Liang Jingtang and the others, even with his vigorous help, without any great opportunities, I'm afraid it would be very difficult for them to become Great Grandmasters in ten or even several decades.

Spending a great price to let Gu Ren pursue an Immortal Dao path with little hope and likely no future prospects was indeed not as good as saving those resources to help everyone become Great Grandmasters.

The reason Xia Daoming had that thought was mainly out of emotional consideration, not rational.

Now, since Gu Ren himself decided to only follow the path of martial arts, Xia Daoming naturally wouldn't act on impulse and insist on forcing Gu Ren into the Immortal Sect.

With Gu Ren's matter settled, the group chatted for a while longer before dispersing.

Xia Daoming took his two beautiful wives straight to the secret realm of Yuncui Mountain in the Tenglong Mansion.

The former secret realm of the Xu Clan was originally empty, with only a natural spiritual spring, an old vine tree, and a simple stone chamber.

Now, it had long since changed completely.

Surrounding the steaming spiritual spring, a small medicinal garden had been cultivated.

Although the medicinal garden was small, the types of medicinal herbs planted were not few; they were of various colors and shapes, some were even blooming with flowers and hanging with fruits, looking like a small, colorful garden, and it was also wafting with a faint, pleasant medicinal fragrance.

Outside the medicinal garden were fields of spiritual rice.

At this time, the spiritual rice had just headed, and under the light emitted from the rocks on the cliff, it shimmered with a verdant glow; looking at it, it was like rippling blue waves.

By the spring, the old vine tree in the corner of the cliff—the three Profound Mist Green Glass Fruits on it had already become somewhat translucent, and one could faintly see the clouds and mist flowing inside, which was very mysterious.

It was estimated that after a period of time, it might ripen.

On the cliffside nearby, besides the original simple stone chamber, another stone chamber had been excavated.

This stone chamber was different from the original one; it was a suite.

Three rooms and two halls.

Not only was the space in the halls and rooms spacious, but the layout was also very exquisite, with expensive carpets and furs spread on the floor, and night-luminescent pearls the size of eggs embedded in the walls.

There were beds, tables, stools, and chairs.

This was what Xia Daoming had instructed Liu Qiaolian to have people excavate and decorate when he last returned to Li Cheng, to be used for his family to cultivate immortality in seclusion upon his return this time.

Although the spiritual vein of Yuncui Mountain was not large in scale, the spiritual energy it contained was very dense and pure, and it had been hidden deep at the bottom of Yuncui Mountain, never discovered by cultivators, so the spiritual energy had not been forcibly extracted on a large scale; after years of precipitation and accumulation, the spiritual energy had become dense to a certain extent, giving birth to a spiritual spring at the hub node of the spiritual vein.

Such a small spiritual vein cave dwelling could not support the long-term cultivation and development of a sect, but as a starting point for Xia Daoming's family of three to cultivate in seclusion, it couldn't be more suitable.

Especially since Xia Daoming had discovered during his cultivation this period that his extraordinary meridians had been blocked for too long; although they had been restarted, they were fragile, and even though he had plenty of spirit stones and elixirs to quickly improve his cultivation, he had no place to use them.

Under such circumstances, it was best to find an Immortal cave dwelling with dense spiritual energy, draw spiritual energy into his body day by day without haste, nourish and strengthen his meridians step by step, and wait until the meridians were nourished and strengthened to a certain extent before using spirit stones and elixirs to increase his cultivation speed.

The Lu Clan's Immortal Seeking Cliff was located on a spiritual vein of the Ten Thousand Snail Xianshan; speaking of which, the spiritual energy was much denser than in other places.

But unfortunately, there were too many people entrenched in the Ten Thousand Snail Xianshan to cultivate, and there were also many people cultivating on the Lu Clan's Immortal Seeking Cliff; once the spiritual energy escaping from the spiritual vein was divided among everyone, it became thin.

