< Chapter 39: Innate Talent and Qualities >
Meng Chong was astonished. “Huh?”
Fei Si narrowed his eyes into slits. “You’re implying something. What do you mean? Did you summon those three demon cultivators here?”
“Rubbish!” Sun Lie cursed directly. “You’re thinking too much, you know?”
He shifted his gaze to Meng Chong. “Don’t you find it strange?”
Meng Chong paused, then suddenly slapped his forehead. “Oh, right! Master Sun, you once said that I shouldn’t leave the Ziyang Furnace at will. Otherwise, with the reduction in external pressure and lack of herbal supplements, my essence, qi, and spirit would drain wildly, and I would end up a wreck.”
“But now I’ve clearly run out and stopped the alchemy, yet there’s no wild draining.”
Sun Lie then laughed. “Of course, I was deceiving you.”
Meng Chong exclaimed, “Huh?”
Sun Lie continued, “The art of Human Pills is a demonic cultivation method. How could I, a righteous cultivator, practice such a thing?”
Meng Chong exclaimed again, “Huh?”
Sun Lie revealed, “The true dispersal of power must start from you. You possess extraordinary talents rare in the cultivation world. That’s the best key.”
Meng Chong asked, “Are you referring to my ‘Wild Sprint Thunderclap’?”
Sun Lie nodded. “Exactly.”
“The ‘Wild Sprint Thunderclap’ is a superior immortal talent, one in a million among cultivators, extraordinary!”
“However, I’ve found that you haven’t truly mastered this talent. It’s such a pity, like a precious medicine hidden within, possessing exceptional medicinal properties but not being utilized, truly a waste of heaven’s gifts!”
“As long as you truly unleash this talent, you’ll be able to dissipate your power quickly. Half a day might not be enough, but a day will definitely suffice.”
“So, I set this trap to force you into a desperate situation.”
“In this desperate situation, if you can devote yourself wholeheartedly, without any distractions, abandoning everything and fearlessly charging forward, you will be able to awaken your exceptional talent!”
Meng Chong: “Ah?”
The young genius blinked several times, then suddenly thought of something and said directly, “So, Master Sun, you were just joking when you had me apply honey and cumin? Was that really just a joke?”
Sun Lie slapped his thigh and laughed loudly, “Of course, I didn’t lie to you!”
Fei Si frowned: “Young Master Meng Chong is a superior immortal talent, the city lord’s own grandson. How could you treat him as food to roast? And setting a trap? Why are you so sure that this act would awaken his immortal talent?”
Sun Lie glanced at Fei Si and rebuked, “Are you a grandmaster alchemist? What do you know?”
“All things under heaven can be considered as ingredients.”
“The same is true for people. In people, human nature is the medicinal property. As long as human nature is fully stimulated, it is like activating the medicinal properties.”
“In the path of demons, when humans are used for concocting medicine, they are usually tormented greatly, filling their hearts with pain, hatred, anger, and sorrow. This is also to stimulate the medicinal properties.”
After explaining, Sun Lie asked Meng Chong again, “Have you ever thought about why your immortal talent is specifically the ‘Wild Sprint Thunderclap’?”
Meng Chong: “Ah?”
Sun Lie shook his head, “You might think it’s just luck. But it’s not! Immortal talent isn’t just about being favored by heaven and earth, it’s closely related to the cultivator’s own nature.”
“It’s precisely because you are naturally brave and fearless, despise complexity and prefer simplicity, and are straightforward, that you have such talent.”
“Immortal talent and innate nature actually correspond and complement each other.”
“Therefore, as long as we fully stimulate your innate nature, and supplement it with some alchemical methods, we can awaken your immortal talent.”
“The ingredients in that alchemy furnace were carefully prepared by me, not useless at all.”
Fei Si narrowed his eyes, a glint of understanding flashing within as he listened; he realized and guessed Sun Lie’s strategy.
Sun Lie looked at Meng Chong, “Putting you into the Ziyang Furnace, using the human pill refinement method, and applying honey and cumin were all just a facade.”
“My original plan was to pretend to be drunk and asleep during the refinement process, subjecting you to prolonged baking. This was to make you believe you were in a desperate situation.”
“This was to force you, to stimulate your innate nature.”
“Once you broke out of the alchemy furnace, disregarding the threats I had made before, and overturning the oppression I had created for you, your innate nature would erupt.”
“When your innate nature erupts, it naturally brings out your immortal talent, which is the ‘Wild Sprint Thunderclap’!”
Sun Lie sighed deeply after explaining.
“In times of crisis, true courage is shown; in life and death, true colors are revealed.”
“To see what someone’s true nature is like, look at their choices and performance at critical moments like these.”
Meng Chong responded, “So that’s how it is.”
He had an epiphany. Previously, his talent of Wild Sprint Thunderclap was intermittent.
“I just wanted to kill that demon cultivator! At the crucial moment, the Wild Sprint Thunderclap erupted, which was a pleasant surprise and felt quite lucky.”
“I didn’t expect that it was all thanks to you, Elder Sun!”
Sun Lie smiled gently, “I hadn’t anticipated that a demon cultivator would launch a sudden attack on the Ziyang Courtyard.”
“At that time, my life was hanging by a thread, and it was you who, disregarding your own safety, broke out of the alchemy furnace to rescue me.”
“I remember this favor, lad!” Sun Lie gave Meng Chong a thumbs up.
Through this event, he grew quite fond of Meng Chong.
Meng Chong puffed out his chest and proudly declared, “My surname is Meng, and my family is a top clan in the Southern Dou Immortal Country. How could I possibly shrink back in battle? How could I just watch as a comrade was slain?”
“To be honest, I didn’t think too much about it. All your previous instructions, Elder Sun, I had thrown them out of my mind.”
“At that moment, my heart was filled with anger, and I just wanted to blast that demon cultivator into dust, so I charged out.”
Sun Lie praised, “This is exactly the stimulation of one’s innate nature.”
“In my view, Meng Chong, with such superior immortal talent, you don’t need to compete for any mechanical inheritance. Cultivation has many arts, and the art of mechanisms simply isn’t suited for you.”
“The technique that suits you is one that allows you to charge forth freely and unrestrainedly,” said Sun Lie.
Fei Si coughed and quickly interrupted Sun Lie’s speech.
Sun Lie was criticizing the city lord’s decisions, and as a subordinate, Fei Si naturally had to defend him.
Fei Si said, “The senior of the three sects is a great power at the level of refining the void. His traveling palace is not just one. However, the Lava Immortal Palace is part of Puppet Immortal City, which inherits mechanical arts.”
“In fact, according to the intelligence collected and calculations made by the city lord, the heritage in the Lava Immortal Palace, although primarily based on mechanical techniques, is not just limited to these.”
“The elder of the three sects, by virtue of his own extraordinary encounters, cultivated three paths simultaneously, a rarity in this world. It is said that in his later years, he created a marvelous method of cultivating all three paths simultaneously, and the Lava Immortal Palace was arranged by him during those later years.”
“The Qi Regulation Art of the Five Elements, transmitted by the transmission bell, though unfinished, is a Taoist technique, yet it also carries the nuances of Buddhist and Demonic schools. After studying the techniques, the city lord speculated that there might be two other techniques that complement it, corresponding to the other two dantians.”
“What do you think, if one were to cultivate using the marvelous methods of the three sects, undertaking foundation building, how profound would the foundation of such cultivation be? Tell me, how many foundation-building methods in the world involve the simultaneous cultivation of three dantians?”