Chapter 137: Qinggong Competition (4)
Assistant Instructor Ximen Qing.
When they first saw him, the cadets actually looked down on him in their hearts.
It became that way as it was known, from who knows where the rumor started, that he was from Fanjixiang, a suburb of Xinye County, and was a notorious playboy even there.
A dandy who lived pompously in a rural corner.
A rustic who barely bought his official post with a small sum of money.
A hideous man who was short and whose face was stained with burns.
This was exactly the cadets’ first impression of Ximen Qing.
The cadets who usually met Ximen Qing while coming and going in the lecture building had heard the rumors and thought of him as insignificant.
Therefore, it was true that when they happened to run into him in the hallway, rather than greeting him, they treated him with subtle mockery.
But.
Ximen Qing’s true appearance was completely different from their previous impressions.
“……Namgung Yul of the Blue Dragon Hall. Ho Ye-yang of the White Tiger Hall. Your evaluation grade is ‘Passable’ (Ga).”
Rescuing both the Sword Flower and the Blade Flower, who had been in danger, at once, Ximen Qing seized the initiative over all the cadets with his overwhelming skill.
……And after that, murderously difficult theories and crazily intense practices continued.
“Pull your buttocks back. Bend your waist more. If you step like that, your ankle will be ruined.”
On the vast training ground.
Holding a cane, Ximen Qing moved his steps leisurely.
And in front of him, the cadets were running around sweating profusely, regardless of their hall or grade.
The cadets wore heavy shackles on their feet, with long chains dangling between the shackles.
In that state, unable to even run to their hearts’ content, they had to run while stepping on the ‘X’ marks displayed on the ground.
The interval between the ‘X’ marks was quite far, so they could not step on them without loading internal energy into their soles.
Every time they stepped on ground that was not marked, Ximen Qing’s cane flew in like a ghost.
“Do not look away. With every single step, observe the earth veins and feel the flow of Qi. Just as a physician does not insert an acupuncture needle anywhere on a human body, do not plant your feet anywhere on the ground. If you cannot feel what is different when stepping on ground you usually stepped on without a thought versus stepping on the marked ground, it is all useless.”
If they slily took a misstep thinking Ximen Qing’s gaze was directed elsewhere, the cane fell without fail.
They did not know how on earth he monitored them, but they did not dare to look into it any further.
“Gasp… gasp… gasp…”
“Cough! Urgh! Whew- gasp-“
“Blegh! Blegh!”
Cadets vomiting cropped up here and there.
Yet, Ximen Qing brandished his cane with an expressionless face.
“If you threw up, run again. Your body must have become that much lighter.”
“I-I feel like I’m going to die. I’m really going to die at this rate!”
“Everyone usually said that.”
In Ximen Qing’s chilly voice.
“……But among the bastards who said such things, not a single one actually died.”
Not a single margin for compromise could be felt.
The cadets kept running and running, spilling spit, sweat, and tears.
At this point, a few clever cadets might have protested, yet no one presented a differing opinion to Ximen Qing’s guidance.
The reason was.
“Look. How vainly you have been wasting internal energy until now. With that output, this level of speed should have come out.”
Because Ximen Qing was running around the training ground next to them at dozens of times their speed.
On top of that, using only internal energy at a level similar to the cadets, without showing the slightest sign of exhaustion, for as long as half a shichen!
“If you ride the Qi flowing beneath the ground well, you can generate explosive speed with very little internal energy. From the point you step, feel the wave ahead and find the Qi that suits you, the vessel you can exploit.”
It was not a far-fetched theory.
Since it was presented as a visible result directly in actual combat, they could not complain even if they wanted to.
Indeed, among those who received Ximen Qing’s instruction, individuals whose Qinggong speed was jumping exponentially began to emerge little by little.
“……I cannot believe it.”
Sword Flower Namgung Yul.
She could not hide her surprise at the feeling that her body had become light as a feather.
Before listening to Ximen Qing’s lecture, she had rarely thought that her body was heavy.
