Water Ink Panel: Starting with Bow Technique to Hunt the Sun and Patrol the Skies

Chapter 216 42 Refining the Blood Dominance Cultivation Technique

Shen Qing had just left his seat when Dong Jing and Young Master Sun, after having their fill, suddenly remembered and looked toward the end of the table.

The end of the table was empty, and Shen Qing's trace had long disappeared.

Dong Jing walked to Xi Shaoqin's side, lowered his voice, and asked, "Where's Shen Chasi?"

"He, ah, left a while ago," Xi Shaoqin replied indifferently.

Dong Jing's intoxicated face sobered up a bit, "I was the one who invited him today. In our gathering, I should have involved him more. Ignoring him like this makes me appear somewhat rude."

Xi Shaoqin raised his eyebrows slightly.

He was born into the Xi family of Yongzhou, not of the direct lineage, but still from a high-ranking family. He had attended many such gatherings.

In his eyes, such gatherings were not suited for someone like Shen Qing, from a humble background.

He already had reservations about Dong Jing inviting Shen Qing, and being so attentive made him even more displeased.

"Do you think highly of him, and secretly have a good relationship with him?" asked a young woman sitting nearby, taking the initiative to speak up as she noticed the subtle atmosphere.

The young woman was in her early twenties, with shoulders as if carved, a waist as if it had been planned, and her legs as straight as chopsticks, revealing a well-trained elegant curve.

"No, not really," Dong Jing shook his head and said, "I see him as someone without parents, an outsider who managed to settle in the county town and even squeezed into the government office. He's got some skill, and I want to make his acquaintance."

"What's so good about associating with someone like that? Even if he becomes a Chasi, with that scant official salary, he can't compare with us in cultivation resources. The gap in cultivation will only widen, and he's not destined to be like us."

"Exactly. If you ask me, why bother trying to associate with someone like that? When you advance in your cultivation and ascend to success, he will naturally come to fawn over you. There's no need for you to be so attentive."

Xi Shaoqin had long admired the two young ladies from the Wu family and the Qian family.

Both were not lacking in martial arts skills and appearance. If he could deepen his connection, it could possibly lead to further development and significantly benefit his ascension.

Seeing one of them speak, he chimed in, drawing the approval of many.

Sitting at the head of the table, Young Master Sun spoke, "Xi Chasi makes a lot of sense. I used to know someone with good sight but a humble background. Initially, when interacting with him, he was very aloof, indifferent to me, and even sneered at my status. Later, upon seeing my cultivation continuously breaking through and surpassing his, he changed his attitude and wanted to get close to me."

"From that point on, I realized that people from such origins fear power, not virtue, have small courtesies but lack righteousness. You must train them like training dogs. Never let them take an inch further."

"That's true," everyone nodded, "After all, our preferences and habits have been different from theirs since childhood. Forcing associations, surpassing them in cultivation, easily incites envy. Cultivation lower than theirs makes them secretly despise us. Difficult to please."

"Yes, yes," another woman added, "I have a relative just like you, fond of associating with people of humble origins. At first, the two got along well, but later, due to neglect of cultivation, fell behind that acquaintance. As a result, during an outing, he was ridiculed. My relative couldn't endure it and started a quarrel, eventually losing his life. Truly lamentable."

"..."

Seeing his friends bringing up real-life examples after another sobered Dong Jing greatly.

Having climbed and crawled in the Guardian Martial Department for a while, he had seen many people and events and knew not everything they said was false.

Many from humble beginnings had perspectives completely different from theirs and often became agitated over minor matters, not aligning with their worldviews.

But from his observations, Dong Jing found Shen Qing slightly different from the bottom-level people they had met.

If his guess was right, Shen Qing had quietly broken through to the Qi Hai Realm with some technique from somewhere, and his cultivation speed clearly was catching up with theirs.

Such a relationship being abruptly severed would be too unfortunate.

Seeing Dong Jing's hesitant look, Young Master Sun laughed and said, "If Dong Cha doesn't want to cut ties like that, just reduce interactions in the future, give him some benefits occasionally to maintain it. After some time, when your cultivation advances, he'll naturally come to you. No need to burden yourself."

Dong Jing glanced at everyone and then outside the private room.

On one side were long-time friends, and on the other was a "Lone Rider Chasi" with a humble origin.

There was almost no comparison between the two.

In an instant, Dong Jing made his decision, poured himself a full glass, and laughed loudly, "Let's not talk about that 'Lone Rider Chasi.' Let's drink."

"Come on, cheers."

When curfew time approached, the gathering wrapped up.

"Waiter, come here to settle the bill," Dong Jing shouted with a big gesture.

In a moment, a servant came running with a beaming smile and said, "Gentlemen, our boss is treating everyone for the sake of Dong Cha's friendship."

"Friendship?!" Dong Jing was slightly stunned.

...

"Qingzi, you're back?"

After the gate of the small courtyard was opened, Shen Qing stepped in from outside.

He turned around and closed the gate again, saying casually, "Sister, didn't you go to the restaurant to help today?"

"There's uncle and aunt at the restaurant, they don't need me. If there's no one at home, there's no one to look after you when you return, so they let me come back."

Elder sister Shen Fang sat on a chair, embroidering by the light of a lantern. As she embroidered, she asked, "Have you eaten? If not, I'll heat some food for you."

"I ate at the restaurant, take a rest," Shen Qing walked over, lowered his head for a look, and found that Shen Fang was embroidering a pair of mandarin ducks, surprisingly lifelike, "Sister, when did you master this embroidery skill?"

Shen Fang blushed, "Hey, don't worry about that."

Seeing Shen Fang's blushing ears in the candlelight, Shen Qing stopped teasing.

Counting the days, his elder sister was already twenty years old. In these parts, that's considered an advanced age. Could this be a little romantic thought?

Shen Qing refrained from asking more and turned to his own room.

Tonight's gathering hadn't felt that pleasant, but it wasn't entirely fruitless.

"I still have to focus on advancing my cultivation to tread the right path."

With a thought, a drop of ink fell from the top of Shen Qing's vision, forming lines of text.

[Skill: Blood Dominance Technique (Mastery)]

[Progress: 403/900 points]

[Status: Cannot be advanced]

The Blood Dominance Technique was a cultivation method obtained by breaking the limit of nine kinds of stance training, primarily to strengthen Qi-Blood and restore physical strength.

Before reaching the Qi Hai Realm, one must say this technique was quite good, as it offset the side effects of using the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Skill.

But after breaking through to the Qi Hai Realm, it seemed somewhat lacking, unable to repair True Qi, making it a bit pointless.

Perhaps it was time to find a related technique beneficial for True Qi, to reforge the points from the Blood Dominance Technique.

Shen Qing began to ponder, considering and weighing his options.