Chapter 108
Chapter 108
On the third day after returning from the tribulation, Chasing the Wind woke up at noon. He was groggy and meowed weakly as he walked out of his room. He stood at the door for a while before realizing he was back home.
He looked around and saw Qin Ran by the lake pit. He meowed "Dad..." and staggered over to Qin Ran.
When Qin Ran saw that Chasing the Wind was awake, he went over to catch Chasing the Wind and carried him to the lakeside.
"Awake?" he asked Chasing the Wind gently.
"Mm..." Chasing the Wind lay curled up in his arms, not wanting to move.
"Does your tummy still hurt?"
Chasing the Wind shook his head.
"Do you want to eat something?"
Chasing the Wind hesitated for a moment, then shook his head again.
Since he didn't want to eat, he must still be uncomfortable. Qin Ran felt distressed and stroked his head gently to soothe him.
"Look..." Long Qiqi said to Li Shiyin in the lake pit, pointing to the furry lump curled up in Qin Ran's arms, "I don't know what they were up to out there, but they seem much closer now. Be careful, or your master won't like you anymore."
Li Shiyin looked up at her master and Chasing the Wind. She shook her head and said, "They must have gone through a lot of danger this time..."
"Stop talking nonsense, or I'll whip you with bamboo!"
The weather was beautiful today under the bright sun in a clear blue sky. The two girls worked hard in the lake pit while the two men lay lazily by the lakeside.
Under a sunshade on a deckchair, Qin Ran stroked the cat with one hand while reading a book on array techniques with the other. At the same time, he regulated his Qi Sea and Golden Core to stabilize his cultivation level. With perfect multitasking, he seemed utterly relaxed.
Simply put, there are three realms in the Golden Core stage - the early, middle and late stages.
When Qi forms and condenses into a Golden Core, the cultivator enters the early Golden Core stage with the core residing in the Qi Sea.
When the Golden Core moves from the Qi Sea to the Cinnabar Field, the cultivator enters the middle stage. At this point, the Divine Soul begins to awaken.
When the Divine Soul fully enters the Golden Core, the cultivator reaches the late stage. At this point, the Primordial Spirit begins to stir.
When the Primordial Spirit fully matures and emerges from the shattered Golden Core, the cultivator enters the Primordial Spirit stage.
The greatest difficulty of the Golden Core stage lies in incorporating the elusive Divine Soul into the Golden Core between the physical and ethereal realms. More precisely, cultivators must discover how to find the Divine Soul residing within their physical body.
Everyone knows the human Divine Soul lies within the physical body, but how can one extract something hidden inside themselves?
The difficulty is comparable to lifting oneself up by one's own hair.
Frankly speaking, seventy to eighty percent of Golden Core cultivators spend their entire lives occupied with this one matter of their Divine Soul...
Coincidentally and advantageously, the lack of seamless integration between Qin Ran's body and Divine Soul worked in his favor.
For now, he only needed to stabilize the Golden Core in his Qi Sea without allowing it to shatter and dissipate prematurely. The path ahead would be exponentially easier than normal Golden Core cultivators if he so wished. He could advance to the late Golden Core stage in a very short period of time...
Qin Ran was regulating his Qi Sea when he suddenly sensed two powerful figures flying over from the distance.
He immediately noticed them and looked over to see a cultured, handsome man and an exceptionally beautiful woman.
It was Su Changqing and Bai Ruoxi.
Bai Ruoxi landed and saw the mess on Dan Peak, arousing her curiosity since this did not look like a cultivation site.
"Brother Su, Sister Bai!" Qin Ran put Chasing the Wind down and greeted them with a bow.
"The mundane aura here is too strong for cultivation!" Bai Ruoxi shook her head and directly critiqued, "Not a place for cultivation."
"Junior sister!" Su Changqing stopped Bai Ruoxi and smiled back at Qin Ran, "There are endless paths of cultivation in this world. Who can say the aura of livelihood and worldly dust are not also cultivation? Senior Brother Qin has attained great cultivation!"
