Chapter 52: Acquired Qi

The spring of this year passed away quietly. As spring departed, the river grew clear and mirrored the sky, and tiny round lotus leaves emerged from the water.

The summer of Sunan Prefecture was particularly more picturesque than the vast Central Plains. A line of egrets soared across the broad, flat paddy fields outside the city, and the melodious chirping of orioles echoed from the lush woods bordering the fields.

Amidst this scenic beauty, Chen Zhian stood by the suburban fields, raising his head to gaze at the distant Tiger Hill.

The two wisps of subtle acquired vital breath on Tiger Hill had already vanished, seemingly claimed and tucked away by someone.

With the Yangsui blade hanging at his waist and his long robes fluttering in the wind, Chen Zhian walked along the narrow path ascending the mountain.

"I wonder if Jiang太平 actually managed to secure that wisp of acquired vital breath," Chen Zhian thought to himself.

Jiang Taiping's cultivation was unquestionably formidable; back in Chu Muye's small courtyard on Dongfeng Street, he had sat right beside Chen Zhian.

Chen Zhian had not even been able to perceive his breathing.

A long, even breath and pore respiration are manifestations of the physical body being as flawless as unpolished jade, constantly nurturing mysterious vital energy.

Beyond that, Jiang Taiping was a Xiezhi Envoy of the Earth tier within the Inspectorate. The Inspectorate boasted numerous powerhouses entrusted with the mandate to oversee the realm. Among them, the constables handling blades and arms were divided into Flying Fish Guards and Xiezhi Envoys, each further split into Heaven, Earth, and Man tiers.

Above them stood the true dignitaries of the Inspectorate.

This showed that the status of an Earth-tier Xiezhi Envoy in the Inspectorate was extraordinary. Without formidable cultivation, one could never wield the Guijin long saber, which symbolized the identity of an Earth-tier Xiezhi Envoy.

"Yet Sifu Gui is even more remarkable, a figure on the Fledgling Tiger Roll. Even though Jiang Taiping is several years older than him and possesses the Inspectorate's unfathomable methods and profound arts, overcoming Sifu Gui can hardly be easy."

Chen Zhian speculated inwardly about the ownership of those two wisps of delicate acquired vital breath.

Beneath Tiger Hill lay a million mu of fertile and bountiful land, which sustained not only Sunan Prefecture but the entire Suwu Prefecture, while several surrounding prefectures frequently procured grain from the foot of Tiger Hill.

Walking through the morning mists, Chen Zhian looked out at the boundless fields as the pungent, fresh scent of soil rushed to his nostrils, refreshing his mind and spirit.

This made Chen Zhian all the more glad that he had chosen to come to Tiger Hill only today.

"One must never be impetuous in all things. Sifu Gui and Jiang Taiping were searching for the acquired vital breath in the mountains these past few days, and there may well have been other powerful beings below the innate realm."

"As a minor cultivator in the True Origin realm, had I rushed in to grab a share of the spoils, I might well have ended up served as a dish and swallowed in secret."

With these thoughts in mind, he slowed his pace even further.

"Clarified-Robe Gentleman! Chen Zhian!"

Just as Chen Zhian was fully enjoying the scenery at the foot of Tiger Hill, he suddenly heard several loud shouts.

Turning his head, Chen Zhian saw a figure several fields away wearing a straw hat and with trouser legs rolled up, looking precisely like an aged farmer, waving vigorously at him from afar.

Looking closer, Chen Zhian realized to his astonishment that this farmer-like figure was none other than Jiang Taiping.

At this moment, Jiang Taiping had shed the official flying-fish robe of a Xiezhi Envoy, and the Guijin long saber was no longer at his waist. Instead, he was holding a few stalks of scallions, grinning broadly at Chen Zhian.

"What on earth is he doing?"

Chen Zhian was utterly baffled, but Jiang Taiping had already started walking toward him.

Chen Zhian stood by the edge of the field, his expression calm and a smile still lingering on his face.

"Clarified-Robe Gentleman, are you heading up Tiger Hill to hunt fierce beasts and put your learning to the test?"

Jiang Taiping removed the straw hat from his head as he spoke in a loud voice.

Chen Zhian nodded nonchalantly and asked in return, "Inspector Jiang, are you here... planting scallions?"

Jiang Taiping walked with extraordinary speed. In just a dozen breaths, he crossed several fields and arrived right in front of Chen Zhian.

