After a fruitful visit to the village, Anji returned to the sect, her heart brimming with anticipation. She had purchased a few treats for her family, a small gesture to show her love. Accompanied by her teacher, they arrived at the main entrance just before curfew, the setting sun casting a warm glow. Anji knew Lizi and Gu Ying would return before bedti, but her mind was already focused on the lessons awaiting her.
"You will spend tomorrow with Doctor He learning about the different types of energy in the five elents and how energy can be converted from one form to another. Do not attempt to cultivate. Gu Ying will accompany you."
Parting with the strict warning, Anji waved goodbye to her teacher, who left to see her father in the office. The thought of converting an energy into one with a different property crossed her mind earlier. However, she had no idea how normal people cultivated. Thankfully, there was a family dinner coming up. Her brother and sister would be present even if her mother went on a short business trip. Yan Ping warned her not to try cultivating when she was away. However, she never specifically forbade Anji from talking to other people and getting hints.
Training the body and the mind were two completely different things. This should be fine.
"Oh! You’re finally here!" a loud voice bood as soon as Anji pushed open the large door of the family dining room.
Startled, Anji tripped on the wooden threshold and closed her eyes in alarm as the floor approached her face. However, the painful crash did not happen. Instead, a pair of familiar arms wrapped around her securely.
"Older sister!" Anji gasped in surprise when she saw who her saviour was. "I thought you were already inside."
Grinning, Ruiting greeted the rowdy White Tiger sect leader and helped her sister stand.
"Zhao Ruiting greets Sect Leader Bai," she smiled. "It’s nice to have you join us for dinner. As both my parents are unavailable, I will be the host tonight."
Snorting at the stiff etiquette, Yihao rolled his eyes. Anji noticed how her brother looked different. Although everyone had grown a little older, her big sister did not look much different than she did last year. She might have slightly longer hair, but that was about it. On the other hand, her third brother was almost unrecognisable from afar.
"Brother Yihao, is that really you?" Anji approached the table slowly after greeting Bai Dajin. "What happened?"
Touching his bald head with a huge grin, Yihao explained the reason for his hair loss.
"Don’t worry, little sister! The hair will grow back by the end of the year. It’s part of my training. Shifu said that losing my hair was part of the side effect of taking a core balancing pill. It’s not permanent."
Although the loss of hair was shocking, there were other things that worried Anji more. Her brother’s skin had a reddish hue, and bulging veins were on his exposed skin near his hands and neck. She had a feeling they travelled all over his body, even beneath the clothes. Rather than being afraid, she was worried for him. Yihao was previously a scrawny but highly energetic boy. Now, he looked much taller and muscular than she rembered him to be. Although he was still shorter than their sister, he grew much taller and looked thirteen instead of nine.
Judging from the young princess’ concern, Bai Dajin already knew what was going through her little head. Despite his tough love for his only student, he did not enjoy torturing or harming Yihao. The core balancing pill was specially concocted with the help of Doctor He and Yan Ping’s knowledge.
"Your brother was suffering from extre yang surplus during his training," he explained quickly to defend himself. "Due to his inability to process yin energy, it was bound to happen before he could break through to the next level. The side effects will only worsen as he progresses in his cultivation. Unless he finds a way to negate the side effects of having too much yang energy, it would be difficult for him to get past the Enlightened Core."
To salvage his reputation in Anji’s books, Bai Dajin confessed that the core balancing pill was sothing he paid for after consulting Yan Ping. As a result, Anji’s teacher was very busy even when she wasn’t teaching her cultivation. It finally made so sense why Yan Ping had to leave quickly to visit her father when they returned. It must have been about her third brother’s training progress.
Sadly, Anji tugged at her third brother’s sleeve. "It must have been difficult for you to cultivate with so many restrictions."
Brushing it off, Yihao laughed heartily and told Ruiting to start dinner already. If anyone were facing difficulty cultivating at this table, it would be Anji. The silly girl had no ti to be worrying about others.
Curious about the young princess’ cultivation progress with Yan Ping on her first day, Bai Dajin smiled and offered a piece of duck.
"How’s your teacher like?" he asked cheekily. "Is she very fierce? You can always join your brother and for training if you tire of her nagging."
Politely accepting the duck at but rejecting the offer, Anji recounted her unusual cultivating thod.
