northernbook Chapter 468
Chapter 468
"What's wrong? Do you have an upset stomach?"
On the airship, Zhong Ming looked as if he were constipated.
"No...no."
The surrounding scenery rushed by, from the sea of clouds to the setting sun, a picturesque landscape, but he had no mood to appreciate it at all.
He felt his body subtly changing, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what exactly was changing.
The spiritual energy staggered through a full cycle within the body, finally arriving at the threshold leading to the Foundation Establishment stage. After circling for a while, it discovered an astonishing fact.
The bottleneck seems to have cracked a little.
.....
"Grateful for the great kindness and virtue of the Supreme Master who punishes evil and saves from suffering, the Way is clear and the rainbow is pure~~" A carefully selected young man chanted a long, mantra-like sentence with an extremely long trailing off at the end.
A large group of villagers knelt down on the side, clasped their hands together, and muttered prayers, making wishes such as "freedom from illness and disaster," "heaven-sent wealth," and "success in studies."
"With utmost loyalty and righteousness, he slew the evil dragon three hundred and thirty-three feet below the slope of water and fire, imprisoning its soul in hell for eternity, never to be reborn."
The incense was burning brightly, with countless sticks of incense inserted inside the large cauldron, filling the air with smoke. Many people had to hold back their coughs so as not to disrupt the solemn atmosphere.
"Extremely pure and honest, seeking no reward, possessing great benevolence and righteousness, with a sincere and enlightened heart..."
After finishing his sentence, the young man nearly suffocated. He quietly took another breath and then proclaimed loudly, "The Four True Lords above, we, Yunshan Village, bow in gratitude and offer our thanks!"
Rows of villagers kowtowed in gratitude, among whom the six who had seen the earth dragon were particularly devout. Right after their sincere kowtow, an unseen power emanated from the temple, reaching directly into Zhong Ming's body.
Something inside his body was activated.
...
"I've discovered... the opportunity for a breakthrough?"
"Discovered? Realized it, wait, you've broken through, you're about to advance to the Foundation Establishment stage?" Xuan Jing's voice wasn't loud, but everyone present was a master above the Foundation Establishment stage. Upon hearing this, and looking at Zhong Ming, who seemed quite young...
Someone on the spot immediately said, "If you really need a breakthrough, I'm willing to protect you and make a good connection."
Then came the olive branches from various families or forces.
"Thank you all for your kindness!" Zhong Ming had no choice but to stand up and clasp his hands in a gesture of respect. "I still have the strength to hold out until the dock. Thank you all for your trouble. This unexpected incident has caused me a lot of trouble. I hope you can forgive me."
After these formalities were completed, everyone offered a few words of congratulations, and that was the end of it.
Most people were just asking a question out of curiosity. Someone who is so young and has just reached the Foundation Establishment stage should definitely go to a military academy. How could they waste their youth in their family or power?
Xuan Jing was also excited. Zhong Ming was the first among the four of them to touch the Foundation Establishment stage barrier, so he quickly asked, "How did you come to that realization? Tell me quickly."
"I don't know either. I suddenly felt something was wrong with my body, and I discovered it after circulating my Qi through the body."
"Could it be that she had already broken through during her previous enlightenment, but just didn't realize it at the time? Right, wasn't it the chime bell dance performed by that music master sister at the beginning?"
After hearing this, everyone present unconsciously began to circulate their Qi through the Great Circulation, checking their own physical condition, and the entire flying boat fell into even greater silence.
Within Zhong Ming's body, spiritual energy was unconsciously rotating. Normally, this would drive the great cycle of spiritual energy, forcing him to seize this rare opportunity and directly begin his advancement and breakthrough. However, coincidentally, all the meridians in his body were in the form of dragon veins, and the spiritual energy accumulated inside had not been completely refined and was blocked in the meridians, which instead allowed him to delay some time.
Ten minutes passed, and the small flying boat soon arrived at its destination. The auction house itself was not far from the flying boat dock, so they could look out for each other in case of any unforeseen circumstances.
As soon as Zhong Ming disembarked, ignoring the thieves who had gathered below like a welcoming guard, he leaped more than three meters high, "flying" over the crowd, and strode straight towards the merit point exchange area.
"Hey, damn it, have you no manners? You'll smother my head, or your pants will rip!"
"Hey, hey, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." Xuan Jing then came out and bowed his head to apologize to everyone. His way of apologizing was also quite unique: he handed out storage bags.
After going around once, they took off running.
Everyone thought they had some urgent matter, but when they looked down, they saw a "storage bag".
They started cursing even more harshly.
As for Yue Kaishan and Chen Dahai... just pretend you don't know them, and come out from a relatively far back position.
Yue Kaishan placed his storage bag on Chen Dahai's body, then walked out with the wheelchair on his head.
After he began his cultivation, his physique became increasingly robust. Standing at two meters tall with a wheelchair on top, he was impossible for anyone below to reach. They couldn't very well jump up and rob him like bandits.
A little trick to prevent theft is... make yourself look a little harder to steal from than the person next to you...
By this time, Zhong Ming had already rushed several hundred meters away. He hurriedly rushed into the lobby, where the security guard at the door very warmly stopped him and kindly told him:
"Turn left after exiting the restroom."
Zhong Ming stepped over him, and after walking more than ten steps, a voice drifted through the air: "Thanks, but no need."
He found a spot in line with only one person and rushed up there roughly.
"Hey! How dare you cut in line! Is there no justice in this world?! Waaah~~~"
Zhong Ming immediately stuffed the huge mid-grade spirit stone, the "hush money" he had just received, into the man's mouth.
"Brother, I need your help urgently."
"Woo!"
The man gave a thumbs-up and nodded vigorously, silently praying, "Let there be more people cutting in line like this!"
.....
Inside the quiet room, Zhong Ming didn't understand what had happened. The Mother-Child Sword and the Spring Chill were both at his side, but he didn't adopt his usual cultivation posture.
The spiritual energy carefully examined the bottleneck and found that the crack was getting bigger and bigger.
...
The lively festival in Yunshan Village lasts all day. The offerings are taken down after the "four gods have finished eating" and used to make a grand feast, while piles of fruit are placed in front of the Zhongming God statue.
They euphemistically called it, "Please, sir, have some fruit to rinse your mouth."
Of course, the entertainment after meals included boasting about the stories of the four gods. A villager who had actually seen the earth dragon was talking animatedly on the high platform. When talking about how brave Zhong Ming and Xuan Jing were, he stammered, but when talking about how terrifying the earth dragon was, his description was incredibly detailed.
The more he talked about it, the more frightened he became. The more frightened he became, the more he looked back at the statue. When he looked back, he saw the relief of the earthen dragon that the statue was holding. Seeing the relief made him even more afraid.
Finally, he managed to finish a passage, but his back and legs ached and his head was spinning. He jumped off the stage and ran to the statue of the deity, where he knelt for a long time.
...
The bottleneck is about to break.
Zhong Ming made this judgment and immediately mobilized his power to launch an attack. He didn't even have time to take out spirit stones or set up the array plate. He just refined the spiritual power in the dragon vein and rushed straight towards the bottleneck.