Chapter 396 Source Two

"Third child, come over here." Wang Yifeng spotted his youngest son, Wang Yichen, and waved him over, looking annoyed.

"If you want to watch, do it openly and honestly! Hiding in a corner like a sneak thief, what kind of behavior is that!?"

Li Cheng颐 blinked and walked closer.

"It's like this, I encountered some problems while practicing my skills and originally wanted to ask Second Sister. But then I saw Big Brother charging in to demand money, and then..."

"It was right for little brother not to come out, otherwise, if Big Brother had run into him, I fear even he wouldn't have escaped his clutches." Wang Yiheng said helplessly. Her own private money had also been taken away by her older brother, otherwise, she wouldn't have overestimated herself and fought with him.

"That animal!" Wang Yifeng once again slammed his palm heavily against a large tree in the garden, causing a rustling of leaves to fall, even without using his true qi.

"You've just started practicing, just started cultivating true qi, what problems could you have? Ask me directly, don't ask your Second Sister." He vented some of his anger and looked at Li Cheng颐 again.

Thinking that his youngest son had somewhat changed his ways and was able to persist in arduous cultivation for more than two months, he felt a sense of comfort and took the initiative to speak.

"Well, it's like this. When I was refining true qi, I discovered that sometimes, even though my physical condition is good and my spirit is also good, why can I only refine so little each day? Where does this true qi come from? Isn't it supposed to be, as the cultivation method says, a combination of our own essence, blood, and spirit?"

Li Cheng颐 asked.

"So, that's the problem." Wang Yifeng nodded. "Being able to ask this question shows that you've been sincerely and earnestly cultivating these past two months, not just putting on an act."

His mood improved further, and he immediately sorted out his thoughts and explained.

"Speaking of this, we have to mention the origin of true qi."

"Actually, all true qi has one thing in common, and that is, since there is true qi, there must be false qi."

"And what we originally referred to in medicine as essence, qi, and spirit – the 'qi' in that is what we martial artists consider to be false qi."

"Between false qi and true qi, there's actually only one thing missing. This one thing determines the fundamental difference between the two."

"What is it?" Li Cheng颐's heart stirred. He originally intended to ask casually, but he didn't expect that his predecessor's father actually seemed to have an answer.

"It's the essence of the True Imprint," Wang Yifeng replied.

"The essence of the True Imprint?"

"As the name implies, it's a trace of the essence scattered by the True Imprint. This trace of essence is attracted to us, absorbed into the body, and fused with essence and blood, becoming true qi." Wang Yifeng said seriously.

"Speaking of this True Imprint, it is spread throughout all things in the world. When all living beings undergo essential sublimation, a special mark will inevitably appear. When you reach a certain limit, you will be restricted by nature and unable to make further progress. At this time, you must rely on the power of the True Imprint to step into a new realm."

"Legend has it that many years ago, the ancestors of us martial artists discovered the existence of the True Imprint in this way."

"Then, the ancestors felt that the difficulty and danger of breaking through with the help of the True Imprint were too great, so they thought of a way to divide it into many steps, spreading it out step by step to different stages, thus forming the martial arts of today."

"Then our Pine Deer Saber!?" Li Cheng颐 felt a faint tremor in his heart.

"Well, our Pine Deer Saber was also obtained by our Wang family's ancestor when he watched some Fifth-Level superior martial arts and comprehended it on his own. However, because his comprehension wasn't deep, he only obtained the method of cultivating and refining Pine Pattern Qi. The subsequent saber techniques were supplemented by other things he found on his own."

Wang Yifeng paused.

"Actually, every martial art in this world needs to attract the essence of the True Imprint to be able to cultivate true qi. The myriad martial arts are connected to countless True Imprints. Our Wang family's Pine Deer Saber is a unique skill that our ancestor Wang Congzhi comprehended from watching the Deer King compete and pine and cypress trees grow."

He looked at his youngest son, who was listening attentively, and felt even more gratified. In the past, when he said these things, his youngest son was quite impatient.

It seems that after going out this time, he really turned over a new leaf upon his return.

"Speaking of which, do you know that True Imprints also have spirits? Each of them can only be linked to a corresponding martial art. Unless the practitioners of this martial art are all dead, otherwise, this True Imprint can only be used for one martial art."

"True Imprints have spirits?" Li Cheng颐 originally thought that these True Imprints were very similar to inscriptions, but now it seems that there are some differences.

"Could it be that True Imprints are living things?" He asked incredulously.

"Anyway, our ancestor Wang Congzhi mentioned in his handwriting that True Imprints have strengths and weaknesses. By the time he created his skill, the powerful True Imprints had already been selected, leaving only many minor and weak ones. He also took a different approach and finally comprehended a True Imprint that no one had discovered." Wang Yifeng explained.

After hearing him say this, Li Cheng颐 understood why the essence of the True Imprint could be controlled by his Language Ability, Floral Utterance. It turns out that it really is a living thing.

"In that case, if the spirit of the True Imprint harvests essence, wouldn't we be..." He looked worried.

"Our ancestor mentioned this point. Although the spirit of the True Imprint is a living thing, it has no intelligence, only some simple instincts similar to animals. For example, our Pine Pattern Qi only has the instincts of pine and cypress trees. When practiced to the extreme, it will transform into Deer King Qi. However, the secret manual for cultivating Deer King Qi was lost in previous generations."

He saw a look of disappointment on his youngest son's face and smiled.

"Don't worry about this either. The name Deer King Qi sounds impressive, but its actual effect is far less powerful than Pine Pattern Qi. It's a special true qi that can't hurt people at all. Its only effect is to heal and promote the growth of people's bones."