However, when she listened to Ximen Qing’s lecture and actually applied his theory to her footwork, she experienced a new world.
If her body before was like a lump of lead, her body now was like a feather.
Namgung Yul was traversing the training ground at a speed far faster than when she ran on the rope bridge just moments ago.
“Grasping the Qi vessels of the stepping spot is difficult, but if I take my time, it seems fully possible. From now on, I shouldn’t just focus on the Qi inside my body, but also on the Qi flowing outside my body. How plausibly I resonate these two will soon be the way to approach the realm of Unity with Nature.”
As her thoughts multiplied, she naturally spoke to herself.
The same went for Ho Ye-yang, who was running beside her.
“…! …! …!”
She was also wearing a surprised expression just like Namgung Yul.
Clearly, she had only moved her legs a few times, yet the moving distance jumped exponentially.
She felt as if she had become a different person from before taking this class, or to exaggerate a bit more, it even felt as if she was reborn with a completely new body.
“It is amazing. The speed has become exponentially faster. Until now, when performing Qinggong, I only focused on how quickly and naturally I managed internal energy within my body… but this is the first time in my life I have paid attention to the Qi flowing through external things. Aligning my perspective from inside the body to outside the body, everything is full of new things. Now it seems the grand noble spirits that make up the world are visible to my eyes, albeit faintly.”
Indeed, geniuses are different.
Although the other cadets had not even caught a clue yet, these two were grasping the subtle mysteries of Qinggong, albeit clumsily.
The gazes of Namgung Yul and Ho Ye-yang looking at Ximen Qing changed.
But.
“Seeing that you have so much chatter, it seems you are fit to run?”
“…”
“…”
“Since you seem to have room to spare, I will add more shackles.”
“…”
“…”
“No need to thank me.”
“…”
“…”
Another heavy shackle was added to each of Namgung Yul’s and Ho Ye-yang’s ankles.
Soon, their faces also became completely drenched in sweat just like the other cadets.
‘Sh-shit, sh-shit, sh-shit, sh-shit, sh-shit…’
While diligently stepping on the ‘X’s on the ground.
* * *
Around the time the sun was setting, the cadets finished running the training ground the allocated number of times.
Namgung Yul slumped with an extremely exhausted complexion, and Ho Ye-yang threw up about twice.
Since the two who were the most outstanding among the cadets were like this, the state of the other cadets went without saying.
“Ugh… I feel like throwing up…”
“I’m d-dying… I’m really dying…”
“S-save me, my legs won’t move…”
Bleeeegh… bleeeggh… gaah!
“Huh? Grandmother? Why are you there? You passed away last year, didn’t you?”
Meanwhile.
“…”
Ximen Qing, no, Chui looked down at the cadets who were slumped, covered in spit, sweat, and vomit, and thought.
‘They are far too weak.’
Back when Chui was in the military, he had held the post of a drillmaster who trained recruits.
When he ran as an assassin in the Abyss Valley, he had also held the post of Red Yaksha, who trained novice assassins.
It meant he was fully proficient in raising mere chicks into skilled fighting cocks.
‘At this rate, they cannot survive the movement of the Blood Cult. From tomorrow, I must roll them even harder.’
These are the rising stars of the orthodox path and the counters who will fight on the front lines against the Blood Cult in the future.
In order to inflict severe damage on Elder Hong in the future, it was necessary to raise them well in advance right now.
‘First, I need to create a crane among a flock of chickens…’
In Chui’s mind, plans on how to train these chick cadets of the Ascending Heaven Academy were being established step by step.
First, it was important to use a single cadet who changed most dramatically in this class as an example to inspire other cadets.
A being who is outstanding yet holds unexpectedness, easily grasps teachings due to good qualities, and can present possibilities to others as well.
In other words, creating a crane sandwiched among chickens.
“…”
Chui’s gaze stopped briefly on Namgung Yul and Ho Ye-yang.
At that very moment.
“Um, excuse me, Assistant Instructor. I have one question.”
Among the cadets who collapsed in exhaustion, a feeble hand rose.
