Chapter 403: Entering the Qi Pool Again, the Dao Does Not Work

A white petal landed on the tip of Long Qi's nose, causing him to sneeze uncontrollably. Seemingly disturbed from a good sleep, he furrowed his long brows, grumbled in protest for no reason, and then rolled over, intending to sleep a while longer.

"Smack, smack... crunch, crunch..."

A crisp sound came from beside his ear, as if someone were eating nearby. The smacking sound made Long Qi feel incredibly annoyed.

"Hehe..."

It was Lingxiang's laughter, playful and tinged with a hint of amusement, which instantly dispelled Long Qi's impatience.

"Lingxiang!"

Long Qi woke up with a start and hurriedly sat up. He looked around and found himself in the courtyard of Youran Abode. Looking toward the sound, he actually saw Lingxiang lying in a hammock.

However, strangely enough, Long Qi lay back down, pillowing his head with his arms, his face filled with disappointment.

"Why have you summoned me again?"

It turned out that the person was not Lingxiang, but the Longyuan Sword spirit.

The Sword spirit glanced sideways at Long Qi, chewing on a squeaking little snack of her own, her face full of dissatisfaction.

"What do you mean I summoned you? You came here uninvited. Besides, this is your Qi Pool; how could I possibly control it?"

Ah! That's right! This is my own Qi Pool...

Long Qi finally remembered and sighed helplessly.

He didn't want to come here either, but ever since he began practicing the Internal Observation Method with the Old Ancestor, this had been happening more and more frequently.

Long Qi had thought about this for a long time but still couldn't figure out what was going on. Whenever he asked the Old Ancestor, the Old Ancestor would only say, "You will naturally know when the time is right," and would say nothing more.

Time, time, when exactly will the time be right?

Long Qi felt somewhat restless, but he had no idea how to leave this place. Even though he was anxious to see Lingxiang, he was helpless and could only do as before: wait to wake up naturally.

Previously, when he was in Yunmeng Marsh, he had woken up after finding the Innate Qi, but now that the old pear tree was in full bloom, he could no longer come and go as he pleased.

Everything had changed after he took the Ningxiang Pill...

Just as Long Qi was deep in thought, the Sword spirit beside him gulped down the wailing monster-snack in her mouth, licked her fingers, and asked as if on purpose:

"Have you noticed what is different about this courtyard?"

Long Qi rolled his eyes at the question, turned to his side, and faced away from the Sword spirit, acting as if he did not want to pay her any mind.

Every time he came here, the Sword spirit would ask this. Long Qi had explored the inside and outside of this courtyard countless times; other than the old pear tree from Xianyun Abode, nothing had changed.

He didn't know if the Longyuan Sword spirit really wanted to help or was just teasing him. Wouldn't it be better to just say it directly? Why must she speak in riddles?

Long Qi closed his eyes helplessly, thinking that perhaps if he fell asleep here, his physical body might wake up.

A breeze blew past, the old pear tree rustled, and the fragrance filled the entire courtyard. Pear petals flew like snow, scattering onto Long Qi's body as if covering him in a layer of white snow.

If only he could share this peace with Lingxiang, how wonderful that would be...

Long Qi sighed in his heart, and couldn't help but sigh aloud. But just then, the sound of water droplets reached his ears, drip-drop, drip-drop, very rhythmic.

Water droplets?

Where did the water droplets come from?

Long Qi opened his eyes abruptly, but the sound of the water droplets stopped instantly. No matter how he searched, he could not hear a thing.

The sound just now did not seem like an auditory hallucination, so why couldn't he hear it the moment he opened his eyes?

That really is strange...

Forget it, forget it. Why worry about so much? The most important thing now is to wake up quickly.

Long Qi closed his eyes again, and it was at this moment that the sound of water droplets came again. Listening carefully, it seemed to be right by his ear.

"Have you discovered what is different?"

The Sword spirit's voice came at the right moment, yet it seemed to be shrouded in a pool of water along with the dripping sound.

His restless mood gradually calmed down with the dripping sounds. Long Qi closed his eyes and listened intently; the sound of the water droplets became clearer and clearer. He seemed to be able to feel the ripples after each drop of water fell, shimmering as they spread outward.

It was as if even the wind had stopped, and only the water was dripping. At the very moment a drop of water fell, Long Qi opened his eyes abruptly and stood up to look at the two large vats in the courtyard.

Vats?

Long Qi walked toward the vats. The vats were filled with water; it looked full, yet it never overflowed.

When did the water appear in the vats?

In the three years he had been coming to this courtyard countless times, he had never seen so much water in the vats.

What is going on?

Long Qi was about to turn and ask the Sword spirit, but he didn't expect that she had already arrived beside him, standing with her hands behind her back, looking down into the vat.

"Oh! It's already this full!"

"What?" Long Qi did not understand what the Sword spirit meant by this and asked subconsciously.

"What what!" The Sword spirit pouted, "Can't you see it?"

Long Qi could see it, of course, but he did not understand where this water came from or what it represented.

Lingxiang had once said that the Qi Pool is a person's internal realm, and everything within it has a hidden meaning.

"That little girl is truly clever to have thought of such a method." The Sword spirit said these inexplicable words, then lay back down in the hammock and continued eating her snacks.

Long Qi was unhappy. He was very unhappy. One person did things behind his back, and the other spent all day speaking in riddles. Wouldn't it be better to be straightforward?

Looking at Long Qi, whose features were almost scrunched together, the Sword spirit laughed with a look of schadenfreude.

"Alright, alright! You're old enough, don't throw a child's tantrum!"

As the Sword spirit spoke, she pointed at Long Qi and asked: "When you performed Witchcraft before, did you feel that you were unable to do what you wanted, and were you unable to control the Spirit Power within your body?"

Long Qi thought about it; it did seem to be the case, so he nodded.

"And now?" the Sword spirit asked again.

Now?

Now he had learned some Witchcraft, and could even perform techniques like the Heavenly Thunder Divine Fire.

Could it be that the water in this vat is my own Spirit Power?

Seeming to have guessed what Long Qi was thinking, the Sword Spirit smacked her lips, extended a finger, and shook it.

"It's not that simple, but to put it simply, that girl's Ningxiang Pill did indeed help you accumulate more Spirit Power."

As the Sword Spirit spoke, she crossed her legs, completely disregarding the fact that she was currently wearing Lingxiang's appearance; watching this made Long Qi feel somewhat irritated, but he had no choice and could only turn his head away to wait for what came next.

"Your Qi channels were previously unobstructed, yet you didn't know how to draw upon the Spirit Power within them. After that girl placed a restriction on you, the Spirit Power continuously gathered over the long years as you tried to break through this restriction, which is why you are now able to perform Witchcraft."

"Isn't that still Spirit Power!" Long Qi glanced at the Sword Spirit with annoyance.

"Wrong! It is the method."

"Method?" Long Qi was puzzled.

What method?

"That girl used this way to teach you the method of gathering Spirit Power."

The method of gathering Spirit Power?

"Your Spirit Root is heaven-sent, and your Spirit Power is abundant; every time you wield your sword, I can feel it. But you never understood how to conceal your power, so whenever it came to casting spells or performing hand seals, you became a man who couldn't perform."

This...

What kind of explanation is this?

What is meant by a man who couldn't perform?