Chapter Twenty: Ascetic Cultivation

  Three days later, in front of the Ice Cave.

  Ji Yu Sheng, Ji Wan Yun, Ji Huang Guang, Zhao Shi, Ji Yue Qing and others were all waiting in front of the cave, just waiting for the right time to arrive before each going their separate ways.

  "Kan Bo, is everything normal inside the cave?" Ji Wanyun was still a bit worried, fearing that Ji Changkong, who had just obtained his yuan power, might not be able to withstand the cold air of the Ice Cave.

  Han Hai shook his head and smiled: "It's very quiet inside, nothing is happening. If those two kids can't hold on, they should have knocked on the cave door long ago."

  Three days later, today, Ji Changkong's ability to gather yuan power is no longer a secret.

  Ji Wanyun returned to Qingyan Castle and immediately found Ji Yusheng, telling him about the general situation of their trip to Wushan. After Ji Yusheng got a positive answer from her, he couldn't hide his excitement and spread the news to all the Ji family members!

  Whether they were direct or collateral relatives, they all heard the news from Ji Yu Sheng's mouth at the first moment.

  "It's all right, it's all right." Ji Yu Sheng nodded his head, his heart excited and unbearable. These past few days, he had already come to the entrance of the Ice Cave more than once, each time making sure there were no unusual sounds inside before quietly leaving.

  "It's time, Han Bo, can you open the cave door now?" Zhao Shi urged impatiently, calculating that the time had arrived, and immediately shouted.

  Han Hai Qing grunted, stepped forward and pushed the heavy stone door open. As a burst of chilly air wafted out, he called out loudly into the interior: "Time's up, you two little rascals can come out now!"

  ……

  A faint sound of footsteps echoed from within the icy cave, and Ji Chang Le's face turned pale. He walked out of the cave with a heavy gait, his body visibly weakened.

  "Luo Er, Luo Er, are you alright?" Zhao's heart ached at the sight of him and she hastily took a step forward to grab his arm.

  Ji Chang Le's face was slightly strange, she secretly glanced at Ji Wan Yun and urged: "Let's go, we'll head back first."

  "Second brother, walk slowly, you must remember our conversation inside. Hehe, this Ice Cave is also a good place, before we two brothers never had the chance to get close, this time finally can happily talk."

  A faint, airy laugh echoed from within the cave. After a while, Ji Changkong emerged from the cave with a spirited expression, neither hastily nor slowly. He glanced at Ji Yusheng and Ji Yuanyun, who were both tense, then bowed his head and said in a low voice, "I've worried Grandfather and Aunt."

  Ji Yu Sheng and Ji Wan Yun were both stunned, as they thought that Ji Chang Le would be exhausted and pale-faced after going through the ordeal. But to their surprise, Ji Chang Kong emerged from the cave looking more spirited than before he entered it.

  "Huh!" Han Hai at the entrance of the cave suddenly exclaimed, carefully sizing up Ji Changkong for a moment before bursting into loud laughter: "Changkong ah, not bad not bad! I've been guarding this Ice Cave for so long, it's the first time I've seen someone in the First Heaven Realm stay inside the Ice Cave for three days and still be jumping around energetically... even your dad back then wasn't as good as you..."

  "Ahem..." Before Han Hai could finish speaking, Ji Yu Sheng suddenly let out a light cough, interrupting his next words.

  "Longkong, your aunt has cooked old hen soup for you, hurry back to nourish your body." Ji Yuanyun first smiled slightly and stepped forward to grab Ji Longkong's hand, then frowned and glanced at Zhao beside her, saying in a low voice: "Whoever wants something should think of their own way, don't use some despicable means, harming one's own child and getting no benefit."

  As soon as this was said, Zhao's face turned ugly, and she coldly snorted, pulling Ji Chang Le out.

  "Let's go, Aunt. We're going back." Ji Changkong smiled and looked at Ji Changle with a profound gaze, his expression playful.

  ……

  At the foot of the mountain, a small wooden house in the empty sky.

  "Longkong, is everything all right in the cold ice cave?" Ji Wanyun handed him a bowl of soup and only spoke after watching Longkong drink it.

  "It's nothing." He shook his head and gazed at Ji Yu Sheng, who had come with him, saying in a low voice: "Grandfather, I have the yuan power."

  "Remember to persist in your practice, you can't slack off. You started later than others, so you must work harder than them!" Ji Yu Sheng nodded and said with a serious face.

  "I understand." Ji Changkong obediently replied.

  "Stretch out your hand and let me prick a drop of blood." Ji Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment before suddenly speaking up.

  "Dad, you still can't forget that matter?" Ji Wanyun said somewhat displeased, and shouted: "When my brother sent Long Kong back that year, didn't you try already? The fresh blood in his body is red, not purple, so don't waste your effort!"

