“You’ve all come to greet me as I emerge from seclusion today. It wouldn’t feel right to send you off empty-handed.”
At those words, everyone’s eyes lit up with delight and surprise.
If Ling老爷子 was giving them something, it surely wouldn’t be anything ordinary.
Ling Xiao’s heart raced with excitement too. Coming here today had been the right choice—not only had he washed away past shame by defeating Ling Tieshou, earning the crowd’s respect, but now he’d also receive a reward from Ling老爷子.
This was truly a stroke of brilliance.
“Catch!”
Ling Xiaotian suddenly roared, and his body erupted with countless beams of white light that shot into the bodies of every Ling Clan disciple present.
“This is a wisp of gang qi from my body. The clever ones can use it to comprehend gang qi themselves. Even the dull ones can use it to strengthen their bodies. Either way, it’ll only benefit you—no harm.”
With that, Ling Xiaotian turned and left.
“Ancestor, why go to such lengths? expending so much for these disciples isn’t worth it,” someone said.
“Nothing’s unworthy about it. I actually think this batch has a few promising talents. I’d planned to take them as disciples, but I’ve got other matters to attend to right now and no time to teach. Giving them a little boost might help them break through on their own.”
“You mean Ling Yinang? Or Ling Yixue?”
“Those two are indeed moldable talents, but…” Ling Xiaotian smiled, his gaze—whether intentional or not—sweeping over Ling Xiao briefly.
Then he laughed heartily and walked away.
“The annual competition’s coming up soon. Maybe this year will bring some surprises.”
Ling Xiao, thrilled, turned his focus inward to examine that wisp of gang qi.
This was exactly what he needed most right now.
With the analytical power of his Mountain and River Martial Soul, he could fully dissect how this gang qi was formed.
Though he couldn’t analyze Ling老爷子’s full strength, a single wisp of gang qi was no problem.
Ling Yinang departed, an inscrutable smile on his face.
Ling Yixue drifted away, her expression a mix of anticipation and urgency.
Ling Feng hurriedly left with Ling Yu, his face alight with wild joy.
Ling Tieshou also departed, pausing to touch the spot where the gang qi resided in his body. He glanced at Ling Xiao.
“Ling Xiao, today’s humiliation—I’ll wash it clean at the annual competition!”
Of course, most disciples remained clueless, utterly baffled about what use Ling老爷子’s wisp of gang qi could be.
Some even muttered under their breath, grumbling that this trip was a waste and that Ling老爷子 was stingy.
Ling Xiao shook his head, thinking these people were truly blind to their blessings.
He turned and headed home, informing his grandfather Hong Qi before retreating to the training room.
Analyze!
The Mountain and River Martial Soul whirred to life, beginning to dissect Ling Xiaotian’s wisp of gang qi!
About an hour later.
A look of wild joy spread across Ling Xiao’s face.
The entire process of this gang qi’s creation and growth had been clearly analyzed by the Mountain and River Martial Soul, even rendered into a visual.
“Since it’s been analyzed, next up is condensing my own gang qi!”
Ling Xiao smiled faintly and began circulating the *Bull Demon Technique · Condense Fiend*, converting his body’s true qi into gang qi using Ling Xiaotian’s method.
It started slow, but as he grew more adept, the transformation from qi to gang sped up.
His foundation had long been sufficient.
Having lingered at Martial Vein First Layer for so long, true qi had saturated every corner of his body, even his cells.
He could feel it—when he used Ling Xiaotian’s method to turn qi into gang, true qi poured out endlessly. This reserve was likely the deepest among martial artists below Martial Vein Third Layer.
Probably only Ling Yinang could match him.
The process of turning qi into gang went smoothly—almost naturally.
This was largely because he’d tried many times before. Though he’d failed in the end, the experience had built up.
Now, with the insight and analysis from Ling Xiaotian’s wisp of gang qi, the process became even more refined.
But the moment all his true qi condensed into gang qi, a sense of crisis hit him.
Gang qi wasn’t like true qi.
True qi was gentle, mild.
Gang qi was wild, sharp.
His body felt like it was being torn apart by this gang qi, the pain unbearable.
“Rip!”
“Rip!”
“Crack!”
Wounds split open across his body, blood spurting out. If anyone saw, they’d be horrified.
“No, I’ll die if this keeps up!”
Ling Xiao suddenly understood. This was happening because his true qi had been too abundant—converting it into gang qi produced far more than the average person’s.
A Martial Vein Third Layer martial artist could only handle so much gang qi, and his clearly exceeded that limit.
Who’d have thought too much true qi could be a problem?
Ling Xiao gave a wry smile.
But things had come this far—he wasn’t about to wallow in self-pity.
He pulled out healing salves and pills from the Mountain and River Diagram, using them like they cost nothing.
Over and over.
For half an hour, he endured agonizing pain, nearly depleting his stock of salves and pills.
Finally, he felt the rampant gang qi tamed.
It was as if a wild beast roared within him.
But this beast was under his control.
Ha!
Ling Xiao leapt up, letting out a fierce shout. Countless crimson streaks of energy burst from his body, striking the walls with a barrage of cracks and pops.
If this weren’t the training room, those walls would’ve collapsed outright.
The red energy was stagnant blood forced out by the gang qi.
Leaving it in his body would’ve been trouble.
“Hahaha, I did it! I finally did it—turned qi into gang! I’ve converted all the true qi in one martial vein into gang qi!”
Ling Xiao was ecstatic.
Though he’d only succeeded with one vein, this breakthrough made the next two straightforward.
He was confident that once he turned the true qi in all three veins into gang qi, he’d smoothly advance to Martial Vein Fourth Layer.
No external aid needed.
He was thrilled—once an unreachable dream now felt so simple.
He’d once thought he’d be content just condensing gang qi in his lifetime.
But now, he could dream bigger.
Turning qi into gang? That was just a small start.
He opened his left hand—a soft, fluffy mist floated there, like steam from boiling water. That was true qi.
He opened his right hand—a tight, swirling vortex of energy, each strand sharp as a blade, brimming with power.
That was gang qi.
Though both were energies from the human body, the difference was vast.
Before, only Ling Yinang among the Elite Hall’s lower disciples had mastered gang qi.
Now, there was one more—Ling Xiao!
With gang qi in his grasp, he was poised to shine at the annual competition.