“I heard somewhere… that the Qinggong of experts like the Wulin Alliance Leader, the Heterodox Alliance Leader, or the Demonic Cult Leader goes beyond realms like Flying over Grass, Flying over Water, Walking on Void, or Treading the Void, and that they even use things like the Earth-Shrinking Art or Celestial Crossing… Is that also a realistic story?”
Hearing that question, the cadets giggled even in their exhausted state.
“What half-witted fellow asks that kind of question?”
“I don’t even have the energy left to laugh… Sigh-“
“Looking at it, it’s the Vermilion Bird Hall. A question perfectly fitting the level of those Vermilion Bird Hall bastards.”
Even assuming that the concept of stepping on the Qi flowing through all natural things and loading one’s body on it was actually possible, the technique of folding the earth to run or the technique of moving space itself was beyond the human scope.
Therefore, the cadets thought.
That the cadet who asked that foolish question would receive scolding and persecution from the blunt Assistant Instructor Ximen Qing.
……However, the subsequent reply was unexpected.
“It is fully possible.”
Chui nodded his head.
“Those who have reached the stage of the Transformation Realm, or more precisely, the Creation Realm, can go beyond using the laws of nature to their own advantage and can even distort and twist them.”
This was also a teaching left behind by the one who had taught Chui Qinggong.
“The grand noble spirits possessed by all things in the world are fundamentally ‘entangled’ with one another. And once the grand noble spirits become entangled, they always bear the same properties even if they become physically separated.”
The expressions of the cadets were ‘?’ itself.
Namgung Yul and Ho Ye-yang joystalked their heads, not knowing what it meant.
However, Chui’s explanation kept continuing.
“This is the very phenomenon of ‘Qi entanglement,’ which is the basic concept of the grand noble spirit theory. Two entangled grand noble spirits immediately bear the same characteristics regardless of which one you observe or measure. If you examine the constellations in the sky closely, you can observe such instantaneous changes.”
The female cadet who had first asked the question kept her mouth closed and said nothing.
Chui looked at her and continued speaking.
“Once the grand noble spirit harbored by Object A and the grand noble spirit harbored by Object B become entangled, the properties of the two grand noble spirits always remain constant no matter how far apart A and B are physically. Here, what if the state of A changes, shifting the type of the grand noble spirit? Regardless of distance, the state of the grand noble spirit harbored by B also immediately changes to become identical to it. Ignoring distance and time… in short, it is a concept related to the collapse of coefficients.”
The cadets merely looked at each other’s faces, unable to understand.
Namgung Yul and Ho Ye-yang were also displaying flustered signs.
At that very moment.
The voice of the one who had asked the question earlier was heard once again.
“Aha. I understand. So, the core of what you just said is the word ‘immediately,’ right? The phenomenon of immediately bringing about the changes of one point and another point, no matter how far apart they are. If that is the Qinggong of those who have reached the stage of the Creation Realm… it is certainly very different from the concepts that previous Qinggong had explained. A world of their own, a law of their own, so to speak.”
At that, the gazes of the cadets focused toward one place.
There was the face of the cadet who had asked Chui the question just now and understood the reply.
Sima Yuli.
A first-class cadet of the Vermilion Bird Hall whom no one had paid attention to.
She was holding a branch and writing various mnemonics on the ground.
She seemed to have gained some enlightenment after hearing Chui’s words just now.
The cadets were shocked to see that sight.
Among them, it was especially severe for Namgung Yul and Ho Ye-yang.
‘I couldn’t even understand it… yet she understood and gained enlightenment?’
‘I thought the only target to watch out for in this class was Senior Namgung Yul…’
Namgung Yul, who had thought she was on a completely different level from ordinary cadets after gaining numerous real combat experiences during vacation.
And Ho Ye-yang, who was growing terrifyingly while looking at such a Namgung Yul.
……The two geniuses, who had not kept other mediocre people in mind until now, finally felt it.
That perhaps the greatest competitor in this class might have been in a different place.