“You mean you have the Five Elements Qi?!” I looked at the swordsman in surprise.
But the swordsman just said irritably, “If I had it, I would’ve given it to you already! Why would I waste time chatting nonsense with you?”
“Then what did you mean?” I asked, looking at him with confusion.
The swordsman put on a profound and mysterious expression. “Some things seem incredibly hard to obtain, but in reality, they are far away on the horizon, yet right before your eyes!”
“Far away on the horizon, yet right before my eyes?” I muttered, pondering his words.
Suddenly, the swordsman said with a hint of guilt, “Xia Tian, by the way, your roommate has been unconscious for so long… she should be okay, right?”
“What?” Suddenly, I remembered something. When Mei’er was captured, it was Sister Lin who called me. But from the time I woke up until now, I haven’t seen Sister Lin at all.
“Don’t tell me you knocked out Sister Lin and the others too?” I looked at the swordsman in shock. If that were the case, and Sister Lin woke up later, she would definitely try to kill me!
“First of all, not all of them. Qin Mengdie and Tang Shuyao are still at the hospital!” the swordsman continued. “And besides, I wasn’t the one who did it!”
“What do you mean by that?” I asked, looking at him puzzled.
The swordsman smiled. “It was that old man. He used an illusion technique to knock everyone out. They still haven’t woken up.”
“Dammit! Why didn’t you say so earlier!” I quickly stood up, ready to go check on Sister Lin and the others in their rooms to see if they were okay.
But the swordsman stopped me. “Don’t worry about them. That hypnotic spell will wear off as soon as someone calls their names.”
“Really?” I looked at him with some disbelief.
The swordsman chuckled. “Of course, it’s true! Besides, their unconscious state is perfect for our conversation, no fear of eavesdroppers!”
“That’s a relief…” I sighed. If something had happened to Sister Lin and the others, I would have been guilt-ridden to death. But damn, what kind of logic is this? First, he asks me if they’ll be okay, then he himself says they’re fine!
“Earlier, you said the Five Elements Qi is ‘far away on the horizon, yet right before my eyes.’ What did you mean?” I asked the swordsman, confused.
The swordsman, however, frowned and said to me, “Can’t you figure it out yourself? This is your tribulation. I can only give you this much hint. If I say any more, I’ll incur heavenly punishment!”
“Sorry, I just want to regain my strength so badly!” I sighed. He was right; this is my tribulation. Moreover, he has already given me plenty of hints.
The swordsman lay down on the boat, hands behind his head, and said to me, “I’ve said all I can. The rest is up to you.” With that, he actually started to sleep.
Far away on the horizon, yet right before my eyes…
Could the swordsman be trying to tell me that one of the Five Elements Qis is actually right in front of me?
I began to think about the things around me.
The Five Elements Qi, taken literally, must be the Qi of the five elements.
But it could also be an object containing powerful attribute True Qi, and it must be a spiritual object, likely a natural treasure…
Wait! Natural treasure! Don’t I have many natural treasures in my Storage Ring! Moreover, there’s a second layer of restrictions in the Storage Ring. The Five Elements Qi is probably behind that layer of restrictions!
The more I thought about it, the more I felt my reasoning was correct!
So I directly channeled my mental energy and entered the Storage Ring.
Although my dantian is shattered, the power of mental energy comes from the brain, so I can still use it to enter the Storage Ring.
It had been a long time since my mental energy last entered the Storage Ring. It was still filled with piles of elixirs, spirit stones, and natural treasures.
There were many spiritual plants here; it’s very likely that one of them contains the Wood Attribute Qi!
Thinking this, I began to explore within the Storage Ring.
The first thing I thought of was the Millennium Blood Ginseng King, but I dismissed it immediately because I had already consumed the Millennium Blood Ginseng King, and it didn’t contain the Wood Attribute Qi.
Twilight Snow Camellia, Cyan Sky White Earth, Bloodsplash Grass…
One by one, I eliminated the spiritual herbs. None of them contained any Five Elements Qi.
