Door of Luck and Fortune

Returning to the stone hut, the first thing Ning Cheng did was to recall the cultivation techniques he had learned before. His predecessor was originally not fond of cultivating, compounded by poor talent. With no progress in cultivation, he grew increasingly disheartened. Now, Ning Cheng found it somewhat difficult to remember the cultivation techniques passed down in his family.

Fortunately, Ning Cheng's grandfather, Ning Hongchang, although indulgent, insisted that Ning Cheng memorize the basic elements of the family's cultivation methods.

After repeatedly recalling, Ning Cheng finally remembered the first layer of incantations of his family's cultivation techniques as well as some cultivation acupoints and the pathways of his meridians.

Following the cultivation incantations he remembered, Ning Cheng carefully sensed the sparse spiritual qi around him, hoping to generate a feeling of qi within his meridians. At the same time, he had prepared himself for a lengthy period without any feeling of qi, knowing his own aptitude; if sensing qi was so easy, he wouldn't have waited until today without having gathered qi.

"Buzz..." Just as Ning Cheng began to gather spiritual qi, his entire meridian network buzzed, a sound so clear he could hear it, accompanied by intense pain that filled his whole body.

The next moment, a robust and gentle force spread throughout his body, threatening to tear him apart. At that point, Ning Cheng felt that the slightest carelessness would cause his entire body's meridians to be completely torn apart, rendering him a cripple.

In shock, Ning Cheng dared not relax at all. He concentrated his spirit and guided the sudden sensation of qi according to the cultivation incantations he knew, directing the qi through the meridians of his entire body. As he cautiously guided it, the feeling in his body that was about to burst gradually eased.

As time passed, Ning Cheng became immersed in the state of the qi circulating through his meridians, much like strands of warm water slowly spreading throughout his body. He faintly detected blockages in his meridians being naturally cleared away, and impurities within him were expelled, pushed out by the gentle flow of warm qi.

A comfortable warmth rose in Ning Cheng's body, and amid sensations that even his consciousness seemed to be shielded from, he always felt that the way he practiced cultivation seemed somewhat different from what others had described. In his memory, cultivation involved absorbing external spiritual qi and transforming it into true qi through the body's meridians.

But at the moment, he felt as though he hadn't absorbed a trace of external spiritual qi. Inside him, there seemed to be a source of robust qi, which, during his cultivation, filled his meridians. Like strands of warm water, this qi automatically expelled impurities from within him, cleared his blocked meridians, and then circulated through them.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Ning Cheng felt his entire body jolt, and he suddenly opened his eyes.

The world that became clear once more made him completely forget the qi that had just been circulating in his body had vanished without a trace.

A feeling of utter relief washed over him, and even if Ning Cheng were a fool, he knew that he had successfully gathered qi without realizing it and had become a cultivator at the first level of Qi Gathering.

Cultivation is this simple? That's not right; if cultivation were so easy, he wouldn't have been unable to gather qi for so many years, and neither would so many people in Cang Qin Country.

Ning Cheng estimated the time he had spent cultivating; he was sure it hadn't exceeded a day. Yet, within this short day, he had reached the first level of Qi Gathering. That was something no one would believe if he told them. What exactly was going on?

At this moment, Ning Cheng had already forgotten the strange odor of the impurities expelled from his body and instead sat in deep thought. He wasn't a fool; in fact, he knew very well how to protect himself. Before his rebirth, Ning Cheng knew he was different from others because of his photographic memory and understanding capabilities that were simply unmatched.

It was precisely because of this heaven-defying ability that Ning Cheng dared not reveal it. He just wanted to live an ordinary life, and after his sister graduated from college, he would seek his own simple existence. He was fully aware of what his abilities represented; the slightest display would immediately make him the center of attention. From then on, he might not even be able to live the ordinary life he desired freely.

This was also the reason why Ning Cheng preferred to work on construction sites rather than using his abilities to make money. He knew that once he started, it would be hard to stop, and in the end, he would attract attention. If it weren't for meeting Tian Muwan, he wouldn't even have wanted to continue attending university. The one thing he hadn't anticipated was that after his heartbreak, he would be reborn in such a place.

Ning Cheng was certain that his method of cultivation was different from others. While others absorbed spiritual qi from the outside, his body seemed to have a robust source of qi, which allowed him to swiftly gather qi and advance to the first level of Qi Gathering. His longstanding caution made him want to understand what was going on. It was as if there was a spring within him, providing a robust source of qi that escalated his cultivation speed and even made his talent irrelevant.

Regrettably, Ning Cheng knew very little about the path of cultivation; whatever he did know came from the memories of his previous life and was pitifully limited. His predecessor was definitely not a person with great talent; if he was, he wouldn't have waited until now to gather qi. Yet his cultivation turned out to be so simple; the only possibility was that something had happened during his rebirth.

Ning Cheng remembered that beam of yellow light from the sky; perhaps his rapid cultivation speed was related to that yellow light.

