Chapter 18 Two Clearings

Two days later at midnight, the moon was bright and the stars were few.

At the entrance of Zhiyan Brush Shop, Shangguan Mingyuan waited quietly for Yu Ziqing’s arrival, his eyes occasionally flashing with nervousness and unease.

Although he knew that Yu Ziqing was no ordinary person, he still couldn’t help but feel anxious when the time came. He hadn’t felt this way since Shangguan Mingyuan retired from the underworld and withdrew from the underground forces in Hanglin City.

In the darkness, Shangguan Mingyuan’s eyes suddenly lit up as a young man slowly walked towards them from afar.

Despite his short hair and casual attire, the young man gave Shangguan Mingyuan a sense of transcendence and ethereal beauty. Shangguan Mingyuan even sensed a touch of ancient and weathered aura emanating from him.

Shangguan Mingyuan hurriedly stepped forward to greet him, and when he reached Yu Ziqing, he clasped his hands in greeting and said, “Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Yu.”

Yu Ziqing waved his hand and said indifferently, “You gave me materials for writing talismans, so I’m lending you a hand. There’s nothing to thank me for.”

Upon hearing Yu Ziqing personally confirm that the four items he had requested last time were materials for writing talismans, Shangguan Mingyuan was visibly shaken and excited. He couldn’t help but recall the magical scene he had witnessed as a child. However, Yu Ziqing’s next sentence was like a bucket of cold water, completely extinguishing his enthusiasm. Clearly, Yu Ziqing’s unspoken message was that after tonight, they were even, and he didn’t wish to have any further dealings with him.

Shangguan Mingyuan suppressed his excitement and subsequent disappointment, and said respectfully, “Those materials are nothing but material possessions, nothing at all. But tonight, Master has given Mingyuan a chance to be reborn. Mingyuan should thank Master for his grace of rebirth.”

Yu Ziqing smiled faintly and said, “No need for formalities, let’s go upstairs.”

Shangguan Mingyuan led Yu Ziqing up to the second floor.

Yu Ziqing had Shangguan Mingyuan sit quietly in front of him, then took his pulse to examine him. After a short while, he released his hand and said calmly, “There is a problem with the internal cultivation method you practice. Once your power reaches a certain level, your energy will easily become uncontrollable. At best, your cultivation will regress instead of progress; at worst, you will suffer from qi deviation, blocked meridians, and eventually wither and die. Your meridians have been blocked for two years. If they cannot be unblocked, I’m afraid you will die of old age in less than five years.”

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Mingyuan trembled violently, his face filled with excitement. The rise of the Shangguan family was due to an ancestor who accidentally obtained a fragmented cultivation technique three hundred years ago. However, because the technique was incomplete, some parts were learned through trial and error, making it easy to make mistakes during cultivation. At first, it was alright, but the further one progressed, the more loopholes appeared, making it easier to make mistakes.

“Please, Master, do not hesitate to give me your guidance. My Shangguan family will never forget your great kindness.” Shangguan Mingyuan hurriedly got up and was about to kneel down to Yu Ziqing.

Let alone kneeling, if he could obtain the complete cultivation technique, Shangguan Mingyuan would not even flinch, even if it meant immediately cutting his own throat.

This is related to the future rise and fall of the Shangguan family!

Yu Ziqing reached out to stop him and said calmly, “Since I want to repay your favor, I will naturally take care of your worries. As for the Shangguan family, they have nothing to do with this matter. You don’t need to talk about how great or small the favor is.”

Although Yu Ziqing clearly distinguished things, Shangguan Mingyuan could not separate himself from the Shangguan family. For him, if Yu Ziqing taught him the complete cultivation method, it would actually be teaching him the complete cultivation method of the Shangguan family, helping the Shangguan family get rid of the predicament in cultivation that had lasted for three hundred years.

However, since Yu Ziqing wanted to make things so clear, Shangguan Mingyuan didn’t dare to disobey him and obediently sat back down in his original spot.

Yu Ziqing told Shangguan Mingyuan to keep his mind calm, then took out twenty silver needles from his bag and swiftly inserted them into the vital points of Shangguan Mingyuan’s twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary meridians, whispering, “Circulate your energy!”

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Mingyuan circulated his internal energy and broke through the blocked meridians in a short while, his sallow complexion gradually turning rosy.

Seeing this, Yu Ziqing knew that the mission was accomplished and put the silver needles back one by one.

“Thank you so much, Master, for saving my life!” Shangguan Mingyuan felt his internal energy was abundant and his body was flowing smoothly. He was extremely excited and grateful.

Yu Ziqing waved his hand and said, “Bring me a pen and paper.”

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Mingyuan hurriedly got up to fetch a pen and paper. Yu Ziqing took the pen and, without any hesitation, swiftly and elegantly wrote down a set of internal martial arts techniques for circulating qi on the paper.

“From now on, just cultivate according to this method. As for how much you achieve, that depends entirely on your own destiny.” After saying that, Yu Ziqing stood up to leave, and Shangguan Mingyuan hurriedly got up to see him off.

Yu Ziqing stopped him, saying, “No need, I’ll go by myself.”

Shangguan Mingyuan watched helplessly as Yu Ziqing drifted away, feeling a sense of loss. He knew that he, like his grandfather, had no affinity with immortality. However, Yu Ziqing had not only helped him open his blocked meridians but also left him with a set of cultivation techniques. In fact, this gain had far exceeded Shangguan Mingyuan’s expectations.

Upon recalling that cultivation method, Shangguan Mingyuan hurriedly picked up the paper Yu Ziqing had left him. After reading it, he was stunned and his mind remained unsettled for a long time.

The cultivation method on this paper was exactly the same as the one practiced by his Shangguan family, except that the missing parts had been filled in.

“There are such divine figures in the world, what a pity, what a pity!” Shangguan Mingyuan looked in the direction where Yu Ziqing disappeared, sighing with regret.

It was already 2 a.m. when I left the pen shop. As I walked on the road, the wind blew in my face, bringing a cool, autumn-like breeze.

Yu Ziqing no longer has high requirements for sleep time, and is not in a hurry to return to Datang New Village. He strolls leisurely on the street, enjoying the rare peace and coolness.

Before we even reached Ah Zhen’s steamed bun shop, we saw the lights were on inside, and a man was walking out of the shop, cursing and swearing.

Yu Ziqing’s expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly ran towards Ah Zhen’s steamed bun shop. He found the shop in a mess, flour scattered all over the floor. The proprietress, her hair disheveled, was squatting on the ground, hugging her arms and burying her head in them, sobbing softly. Two buttons were missing from her floral T-shirt, revealing a patch of white skin on her chest, clearly indicating she had struggled. Her daughter, Wenwen, sat blankly on the ground, her eyes filled with terror.

Yu Ziqing’s expression changed again. Without thinking twice, she turned around and strode towards the man who had just come out of the store.

The man had just flagged down a car and was about to leave when he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his head. Someone had grabbed his hair, which he hadn’t cut in two months.

“Ouch, that hurts like hell! Who the hell is this? Let go!” the man cursed as he frantically grabbed at his head, trying to shake off Yu Ziqing’s grip.

Seeing that things were going badly, the taxi driver quickly drove away.

“Get the hell in here!” Yu Ziqing cursed as he dragged the man by the hair into Ah Zhen’s steamed bun shop.