Chapter 158: Gathering of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi

"So, it looks like you've recovered quite well?" Li Qing looked Fang Han up and down, surprise flickering across his face.

When he had left home three months ago, Fang Han had been so weak he could not even get out of bed.

Yet the Fang Han standing before him now looked even more spirited than an ordinary healthy man.

His complexion was rosy, his eyes bright and full of vitality. There was not the slightest trace of someone who had only recently recovered from a serious illness.

Fang Han smiled faintly.

"I have to recover as quickly as possible. Otherwise, how can I avenge myself?"

Li Qing could not help but praise him sincerely.

"Good lad. You've got real backbone!"

His expression then turned serious.

"This time, during my trip to Qingyuan County, I really did uncover the truth behind your stolen fortune."

"Do you still remember Fan Cheng?"

Fang Han pondered for a moment before nodding.

"Of course. He's my cousin."

Li Qing snorted.

"That brat recently became a disciple under Shao Lingxu of the Yin-Yang School. He's even headed to the Sacred Capital to study and cultivate openly."

"And all of this happened shortly after your fortune was stolen."

Hearing this, Fang Han slowly narrowed his eyes. A cold glint flashed within them.

"I know a little about that cousin of mine. His aptitude is mediocre, and his temperament is nothing remarkable either. As for the Fan Family, they're nothing more than a minor clan in Qingyuan County. So what gave him the qualifications to soar to the heavens in a single step and become Shao Lingxu's disciple?"

Li Qing slapped his thigh loudly.

"Exactly! It's obviously an exchange of benefits!"

"And the most outrageous part is that the Fan Family didn't even bother hiding it. On the contrary, they were proud of it."

"During the grand banquet they specially held to celebrate Fan Cheng, his parents openly boasted about the matter in front of all the guests."

Fang Han's face instantly darkened.

"They've gone too far."

Li Qing also snorted coldly, fury written all over his face.

"They stole another person's providence and ruined his life, yet afterward they can still flaunt it so openly without the slightest restraint. At first, I suspected there might be some hidden scheme behind it. I even wondered if the Fan Family's high-profile celebration was deliberately staged by the true mastermind to mislead everyone. I didn't want to wrong innocent people, so I quietly continued investigating along the trail."

"But in the end, I realized I had been overthinking everything. They truly just didn't care!"

However, Fang Han was not as enraged as Li Qing had expected. He merely spoke in an icy voice.

"This debt will be settled sooner or later."

"The Fan Family. Shao Lingxu..."

Seeing how composed he remained, Li Qing let out a long sigh.

"As long as you can stay calm, that's enough. I was worried you would lose your reason and insist on returning home immediately to seek revenge."

"It seems everything you've experienced has truly made you mature."

"The Fan Family isn't much of a problem. The strongest person in the entire clan is only at the upper-tier Spirit Resonance realm."

"The real trouble is Shao Lingxu."

"He serves as Minister of Ceremonies and is one of the Nine Ministers of the imperial court. His authority is immense. As for his cultivation, he stepped into the Celestial Phenomena realm many years ago. His strength is unfathomable."

Hearing this, Fang Han frowned slightly.

"Why would someone of that stature covet such a tiny providence as mine?"

"I don't know either." Li Qing shook his head.

"My guess is that it wasn't for himself, but for some younger member of his family."

"Then again, perhaps not. Rumor has it his lifespan is nearly exhausted. If he's willing to resort to every possible means to overcome the Heaven Reclaiming Lifespan Tribulation, then stealing another person's providence wouldn't be surprising."

Li Qing let out a cold snort as he analyzed the situation.

"Now that you've mostly recovered, what are your plans?"

"Although your fortune has been stolen, the path of cultivation has never depended solely on natural talent."

Fang Han fell silent for a while before speaking with unusual solemnity.

"I no longer wish to join the Confucian School."

"My uncle devoted himself to them, and look how he ended up."

"As for which path I should choose instead... I haven't decided yet."

"For now, I'll focus on restoring and tempering this body."

Li Qing immediately beamed with delight and clapped his hands.

"I've long found those Confucian fellows unpleasant myself. It's the right decision not to join them."

