Chapter 145: Body Cultivation
Just as Ye Jun had predicted, he didn’t have to wait long before Meihui appeared in his abode, still donning the disguise of Rong Hua. Even now, he didn’t know anything about her enemies.
But he knew they were very strong if they could make even her this fearful.
The moment she saw him, her eyes lit up in delight and he also saw pure relief in that. Her shoulders relaxed, as if they had been carrying a heavy weight.
"You’re back," she said softly. "Took you long."
"Aye, things happened," Ye Jun smiled and strode forward. Before she could react, he wrapped his arms around her and whispered, "I’m glad to see you again."
He noticed how she didn’t even flinch this time. Her body and mind were expecting the hug, maybe even wanting it. Still, she didn’t return the gesture, simply letting him enjoy the embrace.
After a minute, he separated from her and said, "How are your healing sessions going?"
"I’m mostly healed," she smiled and said. "In a month or two, I’ll be completely fine. The closed-door Cultivation helped a lot."
"Noice!" Ye Jun was genuinely very happy for her. "Come, I have things to ask."
"Same here," Meihui muttered, staring at him. "No matter how many times I see it, it’s still ridiculous how quickly you can progress. In just a few months, you almost reached the Soul Tempering Realm. What an insane pace."
"I had to do many ridiculous things to achieve that," Ye Jun shrugged in response. "I almost died many times trying to level up. Do you know I even met Tier 4 Spiritual Beasts?"
"I’m more surprised that you’re alive after meeting them," Meihui rolled her eyes. "But I guess that’s to be expected from your thick skin."
"Hey! I’m being respectful here, so don’t jab at me."
"I’m also being respectful," she smiled lightly and said. "Also, your physique seems a bit different. Actually, no, not just a bit. It’s very different."
"Yeah, I wanted to talk about it."
Ye Jun took her to a different room where he prepared tea for both of them. He had to say this world had insanely good tea. They were so addictive that he even forgot alcohol many times.
As he served her, he asked, "So, what is this? I can cultivate both my body and Dantian. It’s a bit weird to be honest."
"I should have expected this considering your bizarre Physique," Meihui said, sitting elegantly in her spot. "It isn’t hard to explain. Our body is like this tea cup and Qi is the tea. You can’t hold the tea in a very weak cup, can you? That’s why we have the first realm, Body Strengthening Realm, which prepares our body to store the Qi."
She picked another cup and filled it with water. Then, she continued, "That’s called the Foundation too, because no matter how high your realm is, your physique would be a base for it, so a weak foundation always results in stagnation or complete breakdown of cultivation."
She manipulated the water inside, making it put pressure on the cup walls and in no time, it cracked, spilling the water completely.
"But people don’t really focus on it, do they?" Ye Jun asked.
"They don’t," Meihui nodded in agreement. "It’s because after Qi Condensation Realm, your body gets strengthened passively. After all, you have Qi circulating all day, even more so when you cultivate. Just that strengthens your physique."
Ye Jun frowned and said, "But that shouldn’t work. At least, it shouldn’t make a big difference, right? I know because it’s different for me."
Meihui nodded and explained calmly.
"That’s the thing. The passive strengthening pushes the body just enough to sustain its current Qi reserves and circulation. It basically remains parallel to your Cultivation base, which is the bare minimum. That is also why many take a long time to advance to next realms. They prepare their body to endure the Heavenly Tribulations."
"Reminds me, I wanted to ask more about the Heavenly Tribulations too," Ye Jun interrupted.
Meihui didn’t mind his interruption. She remained relaxed and explained, just like she always did.
"Cultivation is going against the Heavens, but it isn’t forbidden completely by them. So they test the Cultivators to see if they are worthy enough to advance forward. The Heavenly Tribulations are basically that test."
"So, it basically throws lightning at you?" Ye Jun was speechless.