Xia Daoming's cultivation at the Lu Clan could be said to be barely satisfactory; he would occasionally use spirit stones to supplement, but the spiritual power contained in the spirit stones was too fierce, and when he absorbed it, it would rush into his meridians, putting too much burden on them.

And although this place was small, it was filled with dense and pure heaven and earth spiritual energy, which was much better for Xia Daoming than the Immortal Seeking Cliff.

"Master, I am so old, can I really cultivate immortality like Wenyue?" Walking into the cultivation room in the stone chamber suite, Liu Qiaolian still found it hard to believe and felt uneasy.

She was also at the meeting during the day.

Speaking of which, she was the same age as Xia Daoming, one year older than Gu Ren.

"You are not a cultivator, yet you are so sensitive to the changes in the heaven and earth energy, and can even set up formations according to the celestial phenomena and terrain; it shows you are a natural cultivator, it's just that you didn't have the opportunity to come into contact with it before, and starting a bit late now is fine," Xia Daoming comforted her with a smile.

As he spoke, Xia Daoming turned to Ji Wenyue and continued: "Wenyue is the same, she is simply an alchemy genius. Do you know? The Phoenix Cry Pill you refined is actually an elixir for Qi Refining cultivators to improve their cultivation; for Qi Refining cultivators, it is of great value and needs to be refined by a professional alchemist in the cultivation world.

Now I am a bit worried; my cultivation talent is average, and I brought you into the cultivation world, but the two of you will soar into the sky, while I become a burden, and then no matter how you look at me, you will feel I am not worthy of you, and kick me away!"

After saying this, Xia Daoming put on a bitter face.

"Husband, what are you saying!"

"Exactly, Master! Wenyue and I are Master's people for life, how could we kick you away!"

Ji Wenyue and Liu Qiaolian looked at Xia Daoming's exaggerated bitter face and found it funny, unable to help but reach out and gently pinch the flesh on his waist.

"Really? Then prove it first! Haha!"

Xia Daoming suddenly reached out and hugged the two delicate beauties around their waists.

"Big Xu Shixiong, hurry and put me down! Didn't you say you were going to enlighten us and bring us into the Immortal Sect?" Ji Wenyue lay on Xia Daoming's shoulder, hitting and kicking.

Liu Qiaolian, on the other hand, had watery eyes and only twisted her body slightly, saying nothing.

"Before enlightenment, you need to relax your whole body and have no distracting thoughts!" Xia Daoming said.

Ji Wenyue was stunned upon hearing this, then immediately understood what Xia Daoming meant, and immediately started hitting and kicking again.

Soon, having just entered the cultivation room, Xia Daoming carried his two wives away and entered the bedroom with the large bed.

The next day.

With Ji Wenyue gritting her teeth and Liu Qiaolian pursing her lips and smiling, Xia Daoming finally brought the two of them back into the cultivation room.

"Hmm, now my two beloved wives should have no distracting thoughts; please use the Tong Ling Tongxuan Xuanguo." Sitting cross-legged, Xia Daoming took out two Tong Ling Tongxuan Xuanguo and handed them to Ji Wenyue and Liu Qiaolian respectively.

"Hmph!" Ji Wenyue pouted her red lips and grabbed the Tong Ling Tongxuan Xuanguo, seemingly still brooding over last night's events.

Liu Qiaolian pursed her lips and smiled as she took the Tong Ling Tongxuan Xuanguo, not forgetting to bow slightly to express her thanks.

Xia Daoming looked at his beautiful wives, who had very different temperaments and personalities, and thinking of last night's madness, the thought of lying flat surged in his heart again.

How good such days were!

However, this thought disappeared in a flash.

Having experienced so many things in the Ten Thousand Snail Xianshan and witnessed the tragic slaughter, Xia Daoming knew very well that the cultivation world was a world of the strong, and the path of the strong was destined to be more cruel and bloody than in the secular world.

Unless he was willing to become a pile of yellow earth with his two beautiful wives in a hundred years, he had to strive forward.

But a hundred years would pass in a flash, and how could Xia Daoming, who had lived a second life, be willing?

