Chapter 19

Wei Shizhi sat alone under a pine tree, pondering. The *Taiyi Foundation Scripture* that Qi Yunhe had taught him seemed incomplete, containing only the essentials of absorbing the primordial energy of heaven and earth, without mentioning the great solar fire or the essence of the moon. It offered no guidance for his cultivation of the technique inscribed on the fragment of beast skin. He still harbored some hope, focusing his mind and trying to sense the earth energy of the world. After a while, he found nothing.

There was a barrier between him and the primordial energy, and this barrier could not be broken by the *Taiyi Foundation Scripture* or by his own efforts. He had to admit that he lacked a certain talent, which made it impossible for him to make any progress.

What he could do was eat meat, continuously eat meat, the meat of beasts, to seize the primordial energy contained within, to temper his body, and to forcibly open the acupoints.

Wei Shizhi had figured it out. He patted the beast skin fragment in his chest through his clothes and thought to himself, "If I can't change it, I can only accept it. Since I can't enter the Kunlun sect, I'll put in the hard work and practice the basic techniques to see how far I can go."

He put the *Taiyi Foundation Scripture* out of his mind, practiced the boxing techniques twice to loosen his muscles, and then shouldered his bow and arrows. He circled the peak of Tian Du, examining the terrain and looking for traces of wild beasts.

Tian Du Peak was majestic and perilous, with dense forests that blocked out the sky. By mid-afternoon, Wei Shizhi had hunted a deer and found his way back to the Bitter Spring. He first whistled to call back the blue wolf, took out the deer's innards, and let it devour them. Then he gestured to tell it two things: first, to stay away from Xian Yun Peak, and second, to search for spirit beasts near Tian Du Peak.

The gestures were quite difficult to make—Wei Shizhi picked up a stone and drew on the ground, finally getting the blue wolf to nod, though he wasn't sure if it truly understood or was just pretending.

He patted the blue wolf's head, shouldered the deer, and returned to the Bitter Spring. Qin Zhen was sitting by the spring, her face slightly flushed, breathing steadily, immersed in a state of complete absorption. It would take some time for her to finish her cultivation.

Wei Shizhi watched her for a while and realized that her talent and progress were beyond Qi Yunhe's expectations. On her first attempt at cultivation, she had smoothly absorbed the fire energy and started to impact the acupoints.

The difference between people was so great, and Wei Shizhi felt a mix of emotions. He didn't want to disturb her, so he moved a bit away, used a flint to start a fire, and roasted the deer meat. He picked out the tender pieces and started eating.

After a while, Qin Zhen exhaled a breath of turbid air and stood up. Her eyes sparkled like stars, and she looked radiant, clearly having made progress in cultivating the *Taiyi Foundation Scripture* and having a good grasp of the basics.

Wei Shizhi handed her the deer meat and said, "Little Sister, you have exceptional talent. Come, have some meat."

Qin Zhen was taken aback and couldn't help but want to laugh. Was it because she had "exceptional talent" that her senior brother was giving her meat? She took the deer meat, thanked her senior brother, and tore off a small piece, slowly chewing it. The meat, though cold, was still very fresh and had a special flavor.

Wei Shizhi lay comfortably in the grass, a blade of grass in his mouth, looking up at the clouds. As he watched, he slowly closed his eyes, the sunlight warming his face, casting a warm, red glow through his eyelids.

Qin Zhen ate a few pieces of meat, washed her hands in the hot spring, and saw her senior brother lying with his eyes closed, looking very relaxed. She thought, "Master said that cultivation doesn't require sitting stiffly. Whether sitting, standing, walking, or lying down, it's all good. Does this include lying down?" She couldn't help but ask, "Senior Brother, are you cultivating?"

"Not really, I'm sleeping."

Qin Zhen wanted to laugh but didn't dare. She covered her face with her hands, finding her senior brother quite amusing. Then she thought, "He's just being honest, like when he said, 'Little Sister, you have exceptional talent, come, have some meat.' Why does it make people laugh?"

Feeling quite good after making progress in the *Taiyi Foundation Scripture*, she started to have these random thoughts.

"Little Sister, where are you from? Do you have any family?"

Mentioning her family, Qin Zhen felt a bit melancholic. She said softly, "I lost my parents when I was young and was raised by my uncle. My uncle... is the outer disciple of Xiandu, who served a twenty-year term and then went down the mountain to become a wealthy man."

Qin Zhen began to recount some trivial past events. Wei Shizhi occasionally interjected with "Then what?" or "What happened next?" As a result, Qin Zhen couldn't stop talking, becoming a bit chatty, even feeling a bit embarrassed. However, after talking so much, she felt a great sense of relief, as if a burden had been lifted.

Before they knew it, the sun was setting. Qin Zhen looked at the sky and reminded her senior brother, "Should we go back?" She felt a bit shy, remembering that she would have to sit on his shoulders to go down the mountain.

Just as Wei Shizhi was about to answer, he heard a low growl, the voice of the blue wolf. He felt a sense of excitement and said, "Since we're here, let's stay a few more days. There's no need to rush back."

Qin Zhen had no strong opinions and left it to her senior brother to decide. Wei Shizhi gave her a few instructions and then excused himself to find the blue wolf in the dense forest. He saw it baring its teeth, looking very pleased, with a large rat lying at its feet, as big as a hare, its neck broken, with a lead-gray coat and light yellow patterns.

"It's a rat..." Wei Shizhi muttered. He had eaten rats before; there was a kind of mountain rat in Lao Ya Ridge, about the same size. During the harsh winters, when food was scarce, digging up these wintering mountain rats was the only way to survive.

Wei Shizhi picked up the rat, examined it for a long time. The rat was fierce and aggressive, with sharp incisors like daggers, short and stout limbs, and a body full of tough meat. It was clearly a strange breed. He skinned the rat, gutted it, removed its head and limbs, washed off the blood, and roasted it over the fire. The taste was quite good, with a strong game flavor.

A moment later, a surge of heat rose in his abdomen, surging left and right. Wei Shizhi arched his back and aimed for a large tree, crashing into it. The pain spread throughout his body, but it was different from before—before, it was a dull pain from being hit by rocks, but now it was a sharp, tearing pain, as if something was sprouting and growing inside him, desperately drawing on his blood and energy.

The primordial energy contained in the rat meat was not much, and after seven or eight collisions, it was exhausted. He exhaled a breath of stale air and noticed that a small amount of residual primordial energy surged toward the spirit acupoint, like a drop of oil in water, incompatible and struggling for a moment before both dissipated. As a result, the primordial energy in the acupoint decreased rather than increased.

Wei Shizhi frowned, thinking carefully. He remembered Qi Yunhe saying that he was closely aligned with the earth element. The acupoints in his body were likely filled with earth energy, while the primordial energy in the rat meat was likely wood energy. Because wood overcomes earth, the earth energy not only failed to increase but also decreased slightly.

His luck had been good before. The old bear in Black Pine Valley and the venomous snake in Kunlun Mountain, by coincidence, were both beasts closely aligned with the earth element.