Chapter 19 – Expelled
When he thought about those gourds, he couldn’t contain his anger. No matter how he looked at them on the way home, they seemed ordinary. He even hollowed them out to fill them with spring water. He was seen by his fellow apprentices and laughed at.
Wang Lin sneered in his heart, but on the surface he put on an innocent face as he said, “I don’t know what spiritual energy is. I just heard you say that you would give me spirit stones if I brought you the gourd. How about you explain to me what spiritual energy is?”
Sun Dazhu felt dizzy. He stared intently at Wang Lin for a long time. He began to suspect that the gourd was truly one-of-a-kind and that this foolish boy had picked it up by sheer luck.
After pondering for a moment, he realized that what Wang Lin said made sense. Only after reaching the first layer of Qi Condensation could one detect the spiritual energy around him. After thinking about it, he regretted putting the medicine in his food. This kid’s talent was already poor, and now with that medicine, it would take at least 30 to 50 years before he could reach the first layer of Qi Condensation.
Sun Dazhu sighed, but he refused to give up. He hesitantly took out a low-grade spirit stone and threw it to Wang Lin. “This is the low-grade spirit stone you promised. Take this for cultivation and quickly cultivate to the first layer of Qi Condensation.”
Wang Lin immediately took it and returned to his room after expressing his gratitude.
Sun Dazhu just stood there for a long time before sighing and muttering to himself, “Only this way can we see if he is lying.”
Soul Search is a simple immortal technique. The worst possible outcome for those who use it is death due to the destruction of their soul. The best possible outcome is becoming a retard.
However, this soul technique also has its drawbacks. Before reaching the Core Formation stage, if used on a normal human, the user will suffer the same damage as the target.
If one is in the Core Formation stage, then it’s not a problem. However, it can only be used three times in one’s lifetime, and each time the user loses one cultivation level.
Wang Lin sat cross-legged in his room. No matter how he examined the stone, it didn’t seem special at all. However, when he held it, he felt his mind become incredibly clear. He began to cultivate.
Night passed. Wang Ling sighed. He still didn’t feel any ants crawling on his body. There was no sign of spiritual energy in his body. He smiled bitterly. At that moment, someone pushed open the door. Sun Dazhu entered with a grim expression, carrying a bowl of black liquid.
“Drink this!”
Wang Lin was stunned. He looked at it carefully. Before taking it, he asked, “Teacher, what is this?”
Sun Dazhu saw Wang Lin’s expression and became furious. He shouted, “Do you really think I’ll harm you? If it weren’t for helping you reach the first layer of Qi Condensation, do you really think I’d spend the entire night and waste precious herbs to refine this medicine?”
Wang Lin hesitated for a moment and saw Sun Dazhu’s unfriendly gaze. He picked up the bowl and took a sip of the medicine.
After finishing drinking it, he felt a burning sensation in his stomach. It spread throughout his body, making him thirsty. It felt like he was being roasted in flames.
His vision darkened. He dropped the bowl and felt like falling asleep.
“Hurry up and cultivate. I’ll help you absorb it.” Sun Dazhu reluctantly placed his hand on Wang Lin’s chest.
A cool feeling filled Wang Lin’s mind, clearing his thoughts. He immediately began cultivating. Sun Dazhu looked sadly at the bowl on the floor. He muttered a few words, then took out several low-grade spirit stones and placed them around Wang Lin. He thought, “Wow, I’ve invested a lot in you this time. In the future, you’d better repay me.”
After a while, a feeling like ants were crawling all over him appeared. Sun Dazhu could clearly feel Wang Lin’s body condensing the spiritual energy from the medicine. A look of joy appeared on his face.
Just at that moment, a rotten Qi appeared within Wang Lin’s body and quickly destroyed the condensed Qi.
Sun Dazhu’s face turned sour. He knew the source of the foul Qi was the Qi-destroying grass he had placed in Wang Lin’s food yesterday. After all the spiritual energy from the medicine had been used up, there was still no Qi remaining in Wang Lin’s body.
Sun Dazhu sighed. He looked at Wang Lin with mixed feelings.
Wang Lin opened his eyes. His body felt light and very comfortable. He was about to thank Sun Dazhu when he saw the elder’s sour face. Sun Dazhu left without saying a word.
Wang Lin was stunned. He didn’t know what had happened to Sun Dazhu. He walked out and shouted, “Master, I’m going to the spring to see what my luck is today!”
Sun Dazhu didn’t say anything, but the garden gate opened silently. As he walked out, Sun Dazhu still followed him closely behind, refusing to give up.
A month passed quickly. During that month, Wang Lin went to the spring to cultivate every day, and Sun Dazhu followed him every day. He became more and more frustrated every day.
Throughout the month, he gave Wang Lin medicine every day to help condense his Qi, but none of it worked. Sun Dazhu’s temper became even worse.
The most important thing Sun Dazhu noticed was that the spiritual energy within the gourd was slowly disappearing. After only a month, the spring water that filled the gourd came out as nothing more than spring water.
Eventually, the gourd transformed into a regular gourd. Sun Dazhu was disappointed. After analyzing it, he suspected that it was a regular gourd, but it was somehow imbued with spiritual energy. This kid must have found it by chance due to sheer luck. The chances of him ever having more gourds like this were extremely low.
She was increasingly convinced that this was true, causing her heart to ache. This month, she had done nothing but spy on Wang Lin and refine medicine for him. Now, all her efforts had been in vain. She angrily summoned Wang Lin. She reprimanded him, and with a wave of her sleeve, chased him out of the courtyard.
Every time he saw Wang Lin, he would get angry. Now, he was nowhere to be seen and nowhere to be remembered. After a while, he had completely forgotten about that disciple.
He thought again. Even though Wang Lin had been taking the medicine for a full month, it would still take Wang Lin eight to ten years to reach the first layer of Qi Condensation, unless he continued taking the medicine.