Chapter 41: Below the Self, We Are All Ants

Time flies, it’s the first day of the new year.

In the mountains and forests, there are winding paths, shaded by ancient trees and blooming white wildflowers.

“How high is the level of cultivation to be considered high?”

Chen Xuan muttered to himself, put his hands behind his back, walked slowly and leisurely.

“Giggle!”

On a distant cliff, a yellow-haired macaque was lying on its side on the bluestone. When it saw Chen Xuan, it immediately showed a strange smile like a human face, raised its hands high, twisted its body, and ran away laughing.

This is a ghost.

Chen Xuan did not pursue, but continued to walk slowly on the mountain path. The Southern Wilderness was the territory of twenty-four ghosts and monsters, so it was not surprising to meet a ghost on the road.

Soon, the view ahead suddenly became clear.

In the distance, a group of Qi practitioners from Chiya City were gathering, there were dozens of them.

The three members of the Chu family, the members of the Li family, and the Wu family members who were seen fighting for the precious fish in Xiaoshihu were all among them.

“Chu Huogun has achieved a second stage of enlightenment and nirvana.”

Chen Xuan discovered that Chu Huogun had grown a new body, with healthy limbs and a rosy complexion. He even looked a few years younger than when they first met.

“Brother Xiao Wang, I haven’t been able to find you recently. I heard that you caused a big disturbance in the Hanging Temple a few days ago and even stole their precious medicine…”

When Chu Huogun saw Chen Xuan, his eyes lit up immediately and he led the two younger generations in his family to run over to say hello.

He had once traveled with a group of Qi practitioners into the Southern Wilds, attempting to find Yan Yushu, but Yan had vanished without a trace, making their journey a wasted effort. Later, upon returning to the Hanging Temple camp, he learned of the horrific incident Chen Xuan had caused.

Later, because the [Buddha Heart Treasure Tea] was snatched away by Chen Xuan, the Qi practitioners in the camp could no longer stay, made a big fuss, and ran away.

“I was plotted against, but my revenge has not yet been taken.”

Chen Xuan was in a very calm mood, not showing any signs of frustration when talking about the past. He then asked, “What are you doing here?”

Chu Huogun told Chen Xuan that he had recently been following a Qi-cultivating family in Chiya City. This was a friend he met when he was young, and the family had now become an important figure in Chiya City. He had been following the family for a few days and had gained a lot of benefits.

“In the past hundred years in Red Crow City, there have been two top-tier Qi-cultivating families, both known as the Wang and Xie families. We are now waiting for the head of the Wang family, Wang Zhenyang…”

Chu Huogun licked his lips, a barely perceptible trace of desolation flashed across his eyes, and he sighed, “But things have changed, and my old friend and I are no longer on the same level.”

Chen Xuan nodded and was about to speak when he saw a red cloud suddenly rising in the distant sky and spreading over, as gorgeous and beautiful as brocade.

“My old friend is here.” Chu Huogun suddenly said with a serious expression.

Chen Xuan looked intently and saw two red horses pulling a carriage under a brilliant glow of clouds. On the carriage sat an old man wearing a red robe, with white hair draped over his shoulders and a dignified face.

The old man named Wang Zhenyang had a flame dancing in his eyes and a surging aura. He leaned against the iron seat, and his six strong and powerful hands stretched out from his six large sleeves, slightly resting on the armrests, looking nonchalant.

“The great monk from Daozang Realm is here.” Someone in the crowd whispered.

“Wang Zhenyang…six arms, he has realized the Dao from the true scriptures.” A Qi practitioner was trembling, with large beads of sweat dripping from his forehead.

“No… I have to kneel down first.” A Chiqi monk’s face flushed red, and he couldn’t hold on any longer. Suddenly, his knees went weak, and he fell to his knees on the ground, prostrating himself.

Daozang Realm.

It is the second realm on the path of Qi practice.

As Wang Zhenyang approached, nearly half of the Qi practitioners present began to show signs of abnormality, all of them were Chiqi cultivators.

Their faces were pale, their knees were shaking, and they knelt on the ground one after another, their faces buried in the ground, unable to look straight ahead, and unable to even lift their heads up.

“Oh, I can’t hold on any longer.”

Chu Huogun was sweating profusely, his mouth spitting fire. He knelt down and muttered, “I have to kneel down every time I see an old friend. It’s no longer the same as before. I have to call him Master Wang.”

Chu Qingling and his sickly cousin behind him had just achieved enlightenment and had not yet developed the red qi, but they were normal and not affected at all.

“Is this the great monk…”

Chen Xuan looked around and saw that the Li family, Wu family and others were also kneeling down. They were not doing it voluntarily, but had to kneel down because they were being moved by the upper red qi.

“Fortunately, I have cultivated three kinds of immortal qi, so I won’t encounter such a situation.”

Chen Xuan muttered to himself in his heart. At this moment, the golden white Qi was flowing in his body, so he didn’t notice anything unusual.

“My fellow Taoists, there’s no need to be so polite. Please stand up.”

Wang Zhenyang’s face was dignified. He spoke calmly and gently raised one hand, as if he was speaking the divine law. Suddenly, an invisible force dissipated.

Chu Huogun and the others only felt the restless red energy in their bodies calm down. They wiped the sweat from their foreheads and stood up with their knees supported.

“As ordered.”

The path of Qi training is strictly hierarchical.

In the same realm, perhaps the weak can defeat the strong,

But if there is a big realm between them, it is impossible. You can’t even have the thought of resisting in your mind, because you will be discovered if you think about it. The higher the realm, the stronger the suppression from the superior.

As long as Wang Zhenyang wanted to, he could kill all the Chiqi cultivators in the Yuhua realm here in a short period of time. Numbers had no meaning to him.

