CH 2.2

“why is it still not working? no, i can’t give up.”

“let’s try this…”

zhao keran sat cross-legged, her face gradually showing pain, and her tightly closed eyes turned dark circles. her dry lips had long started to peel.

over a month later, she scratched her ears and cheeks, and more and more hair fell on the bed and floor.

“resonate the primordial soul and embrace unity…”

“…able to be without detachment…”

her eyebrows tightened, her chest felt stuffy, and she almost felt pain.

just when she felt like she was about to black out and fall, a warm, soft hand gently supported her back.

who?

was it senior sister lin?

impossible, senior sister was already asleep during this hour.

to avoid disturbing her, she had even used a soundproofing charm before practicing, so her muttering shouldn’t have woken her up.

zhao keran couldn’t even open her eyelids, but she felt a warm palm behind her back, injecting a spring-like warm spiritual energy into her exhausted meridians, flowing towards her dantian.

a faint aroma of oranges enveloped her, refreshing her senses.

zhao keran’s dormant dantian spiritual energy suddenly began to circulate.

not only that, but she also had more mental strength.

a faint orange aroma… it was her senior sister. before going to sleep, she had been looking at picture albums, pasting seaweed mud, listening to storytelling, and eating two big oranges.

“don’t lose focus again.”

a gentle call sounded in zhao keran’s ear.

“the five internal organs’ energy flows in five directions, merging one by one.”

zhao keran suddenly had an epiphany.

so that’s how it works.

gathering essence to return to one’s origin, she couldn’t find the feeling.

then she would merge one internal organ at a time.

what a clever method.

and the sound of flipping pages echoed in her ear again. wait, what was senior sister reading?

“it’s white noise, to calm you down.”

white… noise? what was that?

but zhao keran listened attentively, and the sound of flipping pages made her breath and heartbeat surprisingly smooth. her nose seemed to catch the faint fragrance of old ink, reminding her of her always calm and composed father.

her heart was at peace.

unify all thoughts, and she could feel it!

zhao keran was about to show a grateful smile but hesitated.

wait, wasn’t senior sister cultivating the water spirit technique?

how come she could also do the haohui jue?

zhao keran struggled to open her eyes, attempting to look behind her, gazing in admiration at her senior sister, who was supporting her, now wearing a snow-colored robe…

senior sister was amazing… she knew everything!

zhao keran’s last thought lingered for a moment before she quickly closed her eyes and entered a deep state of meditation.

“the early-stage cultivation of haohui jue is indeed too slow.”

after seeing her stabilize, lin shuang slowly withdrew her hands.

standing up, she looked at zhao keran with a slight sense of relief.

“today, i gave zhao junior sister some guidance, which should speed up her cultivation, at least by fifty percent.”

“it significantly reduces her distress in cultivating at night.”

with her junior sister’s cultivation accelerated, her mood improved, and the atmosphere in the room became more pleasant.

this way, the efficiency of their work would increase.

lin shuang nodded in satisfaction.

she took out today’s schedule.

[ugly hour: interact with a roommate and strengthen relationships √]

on the second day, when zhao keran woke up, she found herself still in the cross-legged position she was in before entering meditation.

using her inner vision to inspect her five organs, she joyfully discovered that she had already grasped the first layer of the haohui jue.

“thank you, senior sister,” zhao keran gratefully looked at lin shuang, who had finally woken up in the early morning.

however, to her surprise, her senior sister opened the picture album with her fair hand and replied, “no need to thank me. it’s just part of my daily schedule.”

zhao keran’s eyes flickered.

senior sister, how can you be so powerful and yet speak so modestly?

what realm of cultivation does senior sister possess?

last night, she was even able to see through the soundproofing spell while sound asleep.

could she be cultivating two techniques simultaneously?

is she stronger than the steward, senior brother xu rui?

the more zhao keran thought about it, the more she felt that her senior sister was unfathomable.

unconsciously, she walked to the outer gate’s transmission hall, where she encountered several disciples seeking guidance from the transmission master.

“master li, i heard that a new disciple chose the haohui jue. it’s impossible for them to grasp it within thirty days, right?”

“no disciple from the outer gate has cultivated past the third layer in over ten years.”

“no, some disciples have broken through the third layer,” the transmission master said.

zhao keran opened her mouth and halted her steps.

it must be talking about senior sister lin shuang!

the transmission master sighed, “you all should not attempt it lightly. once you choose it, if you can’t grasp it within thirty days, abandon it as soon as possible. the haohui jue emphasizes gathering essence and transforming it into one’s origin. it’s very difficult to achieve. without talent, it’s a waste of time.”

so that’s how it is, similar to what senior sister mentioned.

no, senior sister’s explanation was even more vivid and specific.

she even used white noise to guide herself to grasp it.

even the transmission master finds it challenging and can’t help disciples achieve it. how could senior sister do it?

zhao keran’s thoughts were in turmoil.

