In the hospital, many members of the Vance family were guarding the ward because, according to Sophia, Ember Vance was likely to wake up on her own at some point during the next couple of days. Thus, all the aunts and great-aunts of the Vance family were present, with three or four of them keeping overnight vigil in her room. Yusuf Zuck met Sophia and Rachel Fournier in the lounge; they were also discussing their next steps. Yusuf Zuck had sent everyone away, so his home now felt deserted. Rachel Fournier hadn’t gone back the previous night but stayed with Sophia in the hospital. "As soon as Ember wakes up, I’ll take you guys down to the south," Yusuf Zuck said. He had just made a round in the hospital room, but with too many people, he merely glanced at Ember before walking back out. "Go down south? Where to?" both women asked curiously. They had come to the capital following Yusuf Zuck, and since he was always busy, to be honest, he hadn’t played the part of a good host. "It’ll probably be Sanya," Yusuf Zuck said with a smile. "I haven’t been with you these past few days, so once Ember wakes up, we’ll leave." "Just the three of us?" Sophia asked, fluttering her big eyes. "Yes, just the three of us!" Check latest chapters at novelFɪre.net "Yay!" Sophia was thrilled. Rachel Fournier smiled with a hint of laughter, "I thought you had forgotten about us. Sophia and I were just saying that once your sweetheart wakes up, we’d be heading back to the mountains." "I’m sorry, Rachel," Yusuf Zuck said with a face full of apologies, for he had brought them to the capital without spending much time with them. "Hehe, I’m just teasing you. We are, after all, without a place to call home, so it doesn’t matter where we go," Rachel Fournier replied with a smile. "Well, then, let’s go to Sanya and have a peaceful New Year," Yusuf Zuck said. He planned to meet up with his grandfather; his sister would certainly get a few days off during the Spring Festival too, so they would all spend the New Year in Sanya. While chatting with the two women, Fleur Carson called, saying she was on her way to the capital, and inquired about Yusuf Zuck’s plans. "Let’s talk when we meet tonight," Yusuf said, as he needed to see Ruth Wilcox in person. After hanging up the call with Fleur Carson, Yusuf’s phone received another bank transfer notification. It was a foreign exchange transaction from overseas, nearly ten million US dollars. It came from Maurice Singleton, and it seemed he had earned quite a sum this month. Maurice Singleton had been in contact with Yusuf for the past few months, occasionally calling to check in. Surprisingly, his daughter, Macklin Greene, was still at Shennongjia and planned to spend the New Year with a classmate’s family. In foreign countries, where only Christmas is celebrated, not the Spring Festival, Macklin found the Chinese New Year celebration intriguing. It was her first time in China and her first Chinese New Year. "Have you entered the gate?" Rachel Fournier, waiting for Yusuf Zuck to put away his phone, asked with a look of surprise. She had inadvertently sensed Yusuf’s energy, which was the "Inner family breath," faint though it was, but still the most direct sign of having entered the initial stage. "Yes, I got through last night. And I wanted to ask you if there’s any powerful elixir that can quickly make me stronger?" Yusuf Zuck nodded. "There are some elixirs made from herbs by various clans that can aid in training, though their effects are limited. However, Grandmaster Huang has a type of Elixir Pill that could take you to the late stage of entry or even to being a Grandmaster." "Oh," Yusuf Zuck nodded. It was normal for the inner clans to have Spiritual Medicine, and Grandmaster Huang having it was normal too, but these were things that Yusuf couldn’t obtain. "Is there any other way?" Yusuf Zuck continued after a moment’s thought. "Yes," Rachel Fournier replied. "Ginseng or Lingzhi that are over a thousand years old, cultivating in Spirit Veins, and some jades that contain Spiritual Energy. There’s also Spiritual Energy in various treasures. All these things can assist in training!" "Spiritual Energy in jade?" Yusuf Zuck was astonished. "How can I extract and utilize the Spiritual Energy in jade for myself?" "Usually, you’d carry it on your person or often fiddle with it in your hands. As you cultivate, the spiritual energy from the jade would naturally be absorbed by you. However, this process is very slow, as you cannot directly extract the spiritual energy from the jade—you can only absorb as much as it releases," "But many cultivators have found another way. They crush that kind of spirit jade and then either incorporate it into medicines or directly consume it mixed with water. However, my