“How is it?”
Zhu Lan replied truthfully, “It feels like there’s a sense of stagnation when I circulate my spiritual energy.”
Ye Feng nodded.
“It’s just as I thought. Meditate now, hold your breath, and concentrate. I will help you clear your meridians.”
Zhu Lan did as she was told, and then she heard Ye Feng speak seriously.
“It might hurt a bit, so try to endure it. If you can’t hold it back, you can scream.”
Huh?
That much pain?
Zhu Lan had a bad feeling.
“Ah, f—!”
The moment Ye Feng’s palm pressed against Zhu Lan’s back and his spiritual energy flooded in, her face twisted into a mask of agony.
She could clearly feel a scorching, powerful surge of spiritual energy slowly traveling through her meridians, but it was accompanied by intense pain.
It felt as if her meridians were tangled in a knot and Ye Feng was patiently untangling them.
It reminded Zhu Lan of the elderly people back on Blue Star who suffered from frozen shoulder; they would also let out agonizing screams during treatment.
The time it took for one incense stick to burn passed before Ye Feng finally lowered his arm.
“It’s done. There are no major issues. Try circulating your spiritual energy again.”
Zhu Lan was drenched in a cold sweat from the pain, but fortunately, she had managed to endure for that duration.
Following Ye Feng’s words, she tried again and found that the previously stagnant meridians had indeed become fluid once more.
“All right. Thank you, Ye Feng.”
Having received the benefit, Zhu Lan offered a sincere word of thanks.
Ye Feng smiled.
“How do you plan to thank me?”
Zhu Lan remained silent.
Ye Feng was actually a good friend, but he was always thinking about stealing a kiss.
“How about next time?”
Zhu Lan whispered in a negotiating tone.
“I’m covered in sweat from the pain. I’m going to go… never mind, I’ll just change my clothes.”
Zhu Lan suddenly changed her tune.
She felt that if she said she was going to take a bath, that old pervert would definitely follow her.
Then he would start getting handsy.
By comparison, letting him steal a kiss was a much better outcome.
After coming to that realization, Zhu Lan stepped forward and gave Ye Feng a quick peck.
Just as Ye Feng tried to reach out and pull her into his arms, she suddenly pulled away.
‘Nice try. He tries to grab me every single time.’
Zhu Lan laughed inwardly, though she maintained an innocent expression.
“Ye Feng, the thanking is done. I’m still a bit tired, so you should head back too.”
Ye Feng’s hand froze mid-air, and he suddenly burst into laughter.
“You’ve slept for a whole day already. Tomorrow, you have a match to enter the top fifty. Do you think you can make it with your current strength?”
Zhu Lan shook her head honestly.
Come to think of it, the only thing she had going for her was the Seven Killing Arts.
“Then shouldn’t you prepare more?”
“Didn’t we spar for a while before? The competition is tomorrow; what can be improved in such a short time? Ye Feng, let’s not train today, okay? Let me rest so I can fight tomorrow’s match in better condition.”
Zhu Lan’s voice softened, sounding quite enticing.
This tactic always worked on Ye Feng; he was a sucker for this kind of behavior.
Seeing Ye Feng agree, Zhu Lan breathed a sigh of relief and took out the pills she had bought a few days ago but hadn’t had time to use.
“What is this?”
Ye Feng frowned and snatched them away.
“Gathering Spirit Pills. I want to cultivate a bit more. Taking a pill makes training faster.”
High-quality Gathering Spirit Pills could only be produced by behemoths like the four great sects.
The pills circulating in the mortal world were inferior ones discarded by the major sects, and few people bought them.
However, Ye Feng didn’t even look at them, tossing the Gathering Spirit Pills away like trash.
“Don’t take pills. This stuff just consumes your potential in advance to make you cultivate faster at your current stage. Cultivation reached through pills is nothing more than a castle in the air; it will collapse at the first touch.”
