Chapter 15: Get Up and Get Hype

The mission reward had appeared a while ago, and Chen Yi had already decided where to put it.

It definitely could not go in the Scripture Pavilion. From ancient times to the present, anything related to knowledge had always been the most important form of wealth. It definitely could not be treated like a vegetable market, where anyone could casually stroll in.

Then there was the fact that the meditation cushion could perform Technique Transmission.

Chen Yi did not plan to reveal that for the time being.

He did want to cooperate with the state, but he could not become a Technique Transmission tool either. If that thing turned out to be something only he could use, then would his future workplace not be that desk and that meditation cushion?

How would that be any different from his 996 corporate-drone job before he transmigrated into the book?

And then there was the Sect Main Hall. No matter how he looked at it, that place was clearly meant for meetings, right?

With no other options available, Chen Yi could only install the Spirit-Gathering Array on the square in front of the Sect Main Hall.

If it was unsuitable, then worst case, he would just take it out again later.

It was not as if the thing was single-use.

Thinking this, Chen Yi had already pressed the array down onto the ground.

Wind suddenly rose.

The array touched the ground, and light flared brilliantly. With Chen Yi’s palm as the center point, complicated, profound light patterns swiftly spread outward until they reached a radius of roughly fifty meters before finally coming to an end.

A moment later, the light patterns dimmed and vanished into the ground.

The strands of hair before Chen Yi’s forehead fell back down. He stood and looked at Pang Sen and the others in front of him.

Those familiar expressions of shock appeared again.

Standing here and seeing Chen Yi perform it with their own eyes were two completely different things.

Waves rising without wind, mysterious light patterns, and after the light patterns disappeared, the air suddenly becoming fresh and comfortable.

Pang Sen smoked. He had been smoking for thirty-four years, longer than his son Pang Xiaolei had been alive. In the past two years, his lungs had always felt uncomfortable.

Now, standing here, after taking a deep breath, it was as if his sticky, stiff lungs had started moving again.

“What is this?” Pang Sen asked.

Chen Yi answered, “The mission reward, the Spirit-Gathering Array. Spiritual energy is very complicated to explain. It is both the foundation of Cultivation Technique cultivation and the source of the aberrant changes in this world. In short, the more skilled someone is in using spiritual energy, the stronger they are.”

Pang Sen focused on something else. “Source? Sect Master Chen knows the reason behind all the strange incidents lately?”

Chen Yi nodded. “That is exactly what I am about to explain in detail.”

But before explaining, Chen Yi glanced at the people beside Pang Sen, then smiled at Pang Xiaolei and said, “Once they’ve entered the sect, they can go to the Scripture Pavilion to cultivate the heart method. I’ll have to trouble Brother Xiaolei to take everyone over.”

Pang Xiaolei nodded and led the way to the Scripture Pavilion.

Pang Xiaolei discovered that the Scripture Pavilion was a little bigger than the last time he had come. There were also several more meditation-cushion seats. He gave them an extra look, then drew back his gaze.

Afterward, he pointed at the books on the shelves and said, “After entering the sect, there will be more choices. Right now, there is only one heart method. You can probably enter the path in about three hours.”

Zhao Gang was Pang Sen’s guard. He was the first to pick up the Spirit Nurturing Art from the shelf. The book in his hand turned into a blue ball of light three seconds later, flew into the center of his forehead, and disappeared.

Zhao Gang only felt a great deal of unfamiliar knowledge suddenly appear in his mind. It was like a stored movie. It did not matter if he did not understand it. He only had to follow along and do it.

“This thing?” Zhao Gang opened his eyes in shock.

Pang Xiaolei was very familiar with Zhao Gang. Thinking he was uneasy, he explained, “It’s just a Cultivation Technique. There’s no other high-tech stuff. Just practice according to it.”

Zhao Gang, however, looked deeply rueful. “If this technology could be used for studying, who would still need schools? Everyone would be a scientist.”

Pang Xiaolei laughed loudly. “This is magic. It’s not on the same track as technology.”

Hearing them say this, the other two armed-defense soldiers also waited for the book to reappear, then took their own copies.

As expected, it was extraordinarily wondrous. Once the ball of light entered their heads, a great deal of knowledge appeared in their minds. For people like them, who found studying comparatively difficult and were better at physical training, this was simply a blessing.

“It really is miraculous.”

“I’ve read cultivation novels before. This is the method of cultivating immortality. Do you think there’ll be flying swords in the future, riding swords through the air, that sort of thing?”

“Maybe.” The speaker looked full of emotion. “The world is vast, and there’s nothing too strange to exist. I’ll cultivate first and see what this thing is about.”

