The Mysterious of Qi

A/N: Sorry about the complete lack of updates, I'll begin posting more frequently again when able.

As Lin Tao felt the changes in his body, he took a deep breath. Everything seemed so much easier to understand to him. The spirits that existed throughout the world around him were now as clear as day whether it be Natural Profound Energy, wind, or even the barriers surrounding the arena.

He could see and differentiate all of these things from one another through the spirits that comprised them. Furthermore, he could tell his senses had expanded once again, the information that flooded into his mind about the world now stretched out to a mile!

As Lin Tao enjoyed the changes in his body, the outer disciples watched wherein a buzz. All of them were confused, they had never seen such strange power before. Even their elders had looks of confusion on their faces. They still couldn't sense Lin Tao's power despite that massive surge that had just occurred.

Even Feng Mu, Ye Men, and Lai Mai were at a loss as they stared at Lin Tao. Lin Tao had a smile on his face as he looked toward Xia Cui.

Xia Cui's body seemed to jump the moment Lin Tao's eyes landed on her. They seemed different somehow, piercing. Like they were capable of looking straight through her no matter what she did. And to a degree she was right.

Previously Lin Tao couldn't discern the components of a person. They were simply too complex and closely linked with one another.

But now it was different, he could see it all clearly. And it was as Lin Tao looked at Xia Cui that he noticed something strange. He could see the Profound Energy running through her body, yet at the same time, he saw it was bottlenecked in places.

At some point their Profound Veins would bottleneck, limiting their Profound Energy immensely like flood gates. Narrowing his eyes for a brief moment he looked over towards the Outer Sect Disciplinary Elder.

"Does it matter what kind of advice I give them? What if I give them direct assistance instead?" The Outer Sect Disciplinary Elder seemed to look at Shen shaking free his stunned expression. Coughing he nodded and spoke.

"As long as it's not harmful and helps them in some way then it's fine." He turned and looked at Xia Cui and the remaining eight Outer Disciples.

"Do you all wish to continue or do you surrender?" He of course only asked this question as a formality. Lin Tao had defeated Xia Cui in a single move and the backlash from having her strongest attack countered in that way was severe. Even now she could hardly quell the rabid Profound Energy in her body.

As for the other Outer Disciples, they were hardly worth mentioning, if Lin Tao could beat Xia Cui they had no chance at all.

"I-" Xia Cui tried to stand but immediately felt pain wreck through her body. She grit her teeth as she stared at Shen, half in disbelief and confusion while also being angry and discontent. She lost and she didn't even see how he did it, it all happened too fast.

It was as she was struggling that she heard someone speak to her telepathically.

'Don't force yourself, you did well gauging his strength, don't risk damaging your foundation.' Elder Yang's face was calm yet sharp. His and the other elders' interest in Lin Tao shot up sharply upon seeing such a power. One they couldn't understand even with their cultivation, everything about this Sun Wukong was odd to them.

Hearing her, Elder Xia Cui clenched her fist before relaxing her body.

"I surrender." Her voice was loud enough for everyone to hear, causing gasps and shock to ring through the crowd. At the same time, the remaining eight Outer Disciples didn't hesitate to surrender the moment Xia Cui gave up. At Least they saved some of their pride by not giving up right away.

"Alright, then all of your line up." Lin Tao put away Ruyi Bang as he gestured to them to come here. Xia Cui didn't move right away but eventually, he walked up to Lin Tao with the other Outer Disciples doing so hesitantly.

'I've never thought of him as the teacher type, I wonder what kind of advice he's going to give them.' In the crowd, Ye Men and the others all had a similar thought. But this encounter alone proved Lin Tao was full of surprises, who guessed someone they met at random would be this strong.

Back in the arena Xia Cui glared at Lin Tao. She didn't know what advice he was planning to give but there was no way she was going to recognize anything he said. It was pretty sure, but at this point, her ego had been wounded, and keeping up appearances was no longer a concern the moment her strongest attack was defeated.

Yet at this exact moment, Lin Tao's eyes were once again boring into Xia Cui's Profound Veins, tracing them carefully. Even though he now had access to Qi and his basic ability to differentiate and view spirits had improved he had to really focus to see Profound Vein's inner workings. It was after a few seconds that Lin Tao suddenly smirked.

"As I thought, that bottleneck around your Dantian is why you can't use your Six Winged Raven Movement Technique properly." Xia Cui's expression suddenly changed as she frowned.

"What are you talking about? I can use my 'Six Winged Raven Movement Technique' just fine." Hearing her, Lin Tao shook his head.

"I told you while we were fighting your moves were sluggish. No matter how much Profound Energy you try to use, a lot of it feels like it's getting stuck right? I noticed it earlier but now that I can see it it's pretty obvious." Holding up his finger Lin Tao gathered Qi around it's tip. As the Qi gathered it shined a bright golden color.

"He- What are you doing?" Xia Cui was about to take a step back but Lin Tao immediately stopped her.

"Don't move." His face was serious and for some reason caused Xia Cui to obediently stop moving. Lin Tao stretched his finger towards where her Dantian would be, not touching her yet just barely grazing her clothes. Immediately Xia Cui felt something entering her body, it flowed calmly yet was warm.

