Chapter 57: Qi's Slumber, Di Jun's Speculation

You've refined how many primordial spiritual treasures already, and you've even come out of seclusion?

Taiyi, have you succeeded in refining the Chaos Bell?

Qi saw Taiyi and Nüwa appear in Cloud Dream Marsh, feeling curious, because according to his reckoning, the two of them should not have even completed half yet.

Hearing that, Taiyi and Nüwa's faces darkened.

Don't say such a mood‑killing thing at this happy moment, alright? Qi, you'll get gang‑beaten if you keep talking like that!

Nüwa grumbled resentfully.

Taiyi shook his head; refining the Chaos Bell was extremely difficult, as if something were blocking him.

Clearly he felt his cultivation should support the refinement, yet he overestimated himself and underestimated the difficulty of refining a primordial supreme treasure.

No, I've only refined twenty percent of the spiritual treasure's seal; the rest won't budge, but I can still exert considerable power. Want to give it a try, Qi?

At this moment Taiyi still really wanted to spar with Qi, and he also wanted to see how Qi's strength compared to his own now, since he felt he had grown much stronger but had nothing to compare against.

Qi directly refused; he had been away from home for a long time, just returned to Cloud Dream Marsh, and he didn't want to get beaten.

Even the slight power the Chaos Bell initially displayed could already hurt him, let alone now that Taiyi has refined it to twenty percent.

Getting beaten is something better left to Di Jun; Qi just won't join in the fun.

What Qi didn't know was that Taiyi, Fuxi, Di Jun, and Nüwa had already fought each other, with Taiyi taking on three opponents, and the scene was extremely brutal.

The three of them were almost beaten into submission by Taiyi; any defense shattered on contact, and their attacks could barely move.

Qi at least still had the Twelve‑Grade Primordial Purifying White Lotus, which could withstand part of the attacks, while Nüwa and the others would be miserable.

Even Nüwa's best defensive treasure, the Lotus Lantern, couldn't withstand a few strikes from Taiyi; its protective spiritual light shattered directly, and the candlelight dimmed.

The gap was even larger than before the refinement.

Anyway, after the defense of Qi's Twelve‑Grade Primordial Purifying White Lotus was broken, he decided that unless his cultivation pulled ahead, he would absolutely not fight Taiyi again.

Who in their right mind runs around looking to get beaten every day! Qi isn't Di Jun.

I'll go get some sleep first, restore my spirit, and see after I wake up.

Qi changed the subject, first avoiding Taiyi's gaze.

He was indeed exhausted; during this period of wandering the Primordial Wilderness, to keep expounding the Dao, his mind and spirit remained tense without relief.

Qi needed rest, so he went to sleep.

This is a way of restoring mind and spirit that no seated meditation can match.

Seated meditation can quickly restore mind‑spirit loss, but only when the loss is minor; that is the proper use of seated meditation,

One cannot forcibly act against the body's will, or else one will only harm oneself.

At any time, sleep is the true recovery without side effects.

Di Jun and the others also knew Qi's recent exhaustion, didn't fuss over it, and let him be.

The Twelve‑Grade Primordial Purifying White Lotus stood in the water; Qi stretched out his body, eyes half‑closed on the lotus platform, legs bent, one leg resting on the other.

His ankles turned loosely, hands rested on his abdomen, his whole body relaxed, and he drifted into deep sleep.

Di Jun and Fuxi were playing chess in the pavilion by the pond.

Now only those two are willing to play chess together; Qi is sleeping, and Nüwa would take back her moves.

As for Taiyi, he's not good at this, and the two fear he'd become angry if embarrassed.

Di Jun's chess style is bold and expansive, seeing the whole board at once; he knows when to sacrifice pieces without hesitation, winning by overall position, yet he always loses out on small details.

Fuxi's chess style is delicate and subtle, silently nourishing the position; he constantly makes small breakthroughs in local areas, bit by bit, yet he is somewhat indecisive and hesitant at crucial moments.

Each of his victories comes from accumulating advantage in local areas, then gradually turning it into a winning position; if there's a setback in between, it's very hard to reverse.

Qi, on the other hand, always has a clever move; his skill varies with his mood—sometimes he squanders a great advantage, sometimes he manages to survive from a desperate situation.

Each has strengths and weaknesses, and their interactions are likewise.

Over these years with Qi as the leader, all of them have made great progress, whether in cultivation or in Dao, they have improved greatly.

But they also often actively enter dangerous places and fall into perilous situations.

Qi also felt this, so when he went out alone, he was full of enthusiasm, yet he also wanted to change the team's command staff.

At that time Fuxi was holding down Cloud Dream Marsh, Di Jun arrived later, and Qi shifted the team's core to Fuxi, letting Fuxi lead the team and entertain everyone.

During the period Qi was away, Fuxi did well; Cloud Dream Marsh's development far surpassed before, and everyone's strength steadily improved.

Unfortunately, he couldn't win everyone's conviction; although no one objected to his leadership, he failed to establish his own authority.

Even he himself didn't realize why Qi had gone out.

Di Jun had a hint of suspicion, but dared not be certain, and he didn't think the team would be better under Fuxi's leadership than under Qi's.

So he didn't express any of his suspicions, merely not opposing Fuxi's proposal.

Although the two were playing chess, Fuxi was thinking about how to win the position, while Di Jun was thinking about what major events would happen after Qi's return.

This was also evident in the game, with Di Jun losing repeatedly.

You got something on your mind today?

Fuxi asked curiously.

Not really, just wondering what big thing Qi accomplished by going out, and what trouble might come knocking next.

Di Jun didn't pay attention to Fuxi's question; what he had just thought about was indeed these.

Given Qi's personality, he probably wouldn't just quietly settle down like that, and life these past years has indeed become a bit boring.

Fuxi said with a smile.

He had no particular thoughts about Qi's return; he was just happy for Qi.

After all, as long as Qi is around, life will always have lots of fun, full of uncertainty, rather than being unchanging and letting time pass by routine.

Yeah, although Qi has returned, there should still be some earth‑shattering big events that will happen along with him.

After all, Qi has never been one to stay put.

Di Jun felt a sense of wonder, his tone full of anticipation; he also wondered what his life would become later.

Since he met Qi with Taiyi, his life underwent tremendous changes; facing these changes, Di Jun finally felt life was not so boring.

One could say that Di Jun and Taiyi follow Qi across the Honghuang Continent continuously, and this is also because such unknown future changes are too alluring for them.

Fuxi and Nüwa are actually the same; they just haven't realized it.

At this moment Qi is still asleep, Taiyi is studying his new magical abilities, and Nüwa, looking at the unrefined spiritual treasures, has the idea of sending them all away.

PS: Chapter 1, around 10:30 there will also be Chapter 2; everyone can comment, and in the future should we post after writing like this or release at a unified time together?

Because I'll be busy for the next couple of days, I'm asking everyone's opinion here.

Please vote and show support!

(End of chapter)