Today was Li Ming’s day off, so Yang Wenqing and Zhou Kun patrolled District 3 together. At noon, Li Ming’s voice came over the squad’s private communication channel: the cultivator’s remains had sold for thirteen thousand.
Yang Wenqing found it a great pity, but he was short on money. He was not in the habit of borrowing, and even if he wanted to, he had no way to do so. Aside from Captain Xiao Liang, most of the people around him were probably not well-off either. Besides, he still had an outside debt he had yet to finish repaying.
After finally making it to the afternoon shift change, Yang Wenqing and Zhou Kun both headed straight back to the Second Squad’s station, though the things they were looking forward to were different.
Zhou Kun was the first to stride into the room, but after looking around, he did not see Li Ming. At that moment, Sister Liu stood up and said, “The money’s with me.” In her hand were two thick envelopes.
Just as the two of them took the envelopes, Xiao Liang entered the room with Ye Yong. Since Li Ming had publicly announced over the squad channel at noon that the remains had been exchanged for money, Ye Yong immediately shouted when he saw the envelopes in Yang Wenqing’s and Zhou Kun’s hands, “You two big brothers have to treat us!”
Hearing this, Sister Liu smacked Ye Yong on the back of the head in annoyance. “All you think about all day is eating and drinking. You should be saving some money too. It’ll cost quite a bit to marry a wife in the future.”
Ye Yong immediately shut his mouth.
Afterward, everyone went into the changing room, chatting idly as they took off their gear. When they came back out, Xiao Liang stepped forward and said to Yang Wenqing, “Wenqing, come with me for a bit.”
Yang Wenqing understood. After greeting Zhou Kun and Sister Liu, he followed Xiao Liang out of the room.
As soon as they stepped outside, Yang Wenqing said quietly, “I’ll go buy a White Dragon Ginseng first.”
Although he felt that he probably would not need the aid of pills to advance to the Qi Refining stage, now that he had a bit of money on hand, he still planned to buy a White Dragon Ginseng just in case.
Xiao Liang’s steps paused. Looking at Yang Wenqing, he said, “I happen to have a Dragon Ginseng Pill. I’ll lend it to you first. You can pay me back once you have enough merits.”
His tone was casual, as though he were merely lending Yang Wenqing something very ordinary. Without waiting for Yang Wenqing to respond, he continued, “Consider it me asking you for a favor.”
As he spoke, he had already handed over a wooden box half the size of a palm. The preservation array on it glimmered faintly. Yang Wenqing met Xiao Liang’s eyes and found it hard to refuse this kindness.
…
The two arrived at the county branch bureau. As soon as they entered the main gate, they saw a middle-aged man in a senior sergeant’s uniform hurrying over to greet them.
“Old Xiao!” the middle-aged man called out warmly to Xiao Liang.
“Old Zhang!” Xiao Liang politely shook his hand, then looked at Yang Wenqing and introduced him. “Wenqing, this is Brother Zhang from the Logistics Department.”
“Brother Zhang,” Yang Wenqing greeted respectfully.
“No need to be so polite. Come with me.” Brother Zhang waved a hand and led the two of them along a path to the left of the main building, arriving before a standalone structure. There was an array inspection at the entrance, and only after their authorization was confirmed did the metal doors slowly slide open.
Behind the doors was a bright corridor. On both sides were tightly shut metal doors, each engraved with complex soundproofing runes.
Brother Zhang led them to a door halfway down the corridor, took out a jade talisman, and pressed it into the groove beside the door. The door opened silently. Inside was a quiet room of about ten square meters, containing only a single meditation cushion. Simple spirit-gathering arrays were engraved on the walls and floor.
“This is the room. The jade talisman to activate the spirit-gathering array is here.” Brother Zhang handed a small jade talisman to Yang Wenqing. “The spiritual energy gathered here has all been refined. There’s a summoning array beside the cushion. If there’s an emergency, press it and we’ll know.”
After saying that, Brother Zhang took out an oil-paper bundle. “This is three days’ worth of dry rations and water. The washroom is beside it.”
