Chapter 2624

Hong Changqing saw Ye Chen about to leave and instinctively pleaded: "Master Ye... please don't rush off, Master Ye! I truly realize my mistake, so please give me another chance to reform!"

Ye Chen smiled: "What you're saying—what's wrong with following the ancestral master's orders? Don't deny yourself or belittle yourself; I have other matters, I'll go first, we'll talk later."

How could Hong Changqing dare let Ye Chen just walk away? If Ye Chen really turned hostile and refused to acknowledge him, wouldn't his four meridians be ruined?

So he could only clutch the car door, sniffling and tearful: "Master Ye, cultivation is no easy feat! Please, seeing my sincere attitude of admitting fault, grant me another chance..."

Ye Chen gave a faint smile: "Sorry, I really can't, but it's just four meridians—go back and cultivate in seclusion, and in thirty or fifty years you'll reopen them."

Hong Changqing choked up: "Master Ye, in my current state, how could I possibly have thirty or fifty years left to live?"

Ye Chen didn't want to waste more words, his face stern: "Hong Tianshi, close my car door—I'm leaving, thank you!"

As he spoke, he diverted a bit of spiritual energy into Hong Changqing's mind; Hong Changqing instinctively shut the car door, and before he could come to his senses, Ye Chen pressed the accelerator and drove off.

After Ye Chen left, Hong Changqing finally came to his senses and shouted loudly behind him: "Master Ye! Master Ye, you can't abandon me here, Master Ye!"

Ye Chen paid no heed to his words; in the blink of an eye, both man and vehicle had vanished from sight.

Hong Changqing chased after him for several hundred meters but couldn't catch up; seeing Ye Chen's car drive onto the elevated highway toward the suburbs, he collapsed utterly, sitting on the ground in tears: "Master Ye, I was also a friend of your grandmother—I might as well be considered your elder half-relations—how can you treat me like this?"

But Ye Chen had no intention of listening to his cries; he had already sped all the way toward the Xiangxieli Hot Springs.

Actually, according to Ye Chen's plan, he would have Hong Changqing serve as a teaching master at Xiangxieli Hot Springs, while he himself would help perfect or even create a new martial arts mind method for his sect, so Hong Changqing could properly teach the He family and the promising young martial artists of Wanlong Hall—if he did well, Ye Chen would certainly not mistreat him, and in no time would surely help him break through the Obscure Realm to become an Obscure Realm master.

But he hadn't expected this old man to harbor so many petty schemes; aside from whether his reluctance to reveal the sect's mind method stemmed from principle, his attitude as a two-surname household slave alone made him utterly unworthy of being relied upon.

Therefore, in Ye Chen's view, dealing with him required first utterly subduing him in one go; otherwise, those little schemes in his heart would persist and eventually become an unstable factor.

Sealing his four meridians with spiritual energy was, for Ye Chen, as easy as turning over one's hand—meridians, though troublesome to unblock, are remarkably easy to block.

It's like digging a ten-kilometer tunnel: to make it operational requires immense effort, with both labor and material input reaching astronomical figures.

But to render an already operational ten-kilometer tunnel impassable? Just dump a cartload of earth at the entrance, and the problem is solved.

Moreover, the interesting part is that Ye Chen blocked his meridians using spiritual energy—though only a minuscule amount—yet Hong Changqing's body contains no spiritual energy at all; to him, spiritual energy is a dimensional strike, against which he has no defense.

Earlier, Ye Chen had misled him, saying he could break through in thirty or fifty years—actually, it was just to amuse himself; truly letting him retreat and cultivate, even a hundred years wouldn't suffice to break through even a single meridian.

One could say that Ye Chen's tiny bit of spiritual energy had already completely sealed Hong Changqing's martial future.

This isn't as simple as returning overnight to thirty years ago—it's directly locking him in that state from thirty years past.

At this moment, Hong Changqing still didn't understand what it meant for Ye Chen to have sealed his meridians; he only knew he absolutely couldn't just slink away like this. 【Text corrupted: "Reading book"】

At one point, he considered calling Ye Chen's grandmother to have her come help judge the matter.

But after turning the thought over, he suddenly felt he absolutely must not act so impulsively.

Because Ye Chen had previously instructed him not to reveal his identity to his grandmother; if he knowingly violated that, once he truly angered Ye Chen, not only would his four meridians be sealed, but he might even be killed by him.

The dejected Hong Changqing, after thinking it over, still felt he must find a way to earn Ye Chen's forgiveness—only then could he possibly regain his original cultivation.

Thus, recalling Ye Chen's earlier words about taking him to Xiangxieli Hot Springs, he immediately stood up and hailed a taxi by the roadside.

The taxi driver, seeing for the first time an old man dressed as a Daoist, and noting Hong Changqing indeed had an air of immortal grace, asked respectfully upon his boarding: "Daoist sir, where are you headed?"

Hong Changqing said: "I'm going to Xiangxieli Hot Springs."

"Going to soak in hot springs?" The driver wondered aloud, puzzled as to why an old Daoist would go to a hot spring hotel.

Before Hong Changqing could speak, the driver recalled something and casually said: "By the way, Daoist, Xiangxieli Hot Springs Hotel has already closed for business—it's said to be upgrading and renovating, with no set reopening date; I've taken several groups there these past days, all to no avail; if you want to soak, I can recommend another place."

Hong Changqing shook his head: "I'm not going to soak in hot springs—I'm looking for someone on business."

"Oh, no wonder!" The driver chuckled: "I just knew—you Daoist types like you are clearly devoted to the Dao, with no leisure time for hot springs."

As he spoke, he asked again: "Daoist, which Daoist temple do you usually cultivate at? My mother is a devoted follower of the Daoist faith and often goes to the Tianhou Palace to burn incense."

Hong Changqing nodded and said: "I'm not based in Jin Ling; I came from America, and my Daoist temple is also in America."

"America?" The driver exclaimed, face full of surprise: "Daoist, isn't Daoism ours, from Huaxia? How come there are Daoist temples in America too?"

Hong Changqing gave him a sideways glance and asked: "Does Huaxia have no churches?"

"There are..." The driver chuckled, then said: "Now I understand—you must have come from Huaxia to America years ago to spread the faith, right?"

Hong Changqing's expression turned awkward, and he forced a smile: "I've spent my whole life immersed in cultivation—I've never preached, nor established a Daoist path."

The driver gave him a thumbs-up, praising: "Just looking at you, I feel we're fated to meet—you look like a genuine Daoist at first glance, certainly not one of those deceitful charlatans!"

Hong Changqing ignored him, instead gazing blankly out the window, recalling the hardships and difficulties of his years of painstaking cultivation in America, then thinking of his advanced age, having traveled ten thousand miles to Huaxia in search of opportunity—who would have thought that this joyful matter, after just a couple of days, would leave him reduced to a four-star martial artist?

The more he thought this way, the more wronged he felt, and tears welled up uncontrollably.

Seeing this, the driver quickly asked: "Daoist, why are you crying? Has someone bullied you?"