Chapter Thirty-One: Seeking but Not Obtaining

  (I've added all the unhighlighted ones from last week, only to find that this week's highlights are used up by half... A new week has begun, hoping for new support, hehe!)

  Zhao Guang drove and sent Hao Ren to the entrance of the dormitory area, but did not send him in.

  Zhao Yanzi was still sleeping soundly, and Hao Ren naturally didn't wake her up. He bid farewell to Zhao Guang and his wife, thanking them again for their hospitality over the weekend.

  Zhao Hongyu was increasingly delighted with this future son-in-law of hers, thinking that he was not only sensible but also clever, and felt that he was more to her liking than Zhao Yanzi. Unbeknownst to him, she had already begun treating him like a half-son of her own.

  Hao Ren returned to the dormitory, saw that there was no one in the room, and guessed that they had probably gone to the internet cafe to play computer games. Because the school regulations prohibited freshmen and sophomores from bringing computers into the dormitory, and the school would not open network ports in the low-grade dormitory buildings, so the internet cafe was their most frequent haunt.

  Taking advantage of their absence, Hao Ren hastily finished a week's worth of homework in a perfunctory manner. As for the more tedious assignments that he was too lazy to do, he planned to borrow someone else's notes and copy them before class next week.

  It was almost dinner time, and the other three in the dormitory had not returned yet. In fact, Zhao Jiafu and others thought that Hao Ren had gone home early on Saturday morning, and they also thought that he would return to the dormitory at 7 or 8 pm on Sunday as usual. They never expected that this weekend, Hao Ren was out having fun with his "fiancée".

  Hao Ren thought back and felt that this weekend spent on Qingyan Mountain was probably the most fulfilling and meaningful one he had in a long time.

  He flipped through his phone and found Zhao Yanzi's photo with a pouting mouth.

  This is what he used the computer in his hotel room to upload to his mobile phone.

  Eyes shining like black pearls, a delicate nose, cherry-like small mouth, and naturally curled eyelashes, combined with the blurred green forest and gray stone steps in the background, make this guy look quite like a flat little model.

  If it weren't for Zhao Jiatong and the others having seen Zhao Yanzi, they would have thought this was a beautiful woman's picture downloaded from the internet if they used this photo as their mobile phone wallpaper.

  Hao Ren thought for a moment and still didn't have the courage to use this photo as his mobile phone wallpaper.

  Although she is still just a little girl now, in three years' time, she will definitely grow into a super beauty. However, going back to the topic, 15-year-old Zhao Yanzi, with such looks, can also be considered a super beautiful girl, and must be very popular in her own school too.

  Hesitation, what was I thinking? Was I being jealous... Hao Ren suddenly came to his senses.

  It was after 7 pm when Zhao Jiaxin and the other two finally returned, making a ruckus. They were surprised to see that Hao Ren was already in the dormitory.

  "How come you're back so early today?" Zhao Jiayu asked.

  They thought Hao Ren had gone home. Of course, Hao Ren wouldn't mention that he went out with Zhao Yanzi and her family, if they knew he was hanging out with a young girl's family, they would definitely suspect his relationship with the little girl.

  "Tomorrow is the sports day, Ah Ren you have to work hard, strive not to be the last one ah." Zhou Liren patted Hao Ren's shoulder and encouraged him.

  Your expectations of me are really "high". A drop of cold sweat hung from Hao Ren's forehead.

  "Tomorrow is a whole day off, it's pretty cool!" Even Cao Ronghua, who is normally calm and quiet, got excited when talking about the sports meet.

  They chattered and speculated about which classes would have beautiful girls at the sports meeting, rummaging through boxes to find binoculars. As for Hao Ren's 1500-meter long-distance running competition, they didn't hold out much hope. If they weren't roommates in the same dormitory, they might not even care.

  In their view, Hao Ren was just a "filler" who was pulled up to make up the numbers. If he could hold on and not be last, that would already be pretty good. After all, in this major, there weren't any particularly impressive students this year, most were just ordinary students, occasionally there might be one or two who were slightly better, but even they were only exceptional in their studies.

