Chapter 84 - 58 [Gui Geng Returns to His Place]
Chapter 58 [Gui Geng’s Return]
In the evening, after dinner, Chen Yan asked Gui Geng to check each piece of bluestone in the Spirit Gathering Array in the courtyard with a flashlight.
Then he took out the batch of White Jade Tokens that had arrived in the afternoon—the stingy boss finally showed some conscience. He had ordered a hundred pieces, but this time, he received 120 pieces, with the extra ones as a bonus from the boss.
Chen Yan casually took out a few pieces and injected Primordial Qi into them, then handed them to Gui Geng.
"You’re responsible for placing them in the array eyes—each Jade Token can keep the array running for two hours. You need to change the batteries every two hours, understood?"
"..." (Don’t I ever get to sleep?!)
Gui Geng obediently agreed, but Chen Yan felt that this guy was looking at him with a somewhat odd expression.
(Is this the thing that made me run back and forth for days?!)
After placing the homemade magical artifact in the array eye, the Spirit Gathering Array that had been inactive for several days was reactivated.
As strands of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi were gathered into the villa courtyard, Chen Yan couldn’t help but take a deep breath, feeling the increasingly dense Primordial Qi in the air, and turned to go back inside.
As soon as he entered the door, he saw Gu Qingyi leaning against the wall with her arms folded, looking at him.
"Young Lady Gu, forgive the humble setup here. Lacking good materials, I could only manage to create this homemade Spirit Gathering Array."
Gu Qingyi was stunned for a moment and then seemed to understand the term "homemade," shaking her head, she said, "This Spirit Gathering Array is well made. I’ve seen the array runes—your spells must be personally taught by the Lord Venerable. In a world where Primordial Qi is scarce, it’s impressive for someone your age to cultivate to this level at twenty-two."
Chen Yan raised an eyebrow... Counting everything, I’ve been cultivating for less than a month. Doesn’t that make me a prodigy, a favorite of the Heavenly Dao?
"Actually, using those cheap Jade Tokens as array eyes is a bit of a waste."
"Not a waste, not expensive."
"I mean it’s too troublesome." Gu Qingyi shook her head, "Don’t you know there’s a better way?"
"Hmm?" Chen Yan’s eyes lit up, and he bowed seriously, "Please, enlighten me!"
Gu Qingyi smiled lightly and walked outside, grabbing Gui Geng who was standing by the flowerbed array eye, "Return to your original form!"
"...Yes," Gui Geng didn’t dare to resist and after shaking a few times, he turned into a large tortoise the size of a millstone.
Gu Qingyi frowned, "Too big, smaller."
"..."
The old tortoise in Gu Qingyi’s hand slowly shrank to about the size of a palm and then stopped, "Master, my Tao practice is not enough, I can only shrink to this size."
"That’s fine, it’s enough." Gu Qingyi quickly muttered a spell beside the tortoise’s head, which made the tortoise’s eyes light up instantly.
Gu Qingyi said slowly, "Do you understand?"
"Understood!" The old tortoise was quite excited, "Thank you, Master, for teaching the technique!!"
Gu Qingyi put the tortoise back on the flowerbed. The old tortoise slowly crawled to the array eye, and its head, limbs, and tail all retracted into the shell...
The Primordial Qi in the Spirit Gathering Array suddenly flowed back into the array eye, and the patterns on the tortoise shell flashed with a faint glow, then the glow faded, and countless strands of Primordial Qi were slowly released, flowing to various parts of the villa courtyard.
Gu Qingyi clapped her hands and turned back inside, looking at the wide-eyed Chen Yan.
"What’s wrong?"
"...This works too?"
"Without a proper magical artifact, using it is fine—actually, it’s better than a magical artifact."
Chen Yan said slowly, "Aren’t you afraid of being targeted by animal rights organizations?"
Gu Qingyi didn’t understand Chen Yan’s words but guessed he was complaining and shook her head, "It’s a Demon Cultivator of the Turtle Race, it has to hibernate this season anyway, for several months.
And since the Spirit Gathering Array gathers Primordial Qi, it condenses and then disperses it at the array eye. If it acts as the array eye’s hub, it’s like having Primordial Qi washing over it constantly. It’s greatly beneficial for its cultivation. Besides, I just taught it a method for using Primordial Qi to refine its flesh, sleeping here for three months is faster than cultivating for several years."
Seeing Chen Yan half-understanding, Gu Qingyi continued to explain, "Demon Cultivators aren’t good at spells, except for one or two Talent Divine Techniques, they rely on their robust bodies. The method I taught it for refining its body was taught to me by a Demon Cultivator friend of mine from the Prison Suppression Platform, very suitable for it."
Seeing Chen Yan remain silent, Gu Qingyi frowned, "Do you have any other questions?"
"I was just thinking, the only one who can work at home has been turned into an array eye by you, who will do the cleaning tomorrow?"
Gu Qingyi smiled, cracking her knuckles, "I guess it’s you."
"...Okay, you guessed right." Chen Yan nodded helplessly.
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The three realms of the Mortal Cultivation Tier: Inner Room, Guiyuan, Ascension.
According to Gu Qingyi, Chen Yan’s current realm is Guiyuan Realm, the second realm for Cultivators.
