"...Big brother Wei, today's Qi is a little more dense than usual. So, I'm able to refine my Qi much faster than usual." Li Cheng, still seated on the ground, spun around and looked up.
Li Wei shook his head, lent out his hand, and helped his little brother up. "How many times do I have to tell you that you shouldn't be cultivating here in this secluded place."
Li Wei scanned the outskirts of the city's forest and sighed. "If it was near the mountain it's one thing, but here?"
Li Cheng scratched his head feigning embarrassment. "Mmm yeah yeah, but this is the best spot to be alone and for me to relax." This conversation has been brought up so many times that Li Cheng has lost count.
"Haah, Little brother I know you are shy around people, but you should at least cultivate in our room at least for this week." Li Wei's voice raised.
With an expressionless face, Li Cheng nodded. If he didn't concede here, then he would certainly be nagged further by his older brother. After all, the yearly joint great sect expedition was coming up in a week's time.
Li Cheng was not shy, but rather he pretended to be anti-social. The more people he associated with the greater the chance of getting into trouble. It was not like his old world where making connections was not so ridiculous that you could somehow court death. But above all, the reason was because he found it difficult making friends due to his past age being in his thirties.
"Let's go."
***
The two brothers entered into the main hall of the Li Sect. Once here, one could see a contrasting hall that looked like a gateway into three different worlds. It was split into three different areas: the west, north, and east.
The west was where the outer disciples lived whilst the north and east was where the elders and inner disciples lived respectively. As for the core disciples, they also lived in the north.
They both looked at each other; their faces identical, bitter. Being brothers born from the same parents and only two ages apart, they did have some similarities, but nowhere enough to be considered twins.
"I will see you later then Big Brother." Li Cheng faced the east and walked towards the citrine pillars where in between stood a tiger-shaped mouth.
"Wait, I'm coming with you!"
"What? Don't you have lessons with master?" Li Cheng questioned with surprise, pointing at the north where gilded magnificent doors opened to reveal a spectacular long hall.
"No, I cancelled my lessons with her... for today at least." Before Li Cheng could interrupt, Li Wei smiled at his brother and put an arm around his shoulder.
Li Cheng groaned from his brother's actions. When his brother puts his arm around, it signalled that something troublesome was up.
"I'm going to watch over your lessons."
"Big brother… please don't embarrass me. I know you're worried about the performance for my expedition, but it is much more vital for you! You are a damn core disciple! You're also one of the brightest stars for many of our elders."
"What's the big deal? It's just one day," Li Wei said righteously.
"Then couldn't you just ask Master to spare some time to properly look over me?"
"No no no. I need to see how you are faring in your lessons. With my own eyes."
"...Fine but seriously don't embarrass me." Li Cheng gripped the arm off his shoulder with a bit of tension and sized up his slightly taller older brother, as if saying: 'You better not.'
It should be very apparent that these two siblings are quite close to one another. When Li Cheng first transmigrated into the body of Li Cheng, he was wary of everything. In spite of having the memories of experiencing deep affection from the previous owner, it was naturally not something he can come to terms with.
Overtime, Li Cheng gradually accepted his new life in a surprisingly quick amount of time. Perhaps it's because the existence of an older brother and grandfather was foreign to him.
"Oho Li Wei, are you here to drop off your little brother again?"
"No Fifth Elder, in fact I'm here to ask for a small favour." He slightly tilted his head down in deference to the middle-aged instructor.
"Let me guess. You want to watch over your brother during today's lesson?" The Fifth Elder was not surprised. He stroked his healthy taoist-looking beard and 'pondered'. "Well I happen to be a little understaffed…"
"Fifth Elder, how about I lend a helping hand?"
"Ah that would be wonderful. Having the aid of the leading core disciple of the 3rd generation will make my life easier."
Li Cheng, who was quietly watching over this buddy-buddy exchange, scoffed and decided to take the chance to use his newfound System powers.
Eyes of the Strongest Sect Master!
[Name: Li Weiyuan]
[Cultivation Level: Nascent Soul Mid-Stage]
[Bloodline: Li bloodline]
[Talent: B Grade]
'System are grade talents referring to one's potential?'
Ding!
[Indeed, in cultivation talent at least. Grades stem from F which is the lowest to highs of SSS grade.]
'Hm… perhaps in the future my skill will be able to see more than this like a person's physique. Many of the super geniuses always have those broken one in a blah blah physiques.'
Li Cheng gulped and braced himself in the anticipation of his older brother. Time to take a good look at his genius brother's profile.
[Name: Li Wei]
[Cultivation Level: Foundation Establishment Mid-Stage]
[Bloodline: Li bloodline (Impure)]
[Talent: A Grade]
"Impure?" Li Cheng's brows tightened, staring intently. Realising that his brother and Fifth Elder wore strange expressions, he shrugged off his hardened legs and said, "Big brother are you finished?"
"Yes. Fifth Elder was inviting us in since we were holding up the entrance." "Were you paying attention?"
"Sorry I was daydreaming."
"I knew coming here was the right choice." Li Wei looked as if he was sighing in resignation but why did it seem like he was pleased?
"Alright you two, get inside. It's about time to start." Fifth Elder turned his back and entered the room.
During class, Li Cheng did his best to pretend he was diligently following the lesson. As his brother's eyes were always on careful watch, he had to give a worthy performance or he would definitely be lectured.
In these moments, Li Cheng would typically find himself lamenting his misfortune as he endured silent attacks through whispered criticisms from his brother's admirers throughout the lesson.
