Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 133 - 133 0143 Second-Class Deacon

Chapter 133: Chapter 0143: Second-Class Deacon Chapter 133: Chapter 0143: Second-Class Deacon “Junior Brother Qi Tian, feel free to concentrate on your cultivation. We will take full charge here.” Knowing that Qi Tian always seizes every possible moment to cultivate, Wang Haiyan volunteered to keep watch, going to great lengths to create opportunities for Qi Tian.

Qi Tian knew very well that this place wasn’t particularly conducive for cultivation, but he regretted letting large segments of time slip by without doing anything. After some thought, he retrieved a handful of jade talisman which he had procured in the Lianying Realm, some of which possessed considerable potency. He handed these talismans to Wang Haiyan, stating, “Wang, we must hold on to this base in the coming days, and relying solely on your strength is insufficient. Take these talismans and don’t hesitate to use them. Also, I’ll have Hu Niu assist you in guarding this place.”

Wang Haiyan didn’t attempt to flaunt his strength. He knew his limitations and accepted Qi Tian’s arrangement, understanding that it indeed would be challenging to safeguard this place without causing disturbance to Qi Tian if he relied purely on his inherent capacity.

Qi Tian selected a spot where he was least likely to be interrupted, sat cross-legged on the ground, grabbed a handful of elixirs, and stuffed them into his mouth before commencing his cultivation.

Instead of using the Meridian Restoration Skill to reestablish the fifth and ninth meridians, Qi Tian chose to strike towards the fifteenth meridian. The resources and time required for the cultivation of Meridian Restoration Skill were immense and he knew his time in this safe house was limited.

During the array breakthrough, when Qi Tian used the Spring Sunshine Earth Skill to recover his True Essence, he discovered that activating the Heavenly Dao Engine doubled his recovery pace. From that moment, he had been nursing an idea, he wanted to experiment whether initiating the Heavenly Dao Engine could similarly double his cultivation pace while breaking through a meridian.

While swallowing the elixirs, he activated the Heavenly Dao Engine and commenced the diversion of medicinal essence towards the anticipated fifteenth meridian. Qi Tian was pleasantly surprised to find that his guess was correct.

Indeed, the speed of breaking through a meridian increased substantially with the activation of the Heavenly Dao Engine—it was practically double the usual speed. Correspondingly, the rate of elixir consumption also increased, but it exceeded the normative growth rate and far surpassed merely twice the original pace. Furthermore, the pain experienced while breaking through a meridian using this method increased exponentially, equaled only by the pain Qi Tian endured while using the Meridian Restoration Skill and the Tiger Golden Body Skills.

Qi Tian gritted his teeth and silently endured the excruciating pain. To outsiders, Qi Tian’s cultivation routine merely consisted of swallowing handfuls of elixir, sweating profusely, and soaking his clothes with perspiration; it was impossible for them to imagine the unbearable pain he was withstanding.

Seeing Qi Tian’s demeanor, Wang Haiyan sighed. He had witnessed Qi Tian’s previous cultivation sessions in the wild and noted that, aside from not yelling out in pain, there were almost no differences. He found it hard to understand why Qi Tian, at his young age, could possess such remarkable endurance. Was he not afraid of the pain associated with breaking through a meridian? Wang himself, now in his twenties, hesitated for a long time every time he attempted to break through a meridian, preparing thoroughly and only going through with it when there was absolutely no room for further delay. Compared to Qi Tian, he felt as if he was wasting his life away.

While he greatly admired Qi Tian, Wang Haiyan knew that he could never adopt Qi Tian’s reckless method of cultivation. He understood his own limits and was certain that, if he were to follow Qi Tian’s method, his spirit would collapse even before he successfully broke through to the next meridian.

“Stay alert. We must hold on to this base and, above all, must not allow anyone to disturb Qi Tian,” Wang Haiyan instructed. “Remember, if anything happens, ensure Qi Tian’s safety as a priority, even if that requires risking your own lives. If you’re injured, don’t worry, I’ll cover all costs incurred during the treatment.”

Individuals such as Li Xue nodded in understanding. They too knew of Qi Tian’s immense potential, and if they couldn’t provide full support in ensuring Qi Tian’s safety during critical moments, then they were of no value to him. Any hopes of fostering goodwill with Qi Tian in the future would indeed be a far-fetched dream.

At this moment, all eyes inside the safe house were observing the situation.

The cultivators assigned to guard the safe house also noted the commotion. They were all cultivators of the Qi Cultivation Ninth Level Peak, and each of them had at least 25 meridians opened. These cultivators were second-tier servants of the Imperial Master Mansion who enjoyed the treatment of the first-tier servants. Their every move represented the Imperial Master Mansion; they could single-handedly make decisions regarding anything that occurred in the safe house without reporting to the mansion.