Putting aside these confusing matters, Ning Cheng stepped out of the hut to wash himself. After rinsing his body with well water, he noticed that some of the scars on his skin had faded and his complexion had become much fairer.

Although Ning Cheng had not yet gathered qi, he was a student of the Two-Star Academy of Cang Qin Country and came from the Ning family; he was not completely ignorant about cultivation. He knew that cultivators' wounds would heal quickly, but certainly not as fast as those on his body. The scars that were clear yesterday had started to fade significantly after he had reached the first level of Qi Gathering today; this was somewhat unusual.

A series of somewhat hurried footsteps approached, clearly heading for the courtyard where Ning Cheng was staying. Ning Cheng was taken aback. He had been living here for several days, and no one had ever come by. Now that there were footsteps, it was obvious that they were meant for him. Ning Cheng had no time to think further, hastily diving into the room and quickly pulling on clean clothes.

No sooner had Ning Cheng put on his clothes than Ji Luofei pushed the door open with a hint of urgency.

"Why have you come back?" Seeing Ji Luofei, Ning Cheng's heart relaxed a little. He had been feeling uneasy ever since he had offended Xian Yuankui.

When Ji Luofei saw that Ning Cheng was alright, she also breathed a sigh of relief and said with a calm voice, "I heard that you offended Xian Yuankui..."

Expecting Ji Luofei to scold him, Ning Cheng interrupted before she could finish her sentence, "He provoked me first, and even if it were to happen again, I would still step in to save someone."

Letting a little boy be trampled to death by a unicorn right in front of his eyes, especially when he could save him, was something Ning Cheng just couldn't do; it would be the same as standing by and watching him die. As far as he was concerned, if he had really let that little boy get trampled to death before his eyes, he would never be able to forgive himself.

To Ning Cheng's surprise, Ji Luofei didn't scold him; instead, she softened her tone and said, "Xian Yuankui holds a special status in Cang Qin Country, and if you continue to stay here, you're certainly on a path to death, huh..."

Ji Luofei paused mid-sentence, giving a puzzled sound as she stared straight at Ning Cheng for a while before saying, "You've already succeeded in gathering qi? Is that strange smell in this room from the impurities in your body?"

Only then did Ning Cheng realize that Ji Luofei had smelled something odd as soon as she entered but had not mentioned it in front of him. Now that she saw he had gathered qi, she brought it up.

"Yes, I just came back and felt inspired to cultivate a bit, and to my surprise, I actually succeeded in gathering qi. It really was lucky," Ning Cheng said with an awkward smile.

Ji Luofei listened to Ning Cheng's words but didn't respond; instead, she scrutinized him closely for quite a while. Ning Cheng was about to ask Ji Luofei what was wrong when he suddenly tensed up, realizing what she meant.

Just a few days ago, Ji Luofei had seen him in bad shape, and for his body to recover, let alone advance to the first level of gathering qi, seemed impossible. Clearly, he had a secret, and if Ji Luofei could see it, couldn't others see it as well? Having just been released from prison, surely everyone would have known.

Even though Ning Cheng himself did not know the secret of his body, others wouldn't think the same way; it was even possible that they might dissect him to find out.

"Luo Fei, I've now reached the first level of gathering qi, and I would like to go see the academy," Ning Cheng quickly understood his situation. For him, going to the Cang Qin Secondary Star Academy was the only way to save his life. Staying outside, he could be killed at any moment.

While Ji Luofei was still marveling at the secrets Ning Cheng might be hiding, upon hearing his words, she pushed those thoughts aside. Ning Cheng had always called her 'little girl,' and now he was calling her Luo Fei. Could adversity truly make a person grow this quickly?

She quickly returned to the matter at hand and said, "I came back this time to have you temporarily go to the academy. If you were left alone outside, they probably would not let you off. But you're no longer a student of the academy, so you can't attend classes. Old Mu of the academy's cultivation room is very kind and has helped me a lot. I've told him about you, and you can go there and help out, serving as a handyman for the academy."

"I have no problem with that," Ning Cheng immediately agreed. As long as he could temporarily save his life, that was all that mattered. Ning Cheng knew he had secrets within him, and he believed that with his rate of cultivation, he would soon be able to protect himself.

Ji Luofei nodded, "To help in the cultivation room, you have to at least have successfully gathered qi. I brought back a qi gathering stone this time, originally planning to help you gather qi, but it turns out you've already done it on your own, which couldn't be better. We'll wait here for a few days, and then head to the academy."

Ning Cheng was exceptionally clever and instantly understood what Ji Luofei meant. Ji Luofei knew his success in gathering qi was not ordinary, and that was why she suggested they stay a few more days. This way, when others found out he had gathered qi, they could attribute it to her help.

Ning Cheng was just about to express his thanks when he noticed Ji Luofei's complexion seem a bit off, faintly pale.

(Remember to give a collection and recommendation ticket to the Door of Creation!)

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