It was noon when Qin Ran entered the sect leader's cave dwelling, and the sun was already setting when he came out.
What exactly the two of them said inside the cave, no third... or fourth person knew.
But one could clearly see that when Qin Ran emerged from the sect leader's dwelling, he cast a slight contemptuous smile towards the setting sun.
Qin Ran went straight back to Dan Peak.
He had just walked out of the mist formed by the Guardian Mountain Formation when he saw Li An being pulled by Chasing the Wind's tail, swooping past him with a "whoosh," only a white blur visible.
At the same time, Li An's giggles of "hee-hee-hee" trailed behind, chasing after them as they flew by.
Chasing the Wind truly loved Li An, taking him to play and cause mischief every day. It was unclear whether this was affection for a junior, a playmate, or a toy.
Of course, regardless, Li An indeed enjoyed playing with Chasing the Wind very much, having a great time.
"Chasing the Wind!" But as a parent, Qin Ran had to reprimand them when he saw this dangerous play, "Be careful, what if you hurt Li An?!"
"It won't happen, Dad! Don't worry, Dad!" Chasing the Wind flew into the air, flicked its tail to toss Li An high up, then rushed up to catch him with its head.
After catching Li An, it looked at Qin Ran with a silly "hee-hee-hee" grin, its big cat face looking quite comical.
Li An, standing on its big head, also laughed "yi-yi-ya-ya" with raised hands, extremely delighted.
"Sigh!"
Qin Ran was exhausted, but seeing these two perfect foils, he couldn't bring himself to scold them, only shaking his head and giving up.
Actually, Chasing the Wind took quite good care of Li An. Li An could now stand up. And because Chasing the Wind often took Li An around to fight, Li An's mastery of sword energy was quite proficient. He no longer randomly released sword energy to hurt people, though he still couldn't fully retract it back to his dantian.
In short, it was much better than that fierce aunt's teaching.
Oh... except, Li An's speech system seemed to have regressed. It had almost reverted to the level of a normal six-month-old infant.
Qin Ran walked on the newly sprouting grass towards the old spiritual locust tree and the small wooden cabin.
At this moment, Zhang Junyi was sitting upright at a table under the old spiritual locust tree, reading a book.
Zhang Junyi had not yet officially begun Foundation Building, so the book he was currently reading was about the realm of Foundation Building.
Obviously, the path Zhang Junyi wanted to take was the same as Qin Ran's. They were probably people with the same kind of talent, the type who needed to fully understand what something was before they could begin doing it. For example, they needed to fully understand what Foundation Building was before they could start building their foundation.
There were also two other types of people: one like Li Shiyin who didn't need to know how to do it and could just do it directly; the other type... couldn't learn the theory and didn't know how to do it either.
Meanwhile, on the other side, directly under the old spiritual locust tree, on that swing, Zhang Junyi's nominal master Long Qiqi was listlessly swaying on the swing.
As spring deepened, Long Qiqi, who had been sleeping for many days, finally had some energy. Although not much, just a little bit, it was there nonetheless.
Qin Ran walked over, patted Long Qiqi's drooping head, and said with a smile, "Cheer up, don't fall asleep. You'll cry if you fall off later."
Long Qiqi raised her head limply, like a boneless snake. She stared at Qin Ran with lifeless eyes, then glanced at Zhang Junyi from the corner of her eye.
This meant that although she hadn't spoken to Zhang Junyi yet, he was still her disciple... the closed-door kind, so she had to save face. "None of your business." So she rolled her eyes at Qin Ran and lowered her head again.
"I'm worried you'll cry!" Qin Ran gave her swing a push.
"You're the one who'll cry!" Long Qiqi replied weakly.
"How much do you understand about Foundation Building?" he asked Zhang Junyi in a serious tone.
As he asked this, Long Qiqi on the swing behind couldn't help but raise her head and look at him with disdain. This guy was a sore loser, too petty, unable to let go of his pride and torturing her disciple instead.
"I understand some!" Zhang Junyi instantly stiffened his body and answered seriously. His posture, if he had put his hands behind his back, would have been no different from a kindergartener, "Foundation Building is the basic stage of cultivation, the foundation for all future realms. Foundation Building requires sensing qi, opening meridians, achieving resonance between heaven and man, condensing the seed of magical power... and then determining the path of cultivation, as for sensing objects..."
After he finished stammering through his explanation, Qin Ran asked in a deep voice, "Then what is sensing qi?"
"Living beings... are born with a primordial qi, this qi is scattered throughout the mechanisms and meridians... one needs to perceive it with inner consciousness... then drive it with willpower... only then can one begin cultivation..."
"What about meridians? What are the attributes of the human body? And how are they classified?"
"...The heart meridian belongs to fire, the kidney meridian belongs to water... feet treading the netherworld... hands grasping yin and yang... eyes like lightning..."
"How does one achieve resonance between heaven and man?"
"When the primordial qi within the body is abundant... and the cultivator's mental state reaches a profound level... at that time, they will draw in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth through the Baihui Point..."
"The seed of magical power?"
"The first wisp of celestial energy entering the body combines with the innate energy, forming the seed of magical power. The seed of magical power has many special forms..."
Although stuttering and incomplete, he could answer most of what Qin Ran asked, showing that he indeed hadn't been lazy and had been studying hard.
As he was answering, Chasing the Wind brought Li An to their side. Qin Ran suddenly pointed at Li An on Chasing the Wind's back and asked Zhang Junyi, "Do you know what his situation is?"
Zhang Junyi looked at Li An, hesitated for a moment, but still shook his head.
He probably knew, but didn't dare to answer.
"If I were to give you a sword energy seed..." Qin Ran said calmly, "would you want it?"
Zhang Junyi suddenly looked up at Qin Ran. Seeing that Qin Ran's expression didn't seem to be lying, he couldn't help but hesitate.
He opened his mouth, clearly pronouncing the syllable "want."
That was Li Shiyin's sword energy, not only at the third realm level but also with a clear sword intent. If he could get such sword energy as a foundation, it would save him no less than thirty years of cultivation.
"Hmph!"
But at this moment, Long Qiqi, who was on the swing, suddenly jumped down with a pout. She ran to the side of Qin Ran's lounge chair, stared at him for a while, kicked his chair once, then glanced back at Zhang Junyi before walking towards the kitchen of the small wooden house.
Long Qiqi's series of actions brought Zhang Junyi back to his senses. Before Qin Ran could speak, he hastily said solemnly, "The seed of magical power still needs to be condensed by oneself. Moreover, this disciple wishes to pursue the path of alchemy, which is not suitable for a sword energy seed."
Qin Ran looked at him with a half-smile for a while, and finally decided not to pursue the matter, only asking, "How many bamboos did you cut today?"
"I cut one large bamboo," Zhang Junyi replied. "It can be used as a beam."
"How many more days do you plan to spend building that shabby house of yours?"
"It still needs about a month..."
They continued their question and answer exchange, time flying by quickly.
Before long, Long Qiqi and Li Shiyin came out of the house carrying dishes and placed them on the table. Chasing the Wind brought Li An out, balancing rice bowls on his back...
As evening fell, a gentle breeze blew, the sky tinged with faint ink. The leaves of the old locust tree rustled, and beneath it, Dan Peak began their evening meal.