"Because its effect is too weak and it's also very difficult to cultivate, your grandfather's grandfather simply couldn't be bothered to cultivate it and only cultivated Pine Pattern Qi. Later, it was passed down from generation to generation and was lost."

"...I see." Li Cheng颐 nodded understandingly.

"Speaking of which, you've also cultivated Pine Pattern Qi for two months. It's a good opportunity to let me see how far you've progressed now. Have you cultivated even a trace of true qi?" Wang Yifeng looked at his third son in a good mood.

"I have cultivated it... otherwise, how could I feel the difference? It's just... I feel that my cultivation may be a bit off." Li Cheng颐 hesitated.

"What's off? Your father has cultivated Pine Pattern Qi for more than twenty years and knows every step like the back of his hand. If you have any difficult problems, just bring them up!" Wang Yifeng said.

"It's like this..." Li Cheng颐 glanced at him, then at Wang Yiheng and Wang Linshi beside him.

All three of them were curious about what he had cultivated, and for a while, the trouble caused by the eldest son was somewhat diluted.

"How is it?" Wang Yiheng asked. "Don't hem and haw, can you be more straightforward?"

"...Okay... I just feel that it's a bit abnormal... so, I'm worried." Li Cheng颐 hesitated.

"What's abnormal? Is the true qi you've refined too little?" Wang Yiheng frowned.

Looking at her hesitant third brother, she urged him.

"You tell us, how else would Father know what problems you have?"

"Then I'll say it?"

"Say it!"

"I'm really going to say it?" Li Cheng颐 looked at the three people in front of him.

"Say it! No matter how bad it is, it can't be anything other than Pine Pattern Qi, right??" Wang Yifeng couldn't stand it anymore and urged him aloud.

"It's just..." Li Cheng颐 paused, "I feel that the true qi I've refined is a bit too much..."

"Too much?" Wang Yifeng frowned and carefully sized up his third son. "You've only been practicing for two months, how much could you possibly have? You're already complaining about too much with just that little bit? Look at your hopeless self!"

He walked to the middle of the courtyard and patted his chest.

"Come, hit me here. You can only know how much true qi you have when you use it. Let me feel it and let you experience what real 'too much' is like."

Li Cheng颐 blinked. He felt that this scene seemed familiar.

"This isn't good, I feel that my true qi really is a little too much..."

"Stop talking nonsense. Let your father see how much 'too much' you think you have." Wang Yifeng said impatiently, patting his chest.

"Come on, hit me with all your strength! Today, I'll teach you a lesson: You'll only regret having too little true qi when you need it!"

Li Cheng颐 looked at his second sister, Wang Yiheng. She gestured with her eyes, "What are you looking at me for? Go!"

"Then I'll hit?"

"Hit!"

Wang Yifeng patted his chest and adopted a horse stance.

Then, the three people in the courtyard saw Li Cheng颐 raise his palm with one hand and hold it upright in front of his chest.

A wisp of white true qi rapidly surged out from the edge of his palm.

Immediately after, there were two wisps.

Three wisps.

Ten wisps.

A hundred wisps.

Countless wisps of true qi enveloped his palm and entire arm, lighting up with a dazzling white light.

Six vaguely visible pine patterns slowly appeared and disappeared within the true qi.

"!!!??"

"!!?"

"!!!!!!"

The three people were normal at first.

Then, as Li Cheng颐 released more and more true qi, the expressions of the three people began to spiral out of control.

Wang Linshi was alright, she didn't practice martial arts, she just felt that there was a lot and was simply surprised.

Wang Yiheng and Wang Yifeng were completely unable to comprehend it. Their mouths started small, and as more and more true qi emerged, their mouths turned into gaping holes.

By the time the six pine patterns emerged, their mouths were completely unable to close.

"You you you you...!??!" Wang Yifeng pointed at Li Cheng颐. His mind was in chaos for a moment, and he didn't know how to form a sentence.

You call this a little too much?!?!?

Wang Yifeng felt that his worldview of several decades was about to be completely reshaped on this day.

His youngest son cultivated for two months and was able to have six pine patterns!? Two months is equal to six years of his cultivation!?

There's no such exaggerated story even in myths and legends, right!?

Too exaggerated!?

So exaggerated that he once thought he was dreaming and couldn't help but reach out and pinch his thigh hard.

Hiss.

His thigh was pinched blue and there was a sharp pain, which proved that he was not dreaming at all, but had seen it with his own eyes.

"Little brother... how did you cultivate this!?" Wang Yiheng's eyes changed from shock to confusion. She was clearly beginning to doubt her life.

"I just cultivated like this, isn't true qi like this?" Li Cheng颐 said blankly.

Under the influence of Shadow Substitute ability, he had now completely devoured Wang Yichen. In order to find out the truth about true qi in this world, he had considered it and decided not to hide it from the people around him.

Because if he tried to hide it from the people around him, there would be too many traces, too tiring, and it would be difficult to do without revealing flaws.

So, creating a suitable genius identity and then gradually spreading his reputation, entering the officialdom of this world through formal channels to obtain information, became his current plan.

Looking at the three members of his predecessor's family in the courtyard at this time, with their dumbfounded and completely unacceptable exaggerated expressions, Li Cheng颐 wondered if he had gone a little too far.

But without doing so, there was no way to leave this small town as soon as possible. From what he had learned,

If there was no spread of extremely strong talent, the difficulty of being exceptionally recruited by the authorities and leaving this place would be more difficult than ascending to heaven.

Thanks to the close combat maniac for the ten thousand points reward. At this point, this book truly enters the main chapter. I hope everyone likes it.