Zhu Lan refuted in a low voice, “I’ll just have a little, it’s not like I’ll keep taking them forever. Besides, in the original story, the male lead also took pills when he broke through the later realms.”
Ye Feng shook his head.
“That was only after reaching the Nascent Soul stage. For you, no pills are allowed before you reach the Golden Core stage.”
“Why?”
“Your cultivation foundations for Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment are already poor. If you take pills to increase your cultivation, your foundation will become even worse. By then, even if you reach the Golden Core stage, you might be beaten by a late Foundation Establishment stage cultivator.”
Zhu Lan was speechless.
She remembered that in the original novel, the reason the male lead stayed in the Qi Condensation stage for so long was that he had fully understood the most basic and simplest technique in the Cultivation World: the Spirit Gathering Formula.
When every cultivator stepped onto the path of immortality, they used the Spirit Gathering Formula to build a bridge between themselves and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
Only then could they draw qi into their bodies and become true cultivators.
But her male lead had incredible comprehension and realized something that very few people knew.
One could cultivate two Qi Condensation stages!
However, the cultivation method had long been lost, and that path was exceptionally difficult.
So even if Zhu Lan knew about it, she had no way to cultivate two Qi Condensation stages.
A cultivator who had mastered two Qi Condensation stages possessed an incredibly solid foundation.
They were the ones who killed those at higher realms; they were never challenged by those below them.
The later the stage, the more importance was placed on the early foundation.
There was absolutely no turning back.
After reaching Foundation Establishment, one could no longer cultivate two Qi Condensation stages, and their foundation would never be as solid as others.
That was why, in the later battles of the novel, Ye Feng as a Nascent Soul cultivator could fight two Soul Transformation cultivators.
Although he had the support of the protagonist’s halo, Ye Feng had never missed those early opportunities that significantly boosted his cultivation.
So, when the male lead said her foundation was as bad as garbage, he was actually right.
“How can I compare to your foundation? The only way to increase my cultivation in a short time is to pop pills,” Zhu Lan said truthfully.
Ye Feng shook his head again.
“What can improve combat power in a short time is never pills, but external items.”
With that, Ye Feng took out a pile of glittering equipment from his storage ring.
“This is the Heaven-Reliant Sword, an Earth-grade high-quality spiritual tool. This is the Gold Silk Armor, an Earth-grade mid-quality spiritual tool. These are the Auspicious Cloud Boots, Earth-grade high-quality spiritual gear. This is the Yin-Yang Pendant, a Heaven-grade low-quality spiritual tool…”
Ye Feng casually tossed out a huge pile of golden equipment and introduced them one by one.
The sight made the country bumpkin Zhu Lan’s eyes nearly pop out of her head.
“With your current cultivation, it’s difficult to activate six spiritual tools at once. I only recommend you use two.”
Ye Feng looked like a nouveau riche.
It seemed these spiritual tools—any one of which could cause a frenzy of fighting if tossed out into the world—were just a pile of insignificant trash in his eyes.
‘Damn it! Damned rich people! Wait, what? You’re saying I can use them too? Then it’s fine. Praise old money!’
In the end, Zhu Lan chose the Gold Silk Armor and the Auspicious Cloud Boots.
One would make her more durable, and the other would make her run faster.
As for the weapon, the one Ye Feng had given her before was also Earth-grade.
Zhu Lan found it very comfortable to use and didn’t plan on switching to a brand-new weapon right before the match.
“How is it? Do you have confidence now?”
Ye Feng looked at Zhu Lan’s wide plains with a half-smile, seemingly implying something.
“I have confidence! Tomorrow, I’ll definitely flatten my opponent!”
Zhu Lan played dumb, pretending not to see the suggestive look in Ye Feng’s eyes.
“Don’t worry about that yet. You’re the one who’s going to be flat in a moment. This time, let’s try something else.”
Ye Feng didn’t expose Zhu Lan.
Instead, he picked her up and carried her back to the cultivation room.