Chapter 8: The Lazy Cultivator's Leap (And Qi Wei Losses It)
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Qi Feng raised both hands, feigning innocence. "Hey, hey—slander is unbecoming of injured cultivators. I was observing. Strategically."
"Strategically?" Qi Wei spat, wiping blood from his mouth. "You were lounging like a bored noble watching a street play!"
"That's not true," Qi Feng said, completely unbothered. "Street plays have better choreography."
Jin Xian let out a half-cough, half-laugh, immediately regretting it as pain flared through her ribs. "You're insufferable," she muttered.
"And yet," Qi Feng said smugly, "you're alive. You're welcome."
Qi Wei staggered to his feet and pointed an accusing finger at him. "You could've thrown that talisman from the beginning!"
"I could've," Qi Feng agreed, strolling over to the smoldering remains of the Bloodbone Devourer. "But then you two wouldn't have had such a character-building moment. Besides, the talisman only works when the target is fully exposed. If I'd thrown it while it was still rampaging, it might've missed and then where would we be? Dead. Or worse, embarrassed."
"Embarrassed?" Jin Xian echoed.
"Imagine dying in front of a demon and failing to make it look cool," Qi Feng said. "Tragic."
Qi Wei looked like he might explode again. "You—!"
A sudden pulse of energy interrupted him.
They all turned as golden light began to rise from the corpse of the Bloodbone Devourer.
The massive demon's body lay still, the forest air thick with the scent of burning flesh and crackling energy. Its hulking form, once a towering nightmare, was now crumbling to golden dust. A strange pulse rippled through the clearing, a surge of energy as though the very earth had inhaled a breath it could not exhale. It shimmered in the air, coalescing into a radiant shard—the corrupted qi now purified, humming with ancient energy.
"The spiritual shard…" Jin Xian whispered, awed. "It's resonating."
Qi Feng, still in the mood of joke, looked up at the dissipating remains of the demon, his brow furrowing slightly. His gaze flicked between the golden shard—still intact and gleaming amidst the heap of ashes—and the unsettling transformation happening before his eyes.
The demon's body began to fragment, its dark scales turning to dust, swirling in the air like a tempest of gold.
Before anyone could react, the shard shot toward Qi Feng.
"Qi Feng!" Jin Xian called from where he sat, still shaky but pushing himself to his feet. "Get away from it!"
But it was too late.
"What the—" Qi Feng barely had time to blink before the energy slammed into his chest, engulfing him in a cyclone of light and power. His body jerked, floating a few inches off the ground, as golden veins of qi coursed through him. His spiritual veins screamed in protest, flooded by more energy than his Foundation Establishment body could safely contain.
He gritted his teeth. "Ah. Yes. This… feels absolutely awful."
His breath hitched. The flood of power was raw, pure—and too much. He could feel the seams of his cultivation straining. His bones ached, his meridians burned, and his heart thundered like war drums.
He took a step back, but the energy followed, swirling like an invisible vortex around him, pulling at his very soul.
The energy lashed out, enveloping Qi Feng's body, and in an instant, his skin flushed with an intense, golden light. His heart thudded painfully as the surge of spiritual power filled him from every direction. It wasn't just overwhelming—it was agonizing. His veins burned like they were being set alight, his very spiritual core pushed to its limit.
His breath came in ragged gasps, and his body trembled. He could feel his cultivation struggling to keep up, his spiritual veins not yet refined enough to handle such a torrent of energy.
"Damn it," Qi Feng gritted through clenched teeth, feeling his mind begin to spin. He tried to stabilize himself, to hold onto the power that was coursing through him, but the strain was too much.
Then, cool hands pressed to his back.
Jin Xian's face was grim. "Don't try to control it all at once. You're going to burn out your veins—let me help you channel it!" He placed a steadying hand on Qi Feng's shoulder, murmuring words of encouragement, but Qi Feng couldn't focus. The energy was too wild, too erratic. It was like a river that had broken its dam, and it was flooding every part of his body.
His mind reeled as the spiritual energy raged within him, threatening to tear him apart. His hands shook, the muscles in his arms and legs locking up as the power tried to force its way deeper into his body.
"I can't hold it!" Qi Feng gasped, his voice hoarse.
Without waiting for a response, Jin Xian pressed his palm to Qi Feng's back.
His qi met Qi Feng's like water flowing into fire, steady and precise. Together, their energies harmonized, guiding the torrent instead of resisting it. Qi Feng's vision swam, but he locked onto hid presence—warm, focused, annoyingly competent. Qi Feng flinched as another surge of energy coursed through him, but Jin Xian's internal energy immediately began to stabilize the flow. His breath came in deep, rhythmic pulls, his energy resonating with Qi Feng's to create a more controlled path for the overwhelming spiritual power.
Jin Xian's voice was soft, but urgent. "Focus, Qi Feng. You have to absorb it properly—don't fight it, don't let it overwhelm you. Let the energy nourish your veins, not break them."
With Jin Xian's help, Qi Feng managed to draw in a few shaky breaths. His body was on fire, every inch of him throbbing with the power, but the agony began to ease. His mind cleared, and with a deep, shuddering exhale, he allowed the energy to flow.
The storm began to calm.
Qi Feng dropped to one knee, chest heaving, as the last of the golden light seeped into him. For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then he looked up.
"…So," he said hoarsely, "did I just skip a cultivation level or this tribulation was for nothing?"
Jin Xian sighed. "You broke through."
Qi Wei, who had just finished dragging himself upright using the remains of a broken tree, narrowed his eyes. "To what level?"
Qi Feng flashed a grin. "Late Foundation Establishment."
Qi Wei went still.
Deadly still.
He stared at Qi Feng as if he'd just admitted to stealing his life savings, burning it, and using the ashes to season his soup.
"You… broke through," Qi Wei said slowly. "Because of the shard?"
"Mmhm," Qi Feng nodded cheerfully. "May be its a Golden reward from a golden beast."
"You mean… I fought that thing. I risked my life. I bled for that shard." Qi Wei's voice was rising now, shaky with fury and disbelief. "I nearly died! Jin Xian was flung across a forest! And you… you just sat there like a lazy cat—and you got the cultivation boost?!"
Qi Feng tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Well, technically I stood. For the 'right' timing. Its the recognition of my hard-work, brother, you won't understand it." He flicked the non-existent dust off from his sleeves as he mocked Qi Wei's 'hard-work'."
Qi Wei let out a sound between a laugh and a scream. "The heavens are mocking me. I—I trained for years, I've eaten bitter herbs, climbed freezing mountains, practiced until my muscles screamed—and now you just… cheat your way through a level-up?!"
"I wouldn't say 'cheat'," Qi Feng replied. "I prefer 'efficient redistribution of fate's generosity.'"
Qi Wei turned to Jin Xian, wild-eyed. "Did you see that? I fought like a lunatic, and he's the one ascending! This isn't fair!"
Jin Xian, despite himself being a little envious at Qi Feng's luck, gave him a quick once-over. "To be fair… he did kind of explode a demon."
Qi Wei clutched his chest. "And yet I'm the one having a heart attack!"
Qi Feng patted him on the shoulder with all the sympathy of a butcher consoling a pig. "Don't worry, Elder Brother. Someday, you'll break through too. Maybe try using your free time to train your brain instead of wasting it on useless scheming all day."
Qi Wei collapsed onto a rock and buried his face in his hands. "The heavens are blind. Absolutely blind."