"Yun Qi!" Feng Jihu exclaimed with delight, "When did you return?"
"Just now, just now," Feng Jihu quickly ushered the two into the small courtyard.
The courtyard had only a few gravel paths, with the rest covered in plants and trees.
They sat around a stone table under a kapok tree.
Feng Jihu patted the white dog's head, "You even brought someone back from your trip outside the sect, haha."
Cheng Xinzhan smiled and asked first, "Brother, did you succeed in your journey to the south for opportunities?"
Feng Jihu nodded with a smile, "Luckily, I found an opportunity near Dianwen. I established a water mansion by the Erhai Lake at the foot of Cangshan Mountain. Everything went smoothly."
Cheng Xinzhan clasped his hands in congratulations.
On the path of cultivation, saying "everything went smoothly" is no small feat.
Feng Jihu then smiled and said, "Yun Qi, it's been two years, and you've grown taller. When I just returned, Jiyuan told me you've reached the sixth breath in Qi absorption. I'm very happy."
"Brother, you've missed a lot in these two years you were away," Cheng Xinzhan said with a smile.
"Yes, I missed your Qi absorption and Jiyuan's mansion establishment. By the way, do you remember what I said to you when we parted?"
Cheng Xinzhan certainly remembered, "Brother, you said you hoped I would have achieved something by the time you returned."
Feng Jihu said, "Yes, so how is your cultivation now? Reaching the sixth breath in Qi absorption is impressive, but you shouldn't stop there. Did you gain anything from your travels?"
Feng Jihu spoke like a true elder brother.
Cheng Xinzhan replied, "I was also lucky to find an opportunity and established a heart mansion."
"Oh?" Feng Jihu's eyes lit up.
He Jiyuan immediately stood up and leaned closer to Cheng Xinzhan, "What? You established a heart mansion just from one trip? But you've only been absorbing Qi for two years!"
Cheng Xinzhan smiled and repeated, "Luck, luck."
"This is too fast!" He Jiyuan was still in disbelief.
It took him eight years to establish his mansion!
"I didn't open the three residences and directly established a fire mansion. It was also a coincidence," Cheng Xinzhan explained, then added, "But my mansion establishment wasn't as smooth as Brother Jihu's. I established my heart mansion in the southern border, in a place rich with earth fire. However, the miasma there was strong and infected my body, blocking some acupoints and leaving hidden injuries."
He spoke half-truthfully.
The two listeners' expressions changed, "Hidden injuries? How to treat them? Master Sukong must have seen them, what did he say?"
Feng Jihu asked urgently, and He Jiyuan also watched closely.
Cheng Xinzhan replied, "Master has seen them and thought of a solution. That is to cultivate thunder techniques, as they can counter the miasma. So my next step is to open a thunder residence."
Then he looked at He Jiyuan and smiled, "Brother He, with Master's introduction, I have become a disciple of Elder Jianxian from the North Pole's Department of Exorcism, learning thunder techniques from him. From now on, we will be cultivating in the same mansion. You opened your thunder residence early, so you'll have to teach me more."
The two felt relieved, and He Jiyuan laughed heartily, "Great, great. After work, we can go drinking together."
Speaking of drinking, Cheng Xinzhan remembered, "Brothers, when I returned to Xiaowanshan, I made an appointment with some acquaintances from Lantern Street and others. Tomorrow night, we'll have a feast at the Ducu Courtyard. You two must come."
The two naturally agreed.
Cheng Xinzhan added, "Also, brothers, now that I've established my heart mansion and officially become Master's disciple, I've been given a Dao name, Xinzhan. From now on, you can call me Xinzhan."
The two nodded with smiles, praising the good name.
"I now live on Mingzhi Mountain. When you come to find me, go to the southern slope at the mountainside. You'll see a bamboo forest as green as a lake by the cliff. There's a deep pool in the forest, and by the pool is a stone cave. That's where I live."
Cheng Xinzhan described his residence, hoping the two would visit.
They agreed, and Feng Jihu said, "I first opened a wood mansion, Jiyuan first opened a water mansion, and Xinzhan first opened a fire mansion. We're all different. Why don't we share our experiences in opening our mansions and learn from each other? Jiyuan has opened all three residences, I've only opened the cloud residence, and Xinzhan hasn't opened any. Jiyuan, you should share more."
He Jiyuan and Cheng Xinzhan naturally agreed, and the three began to discuss.
