Qi Shiyun looked at Lianshan Xin with growing admiration.
She had always disliked indecisive people, favoring those like Lianshan Xin who possessed an indomitable Dao heart.
Of course, one could not rule out the possibility that Lianshan Xin was merely fearless out of ignorance.
Yet Qi Shiyun leaned toward believing that even if he knew the perils lying ahead, he would still press forward without hesitation.
Though karma and consequences were boundless, sufficient strength alone could smash through them all.
This was the true Dao heart and breadth of spirit an immortal cultivator ought to possess.
And she saw it in Lianshan Xin.
"Ugh!"
Lianshan Xin suddenly let out a stifled groan. An unnatural flush suffused his face, and his entire body began to tremble violently.
"Don't panic. The medicinal power has merely taken effect, temporarily exceeding what your body can endure. A martial artist breaking through to the Meridian Connectivity realm must undergo the agony of shedding mortal flesh and bone. If you cannot bear even this much pain, give up now and return home to inherit your family business."
Qi Shiyun's voice sounded beside his ear.
Lianshan Xin thought bitterly, *What damn family business do I have?*
If he did not push himself to the absolute limit, the Nine Heavens would immediately take back Chairman Qu's medicinal ingredient business.
As for Huichun Hall, it earned a decent income, but almost every copper had been consumed by his martial arts practice over the years. The saying "the poor study literature while the rich practice martial arts" was no empty jest.
Having no money meant having to grit one's teeth. Lianshan Xin swallowed his groans, clenched his jaw tight, and silently felt the Qi Condensation Pill dissolve into torrential blasts of energy within him, rampaging violently through his flesh.
It felt as though his entire body were being torn apart.
Yet anything that made a person stronger was bound to be painful.
Lianshan Xin had understood this truth in his previous life.
A fleeting physical agony was nothing.
Endure it, and the sky would open wide.
Focusing his mind, Lianshan Xin channeled his basic cultivation technique with all his might, coaxing the rampaging currents of energy to gather into a single stream instead of tearing in all directions.
Seeing Lianshan Xin settle into his breakthrough, a flash of surprise crossed Qi Shiyun's eyes.
She knew better than anyone the sheer purity of the astral qi she cultivated.
Earlier, before she could finish explaining everything, Lianshan Xin had swallowed the Qi Condensation Pill down in one gulp.
In truth, there was an extraordinary secret to this particular pill.
The astral qi adhering to the Qi Condensation Pill Lianshan Xin had consumed was refined directly from her own cultivated astral qi.
The fifth realm of martial arts, the Grandmaster realm, was also called the Astral Transformation realm. In this realm, the true qi within the body underwent intense refinement, compression, and metamorphosis to produce distinctive forms of astral qi—such as blazing fire astral qi, glacial ice astral qi, protective astral qi, or sharp metal astral qi.
Yet the energy cultivated by her lineage, while categorized as astral qi within martial arts, bore a unique title within the Dragon Supporting lineage: dragon qi!
In private, it was called by another name—emperor qi!
Unless one possessed immense personal providence, one could not cultivate dragon qi.
Even with great providence, cultivating dragon qi inevitably required passing through an infernal crucible.
A snake grew into a python, a python into a boa, a boa into a flood dragon, and a flood dragon into a true dragon; not a single step in this progression could be skipped.
The day one truly transformed into a dragon was the day one's cultivation reached full fruition. Yet a snake required ten years to become a python, a python a century to become a boa, a boa five centuries to transform into a flood dragon, a flood dragon a millennium to become a true dragon, a dragon five centuries to become a horned dragon, and another millennium to become a winged dragon. The sheer passage of time required was simply staggering.
In ancient times, when the way of immortals flourished, the ancients could rely on their vast lifespans to cultivate the Dragon-Supporting Immortal Art alone.
Today, however, heaven and earth had drastically changed. Although martial arts possessed combat prowess on par with the immortal path, it fell far short in granting longevity. Achieving eternal life had become more than a hundred times harder than cultivating immortality had been in antiquity.
It was no longer possible to master the Dragon Supporting Art through solitary, bitter cultivation. One had to borrow the strength of others through mutual benefit.
Thus, Heaven's Chosen had inducted her onto the path, and she was now inducting Lianshan Xin.
Each time her cultivation advanced a tier, her Master benefited as well. In the future, every time Lianshan Xin rose in realm, she would reap corresponding gains, and Heaven's Chosen would indirectly benefit too.
