22: Chapter 16 Heart Towards the Proud Sun 22: Chapter 16 Heart Towards the Proud Sun In the alley at night, hurried footsteps echoed; a black shadow flashed by, and the rats on the ground hadn’t even reacted before they were flattened.
Gu Wen was sprinting with all his might, the True Qi inside his body surged uncontrollably, pressing against his body’s potential again and again.
Although his speed had not yet reached inhuman levels, he was still able to maintain it effortlessly.
The key was to maintain high-speed movent without showing signs of weakness.
[Yuqing Daoji First Level: Everlasting Vitality]
‘Who could it be?
Friend or foe?’
Gu Wen sprinted along an escape route he had rehearsed countless tis before, while still having the spare energy to think.
He had noticed that mysterious person entering the yard the instant they arrived, after all, throughout Bianjing, Gu Wen had yet to encounter anyone with fluctuations of Spiritual Energy.
Even Zhao Feng just had a slightly unusual aura, without any traces of cultivation on him.
To Gu Wen, soone with cultivation was as noticeable as a light bulb; he wasn’t sure whether the other was a friend or foe.
But the likelihood of malintent was higher for soone who ca alone in the deep of night.
Suddenly, an image of a lady dressed in plain white flashed across Gu Wen’s mind.
‘Could it be her?’
Fairy Yu Hua, the most likely person to possess cultivation abilities so far.
If Gu Wen couldn’t discern her cultivation level, it only ant that she was above him.
At this thought, Gu Wen, although not stoping his sprint, felt slightly less pressure in his heart.
It might be sowhat laughable at this point, for he had mingled in this man-eating dynasty for many years, already accustod to viewing others negatively—the world could not accommodate good people anymore.
Yet, Gu Wen still believed that the Heavenly Girl who had descended from the sky was a good person, perhaps because she had given him the cultivation technique, or perhaps because she had co from the heavens and should not abide by mortal rules.
I am already a villain, yet I hope for a good person to help , truly laughable.
Buzz!
A crisp dripping sound rang in his ear, the layers of dark clouds parted, and pure silver light fell into the filthy alleys of the mundane world.
Gu Wen paused on the spot, his right foot raised just a fist’s distance from the ground; he stopped in a pose difficult for normal people to maintain— one second, two seconds, three seconds…
He could not move, but it seed not that he couldn’t move, but rather that the whole world had stopped.
“Why are you running?”
A gentle whisper ca from above; Gu Wen looked up—the moon in the Nine Heavens was like a gigantic silver disc, and a Fairy floated down, the breeze lifting her light gauze to reveal the true face of the Goddess.
It was just a fleeting glimpse; Gu Wen only saw eyes as tranquil as the night and as bright as the moon, with three flowers on her forehead, resembling an exiled immortal.
Truly beautiful, unlike anything on this earth.
Soon after, the light gauze fell, and Yu Hua stood five steps away from Gu Wen, then lightly stepped forward two more steps to close the distance.
“Could I possibly eat you up?”
—————–
The alley at night was bathed in moonlight; for so reason, tonight’s moon was abnormally large and round.
Yu Hua looked at Gu Wen standing before her.
There were no words or movents, but sohow, there had been a drastic change in this ‘submissive’ descendant of the Gu family, like a tranquil pond, icy and unrippled.
This was perhaps his true deanor beneath the facade of a family servant.
Gu Wen bowed and said, “Fairy Yu Hua, I pay my respects.”
“Paying respects?”
Yu Hua’s mouth curved up slightly, saying, “You didn’t seem like you were paying respects while you were running.”
Gu Wen continued with his head lowered, “Gu has been in business for many years, having faced countless assassination attempts.
Being cautious is the only reason I am not yet a skeleton.”
This was the truth.
He didn’t know who the person was, but running away was never wrong.
It’s better to call back the trusted aide of the royal palace to ensure his safety, rather than eting a cultivator whose intentions were unknown under the cover of a dark windy night.
Having the visitor turn out to be Yu Hua was rather thought-provoking.
Changing the subject, he asked, “May I know what brings Fairy Yu Hua to visit my humble ho at night?”
