Chapter 92 Gathering

  "I don't dare ask for anything else, but I can at least ask our teacher to drink three cups of wine!" Xia Chen laughed and said, "Tonight the four of us are gathering together, I represent everyone in formally inviting our teacher to join us!"

  "Welcome, Master Sister!" everyone exclaimed in unison, laughing.

  As a small group centered around Xia Chen, they had countless gatherings before, but only within their inner circle. If they could invite Chen Qiushui, who was closest to them, it would be even better.

  "It was just a penalty drink, okay, I'll definitely go." Chen Qiushui smiled sweetly, "However, Xia Chen, don't think that just because Shifu is a woman, you can necessarily beat me at drinking!"

  "Wait, sister, we must first set the rules." Xia Chen saw that her eyes were flashing with cunning and endless charm, his heart skipped a beat, and he hastily said, "Drinking wine can only rely on real skills, it's not allowed to use true energy to force the wine out!"

  "Haha." Chen Qiushui laughed and said, "Xia Chen, why are you so tense? I didn't say that true energy is cheating, are you feeling guilty?"

  "Big sister, Xia Chen was afraid of being punished by you and ended up getting drunk instead. His alcohol tolerance is actually very low, normally when we gather together, he can't even keep up with us!" Sun Li said with a smile.

  "Am I really that bad?" Xia Chen said with a bitter face.

  Everyone burst out laughing!

  Chen Qiushui was even more ecstatic, feeling happier than she ever had before.

  Everyone chatted and laughed for a while. After a moment, Chen Qiushui still had things to do, so he made an appointment for the gathering time and left first. The crowd also dispersed one after another.

  Xia Chen arrived at the Execution Hall, handed in his task, and then returned to the Medicine Garden.

  "Disciple pays respects to Master, it's been many days since we last met, is Master's body well?" In the Medicine Garden Cave, Xia Chen bowed respectfully to Han Dongyu and said, his face revealing an excited and nostalgic expression.

  Of course, this expression is just pretended anyway.

  "Heh heh, I'm fine. Xia Chen, this time you've been training for so long, how was it?" Han Dongyu's city was quite deep, and his emotions didn't show on his face. Seeing Xia Chen return, he only smiled faintly.

  Xia Chen had expected him to ask this, and on the way back, he thought about how to make up a story. So he told him about his experience at Li's house, without even hiding the fact that he had obtained the Lian Tian Feng Mang Gong Fa.

  Of course, the ancient Tibetan matters are absolutely not to be spoken of.

  He took out the Heaven Splitting Wind Slash technique from his bosom and respectfully handed it over with both hands: "This is the Heaven Splitting Wind Slash technique that I, your disciple, have obtained. Please, Master, take a look."

  The day after tomorrow, the disciples will go out to practice and everything they gain belongs to themselves. They don't have to report back to the sect. This is a clear rule of the Zhengxuan Sect, used to motivate the disciples. Although Xia Chen can keep it secret, this move can show his loyalty and gratitude to Han Dongyu. Moreover, as a divine cultivator, Han Dongyu would not take advantage of his disciple's hard-earned skills, so it's a win-win situation.

  As expected, Han Dongyu didn't even take it, and didn't even glance at it. He said calmly, "This is the skill you obtained, it belongs to you yourself, so there's no need for me as your master to look at it. You can put it away."

  His tone suddenly became much more amiable, apparently Xia Chen's actions had also moved him somewhat, but it was unclear whether this feeling would be enough to let Xia Chen off.

  "Yes, Master!" Xia Chen put away the Heaven Splitting Blade technique, thinking to himself that this was something his master had said personally, and in the future if he were to use it again, his master shouldn't get anxious about it.

  "By the way, during this trip, did you break through the Sixth Heaven of the Post-Heaven Realm?" Han Dongyu looked at him and asked the question that he was most concerned about.

  "Thanks to Master's concern, I have made a breakthrough." Xia Chen nodded. He is not using his true energy at the moment, so Han Dongyu can't see what his actual cultivation level is.

  Han Dongyu's eyes lit up, and he stood up involuntarily, with a joyful expression: "Great! Breaking through the sixth level of acquired skills proves that you have turned over the most difficult page in the acquired realm. Advancing to the Divine Communication Realm is now hopeful, and it's no wonder that you are the Ancient Yuan Sacred Body, not disappointing Master's expectations for you."

  He remained calm and composed, but when he heard Xia Chenxiu was making rapid progress, he couldn't help himself.

  Xia Chen said calmly: "All of this is due to Master's cultivation, I, Xia Chen, will never forget your kindness in this lifetime!" He emphasized the two words 'kindness' heavily, sounding extremely grateful.

  Han Dongyu also said that he was truly grateful to himself, and smiled faintly: "Right, have you used up the elixirs I gave you? Coincidentally, I've refined a few more bottles of elixirs recently, specifically to assist in the later stages of the Sixfold Refining process. They'll be very beneficial for you, take them and use them."

  He pulled out several bottles of Dan medicine from his bosom, and Xia Chen naturally thanked him as he took them.

  "Moreover, since you've broken through the Sixth Layer of the Acquired Realm, you can now participate in the Beast Garden Selection Tournament. The Beast Garden is an excellent place to hone your skills and you'll have the opportunity to compete with disciples from other sects, which will further increase your cultivation. I'll sign you up for it tomorrow." Han Dongyu seemed extremely delighted.

  Xia Chen had heard about the Beast Garden Selection more than once and asked: "Master, when will the Beast Garden Selection begin? Are there any requirements?"