Which was pretty stupid considering that cultivators had ears that could even hear the sound of a pin dropping even if the room was loud. However, none of those whispers registered as half of his ears were occupied with keeping his facade and the other was…
'System. So you're saying that if the devilish blood is not removed from his body, then he will slowly one day turn into a demon?'
[That is a possibility. It is also possible that with his cultivation and bloodline, he may be able to keep it in control. An accurate autopsy is difficult to determine at this stage.]
According to the System, there is a trace of devilish blood mixed in with his brother's Li blood. It is an issue that is extremely difficult to solve because this was a blood present in birth. When Li Cheng and his brother went to get his blood tested before entering the sect, there were no abnormalities.
As for why it couldn't be detected, that was maybe because it was merely a sliver and the Li blood was not any ordinary bloodline and could easily dominate it despite being much inferior.
'Was it because father was really a demonic practitioner colluding with the demonic sects?' A terrifying memory flashed through his mind to a incident in the past.
'But then why didn't I have any trace of this blood? Don't tell me I'm actually adopted or my full-blood brother was actually a half-blood?'
'System. Will the Heavenly Cure All Pills work?'
[No. It's not recognised as a malady or the sort as it's his own birth blood.]
'Is there anything in the starter package that could help cure it?'
[The System wishes you to first think for yourself.]
Li Cheng clicked his tongue in displeasure and mused.
'Damn most of my treasures related to cleansing the demonic do not quite fit in solving the problem.'
[Buddha's Golden Prayer Bell x 3]
[One of the legendary treasures of Buddhism created during the Ages of the Gods. When rung as a form of defence, it can evoke protection from nearby deities. It can also calm the mind into perfect serenity and compliment one's prayer and reinforce faithfulness in the Dharma and Buddha himself.]
'This might work in calming my brother but… he's not a monk. I don't know how effective it actually is.'
[Sutra of Soul's Sanctuary x7]
[A remarkable, profound scripture treasured by monks, unveils the wisdom of establishing spiritual fortresses for the soul by the surviving monks from the Bygone Era. As pious disciples delve into its profound teachings, they learn to weave intricate spiritual wards, creating sanctuaries that shield against malevolent forces seeking to infiltrate and corrupt their inner essence or possess them. Exclusive to those devoted to the disciplined path of monkhood, this sutra becomes a spiritual bastion ~"We spit in the eyes of you foul, malevolent spirits – our soul unyielding, our faith in the light… NEVER to extinguish through this curtain of darkness!!!"]
Suddenly, when Li Cheng read the flavour text, he felt his blood boil a little and he trembled. Despite seeing it through the System screen, he felt like he can sense the power left behind in those words.
After being awed for a moment, he thought to himself, 'I wonder how I would have felt if I took out the scripture and read it...'
Li Cheng shook his head, now wasn't the time for this.
'Conditions aside, I'm unsure if this would work for something already inside.'
For this, Li Cheng had to read the scripture deeply. The System only gave a general description when looking through the System, and so he had to take it out to study it.
If worst comes to worst, he will force his brother into the way of the Buddha. Though that would be a shame as his ponytailed, handsome, long, black hair would be required to be cut off.
[Holy Devil Suppression Ring x1]
[An Almighty ring specifically created through the efforts of the Jade Emperor himself. In order to help his close loyal subordinate from losing himself from an incurable malefic devilish art, this ring was made to subdue the inner demons and stabilise the body's evilness. When worn, the wearer will not suffer from their inner demons and evilness within the body become futile.]
'This would definitely work. However, the ring was really too luxurious, jadey, and holy.'
From the first glance at the system showing him the imagery of the ring, he knew this thing would be impossible to take out. It was simply too eye-catching. Hiding it wasn't realistic.
Alternatively, Li Cheng thought he could perhaps use one of the several powerful bloodline drops he obtained as a way to suppress the demonic bloodline.
Particularly the Primordial Phoenix Bloodline, which with its mythical, purifying flame properties, would utterly burn the devilish trace into oblivion.
Unfortunately, the consequences of doing that would also lead to great disaster. Unless it was a secret realm or the sort, who was going to believe that a mere fortuitous encounter would obtain an ancient bloodline?
Even if Li Wei took the drop of blood during such an event, it would only cause him wide attention and be the target of the greedy and would surely get him killed. The sect won't be able to protect him. In fact, they would probably sell him out to some unknown sect that nobody in this small land has heard of.
There was also the off chance the noble blood would not allow the Li blood to exist. He wasn't really sure about how bloodlines exactly worked because he couldn't find such information with his status, but he did find out through his research that it may require compatibility.
When he asked the System about this, it withheld information. There were only a few things mentioned. For example, it depended on how many drops and the type of bloodline.
'Big Brother, although I can't be said to be truly your brother… I will definitely cure you!'
Smack!
"Junior Brother Cheng, could you repeat Fifth Elder's words?"
"*Cough* Senior Brother Wei, he mentioned that as Qi Condensation practitioners, we may be able to swiftly absorb and refine the Qi from the natural world. However, if we're too hasty, we risk losing control of the refining process, leading to Qi deviation. Qi deviation is when the cultivation base becomes dangerously unstable, causing internal damage and symptoms of psychosis. Therefore, it was stressed that we needed to find a balance between Qi gathering and refining.
"Good, you were listening. But I was asking what he said a few moments ago?"
"I-I…"
Smack!
'On second thoughts, maybe I really should force my brother into Buddhism. Amitabha.'