Chapter 284: Some Ways to Utilize Ning Qing's Cultivation Stage

The night gradually deepened.

In a room in the Eastern Palace, a figure lay on the bed, as if asleep.

Three figures stood by the bedside.

They were the current Yi Emperor, the Dao Head, and Meng Kaiyang, the only remaining Ninth Stage ancestor of the Imperial Family.

People came and went at the doorway; though many entered, they all kept their distance, watching from afar, not daring to approach.

Today, after the military sent Meng Haoran back to Yujing from Yuanzhou, he was delivered directly to the military district hospital. A group of authoritative medical experts had been waiting here, yet after a series of examinations, they only ruled out damage to the body and the Spirit Sea, which basically meant they had found nothing. However, since neither the body nor the Spirit Sea was damaged, yet he remained unconscious, it could only be at the level of the Spirit Soul.

As it concerned the succession of the throne, His Majesty specifically made a call to invite the Dao Head from Yuan'an Temple—both the Buddhist and Daoist sects had deep research into the Spirit Soul, but the Tribulation-Responding Bodhisattva had already gone into seclusion and would not easily descend from the White Tower, so they had no choice but to invite the Dao Head.

At this moment, the Dao Head was whispering: "Brother Cao seeking him out must have been for the Original Fragment, but his injuries are unrelated to the departure of the fragment; they should be related to the method Brother Cao used to extract the fragment from his body. Now, the only way is to take him to Yuan'an Temple for careful nourishment and care; perhaps he can wake up."

"Perhaps?" the Yi Emperor repeated.

"It is hard to say for sure," the Dao Head said. "The probability is about fifty percent."

"Fifty percent..."

"Do not be too pessimistic, Your Majesty. The Grand Ancestor Mark on the little Imperial Grandson has not dissipated, which at least shows that the Grand Ancestor has not yet abandoned him."

"Will it affect his cultivation after he wakes up?" the Yi Emperor asked after a moment of thought. It was somewhat cold to ask this question now, but he had to consider it.

"That is also hard to say," the Dao Head said helplessly. "There are very large differences between individuals, and sometimes these differences are not entirely determined by constitution, but also by ethereal luck. Perhaps if you asked my Tribulation-Responding senior brother, he could give you an answer."

"Many thanks, Dao Head."

"Let the relatives take a look, then send him to Yuan'an Temple."

"That will do."

The number of people standing outside had grown, including both elders of the Imperial Family and brothers and sisters of the same generation. They could only see the backs of the three men and vaguely guess from their movements that they had held a conversation, but they could not hear the voices or know the situation, and they could not help but be anxious.

Not until the three men removed the barrier and stood up to walk out did they hurriedly move and clear a path.

When the Yi Emperor walked to their side, he stopped and said to them: "After you have seen him, all of you go back. Do not be too noisy."

"Yes."

The remaining people then walked forward one after another to look at Meng Haoran on the bed. They had nothing good to do, nor anything they could do. Only Meng Haoran's biological mother and a few younger, emotionally fragile sisters shed tears; the others just took a look, exchanged a few words with each other, and then left one by one.

Meng Chunqiu was still in his traditional attire, his hair having grown a bit longer, but he did not carry a folding fan. He stood quietly by the bed, watching his unconscious older brother, and did not say a single word.

Not long after, the Yi Emperor returned again, his expression already very gloomy.

Dayi had been founded eight hundred years ago, and through its ups and downs, it was not as if it had never suffered such provocations, but in the end, the provocateurs were all sanctioned. Yet now, Cao Ci was completely untraceable under the cover of the Heavenly Human Mirror. This feeling of having the strength but being unable to find the opponent was truly uncomfortable.

And this also concerned the prestige of the Imperial Family.

Currently, Dayi was so powerful that its military alone could at least annihilate several Ninth Stage experts simultaneously. The reason there were few voices in the public opposing the Imperial Family was not only because of the Imperial Family's control over its own positive image, but also related to the dignity the Imperial Family had always maintained.

Having ascended the throne for only a year, things were becoming restless.

"Sigh..."

The Yi Emperor sighed, and his expression softened.

At this moment, keeping a straight face was useless against current events; it was just for his own family to see, and there was truly no need.

"Imperial Ancestor, how is Haoran?"

"His Spirit Soul is damaged, and I do not know if he can wake up. Tomorrow he will go to Yuan'an Temple for quiet recuperation, and I will leave him to the Dao Head. Everyone else go back; do not disturb his peace."

"Yes..."

The Yi Emperor turned and left first.

Those who remained also left one after another.