“Sister Qingling, sickly cousin, I missed you so much after not seeing you for a day!” A beautiful girl in a red dress and with a round face hurriedly broke away from Wang Zhenyang and his group, came to the Chu family, and hugged Chu Qingling with peach blossom eyes.

“Sister Wang Ling’er, oh, please don’t touch me randomly.” Chu Qingling looked helpless and struggled to grab Wang Ling’er’s white palm.

“Huh? Who are you? Is your last name Chu too? Why have I never seen you before?”

Wang Linger’s eyes fell on Chen Xuan with curiosity.

She was very surprised because she could clearly feel that Chen Xuan was full of vigor and vitality, like a tiger or a leopard, and was not inferior to her.

She was very familiar with the top geniuses in Chiya City, but the sudden appearance of a stranger today made her extremely curious.

“Wang Chan.”

Chen Xuan replied calmly.

“Wang Chan?”

Upon hearing this, Wang Linger’s head jerked back, and she stared at Chen Xuan with her bright eyes, looking at him strangely. After a moment, she muttered,

“Isn’t Huangliang Meng dead…”

Chen Xuan was slightly stunned. It turned out that the Yellow Millet Dream King Chan was no longer a secret among these Qi-cultivating families.

At this moment, Chu Huogun suddenly turned his head to look at Chen Xuan and muttered softly, “Wang Zhenyang is seducing my Chi Qi. What is he peeking at? He has been seducing me many times these days. I don’t understand…”

Upon hearing this, Chen Xuan turned his head and looked at the carriage not far away.

On the carriage, Wang Zhenyang tapped the armrest lightly with his fingers. His fiery gaze moved over and he gave Chen Xuan a kind and gentle smile. Then, he looked away calmly.

“Wang Zhenyang has noticed me… These high-level cultivators have such sharp intuition and various methods that it’s really hard to guard against them.”

Chen Xuan complained in his heart.

He already knew that a higher-level cultivator could easily stir up the immortal energy of a lower-level cultivator of the same Qi and directly peek into their memories, leaving the lower-level cultivators with no privacy at all… This was similar to how the Black Cat Lady worked.

Wang Linger and Chu Qingling had a very close relationship and could talk about anything. She whispered, “My grandfather said these days that a young man with great aptitude appeared in the Southern Wilderness. His surname was Chen or something… My grandfather observed dozens of Qi practitioners before coming to this conclusion…” A cultivator in the Daozang realm needed to have close contact with a lower-level Qi practitioner in order to stimulate his immortal Qi. It was only when Wang Zhenyang came to the Southern Wilderness that he gradually realized the existence of Chen Xuan.

“Ah, this young man is so amazing…” Chu Qingling responded with his eyes wide open, and subconsciously glanced at Chen Xuan.

Not only her, but Chu Huogun and his sickly cousin also glanced at Chen Xuan at the same time, then quickly looked away as if nothing had happened.

“Don’t use the name Wang Chan anymore. He’s dead now. It’s unlucky.”

Chen Xuan muttered to himself. He was very sensitive and immediately noticed the gazes of the three people from the Chu family.

Qi practitioners are all very skilled, there’s nothing much to say, Chen Xuan has long been accustomed to it…

In fact, a few days ago, Chu Qingling had blurted out and called him “Brother Xiao Chen…”. Just now, Chu Huogun was also implicitly reminding him that Wang Zhenyang knew his true identity.

Wang Linger’s eyes were solemn as she whispered, “Of course he’s amazing! My grandfather spent twenty to thirty years learning one page of the ancient Chu State’s [Zheniao Sutra] to advance to the rank of Daoist Master… But my grandfather said this Chen guy might be able to achieve success in ten years…”

“From now on, you, Qingling, and your sickly cousin, everyone of our generation will kneel before we speak to him.”

Chu Qingling was so excited when he heard this that he widened his peach blossom eyes, which were misty with water, and exclaimed in surprise:
“Grandpa Zhenyang actually thinks highly of Little Chen, ah, this guy with the surname Chen?”

Chu Huogun’s reaction was even greater. He stared at Chen Xuan intently, thinking to himself… I knew he was talented, but I never thought it was this high.

After ten years of hard work, by then he would be old and toothless, and would still have to kneel before Chen Xuan along with Qing Ling and his grandchildren? Just thinking about it made him lose all his face.

Wang Linger was also a somewhat renowned genius. She snorted, “I really want to meet that Chen guy. Just how capable is he…”

As everyone was talking like this, in the distance, Wang Zhenyang’s carriage set off again, leading a group of Qi practitioners to their destination.

The Peach Blossom Spring will appear at any time today.

The top figures of Chiya City and Southern Wilderness will hold a negotiation on the distribution of interests.

Many things hidden under the surface will be brought to the table for discussion.

Chen Xuan followed the crowd, and the route he had originally planned was the same as theirs.

“Through Xinzhai, I saw that Yan Yushu of the Six Desire Heavens was nearby. There are some important matters that need to be discussed.”

Wang Linger was right about one thing: he would learn the true scriptures very quickly.

But it was not the ten years that Wang Zhenyang had guessed.

“It will take three years…”

Chen Xuan did not know which one was more difficult, the ancient Chu State’s [鸓鸟真經] or his [黃梁真經].

But these days he has thoroughly understood the Huangliang Sutra, and is about to master the first chapter of the Huangliang Qi for the Yuhua Realm. The second chapter is the method for advancing to the Daozang Realm, and it will only take three years to get started.

Three years is not a long time. For a Qi practitioner, it is just a blink of an eye.

Chen Xuan even spent three years practicing worldly martial arts persistently.

but now.

He hopes that this time can be shortened. There are many monsters on the road of Qi training, and he needs to work harder!

(End of this chapter)