Eternal Life: I Have the Favor System

Everything he perceived was not just clearer and more three-dimensional. It was as if every internal detail of his body was being imprinted upon his mind, giving him a completely new understanding of himself.

Chu Lingguang knew it wasn’t a hallucination.

His bloodline, his bones, his acupoints, and even his very flesh were all tightly bound by the dense Qi Vortex Power.

"What in the world is going on?"

Chu Lingguang was both extremely curious and completely baffled.

’I shouldn’t overthink this for now. First, I need to stabilize my Bone Aspect. I’ll find some time to ask Master or Teacher Yun Hong later.’

Having learned his lesson, Chu Lingguang quickly cleared his mind of distracting thoughts and focused on the response from his bones, allowing the power of his Bone Aspect to take root.

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, two hours had passed.

Chu Lingguang didn’t linger. He quickly retreated beyond the hundred-meter range.

"Chu Lingguang, what’s with you today?"

Zhao Rushuang asked.

She had only been cultivating here for a few days, so she couldn’t last the full two hours. Since she’d also arrived early, she had retreated beyond the hundred-meter mark quite a while ago. She clearly noticed Chu Lingguang’s state was different from usual. It was as if he had become completely indifferent.

"I’m fine. The fluctuations from the stone monument can easily injure people. You shouldn’t try to force it like they are."

Chu Lingguang saw that Xia Tianzhong and the other two were still within the hundred-meter range.

He had arrived later than them, but his two hours were up and he had already withdrawn. Yet, they were still in there, enduring the pressure to temper themselves.

Long Xin and Xu Kanghui were even practicing their fist techniques inside, perhaps influenced by his presence.

"Oh."

Zhao Rushuang nodded, watching Chu Lingguang head down the mountain.

「A moment later.」

Xia Tianzhong and the other two emerged one after another.

"Don’t mind what Chu Lingguang said," Xu Kanghui said, having overheard the conversation between Chu Lingguang and Zhao Rushuang. "Our Senior Brother only told *him* not to stay for two hours. Our bloodlines are much stronger than his; we can last for two and a half hours."

"Mm, I’ll remember that."

Zhao Rushuang nodded. It was true that the bloodlines of people like them were stronger than Chu Lingguang’s.

"His attitude toward cultivation hasn’t been as diligent recently," Long Xin said with a frown.

"Perhaps he’s finally realized that some things are useless no matter how hard you try," Xu Kanghui jeered.

"He has already mastered True Dragon Power. Even if he slacks off for a bit, he’s still much stronger than you two," Xia Tianzhong retorted.

Long Xin and Xu Kanghui were left speechless.

Zhao Rushuang looked like she wanted to say something but held back. She felt something wasn’t right, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

Chu Lingguang returned to his private room.

He once again picked up a brush and ink, wanting to write a letter to inform Guo Wei that he had successfully opened the fourth level of his Dharma Aspect.

Guo Wei had traveled a great distance, all the way from Baiyang County to the Hundred Thousand Mountains, and was staying in a nearby town. He was worried that Chu Lingguang’s Dharma Aspect level wasn’t high enough and that forcefully using True Dragon Power would damage his foundation and bloodline. He had come specifically to encourage him.

Now that he had successfully broken through, Chu Lingguang had no reason to hide it from Guo Wei.

So after he finished the letter, he immediately handed it to a Black Armored Warrior. Since Guo Wei was now just outside the Hundred Thousand Mountains, a letter could be sent and a reply received in about two days. This meant Chu Lingguang could communicate with Guo Wei every two days.

Thinking about how the letter would be inspected by the Black Armored Warriors and other personnel, Chu Lingguang told Guo Wei about opening the fourth level of his Dharma Aspect. However, he temporarily omitted mentioning the new Sea of Consciousness that had appeared between his brows, or how the two Qi Vortexes were connected by a stream of power, forming a great net that covered his bloodline, bones, and even his acupoints.

It wasn’t that Chu Lingguang was worried about the Trial Ground’s teachers finding out about his condition. Rather, he felt he didn’t fully understand his own body’s situation yet. He was afraid that an inaccurate description might cause unnecessary trouble. It would be better to observe for a few more days, or perhaps discuss it with Yun Hong and the old man with the goatee, before telling Guo Wei.

"Whose letter is this?"

A Black Armored Warrior who had collected Chu Lingguang’s letter presented it to Poisonous Snake.

"Chu Lingguang’s," the Black Armored Warrior replied.

"No need to inspect his letters. Just send it out," Poisonous Snake said.

Ever since Chu Lingguang learned he could correspond with his master from within the Trial Ground, he had been sending out a letter every few days.

At first, Poisonous Snake had personally inspected every single letter. Later, he discovered that besides discussing cultivation matters with his master, Chu Lingguang just wrote about everyday things.

Things like, "Master, your disciple misses you."