“Together.”

After settling the three soldiers, Pang Xiaolei ignored his weak and injured body, left the Scripture Pavilion, and went to the Sect Main Hall again.

Chen Yi and his old man were talking on the square in front of the hall. The Chen couple had taken their grandchildren, Da Huang, and Big White Goose into the hall and had not come out.

Pang Xiaolei stood neither too near nor too far away, uncertain whether he should go over. Sect Master Chen had asked him to take the others away, which clearly meant there were some things inconvenient to say to outsiders that he wanted to discuss with his father.

He was self-aware too. He knew his rank was not high enough, so he did not try to push his way in.

This wait lasted a long time.

His father’s expression was not good the entire time. His brows were tightly furrowed. But based on Pang Xiaolei’s understanding of his father, that expression had not reached the point where something was beyond solving. In the end, his father patted Chen Yi’s arm, said something, then turned and walked toward him.

Pang Sen said, “Where is the Cultivation Technique? I’ll go practice too.”

“This way.” Pang Xiaolei led him.

Not long after, Pang Sen, who had already obtained the Cultivation Technique, came out again. Instead of staying inside the Scripture Pavilion to cultivate, he came to the square.

He smiled at Chen Yi and said, “The spiritual energy here is dense, so it’s more suitable for cultivation, right? I’ll stay here.”

Chen Yi nodded. Watching Pang Sen sit cross-legged, he turned and entered the hall.

Apart from saying that this was a world inside a book, and that he had transmigrated from outside the book, Chen Yi had more or less explained all the changes that were about to arrive in this world.

Anyway, anything he could not explain clearly could just be pushed onto the system.

Having the state make preparations early was something he had planned to do from the start. Especially when folded spaces truly appeared and ancient lifeforms returned once more, those existences’ strength was like dimensionally crushing everything beneath them. Even with the sect system, Chen Yi had no confidence in facing them.

This sect system was clearly a sect’s inheritance. It had already fallen so far as to enter the body of a transmigrator like him, which showed that in the sect wars of the past, the sect represented by this system had not been the victor.

Facing ancient lifeforms that had existed for hundreds of thousands of years, Chen Yi had no confidence in fighting alone.

Of course, they still did not know enough about the system right now. Perhaps this system did not belong to this plane of space. Perhaps it possessed the power to crush those ancient sects.

But Chen Yi did not dare gamble.

The power of the state was the strongest. Only by joining hands with a powerful country could the functions of the sect system be brought to their utmost limit.

Thinking this, Chen Yi entered the hall and saw his son and daughter rolling around on the mattress, along with his mother taking care of them at the side.

During the afternoon cultivation session, his mother had not advanced.

That was normal too. Cultivation was originally a process like water dripping through stone, accumulating bit by bit. As long as she practiced a little every day, and Chen Yi transmitted cultivation to his parents and children as well, even if they would not become the strongest, it would at least ensure peace and stability during the apocalypse, good health, and extended longevity.

When they saw Chen Yi return, the children both pounced over. One on each side, they wrapped their arms around Chen Yi’s neck and showered his cheeks with kisses from left and right, one after another without end.

Chen Yi was coaxed into such delight by the children that his heart bloomed with joy. He tossed them up and caught them again. Amid his parents’ kindly smiles, he played with them for quite a while.

It was not until the children were tired that Chen Yi held them and lay down. Listening to their tiny yawns come one after another, he gently patted their backs.

The older brother fell asleep first.

The younger sister insisted on touching Chen Yi’s earlobe before she could sleep, so Chen Yi let her. He lowered his head and brought his ear to her little hand.

Once his younger daughter held his earlobe comfortably, she asked softly, “Daddy, when are we going home?”

Home?

The home in the village?

Or the home in the city?

Chen Yi did not plan to return to the city. Once he had free time, he would go back, pack everything up, cancel the rental, and move back.

The village home still could not be returned to for now. The human-head balloons had not been completely killed. One had escaped. There was also the issue of the North Mountain cemetery, which had not been investigated clearly. Only after resolving every hidden danger could he safely send his family out.

The children were too young. No matter how pleasant the environment here was, once they finished exploring, the children would lose interest. And without the internet, that miracle child-soothing tool could not be used either. The children needed a larger space to play.

Chen Yi planned to resolve these matters one by one as soon as possible.

His Sword Manipulation had not reached minor achievement. Counting the time, it would still take more than two hours.

Unfortunately, even at the third stage of Qi Refining, he still could not cultivate Gale Legs. Otherwise, Chen Yi would wait until Gale Legs was proficient before setting out.