She knocked on his head and sighed, "It isn’t that simple. The Heavenly Tribulations come in many ways, but their form remains that of Heavenly Lightning. Like at Soul Tempering Realm, it will try to push you down by attacking both your Physique and Cultivation Base. In higher realms, it changes and can become trials, but the intention to push you down remains. If you fail, the attack wounds your Cultivation Base."
"I see. I understand," Ye Jun said thoughtfully. "I’ll still need more details before trying to Break Through, though. I want to be completely sure of it."
"I knew you’ll ask that," Meihui chuckled and took out a scroll. "I already wrote down important things about Heavenly Tribulations and everything you have to know before trying it."
Ye Jun just smiled, not really surprised. Meihui was very caring, kind, and considerate, even if she didn’t like to admit it. She was so worried about him, so how could she not prepare anything about something that could technically kill him?
"Thanks a lot. You’re really the best," Ye Jun grinned and took the scroll, though he didn’t open it yet.
"Best? What about Liangxue then?" Her face flushed slightly, but she still managed to glare at him.
"Tie. Two people can be the best," Ye Jun replied with a straight face.
"That doesn’t even make sense," she rolled her eyes. "The very definition of best dictates there can only be one. You’re just trying to wiggle your way out of it."
"Irrelevant. I don’t care what the world uses, for me best is different. And you two are the best in this whole world," Ye Jun shrugged.
"Shameless!"
"You like this shameless man!" Ye Jun smiled at her.
Her ears turned red as she threw her tea cup at him, "What nonsense! Stop flattering yourself. As if I’ll ever like a shameless man like you."
"Yes, yes, I believe you," Ye Jun smiled, easily catching the tea cup. "Anyways, let’s get back on the topic. I understand that physique is very important for our future, as it represents One Pillar of Foundation. So, why does nobody focus on it? Why let it strengthen passively?"
He was genuinely confused about that. If things were really that important, why did nobody focus on it? Wasn’t it quite stupid to gamble like that?
"Haah! It’s already affecting your mentality," Meihui released an exaggerated sigh, but Ye Jun felt as if it was truly from her heart.
"What?" He was confused.
"Your Physique is affecting your mentality," Meihui glared at him and said. "Tell me, how many people have you met in this sect stuck in Soul Tempering Realm even after decades?"
Ye Jun opened his mouth before closing it. There were many like that. In fact, most of the upper rankings were filled with such people. Many of them were even touching thirty and still were in Soul Tempering Realm.
That was without taking the Elders into consideration. Many Elders who were low in status had Soul Tempering Realm Cultivation bases, after all.
"Noticed something?" Meihui asked, as he nodded. "Exactly. Just because you can progress rapidly doesn’t mean others are the same. In fact, the majority of people fail to advance simply because they are too slow, even with the extended lifespan."
She leaned back and continued, "Cultivating both the body and the Qi is very difficult unless you’re a Heaven-defying Talent. For example, someone like you who possesses such a ridiculous Physique."
"My bad. I didn’t think of that," Ye Jun rubbed the back of his head and said. "So, basically, most Cultivators don’t do it simply because they can’t."
"Yes, it’ll just slow their progress even more. They might not even reach the threshold necessary to advance, then what’s the point of cultivating both? It’s better to just focus on one and let the other grow passively."
Ye Jun nodded in understanding and then asked, "But that also means there are Body Cultivators, right? The ones who focus on Physique rather than Qi."
"There are, but much fewer compared to Qi Cultivators." Meihui responded, as she picked up another tea cup. "Your friend Mountain is also a Body Cultivator."
"Damn it! I should have expected it," Ye Jun cursed under his breath. "He’s basically a walking giant."
"I do think his bloodline plays a massive part in his Cultivation," Meihui said. "After all, Body Cultivation is harder and more painful than Qi Cultivation."
"Interesting!" Ye Jun smiled and said. "Then, I can ask him how Body Cultivation is defined. As in how many realms, like Qi Condensation Realm and all."
"You can just ask me, you know." Meihui rolled her eyes. "I’ve met many of them in my life."