So What If You’ve Been Reborn? - CH 27

C27. News of the Treasure

Pale golden spiritual energy circulated around slowly.

Chen He sat still, eyes closed. His fingers unconsciously formed complicated hand seals. Each movement caused changes in the spiritual energy flowing out of his body. Every two hours, each wisp of spiritual energy would travel in a different direction. They flowed along the meridians and out of the acupressure points, converged with other wisps of spiritual energy outside the body, flowed around in a convoluted path, and were reabsorbed into the body through another acupressure point.

This was the Beixuan Sect’s unique cultivation technique, the Hundred Points Circulation.

It could only be used by disciples who were above Golden Core-level, or disciples who had completed the Foundation Establishment stage and needed to stabilise their cultivation base in order to break through to the Golden Core stage. If they were unable to learn this, it meant they would never be able to cross the true threshold of the cultivation world.

Chen He was attempting this for the first time.

The Beixuan Sect was very strict about the selection of its disciples, because they wanted to avoid them being unable to learn this technique in future. Even so, about one-third of their disciples were still thwarted by this hurdle. Fortunately, all those who learned the technique would successfully reach the Golden Core stage.

In the cultivation world, such odds were already very good. Among the Foundation Establishment-level disciples in the major sects, only one out of every ten of them could reach the Golden Core stage.

Shi Feng was seated opposite Chen He, staring intently at Chen He as the latter cultivated.

—he was very worried.

Shi Feng believed in his junior brother’s talent and abilities, but would Chen He still remember how to accurately form the hand seals after he entered a meditative state?

The Hundred Points Circulation was far too complex. Every fifteen minutes, one had to change the flow of spiritual energy, and there was no fixed sequence for the changes.

There were forty-nine hand seals in total, with endless possibilities when both hands were used together, and every hand seal had a different meaning. After entering a meditative state, the cultivator had to decide which hand seal he would use in that very moment, depending on his own physical condition and his surroundings.

Although very few gestures were needed during the first use of this technique, and the changes did not happen very quickly, Shi Feng worried most that Chen He would slip into unconsciousness halfway through the cultivation process.

Having spent over ten years with his junior brother, he had a very deep understanding of Chen He’s confoundment.

When Chen He had just arrived in Black Depths Valley, he would lose his balance and fall over every time he got spooked. Thus, Shi Feng bundled him up until he looked like a thick ball, and he would be fine even if he rolled around on the ground.

Both cultivating and listening to stories drained him greatly. The little lump often fell asleep in the middle of his crying. When he awoke, he would wriggle out of his quilts, sitting in a confused stupor for a long while before he climbed onto Shi Feng’s knee and reached out his arms to be held.

Since he was still very young, Shi Feng let him be.

When the cultivation progressed to another level and required an additional two hours of cultivation to foster the Qi, Chen He would nod off bit by bit as he stood there. Then he would slide off to the ground and fall into a deep sleep that no one could wake him up from. Only then did Shi Feng realise something was wrong.

Everyone in Black Depths Valley hurried over, staring at the fast-asleep lump as they had about three rounds of consultations, and the conclusion they reached was: the confoundment had struck again! The little lump’s bashed brain could only be used for this much time, and he had to rest once the time was up. Even if he was not in bed, Chen He fell asleep immediately, and he had zero control over it.

The good thing was, Chen He could stay awake for longer as his cultivation base strengthened.

At age six, he would fall asleep in less than six hours. Back in the Chen household, the servants often had to search for him because he fell asleep anywhere, and he would go searching for the pond and the katydids after he woke up.

Shi Feng had no choice but to let Chen He develop a habit of sleeping whenever he entered a meditative trance. He did not want his junior brother to suddenly fall asleep and injure himself after hitting the ground.

Every time Chen He’s cultivation base improved, Shi Feng would keep him in the cave estate. Under the guise of teaching him a new cultivation practice, he would test to see if Chen He could stay conscious for a longer period. Even when he went to Black Depths Lake every morning, Shi Feng would always ask Elder Long-Brows to look after Chen He in his stead.