Chen Yan guessed that he reached the second realm mostly by saving Lu Sisi, receiving a large amount of Primordial Qi feedback from the Heavenly Dao (Merit?), which boosted his cultivation.
If he had relied solely on his own cultivation, it would have taken several years.
Gu Qingyi said that the world’s Primordial Qi was thin, so even with a good cultivation technique, the speed was very slow.
And the world’s Heavenly Dao doesn’t allow the existence of beings above the Celestial Human Realm, perhaps partly because of this.
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Gu Qingyi specialized in combat techniques and wasn’t good at spells—though having such a Celestial Human Realm expert around, Chen Yan certainly wouldn’t miss the chance to ask about cultivation issues.
In the evening, Chen Yan asked Gu Qingyi to protect him. He then performed the Primordial Qi Transport Technique in front of her, circulating Primordial Qi to cultivate, asking her about his cultivation problems.
Gu Qingyi only frowned and shook her head, "The cultivation techniques the Lord Venerable left for you are top-notch—I don’t really understand much. The combat techniques of my Gu Family are very different from your cultivation methods. I’m afraid I can’t help you much with your cultivation issues."
Chen Yan was a bit disappointed but heard Gu Qingyi continue, "But since you’ve entered the Guiyuan Realm, I feel your Primordial Qi circulation is still slightly sluggish, seems like you just had a breakthrough. Now, what you need most is diligent cultivation, spending more time transporting Primordial Qi to stabilize your realm."
With bright eyes, Gu Qingyi added, "There is a way, though. You could go to the array eye’s location and lie there with Gui Geng, letting the Primordial Qi wash over your body. If you sleep there for a month, your cultivation will surely increase significantly. But there will be some side effects.
The human body structure is different from Demon Cultivators; this method can refine the body but may significantly alter your physique and appearance. You might end up looking rugged and bulky."
Chen Yan glanced at Young Lady Gu... sleep with that old tortoise for a month?
"Is there another way?" Chen Yan wasn’t afraid of becoming ugly, just didn’t want to be a muscle man.
"Then just spend more time on your cultivation techniques, transporting Primordial Qi, it’s a gentler process compared to directly lying in the array eye..."
Chen Yan sighed.
In summary, to achieve good results, one must put in hard work...
"If you care about your appearance, then you must cultivate slowly." Gu Qingyi shook her head, "There’s no shortcut in cultivation, it’s all about talent and hard work."
After a pause, Young Lady Gu continued, "I started cultivating at five, and reached the Inner Room Realm in one day. Two years later, I reached the Guiyuan Realm, but it took me six years to reach the Ascension Realm at thirteen.
Then, it took another seven years to break into the Extraordinary realm, stepping into the Celestial Human Realm. I spent five years battling on the Prison Suppression Platform, using combat to nourish the spirit before breaking through.
Entering the Celestial Human Realm at twenty made me rank among the top three in my Gu Family lineage."
Chen Yan listened and asked, "At my current cultivation speed, how long would it take to move from the Guiyuan Realm to the Ascension Realm?"
"I took six years in my domain, with my family’s resources.
In this world with scarce Primordial Qi and no cultivation resources, even with top-tier talent and Venerable level techniques, you’ll be lucky to reach the Ascension Realm in twenty years."
Twenty years... Chen Yan pouted, no point worrying about such distant matters for now.
"Alright, I’ll start diligent cultivation today and stabilize the Guiyuan Realm first." Chen Yan checked the time, it was already past twelve o’clock at night, so he stood up, "Let’s go."
"Go, where?" Young Lady Gu was a bit nervous.
"To beat someone up, didn’t we agree on Luo Qing of the Luoyun House?"
Young Lady Gu pretended to be calm, "It’s so late..."
"Doing bad things should be done quietly in the dead of night, not in broad daylight, right?"
Well, he had a point... Young Lady Gu was helpless.
Before leaving, she put on a padded jacket, a hat, and a mask.
Chen Yan scrutinized her, she was almost unrecognizable in this get-up, and couldn’t help but whisper, "Do you have a lot of experience doing bad things? You seem quite skilled at disguising."
Gu Qingyi blushed, luckily covered by the mask, turned her head quickly and said, "Stop talking nonsense, let’s go, you lunatic."
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The two left and arrived at the commercial street where Luoyun House was located.
It was already midnight, the streetlights were dim, with a cold night breeze making the streets empty, not a single soul in sight.
They stood in front of Luoyun House. Seeing the tightly closed shop doors, Chen Yan led Gu Qingyi to the left side of the courtyard wall.
After checking for cameras, they both jumped over the wall.
Chen Yan used the Law Order·Escape Rune Technique, leaping over the wall with ease, but he didn’t catch what method Gu Qingyi used. Just a blur, she was already in the courtyard.
Standing in the dark courtyard, Chen Yan unexpectedly noticed that the west wing had collapsed into a pile of rubble, and even the main hall was partially collapsed, with a hole in the roof.
The courtyard originally had an osmanthus tree, now just a big pit, with the tree lying across the yard.
"...What’s going on?" Chen Yan was dumbfounded.
"Uh... maybe they’re renovating." Gu Qingyi looked away and said softly.
Who renovates their house during the New Year... Chen Yan rolled his eyes.
Seeing no one around, Chen Yan had an idea.
No matter if Luo Qing is renovating, I’ll give him a good "renovation" myself...
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