“Don’t use your zhenqi to fend off the gray energy!”
After the experience with Feng Jiuge, Zhang Xuan knew that the gray energy had the ability to devour the zhenqi within one’s body. He quickly rushed over to Luo Qiqi’s side and placed his palm behind her back.
Not even the Heaven’s Path zhenqi was able to stop the gray energy, let alone other zhenqi. The more a cultivator tried to use their zhenqi to fend off the gray energy, the faster they would deplete their zhenqi.
Channeling the Pathos of Heaven zhenqi into Luo Qiqi’s body and circulating it through her meridians, Zhang Xuan was able to quickly seal off the gray energy that had seeped into her body earlier.
After that, he had Luo Qiqi quickly swallow some medicine to recover her vitality. At the same time, he quickly drove the Heaven’s Path Divine Art to create some Heaven’s Path zhenqi to infuse into the young lady’s body.
The clash between the Heaven’s Path zhenqi and the gray energy produced a brilliant green light. It took a while, but the gray energy was eventually fully neutralized.
That allowed Luo Qiqi to slowly recover her cultivation, but her face remained pale with fright. For a moment there, she had thought that she was going to die.
If not for Zhang Xuan’s swift reaction, she had a feeling that the gray energy would have corroded her soul. She might even have turned into an Otherworldly Demon just like the Semi-Divinities of Spirit Origin Royal City.
Back then, Feng Jiuge had been afflicted with it while he was still a distance away from the distorted space, and that had caused him to suffer for two years straight before being kicked out of his clan.
This time, the gray swirls of energy rippling across the wall were at least a thousand times more concentrated, making it a far more frightening force.
“Don’t cultivate or absorb anything here. It’ll be extremely difficult to deal with if the gray energy seeps into your body!” Zhang Xuan instructed.
Luo Qiqi and Little Chick quickly nodded.
After the previous encounter, they came to realize just how frightening the gray energy was.
Even with the Little Chick’s regenerative prowess, it would still be unable to deal with it properly once it was afflicted with the strange energy.
“The Pathos of Heaven zhenqi is unaffected by the gray energy, so I might just be able to fend off the gray energy with it.”
From the looks of it, it seemed like all energies that were beneath the level of the Firmament’s heavens would be unable to ward off the gray energy. However, his Pathos of Heaven zhenqi had already surpassed the level of the heavens, which was likely the reason that the gray energy was unable to faze it upon contact.
Most likely, they would have to rely on his zhenqi in order to overcome this obstacle.
To test out this theory, Zhang Xuan wreathed his arm in his Pathos of Heaven zhenqi and slowly placed it on the gray wall.
The gray energy swirling in the area was pushed away, and his arm remained completely unharmed.
“It does work…” Zhang Xuan exhaled deeply.
With a smile of relief, he turned to Luo Qiqi and Little Chick and said, “Stay close to me. We’ll be traveling past the gray wall right now.”
Luo Qiqi and Little Chick moved over to his side, and he quickly covered them with his Pathos of Heaven zhenqi.
Then, they began making their way into the gray wall together.
Tzzzzzzzz!
The gray energy swirls within the wall relentlessly threw themselves against the three intruders, and the furious hissing of corrosion echoed all around them. Yet, they were unable to breach the protective sphere formed by the Pathos of Heaven zhenqi.
After taking a few steps, Zhang Xuan glanced backward to check on Luo Qiqi and Little Chick’s statuses, and it seemed like they were doing fine. So, he continued ahead.
But less than a minute later, he halted and started to retreat backward.
“What’s wrong?” Luo Qiqi asked.
After leaving the gray wall, Zhang Xuan released the protective sphere of energy around the three of them and gasped for air.
In just three short minutes, he had expended all of his Pathos of Heaven zhenqi!
While the gray energy was unable to faze the Pathos of Heaven zhenqi, there were simply too many swirls around. This put a huge strain on Zhang Xuan, causing his zhenqi to deplete swiftly.
The key problem was that he had not been able to restore the amount of zhenqi he had back to its maximum capacity all this while. In his current state, it would be difficult for them to pass through this region.
Sighing deeply, Zhang Xuan sat down and cultivated for roughly an hour before he finally restored his zhenqi.
“I need to find a way to fill up my dantian once more. If I could raise my zhenqi cultivation to the God King realm, that would be even better…”
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Zhang Xuan rubbed his glabella in distress.
