There’s been so much going on these days. Lao Ji is doing his utmost to keep things updated. I hope he can hold on.
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With a rusty creaking sound, the iron door to the warehouse slowly opened. Mei Qing, accompanied by Qian San and Zhao Dayou, stepped into this inner storeroom of the Jinyi Guard to see what lay within.
The door was over a foot thick, and as it opened, mechanisms on both sides activated. Mei Qing couldn’t help but whistle in amazement. Qian San chuckled and said, “Master Mei, you may not know this, but this door is forged from top-quality steel. Ordinary blades and weapons can’t even scratch it. As for our storeroom, if I may say so, it’s among the safest places in the entire realm, with few rivals.”
Mei Qing nodded appreciatively and then asked, “If we’re talking about fending off ordinary people, our warehouse is naturally impregnable. But earlier, I heard from Zhao Dayou that there are many extraordinary individuals in the world. We must have offended quite a few of them over time. How can this storeroom defend against such people?”
Qian San grinned widely and said, “Master Mei, you’re truly thorough in your thinking. However, our inner group has even more experts. Reportedly, the Sixth Master invited a certain immortal to set up a grand formation within this storeroom. Whether you’re an accomplished monk or a cultivating demon, once you step inside, all your supernatural abilities become useless—you’re just an ordinary person again. Hehe, Master, just imagine, what are these cultivators without their powers? They wouldn’t even match up to old Qian in a fight with blades and fists!”
As he spoke, Qian San’s face gleamed with pride, and it seemed as if every one of his whiskers stood on end. “Let me tell you, not long ago, a foolish foreign monk came to cause trouble. He was quite famous in the border regions, some kind of guru or something. When he arrived here, he was arrogant, swaggering in like he owned the place. Guess what happened? As soon as he stepped through our door, he was stunned! He started chanting all sorts of gibberish, but nothing worked. In the end, that brat Yaizi gave him a brutal beating, leaving him with a face like a swollen pig’s head, and then sent him off to enjoy the hospitality of Master Ma.”
Mei Qing listened and understood. He guessed this place must have a formation similar to the suppression seal inside his own body, which completely nullified the powers of cultivators, leaving them powerless. The members of the Fourth Group might not be cultivators themselves, but most came from military backgrounds and were skilled in martial arts. Once cultivators lost their magical advantages, they would be helpless in a fight, left only to endure beatings.
As he thought, Mei Qing instinctively sent his spiritual awareness inward. Since his cultivation had already been sealed, he couldn’t perceive the strength of the formation here. He only felt the same dead emptiness inside, with no connection to his golden core. Sighing inwardly, he withdrew his focus and continued forward to explore the storeroom.
The warehouse wasn’t very large. After entering through the passage, there were small rooms lined up on both sides, all locked. Qian San took out his keys and opened them one by one, inviting Mei Qing to inspect the contents.
Mei Qing asked in surprise, “Qian Baihu, do you personally keep all the keys to these rooms? If something happens, how can you ensure their safety?”
Qian San grinned and replied, “The keys to the smaller rooms inside are held by the on-duty officer. When I’m on duty, they’re with me; if it’s Old Zhao’s shift, then he holds them. The keys to the outer six chambers require two people to open together, each held by a guard at the door. Previously, opening this door required orders from Master Lu, and all three parties had to be present. But now that you’ve taken over, naturally, it’s your word that opens the door.”
Mei Qing nodded. This arrangement indeed made perfect sense—ensuring that even if one link was compromised, the items inside the warehouse would still be safe.
Most of the items in the storeroom were boxes of various sizes, sealed with official tags indicating numbers and dates.
Before long, they reached the deepest part of the warehouse—a small room. Qian San opened the door and laughed, “This one isn’t for ordinary items. It’s for all sorts of strange things whose uses are unknown, just randomly piled in here. Things get put in, but rarely taken out. It might not even contain anything particularly useful.”
Standing at the doorway, Mei Qing felt a strange sensation rising in his heart, as if something familiar was calling to him from within.
Suddenly, his mind stirred violently, and his expression changed drastically. This feeling—this feeling—he knew what was inside.
He had felt this sensation not long ago, and from that moment on, his life had undergone a complete transformation.
What lay hidden inside was none other than that Duan inkstone—the Big Dipper Inkstone.
A flood of emotions surged through Mei Qing’s heart—bitterness, sweetness, sourness, and spiciness all at once. In an instant, he couldn’t tell whether he felt joy or sorrow, anger or grief. Recalling all the experiences since he first encountered this inkstone, it truly felt like a dream.
He had once been a carefree nobleman’s son, untroubled by life, spending his days leisurely playing with antiques and treasures, without grand ambitions. If nothing had happened, he likely would have idled away his youth like this, eventually marrying someone chosen by his elders, raising children, and continuing the family line.
But since the appearance of this inkstone, Mei Qing’s peaceful life had been shattered. Liu the Scar, Scholar Li, and later Master Zhao had all died under mysterious circumstances. Mei Qing himself had entered the Jinyi Guard, met Huang the Fat, Old Zhang, and finally Bi Zhen.
