Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 156 - 156 0164 He Will Not Even Forgive Himself

Chapter 156: Chapter 0164: He Will Not Even Forgive Himself Chapter 156: Chapter 0164: He Will Not Even Forgive Himself Chapter 0164 Even He Will Not Forgive Himself

“Let him come in.” A calm woman’s voice echoed from inside the hall, indicating it was Huang Liuyan, who had spent a lot of time with Qi Tian.

Zhang Lei gestured to Qi Tian to go ahead. She stayed in place and watched as Qi Tian ascended the steps and pushed open the tightly closed hall door.

The sunlight was shining through the lattice, lighting up the hall, which was bright and not at all gloomy. Qi Tian saw a beautiful woman sitting upright. He could tell from her speaking eyes and full bosom that she was Huang Liuyan.

“Aunty Master.” Qi Tian saluted her with a fist, paying his full respects.

Huang Liuyan looked Qi Tian up and down, her sharp gaze quickly discerning that Qi Tian had improved since they last met. But she did not pry into the details of his progress, having decided not to delve into matters that might reveal Qi Tian’s personal secrets. She asked, “You just got back? Did you secure the County Master position?”

Huang Liuyan wasn’t worried about Qi Tian not being able to secure the position. All disciples of the Imperial Master Mansion sent to practice in the Lianying Realm were good-for-nothings except Qi Tian, who had performed exceedingly well. If even Qi Tian couldn’t secure the County Master position, then no one was worthy of it.

Qi Tian smiled wryly, “There occurred a minor hiccup. Initially, I had an agreement with the Mansion Master to become the County Master of Lubei County. But unexpectedly, when the Mansion Master was penning the decree, emissaries from the Guardian National Master Manor arrived insistently wanting the position for Lubei County. At first, they were very domineering, acting as if not giving them the position would be a heinous crime, and they would flatten our Imperial Master Mansion. Eventually, it was the Mansion Master who personally stepped in and deterred them. Only then did the Guardian National Master Manor agree to have a wager with us – Lubei County’s position from us and ten million taels of silver from them, winner takes it all.”

Huang Liuyan furrowed her brows when she heard this, “Why would the Guardian National Master Manor pop up out of nowhere and seize the position of Lubei County? They even agreed to gamble ten million taels of silver, which is highly unusual.”

Huang Liuyan knew more than Qi Tian did. Although the three National Master Mansions had also waged bets on the County Master positions in the past, the maximum amount betted was usually around two to three million taels of silver. It was extremely unusual for any bet to go up to ten million taels.

“Who does the Mansion Master plan to send for the gamble? You?” Huang Liuyan queried.

Qi Tian replied, “Originally, the Mansion Master was going to send Chu Yang; he didn’t even take me into consideration. I volunteered myself and after repeated pleading, the Mansion Master agreed to give me a chance. He said that ten days from now, I would contest with Chu Yang first. The winner would then represent the Imperial Master Mansion to challenge Gao Han, while the loser would have to settle for being a mere spectator.”

Huang Liuyan knew Chu Yang, so she asked, “Is Gao Han at the same level as Chu Yang, Half-step Foundation? Do you think you can compete with them?”

Qi Tian smirked, “I have arm-wrestled Chu Yang once before. I won.”

“Really?” Huang Liuyan was astonished and looked at Qi Tian in surprise. She knew Qi Tian was extraordinary, but she did not expect him to be so formidable that he could even beat someone at the Half-step Foundation in an arm-wrestling match. Could a regular cultivator at the Qi Cultivating Stage accomplish something like this?

Seeing Qi Tian nod, Huang Liuyan knew he wasn’t lying, so she said, “Qi Tian, winning in arm-wrestling is one thing. Winning in actual combat is another. I won’t question your strength, but I am certain you are significantly less experienced, resilient, and poorly equipped compared to Chu Yang. I hope you won’t be upset, but I don’t fancy your chances against Chu Yang. In fact, I can already foresee at least a 60% chance that you’ll lose.”

Qi Tian did not deny it. He said, “Even if I have a greater than 50% chance of losing, I won’t shy away from it. When it’s my turn to step up, I will. Retreating is not my style.”

Huang Liuyan nodded slightly, her eye full of admiration for Qi Tian. “To beat Chu Yang, it’s not as if you stand no chance. If you can further refine your abilities in the next ten days leading up to your fight, and do some other preparations, maybe you still have a good chance of winning. By the way, didn’t you ask me to help you refine some Tiger Roar Pills? I’ve done that already. Here, there are fifty in total.”

Qi Tian was delighted and grabbed the Tiger Roar Pills, repeatedly thanking Huang Liuyan.