"What Junior Sister Bai means is that I have no interest in pursuing immortality. I prefer leisure in the countryside," Qin Ran laughed. "Indeed, this place is not blessed for cultivation."
Hearing Qin Ran validate her, Bai Ruoxi nodded smugly and walked forward to the edge of the enormous lake pit. Seeing the two girls working inside, she asked, "What's this for?"
"We're preparing to build an artificial lake," Qin Ran replied.
"I see..." Bai Ruoxi looked around appraisingly and acknowledged, "If there was a lake here utilizing the water to gather wind and condense spiritual energy, it would truly unlock this location's potential. It seems you understand quite a bit about arrays..."
"Just a little," Qin Ran modestly responded.
Upon seeing the book on arrays in Qin Ran's hand, Su Changqing praised, "Senior Brother Qin is so talented!"
"The problem is I understand too much and have too diverse interests, which isn't good," Bai Ruoxi shook her head. Then pointing at Li Shiyin and Long Qiqi below, she asked, "Are they your disciples too? Is that snake demon also your disciple?"
"No, the snake demon is a friend I invited to cultivate at Dan Peak recently. Only the other one is my disciple, Li Shiyin. I accepted her not long ago," Qin Ran explained.
"Not long ago?" Bai Ruoxi was surprised. "She must be quite gifted then."
"Just a stubborn, ignorant fool," Qin Ran humbly dismissed.
"Today we came unannounced to disturb Senior Brother Qin..." Su Changqing said apologetically, "Please forgive us for any offense."
Qin Ran used his abilities to pull two chairs over from the log house for Su Changqing and Bai Ruoxi to sit at the low table under the shade. He smiled, "It is my honor to receive you distinguished guests and shine in your brilliance."
"Enough pointless pleasantries," Bai Ruoxi impatiently cut in after hearing Qin Ran and Su Changqing's courteous exchange. She sat down and directly addressed Qin Ran, "We came today for two matters. First, we want to ask you about your beast taming methods."
Qin Ran was cradling the listless Chasing the Wind and paused in surprise at her words. "Beast taming?"
"It's truly amazing that you can control a seventh-rank Profound Underworld Spirit Tiger with your Foundation Establishment cultivation," Bai Ruoxi explained. "I'll be direct since I don't like beating around the bush like my senior brother. I can exchange something of equal value for this miraculous technique. I won't take advantage of you."
Qin Ran shook his head repeatedly and smiled at Bai Ruoxi, "I don't have any beast taming techniques."
"No techniques?" Bai Ruoxi did not believe him. "How can you control a seventh-rank demonic beast without them?!"
"I didn't control him..." Qin Ran looked down at the sickly Chasing the Wind in his arms and gently called out, "Chasing the Wind?"
"Dad... Daddy~" Chasing the Wind responded weakly.
"Dad... Daddy?" Bai Ruoxi was baffled.
"As you can see, I'm raising him like a human!" Qin Ran held up Chasing the Wind's large paw to show Bai Ruoxi and waved it. "Daddy is another way of saying dad."
Bai Ruoxi was stunned. Could this so-called beast taming method be ruling one's son?
"He can speak?" Su Changqing became interested and looked at the feeble Chasing the Wind.
Instead of answering, Qin Ran asked back, "Which is smarter, a human baby or a seventh-rank demonic beast's cub?"
Su Changqing was uncertain.
"Haha, neither am I," Qin Ran laughed. "And that's exactly why if you can teach human babies to speak, it should be possible to teach high-ranking demonic beast cubs as well. I just gave it a try."
Su Changqing nodded thoughtfully in sincere admiration, "Senior Brother Qin is truly wise!"
"You said two matters? What's the other one?" Qin Ran inquired.
"My senior brother wants to fight you," Bai Ruoxi stated bluntly.