Chapter 13: True Energy

“Don’t cry! Don’t cry! I’m fine, aren’t I?”

Wu Ming looked at the tearful beauty with red eyes, softly comforting her outwardly while inwardly he felt a chill run through him. He thought to himself how close he had come to disaster.

In this world, there exist mystical arts and supernatural powers, such as the Heavenly Eye, as well as demons and malevolent spirits capable of possessing human bodies, taking over physical forms to return to life. Although the rural tycoon may be narrow-minded, his elder sister Wu Qing, as a cultivator, must certainly be aware of such matters.

Even if she herself lacked the ability, after witnessing Wu Ming’s dangerous situation this time, she would definitely seek help from others!

The old Taoist priest just now was obviously a highly accomplished master who came to perform rituals and investigate.

If he had met Wu Ming a few days earlier, the soul of this transmigrated person would have been impossible to hide, and would inevitably have been captured as an evil spirit, suppressed forever without hope of rebirth.

“Fortunately… fortunately I still have the Celestial Temple!”

Wu Ming immediately thought of the healing power of the Celestial Temple. He hadn’t felt it before, but after regaining consciousness this time, his physical body and soul felt incredibly harmonized, likely due to that healing treatment.

Otherwise, if any clues had surfaced, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

This current outcome was actually excellent. With the endorsement of the old priest just now, in the future, if Wu Ming did anything extraordinary, others wouldn’t suspect him in that direction.

“What are you daydreaming about?”

Clearly having made up her mind, Wu Qing spoke more casually now.

“I… I was thinking about my ring!”

Wu Ming made up an excuse on the spot.

“It was broken long ago!”

Wu Qing gave her brother a sidelong glance, her face like a spring breeze, exuding countless charms.

Wu Ming’s heart stirred, realizing why this adopted sister usually pretended to be cold and aloof—if she didn’t, with looks like this, wherever she went, she would surely be seen as a femme fatale.

“That was just a cheap trinket. I’ll give you a real magical artifact another day!”

Wu Qing continued speaking, but Wu Ming was thinking about the jade pendant that might be a component of the Celestial Temple.

Back then, everything had been chaotic, so probably very few people noticed, maybe even no one at all.

Besides, that jade pendant had already been absorbed by the Celestial Temple. Even if someone suspected, Wu Ming could simply feign complete ignorance.

“And… who exactly was that Taoist priest?”

Wu Qing gently replied, “He is the supervisor of my Taoist academy, Master Shou Xuan, known for his profound Taoist arts and expertise in medicine. I specially invited him here to treat you…”

“If even the supervisor can be invited, it seems my adopted sister must be doing quite well in the Taoist academy!”

Wu Ming thought to himself, suddenly noticing Wu Qing’s eyebrows lifting, her face showing a trace of decisiveness and ruthlessness: “I already know that this time you got into trouble all because of that femme fatale Li Xiuyun. She should be beaten to death as a warning!”

“No!”

Wu Ming blurted out.

Li Xiuyun, of course, was the girl he first saw when he transmigratedated into this body, also a pitiful person.

Her childhood sweetheart, Lin Qi, had been possessed by an extraterrestrial evil spirit, and her entire family had been killed. Now she had been forcibly taken by a villainous young master and was hated by Wu Qing, her life in grave danger.

He had always been unsure how to face this girl. For the past few days, he had tried to avoid seeing her, hiding in his study instead.

Now that Wu Qing had returned, this naturally became an urgent issue to resolve.

“This…”

Looking at Wu Qing, brimming with killer intent, Wu Ming finally recalled that his sister Wu Qing might be devoted to her younger brother, but towards outsiders, she was extremely cold and merciless!

Otherwise, as a frail woman, she would never have been able to protect such a large family business and also joined the Taoist academy, rising to prominence.

“This girl…”

Wu Ming thought for a moment but couldn’t find any suitable words. Could he say he liked her? That would make him look like a fool.

After a moment of silence, he finally said, “She is also quite pitiful. Why not just let her go home?”

“Hehe…”

Unexpectedly, Wu Qing suddenly laughed: “Sister was just scaring you. How could I possibly harm your beloved treasure?”

Then she added with some surprise, “I never thought… my brother has changed so much after not seeing you for a while. You’ve even learned to be tender-hearted…”

“Hehe…”

Wu Ming gave a dry laugh, knowing that if it weren’t for the old priest’s assurance beforehand, the clues he had left would have been enough for Wu Qing to suspect him.

Seeing Wu Qing’s charming smile, with only a fleeting glint of coldness in her eyes, a sudden realization flashed through Wu Ming’s mind: “Could it be that…”

…

Time flew.

Wu Ming’s injuries weren’t serious to begin with. He didn’t know what spiritual medicine Wu Qing had applied, but three days later, his right hand was almost fully recovered.

As for Master Shou Xuan, he naturally only made a brief appearance before returning to the Taoist academy. Instead, Wu Qing seemed to have taken a few days off to spend more time with her younger brother, which made Wu Ming feel uneasy.

On the training ground.

Wu Ming, wearing a short jacket with his chest open, revealed faintly defined muscles. Suddenly, he exhaled loudly, his breath long and continuous, creating a gust of wind.

Crack!

In an instant, a crisp sound came from his dantian, as his body’s essence and blood gathered, reaching peak vitality and generating the first thread of true qi!