Huang Liuyan suggested, “These few days, don’t go elsewhere. Cultivate here in my space. I’ll let you use my cultivation chamber, where the environment is quiet and elegant, and no one will disturb you.”

After considering for a while, Qi Tian agreed. He indeed needs a place free from external disturbances for focused cultivation now. Also, the environment provided by Huang Liuyan for cultivation must not be bad. Before he agreed, though, he asked, “Auntie master, aren’t you going to cultivate?”

Huang Liuyan shook her head and said, “My cultivation has reached a bottleneck. It’s not something that secluded cultivation can break through. I need to find an opportunity. Anyway, feel free to use my cultivation room.”

Huang Liuyan rose to her feet, led Qi Tian to the west room of the West Peacock Palace. Standing at the room’s entrance, you wouldn’t have any special feelings, but once you walk in, you’ll feel as if you’re soaked in a spirit spring. Every pore in your body would open, greedily absorbing the spirit Qi in the air.

Qi Tian took a deep breath, feeling intoxicatingly elated. This place is far too marvelous, even better than the cave of the water salamander he discovered in the Lianying Realm by several times. “Auntie master, this place is just too good. I can’t afford to cultivate here.”

“Why are you being modest with me? You saved my life, and I owe you millions of coins. Consider cultivating here as repayment for that favor. Qi Tian, don’t be pedantic. Are we taking account of balances between us like strangers?” Huang Liuyan responded, feigning anger.

Qi Tian knew it was unnecessary to make a fuss any longer. Not wanting to be considered superficial, he bowed to Huang Liuyan and said, “Very well, I’ll comply.”

Huang Liuyan walked to the incense table. From the drawer, she took out an incense burner and top-grade pure heart incense sticks, saying, “You can use these as well. For these few days, I’ll stand guard outside. You can come to me if you need anything. Of course, unless it’s necessary, don’t leave the cultivation room for these few days. Keep calm and concentrate on your cultivation.”

“Yes,” Qi Tian hastily replied.

After Huang Liuyan left the room, she closed the door behind her, leaving Qi Tian alone in the cultivation room.

Qi Tian observed the cultivation chamber Huang Liuyan had carefully set up. He took in the rich spirit Qi filling the air and the faint scent she had left behind, a satisfied smile appearing on his lips. Today, he had been graced with such a fine cultivation environment by Heaven. If he didn’t seize the opportunity, he would not even forgive himself, let alone God.

Qi Tian didn’t waste any time. He brought out a heap of elixir pills and began his cultivation.

In the blink of an eye, nine days passed. Qi Tian consumed cultivation resources worth several million taels of silver during these nine days, consuming countless elixir pills. His swift usage was due to the double cultivation effect of the Heavenly Dao Engine, as well as the excellent cultivation environment provided by Huang Liuyan. These combined factors contributed to Qi Tian’s exceptional cultivation progress.

In these few days, Qi Tian mainly focused on unblocking his meridians. He not only successfully unblocked the last meridian of the Qi Cultivating Stage 4, but also endured severe pain using the Meridian Restoration Skill. His fifth and ninth meridians were brought to a perfectly unblocked state, indicating all sixteen of his meridians are perfectly unblocked now. Each meridian can provide him with a strength of up to three hundred pounds, resulting in a total strength nearing five thousand pounds.

This is an astonishing figure. Even Li Yuman, who has crossed the Eighth Level of Qi Cultivation and unblocked twenty-three meridians, can only exert slightly more strength than Qi Tian, despite having seven more unblocked meridians.

To accommodate such tremendous strength, Qi Tian started cultivating from scratch using the Tiger Roar Pill in the Tiger Golden Body Skills. He successfully managed to attain the perfect state of the first layer, boosting his physical strength by a massive thousand pounds. Currently, he can exert a force of three thousand pounds with a single punch without using any True Essence from his meridians. His body can endure up to twelve thousand taels weight without injury. In extreme cases, it can withstand up to fifteen thousand pounds. Anything beyond this would surely lead to grave injuries, though it wouldn’t be life-threatening.

Having achieved such great success in cultivation in just nine days, Qi Tian was highly satisfied. He now planned to diligently cultivate the Eight Desolate Demon Tiger Fist or Thirteen Demonic Strokes in the remaining day. The exact format of his match against Chu Yang is uncertain, but it certainly won’t be a harmless arm wrestling match. It will most likely be a real battle. Regardless of whether he further progresses the Eight Desolate Demon Tiger Fist or becomes more familiar with the Thirteen Demonic Strokes, both can significantly enhance his combat abilities.