Meng Chunqiu was exceptionally silent. He stood up and walked outside, breathing in the cold air of the early spring night, but he said nothing, only distancing himself from the crowd and walking alone along the corridor.

He had not gone far when he saw two figures.

One was the Dao Head of the Daoist sect, and the other was the ancestor of the Jin King.

The two were walking and talking, not knowing what they were discussing, and no sound could be heard.

Meng Chunqiu guessed casually that perhaps the ancestor of the Jin King was testing the Dao Head's attitude—if the trail of that Ninth Stage expert were found, and if the Imperial Ancestor ordered the Sect Masters of the major top-tier sects to assist in annihilating that Ninth Stage expert, whether the Dao Head would comply with the oath made on the day of the coronation.

The Imperial Ancestor must also have been troubled by this matter recently.

Meng Chunqiu vaguely saw the ancestor of the Jin King coughing, and he could not help but become even more silent.

The ancestor of the Jin King was not much younger than the Former Emperor. With the former Imperial Family's Cultivation Spiritual Method, he was already very close to Spirit Decay. Last year, he had unfortunately been injured while killing that Ninth Stage expert at Duqin, and now he was likely at the end of his rope.

After the original crown prince died in battle, there was no one left to support the main pillar for the generation after the Former Emperor and the ancestor of the Jin King. Even with all his efforts, the current Majesty had not yet reached the Ninth Stage.

Meng Chunqiu suddenly felt a sense of heaviness.

At this moment, the two people in front stopped.

The Dao Head left the palace from another exit, and the remaining ancestor turned his head to look at him, his figure also vanishing into the darkness.

Meng Chunqiu remembered that this ancestor was also a second son. With his older brother performing extremely well, he was destined to have no connection to the throne, and the resources poured into his cultivation were far from comparable to those of the direct heir. Compared to his brother's brilliant radiance, he was just like he was now, always hidden in the darkness for more than two hundred years, silently cultivating, advancing to the Ninth Stage, and guarding this country and the Imperial Family together with his brother.

How lonely must this be?

Meng Chunqiu stood where he was, not moving his feet for a long time.

Not until his Mobile Phone lit up did he hesitate for a moment, then picked it up.

It was a message from his roommate.

Chen Shu: Brother Meng, the night is deep.

Chen Shu: Why haven't you come back yet?

After sending it, Chen Shu rested his chin on his hand, waiting for his reply.

After a while, he received a reply.

Meng Chunqiu: My apologies, Brother Chen.

Meng Chunqiu: There is an emergency at home; I cannot return today, and it may be a few days before I return.

Chen Shu: Alright.

Chen Shu looked at his Mobile Phone, falling into thought.

It sounds like the group owner's situation isn't looking good.

After hesitating for a moment, he still dismissed the idea of asking Brother Meng about the group owner's situation; he would be able to see it in the group later anyway.

No sooner had the thought arisen than his Mobile Phone began to vibrate.

Chen Shu opened it to take a look—

Just Call Me Luo Huaian: In a coma.

Just Call Me Luo Huaian: Spirit Soul damaged, situation unknown, will be sent to Yuan'an Temple tomorrow for recuperation.

Gate of All Wonders: Sigh...

Grandma Always Says: How do you know?

Green Lamp Ancient Buddha: Amitabha, I think I know who Benefactor Luo is.

Grandma Always Says: Who is it?

Green Lamp Ancient Buddha: Let's not talk about this anymore, I just hope the group owner can wake up safely.

Gate of All Wonders: +1

Qingcai Keke: +1

Immediately following was a string of +1s.

Chen Shu felt quite calm at this moment, without too many ripples in his heart; he had already done his worrying, and it was impossible to worry about him forever—he wasn't Qingqing, after all. What was important for him now was the practice of "Spirit Body" and the improvement of his own cultivation.

Looking at it now, modern Spirit Method is truly much superior to ancient Spirit Method, and the speed of advancement is also clearly much faster.

There were also those with peerless talent in ancient times; if one were to compile statistics on their cultivation speed, it was basically that the more ancient the era, the slower it was, and the closer to modern times, the faster. In Cao Ci's generation, those with the highest talent should have been Cao Ci and the Bodhisattva of the Buddhist Sect who faced the tribulation; the Former Emperor had the advantage of Spirit Method, and all three had very fast cultivation speeds, yet they all reached the Sixth Stage only in their thirties.

Afterwards, upon reaching the High-Tier, cultivation became slower, advancement became more difficult, and there were almost no items that could assist in promotion; every stage was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Take the Bodhisattva who faced the tribulation, for example: reached the Sixth Stage at thirty-eight, promoted to the Seventh Stage at sixty, reached the Eighth Stage at over one hundred, and the Ninth Stage at over two hundred. For each stage, about one-third of the time was spent cultivating to the peak of that stage, and two-thirds of the time was spent stuck at the peak, used for breaking through the Spirit Lock.