"Mortals have extraordinary meridians, all belonging to the Yin Spirit, closed and unopened, and the Middle Dantian Yellow Court is hidden and unseen; only by using the original true qi to impact them can they be opened and revealed.

You are both adults, and the original true qi from the mother's womb has long since dried up and disappeared, which is why you need the Tong Ling Tongxuan Xuanguo to use the medicinal power contained within it to open the extraordinary meridians; this is enlightenment.

After you eat the Tong Ling Tongxuan Xuanguo, you don't need to run any cultivation techniques, just feel it with your heart. You are both eighth-rank Great Martial Masters now, and your spiritual sense will be stronger than ordinary people; if enlightenment is successful, you should be able to sense the existence of the first extraordinary meridian, as if seen by the eyes.

After enlightenment is successful, you can comprehend the cultivation techniques and secrets to draw spiritual energy into your body," Xia Daoming said solemnly after giving the Tong Ling Tongxuan Xuanguo to his two beloved wives, quickly suppressing the thought of lying flat.

Liu Qiaolian's martial arts talent was average, and she had only just entered the eighth-rank Great Wu Shi realm.

Ji Wenyue's martial arts talent was outstanding, but her accumulation and precipitation in martial arts cultivation were still quite lacking; without the help of a strange fruit like the Transforming Dragon Fruit that could help her comprehend the "Bai Hu Technique," it would be quite difficult for her to step into the Martial Arts Grandmaster realm.

Her uncle Ji Shouli was the same, stuck before the threshold of a Grandmaster, needing continued martial arts precipitation and comprehension of Grandmaster mysteries.

And Yuchi Xiao and the others had all crossed the threshold of a Grandmaster one after another because of the help of the Transforming Dragon Fruit.

"Okay!" Ji Wenyue and Liu Qiaolian nodded solemnly, then slowly closed their eyes, and only after calming their state of mind did they begin to consume the Tong Ling Tongxuan Xuanguo.

Seeing this, Xia Daoming quietly left the cultivation secret room, then walked alone through the medicinal garden to the side of the spiritual spring, sat cross-legged, and operated the "Azure Bi Bi Mu Chang Qing Technique."

Wisps of heaven and earth spiritual energy floating in the rock cave quietly gathered and merged into Xia Daoming's body.

Two hours later, Xia Daoming slowly opened his eyes, a look of surprise appearing in them.

Cultivating by the spiritual spring had an effect much better than he had imagined.

He could clearly feel that his dried-up and fragile extraordinary meridians had been nourished and had become wider and tougher.

And before this, whether cultivating at the Immortal Seeking Cliff or on the way, this feeling was very faint.

"Good, good, this is the cultivation speed that should be; otherwise, if the body is too weak to be nourished, I have a powerful spiritual sense and many resources but no place to use them; if it continues at this speed, I should be able to use them very soon."

Xia Daoming carefully felt the changes in his meridians again, confirming that the effect of this cultivation was very good, and couldn't help but feel even more delighted.

However, compared to Xia Daoming's delight, Liu Qiaolian and Ji Wenyue, who walked out of the stone chamber, were a bit downcast.

"It's normal that the first enlightenment didn't succeed! Just try again tomorrow," Xia Daoming comforted them upon seeing this.

"Husband, how many times did you succeed in enlightenment?" Ji Wenyue asked curiously, feeling a bit better.

"Five times!" Xia Daoming replied honestly.

"Does it take as many as five times?" Ji Wenyue and Liu Qiaolian were both a bit surprised.

"I suppose so, after all, I'm not young anymore!" Xia Daoming didn't know if this number was high or low, but he didn't want to lose face in front of his beloved wives, so he said immediately.

"Then I am the same age as Master, and even Master took five times, so I must need more," Liu Qiaolian's mood became a bit heavy.

Although Xia Daoming didn't want his two beautiful wives to have too much psychological burden and deliberately didn't tell them the true price of the Tong Ling Tongxuan Xuanguo, both of them knew clearly that this fruit must be expensive.

