chapter 8 ponytail girl

Since life should be lived without regrets, one must begin cultivating as early as possible.
The sky was just beginning to brighten when Andrew Qi left the small hotel and strode swiftly towards Bragrance Mountain Park, located a kilometre away from the back gate of the Southwest Associated University. Although Bragrance Mountain was no more than two hundred meters high, it was considered the most natural and highest point throughout the entire Jin Cheng City, overlooking the entire campus panorama.
Most importantly, this was the only place within several kilometres of the school where one could absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Compared to Qingtai Mountain, the air quality in Jin Cheng City was quite poor. It was slightly better near the school, and the environment in Bragrance Mountain Park barely met the conditions for cultivation.
With the divine consciousness of Ulysses, Andrew Qi instantly found the best spot for cultivation, which was at the Ximo Pond halfway up the mountain, a natural spring that once sat atop a spiritual vein. However, the vein had gradually dried up due to urban changes, and the water in the mouth of the fountain had also decreased significantly. Nevertheless, it still gathered some spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
There was a pavilion next to the Ximo Pond, with the words "Spring Knowledge Pavilion" written on its plaque in a vigorous and powerful brushstroke, suggesting that the person who inscribed it was quite skilled in calligraphy and also proficient in geomancy. However, the best spot for spiritual energy on Bragrance Mountain was about twenty meters away from the pavilion.
That's exactly where Andrew Qi was standing now!
Standing under an ancient pine, he seemed as rooted as the tree itself.
After he stood still, the mist and water vapour around Bragrance Mountain began to converge towards him, it being a sign of the flow of spiritual energy.
There are twelve realms in the cultivation journey, body refining, qi cultivation, innate, foundation building, core formation, nascent soul, primordial spirit, void alchemy, union, Mahayana, false immortal, and true immortal.
Andrew Qi, having perfected the body refining stage, had not officially entered the qi cultivation stage, but with the truthful charms, he could already absorb spiritual energy and further refine his body.
However, the qi that Andrew Qi exhaled was no longer the turbid qi but white true qi. Since he hadn't formed a qi cyclone in his Dantian yet, he couldn't store these true qi and convert it into internal energy.
But Andrew Qi's current cultivation was not meaningless, he was polishing his body, aiming to perfect the body refining stage.
To cultivate without regrets was one of Andrew Qi's goals for this cultivation session, so naturally, he wanted to ensure that each realm was cultivated flawlessly.
With the protection of the dragon spirit, Ulysses, Andrew Qi was not worried about anything else. After a short while, he was fully immersed in cultivation, his body enveloped in mist.
Gradually, more people appeared on Bragrance Mountain, and the sounds of exercise and reading grew, along with the more cheerful chirping of birds, but did not disturb Andrew Qi. Instead, it felt as if there was a harmonious resonance between man and earth, and heaven and man, as if the vibrant students seeking knowledge and exercising were also pursuing and seeking ‘The Way’.
The morning light illuminated the entire park.
After a while, four people appeared in the pavilion.
One of them was an elderly man, who was about fifty or sixty years old, dressed in white Tai Chi attire, with white hair but a ruddy complexion and bright spirit, and bulging temples that suggested he was a martial practitioner. However, he was sitting in a wheelchair, pushed by a young girl in a black tracksuit.
The girl's hair was all tied up into a single herringbone braid down her back, unlike the usual three-strand braid, and without a single strand falling out, revealing her wheat-coloured neck, giving her a more brisk and capable appearance. Moreover, her legs were long, suggesting an explosive beauty contained within.
Following the elderly man and the young girl were two robust young men standing upright, like two spears.
After offering their respects to the elderly, the two young men started practicing their boxing outside the pavilion. In a flash, their punches flew with a tiger-like ferocity, showing their genuine skill.
After a round of boxing, the elderly man in the Tai Chi outfit asked the girl with a ponytail, "My dear, what do you think of my two disciples?"
"The peak of external strength, pure boxing skills, they could become instructors in the military!" said the girl with the ponytail, her words concise.
The two young men seemed pleased, thinking this was praise, but the elder's face darkened as he sighed, "My dear, you think being at the peak of external strength is insufficient? Must one develop internal strength to catch your eye?"
"Yes!" The tone of the girl with the ponytail seemed unwavering.
"You don't know how hard it is nowadays to find a martial artist with internal strength," the elder sighed. "Who amongst the current generation can endure the hardship of training? Being at the peak of external strength is already quite good! Besides, there are only a few places in Jin Cheng City suitable for the cultivation of internal strength martial artists. My dear, these two disciples are whom I’m proud off. If they could enter the 'Xuanwu' for training, they could easily reach the internal extremities stage and support you in the future."
"Uncle Chu, I understand your intention. You have always wanted to cultivate talents for Xuanwu, but without internal strength, one isn’t qualified to join Xuanwu. This rule cannot be changed. At least, it cannot change in team Nine!" The girl with the ponytail said stubbornly. Then she turned her gaze towards the ancient pine twenty meters away, as if something had caught her attention, and pointed, "Uncle Chu, look—"
The elder followed the girl's gaze and saw a young man standing under the pine tree. Since they arrived, he had been standing there as if he were a pine tree, part of the universe itself, with mist swirling around him, making him seem elusive. If one did not pay special attention, it was easy to overlook his presence.
Although the elder's legs were immobile and he was a martial artist at the peak of internal strength, he could not discern the stance that the young man was using. Yet, he felt that there was something profound about the young man's standing posture, seemingly simple but containing great mysteries, and the spot where the young man stood seemed to be of right time and place.
Regrettably, as the girl pointed, the young man seemed to have eyes on his back and sensed them. His figure shifted, the surrounding mist whirled up, and he headed down the mountain.
"Wait—" The girl with the ponytail hurriedly followed, covering several meters in a single step. But by the time she reached the ancient pine tree, she saw that the young man's figure had already reached the foot of the mountain.
Knowing she couldn't catch up, the girl with the ponytail stomped her foot and said, "It's so hard to find someone interesting, and he just ran away!"
Back at the pavilion, the girl said to the elder, "Uncle Chu, you've run a martial arts school in Jin Cheng City for many years. Do you recognize him? That kid seemed odd, he must have had some tricks up his sleeve, don't you think?"
"He does seem to have some! But he was somewhat weird too!" the elder nodded, "There are only a few outstanding young people in the martial circles of Jin Cheng City, but he is certainly not amongst them. Not to mention, I've never seen such a stance as his!"
"No matter how odd he is, as long as he is in Jin Cheng City, I will surely find him!" the girl with the ponytail said stubbornly. "Who knows, he might come back here tomorrow!"