  "Try again, maybe this generation of Xuan Yuan will be different. Calculating the time, Chang Kong was born right at the end of the 600th year, if the legend of Xuan Yuan is still around, it must be on him. This concerns whether our Ji family can rise to power, it's the hope of all of us in the Ji family, we can't afford to be careless!" Ji Yu Sheng said with a face full of expectation, insisting.

  "Whatever, I really don't know what you're all thinking. Clearly hopeless things, yet you keep harping on them every day." Ji Wanyun let out a soft hum and said to Ji Changkong: "Stretch out your hand for Grandfather, let him thoroughly give up this idea."

  The girl, Ji Changkong, skillfully stretched out her left hand, and Ji Yusheng took out a silver needle and pricked it once. After seeing a drop of bright red blood emerge, she let out a soft sigh and muttered to herself: "Ah...it's really gone, I didn't think it would disappear from our generation...the grudge of the Ji family, I'm afraid will never be avenged..."

  "What's wrong?" Ji Changkong suddenly asked with a frown.

  "There's nothing to say." Ji Yu Sheng stood up, gazed deeply at Ji Chang Kong for a moment, and suddenly spoke in a gentle voice: "Chang Kong, even if you don't have the Xuan Yuan bloodline, it doesn't matter. Your father was able to cultivate to a high realm back then. Don't be discouraged, as long as you work hard, you can also bring glory to the Ji family."

  "I will." Ji Changkong nodded.

  ……

  At night, carrying three pots of Fire Dragon Burn, Ji Changkong once again arrived at the Ice Cave.

  "Huh, Changkong, what are you doing here again? You just came out, aren't you being punished and sent back in again?" Han Hai, who was guarding the entrance of the cave, exclaimed as soon as he saw Ji Changkong come in again after not having left for long.

  "No, I just think that Ice Cave is a good place and want to go in for some cultivation." Ji Changkong smiled.

  "Huh?" Han Hai's expression was taken aback, and he looked at him with interest, asking: "Can you withstand the cold air inside? Hehe, over the years, there have been many Ji family members who actively want to enter the ice cave to cultivate, but I've never seen anyone like you who just obtained yuan power dare to come and cultivate."

  "Don't worry, Han Bo, I can hold on, if I really can't hold on, I will naturally come out."

  "Alright, you go in, but don't be reckless. If you feel unwell, come out immediately." Han Hai saw that he wasn't joking and was stunned for a moment before nodding and helping him open the stone door of the Ice Cave.

  ……

  A cold air struck, and a white fog brought with it a piercing chill that instantly engulfed the vast sky.

  First, using the internal yuan force to resist the cold air's chill, Ji Changkong walked step by step towards the depths of the icy cave. The further he went in, the colder it got, until he saw from afar the icy pool that was constantly emitting white mist. Only then did his body sense the degree of the cold air and sit down cross-legged twenty zhang away from the icy pool.

  He opened a jar of Huo Long wine and took several big gulps, feeling the fiery liquid burning inside his body. As Ji Changkong gradually relaxed, he secretly circulated the yuan force in his body, flowing it into the bone marrow below his waist.

  In an instant, Ji Changkong once again entered the "State of No Self".

  The white mist in the distant cold pool seemed to be attracted by a magnet, and once again it floated out from the depths and gathered around him.

  It was only a moment, and the thick white fog once again wrapped him tightly like a big snowball. The white fog slowly penetrated his body through his mouth, nose, ear holes, and pores, while he was operating the yuan force inside his body, the cold air and the fire dragon in his belly were silently changing...

  Gradually permeating his limbs and bones, internal organs...

  During his cultivation in the Ice Cave, with the help of the cold air inside the cave and the fierce wine fire dragon burning, Ji Changkong could clearly feel the changes in his body every time he woke up from the "State of No Self".

  How this change occurred, he couldn't explain at the moment, but he knew that his body was becoming stronger and stronger in this state, although it looked just as thin. Nevertheless, he knew that even without using any yuan power, his body was becoming more and more powerful, and he felt refreshed and invigorated, as if he had endless energy to spare.

  It was as if, under the dual influence of the fire dragon's burning and the cold energy, his body had been tempered time and again, like a weapon being hammered and polished a thousand times, giving him a wonderful feeling of rebirth.

  He deeply understood this state, which would definitely be very beneficial for his future cultivation. Because every time he woke up from the "state of no self", he could feel that his body seemed to be able to hold more yuan force, and when his mind moved, the speed of yuan force flowing in his body also became faster and faster.

  Three months, a full three months, Ji Changkong spent all his time in the Ice Cave except when he was so hungry that he had to go out and wolf down a meal. Under the dual influence of the cold air and the Fire Dragon's flames, he quietly cultivated.

  After the three altar fire dragon was drunk, there was no more fire dragon, and Ji Changkong suddenly didn't fear the icy white mist of the Ice Cave anymore. His body seemed to have fully adapted to the coldness of the Ice Cave.

  As if... he himself had also become a part of the icy cave's white mist.

  ……