"That's not necessarily true. Martial arts is martial arts, and Qi Refining is Qi Refining; just like formations and alchemy, when they reach your and Wenyue's hands, you understand them at a glance, but it's very difficult for me, so you don't have to belittle yourself!" Xia Daoming said solemnly.

"Yes, Master, this concubine understands," Liu Qiaolian bowed, but her mood remained somewhat heavy.

"Go and ponder the formations, this will make you feel relaxed," Xia Daoming smiled upon seeing this.

"Hmm," Liu Qiaolian nodded.

"I'll go and fiddle with my medicinal herbs," Ji Wenyue said.

Soon, Liu Qiaolian and Ji Wenyue, one sitting quietly on a rattan chair by the medicinal garden, holding a scroll in her hand, smelling the faint medicinal fragrance, gradually immersed in the world of formations, while the other crouched in the medicinal garden, looking at this medicinal herb for a while, touching that medicinal herb for a while, her watery eyes occasionally revealing a look of thought.

Seeing this, Xia Daoming felt that the years were quiet, and his heart was filled with indescribable satisfaction, relaxation, and joy.

Soon, he felt that his meridians had recovered, so he went to sit cross-legged by the spring and operated the "Azure Bi Bi Mu Chang Qing Technique."

This was the benefit of a strong spiritual sense.

If it were someone who had just entered the Immortal Sect, under normal circumstances, when operating the cultivation technique, the meridians could still bear it, but the brain would soon feel heavy and painful, and they could only stop and turn to meditation to let the brain gain peace and rest.

And Xia Daoming's only problem now was the burden on his meridians.

The next day.

Liu Qiaolian and Ji Wenyue continued to take the Tong Ling Tongxuan Xuanguo.

Xia Daoming continued to sit cross-legged by the spring to cultivate.

About half an hour later, Ji Wenyue rushed out excitedly and threw herself into the arms of Xia Daoming, who had already stood up.

"Husband, I feel the existence of the extraordinary meridians and the Middle Dantian!"

"Really, so fast? You've only taken the second one!"

"Hmm, not only do I feel the existence of the extraordinary meridians and the Middle Dantian, but I feel my blood energy and strength are more condensed and powerful, and I seem to have gained a bit more insight into the Grandmaster path of the 'Bai Hu Technique'; the Grandmaster path should be coming soon too!" Ji Wenyue said happily.

"My Wenyue is too amazing!" Xia Daoming was so happy that his two hands holding Ji Wenyue started to become restless.

As for Ji Wenyue saying that her blood energy and strength had become more condensed and powerful, and even gaining insight into the Grandmaster path, Xia Daoming was not surprised at all.

The Tong Ling Tongxuan Xuanguo, the two words "Tong Ling," inherently meant helping people clear their hearts and comprehend the Dao, and one Tong Ling Tongxuan Xuanguo was worth more than a thousand spirit stones, enough to be worth the entire net worth of an eighth or ninth-layer Qi Refining cultivator.

With such a high price, it was normal to incidentally improve some martial arts cultivation.

"Husband, don't, Sister Qiaolian hasn't come out yet!" Ji Wenyue twisted her body, blushing as she grabbed Xia Daoming's devilish claws.

"Yue'er is still the most thoughtful," Xia Daoming nodded and became well-behaved.

Not long after, Liu Qiaolian walked out.

"It's okay, this is only the second one," Xia Daoming said with a smile, stepping forward to gently hug her as soon as he saw Liu Qiaolian's expression and knew she had failed this time.

"Master, I'm fine," Liu Qiaolian leaned gently against Xia Daoming, feeling his warm and powerful arms, and her originally downcast and frustrated mood soon flew away.

PS: Today is still two chapters merged, over six thousand words, update completed. Transitional chapters are the most torturous to write, I can only write them steadily. The monthly ticket has been squeezed out of the top ten of the new book monthly ticket list, the gap is not big, but I know the book friends have tried their best, and I have also tried my best, so I won't ask for tickets today, haha, I wish everyone a happy weekend.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 169 =====