And Guo Wei was quite amusing in his own right. In his replies, he would often draw little emoji-like pictures. Aside from reminding Chu Lingguang to cultivate diligently, he would typically start with something like, "Your master knows you miss him, and I miss you dearly as well."

After reading enough of them, he found this master-disciple pair quite interesting.

His trust in Chu Lingguang’s character also grew.

Therefore, Poisonous Snake wasn’t worried that Chu Lingguang would leak details about the Trial Ground’s training to his master or try any tricks in his letters.

"Yes, sir."

The Black Armored Warrior withdrew.

He went to the door and attached the envelope to a falcon’s back.

"Wait a moment."

But just as he was about to release the falcon, Poisonous Snake stopped him.

’Chu Lingguang’s cultivation resources were downgraded from Celestial Rank to A Class, so he’s probably feeling the difference right now. Maybe he’s pouring his heart out to his master in this letter,’ Poisonous Snake suddenly thought. ’The kid is hardworking and diligent, and his talent is excellent. If I know he’s struggling mentally, I can guide him.’

"Bring the letter here," he beckoned.

"Yes, sir."

The Black Armored Warrior hurriedly removed the letter, sent the falcon back to the roof, and presented Chu Lingguang’s letter to Poisonous Snake with both hands.

Poisonous Snake immediately unsealed the envelope.

He unfolded the letter and began to read it seriously.

At the beginning, Chu Lingguang had drawn a little figure bowing respectfully. Next to it was a line of text: "Your disciple pays his respects to Master. I hope Master has been well."

Poisonous Snake smiled without a word.

Lately, the correspondence between Chu Lingguang and Guo Wei had taken on a comic-strip-like quality.

He was used to it by now. He continued reading, but his smiling expression froze as he read the next part. His eyes widened, and he reread it several times, finally confirming that what he was seeing was not a hallucination.

Chu Lingguang had successfully opened the fourth level of his Dharma Aspect!

’He actually succeeded,’ Poisonous Snake found it incredible.

’The fifth round of assessment is in a few days. After that, the focus will be on cultivating the Zhenyuan Technique, Opening the Dantian and Qi Sea, and finding the Sea of Consciousness. For this guy to open the fourth level of his Dharma Aspect at this exact moment... the timing is truly perfect,’ Poisonous Snake marveled to himself.

He was happy for Chu Lingguang.

After finishing the letter, he put it back in the envelope, personally summoned the falcon to him, attached the envelope to its back, and then watched as it flew out of the Trial Ground.

’Chu Lingguang has already awakened True Dragon Power and successfully opened his Dantian Qi Sea. Now, he’s opened the fourth level of his Dharma Aspect. If he can expand his Dantian Qi Sea or locate his Sea of Consciousness before leaving the Trial Ground, then with his level of talent, he might just become the top candidate among this batch of students,’ Poisonous Snake said to himself.

’I have to tell Teacher Xu about this first.’

Poisonous Snake ran toward the residence of the old man with the goatee, Xu Zhongguo.

"He succeeded."

"He might become the top candidate."

"Yes. He admitted it himself in the letter to his master. He successfully opened the fourth level of his Dharma Aspect," Poisonous Snake explained patiently to the astonished old man with the goatee.

"Xia Tianzhong has also awakened True Dragon Power. If Chu Lingguang has opened his fourth level Dharma Aspect first, then given his potential, he might really be the best choice," the old man with the goatee said.

"We’ll wait until the end of the trials before making any decisions. Whether it’s Xia Tianzhong or Chu Lingguang, they are both students of our Trial Ground. It’s just that Xia Tianzhong and the other two are, after all, Teacher Yun Hong’s junior martial brothers. If one of them is chosen, I’m afraid others will have something to say," Poisonous Snake said worriedly.

"Yun Hong is fair in his dealings; he won’t show favoritism to Xia Tianzhong’s group. However, let’s keep the matter of Chu Lingguang opening his fourth level Dharma Aspect under wraps for now to avoid affecting the other students’ morale. The fifth round of assessment is in a few days. Let’s see how much of his strength he reveals," the old man with the goatee instructed.

"I understand."

Poisonous Snake nodded.

「A few days later, the fifth round of assessment began.」

Guo Wei had settled down outside the Hundred Thousand Mountains, shortening the letter correspondence time from eight days to just two. By now, Chu Lingguang had been cultivating in the Trial Ground for fifty days. After opening the fourth level of his Dharma Aspect, he had exchanged two more letters with Guo Wei.

Before entering the Martial Arts Arena for the assessment, Chu Lingguang first checked the letter that had arrived from Guo Wei.

*(After finishing that leave-of-absence note above, I sat down at the computer and started writing this Chapter. I knew I would be releasing a Chapter in the early morning, but I didn’t dare tell you all. First, I was afraid some night owls would be waiting up, and second, I was worried the time constraint would cause me to rush the creative process and affect the quality of the work. I’ll try my best to get a big Chapter out before this evening.)*