His dantian had originally been filled with an ocean of zhenqi, but it had all dissipated as green light after clashing with the gray energy, causing it to become completely empty. If he wished to pass through the gray wall, he would have to either increase the amount of zhenqi within his dantian or find a way to continuously replenish his zhenqi so that he would not run out of it.
Otherwise, if he ran out of zhenqi halfway through, they would be doomed.
The only problem was that he had only received three pinnacle God Essence Pills from Fu Jiangchen, and he had given the last one to Luo Qiqi. Furthermore, even if he had the luxury of having an unlimited number of pinnacle God Essence Pills to squander, it was unlikely that he would be able to restore his zhenqi fast enough to match his rate of depletion.
If it comes down to it, I should just eat the Pill King!
Currently, the most potent pill he had with him was the Pill King. it was a treasure that could move even a Conferred God King. He would certainly be able to replenish the zhenqi in his dantian by consuming it, and there was a good chance that he could push for a breakthrough to the God King realm as well.
The only issue was that…
He still had not comprehended a God King realm cultivation technique yet!
The Pill King was his trump card for making a breakthrough, and it would be a huge waste to use such an invaluable pill just to replenish his zhenqi.
For the Pathos of Heaven, I have already comprehended the ties between a subordinate and a master, the camaraderie between brothers, and the relationship between a teacher and a student… If my gut feeling is not off, the next realm probably should be the sentiments of a parent…
Zhang Xuan sat on the ground and began thinking it through.
He had been an orphan in his previous life, and he did not have anyone around him that could be considered a parental figure. In his current life, he was privileged to have found his parents, but the time he had spent with them was very short.
His inability to fully comprehend familial ties made him unsure about how he should carry on, and he had ended up putting it off again and again.
But he could not do that anymore. No matter what, he had to give it a go.
Closing his eyes, he began to think about all the time he had spent together with the Xingmeng Sword Saints.
In order to find him, his parents had gone through a lot. Even as the whole world told them time and time again that he was already dead, they had persevered for the sake of the slim chance that he might still be out there in the world.
For him, they were willing to cast aside their lives.
The sentiments that they carried for him were nobler than anything in the world.
But… while Zhang Xuan could understand all of that rationally, he was unable to connect to those feelings emotionally.
Sitting quietly on the ground, he tried his best to stand in their shoes and grasp their feelings, but the willful emotions simply would not obey human will. Sighing deeply, he raised his head to look at Luo Qiqi and asked, “Say, what do you think are the feelings that a parent would feel toward their child?”
Luo Qiqi was taken aback by Zhang Xuan’s abrupt question. Her face reddened a little as she replied, “I… can’t really tell either. I-I guess only those who have a child can understand those feelings…”
Emotions were experiences, not explanations.
The two of them were only in their twenties, and they had not had their own children yet. Without being in that position themselves, they would not be able to comprehend such sentiments.
Seeing that Luo Qiqi had misunderstood him, Zhang Xuan scratched his head awkwardly. He was just about to explain the reason behind his question when Little Chick suddenly tucked its head beneath its small fluffy wings and said, “Isn’t it easy enough if you want to have a child? There’s no one else here anyway. You are a man, she is a woman, and all of your physical functions are working perfectly fine. Just make one here. Don’t worry, I’ll cover my eyes and not peek…”
“…” Zhang Xuan’s lips twitched.
He knew that he should have fried this darned chick back then.
Zhang Xuan quickly turned to look at Luo Qiqi, only to see that her face had turned so red that it looked as if it was going to burst.
Zhang Xuan sighed deeply and said, “I’m not messing with you. I am asking this question so that I can make a breakthrough to God King and get us through the gray wall!”
“What do you mean by that? Does it look like I’m joking around? How can you understand the feelings of a parent without having a child?” Little Chick replied indignantly. “Since the both of you are here, why don’t you just make one? Once you have a child, you’ll surely come to have a deep understanding of the sentiments that come with being a parent!”
Seeing how this fellow was still shamelessly spouting bullsh*t, Zhang Xuan kicked him flying before harrumphing. “Can’t you talk properly?”
Even if they really did it then, they would still need ten months of pregnancy and years of raising the child before they could truly comprehend the feelings of a parent.
But they did not have that much time to spare!