From a certain perspective, the Heaven's Chosen lineage was the most reckless, yet also the most united; they were truly bound together by shared fate.
However, the sheer potency of dragon qi was nearly impossible for Lianshan Xin to endure in the Body Tempering realm. When Heaven's Chosen had initiated her into the Dao, she had already been in the Qi Condensation realm. Even so, she had suffered immense agony.
While Lianshan Xin was not enduring any more pain than she had back then, his cultivation was far weaker, and his endurance could not compare to hers at that time.
*Only by passing this hurdle will you earn the right to leap through the Dragon Gate. And right now, this is the one trial where I cannot aid you.*
Qi Shiyun watched Lianshan Xin in silence, praying for him in her heart.
If Lianshan Xin failed to clear his meridians and the Qi Condensation Pill did not achieve its intended effect, her own cultivation realm would slip slightly as well.
This was another detail she had not yet disclosed to him.
Sharing glory and sharing ruin—this was the way of Dragon Supporting. If one took another's benefits, one inevitably had to shoulder the karma they brought with them.
Qi Shiyun considered this entirely fair.
Those who cultivated the Dragon Supporting Art were, by nature, gamblers at heart.
Fortunately, this time, Qi Shiyun won her wager.
Half an hour later.
Lianshan Xin opened his eyes. Brilliance flashed across the dim room, and he felt his entire body surging with strength.
Then he caught sight of Qi Shiyun's disgusted expression.
"Tanhua Qi, why are you looking at me like that?"
"You stink."
"I stink?"
Lianshan Xin looked down, and delight washed over him once more.
His entire body was indeed coated in grime, but it was all foul impurities purged from deep within his body.
Unclogging the meridians, cleansing the marrow, and remolding the bones—this was the hallmark of achieving full mastery of the Meridian Connectivity realm.
"I did not fail your expectations," Lianshan Xin said with a broad grin.
Just then, Qi Shiyun opened her jade-like hand, and a localized rain shower materialized inside the room right above his head, thoroughly rinsing his body clean.
"Is this... an immortal art?"
Lianshan Xin stared at Qi Shiyun in utter wonder.
Tanhua Qi truly was an immortal cultivator!
Having displayed a minor trick, Qi Shiyun was clearly in a pleasant mood as well. "It doesn't count as an immortal art, just a parlor trick of our lineage. Once you reach the Grandmaster realm and can release astral qi externally, you will be able to perform this as well."
Lianshan Xin instantly felt a boundless yearning to become a Grandmaster.
"Calling down sweet rain is just a minor parlor trick?"
Qi Shiyun corrected him. "It isn't calling down sweet rain; it's summoning the wind and calling the rain."
"Summoning the wind and calling the rain?"
"Now that you have successfully condensed qi with my guidance, it is time to reveal the true nature of our Heaven's Chosen lineage. In ancient times, our sect was known as Dragon Supporting."
"Dragon Supporting? Which dragon?" A bad premonition arose in Lianshan Xin's heart.
Qi Shiyun offered him a gentle smile. "The exact one you are thinking of—the true dragon emperor."
Lianshan Xin was struck speechless.
"This was why I agreed to give you the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus. For our lineage to achieve greatness, the fastest and best method is to use members of the imperial family as cultivation materials to raise up a true dragon emperor. And backing the Crown Prince yields the lowest returns."
Lianshan Xin understood everything completely now.
He had always known he wasn't particularly valuable, but yesterday he had realized that it must be extraordinarily difficult for the Heaven's Chosen lineage to find successors. Otherwise, Qi Shiyun would never have lowered herself to drop hints and recruit him time and again.
Now, every single detail made sense.
"Doesn't that make our lineage... a preparatory wing for rebels?"
Qi Shiyun replied solemnly, "Failure makes a rebel; success makes a kingmaker!"
Lianshan Xin could not refute her words, so he pivoted the topic. "The lower the status of the person we back, the higher their eventual achievement, and the greater our harvest?"
"Correct."
"Then what if you back me to become emperor, Tanhua Qi? Wouldn't you ascend straight into the clouds?"
Qi Shiyun's expression instantly turned peculiar. "Your logic is sound, but you certainly dare to dream. The imperial court has a thousand-year heritage, and its realm is firmly anchored. I only wish to cultivate immortality, not seek an early grave."
Lianshan Xin raised a brow slightly, lost in thought.
Chapter 24