Chapter 27: Shifu’s Sacrifice
As expected, Anji derived the right conclusion with just a little hint in the right direction. Mingfeng nodded. The Doctrine of the Mean was a philosophical concept about the way of life. Cultivation was merely another way of life to choose from. Not everyone’s dream or destiny was to slay the demonic sect and start a new martial school like him. Some people like Lizi decided to walk a different path in life. Others were like Doctor He, who had a twisted path. Anji was no exception. Originally, she was born with exceptional cultivation talent. However, it was her fate that she would never cultivate again. Yet, it was changed when Yan Ping saw her. That meant Zhao Mingfeng was the one lacking. Anji’s Path of Duty was not over. It was only beginning. He could not help her because he did not understand her nature. Under Yan Ping’s Instructions, Anji will successfully walk her rightful Path of Duty.
Praising his bright daughter for thinking out of the box, Mingfeng explained the gist of Cultivation and its origins according to Yan Ping’s plan.
"As you’ve learned, cultivation involves an innate ability to harness and use qi. Life energy is present in everyone, allowing us to heal when injured and recover from illness. However, those with the potential to manipulate qi have the capacity for cultivation. As you witnessed in the martial arts exchange, Qi, or life energy, can be utilised in various ways. It can be used to augment the body’s natural abilities or infused into objects like an extension of the body. However, these are considered low-level techniques."
Demonstrating a little of the more advanced technique that Anji had never seen before, Mingfeng extinguished the candle flame on the table without getting up from the bed. The little princess gawked with astonishment when her father controlled the books on the table and brought them over to the bed using a strange levitating power. She had never seen such an ability before, even if she’d heard that many powerful cultivators could fight with flying swords.
Smiling at the impressed look on his daughter’s face, Mingfeng chuckled. Although Ruiting and Wanting could also do this easily, the family concealed their abilities before Anji so she would not feel left out. However, a demonstration was better than a lecture for the sake of the lesson.
"How do you think I accomplished that?" he quizzed. "I’ll give you a hint. Only those of the Enlightened Core and above can move objects at will without coming into direct contact with them."
Even without her father’s hint, Anji already knew that. There was a reason why cultivators were more respected than pugilists. However, she had never thought of the method used to levitate objects. It wasn’t the same as the needle and threads Yu Jiang used in the match against Hao Yizhen.
Was it air pressure? Anji did not feel any wind resistance when her father extinguished the flame. It wasn’t the same as blowing a candle out. If anything, the flame did not flicker. It grew smaller and died out as if it ran out of energy. Similarly, the books merely floated off the table without any rustling of pages. What sort of trick did her father use?
As the creases on Anji’s forehead increased, the sides of Mingfeng’s lips curled higher. Giving her another hint, the Celestial Dragon Sect Leader manipulated water from the teapot and created a ribbon stream that danced in the air according to his will.
Here, Anji studied the movements carefully. Then, she remembered her shifu’s words. Everything had qi, including the grass and rocks. Could the answer be in the qi belonging to the fire, paper and water instead of the qi in her father’s body?