"I was expelled because I gave a harsh beating to a disciple that had bullied me."
Gu Qingfeng remembered very clearly the memories of his youth in Redcloud Sect because a lot of his firsts took place there. Like his first absorbing spiritual energy, his first fight, his first Dao companion, his first dual cultivation. Up to now, these memories were still hidden in the depths of his mind.
There was a little suspicion in Ouyang Ye"s eyes as she was unable to tell if he was lying or not, “Are you lying to me again? Didn"t you say you have innate supernatural strength? If that"s true, our Redcloud Sect masters will certainly be in a hurry to accept you as a disciple, and would not make you a janitor.”
“How should I say this…”
Gu Qingfeng picked a lot of wild fruits from the trees by the side of the road. Maybe because he was a little tired from the fight just now, he sat down and ate the wild fruit, one at a time, “My situation is a little complicated and even if I explained it to you, you wouldn"t understand.” he replied.
“I wouldn"t understand? Hmph! I am an inner disciple of the Redcloud Sect and I have read a lot of books ever since I was a child. I know a lot more than you do.” Ouyang Ye snorted “Don"t you dare let me give you a check-up?”
“As you wish.” Gu Qingfeng"s hunger went away and he felt rather refreshed after wolfing down those bitter wild fruits that he hadn"t tasted in a lot of o years.
Ouyang Ye came over and grasped Gu Qingfeng"s wrist, then she released a wisp of her spiritual sense and began her check-up. However, not long after, a bewildered expression appeared on her delicate face as she discovered that he simply had no spiritual root, no dantian and his meridians were all tangled!
This situation only happened when someone failed his Foundation Establishment!
As an inner disciple of the Redcloud Sect, Ouyang Ye knew very well that when someone"s cultivation base had reached the Connate Realm, it would encounter the first threshold of the cultivation road, which was known as Foundation Establishment!
Those who succeeded in their Foundation Establishment could continue to cultivate even further while those who failed had their spiritual root dispersed, their dantian losing its vitality until it withered away and disappeared, and their meridians damaged. For those with bad luck, they could even die on the spot if they failed their Foundation Establishment.
In this world, failing the Foundation Establishment was a very common thing and the reasons were quite complicated. Some failed because the foundations were not solid, some failed due to the pills they had taken, some failed because they were too rash and impatient and so on so forth. There were simply too many reasons for failing the Foundation Establishment.
Wait!
Why was this guy"s body so strong if he failed in his Foundation Establishment?
Ouyang Ye continued to investigate Gu Qingfeng"s internal situation and the more she investigated, the more she felt her scalp going numb. His meridians were in a complete mess, similar to the roots of old trees.
However, to her surprise, although these meridians were very disordered, due to some unknown reason, they were all extremely opened up and unblocked. What was more frightening was that Gu Qingfeng"s bones were very strange and his root bone was harder and thicker than ordinary people.
Was this a mutant body? It had to be!
The so-called mutant body usually referred to failing the Foundation Establishment due to an unstable foundation. Then the powerful spiritual force instantly dispersed the inborn spiritual root and the dantian would begin losing its vitality.
However, under the attack of the powerful spiritual force, the meridians would not only get tangled up, but also exceptionally opened up and unblocked, resulting in the mutation of the bones and gaining an unthinkable amount of strength.
Although a mutant body possessed unimaginable strength and unblocked meridians, it was incapable of sensing the spiritual energy of its dispersed spiritual root. That was just like a person without a nose. He was unable to breathe!
It was also not capable of absorbing any spiritual energy because of the collapse of the dantian. From now on, it was impossible for someone with a mutant body to cultivate ever again. That was why a mutant body was also called so the variant body is also called the Foundation Establishment Crippled Body.
The number of people who had failed their Foundation Establishment and produced a mutant body was very few, even rarer than the legendary Exquisite Bodies. Of course, just because they were rare didn"t mean that they were nonexistent. Redcloud Sect had one, and now another one appeared.
"So you had a Foundation Establishment Crippled, ahem, I mean a mutant body."