“you guys have come, so it’s perfect. take these spiritual stones for cultivation below the fifth layer of qi condensation and distribute them.”

“yes!”

as zhao keran was about to leave, she was stopped by two senior brothers who had just come out of the transmission hall.

“hey, you’re the new one sharing a room with lin shuang, right? here, take these. two sets of qi condensation at the third layer, one hundred pieces of low-grade spiritual stones each.”

huh?

zhao keran turned back in astonishment.

“senior brother, are you mistaken?”

how could senior sister lin shuang only be at the third layer of qi condensation?

…

indeed, she was only at the third layer of qi condensation.

three years later, zhao keran looked at her senior sister sleeping with a flushed face, her expression full of worry.

she quietly tied the indigo blue embroidered water pattern waistband around her waist; this was proof of her status as an outer gate disciple of the clearwater sect.

now, her waistband displayed seven continuous water ripples, indicating that she had already reached the seventh layer of qi condensation.

in contrast, her senior sister’s waistband still had only three water ripples, washed so many times that the indigo-blue color had faded, and it had not been replaced.

zhao keran sighed lightly, tidied up her attire, quickly poured a basin of face-washing water, preserving its warmth with a warming spell, and personally cooked a pot of shredded pork with preserved vegetables.

carefully, she approached her senior sister lin shuang’s bed.

she gazed at the countdown displayed in the eyes of the paper talisman “xiao ai” beside her.

[estimated time until lin shuang wakes up naturally on weekends: five breaths… three breaths…]

before the numbers reached zero, lin shuang turned over on the bed, opened her eyes with a rosy complexion, and the radiant sunlight shone through the window, climbing up her delicate eyebrows.

it was already midday.

the perfect moment to wake up naturally.

lin shuang stretched lazily, then happily slid back under the covers.

“…senior sister, it’s now noon, which is our daily communication time,” zhao keran pondered and said, clenching her teeth.

“does senior sister have time to lend me a hand and protect me as i break through the guardian stage?”

she had reached the peak of the seventh layer of qi condensation and could advance at any time.

behind the dense forest behind wood house no. 99, the gentle breeze brushed through.

inside the house, silence filled the air, as if it was empty.

“…senior sister, i know you’re awake.”

“…”

lin shuang helplessly pulled down the blanket.

“little junior sister, turn left for three hundred steps, and you’ll find zhou senior brother and chen senior sister, who are at the eighth layer of qi condensation.”

zhao keran’s mouth twitched.

did her senior sister calculate the number of steps in advance for her?

“senior sister, the outer gate elite disciple selection is approaching, and they are all preparing.” zhao keran gritted her teeth and moved closer again.

she was about to make a breakthrough. she shouldn’t have mentioned it in front of senior sister, nor should she ask senior sister to protect her.

but she secretly asked a few masters and learned that when a cultivator observes others advancing, they might have insights and, if lucky, could make a breakthrough overnight.

senior sister was strong in theory.

it was just that she lacked practical experience.

“i beg senior sister to help me. at a critical moment, just ask for help from the elder in the transmission hall.”

zhao keran was confident about this breakthrough.

since she grasped the haohui jue, her cultivation had been smooth all along.

“the snow vegetable and shredded pork noodles for seven days, plus a flowing yellow spirit spring egg.”

soon, the wooden house filled with the sound of calculating.

the bedding on the small wooden bed moved, “fifteenth day.”

“…”

zhao keran took a deep breath: “deal.”

as the bedding was uncovered, lin shuang rubbed the corners of her eyes and sat up slowly. she slid down to the floor from the bed, opened the radio of the cultivation station with the accompaniment of immortal music, and washed her hands in the warm water basin.

zhao keran noticed that senior sister was only wearing a single garment, and her feet were bare. she blinked her eyes, “it snowed at ling mountain last night.”

as a cultivator at the third layer of qi condensation, she couldn’t withstand the cold of spiritual snow.

“senior sister, take care of yourself!”

she took the outer disciple robe hanging on the bedside and quickly draped it over lin shuang’s shoulders.

however, as she was about to pull back her hand, her fingertips accidentally slipped over lin shuang’s inner garment.

surprisingly, her fingertip was shaken away and quickly lost its sensation.

zhao keran was startled.

how could this be?

the defensive qi of a cultivator at the third layer of qi condensation should be as thin as paper when facing her at the seventh layer.

…

“carrying the soul and embracing oneness, there can be no separation.” excerpt from “tao te ching.”