“I’ve co to pass on a simpler Qi Cultivation thod, which might allow you, decades from now, to use it to prolong your life by a hundred years through Qi Cultivation and Foundation Establishnt, even if your cultivation stagnates,” Yu Hua responded as she extended her hand toward Gu Wen for the second ti, her voice calm and serene.
“Hold my hand, just for a mont.”
“…”
At this mont, Gu Wen could confirm that Yu Hua had indeed noticed sothing.
This was a test for him.
He was prepared for his cultivation to be discovered, which was unavoidable, especially since the cultivation technique itself was given by Yu Hua.
He had not expected this day to co so soon, nor had he expected her to be so keenly interested in him.
Perhaps in her eyes, he was not rely a servant; from the mont she bestowed the cultivation technique upon him, this disguise was completely translucent.
He shook his head, “Thank you for your generous love, Fairy, but Gu probably won’t need an easier Qi Cultivation thod.”
“Oh?
So you have managed to cultivate the Yuqing Heart thod?” Yu Hua’s eyes narrowed slightly, her heart already anticipating this, yet she felt a thrill at finally pushing Gu Wen to admit this to her.
Gu Wen nodded frankly, “I have only learned a little about it.”
Hiding it was impossible; it was best to be straightforward.
The cultivation technique was given by her, which wasn’t entirely a bad thing, it just didn’t fit his own pace.
“To what extent have you comprehended it?” asked Yu Hua, her eyes brightened, her calm tone now mixed with urgency.
Yuqing Daoji was a core secret of the Three Pure Sect.
Due to the rarity of successful cultivators over thousands of years, the sect had opened it to talented individuals worldwide.
Gu Wen might just be the first one in a millennium.
“Gu Wen doesn’t know much about cultivation,” he said, sensing a Qi in his dantian that he could manipulate around his ridians.
“I beg the fairy to enlighten .”
Gu Wen disclosed vague information, intending to make the other party recognize his modest talent without causing excessive alertness.
Hiding one’s capabilities was necessary but not suffocatingly so.
Yu Hua stayed silent for quite a few breaths, each breath intensifying the weight Gu Wen had in her assessnt.
“Entry level.”
She slowly uttered these two words, which seed to carry such enormity that she found it hard to breathe afterward.
Astonishnt, amazent, disbelief…
Various emotions surged within Yu Hua, who had not anticipated that Gu Wen could genuinely achieve cultivation.
The cultivation technique wasn’t for him personally but for the continuation of the Gu family’s lineage for a thousand years.
It was ant for countless descendants of the Gu surna, not for the man nad Gu Wen.
Thus, she visited him again, this ti solely for Gu Wen as an individual.
Yu Hua, without involving the implications of her sect or the Yuqing Sect, simply admired him and thus imparted the cultivation thod.
Now, her casual act seed to have freed him, as if a fish deprived of its chance to ascend had leaped over the Dragon Gate and transford into a True Dragon.
Gu Wen asked, “May I know how my aptitude asures up?”
“No one has succeeded in mastering the Yuqing Dao Skill for a millennium, you are the first,” Yu Hua said, her gaze complex.
Her plan, though slighted by fate, had been for the sect to gain the Zhao family’s support by trading off Gu Wen; however, ironically, this discarded pawn beca the only one to cultivate the Yuqing Daoji.
“Do you know what this ans?”
“I do not.”
“You can use this to enter the Three Pure Sect, I can recomnd you, and you’d enter as an elder.”
Yu Hua spoke halfway, then suddenly, sensing a resurgence of wary emotions from him, altered her tone, “But this is not obligatory.
The Three Pure Sect is unlike ordinary sects, we do not ward off outsiders from learning the Three Pure Dao Skill.
Half of the most widespread Qi Cultivation thods in the world originated from the Three Pure.”
She sighed countless tis internally; she was pleased with Gu Wen’s capabilities and character, and now his talent proved to be many tis superior to Zhao Feng’s, and he had also learned the Yuqing Heart thod.
What attracted her the most was what was lost; he should have been her Guardian.