After confirming that Gu Qingfeng had a Foundation Establishment Crippled Body, a lot of the anger inside Ouyang Ye"s eyes had been replaced with pity. Although she hadn"t reached the Foundation Establishment level yet, she had seen many people who had failed their Foundation Establishment over the years. She knew very well what failing it meant. Even if after failing it you gained a mutant body, and it would still be impossible to cultivate again.
"Mutant body?"Gu Qingfeng didn"t know whether to laugh or cry after hearing the result of Ouyang Ye"s long investigation.
It was true that he had no spiritual root because he simply didn"t need one to sense the spiritual energy! All he needed was one breath! Not to mention a spiritual root, even an immortal root couldn"t compare with this.
His dantian had truly dried up a long time ago and was completely lifeless but this didn"t mean he had no dantian. On the contrary, every aperture and even every pore in his body was a dantian.
As for his tangled up meridians and strange bones, they were not caused by failing the Foundation Establishment but by the immortal and devil judgments, as well as the Supreme Body that he obtained after painstakingly tempering himself with the Underworld"s ancestral fire.
However, because he had his Grand Dao foundation destroyed, his immortal and devil thrones seized and he was beaten back to his mortal body by the Heavenly Dao, his current condition was very similar to a mutant body.
But since Ouyang Ye regarded himself as a mutant body, he didn"t bother to explain her anything.
“Hey, you look very weak so take this Vitality Pill.”
Ouyang Ye took out a white jade bottle from the storage bag around her waist, poured out a Vitality Pill and gave it to Gu Qingfeng, which he swallowed immediately after thanking her. This pill came a the right time since is current condition was extremely weak and he needed to replenish his vitality.
“What happened to you must be very harsh…”
Failing the Foundation Establishment was almost tantamount to being a cripple. Usually, they would be expelled by their sect since they had no more worth for them to be trained. And in some cases, they would even be mercilessly driven out of their family after failing the Foundation Establishment.
Looking at Gu Qingfeng"s disheveled hair, beaten down appearance and tattered clothes, Ouyang Ye guessed that he must have suffered a lot from the harsh world after failing his Foundation Establishment.
She felt even sadder after watching him eat those wild fruits as if they were a delicacy. She had tried those wild fruits that were growing by the side of the road and they were so bitter that she could not swallow them. Despite this, he was wolfing them down in large numbers, obviously, he was extremely hungry.
She was a kind-hearted person, and after seeing all of these, her eyes started to get moist. She secretly wiped off her tears and said in a soft voice, "Don"t eat those wild fruits. My aunt"s villa is just ahead, I"ll take you there and you can eat your fill."
"Oh, that would be nice."
After all, Gu Qingfeng had lived for hundreds of years. He had seen all living things in this world and his eyesight was obviously very frightening. He clearly saw that this little girl was taking pity on him. He was originally thinking of finding a place to take a bath and change into new clothes but since this little girl had taken pity on him, he didn"t have to do all that.
Ouyang Ye was truly warmhearted and after learning that Gu Qingfeng failed his Foundation Establishment, her att.i.tude not only became much more gentle, but even her voice became softer, and also took out a spiritual fruit from her storage bag and gave it to Gu Qingfeng.
At first, she wanted to ask what happened to him, but after thinking about it, she gave up on this thought. He had already failed his Foundation Establishment. If she asked again about his suffering, it would be tantamount to sprinkling salt on the wound. Therefore, Ouyang Ye only asked for his name.
Gu Qingfeng was actually very happy and he talked all along the road. Very quickly, they arrived at the foot of a mountain.
Although the mountain in front was not too big, it was very exquisite, and the beautiful scenery at the top of the mountain could be vaguely seen. At the foot of the mountain stood a huge stone tablet, on which a name was engraved – Superb Villa.
"Is this your aunt"s villa? It"s quite big."
Gu Qingfeng looked carefully and saw that the entire mountain was shrouded in all kinds of formations. There was a formation for gathering spiritual energy, one for blocking the sound, and even one for blocking the sun and cooling the air. The number of spiritual stones necessary for operating all these formations every day was definitely huge.
