Chapter 167: Perseverance is Key
"When it comes to practice of the Primordial High Zenith Qigong, perseverance is key. With your aptitude, as long as you persevere, you will surely become the most formidable juggernaut out of all of the trainees!
"I only taught you this advanced cultivation art because I see immense potential in you, so don't disappoint me. If you decide to give up, then don't even bother to come and see me again."
Chu Qiguang nodded in response before resuming his training.
Yang Ling nodded with a pleased face and said, "Make sure to work hard on the Primordial High Zenith Qigong. A few days from now, I'll teach you the Heavenly Demon Vanquishing Palms. I still have to get back to the other trainees, so I'll leave you to train on your own for now."
Yang Ling's departure came as quite a relief to Chu Qiguang.
Finally! I was worried he would never leave! Progress is far too slow if I restrict my cultivation base to just the third state. I have to say, Instructor Yang has a really good eye for talent, but he just talks a little too much, almost like he's really worried that I'll give up if he doesn't give me enough encouragement.
With Yang Ling gone, Chu Qiguang was free to reveal the full extent of his cultivation base, and a wave of intense heat burst out of him as he drew upon his fifth-state qi and blood.
Thanks to his fifth-state cultivation base, he made faster progress in his practice, and it didn't take long before the skin on his hand took on a green hue.
Instructor Yang was right! Perseverance really is key when it comes to practicing the Primordial High Zenith Qigong! I've only been persevering for a few minutes, yet the effects are already showing!
On this day, Chu Qiguang cultivated the Primordial High Zenith Qigong until it was time for dinner before reluctantly departing.
Prior to his departure, he examined the boulder closely, and he discovered that even under his relentless pummeling, only a few very fine cracks had appeared on its surface.
Looks like even though we're both fifth-degree martial artists, there's still quite a large gap between Instructor Yang and me. I still need to work harder. Come to think of it, do those tentacles have anything to do with one's power?
The meals provided by the Demon Vanquishing Department were quite generous. They weren't quite on the same level as the meals prepared by Jiang Longyu's servant, but they were certainly not lacking in either quantity or nutrition. There were also various types of medicinal dishes to supplement the standard dishes.
Since the trainees had to go through rigorous training every day, these meals were designed to replenish them thoroughly.
After dinner, Chu Qiguang went to the archives building for more reading.
He would read until closing time, and then he would return to the boulder to spend the rest of the night practicing the Primordial High Zenith Qigong.
As a fifth-state Dao artist, he didn't require any sleep, and he was eager to make the most of his time.
***
Once again, the gates of the archives building were opened by the gatekeeper. As Chu Qiguang followed the gatekeeper through the darkness, he abruptly asked, "Are you also a fifth-state martial artist, Senior?"
"Oh? You have a pretty sharp eye," the gatekeeper mused as he turned around to throw a surprised glance at Chu Qiguang.
"Who's stronger between you and Instructor Yang Ling?" Chu Qiguang asked.
"How could I possibly compare with Instructor Yang?" the gatekeeper scoffed. "I'm just an old man, while Instructor Li is a seasoned warrior who has slain countless demons and fiends. Alright, we're here. I'll come to find you when it's closing time. Remember not to go up to the second floor."
As the gatekeeper turned around to leave, Chu Qiguang asked, "Am I the only one in here?"
"You're the only trainee in here," the gatekeeper replied from the darkness.
"Then what about instructors and lecturers?" Chu Qiguang asked. "How come I didn't see any of them the last time you escorted me out of the building?"
At this point, the gatekeeper seemed to have already gone quite far, and his faint voice rang out in the distance as he replied, "They don't need me to escort them out of the building."
What's that supposed to mean?
Chu Qiguang peered into the darkness, and he was suddenly overcome by a sense of peril. He shook his head to rid himself of this irrational feeling, and then he followed the guidance of the Ring of Ignorance to search for a book to read.
He carried the oil lamp with him as he made his way along the bookshelves, guided by the heat in his chest.
Today, the Ring of Ignorance led him to a book called the Secrets of the Religion of Inaction. Once again, the author of the book was a cult researcher.
Chu Qiguang's eyes lit up.
The historical records from Azure Sun County contained a passage about a scripture that was dug up from a set of ruins in the Millet Mountain Range close to three thousand years ago.
At the time, countless sects and factions, including the Religion of Inaction and the Heavenly Sword Sect, had fought over the scripture, resulting in immense unrest.
Ever since then, Chu Qiguang had been eager to learn more about the Religion of Inaction and the Heavenly Sword Sect. With that in mind, Chu Qiguang began reading.
The Religion of Inaction has always seemed rather innocuous among the major sects and factions. In this day and age, they've almost disappeared altogether, to the point that many people believe that it no longer exists. However, a certain event alerted us to the fact that there's actually much more to the Religion of Inaction than meets the eye, and that it's perhaps the most dangerous cult of all.
This event took place in the sixth year of the Tianxing Era...
In a village in the Yong Province's Level Crossing County, there was a very strange and unsettling case. The entire village of 172 residents had disappeared, seemingly overnight. The case was so bizarre that Hundred-Man Commander Zhao Longkun of the Demon Vanquishing Department was sent to investigate. They quickly found the entrance to an ancient tomb near the Mountain God Temple in the village.
After the event, it was theorized that a villager had inadvertently entered the ancient tomb, which triggered the sequence of horrifying events to come, but Zhao Longkun was unaware of it at the time. His initial theory was that the villagers had inadvertently discovered the ancient tomb. Driven by greed, they tried to steal the precious funerary objects inside. He presumed that in the process, they had triggered some type of trap that doomed the entire village.
After making some preparations, Zhao Longkun ventured into the tomb to investigate. He entered the tomb with no issues. Contrary to his expectations, there weren't any traps, nefarious Dao arts, or fearsome tomb ghosts inside. Only after they reached the deepest part of the tomb did they find the villagers.
They were kneeling on the ground, worshiping a strange triangular artifact. When the villagers spotted Zhao Longkun and his subordinates, they immediately attacked them. Amidst the chaos, Zhao Longkun killed dozens of villagers before seizing the artifact, and only then did the villagers return to their senses.
Upon examining the artifact, Zhao Longkun discovered that it had an extremely complex and elaborate picture, which depicted an ascending cultivator breaking through the boundless limits of the heavens.
Looking at the picture, he felt as if he could see the secrets lurking in the deepest parts of the Heavenly Dao, and he was instantly deeply entranced.