Was my line of thinking wrong? Or is the Five Elements Qi truly behind the second layer of restrictions?
What’s that? I suddenly noticed a bead in the corner, surrounded by a faint mist.
“White Rat Demon Core!” When I held this bead in my hand, I was incredibly surprised.
I obtained the White Rat Demon Core when I hunted that white rat demon with Li Qingxiao at the mass graves. I originally intended to give it to Mei’er to break her seal, but due to the college entrance exams, I forgot about it until now.
Treasuring the memento, I unconsciously thought of Mei’er again…
Although that old man wanted to kill me, Mei’er should be fine, since she is the princess of the fox clan.
I just don’t know how Mei’er is doing in the fox clan’s territory now. I wonder if she misses me… because I miss her terribly…
When some people are still around, you might not feel much, but when they truly leave, you miss them exceptionally.
It’s safe to say that Mei’er completely changed my life. While there were both good and bad changes, the good always outweighed the bad.
Moreover, I was only able to step onto the path of cultivation thanks entirely to Mei’er.
When Mei’er was still here, I always wanted to kiss her little mouth, thought about how to level up, and dreamed of dual cultivating with her sooner.
But now, I just want her to stay by my side. However, for the current me, that’s almost a luxury…
I’ll keep this White Rat Demon Core. Although it’s not very useful to me now, I can keep it. I can take it out and look at it when I have time. Seeing it is like seeing Mei’er.
After all, this was the first thing I wanted to do to help Mei’er, even though in the end, Mei’er never even saw this demon core…
I placed the White Rat Demon Core back in its original spot and walked up to the second layer of restrictions.
It was still the massive Yin-Yang diagram and those strange symbols.
If my reasoning is correct, and the swordsman didn’t lie to me, then the so-called Five Elements Qi must be behind this layer of restrictions.
But my mental energy simply cannot break the restrictions. If I force my way through, even if I don’t die, I’ll become mentally insane.
This isn’t a gamble worth taking, because the stakes are simply too high…
But if I don’t gamble, I might never see Mei’er again in this lifetime.
Although I still have the strength of the ancient martial arts Huang rank, my lifespan is still the same as an ordinary person’s. Even if I find Mei’er later, I’ll probably have become a wretched old man by then.
I’ll risk it! Even if I turn to ashes! Life is a big gamble. If you place your bet correctly, you become a winner in life!
My mental energy rapidly surged. The Yin-Yang diagram seemed to sense something, gradually brightening. Those characters also became increasingly strange. A powerful pressure made me feel suffocated!
Just then, the swordsman suddenly appeared beside me and yelled, “Are you trying to get yourself killed, kid?!”
“How can you enter the Storage Ring?!” Only the owner’s mental energy can enter the Storage Ring. The fact that the swordsman also got in shocked me!
As soon as I finished speaking, I found myself back in reality, with the swordsman standing right beside me.
“The second layer of restrictions cannot be broken with your current strength! Forcing your way through is $uicide!” the swordsman shouted at me, seeming very tense.
Actually, I’ve always found it strange. I had never seen this swordsman before. Initially, he was hired by Zhao Gao with a heavy reward to kill me, so why did he start helping me afterwards?
No one in this world helps another person for no reason. The swordsman has no apparent reason, yet he helps me at every turn, even risking heavenly punishment.
But when it comes to benefits, my cultivation level is insignificant compared to his, and I don’t possess anything on me that would warrant such help from him. Why does he help me so much?
Returning to my thoughts, I sighed and looked at the swordsman somewhat helplessly. “Didn’t you say ‘far away on the horizon, yet right before my eyes’? Other than the things behind the second layer of restrictions, I can’t think of any other possibility!”
“Dammit! It’s this thing, you idiot!” the swordsman cursed.
With a wave of his hand, a gleam of light flashed from the Storage Ring, and a black shadow shot out, embedding itself into the wall!