"I suffered some injuries during my trip up Tiger Hill, and having grown accustomed to the leisurely days in Sunan Prefecture, I simply found a farming family, volunteered to plant summer scallions for them, and let them provide me with a few meals in return."

Jiang Taiping replied with a smile, though no sooner had he finished speaking than he broke into a violent fit of coughing, as if he meant to cough up his very lungs.

"You're injured?" Chen Zhian asked. "You said back in Lord Chu's courtyard that you were going to seize that acquired vital breath. Did you succeed?"

Jiang Taiping smoothed his breath, nodded, and smiled, "I did seize a wisp of acquired vital breath, and the price was taking a slash from Sifu Gui. Had it not been for the Xiezhi official robe I wore, I'm afraid my intestines would have been carved right out."

"Sifu Gui truly deserves his reputation as a figure on the Fledgling Tiger Roll. At merely twenty-one years of age, he has already attained the unpolished jade realm, just a hair's breadth away from the consummate realm of jade-as-divine. Coupled with his noble family heritage, his strength is indeed extraordinary."

"Though I have the advantage of age, and my cultivation realm is no lower than his, having experienced countless fierce battles besides, I still found myself unable to defeat him."

Chen Zhian was about to speak.

However, Jiang Taiping suddenly chuckled. "Yet he did not come away unscathed either. His treasured blade is currently being tempered and forged in Xuantian Capital and was not brought along. While my Guijin long saber is merely standard-issue for the Inspectorate, it was commissioned by the former emperor and crafted by the master artisans of the Inspectorate, rendering it no less inferior to a six-thousand-forged weapon."

"Lending strength to the might of the Guijin saber, I managed to land a cut on him as well. Though not a grievous wound, it left him in an utterly wretched state, and the blade in his hand was snapped in two by the Guijin. I suppose I can consider myself lucky to have obtained a wisp of acquired vital breath."

"Had Sifu Gui actually brought his treasured 'Dipper' saber, I would never have been able to get my hands on this wisp of acquired vital breath."

Jiang Taiping spoke in meticulous detail, seemingly holding nothing back from Chen Zhian.

"Does the 'Dipper' saber in Sifu Gui's hands truly possess such formidable might?" Chen Zhian asked, a gleam of light in his eyes.

"An eight-thousand-forged treasured blade is naturally extraordinary. Not every innate expert who wields a blade possesses an eight-thousand-forged treasure... And now that Sifu Gui has commissioned famous master artisans to reforge it, I fear it is about to reach nine thousand refines."

The light in Chen Zhian's eyes grew intense as he lowered his head in thought, wondering what he was contemplating.

"Today is indeed a fine day for hunting fierce beasts on Tiger Hill. The sunlight is vibrant and all living things are reviving; you've certainly chosen a good time." Jiang Taiping squinted toward Tiger Hill, his expression utterly relaxed. "It's just a pity that I cannot circulate my true origin at the moment, otherwise I would have accompanied you."

Chen Zhian looked him up and down, growing increasingly convinced that this Inspectorate Xiezhi Envoy was a truly fascinating character.

At this moment, covered in mud from head to toe, holding a few stalks of summer scallions, and occasionally swatting away surrounding mosquitoes, he bore not the slightest resemblance to a fierce Xiezhi Envoy.

"Inspector Jiang, an acquired vital breath is so precious, yet you've told me everything and even admitted you're severely wounded. Aren't you afraid I might harbor malicious intentions?" Chen Zhian teased.

Jiang Taiping laughed heartily. "You might find it hard to believe, but I possess a peculiar ability: by reading a person's physiognomy, I can tell whether they are righteous or evil."

"In my dealings with people, I rely on this strange talent to tell people what they want to hear and ghosts what they want to hear."

"Clarified-Robe Gentleman, since I have treated you with sincerity today, surely you wouldn't draw your sword to kill me and plunder my treasure."

"Only a fool would believe that," Chen Zhian muttered inwardly. Anyone capable of rising to become an Earth-tier Xiezhi Envoy in the Inspectorate could never be underestimated, and a single word from their mouths was never to be trusted, or one would not be far from death.

Yet Chen Zhian had no enmity or grievance with Jiang Taiping, and indeed had no intention of seizing the acquired vital breath he had traded his life for.

"Why take such risks? There are better ones on Tiger Hill."

Chen Zhian bid farewell to Jiang Taiping.

Jiang Taiping turned back to planting his summer scallions.

"I never imagined Inspector Jiang would possess such leisurely sentiments."