"There's no need to rush."

"Once you've taken a master, changing paths later will be extremely difficult."

"Besides, we haven't encountered a truly suitable master yet."

He sighed.

"If only Senior Duan were here. He might have been willing to take you in."

After chatting for a while longer, Li Qing rose and took his leave.

He had not forgotten the task Li Shun had entrusted to him before departing. The moment he stepped outside, he immediately began quietly spreading tales of Fang Xun's heroic deeds.

Meanwhile, Fang Han silently returned to the Martial Dao World.

When he appeared once more, Ying was still kneeling devoutly where she had been before.

Fang Han made no attempt to correct her habit of dropping to her knees at every opportunity.

"Once I completely break through into the Inner Force realm, I'll be able to leave Tianmu City."

"At my current rate of cultivation, I'll definitely break through within a month."

The pure True Qi cultivated by Martial Dao practitioners bore a remarkable resemblance to the process by which cultivators in Great Qian transformed the Primordial Qi of Heaven and Earth into profound principles.

Ordinary martial artists had never actually perceived the existence of "Qi."

For them, transforming their abundant Inner Force step by step into the intangible, formless True Qi was naturally as difficult as ascending the heavens.

But for Fang Han, the so-called True Qi realm was hardly an obstacle.

It was simply a clearly visible destination.

Moreover, during the time he had lived deep within the mountains, constantly fighting savage beasts on the brink of death, his Martial Dao Will had already been tempered enough to satisfy the requirements for breaking through.

Everything that followed was merely a matter of course.

Half a month later, Fang Han officially stepped into the True Qi realm.

In little more than three months, he had gone from an ordinary Body Tempering martial artist to a True Qi expert.

If news of such terrifying cultivation speed spread, it would undoubtedly shake the entire Martial Dao World.

Even Long Xuanji, the legendary genius of the past, had never cultivated at such an astonishing pace.

"This is the absolute superiority of an entirely different cultivation system."

"Of course, the Verdant Wood Invocation deserves much of the credit as well. Without its ability to continuously absorb the vitality of heaven and earth to strengthen my body, I never could have cultivated this quickly."

Fang Han quietly felt the tiny strand of True Qi flowing gently through his meridians.

Yet his brows gradually furrowed.

"Once a martial artist reaches the True Qi realm, cultivation inevitably begins to slow."

"The fundamental reason is that this world lacks pure Primordial Qi of Heaven and Earth that the physical body can directly absorb and convert into True Qi."

"Martial artists have no choice but to rely on years of arduous cultivation, slowly accumulating True Qi within their bodies until it eventually condenses into Astral Qi."

With that thought, Fang Han leaped through the window and landed atop the roof.

Closing his eyes, he carefully sensed the countless flows of Qi drifting throughout heaven and earth.

"Strange."

"If remnants of the Verdant Wood lineage still exist in this world, then there should be no reason for the Primordial Qi of Heaven and Earth to be absent."

"The requirements for the Twelvefold Longevity Methods are also fully satisfied."

"And the existence of the ancient Shaman Clan proves the same."

"So... where has all the Primordial Qi of Heaven and Earth gone?"

Fang Han quietly comprehended for a long time.

Yet he found nothing.

Suddenly, inspiration struck.

He once again circulated the Twelvefold Longevity Methods.

His divine sense drifted upward, soaring into the highest heavens.

This time, instead of observing the countless living destinies flowing throughout the world, Fang Han focused his attention on the world itself.

The dazzling tapestry of fate gradually faded from his vision.

The world revealed its true appearance.

Although he could perceive only its rough outline and not its finer details...

This time, Fang Han immediately noticed something unusual.

Just as he had suspected, this world did indeed possess Primordial Qi of Heaven and Earth.

It was simply that all of it had been compressed and gathered into several specific locations.

As though sensing his observation, one of those concentrated pools of Primordial Qi suddenly released an overwhelming killing intent.

"Pfft!"

Within his sea of consciousness, it was as if an ancient nine-headed yao beast large enough to blot out the heavens had raised its countless heads and let out a furious roar.

Fang Han violently spat out a mouthful of blood before his consciousness was forced back into reality.