Since he had not read all the jade orbs, Chen He did not know about such things. He thought he only had to stay awake in order to retain his memories.

—for a very long time, Chen He could only stay awake for ten hours, which was just enough for daily activities.

When Chen He completed the Foundation Establishment stage at age sixteen, he was suddenly able to stay conscious for up to three days and three nights.

The great Dao was full of mysteries; cultivators could easily lose themselves when they contemplated the Dao, becoming unable to tell the passing of time. They would not know if the ones next to them had left, or if anything happened around them. Hence, not even Chen He himself had realised this.

Black Depths Valley was cut off from the rest of the world, and those old fellows all insisted in one united voice that it was still day X of month X, even though three days had already passed. How could Chen He not be in the dark with all this?

Shi Feng felt greatly relieved because of this increase.

He remembered how his junior brother no longer needed afternoon naps barely a month after coming to Black Depths Valley, since he began to have spiritual energy in his meridians. Then he became able to remain conscious for up to three days and three nights after completing the Foundation Establishment stage. This showed that if Chen He continued to improve his cultivation base, there would be a day where he could become like any regular person—yes, a ‘regular person’. After Chen He ascended to immortality, it would probably be easy for him to stay conscious for a hundred years straight.

But after being relieved for a while, Shi Feng began to frown again.

If Chen He slept, he would still be unable to remember anything the next day.

This was not a sign that the confoundment was improving. It was just that cultivators were a little sturdier than mortals. For example, a mortal who had contracted the white plague[1] would die in a few years, but a cultivator with the white plague could still live at least twenty years more.

One had to cultivate for seven days in a row each time the Hundred Points Circulation was used. Not even Shi Feng himself knew if anything would go wrong in between.

The sky darkened, then brightened again. The room remained silent.

The floor and walls were covered with hundreds of magic circles cast by paper amulets—this was also the reason why Shi Feng dared to settle down with Chen He in places like the mortals’ towns, where the Qi was impure and muddled.

Eight thousand years ago, when the Beixuan Sect was at its best, there were countless sources of spiritual energy all over the world. Any random place would be suitable for cultivation. The people of the sect only started to learn about paper amulets and magic circles after their sect fell into decline, suffered all sorts of tribulations, and was forced to flee beyond the borders.

Many years of enduring terrible conditions had resulted in the Beixuan Sect’s people being able to cultivate no matter where they were.

The sky lit up in the morning. This was the fourth day.

There was still no change in Chen He’s physical state. As Shi Feng waited in confusion until dusk fell, he finally realised it!

His junior brother had not been forcing himself to stay awake; instead, he had been in a meditative state since the cultivation began. When he had been waiting in trepidation for the fourth day, Chen He had already successfully passed the first and most difficult hurdle.

Chen He must have been memorising non-stop for days, ever since he received the Hundred Points Circulation’s methods.

—others remembered with their minds, while Chen He remembered with his body.

As he walked or talked, when both his hands were empty, Chen He would be trying, practicing the hand seals with his hands in his sleeves.

He did not use any spiritual energy. This was not cultivation. He was just trying to remember…

Shi Feng felt a little lost.

He knew the most about Chen He’s talent. Back when he himself had begun cultivating with the Hundred Points Circulation, it had been a breeze for him. Junior Brother’s physique was exactly like his, and it should have been that easy for his junior brother, too.

He gazed at Chen He’s closed eyes.

The faint light from the windows shone on his lower lashes, casting shadows on his face. His complexion was a little haggard, a far cry from the healthy complexion he had had during his time in Black Depths Valley.

Shi Feng’s gaze moved lower, pausing at Chen He’s cheek.

Although it could not be seen right now, there was a dimple here. Every time he woke from his sleep, Chen He would touch his face, complaining about having only one dimple and how this dimple made him look unmanly.

And those tightly pursed lips, which would reveal his two crooked canines[2] when he smiled. Chen He often wailed that he wanted to regrow them.