There were many carriages right at the foot of the mountain, and many people went in and out, there were groups of people talking and laughing together, looking very lively.
After following Ouyang Ye into the villa, Gu Qingfeng felt the rich spiritual energy inside and a.s.sessed that under the mountain was a good spiritual vein. Looking around, he saw the breath-taking scenery of the villa, with birds flying around and flowers that decorated the high towers and pavilions, as well as lots of people.
"Why are there so many people?"
“Because a musical gathering will be held today in the villa. My aunt has invited many famous musicians, even the most famous one from our Bluesun Domain, Grandmaster Wen Zhu, came.”
“Musicians, heh… So music will be played. ”
The Immortal Dao had ten arts, and formations, magic arts, martial skills, talismans and music were just some of them.
Compared with other immortal arts, it was more difficult to get started and master music. This thing required high talent and comprehension and belonged to the relatively exquisite and rare arts.
Plus, a wonderful song was capable of cleansing the spirit and made people happy, and allowed them to forget about their sorrows. A musical expert was even capable of frightening monsters and demons with songs.
Therefore, since ancient times, music had always been highly praised. It was suitable for all ages and it roused the admiration of people. If a song was capable of exhibiting its concept, it was definitely going to make people forget themselves and feel as if they were dreaming throughout eternity, leaving them with memorable memories.
"Moreover, Grandmaster Wen Zhu is going to play The Wind Rises at the Azure Mountain today. Just thinking about his song is enough to make people excited."
When he heard the name of the song, Gu Qingfeng couldn"t help but be a little dazed because this name felt very familiar. Among the songs that he created in those days, one of them had this exact name, “Which The Wind Rises at the Azure Mountain?"
“Obviously the Sovereign"s! From ancient times to the present, apart from the Sovereign, who was able to create such a heartbreaking song like The Wind Rises at the Azure Mountain?”
Just like every time when the Sovereign was mentioned, Ouyang Ye"s pretty face was full of worship and adoration, “The Sovereign has left behind countless famous songs throughout his life, but because his musical skills have already reached a realm that was so profound that ordinary people wouldn"t even be able to understand it, many of them are too mysterious and few people could play them to the end.”
After a slight pause, she continued: “Although The Wind Rises at the Azure Mountain was created by Sovereign when he was young and the musical skills required to play it were not very high, not everyone can exhibit its concept. I have heard many people play it, including famous musicians, but in the entire Bluesun Domain, only Grandmaster Wen Zhu was capable of perfectly exhibiting the concept of The Wind Rises at the Azure Mountain."
“Really?” Gu Qingfeng rubbed his chin, nodded and smiled, “then I need to hear it.”
“When the song will be played, you will listen carefully and immerse yourself in it. Doing so will allow you to go back to the Near Ancient Era and see how to Sovereign intimidated the heroes at the Azure Mountain."
Ouyang Ye looked at him with a serious expression, “Although you"ve failed your Foundation Establishment, it will be worth hearing Grandmaster Wen Zhu play The Wind Rises at the Azure Mountain.”
“Isn"t he just playing a song? Why do you need to exaggerate this so much?"Gu Qingfeng was amazed: “Don"t tell me that after hearing that Grandmaster sing, my foundation will recover? ”
“Hmph, you are truly ignorant! Grandmaster Wen Zhu can play the true The Wind Rises at the Azure Mountain. This song was created by the Sovereign when sustained major injuries in his younger days."
"You must know that his Golden Core was destroyed back then and he was much more miserable than you are today. But in the end, he still recovered and returned to the Azure Mountain and completely slaughtered the seven sects! "
"I want you to listen carefully to this song so that you can experience the magnificent bearing of the Sovereign and not lose hope just because you have failed your Foundation Establishment.”
"Haha, even though I have lived for so long, I still haven"t heard other people playing The Wind Rises at the Azure Mountain." Gu Qingfeng burst out laughing.
Back then he was truly engrossed in music and wrote quite a lot of songs, some of which he occasionally played, but he had never heard anyone play his songs.