There was also Spirit-Charge Fist, which was idling toward minor achievement too. Should he wait until minor achievement was completed before heading out?

That would only be five tomorrow morning.

Tsk. At five, who knew whether he could still find anything? Or should he seize the time, raise his cultivation by another one or two stages, and make sure he could idle Gale Legs first?

As Chen Yi calculated and calculated, he laughed.

Cultivation was kind of addictive.

Who told him he could idle it?

If possible, he was willing to stay here and practice in one go for ten days or half a month. After all, cultivating a Cultivation Technique to grand completion only took sixteen days…

Listening to the sound of Pang Xiaolei practicing fist techniques outside, Chen Yi closed his eyes and fell asleep.

When he woke up again, it was because his father and Pang Xiaolei were speaking quietly. He opened his eyes and glanced over. Pang Xiaolei took a rolled-up bedding bundle and left, finding a spot in the corner to sleep.

It seemed Pang Xiaolei had also endured to the limit. He had suffered a severe injury that, according to present-day science, was completely untreatable and would only end in amputation, yet he could still get things done while also juggling cultivation and treatment. He was a ruthless man.

Admiring him in his heart, Chen Yi lay back down to sleep.

A little while later, he was so angry he jumped up.

Pang Xiaolei snored!!

That snoring sounded like thunder. Even the tiles of the hall were trembling.

His parents were also woken and looked at Chen Yi helplessly.

After they barely endured for a while, Pang Sen finished cultivating and walked in. He woke Pang Xiaolei with a smack, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and carried him away. Who knew where they went to sleep after that.

Chen Yi was just about to lie down when a ding rang in his mind.

Sword Manipulation had reached minor achievement.

Sleep, my ass. Get up and get hype!!

Chen Yi immediately lost all sleepiness. Full of energy, he took the large peachwood sword and left the hall doors, familiarizing himself with the swordsmanship that had already reached minor achievement.

It was more than just smooth.

Chen Yi felt his use of the sword had already surpassed ten years of practice. Such a huge sword in his hand felt like an extension of his arm, with almost no sense of awkwardness or discomfort at all.

If he had to face the human-head balloons again now, he had confidence he could use the large sword to take them down one by one, easily stabbing those light, drifting, nimble balloons until they burst.

“Good!”

A voice rang out. Chen Yi had long since seen the person coming out of the Scripture Pavilion.

So he also withdrew his sword stance and looked over.

The other party had a short buzz cut, a sharply defined face, a fierce gaze, and an unruly expression. He was none other than the first armed-defense soldier to enter the sect space.

Xun Shiming.

His aptitude was “outstanding beyond compare.”

So far, among the sect’s ten members, the one with the worst aptitude was his mother, whose aptitude was “congenitally deficient,” which Chen Yi cared about a great deal. Next was his father’s “perfectly ordinary.” The best were his son and daughter. Qianqian was “a dragon among men,” while Linlin was “as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.”

The middle ranks had all been encompassed by outsiders. Among the newly joined people, even Pang Sen was “standing out from the crowd.” Xun Shiming was one level higher: “outstanding beyond compare.”

It could be seen that although the state did not have a system, it did have its own correct methods for selecting talent.

Barring any accidents, most people in this world were probably “perfectly ordinary” and “congenitally deficient.”

As for what aptitude Chen Yi himself had, Chen Yi did not know. He only knew that his cultivation speed was faster than everyone else’s.

Not from idling, but from his own cultivation.

It had taken him less than one hour to enter the path. Back then, there had not been any Spirit-Gathering Array or Technique Transmission.

Could it be that he was a peerless genius, one in hundreds of millions, and that was why the system had chosen him?

Chen Yi withdrew his sword stance, steadied his breathing, reversed his grip on the sword, and held it behind his back as he stood still.

He smiled at Xun Shiming.

Xun Shiming stepped forward and said, “Is this Sword Manipulation? Without several years of work, there’s no way to reach such a smooth, flowing level.”

Chen Yi nodded and did not explain.

Mainly because the fact that the sect master could idle Cultivation Techniques was far too envy-inducing, and it could easily make people unconvinced. Chen Yi did not know how the state would arrange things for him in the future. He just wanted a stable post, to be respected, and for the work not to be too tiring.

As for wages and the like, he imagined the state would not shortchange him.

“Want to spar?” Xun Shiming had already become eager to try as soon as he finished speaking.

Chen Yi found that he was not surprised in the slightest to hear this. After all, this was a novel world. Face-slapping and showing off strength were never absent. There were too many passerby characters who started fighting at the slightest disagreement.

“No.” Chen Yi rejected him directly, reversing the trope.