But looking at it now—

Chen Shu himself is an exception, as he is already cheating and also consumed an Acceleration Card. The Nameless Person is also an exception; with Genius Disease, one's realm will improve even without cultivation. Zhang Suannai and Qingqing can also be considered to have used Acceleration Cards and Experience Pills, at least helping them erase a large amount of time spent breaking through the Spirit Lock, so they are also set aside for now.

The group owner reached the Sixth Stage at twenty-five.

And looking at the momentum of the group members, at least Green Lamp Ancient Buddha and Gate of All Wonders will definitely be able to promote to the Sixth Stage before the age of thirty.

Even with the factor of talent, modern Spirit Method should take the primary credit.

A group of peerless geniuses, plus modern Spirit Method, plus the Origin Power in the marks, might very quickly catalyze a group of young Eighth or Ninth Stage powerhouses.

"Emmm..."

Chen Shu cast aside distracting thoughts and focused on his cultivation.

For someone like him who has lived a second life, it is truly difficult to find anything to feel afraid of; he just needs to do what he wants to do.

Cultivation ended.

It was still quite early.

Chen Shu took out his Mobile Phone, intending to scroll through some videos to rest his brain, but ended up scrolling to Zhang Suannai again.

"Sigh..."

More than ten days have passed, and he can still scroll to her.

And what "most beautiful Sword Immortal on the highway," like the "most beautiful goddess of the North Sea," posted over and over every day; this official account posts it, then that official account posts it, making one feel both helpless and amused.

By the way, are the citizens nowadays so lacking in understanding of the conduct of Sword Sect Disciples?

Chen Shu felt that these netizens definitely didn't understand Zhang Suannai's true personality; they just saw that she was pretty, had a good figure, dressed in a youthful style, and was still in school, so they imagined her as a lively and lovable genius girl, or a goddess who fit their preferences, which is why they pursued her so fervently. If they truly knew Zhang Suannai, they might be some passerby who had been beaten black and blue by her, and would grind their teeth in hatred at the mere mention of Zhang Suannai.

Chen Shu shook his head and turned off his Mobile Phone directly.

Ling'an Academy, the first day of school.

The three people in the Dormitory all got up very early.

The little girl sat on the sofa, not in a hurry to wash up, letting her sister wash first because her sister had classes in the morning, while she only had classes in the afternoon.

Once her sister had finished tidying up and was ready to leave, she called out to her sister:

"Sister."

Her sister stopped her steps and turned to look at her.

The little girl held the remote control, her tone allowing no refusal: "When you come back at noon, bring me a portion of wolf-tooth potatoes, and I also want a skewer of that long, spiral-shaped Whirlwind Potato Tower, put extra chili powder on it."

Her sister did not answer and walked straight out.

The little girl withdrew her gaze and glanced at the dazed Zhang Suannai beside her, as if she hadn't seen her at all, and turned on the television on her own.

Zhang Suannai, however, couldn't help but ask: "Are you stupid? Aren't you afraid your sister will hit you?"

"She won't."

"Why? Do you have some leverage over her?"

"I won't tell you."

"Tell me, tell me!" Zhang Suannai was so anxious that her whole body felt like ants were crawling on it, "Why are you so bold these past two days? Why is your sister in such a good mood lately?"

"Because she is happy."

"Why is she happy?"

"Because she's in a good mood."

"Tell me! I'll go out and buy you the wolf-tooth potatoes and Whirlwind Potato Tower right now!"

"Really?"

"Really! I swear to the Sword Master!"

"Because of her cultivation recently, my sister's feelings of happiness are amplified; things that would only make her a little happy before now make her very happy." The little girl paused, then added, "So I discovered that as long as I call her sister, or please her a little bit, and then ask her to do something, as long as it isn't too excessive, she won't refuse."

"So, when you call her sister, she actually feels happy?"

"I only just discovered this a few days ago!"

"Is this true or false?"

"What?"

"That her mood is very good and she is easily pleased."

"It's true, last night she bought me a lot of potato chips online!" the little girl said earnestly, "I only gave her one sour candy."

"Is it really that magical?"

"You can try it too, it's so much fun."

"..."

Zhang Suannai still felt it was somewhat bizarre and was unwilling to believe it easily.

By noon, when Ning Qing returned from finishing her class, she actually brought the little girl wolf-tooth potatoes and a Whirlwind Potato Tower, and according to her request, sprinkled the potato tower full of chili powder.

Zhang Suannai fell into deep thought.