Subconsciously she closed her eyes and began to look at what Lin Tao was doing to her body. His finger slowly traced her Profound Veins, his Qi traveling through the same routes as her Profound Energy until it finally hit the blockade.

'There you are.' Qi surged through Lin Tao's finger and went from a calm stream to a violent spear. In an instant Xia Cui's eyes opened as she let out a loud gasp. The blockade was immediately opened by Lin Tao's Qi and at that moment Xia Cui's Cultivation skyrocketed.

Where before it was only mid-way through the Sixth Stage of the Spirit Profound Realm it immediately hit the cusp of a Seventh Stage Spirit Profound Realm Cultivator.

Although before no one knew what Lin Tao was doing, they could all feel this sudden change in Xia Cui. Above them, Elder Yang's eyes immediately changed as he stood up and went onto the stage in an instant. Without saying a word he walked up to Xia Cui and sent his senses out to observe her.

Only a second later his eyes widened and he looked at Lin Tao.

"This… You… You opened up one of her Profound Entrances!" Everyone heard this, and no matter who they were they immediately took a deep breath. This reaction multiplied across every cultivator there.

Shi Yi who was up next to Elder Jin was originally not interested in what had happened on stage. Even Lin Tao's sudden show of strength did not concern him or his master in the slightest. But this announcement was too shocking whether it be him or his master, or even Wang Xinyi, all of them were taken back.

'I did what?' Turning back to look at Xia Cui, Lin Tao finally realized what those blockades he had seen were. They were Profound Entrances, everyone who has Profound Veins also had fifty-four Profound Entrances. They determine one's innate talent and potential in cultivation, having ten or fewer open was average while having fifteen or so was considered gifted.

If you wanted to have your Profound Entrances open it would be extremely risky, and the slightest mistake could cause irreversible damage. The number of people in the entirety of the Profound Sky Continent, perhaps even the world who could open Profound Entrances could be counted on your hands.

It was at this moment that Lin Tao looked down at his hands. Perhaps at this moment, he realized the gap between the Profound Way and The Way of Immortality, the difference between this world's Cultivation and the immortal world he visits in his dreams.

Looking back up Lin Tao's gaze fell onto the remaining eight Outer Disciples. The shock and surprise seemed to fade away when he saw their longing faces. If their eyes could shoot lasers they would have made a hole in his fingers. And it was that fact that caused an idea to go off in Lin Tao's head.

"Sadly that took a lot of focus and concentration, I don't think I'll be able to do it for the rest of you, especially after that fight." This part Lin Tao said loud enough for anyone to hear. But in the second part, he specifically whispered to the eight of them.

"But, if you visit my house tomorrow, I'm sure I could work through the exhaustion… for a price." With that Lin Tao didn't waste another second on stage leaping into the air and making his way back to Elder Cao's side in seconds. The expression on Elder Cao's face clearly revealed his surprise and confusion as he looked at Lin Tao.

"You- You really have the ability to open Profound Entrances?" Lin Tao simply looked at him and winked before going back to being passive and neutral like before. From the outside, he looked as calm as could be. But inside his head, all sorts of ideas were rushing around.

Just how much money could he make off of this? If Qi could open up Profound Entrance's what else could it do? Just how different is the Profound Way from the Way of Immortality? And of course, was it now possible for him to learn abilities he couldn't before?

The ability to utilize Qi had opened up so many possibilities he could hardly contain himself.

As for the rest of the rounds, Lin Tao had no interest in them. If he compared them to Wang Xinyi, the girl who went just before himself they were all lacking.

The only real person who caught his interest was Shi Yi who fought at the very end. Although calling it a fight was an extreme exaggeration.

The Ten Outer Disciples that decided to go against him didn't last longer than a minute or two, it was over faster than both his own and Wang Xinyi's fights. He didn't use a single Profound Art or Technique and even limited his Cultivation.

Still, despite those limiters, his overwhelming skill was enough to make the entire event one-sided. At the same time, none of them got badly injured like Dai Qing. It showed he had both self-control and strength, skill and precision. But by far the most impressive thing was when he was giving advice.

Unlike Wang Xinyi, he didn't address just the Ten Outer Disciples but every Outer Disciple there.

"All of the techniques of our Purple Raven Sect differ from one another, yet they are formed off of the same foundation. They all focus on the control of Profound Energy and utilizing Profound Laws on even the most basic of moves. This is used as a form of training before you reach the later stages. Although going as quickly as possible seems to be the best method this in truth ruins the foundation of the technique."

He went on for nearly ten minutes, yet no one cut him off or interrupted. Even the crowd had quieted down and listened carefully, it was as if he was a teacher before an audience of students. He broke down several separate techniques that everyone in the sect knew, proved his points through demonstration, and provided insight only an Elder's Student could.

Up on the Elder's platform each of them couldn't help but nod their heads and have their eyes shine when they looked at Shi Yi, he was truly the star of their Outer Sect. Even Lin Tao couldn't help but be slightly impressed despite the meaning behind the lesson having nothing to do with him.

'It's going to be fun seeing what he can do when he goes all out.' And with that thought, the first section competition ended.