They talked from day to night, and Feng Jihu lit a lamp, continuing their conversation until dawn.
At the break of dawn, He Jiyuan looked at the sky and said he had to go to work.
He had only taken one day off and told the two to continue chatting.
After work, he would go directly to the Ducu Courtyard at Xiaowanshan for the feast.
So He Jiyuan left first, leaving only Feng Jihu and Cheng Xinzhan.
Then, Feng Jihu suddenly said, "Xinzhan, can I check your pulse?"
Cheng Xinzhan was stunned and fell silent.
Feng Jihu sighed, "I knew it. I practice auxiliary medical arts. If you were truly infected with miasma, Master Sukong would have cured you directly. There would be no need to learn thunder techniques. Even if you needed to learn thunder techniques, Master Sukong could teach you. There's no need to go to the Jiutian Yingyuan Mansion. I guess your acupoints are indeed blocked, but probably not as few as you said. What's blocking your acupoints is likely not ordinary miasma."
Cheng Xinzhan remained silent.
"If you can say, Xinzhan, you can tell me. Although my cultivation is low, I do practice medical arts. Even if I can't cure you completely, I can at least alleviate some of your pain."
Feng Jihu spoke earnestly.
After a moment of silence, Cheng Xinzhan said, "It's not miasma, it's true evil. And now, apart from the newly opened heart mansion, almost no acupoints are usable. I can walk around safely now only because of Master's secret method."
Feng Jihu's hand trembled involuntarily.
True evil impacting acupoints?
How painful must that be?
"You went to the southern border, is it the new evil that's been widely talked about?"
Cheng Xinzhan nodded and said, "Please keep this a secret for me, brother."
Feng Jihu's expression was grave.
He nodded and said, "Let me think, let me think some more."
Seeing this, Cheng Xinzhan smiled broadly, "As the Dao Ancestor said, misfortune hides fortune, and fortune hides misfortune. Although true evil impacts my acupoints, I also gained some true evil, didn't I? This puts me ahead of you, brother."
Feng Jihu forced a smile.
Seeing this, Cheng Xinzhan changed the subject, "Brother, when I returned to Xiaowanshan, I heard Deng Wanchun also established a mansion. I haven't seen him. Can you contact him? Otherwise, I'll have to go to Toujian Mountain to invite him to the feast tonight."
Deng Wanchun had helped him a lot, and he wouldn't forget.
"That's easy."
Feng Jihu plucked a butterfly-like flower from the ground nearby and a trumpet-like flower.
He spoke into the trumpet flower, "Jilang, come to the Ducu Courtyard at Xiaowanshan tonight. Yun Qi has returned after establishing his mansion. Let's have a small gathering."
After saying that, he inserted the trumpet flower into the butterfly flower and cast a spell on it.
The flower then fluttered away.
Cheng Xinzhan found it magical.
Remembering that his Wuyou Cave was surrounded only by green bamboo, which was quite monotonous, he said, "Brother, please be merciful. My newly built cave has nothing around it. I beg for some flower seeds and tree saplings."
Feng Jihu smiled and pointed at Cheng Xinzhan, "You could have gotten them from the Duyuan Courtyard, but you value mine more. Fine, I'll give you some. You have good taste. The things here are much better than the free ones from Duyuan Courtyard. Forget seeds and saplings, come, pick what you like, and I'll dig them up for you. I'll give you mature plants. It's easy for me to grow more here."
1. Debt
The bonus chapter is here, and I'll report the debt.
Currently, I owe two chapters for monthly votes, two chapters for M Xi's lordship, and two chapters for the newspaper painter's lordship.
I'll slowly repay them next Saturday and Sunday...
2. Still daring to ask for monthly votes...
3. A unified explanation of Dao names and Dao titles.
1. Dao names are given by elders after entering the sect.
The surname is taken from the secular surname, the first character of the name is taken from the Dao lineage generation character, and the second character is given by the elder, often with hopeful meanings or based on the five elements' fate.
For example, Cheng Xinzhan, Cheng is the secular surname, Xin is the generation character, and Zhan is given by the master.
Feng Jihu and Wen Sukong are the same.
Once the lineage is set, there is only one Dao name.
2. Dao titles are chosen by the cultivator based on their characteristics, such as Baopuzi, Chunyangzi, Chongyangzi, etc. There can be multiple Dao titles.
3. In previous chapters, there were a few places where Dao names were written as Dao titles.
They have been uniformly corrected.
(End of Chapter)