—he knew everything about his junior brother, but he could not help at all.

Shi Feng rose silently with his feet above the ground. Without touching any of the amulets, he opened the door with a light push and left.

Looking up in the narrow courtyard, one could see the starry skies.

Shi Feng extended his hand, and a dummy dressed like a maid came over at once. He sent a command directly into the dummy’s core through his divine sense. The dummy trembled, then departed swiftly under the cover of night.

Late at night, Qin Meng, the provincial lieutenant of Yuzhou, sent his subordinates away. As he sat by the low table, reading some official documents, a gale swept through the hall.

Qin Meng swiftly drew his sword, calling loudly, “Who are you and what business do you have so late in the night?”

The pillar’s shadow twisted suddenly. Knife in hand, the dummy charged forward.

Qin Meng saw that the perpetrator had a slender figure, dressed in green with their hair in two buns; they appeared to be a maid. However, the body felt cold and hard upon contact. Realising something was amiss, he was about to let out a great yell when his arm was snapped backwards abruptly.

Qin Meng was flattened against the low table with his cheek against the desk. Brushes and paper were scattered all over the floor.

Qin Meng was astounded. He was a Foundation Establishment-level demonic cultivator, and this dummy’s power was equivalent to a Golden Core-level cultivator’s, at the very least. And in order to craft a dummy with Golden Core-level power, this person had to be at least Demigod-level.

As a member of the most common folk in the cultivation world[3], Qin Meng did not even dare offend any Nascent Soul-level cultivator, let alone a Demigod-level one!

“Who…who on earth are you?”

The dummy defeated Qin Meng with a single palm-strike, lifting him off the ground and disappearing in the dark of night.

Soon, Shi Feng received the ‘spoils of war’ in his own room.

The poor demonic cultivator was bound hand and foot, eyes covered tightly, so he was unable to see anything. When he woke up, lying on the ground, he only heard an icy voice say, “Are you one of Grandmaster Huanjian’s subordinates?”

Qin Meng stubbornly kept quiet.

“I know you are a subordinate Grandmaster Huanjian holds in high regard. Although you have a poor cultivation base, you have obtained the highest military rank at the provincial level. You are very talented.”

Qin Meng continued to keep quiet. For he knew that if this person dared to kill a demonic cultivator with a clean record, and a subordinate of Grandmaster Huanjian on top of that, there were very few things this person feared. There was no point in pleading.

“Tell me about the confidential information delivered from outside the border,” Shi Feng said slowly, without losing his temper.

Qin Meng finally flinched. Recognising the situation he was in, he replied, “It seems this senior has come prepared. I am but an insignificant member of the Venerable Grandmaster’s following, and I know nothing about the confidential matters. I only heard that some people went to the wastelands in the west, and the Venerable Grandmaster has personally gone there as well.”

Of course, the Secret Beixuan Treasure!

Shi Feng gave a cold smile. So the powerful figures of the cultivation world were starting to gather in the wastelands, were they.

This was a good chance. It was said that Grandmaster Huanjian had a Ten-Millennium Clambeast Pearl[4], which could record ten millenniums’ worth of happenings. He was going to take that and give it to his junior brother.

“Give me your official stamp and draw a rough map of your grandmaster’s residence. I believe you know this much; with my powers, barging in would not be much trouble for me. I am only putting in such effort because I do not wish to kill those who see me.”

Contrary to Shi Feng’s expectations, Qin Meng shook his head.

“I don’t believe you can take anything without alerting the Venerable Grandmaster to your presence.”

“Come again?”

“Our Venerable Grandmaster is powerful beyond imagination. Sir, you should abandon any thoughts of…”

Qin Meng was interrupted by Shi Feng before he could finish.

“I thought Grandmaster Huanjian went to the wastelands?”

“Yes, but he returned yesterday.”

“How is that possible?”

Even Shi Feng was startled by this news.

Even if this treasure was a fake, the disturbance would not have calmed down so soon.

Unless—Grandmaster Huanjian had already obtained the Secret Beixuan Treasure!