"After running about for too long, being able to rest briefly in a farmhouse before Lord Chu returns to the capital is a splendid life to me."

"Keep no idle matters weighing on your mind; that makes every day a good season in the mortal world."

"Chen Zhian, you must cherish your days in Sunan Prefecture. Once you go to Xuantian Capital and lay eyes upon the vortex that swallows flesh and bone, peace and comfort will be no more."

Chen Zhian thought there was a deeper meaning to Jiang Taiping's words, but seeing him scurry off to plant summer scallions once more, he decided the man was carefree, finding joy amidst toil—a truly wonderful eccentric.

With such reflections, he ascended Tiger Hill.

Tiger Hill was vast. Upon entering the mountain, Chen Zhian circulated his white-jade true origin, causing the rich, thick true origin to flow endlessly. The great sinews in his legs bulged as he sprinted through the dense mountain forests and wilderness.

He made sure not to cause too much commotion.

"There are mighty experts who soar through the skies, and true dragons in the clouds; I fear this world also harbors monsters and evil spirits. Carelessness is out of the question."

The clear mirror-like radiance flickered in Chen Zhian's eyes from time to time, guiding him all the way toward a certain mountain peak.

Miraculously, a waterfall cascaded down the towering peak, looking from afar like a white rainbow drinking from a mountain stream, or a jade dragon descending the mountain—a magnificent and wondrous sight.

Chen Zhian stripped off his outer garments and plunged straight into the rushing water beneath the waterfall, shortly pulling out a white stone from the riverbed.

This stone was about the length of an index finger, thick at one end and extremely sharp at the other, resembling the tooth of a fierce beast, yet its material texture was unmistakably stone.

Surging wisps of acquired vital breath swirled around the stone, heavy and majestic. To Chen Zhian's eyes, it appeared truly profound.

Jiang Taiping and Sifu Gui had fought to the death just to secure one wisp of acquired vital breath each, yet Chen Zhian had obtained an even better one with such ease.

He tried placing the stone into his Dew-Receiving Ring, and to his surprise, wisps of acquired vital breath still radiated outward from the ring—a most peculiar phenomenon.

Pulling the stone back out, Chen Zhian fell into a dilemma.

"If I take this thing back to Sunan Prefecture, can I ensure that Li Bodu, Chu Muye, or the Divine-Arm General won't discover it?"

Standing bare-chested with the white stone brimming with acquired vital breath in his hand, Chen Zhian momentarily did not know how to handle it.

At that very moment, a ethereal, ethereal voice whose gender was impossible to distinguish drifted over.

"Infuse it with true origin."

Chen Zhian raised his head sharply to see that above the clouds shrouding the mountain peak, sitting atop the summit was a figure wearing a bamboo conical hat and a sword scabbard at their waist.

The figure looked down at Chen Zhian, and Chen Zhian looked back at them.

After several breaths passed, Chen Zhian lowered his head and silently channeled his true origin into the stone.

As his true origin enveloped the white stone, the acquired vital breath swirling around it suddenly vanished without a trace, making it look precisely like an ordinary rock.

Yet Chen Zhian's true origin could clearly perceive that the stone still contained a rich abundance of acquired vital breath within.

"So that's how it is." A smile broke across Chen Zhian's face as he looked up and said, "Many thanks, senior."

The swordsman seated high upon the peak lowered their head to study Chen Zhian closely before offering a reminder: "You aren't wearing any clothes."

Chen Zhian calmly put on his robes and smiled. "I wonder if senior is a man or a woman. If senior is a man, wearing clothes or not matters little. If senior is a woman, well, I shall simply consider myself at a loss."

"This junior will take his leave now."

Chen Zhian cupped his fists in a salute, turned, and walked away. Not until he had calmly traversed seven or eight miles of mountain path did he unleash his true origin and sprint frantically down the mountain.

"Quite an interesting fellow."

The conical-hatted swordsman seated atop the peak above the waterfall touched the sword scabbard at their waist and suddenly patted the ground beneath them.

Instantly, the waterfall coiled like a jade dragon, whipping up thousands of layers of wind and rain. True origin condensed within it, and a green serpent leaped forth into the air.

The green serpent, spanning nearly a hundred feet in length, soared into the sky. With a flash of circulating light, it transformed into a long sword that flew straight back into the swordsman's scabbard.

"Shengqing."

"That youth who fought to the death on the Storm Platform—how did he know you had changed your teeth?"