But now it was impossible unless the sect and the Zhao family returned that treasure; otherwise, she couldn’t expect Gu Wen to fulfill his original destiny.
Similarly, how could she guarantee that he wouldn’t harbor resentnt and potentially sabotage the grand plans of the Three Pure Sect at a critical mont?
Yu Hua’s eyes couldn’t tolerate any deceit, but she found it ironic that Gu Wen, entangled by the disgraceful connections of her sect and the Zhao family, likewise did not trust her.
“Gu Wen will consider carefully, but before that, I ask the fairy to keep this confidential.
My ties with the Zhao family aren’t those of a ruler and subject.”
Gu Wen didn’t speak definitively; his mind was as complex as entwined vines, eager to seize the opportunity yet fearing a deadly trap.
Now that he couldn’t keep it hidden, it might be better to show his aptitude and make the other party see his value.
Otherwise, how could he expect others to invest in him since the benefits brought by his surna were probably already exhausted?
But he had no room for failure and had to be extrely cautious.
In the eyes of this Taoist Heavenly Girl, Gu Wen’s thoughts were like a wary raccoon in the shadows, guarding against everything approaching him.
Yu Hua nodded, “Think it over then co find ; I will arrange for soone to escort you out of Daqian.”
She understood these matters; indeed, the Zhao family should not be inford, but the constant defensive attitude of Gu Wen was irkso.
Especially knowing he had mastered the Yuqing Daoji.
She waved her sleeve, ready to leave, “Then I shall not disturb you further.”
“The fairy is in a hurry, and Gu Wen has been an inadequate host…”
Gu Wen feigned detainnt, but Yu Hua lightly laughed, interrupting, “If you truly wished to host , you wouldn’t be on guard at every turn.
Cultivating is like sailing against the current; not everything can be perfect.”
“My servant…”
“Gu Wen, do you realize the origins of the Yuqing Heart thod?
The Yuqing Heart thod Foundation Building Chapter is one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Skills, the most supre and the first-ranked in the world.
You are the only one who has mastered it in the current era, calling yourself a servant?
Do not dishonor the Yuqing Heart thod.”
Yu Hua’s calm voice carried a hint of coldness, knowing this was not a conversation but an argunt.
Yet, inexplicably, she was increasingly irritated with Gu Wen, feeling an unfounded resentnt—an envy.
The opening of the Yuqing Heart thod reads “When cultivating the Dao, first observe the heart.
The heart is the master; movent and stillness follow the heart,” just sixteen characters that her master spent five hundred years on, Yu Hua since her mory began, never obtaining her grandmaster’s favor.
Now the only achiever in a thousand years had appeared, yet he was a re commoner.
He should have been proud like the son of heaven, not an obsequious servant.
Repeated interruptions didn’t embarrass Gu Wen, whose eyes grew even calr as he quietly watched Yu Hua and said, “Being born in a humble environnt isn’t shaful; it’s the mark of a true man to bend and stretch.
I co from a poor background, and ‘servant’ is a necessity for earning a living.”
At that mont, Yu Hua’s imnse jealousy vanished, and the words ‘Being born in a humble environnt isn’t shaful, it’s the mark of a true man to bend and stretch’ pained her heart.
She slightly lowered her cap, “It was wrong of to say.”
A sense of sha in her heart drove her to hurry away, but just two steps later, a breeze behind her stirred a slight ripple of Spiritual Energy.
She suddenly turned back, her eyes filled with disbelief.
The ntal barrier she couldn’t breach had cracked, and the person hidden behind it was reaching out to her.
Not rely entry level, but…
Foundation Establishnt First Level!
Gu Wen extended his hand, a feathering wisp of Daoist charm manifesting, revealing part of his cultivation.
The Yuqing Daoji First Level.
She was right; not everything could be perfect.
If everything were perfect, he would be Zhao Feng, not Gu Wen.
He was a vine growing in a sewer, accustod to hiding in the shadows, but to truly thrive, he must face the sun.
“Yu Hua Fairy, attaining the first level of the Yuqing Heart thod Foundation Building Chapter in four days—where would that rank in the world?”
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