Fifth level of the physical realm, the true qi stage!

“Phew…”

Wu Ming took a deep breath, his pores opening, as if wisps of steam were rising from his skin.

In his heart, he felt quite emotional: “Reaching the true qi stage again. I never thought that after my soul breakthrough, my physical body would also break through once more… However, with the combined experience of these two breakthroughs, my foundation has become even more solid!”

The Celestial Temple selects reincarnators, seemingly only allowing souls to enter.

Yet all the experiences felt very real. At that time, Wu Ming had fought through life-and-death battles, achieving a breakthrough, and now it felt natural.

“Good!”

Beside him, Feng Han clapped his hands, a slight smile appearing on his stiff face: “Originally, I thought with Young Master Ming’s talent, to break through to the true qi stage, he would need real combat training or battlefield experience, sensing the crisis of life and death, in order to combine the strength of skin, muscles, bones, and internal organs into true qi… I never expected him to break through so soon!”

However, thinking back to the previous life-or-death battle against Lin Qi, Feng Han immediately understood and said warmly, “Now that Young Master has advanced to the true qi stage, he has already surpassed ninety-nine percent of his peers, truly a standout of his generation!”

Hearing this, Wu Ming felt somewhat embarrassed.

His martial cultivation resources far surpassed those of his peers. Selected by the Celestial Temple and having undergone life-and-death trials in dungeon missions, he had barely managed to achieve a breakthrough—at a cost Feng Han could scarcely fathom.

As if sensing Wu Ming’s embarrassment, Feng Han said, “Young Master Ming need not be too humble… Remember, reaching the fifth level of the physical realm is rare even within a county. If one directly joins the military, regardless of background, one can be directly appointed as a squad leader. Given Young Master’s status, even a deputy squad leader position would be attainable, with an official rank…”

In this world’s military system, the most basic was the ten-five system. Five soldiers formed a squad, led by a squad leader. Two squads formed a platoon, with the platoon leader commanding ten soldiers, considered a minor figure.

Of course, Wu Ming came from a good background as a local gentry, with his sister taking care of things. Once entering officialdom, he would certainly hold a rank of from the ninth grade.

This deputy squad leader position would be appointed by the prefectural governor, titled as a junior military officer, from the ninth grade! With official seal and credentials, he would truly be separated from the commoners and clerks, entering the class of “officials.”

Don’t underestimate it; an ordinary person in the Great Zhou might spend their whole life without achieving such a rank.

Of course, with Wu Qing supporting him from above and having large estates, concubines, and pretty maids below, only a fool would go into officialdom or the military.

“Master Feng, with your superb martial arts, if you joined the military, it would be like a tiger returning to the mountains or a dragon entering the sea, unstoppable…”

Wu Ming said with apparent admiration.

“Young Master is joking…”

Feng Han shook his head: “I come from a humble background with no foundation. Even if I joined the military, I would probably only be a deputy at first. Perhaps I could start as a junior squad leader, but to rise to a full squad leader would require rare opportunities. Otherwise, it would take at least ten years…”

At this point, Wu Ming clearly saw a trace of resentment in Feng Han’s eyes.

It was understandable. If things were going well, why would he accept Wu Qing’s invitation to become Wu Ming’s martial arts instructor?

In fact, Feng Han’s coming might also have the intention of building connections with the Wu family to ride on their success.

In short, it was a case of mutual benefit.

“As for martial techniques and weapon experience, I will teach you everything I know. However, for your future cultivation methods, you will need to seek them from your elder sister…”

Feng Han quickly regained his composure and said formally: “This is not me withholding anything, but the cultivation method you practice is far superior to mine. Your future prospects are boundless!”

“Boundless prospects?”

Wu Ming pondered these four words and suddenly asked, “After the physical realm in martial cultivation, are there other stages?”

“Of course there are!”

Feng Han answered without hesitation: “…After the physical realm, martial cultivators undergo transformations that transcend the mundane and reach the sacred, changing their very nature. Legends speak of individuals capable of charging into an enemy formation alone, defeating hundreds or even thousands of foes, and these are real feats!”

“And how do they compare to cultivators of the Taoist path?” Wu Ming asked immediately.

“After reaching the true qi stage, martial cultivators possess strong vitality and yang energy. In battle, with a single loud shout and spitting out essence blood, it’s very easy to break minor spells. Moreover, as long as Taoist cultivators haven’t reached the stage of drawing talismans in midair or forming spells with written characters, they heavily rely on external objects. Once we martial artists get close, hehe…”

Feng Han’s answer confirmed Wu Ming’s suspicion that this person held biases, or rather, was stubbornly clinging to the pride of martial cultivators.

However, a sudden thought struck Wu Ming as he recalled the girl Xiaoyu he met during his first reincarnation mission.

The impression she gave him was extraordinary, and she was very likely a Taoist cultivator.

Unfortunately, her cultivation level wasn’t high, and she relied too much on external objects. To make matters worse, the Celestial Temple treated all talismans and magical artifacts as “external objects”! She had to purchase them with merits to bring into the dungeon.

As a result, Xiaoyu was like a fish without gills or a bird without wings. Facing life-and-death crises, she tragically perished, and Wu Ming didn’t know where her soul had gone.

“Hmm… We are reincarnated souls, cast into dungeons by the Celestial Temple. I wonder, if we perish in the dungeon, is it true death, or merely the erasure of our memories?”