From being a scholar with no strength to tie up a chicken, he had, in a daze, built his foundation in cultivation, eventually condensing a golden core and becoming a Daoist practitioner. He even formed a dual cultivation partnership with Bi Zhen.
Yet all of this had vanished like a mirage in an instant. His cultivation had been sealed, and in a moment, he had been reduced to his former self. Bi Zhen had been taken away, her whereabouts unknown, with no word of her since.
Now, standing before this inkstone, Mei Qing’s spiritual awareness was sharper than ever, making the sensation even stronger. The sinister aura that had once terrified him no longer caused him the slightest fear. Instead, it felt oddly familiar and comforting.
What surprised him even more was that he seemed to sense something within the inkstone that felt deeply familiar, as if it weren’t just a cold stone, but a long-time friend. He could feel its emotions, its joys and sorrows, as if they were his own.
At that moment, a sudden burst of cold, maniacal laughter shattered his thoughts. The laughter was filled with mockery, anger, and resentment, infecting Mei Qing’s heart with violent hatred and pain.
“Master! Master, what’s wrong with you?” The alarmed voices of Qian San and Zhao Dayou pulled Mei Qing back from that violent state.
“Nothing… let’s go.” Mei Qing took a deep breath and said slowly.
Qian San and Zhao Dayou exchanged glances, both visibly startled. They were old hands from the military, and although their own skills might not be extraordinary, they had clearly felt the sudden surge of cold, violent energy from Mei Qing just now. Though they couldn’t understand why this refined, delicate young gentleman had suddenly changed his demeanor and exuded such a fierce aura, they had seen their fair share of strange occurrences within the Jinyi Guard’s inner group. Mei Qing must have his own unique qualities to be chosen by the superiors to manage this place. As minor figures, the less they knew, the better.
Thus, after exchanging a knowing glance, the two silently followed Mei Qing out, pretending to know nothing. However, the looks they gave Mei Qing now were completely devoid of the earlier contempt.
Mei Qing, of course, was unaware that the two behind him now held him in deep respect. His heart was still in turmoil, and he only wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible, putting as much distance as he could between himself and the inkstone.
At this moment, his mind was chaotic and unsettled, so much so that he failed to notice that the golden core inside him, which had been sealed within a grayish mist and devoid of vitality, had begun to slowly rotate. Its previously dull surface now faintly shimmered with a hint of purple.
Mei Qing gently guided a stream of energy toward the gray mist surrounding the golden core. He visualized an inner fire above it, radiating downward, and a crescent moon rising from the kidney’s water, reflecting beside it. As the sun and moon refined the energy, mysterious purple flames began to rise within him, merging with the energy he had gathered, forming streams of purple essence that continuously rotated around the gray mist sealing his golden core, gradually eroding and dissolving it. As the energy flowed naturally, a faint smile appeared on his face.
After several days of relentless practice of the Divine Thunder Technique, and through sheer trial and error, combined with his limited cultivation knowledge, Mei Qing had finally found a method to break the seal.
And judging from today’s attempt, this method was indeed effective. If he continued like this, he would soon be free from the seal binding his golden core.
The foundation of this method lay in Mei Qing’s unique physical constitution.
For ordinary cultivators, the golden core was formed from a spark of true energy gathered during foundation building, gradually growing stronger until it solidified into a core. Thus, their entire cultivation depended on this core. Once the golden core was sealed, their entire power source was cut off, leaving them helpless against the seal, with only the hope of a fellow cultivator of similar strength breaking the seal from the outside.
But Mei Qing had always been different from ordinary cultivators. First, his body had been like a sealed prison from the beginning. If it hadn’t been for the fat Taoist’s reckless meddling and Mei Qing’s spiritual assistance, he wouldn’t even have been able to build his foundation. Second, his body contained surging purple flames, like a battlefield. Mei Qing’s cultivation was largely derived from refining these purple flames.
Therefore, when Mei Qing’s golden core was sealed, he naturally thought back to how he had broken through his initial foundation from the outside. He wondered if he could replicate that situation, using external forces to break the seal.
The first external force Mei Qing considered was inspired by the Divine Thunder Technique—using the essence of the sun and moon to draw energy into his body to break the seal. The difference between talisman-based cultivation and golden-core schools lay in drawing celestial energy into the body and refining it for one’s own use. But there was another problem: the internal golden core was still needed to guide the energy once it entered the body. Since Mei Qing’s golden core was sealed, the energy entering his body had no guidance and simply dissipated. How could he make this energy attack the sealing mist on its own?
This was where the purple flames in Mei Qing’s body came into play. These purple flames had always existed within him, constantly clashing with him. But after Mei Qing’s cultivation improved, the flames seemed to understand the danger and gradually quieted down. However, with the golden core sealed, the flames, no longer restrained, began to stir again. Mei Qing’s idea was to guide the celestial energy into his body with his mind and mix it with the purple flames. Without the golden core to guide the energy, the celestial essence was no match for the flames and would soon be consumed. During the process of the flames refining the celestial energy, they would inevitably also consume part of the sealing mist. Bit by bit, the seal would be gradually eroded until it was completely dissolved. At that point, the golden core would be freed, and his cultivation would naturally return.
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