  They were excitedly chatting about tomorrow's sports meeting, Hao Ren ignored them and walked onto the balcony to get some fresh air.

  The rain has gone, the bright moon is in the sky.

  Hao Ren quietly circulated his Qi twice, focusing his mind and feeling refreshed and invigorated, as if all the turbid air in his body had been expelled.

  He once again carefully sensed the thousand-year-old ancient tree in the Taoist temple on the top of Qingyan Mountain and the stone tablet with the Taoist scriptures, always feeling that there was a thread of insight that was elusive and couldn't be grasped.

  The thick wooden breath entering the body's comfortable feeling, Hao Ren still hasn't forgotten. And when the breath in his body flowed towards the tree trunk, that weak suction force also made him hard to understand.

  Water Attribute...

  Hao Ren suddenly thought of what Su Han said when she grabbed his arm.

  Concentrate and decide, could it be referring to the water vapor between heaven and earth? A thought suddenly emerged in Hao Ren's mind.

  "When you want to contract it, you must first expand it; when you want to weaken it, you must first strengthen it; when you want to abolish it, you must first establish it; when you want to take it away, you must first give it. This is called subtle brightness. Softness and weakness overcome hardness and strength..."

  The words on that stele once again appeared before Hao Ren's eyes.

  Hao Ren's heart felt like it had been struck, and he sensed that the barrier between the first and second layers of his Mind was about to be broken through.

  Originally, Zhao Guang asked me to go to the top of the mountain to visit that Taoist temple, not only to accompany Zhao Yanzi, but also to test my understanding.

  Hao Ren furrowed his brow and concentrated on finding that "water" sensation.

  The more he is obsessed with it in his heart, the harder it is for him to understand.

  He took a deep breath and slowly calmed his mind, letting his emotions settle down.

  Water is yin, wood is yang, generating and overcoming each other, assisting and complementing each other... Hao Ren suddenly had some real insights when he thought of that ancient tree.

  The pure wooden breath seed that stayed in Hao Ren's body suddenly sprouted. In a daze, the water vapor between heaven and earth formed several fine water columns, rushing towards him and pouring into his body.

  Hao Ren only felt an unprecedented comfort throughout his body, as if his originally transparent body had turned into a clear container, loading the natural aura between heaven and earth.

  He knew that he was about to break through the first level of the Jing Shen Jue, reaching the second level where he could absorb the natural energy of heaven and earth! This was the insight brought by the thousand-year-old ancient tree, as for the stone tablet, it spoke of the way of water control, which coincided with the third level of the Jing Shen Jue's use of natural energy.

  The mist originally scattered in the air gradually formed nine faintly visible rotating water flows, which drilled into Hao Ren's upper, middle and lower nine important acupoints.

  And these thick water vapors, after entering Hao Ren's body, each sought their place and gradually settled down.

  "Ah Ren, what are you doing outside!" Zhao Jiaxin suddenly shouted loudly in the dormitory.

  Hao Ren was suddenly startled, and the nine water columns that were pouring into his body immediately dissipated.

  Zhao Jiaxin walked onto the balcony and patted Hao Ren's shoulder, "What are you thinking about outside? There's still a competition tomorrow! Get some rest early!"

  He dragged Hao Ren back into the room.

  Almost at the same time, the seed of enlightenment that the ancient tree brought to Hao Ren was exhausted, and Hao Ren could no longer find any trace of wood energy in his body. He also couldn't control the thick water energy inside him, and his body seemed like a container with a hole in it, as all the accumulated water energy suddenly drained out.

  Hao Ren's body was surrounded by a natural aura that returned to chaos, undivided among the five elements, freely shuttling back and forth.

  Hao Ren understood in his heart that this failure was a waste of the good opportunity to break through to the second layer of the Jing Shen Jue, and next time he wanted to break through, it would be unknown when.

  In his disappointment, he didn't plan to blame Zhao Jiaxin either. After all, Zhao Jiaxin saw him standing outside for so long and came over to let him go back to the room to rest, which was good for him.

  Sigh, next time I'll find a quiet place to practice without being disturbed. Hao Ren climbed onto his upper bunk, thinking with some regret.