At the end, he looked toward Xiao Liang. Xiao Liang said to Yang Wenqing, “The fee has already been deducted in advance from your merits, equal to three months’ quota.”
“Thank you, Brother Zhang. Thank you, Captain!” Yang Wenqing thanked them solemnly.
“Cultivate with peace of mind. We’ll be waiting outside for your good news.” Xiao Liang patted Yang Wenqing on the shoulder, then left the quiet room together with Brother Zhang.
After the two watched the metal door close, Brother Zhang could not help sighing. “So young.”
Xiao Liang nodded. “Many things in this world are simply that unfair. There are even more talented young people who only need to guide spiritual energy for a few years before naturally entering the Qi Refining stage.”
Brother Zhang picked up the conversation. “And those with even greater talent, once they reach the Qi Refining stage, don’t need to temper their bones at all. They just refine qi and meditate every day, and in a little over ten years, they can break through to the Marrow Cleansing stage. As for me, I’ve cultivated for decades, yet I’m only at the Third Refinement.”
With that, he looked at Xiao Liang and asked, “Can this young brother succeed?”
Xiao Liang thought for a moment before replying, “There’s a very high chance. You should be able to sense it too. The qi sea in his body is full, and he’s only one step away from the Qi Refining stage.”
Brother Zhang stared at the door in silence for more than ten seconds, then asked, “You’ve been at the Fifth Refinement for many years now. Are you going to try this year’s exam?”
The exam he referred to was the promotion exam for police specialist.
Xiao Liang replied, “We’ll see.” At that point, he changed the subject. “You should have quite a bit of good tea here, right? It’s not easy for me to come by. You can’t just make me stand here and wait, can you?”
“Haha, come on. Let’s go to my office.”
As the two chatted and laughed, they walked deeper into the corridor.
Inside the cultivation room.
Yang Wenqing walked to the meditation cushion in the center of the quiet room and sat down cross-legged. First, he adjusted his breathing, calming his somewhat turbulent emotions. Only when his heart was as still as an ancient well did he pick up the activation jade talisman. Following Brother Zhang’s instructions, he injected a faint thread of spiritual energy into it.
“Buzz…”
The jade talisman lit up with a gentle white glow. At the same time, the lines of the spirit-gathering arrays engraved on the walls and floor lit up one after another. Very soon, he felt the concentration of spiritual energy in the quiet room steadily rising. Moreover, this spiritual energy was exceptionally docile, far easier to absorb and refine than the spiritual energy outside, or even the energy gathered by that spine.
Yang Wenqing did not waste any time. He immediately closed his eyes, sank his consciousness into his body, and circulated the Basic Qi Refining method. While slowly absorbing the spiritual energy from the outside world, he guided the spiritual energy in the qi sea within his lower dantian, which had long since been filled to the brim, to flow slowly along the spiritual meridians he had already opened.
One Greater Heavenly Circuit…
Two Greater Heavenly Circuits…
He proceeded with extreme patience, not pursuing speed. With the aid of the spirit-gathering array, the docile spiritual energy from the outside was continuously absorbed into him, replenishing the circulation between his qi sea and spiritual meridians, making the process much smoother than usual.
The third Greater Heavenly Circuit…
The eighth Greater Heavenly Circuit…
He repeated the process again and again. The speed at which his qi sea revolved unconsciously quickened, and under the continuous, steady scouring, his spiritual meridians also began to warm slightly.
When the tenth Greater Heavenly Circuit was about to be completed, and the spiritual energy inside him had turned into a gentle stream, an indescribably profound sensation suddenly welled up in his heart!
In the next instant, the speed at which the spiritual energy circulated within his spiritual meridians abruptly accelerated without any warning. If the spiritual energy in Yang Wenqing’s qi sea had not been abundant at that moment, it would likely have been drained dry in an instant, causing his advancement to fail.
Yang Wenqing knew that whether he succeeded or not would be decided in the next dozen seconds. The spiritual energy in his qi sea was enough to complete three Greater Heavenly Circuits through his spiritual meridians, and the spirit-gathering array could still provide him with an endless stream of spiritual energy to replenish his qi sea.
Even so, he still took out the wooden box containing the Dragon Ginseng Pill.
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