The Imperial Master Mansion dispatched five second-tier servants to the safe house. Most of them were carefully watching over the situation from outside the safe house, ready to take action without hesitation if cultivators from the Lianying realm dared to break the agreement. At this moment, two second-tier servants remained in the safe house. One of them was a man in his late twenties named Hao Zhigang, and the other was a younger man, probably around 25, named Bi Ji.

The two men observed everything in the safe house from beginning to end with indifference. They never intervened in the actions of individuals like Li Yuman, Li Hongbin, and Qi Tian. Although the Imperial Master Mansion emphasized mutual aid and fraternal love, this principle had to be understood dialectically. Not all circumstances required reciprocity. In order to examine the future of the individual cultivator and the Imperial Master Mansion, it was essential to let those with exceptional skills stand out. If the actions of Li Yuman, Li Hongbin, Qi Tian, and others were closely supervised, the result might seem helpful but would actually harm them. The Imperial Master Mansion was not the only force in the Cultivation World; the mansion could protect them here, but once outside, there was nothing they could do about their life or death. Hence, most of the time, cultivators with a high cultivation level refrained from intervening in disputes among those with lower cultivation levels.

Of course, Zhao Qian isn’t the only one. Cultivators often encounter unreasonable individuals, those who exert their strength to oppress the weak and protect their own, without considering right or wrong. If one encounters such individuals, they can only pray for luck.

Fortunately, the five second-class stewards responsible for guarding the safehouse, and the disciples from the Imperial Master Mansion who came for this trial, have no grudges between them. Otherwise, they might not have stood by and watched as they are doing now.

“Brother Hao, do you think we should step in and maintain order?” Bi Ji asked, looking at Qi Tian’s side nonchalantly. “We don’t need to care about Li Hongbin, but his brother-in-law, Wang Tao, is quite promising. There’s a good chance he’ll be one of us in the future. Shouldn’t we try to appease him now?”

“If you want to appease him, you go ahead. I’m not interested. Wang Tao is good, but just good, nothing more. He has only opened up twenty-three meridians right now, and he’s still two short of twenty-five. You know very well how difficult it is to open up the remaining meridians. Maybe Wang Tao can do it, maybe he can’t. I’ll bet he doesn’t even have a fifty percent chance of success. Of course, this is just my personal judgment. Comparatively, I’m more interested in that young fellow. Have you noticed? Wang Haiyan is incredibly respectful in front of him, demonstrating true admiration. She only shows that level of respect to me. What exactly has that young man done to earn such respect from Wang Haiyan? Aren’t you curious?” Hao Zhigang analyzed.

Bi Ji said, “That young man is indeed no simple character. For the past three months, I’ve never seen him near the safehouse. He must have ventured deep into the Lianying Realm. He’s been unscathed for an entire three months, and he’s even managed to cross the barriers set up by the native cultivators and return to the safehouse safely. He must have some significant secrets. Should we dig some up?”

“If you want to go, you go. I’m not going.” Hao Zhigang didn’t bother to move.

Bi Ji asked, “Why? We’re currently stuck in our cultivation. There could be an opportunity for breakthrough from him.”

Hao Zhigang said, “That young man couldn’t have traveled beyond the safehouse alone, he must have teammates. Think carefully, who’s most likely in his team?”

After pondering for a moment, Bi Ji gasped, “Are you referring to Princess Zhao Qian?”

Hao Zhigang nodded and said, “You’re not as dumb as you look. Now think, when the princess returned to the safehouse earlier and when she left, was she alone?”

“There was one other person.”

“Two people, right? Who was leading, and who was following?”

Bi Ji gasped again, his eyes widening in shock. “It seems like the princess was always following. You mean to say that the woman with the mask has a higher status than Princess Zhao Qian?”

Hao Zhigang chuckled and said nothing more.

Bi Ji glanced at Wang Haiyan and others not far away, especially Qi Tian, who was meditating among the crowd. He let out a bitter laugh and shook his head. It seemed that the young man had a significant background, and it would be better not to provoke him lightly.

The others in the safehouse didn’t have the keen observation of Hao Zhigang and Bi Ji. Upon discovering that Wang Haiyan had brought people over and seized the territory of Hongmen, Li Yuman’s face changed. She had thought Wang Haiyan went mad and immediately ordered everyone to be on high alert, anticipating a possible suicide attack by Wang Haiyan. With her, Li Yuman, there, she wasn’t worried about their territory being compromised. Her primary concern was to prevent her people from getting injured.