"Shifu forbade from cultivating without her. She took the bronze mirror with her, so I could not test the energy conversion theory. How do normal cultivators change the form of energy into another without using their golden core?"
...
Speechless, neither Ruiting nor Yihao knew how to answer their youngest. Only Bai Dajin found that question interesting. No wonder Yan Ping insisted on taking care of this child herself. The thod that he used for her brother would not work for her. To think that Yan Ping was much crueller than him when it ca to teaching... he still had a long way to go.
"Most cultivators don’t have to change the properties of their qi to suit a ridian," he explained. "The golden core is in charge of that and converts any energy stored in it to suit where the energy is deployed. Excess energy that cannot be converted will be returned to the environnt through our breath. It’s why most first lessons involve ditation."
Here, Ruiting and Yihao’s chopsticks stopped moving. Even though Ruiting reached the Enlightened Core stage, she still had no idea how energy could be converted into a different form inside the body. She only knew that different people had different affinities with energy, and they could not go against what the gods had decided. It was what she had been taught since she was young, and she never once bothered to question the teachings.
Anji’s question struck a chord in Yihao. He once asked himself this question when he realised he had no actual elental affinity despite his cultivation progress. Unlike Ruiting, who was a natural with cultivating and took after their parents, he struggled to produce similar results following what the teachers taught. Qi was like sand slipping between his fingers all the ti. It was extrely ineffective. No matter how hard he worked, there was an impossible wall he could never overco.
"You need to take dicine to fix the golden core," Yihao concluded. "It’s why I ate the core balancing pill. However, if you don’t use the golden core... isn’t it impossible?"
Hearing the harsh truth from her brother’s mouth, Anji felt a stab of pain in her chest. She looked at her sister for confirmation, but Ruiting only averted her eyes with a pained look. Reality could be really cruel. It wasn’t as if Anji did not know how an the gods could be. However, the dreary reality made her tongue lose its taste buds. No matter how delicious the at was, she couldn’t tell the difference between this and chewy sand.
The heavy atmosphere was unsuitable for such a grand dinner. Clearing his throat, Bai Dajin stared at Anji.
"It’s impossible for normal people," he confird. "However, the personal disciple of the great prophet is not a normal person. Didn’t she spend half a year ditating to break through to the Supre Core level? Although I’m not an expert, the seals and valves she put inside of you to protect your core and ridians aren’t just gates to control the flow of qi. I was here during the process, so I would know."
Like a small spark, Anji’s hope returned with full force when Bai Dajin claid otherwise. However, even with this hint, she was still at a loss.
"Can energy really change their properties from one elent to another?" she asked. "Without the golden core, could soone like with no cultivation base do it?"
Nodding, Bai Dajin noticed the suspicious looks he was getting from the two other Zhao siblings. How irritating! Did they think he was lying to Anji to make her feel better?
"Think about it," he pointed out. "There are many kinds of ginseng. Regular ginseng revitalises health. The red ginseng is said to be a miracle cure. However, when any ginseng becos a spiritual herb, it could be made into spiritual-enhancing pills. The ginseng does not discriminate in the environnt it grows on. It could grow in a dark cave, on a snowy mountain or near a volcano. Ordinarily, it should take on the elents of the energy in its area. Why does it continue to remain neutral and only exhibit healing properties? Obviously, it has to convert energy inside itself even without a core!"
Although the logic made sense, Yihao still beca angry. His sister was a human and not a ginseng, even though they shared similar nouns. (AN: human in Chinese = renlei, ginseng in Chinese = rensheng. It’s a silly pun for a silly boy.)
"Then how does a ginseng convert energy without a golden core?" he challenged.
Stamring, Bai Dajin retaliated hotly when he realised he was bad at explaining concepts.
"I’m not a ginseng! How should I know? Anyway, it’s definitely possible. I did once when I was on the verge of death when the opponent pierced my golden core. I don’t rember how, but the body is capable of using other parts as a core, even if it is rely temporary. If you have enough willpower, anything is possible!"
While the hot-headed teacher and student fought, everything else went in one ear and out the other on Anji’s end. Her mind was too preoccupied with mulling over the new hint she received. Other parts of the body were capable of energy refining and conversion. Exactly which part would that be? She had to study more with Doctor He tomorrow.
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