After outlining a rough plan for the upcoming tasks and key considerations, Li Tan once again assessed his physical condition. His injuries remained largely unchanged, but the Qi in his dantian had become even more refined, reaching a state where further improvement seemed nearly impossible. He was now on the verge of breaking through to the Xiantian stage at any moment. This unexpected and pleasant surprise was entirely due to the enlightenment he had received from Cang Jue the previous day. This experience brought to mind the ancient saying: “If it is a blessing, it is not a calamity; if it is a calamity, it cannot be avoided for long.” Indeed, the wisdom of the ancients never ceases to amaze us.
Li Tan shifted his attention to Li Jiaying and Li Xiu.
Both were still in a deep state of cultivation, eyes tightly shut and motionless, although their clothes were still half-wet from yesterday’s rain.
The disparity between cultivators at the Houtian stage and ordinary individuals wasn’t particularly pronounced, making them susceptible to ailments like the common cold, which could potentially impact their performance in the afternoon’s martial competition.
To avoid this, Li Tan approached Li Jiaying, letting his hands slowly move over her body to dry the moisture with the energy of Qi.
The warm Qi felt comforting, and Li Jiaying’s tense expression eased considerably.
Her clothes were almost dry, then it was Li Xiu’s turn.
Just as he was about to repeat the same process, Li Tan suddenly stopped.
What was there to fear about doing such a trivial thing to another man?
This was definitely not differential treatment, nor was it because touching him felt disgusting.
The martial contest was scheduled to start three hours after noon, and the two cultivators awoke an hour before noon.
“Good morning, big brother,” Li Xiu said first, waking up. The bit of charm he had shown before closing his eyes vanished completely upon opening them, and his every move gave off a timid vibe, as if speaking just a bit louder would scare him into running away.
“I’m your cousin, not your enemy; speak with more confidence,” Li Tan advised.
“But, uh, I understand,” Li Xiu replied meekly.
Li Tan sighed helplessly, “You don’t really understand at all.” This personality needed to change, but that could wait until matters in Linjiang were resolved.
“Forget it, we’ll talk about this later. How do you feel now?”
A hint of color finally returned to Li Xiu’s face. “I feel wonderful. Given another month, I should be able to break through to the mid-stage of Houtian!”
“Don’t move.”
Li Tan placed his hand on Li Xiu’s abdomen, carefully probing his Qi into it. Li Xiu squirmed uncomfortably, instinctively wanting to resist, but his reason told him not to, so Li Tan’s Qi continued into his dantian.
“Don’t underestimate yourself. In your case, you won’t need a month; you’ll break through within a week at most.”
“Really?”
Li Xiu’s face lit up with joy, almost jumping up in excitement.
Li Tan’s lips curved slightly. “Of course it’s true, and it could even be faster. Want to know how to do it faster?”
“Yes!”
Li Xiu’s eyes seemed to shine.
Li Tan smiled meaningfully. “After the martial contest, go through a few nights of trials in the Zui Xian realm.”
Li Xiu immediately fell silent, his face turning pale.
Seeing this reaction, Li Tan was somewhat displeased but didn’t show any intention of criticizing him. After all, compared to those who wouldn’t even dare to come, Li Xiu had performed quite well.
“Brother Li Tan, what time is it now?”
At this moment, Li Jiaying’s soft voice came over. Li Tan turned his head and saw her looking drowsy, rubbing her eyes with her small hands as she stood up.
“It’s almost noon. Rest for a while, then return to Linjiang. The martial contest will start soon. How do you feel now?”
Li Tan asked tenderly.
Li Jiaying’s face lit up with a bright smile as she happily said, “I feel great!”
“Did you break through?”
“Uh, Ying’er doesn’t understand.” Small breakthroughs in cultivation, aside from an increase in Qi, showed no outward signs. There was nothing unusual that happened during a breakthrough, so many people who read little and had a vague understanding of the boundaries often only realized they had broken through several days later.
“Don’t move.”
So Li Tan approached Li Jiaying and employed the same technique he had used to examine Li Xiu’s dantian. After a brief moment, a satisfied smile appeared on his face: “Ying’er has already reached the mid-stage of Houtian.”
“Really?”
“Really, when has your brother ever lied to you?”
“Wah! That’s great! Father will be so happy when he finds out!”
Li Jiaying jumped up and down excitedly. Li Tan looked on with affection, but suddenly noticed Li Xiu looked somewhat downcast. It wasn’t hard to guess he was comparing himself with Li Jiaying. A thirteen-year-old girl’s cultivation level was higher than his own; anyone would feel bad about that. So Li Tan asked, “The path of cultivation is still long. Those who make it to the end are often not the geniuses. Do you know why?”
Li Xiu shook his head in confusion.
Li Tan explained, “Because talent determines your starting point. Without a resilient heart, you often end up as someone else’s stepping stone along the way. And most geniuses are arrogant. I’m not telling you this to say that effort can surpass talent, but those who make it to the end rely not on talent alone. Do you understand?”
Li Xiu nodded somewhat uncertainly. Li Tan didn’t explain further; he had already said what needed to be said. The principle was actually very simple. Let’s use an example.
A genius versus an ordinary person.
A genius might achieve acquired mastery at ten and innate mastery at twenty, while an ordinary person might barely attain acquired mastery at twenty and innate mastery at thirty.
Although the ordinary person breaks through more slowly, he can eventually catch up with the genius’s pace. So who can make it to the end?
If the genius is killed because of his arrogance, wouldn’t the ordinary person eventually surpass him in attainments?
That’s how it was, although not absolutely.
This was just an ideal situation, based on the premise that both parties had equal resources. Generally speaking, geniuses always received more cultivation resources, further widening the gap between them and ordinary people.
So in conclusion, cultivation is not about talent, but about the ruthless competition for resources.
Getting off track.
After hearing Li Tan’s words, although Li Xiu was still somewhat confused, his mood had clearly improved, not being discouraged to the point of despair. Meanwhile, Li Jiaying, after a brief moment of excited jumping, suddenly stopped for no apparent reason and no longer mentioned her cultivation level. After resting a bit, she started playing around with Li Tan again.
When they had mostly recovered, Li Tan took the two back to Linjiang.
To be honest, Li Tan had little desire to return to the Lin family; there was simply no need.
In fact, he had already considered writing a letter of divorce to Lin Cui, but it was temporarily inconvenient to do so. He had to wait until matters in Linjiang were settled, otherwise it could cause conflicts between the Li and Lin families.
Moreover, according to the rules, a son-in-law technically had no right to write a letter of divorce, but Li Tan had no intention of following that rule at all.
Rules?
Power is the only rule.
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