Chapter 78: Initial Core Cultivator
Anji felt feverish. One moment, she felt hot. The next, she was shivering. It was only late summer with the early signs of autumn. She did not understand why she had suddenly fallen sick. However, staying indoors did not help. Her shifu had taken her outside and started a cold bath for her while tossing sticks into a campfire nearby. Anji was sitting in the wooden tub with her clothes on and told to meditate while her teacher occasionally tossed in the sticks to keep the fire going.
"Don’t stop," Yan Ping warned, tossing another stick into the fire and adding more ice to the tub. "Keep circulating your energy through all your meridians and open that last seal to your cultivation core. I sent your bodyguard to inform your father. He should be here soon."
As soon as she said that, Zhao Mingfeng materialised at the main gate using a teleportation scroll. One scroll was easily worth a large gold ingot. However, the man ripped it without hesitation to save time.
"You’re here," Yan Ping acknowledged as he entered her barrier, not moving from her spot. "Help me out."
Without hesitation, Mingfeng sat down behind his shivering daughter, who had flushed cheeks. The situation was worse than Gu Ying described. Although she unlocked all her meridians, the foundation stage was still highly unstable, causing her energy to run rampant. Yan Ping’s vital energy signals were also severely weakened. No wonder she sent Gu Ying over as fast as possible.
"What should I do?" he asked, preparing to channel his qi into his daughter.
Under Yan Ping’s guidance to navigate past her modified seal, Mingfeng coordinated carefully and allowed Anji to draw on his strength to open the last few valves connecting all twenty meridian channels to her golden core.
Watching his daughter weave her own meridians together using the seven-star formation first-hand, Mingfeng had to admit that his daughter was a true prodigy. He never knew there was such an effective method to tie different paths together. It was a complicated balance that took immense concentration, unbefitting of a four-year-old child. Yan Ping continued to monitor the father and daughter even as the sun had set.
At some point, Lizi snuck in to deliver food and extra clothing when she learned that the sect master had left to assist Anji with her training. However, nobody seemed to realise her presence when she arrived. The maid did the chores she needed to and left, praying for the success of her young mistress’ cultivation establishment.