Chapter 10: Overcoming Adversities, Visitors from the Heavenly Saint Palace
Chapter 10: Overcoming Adversities, Visitors from the Heavenly Saint Palace
The door creaked open.
Chen Tianliang and Ying Shuangshuang entered, carrying a box of mung bean cakes.
Chen Zhixing quickly adopted an innocent, naive expression and stretched out his arms. "Mother, hug."
"Alright, Mother is here to hug you," Ying Shuangshuang said, putting down the box of mung bean cakes and holding Chen Zhixing in her arms.
Looking at the rosy-cheeked Chen Zhixing in her arms, Ying Shuangshuang couldn't help but feel more and more delighted.
"Come, let Father hold you too," Chen Tianliang said, reaching out his hands.
Chen Zhixing yawned and said, "Mother, I want to sleep."
Upon hearing this, Ying Shuangshuang pushed Chen Tianliang out of the room.
The moon was high in the sky.
Ying Shuangshuang hummed a lullaby while holding Chen Zhixing.
Once Chen Zhixing was asleep, Ying Shuangshuang gently pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Tianliang's reverse energy syndrome is getting worse. The Eastern Xuan Domain competition is approaching; what can we do?"
Hearing this, Chen Zhixing, who had been pretending to sleep, felt a slight stir in his mind.
He had almost forgotten about this issue.
Reverse energy syndrome!
This condition refers to the sporadic and uncontrolled surge of spiritual energy throughout the body, which can reverse and damage the meridians!
During the Eastern Xuan Domain competition years ago, Chen Tianliang, who was then only at the Spiritual Wandering stage, forcefully broke through to the True Self stage during a fight to earn a better ranking and secure resources for the Chen family.
As a result, while he did break through to the True Self stage, he damaged his foundational path, leading to periodic surges of spiritual energy that reverse and damage his meridians and dantian!
Each episode of this reverse energy syndrome felt like being pierced by millions of needles simultaneously, an indescribable agony.
The pain was one thing, but more critically, each episode caused severe damage to his foundational path, dispersing all accumulated spiritual energy.
This had left Chen Tianliang stuck at the second level of the True Self stage for a decade.
Back then, Chen Tianxiong had been overshadowed by Chen Tianliang, who was the true prodigy of the Chen family.
It was the reverse energy syndrome that allowed Chen Tianxiong to surpass Chen Tianliang, solidifying his position as the top second-generation disciple of the Chen family.
Chen Tianxiong's antagonism towards Chen Tianliang might have been partly due to Chen Tianliang overshadowing him in the past.
Moreover, Chen Zhixing suspected that Chen Tianliang's severe injuries in the South Sea secret realm, his drastic decline, and the abrupt end of his cultivation path might all be related to this reverse energy syndrome!
"This reverse energy syndrome in my father is a ticking time bomb. I must find a way to cure it," Chen Zhixing thought.
Whether out of filial duty or for his own protection, he couldn't stand by and watch the syndrome continue to torment his father!
"Reverse energy syndrome is a foundational path injury, extremely difficult to treat. Besides a Immortal Stage master, only the living medicine king of the Medicine King Valley could possibly cure it.
But the medicine king wanders the world, long detached from worldly affairs. Finding him would be extremely difficult, and even if found, persuading him to create a pill for Chen Tianliang would be even harder.
However, the Chen family’s library should contain records about reverse energy syndrome. I might be able to leverage my extraordinary comprehension to develop a temporary method to suppress it."
Chen Zhixing pondered, glancing at his mother Ying Shuangshuang.
"Additionally, I must find a way to improve my mother's cultivation," he thought, formulating numerous plans.
According to the timeline in "The Great Cultivation," it wouldn’t be long before the main plot began.
When that time came, the Chen family would face imminent disaster!
Before this catastrophe struck, he needed to enhance his own cultivation and strengthen his parents.
Only if Chen Tianliang and Ying Shuangshuang became stronger could they protect Chen Zhixing, giving him the time he needed to grow!
"My father's biggest issue is the reverse energy syndrome, while my mother's problem lies in her cultivation method. The Primordial True Scripture is extremely yang and not quite suitable for her," he contemplated before falling asleep.
Seasons changed, and time passed.
A month went by in the blink of an eye.
During this month, Chen Zhixing dedicated most of his time to cultivating the "Bull Demon Star Transformation Technique."
With the support of his Innate Primordial Dao Body, his cultivation speed was astonishing.
The star power in the Laogong acupoint, the first acupoint he worked on, had reached nearly thirty percent.
In his spare moments, he tested his strength.
He could now lift a 300-pound mahogany table with one hand.
Chen Zhixing guessed that his cultivation had reached the first level of the Body Treasure stage.
As for the thousand-pound strength of the second level of the Body Treasure stage, he believed he could achieve it naturally once he completed the refinement of the Laogong acupoint!
Besides his cultivation, Chen Zhixing was extremely busy.
He had Chen Tianliang bring him numerous books on alchemy and medicine, which he used to study the records on reverse energy syndrome, connecting the dots and piecing them together.
With his extraordinary comprehension, he gradually developed a method to temporarily suppress the syndrome!
It wouldn't be long before he perfected this method.
In addition to finding a way to suppress the syndrome for Chen Tianliang, he began integrating the "Heart Sword Technique" and the "Divine Breath Refining Method" to create a comprehensive spirit refinement technique.
However, due to the complexity and multitude of tasks, progress was slow.
As for Ying Shuangshuang's cultivation method, Chen Zhixing had some ideas but was waiting for the right moment to present them.
Meanwhile, near the base of Ziwei Mountain, where the Chen family resided, two figures engaged in quiet conversation.
One figure was an elderly man with a long, slender face, wearing a gray robe. His eyes were bright and clear, giving him a refined look.
The other figure was a young woman of exceptional beauty.
She wore a purple palace gown, and her slender waist was cinched with a white sash, highlighting her perfect figure.
Her face was partially covered with a thin veil, hiding most of her features below the eyes.
However, her autumn-like eyes alone revealed that she was an extraordinarily beautiful woman.
Unfortunately, her cold demeanor added a sense of distance, making her seem unapproachable.
"Your Highness, this is the Chen family. They were once a leading Immortal Family in the Eastern Mystic Region, with Ancestor Chen Xuanfeng achieving incredible feats. However, since Chen Xuanfeng's disappearance, the family has declined and is no longer among the top Immortal Families," the elderly man smiled and continued.
"However, the Chen family has had a stroke of luck recently, with the birth of Chen Zhaosheng, a prodigy with the Nine Ancient Mark of the Heaven-born King Diagram."
The beautiful woman nodded slightly, her expression indifferent. "Our Heavenly Saint Palace, as an immortal orthodoxy, has seen countless talented individuals over the years, but only a few truly achieve greatness.
Many prodigies, relying on their extraordinary talents, have neglected diligent cultivation and eventually faded into obscurity.
Ultimately, besides talent, factors such as comprehension, temperament, and perseverance play crucial roles in determining one's success."
"You are right, Your Highness. That is why we have come in disguise this time, to assess Chen Zhaosheng. If he proves exceptional, we can then consider admitting him to the Heavenly Saint Palace," the elderly man said with a slight smile.
The beautiful woman looked towards the distant peak of Ziwei Mountain and smiled faintly. "I hope Chen Zhaosheng can surprise me."