Chapter 21: Return

Chapter 21: Return

"The first chapter of the Innate Qi-Nurturing Technique is on qi nurturing; the second chapter is on building the foundation. However, that doesn't mean that one wouldn't need to work on qi nurturing when they're building the foundation. Be it qi nurturing, foundation building, or forming the Golden Core, one would need to cultivate all aspects continuously.

"It'd be even better if one could cultivate all of them concurrently. However, one must reach a certain degree in qi nurturing before moving on to building the foundation. Similarly, one must reach a certain phase in foundation building before they could attempt to form a Core."

Li Pin sensed the primordial qi that he had accumulated thus far. With the nourishment from a tremendous amount of medicinal items, the primordial qi he had nurtured was strengthened at a rate that could be seen by the naked eye.

Of course, only he would dare to describe this process as possible to be "seen by the naked eye."

Any other person who cultivated the Innate Qi-Nurturing Technique wouldn't be able to ascertain if they had managed to manifest primordial qi when it had only increased by this little bit, let alone circulating it to heal their injuries.

They would at most feel a little bit more energetic for a few days.

"At the rate my primordial qi is strengthening, the number of cycles I'd need before I can reach the requirement for foundation building would be...." Li Pin quickly crunched the numbers. "1,316 cultivating cycles."

He could do that in less than a year. The improvement rate was very fast.

Moreover, as he continued to improve on the medicinal cuisine he was taking and on his training in the Innate Qi-Nurturing Technique, the time required would only continue to shorten.

He picked up a newly purchased ginseng with his right hand and accessed it carefully.

The injuries on his arms had recovered completely through the nourishment from his primordial qi.

He could sense the ginseng's medicinal effects and type through his fingers. However, his knowledge in this field was shallow and he wasn't able to come to a concrete conclusion. Not to mention that when sensing things outside his body, his gift would be many times weaker.

He could only assess the possible influences and effects brought by each item based on his standards.

"If I can grasp more knowledge, I can become an appraiser in the future. I'd be able to uncover different interesting uses of any item that I hold..." Li Pin said.

However, he soon realized that he couldn't become an appraiser.

He was only able to assess things by using himself as the benchmark.

He could lift an item that weighed 100 to 150 kilograms, but could an ordinary person do the same? Would ordinary people be able to withstand the same amount of pain that he could?

"Every person has a different constitution. The data that I come up with by using myself as a benchmark is not suitable for everyone."

Take the medicinal cuisine that he came up with as an example. it would be hard for Li Yunyao and Lin Xiaolu to withstand its effects.

***

As time passed, the Astral Advent Festival soon arrived.

It was a lot more lively in the Li Family during the festival. It was a pity that Li Yunyan was unable to return to Sanshun Town as she was a few months into her pregnancy. This made Ms. Li a little sad, but she didn't feel lonely since Li Pin and Li Yunyao were both by her side.

After the Astral Advent Festival passed, it was soon time for Li Yunyao's school term to start again, so the Li Family moved to Liuchuan County.

"Clearly you aren't working hard enough. Look at Xiaolu. She never complains about training being tough or tiring. You, on the other hand, would keep complaining about muscle aches after training for a short while."

Li Yunyao was a little unconvinced. "I...."

"You'll have to buck up," Li Pin said with a smile.

The initial reason he agreed to teach Lin Xiaolu was so that he could try out his clairvoyance gift. What he didn't expect was that it also helped to give Li Yunyao a push in her training.

However, this made sense. People their age tended to be unconvinced of their losses. Watching as Lin Xiaolu slowly surpassed her, even if Li Yunyao occasionally felt too tired to carry on, she wouldn't allow herself to slack.

"Mom, remember to help them prepare the medicinal cuisine I left behind. There's no need to worry about money," Li Pin said.

Ms. Li nodded.

After Li Pin told them what to do, he waved his hand and then headed for the bus station as they watched him leave.

Li Pin paid for the bus ticket and it quickly set off. In less than two hours, he arrived at Zanglong City.

"Old Li, over here."

The moment Li Pin came out from the bus station, Fang Yubai's voice sounded out.

Fang Yubai knew that Li Pin was arriving today and had especially come to pick him up.

"You've been gone for over a month! I was so bored by myself here," Fang Yubai said.

Li Pin naturally didn't believe his words.

He followed Fang Yubai onto his Blue Horse x5 and they soon drove into the traffic.

"Oh, right. Do you still remember Jing Yunshan, that guy who likes to spread rumors? He came looking for me, wanting to make peace with you. He even said that he can try to request management to cancel your punishment at school and help you prove your innocence...."

Fang Yubai added, "There's no need to pay me any heed. I'm just playing the role of a mailbox."

Li Pin gave an acknowledgment. "Mmm."

"I've long disliked that guy. Now he's fallen in your hands," Fang Yubai said a little happily. "What do you plan on doing? Are you going to get him to offer you gifts and apologize publicly to recover your reputation?"

"I've already left Hanyang University. We'll leave the matters from there for later," Li Pin said calmly.

Outsiders may have thought that he had only jumped into the lake to commit suicide because he had lost his reputation, so things would seem to have taken a turn for the better if the school's punishment was canceled and his reputation was salvaged.

However, to Li Pin...this matter wasn't going to end so easily.

That was because...

"Li Pin" had died.