Jun Xie was in a daze; neither joy… nor any surprise could be seen on his face. He continued to regulate his body, and practiced; he seemed to be unaware of what had happened.
The Art of Unlocking Heaven's Fortune was very mysterious. It had been the most superior skill since time immemorial. The path of cultivation had always been an act of defying Heaven; if one existed… It was an art which put a person's disposition to the test. It was extremely difficult to practice the 'beginner' part of this art to its extreme. One must come across a huge opportunity in addition to possessing perseverance and a strong will power.
However, one's chances of succeeding in practicing the art were extremely low even if one was to come across an opportunity to practice it. A practitioner with a weak heart would give up if he didn't get any result after practicing the art for hundred times. An ordinary person couldn't withstand this kind of dullness. A person with a weak spirit couldn't have endured it. Jun Xie was one of the rare people – even from a cultivator's standpoint – who could repeat this routine for over a thousand times.
Even a person with strong perseverance could suffer from the 'Devil's Bite' or a 'Backlash' if his spiritual awareness wasn't strong enough.
However, Jun Xie possessed the necessary characteristics required to practice this art. He had always been an unyielding man. He would never change his mind once he had set his eyes on a goal. He was a man with strong perseverance if one considered in a positive context. But, even a brain-dead zombie would never turn back unless he hit a wall. However, Jun Xie was one step ahead! He was the king of zombies; he'd keep hitting the wall until it gave way, and would then continue to advance forward without even looking back. The ideal scenario of finding a person appropriate to practice this art was similar to finding a tortoise which had gone out and bumped into a turtle. And as everyone knows… tortoise and turtle belong to the same family.
Jun Xie had the right personality and mind-set to practice this art. Moreover, he was extremely lucky. Coming across the Hongjun Pagoda had turned out to be a blessing for him. He wouldn't have started to tread on this path if he hadn't been lucky enough to come across the pagoda.
In addition, Jun Xie's spiritual awareness couldn't have been weakened since his soul had transmigrated into Jun Moxie's body. Jun Moxie's physical condition had been restored with the help of the Hongjun Pagoda. Moreover, his spiritual awareness had become stronger. These factors had added-up, and had helped Jun Xie to break through the difficult first stage of the art within a single night.
This act was unprecedented; it couldn't be repeated again.
The Niwan Palace inside Jun Xie's mind began to throb. It eventually began to follow a regular pattern. Jun Xie's fair skin started to become red as it continued to become hotter.
It was already the break of the dawn; the sky had started to become clearer. Jun Xie felt that the Qi within his body – similar to a thread of silk – was becoming livelier, and was linking together to form a row.
Jun Xie felt a brilliant light coming to life in front of him as all the threads finished joining together. The light was filled with colorful speckles. Jun Xie felt as if the flowers of the entire world had bloomed before his eyes. The afterglow of the seven colors revolved around him. Suddenly, thunderous roars and lightning burst forth from his head.
However, Jun Xie's eyes were closed. All this was occurring within his sense of awareness. This was the first hurdle of the art – Calm Heart.
Jun Xie could clearly 'see' the entire atmosphere. However, he remembered that he had closed his eyes since he had started to practice the art. So, he shouldn't have been able to see this imagery… but he was able to. This meant that this was nothing more than an illusion.
Jun Xie decided to ignore it as this thought crossed his mind. He continued to practice with an indifferent expression on his face.
'Boom!' there was an explosion in Jun Xie's consciousness – like a bomb. Suddenly, his body started to convulse. It seemed as if his body had lost something which had once been a part of it. He spat a mouthful of blood as his soul swayed. He then fainted.
His blood had fell on the white sheets on the bed. But, it looked like a black solid substance – like charcoal. It didn't flow down the bed. Instead, it remained as it was.
Jun Xie fell to the ground. However, his body twitched in a continuous manner. Then, a dark liquid started to exude out of the pores of his skin. It drenched his light-colored robe, and changed its color to black.
This was the real effect of the Pulp Rending Meridian Cleanser.
His body had previously discharged the impurities of the skin and muscles along with that layer of filth. Now, it was discharging the impurities from his skeleton and inner organs. He had already spat out the impurities of the five organs in the form of blood. They were the most difficult part of the human body to cleanse.
According to those who cultivate the Way of the Dao—Jun Xie was going through the 'shedding' process. This meant that he was now free from the bondages of worldly possessions and desires. He had now entered the path of cultivation.
The process of 'shedding' was usually preceded by a long and painful experience. Some people spent months, years, and sometimes decades to reach this stage. Some people spent their entire lives, and still couldn't succeed. However, Jun Xie had been successful in a night's time. This was similar to a miracle. None of the ascetics would've believed this news if it were to spread around.
This hadn't happened because of Jun Xie's physical form or spiritual power. The white mist was the reason behind this phenomena. The white mist was the purest form of spiritual Qi between the heaven and the earth. However, Jun Xie hadn't yet realized this fact.
Jun Xie had been a martial arts expert in his past life. But, he had never come across this realm of cultivation. He considered the 'so-called' cultivations – practiced to achieve immortality – as senseless. Moreover, he would consider it as a stroke of luck even if he was to realize what had happened to his body.
Jun Xie woke-up to find himself inside a huge barrel filled with warm water. He realized that a pair of small and soft hands was scrubbing his body.
He saw the young maid Ke'er—the Lolita—in front of him. Her forehead was covered in sweat; her face had become red from the heat. She was holding a small towel in her hands. She panted as she cleaned his body with it. Her lips were pursed-up tightly. She looked embarrassed; so much so that she seemed to be on the verge of crying. She was constantly looking upwards unless she needed to scrub a different area of his body. Then, she would again continue to look upwards.
[The shy expression on this girl's face looks too cute.] Suddenly, Jun Xie realized that he was stark naked. He coughed twice in embarrassment, and said, "I'll do it myself." Then, he reached out for the towel in Ke'er's hands.
She yelped, and ran while still clutching the towel in her hands. There was a trace of panic in her eyes. She trembled as she spoke, "Young… young… young… Master… you… you're awake?"
He sighed helplessly and replied, "Wouldn't you be talking to a ghost if I weren't awake?"
"Ghost?! AHH!" she let out another scream. Jun Xie could see the little hair on her face standing up. Her face turned white; as if she had actually seen a ghost. Jun Xie sighed, "Stop screaming! Even if there was a ghost… it wouldn't have been scarier than you. Your performance is worthy of a big applause."
'Bang!' Suddenly, the door of his room was burst open. Then, a stalwart figure walked in. "Moxie, are you awake? What happened?" It was Grandpa Jun. He was accompanied by several bodyguards.
Grandpa Jun seemed to be extremely angry. He had just finished lecturing the thirty-six bodyguards assigned to protect his grandson. Yesterday's incident could be considered as an unfortunate accident. But, how could one guess that it would happen again? Grandpa's Jun temper was almost on the verge of an explosion. [What? Does my Jun family look easy pickings to you? Do you think that we can be bullied in this manner? It seems that this Senior will have to display some of his might. How are we going to spend the rest of our days if everyone decides to target my grandson…?]
It seemed that Grandpa Jun had assumed that his grandson had fainted due to an attempt on his life!