109: Chapter 109 Talent

Wang Chongyang saw the reshaped Sea of Consciousness. The mirror-clear water surface was boundless, reflecting stems, leaves, and sky light beneath, while a white lotus flower unfolding lotus leaves hovered above the water.

The lotus petals were crystalline like jade, radiating an extremely faint white light. That light was gentle and pure, without a trace of Impurities.

Delicate roots pierced deep into the Sea of Consciousness, absorbing and purifying the lingering Evil Qi bit by bit, transforming it into nutrients to nourish the Sea of Consciousness.

The entire Sea of Consciousness was as clean as if washed by spring rain, without blood malice, evil aura, or traces of Possession, only a patch of tranquil and thriving vitality.

The white lotus swayed gently when Wang Chongyang's Divine Soul approached, as if identifying the visitor's aura.

After a moment, it ignored him and continued to focus on smoothing out the incompletely healed hidden injuries deep within the Sea of Consciousness.

Wang Chongyang looked at that white lotus, an extremely faint trace of understanding rising on his aged face.

He had seen this aura before, on Shouren.

That brat had been in closed-door cultivation for two years, and after coming out, this faint and elusive aura had appeared on him. At the time, he only thought it was due to the Cultivation Technique and didn't ask much.

Now it seemed that the things he was hiding were much more than he had imagined.

His Divine Soul withdrew from Wang Shoudong's Sea of Consciousness, slowly opening his eyes.

Wang Yaowen stood by the bedside, his fists tightly clenched, his knuckles squeezed white, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins and anxiety, yet not daring to urge him aloud. He just stared fixedly at Wang Chongyang's lips, as if waiting for a judgment.

Wang Chongyang looked at his appearance and suddenly smiled.

That smile was very light and faint, yet it made Wang Yaowen's heart, which had been suspended for half the night, suddenly drop back into place.

"It is Shoudong."

The old man's voice was hoarse and resolute as he reached out and patted Wang Yaowen's shoulder. "Your son has not undergone Possession."

Wang Yaowen's legs went soft. A dignified man at the ninth layer of Qi Refining actually collapsed and sat by the bedside, covering his face with both hands. His shoulders trembled violently, and tearlight flickered between his fingers.

He cried. This tough man who had never frowned while killing his way in and out cried like a child at the moment his son woke up.

Wang Yaowu strode in from outside the courtyard. Before he even stepped through the door, his booming voice arrived first. "Second Brother! How is Shoudong doing?"

He stepped through the door with one foot and saw Wang Shoudong leaning against the head of the bed, gazing at him with those clear eyes. His entire body froze in place.

Then he grinned and burst into laughter, laughing so loudly that the dust on the rafters fell down. While laughing, his eye rims turned red. "Good lad! You're finally awake! Do you know how many nights your father guarded by your bed? If you didn't wake up again, your father would almost turn into a waiting-for-son stone!"

Wang Shoudong looked at his father's slightly trembling back, his throat tightening somewhat as well, but he quickly squeezed out a smile and intentionally diverted the topic. "Third Uncle, I'm hungry."

"Hungry is good! Being hungry means you're truly alive!" Wang Yaowu wiped away the damp trace at the corner of his eyes and turned to roar toward outside the door. "Kitchen! Quickly have the kitchen cook a pot of Spiritual Fish porridge! Pick the fattest Cloud Carp! Shoudong is awake, the whole clan will have extra meals tonight!"

Wang Yaowen stood up from the bedside, turned around, and quickly wiped his face with his sleeve. His voice was still somewhat hoarse, but he had already recovered his usual composure.

He looked at Wang Chongyang, suddenly remembering something, and said, "Sixth Uncle, that Black Fiend has already—"

"Dead." Wang Chongyang placed both hands behind his back, returning to his expressionless old man appearance, though a trace of unvanished smile still hung at the corners of his mouth. "The Ning Family has been destroyed, the Black Fiend has been executed, and Shoudong has awakened. Today's three major events are all good news."

He paused and added, "There is only one more matter—Shoudong, do you know the origin of that white lotus in your Sea of Consciousness?"