Xun Shiming: “…”

If possible, Chen Yi hoped he would never fight. If he could add a time limit, then preferably ten thousand years.

Afraid Xun Shiming would pester him and insist on forcing him into a face-slapping scene, Chen Yi found an excuse and left the Mountain Gate.

With one step out, everything was pitch-black.

At five in the morning, the sky was still dark.

The moment Chen Yi came out, his nerves tightened. He gripped the peachwood dagger in his hand and held it protectively in front of him, vigilantly scanning the surrounding environment while sniffing the scent in the air.

This was both to guard against the human-head balloon’s malicious persistence, in case it returned after fleeing, and to stay alert against whatever might exist behind North Mountain.

A mouthful of cool, sweet air entered his lungs. When he exhaled it in a swirl, it left faint strands of sweetness on the tip of his tongue.

The moon was bright, the stars sparse.

The cool wind blew gently.

The terraced fields before him looked like shattered mirrors, reflecting starlight across the sky. A river of stars on earth, dazzling and serene.

Chen Yi breathed in a few more times. His tense muscles slowly relaxed.

He lowered the dagger, thoughtful.

Could the stench from the night before last really have been his imagination?

Chen Yi hesitated, gazing toward North Mountain, and decided to observe for a few more days.

He sat down beside the terraced fields and used the dagger to chop at mosquitoes for a while. When the sky was about to brighten, footsteps came from behind him.

He turned his head and saw Pang Sen, who had not slept all night.

“Why is Sect Master Chen here?”

“An aberration from the night before last got away. I’m waiting for it to come.”

“I have also learned about aberrations. They cannot be looked at, cannot be heard, cannot be seen. People turn pale at the mention of them, and they cannot be destroyed. Sect Master Chen is the first person I’ve seen who can talk about aberrations so easily.”

Chen Yi looked at the distant dark-green mountain ridges. A faint white glow lay over them, like the finishing highlight that brought a painted dragon to life. He asked, “Leader, what do you think an aberration is?”

Pang Sen thought for a moment, then sat down beside Chen Yi. “I would like to hear the details.”

Chen Yi said, “An aberration is a kind of magnetic field that has not dispersed. After coming into contact with enough spiritual energy, it undergoes a special transformation. They have no physical bodies and come in many different forms, but toward lives that also possess abundant spirituality, as well as outsiders who intrude into their magnetic fields, they are extremely aggressive.

“Leader, after you cultivate, you also become a spiritual life in the eyes of aberrations, and you will definitely be prioritized for attacks. So once cultivation begins, do not stop.

“Aberrations that evolve by devouring others do not progress slowly. We will not stay ahead forever.”

Pang Sen was silent for a long while. “So this sect is the only solution for dealing with the apocalypse Sect Master Chen speaks of?”

Chen Yi merely looked at Pang Sen and smiled.

They were both smart people. There was no need to say too much.

When Chen Yi handed over his sect, he had already shown all his sincerity. As for whether the state believed him, no matter how much more he said, it would be useless. The state needed to think, investigate, and infer for itself.

Pang Sen did not receive an answer. Instead, he fell silent.

After quite a while, as though making a decision, he smiled in an open, relaxed way and said, “If you trust me, then leave the matter of making contact to me.”

“All right.”

Chen Yi did not stay any longer.

The sky had brightened.

The mountain people who rose early would be preparing to go up the mountain for work at this time. The aberration would not appear again either.

Besides, Pang Sen was going to make a phone call, and he definitely would not want Chen Yi to stay beside him and listen. So Chen Yi consciously left.

The sect space was clear and bright.

As soon as Chen Yi stepped through the door, he discovered that with the Spirit-Gathering Array, even the air inside the sect seemed to sparkle with bling, bling light.

Da Huang was lying under the Mountain Gate asleep. The moment Chen Yi entered, it heard the movement, perked up, and wagged its tail all the way over to welcome him.

As Chen Yi rubbed Da Huang’s head, he suddenly discovered that it had clearly grown a size larger.

So yesterday’s Technique Transmission had worked. Although Da Huang did not have a suitable Cultivation Technique, demonic beasts trained their bodies. Perhaps it had already entered the path by now.

The sect was quiet. Everyone was still resting. Accompanied by Da Huang, Chen Yi walked toward the Scripture Pavilion.

After cultivating to the third stage of Qi Refining, he had reached the peak of the early stage.

That meant more Cultivation Techniques had opened up.

He entered the Scripture Pavilion and took a look.

Sure enough.

There were seven more Cultivation Techniques on the bookshelf.

Chen Yi picked them up one by one and looked through them.

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