Chapter 20: Behind Bars and Breakthroughs

While Xu Mo was locked behind bars, the outside world—more precisely, the Hidden Dragon Sect—had entered a festive mood.

By evening, almost everyone knew that some important guests were due to visit the following month. Everyone, whether outer attendants, disciples, or even elders, was working hard to clean and maintain the sect.

The weeds that had started growing through the pavement, the overgrown branches of trees, and the outer appearance of the buildings were all being tended to. Even though the visiting guests might not pass through the outer sect, it was still important to think and plan ahead. The sect master had ordered that every piece of land on which the Hidden Dragon Sect was built had to be cleaned.

The wild beasts that had been living within the mountains of the Hidden Dragon Sect had been shifted outside its boundaries. Even the public toilets, which had not been cleaned for who knows how long, were finally being addressed.

...

On the other hand, Long Chen had entered a unique cultivation state. This state was induced by the technique given to him by his master. In his heart, his master held the highest position, even slightly above his real parents.

The Qi was being absorbed into his body as if he were a sponge soaking up water. But if the water became more than the sponge could handle, it would overflow uncontrollably, seeping out in all directions, wasting its essence and weakening its foundation.

Long Chen's face began to turn rosy from the sheer amount of Qi he was absorbing.

"M-Master, how long?" Long Chen's voice sounded hoarse, and it seemed he was in extreme pain.

[Two more breaths, and then you can compress the Qi to absorb only the pure Qi into your meridians.]

Long Chen nodded and continued absorbing Qi for two more breaths.

"AAAAAAAaaaa—"

Long Chen let out a wild scream. His body began to swell like a balloon being filled with air.

[This is the most important step. Long Chen, whatever happens, do not lose consciousness.]

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Sitting in a lotus position, Long Chen joined the fingers of both hands and began reciting some unknown syllables.

If someone had X-ray vision, they would have seen that inside Long Chen's body, the Qi he had absorbed—until his body started to swell—was beginning to shrink. It was like a blacksmith ironing a hot rod of metal.

The Qi continued to change shape, and the excess Qi that was expelled nourished his body. This process ensured that, in the future, his body could contain more Qi than an average person. Coupled with his already monstrous talent, Long Chen would become a complete beast.

Soon, the huge amount of Qi was nowhere to be seen inside him. In its place was a sphere, a circular ball about the size of a ping-pong ball. If one looked closely with a magnifying glass, the ball of Qi was perfectly round, with no visible imperfections. Giving the Qi this shape was more difficult than it seemed. If it had been any other shape, Long Chen would have had to hammer it into the desired form with his will.

In his dantian, there was a circular platform rotating in space, with nine empty semi-sphere dents placed at equal distances from one another. The moment the ping-pong ball of Qi was completed, it flew and placed itself in one of the empty spaces. A wave of Qi flashed across the circular platform.

"Breakthrough!!"

Long Chen roared like a beast that had just defeated its arch-nemesis.

Immediately, Long Chen felt as though the chains that had been binding him had broken. The process of a mortal converting into a cultivator had begun.

...

[Xu Mo's POV]

There was no day or night inside the cell. The only source of light was an old, worn-out lantern that flickered from time to time.

I sat on the rock-hard bed and began exerting force to break the bracelet on my wrist. Of course, I didn’t exert too much force, afraid that I might die suddenly from losing too much Qi.

Pant... Pant...

There wasn’t much air in the cell, and the humidity rose as time passed. It signaled to me that it might be the time of day when the sun was at its peak.

At night, the same cell that burned like fire during the day became as cold as an ice cellar. This was because the cell was located below the Disciplinary Hall. Unfortunately for me, my cell might not be under the shade of the Disciplinary Hall. Instead, hundreds of disciples might be walking right above my head.

I looked at my hands, which were shaking again.

It had already been two days since I was dropped off here. No one had come to see me except for the Disciplinary Hall member in charge of bringing food.

‘Has the sect master forgotten about me?’

I had started having this thought since yesterday. But then again, I shook my head. The Disciplinary Hall member might be the one sent by Elder Long to check on me.

I lay down on the hard surface of the rock. My back had started to hurt whenever I woke up, and even standing up straight had become a challenge. Eating food was also difficult because of the constant pain in my back. I didn’t know how I was still going.

I raised my hand to grab the locket around my neck but only grasped thin air. The locket had already been taken away during the body search.

I gazed at the few flies buzzing around the only source of light in this dim chamber.