  "There are still ten days, you have been practicing hard and tired, just take this opportunity to rest and recover well, and then participate in the selection. The selection is only for disciples of six realms or higher, although not everyone can participate, but with me as your master, I will definitely give you a chance to participate in the Beast Garden trip." Han Dongyu said.

  "The disciple will follow the master's arrangement." Xia Chen said.

  Then Xia Chen mentioned that Li Yatong and Li Qitong from the Li family in Fenglin City were quite talented, and he specially asked them to come and pay homage to the door school, asking Han Dongyu for help.

  Han Dongyu casually agreed, but for him, it was just a matter of two new disciples.

  Xia Chen bid farewell and left, returning to his own bedroom to change clothes, then headed towards the courtyard of his new junior brother.

  The place where he originally lived had already become a gathering place for many people, and Xia Chen had already greeted Yue Zhong to keep the courtyard. With his reputation as Gu Yuan Sheng's body, Yue Zhong naturally agreed with his mouth full of answers.

  Entering the courtyard, I saw everyone busy killing chickens and cooking, what a commotion.

  Originally, the inner disciples just needed to notify the servants in advance when they wanted to gather, but every time the four of them got together, everyone pitched in and did things themselves, making it lively and adding a bit more vitality to life.

  Ling Xia was surprised to find that Chen Qiushui had arrived early and was helping Sun Li pick vegetables and rinse rice.

  She changed into casual clothes, looking less refined and elegant, but more warm and cozy in the mortal world. Suddenly, she was much closer to the four people around her.

  Xia Chen stared blankly at himself, and Chen Qiushui chuckled: "What's wrong, don't you recognize me? Hurry up and help! Half of this belongs to you." As she spoke, she divided the green vegetables in her hand into two portions and stuffed them into Xia Chen's hands.

  Sun Lisan and three others snickered, suddenly said with a smile and walked away, leaving only two people alone in the space.

  Chen Qiushui is very good to Xia Chen, and has even surpassed the relationship between a teacher and their younger sibling. Everyone can see it, so if the two of them are together, they might be discussing some secret matters, don't just stand there like a prop without knowing what's going on.

  "Sister Shi, you've done these things too." Xia Chen leaned against Chen Qiushui's seat, picking vegetables and asking in surprise.

  He used to be a miscellaneous worker and did these things naturally with ease, but looking at Chen Qiushui's technique, it seemed that he was not much more familiar than him. And most of the later disciples couldn't even identify vegetables.

  "I live in my own courtyard and cook all my meals myself. I've never used a servant." said Chen Qiushui, "Don't you think it's strange?"

  "It's just a little bit!" Xia Chen smiled and said, "Having someone to do the chores and cook meals can also save time for cultivation, isn't that more convenient? Why must Master Sister personally take care of it?"

  "When you reach my level, you'll understand." Chen Qiushui said, "The realm of spiritual comprehension, innate intuition, can't be broken through by just hard work. In fact, most of the time I'm doing all sorts of trivial things, including many mundane chores, and I try very hard to do them, it's all about intuition, gaining insight from various events, who knows when a sudden epiphany will occur."

  Xia Chen's eyes flashed with a hint of contemplation.

  Although ascetic practices can increase one's accomplishments, they become useless when encountering a bottleneck. Trying to come into contact with other things will instead yield different insights. This is actually the same principle as going down the mountain to gain experience; it's just that one seeks breakthroughs in everyday matters, while the other seeks opportunities by traveling ten thousand miles.

  Xia Chen suddenly seemed to have an epiphany, as if he had grasped a thread of profound truth. However, this truth was too deep and distant, invisible and intangible, leaving only a fleeting sense of it.

  Chen Qiushui gazed at him with a look of great admiration, and she could naturally see that Xia Chen had already understood her words. This young man was truly one of a kind.

  After a moment, Xia Chen regained his composure, but a hint of understanding flashed between his eyebrows, and he asked: "Sister, have you grasped the threshold of the Divine Realm?"

  "There's none." Chen Qiushui sighed, "How easy is it to comprehend the realm of spiritual comprehension? In fact, this year my cultivation has made no progress at all. There have been several times when I was about to touch that invisible threshold, but in the end, they all ended in failure."

  "Sister, don't worry either." Xia Chen said warmly, "This is just a matter of time, you are the most outstanding person in the sect's innate talent, and you will break through sooner or later."

  "That's not necessarily true!" Chen Qiushui smiled calmly, "If you can't understand, it may be stuck in the tenth level of acquired skills for a lifetime, but if you can touch the threshold, you may break through instantly. The realm is a very mysterious thing, just like what I said earlier, you will soon understand, but these principles are what I have been pondering for a long time to comprehend."

  "I..." Xia Chen smiled awkwardly, thinking to himself that his true abilities were actually worlds apart from hers, and what he could comprehend was something even he didn't understand.

  Suddenly, he was moved and said: "Shi Jie, if you use your current situation with the help of Dan medicine, will it increase the chances of breaking through?"

  Chen Qiushui stopped picking vegetables and said thoughtfully: "The Foundation Elixir has no effect on me anymore, but if it's the Innate Treasure Elixir, it will indeed increase the chances of a major breakthrough. With my current understanding, as long as I have just a little external help, I should be able to break through the shackles of the Post-Heaven realm with great confidence. Of course, whether or not I can break through depends on timing, luck, and cultivation - none of these three can be lacking."