Wang Shoudong was slightly stunned, then shook his head.

He lowered his head to look at his hands, slowly opening and then slowly clenching them, as if confirming that these hands were truly still attached to his own body, and then he raised his head and said earnestly:

"I don't know, but that Lotus Seed... after I fell unconscious, I vaguely heard a sound. It seemed to have appeared in my Sea of Consciousness only after Brother Shouren came by. At the time, I also heard him say it was an accidentally acquired treasure that could repair Divine Soul damage, but whether I could wake up still depended on fortune."

"He really is willing to part with it."

Wang Chongyang stroked his beard and let out a light hum. There was not a shred of blame in his tone, only an indescribable emotion.

"Although this old man cannot name that thing, I can sense that the power of the Divine Soul contained within it is extremely pure and majestic, by no means an ordinary treasure. He used it on you like this without even asking the clan, not even afraid of any mishaps."

Wang Yaowen fell silent for a moment before suddenly speaking. His voice was a few shades lower than before, yet exceptionally solemn: "We father and son will remember Shouren's kindness."

"We are all family, what talk of kindness is there." Wang Yaowu strode back from outside the door, still carrying a pot of wine in his hand.

"I know that brat Shouren; he always has a sense of propriety in what he does. Since he dared to use it on Shoudong, it means he was certain."

He poured a cup of wine and shoved it into Wang Yaowen's hand, poured one for Wang Chongyang as well, and finally raised his own wine cup, saying loudly, "Today we are happy, let's not talk about those things. The Ning Family is destroyed, the Black Fiend is dead, and Shoudong has awakened—three joyous events! Second Brother, you must drink three cups!"

On the seventh day after waking up, Wang Shoudong unexpectedly achieved a Breakthrough, defying everyone's expectations.

That early morning, he was meditating and regulating his breath in the courtyard as usual. Ever since his Sea of Consciousness was reshaped by the white lotus, he needed to spend a large amount of time every day exhaling and inhaling Spiritual Qi, utilizing the white lotus's roots to smooth out the residual blood-fiend toxins in his body.

This meditation was completely different from usual—as soon as the Spiritual Qi entered the Dantian, it was like being violently sucked in by something. The spiritual power vortex in the Dantian abruptly accelerated, rotating many times faster than usual.

An unprecedented sense of fullness spread along his Meridians to all his limbs and bones, and the spiritual light around his body shone brilliantly. The fallen leaves in the courtyard were whipped into a frenzy all over the sky by the wave of Qi.

Wang Yaowen was handling clan affairs in the neighboring courtyard. Sensing this spiritual power fluctuation, the Jade Slip in his hand clattered onto the table, and he abruptly stood up.

When he rushed into his son's courtyard, Wang Yaowu had already arrived a step earlier, standing at the courtyard entrance with his mouth open wide enough to stuff an egg.

"Eighth layer of Qi Refining!" Wang Yaowu's voice was trembling. "Second Brother, Shoudong has broken through! He lay down for so long, and as soon as he woke up, he broke through!"

Wang Yaowen did not speak, only looking at the young man sitting cross-legged in the courtyard with spiritual light circulating around his body, his eye rims growing somewhat sore again.

He turned around, rubbed the corners of his eyes hard, and then turned back to roar into the communication talisman, "Go invite Sixth Uncle over! Shoudong has broken through!"

Wang Chongyang arrived very quickly.

He landed in the courtyard and reached out to place his hand on Wang Shoudong's pulse. The moment his Divine Sense probed in, a trace of surprise surfaced on his aged face.

He repeatedly probed three times before slowly withdrawing his hand. Standing with his hands behind his back, he fell silent for quite a while.

"His spiritual power is profound, his Foundation is solid, and he is indeed at the eighth layer of Qi Refining." His voice was as steady as usual, but a flash of sharp light flickered slightly in his eyes. "Yet what is even more rare is—Shoudong's Divine Soul strength is growing even faster than his cultivation level. Shoudong, try releasing your Divine Sense outwards with all your might."