Master said that although this method may lead to quick absorption of the spirit jade’s spiritual energy, it also poses the greatest harm to oneself. Humans are meant to eat grains, not rocks, so over time, this can lead to kidney stones or damage to organs in the body, among other issues," "That’s courting death!" Yusuf Zuck took a deep breath and said. "Some people don’t care for the sake of becoming powerful," "Hmm, so eating it directly leads to rapid absorption?" Yusuf Zuck asked curiously. "That’s right. Once inside your body, you just have to circulate your Qi Sea around once, and you’ll digest all the spiritual energy, thereby enhancing yourself," Rachel Fournier explained: "Those who reach Truth-Insight in their twenties do so because they directly consumed spiritual elixir pills. After the pills enter the stomach, all the spiritual power can directly fill their Qi Sea, thus elevating their realm." "Isn’t there a danger of forced growth?" Yusuf Zuck countered. "Of course, there is. Many people haven’t even swung a sword before, so even if they reach the level of a Grandmaster, they don’t know how to fight or kill, etc. This requires continuous cultivation and practice afterwards," "However, some geniuses have no problems at all. Your brother-in-law, the great-grandson of Old Master Huang, he’s probably the result of forced growth, yet he is very powerful. This shows how much the clan values him. With thorough training on various fronts, his progression is naturally fast," "I see. Yesterday, I met someone who seemed to be only around twenty years old but had already reached Truth-Insight, and their Qi flow was like a mist orb, continuously breathing in and out, like a pearl emitting mist!" "What? The Qi Sea has formed into an orb, and it doesn’t stop moving?" Upon hearing Yusuf Zuck’s words, Rachel Fournier was hugely surprised! "Yes, just like that!" Yusuf Zuck nodded affirmatively. "This is a precursor to Fasting," Rachel Fournier took a deep breath. "What will that orb of Qi turn into?" Yusuf Zuck frowned and asked. "I don’t know, but some say it will turn into a... pill. We all currently follow the path of Qi, and the ultimate of Qi is the path of pills," "The path of the Golden Core?" Yusuf Zuck swallowed hard. "Not necessarily a Golden Core. The Golden Core refers to the primordial spirit of immortals, which is mythical. However, there have been rumors of the path of pills, referred to as Qi pills or inner cores, which aren’t golden in color," "Fasting isn’t the same as the path of pills, is it?" Yusuf Zuck asked. "Fasting probably isn’t the path of pills, as the path of pills is too mysterious. Such things can be believable or not," Rachel Fournier shook her head. "Then what are spirit veins?" Yusuf Zuck thought for a moment before asking again. "Spirit Veins refer to those mountains and forests far from the cities, like the top of Mount Changbai, for example. Such places are sparsely populated, and the spiritual energy is richer there. There are many mountains where the spiritual energy is naturally much denser than in the cities. Ordinary people can’t sense it, but practitioners of internal martial arts can sense it because the speed of cultivation in the city compared to in the mountains is completely different," "Of course, now that the mountains aren’t much faster, many people have moved to the cities to live at ease," PS: Uncle understands the frustration of waiting for updates because Uncle also reads books occasionally, so he always feels that authors write slowly. However, Uncle wants to say that since web novels often run into millions of words, none is written in one go before being uploaded. They’re updated one Chapter at a time - and Uncle does the same. Uncle wrote the previous book for two years, and many readers accompanied Uncle for that duration, some from high school to university, and others from middle school to high school. This process has led to our acquaintance, which Uncle is happy about, because due to your liking, the creation of the ’guard’ and its good reviews have been achieved. Uncle is currently maintaining four Chapters a day, each with more than two thousand words, so the daily update amount is around eight to nine thousand words. Uncle’s typing is not particularly fast due to disability, and the plot needs to be designed to make the writing as perfect as possible, consistent, and logical, so I hope the students understand. Yep, Uncle will not slack off and will maintain a steady pace, hoping the students will follow along, support the ’guard,’ and express your liking—thank you, everyone. Uncle’s official reader group is: 24173796; for the official reading website, check out Creating World Chinese Network, QQ reading, mobile QQ Reading Center.