Zhao Guang's Chevrolet was quite spacious, especially the back seats. It managed to accommodate one sleeping on it with his or her legs bent.
However, it was not as comfortable as a solid bed. Hao Ren turned around again and again and couldn't find a comfortable position.
Finally, he sat up cross-legged and began to cultivate the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll.
Five sword energies slowly circulated in his body while Hao Ren controlled the strength of them with the technique. The sword energies sometimes traveled out of his body and sometimes entered his body.
When the five sword energies combined, they formed a small grey hundun 1 sword energy.
The sword energy pulsated in his palm as if it was alive.
"Natal Dharma Treasure." Suddenly, Hao Ren remembered the things that Zhao Yanzi had told him during the day.
Zeng Yitao could have three Natal Dharma Treasures which could be connected to the owner's mind. The cultivator could control them at will and could utilize their full power. On top of that, as the cultivator reach a higher realm, his or her Natal Dharma Treasure would also elevate and grow more powerful.
"My sword energies are formed by the essence in my body, and they share my blood and mind. Are they Natal Dharma Treasures? The technique Zeng Yitao is cultivating can let him have three Natal Dharma Treasure. With two more Natal Dharma Treasures than most cultivators, he is naturally more powerful. Well, this hundun sword energy of mine could be divided into five elemental swords. Does it mean that I have five Natal Dharma Treasures? If I could achieve the realm of 'Ten Thousand Swords at Heart' mentioned in the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll and could transform the hundun sword energy into tens of thousands of swords, does it mean that I will have tens of thousands of Natal Dharma Treasures at my command?
At this thought, Hao Ren turned his attention from the control of the strength of the sword energy to the control of its direction. The sword energy ran through his body and clothes with faint muffled thunder sounds. With a thought, Hao Ren brought two fingers together and made a gesture before yelling, "Go!"
The grey hundun sword energy traveled through his fingers before shooting out of the window and up into the sky.
In the dark night, the whiteish grey sword energy had a tail trailing behind it like a flare.
Boom!
The sword energy entered the clouds in the sky, but Hao Ren could still feel the connection with the sword energy and could even sense the clouds.
The sword energy continued to soar and instantly penetrated layers of clouds.
Boom!
Disturbed by the sword energy, the lightning started to form.
Muffled thunders boomed in the sky, and Hao Ren hurriedly called back the sword energy as he felt a pressure in his chest.
So far, the sword energy couldn't make turns yet. Therefore, it dropped with the same route it had when it went up into the sky.
"Back!" Hao Ren reached out his hand, and the sword energy shot through the car window before entering his palm.
A surge of burning energy traveled from the center of his palm into his heart. He looked down and saw a red mark on the Laogong acupoint in the center of his palm as if he had been burned!
The power of the lightning. Hao Ren endured the pain and realized that the sword energy had brought back the energy of the lightning from the clouds.
The Nature Essence in his body seemed to have been activated by the pure lightning power. It began to boil!
Meanwhile, a lightning bolt flashed in the clouds, lighting up the whole sky.
Hao Ren felt lucky since he had withdrawn the sword energy from the clouds. If his sword energy, the 'Natal Dharma Treasure' connected with his spirit, had been damaged, he would also have been wounded and would at least spat out a mouthful of blood.
The red mark on the Laogong acupoint in the center of his palm gradually disappeared. He hurriedly transferred the pure energy of the lightning into his own Nature Essence, feeling that his whole body was soaked in the stimulation of the lightning. Suddenly, another opening appeared in the Dragon Core in his body.
The magnificent Nature Essence from the outside entered Hao Ren's body like a whirlpool, and the car even shook under its force.
Half a minute later, the new opening on the Dragon Core was finally full of essence and became stable. Meanwhile, Hao Ren felt like the connection between him and nature seemed to be sharper.
At this moment, a drizzle began.
The temperature in the courtyard dropped, and Hao Ren who was sitting in the car felt the chill.
In the room about a dozen meters away, Zhao Yanzi tossed and turned in her bed and couldn't sleep either under the dim yellow light from a lightbulb dangling from the ceiling.
The walls of the room were coated with lime mud and dust. In a corner, several spiders were crawling at a measured pace to build their webs. On the floor, some black bugs were crawling back and forth.
Zhao Yanzi rolled into a ball with the quilt around her on the bed that was made from hard boards, observing her surroundings alertly.
After some thinking, she got up and put on her shoes. Seeing it was drizzling outside, she picked up an umbrella from the corner of the room and cautiously walked into the courtyard.
Sitting in the car, Hao Ren was cultivating with his eyes closed, trying to solidify his realm.
Zhao Yanzi walked to the car and knocked on the window.
"What's the matter?" Hao Ren was surprised to see her.
"Idiot! Aren't you cold out here?" Zhao Yanzi opened the door and got in the car.
"It's raining. Aren't you afraid that you will catch a cold coming out in your pajamas?" Hao Ren looked at her and asked.
Zhao Yanzi didn't answer. She curled up her legs and sat in the back seat beside Hao Ren.
Hao Ren thought for a while. "What? You can't sleep alone here?"
Zhao Yanzi pouted, but she remained silent.
"Do you want me to keep you company in the room?" Hao Ren asked again.
Finally, Zhao Yanzi turned to look at him. "It is you who offered to keep me company; I didn't ask."
Her eyes sparkled like two innocent diamonds in the dark night.
Hao Ren smiled. Placing his hand lightly on her shoulder, he nudged her out of the car before following her. He took a cushion from the car and held up the umbrella before walking Zhao Yanzi to the room.
Although the room didn't have heating, it was warmer than the courtyard. Hao Ren tossed the cushion onto the cold brick floor before sitting down on it cross-legged.
Zhao Yanzi froze. She had not meant to let Hao Ren sleep on the floor. Seeing that he was already on the floor, she had no choice but to get back into the bed with her lips pouted.
Time ticked away while the drizzle continued. With Hao Ren at her side, Zhao Yanzi now had more control over her thoughts. For example, she no long wondered if the bugs would crawl into her ears or not. Meanwhile, Hao Ren silently felt the second opening on his Dragon Core. He found that the Nature Essence circulated faster in his body, and he could use more essence at a time. Even the hundun sword energy in his palm seemed to have a more solid shape.
"Ahem! Ahem!" Lying on the bed, Zhao Yanzi suddenly cleared her throat.
Hao Ren turned to look at her.
"You… Ugh… Can sleep on the bed," Zhao Yanzi stammered while her shining eyes avoided Hao Ren's.
"Do you mean it?" Hao Ren asked casually.
Zhao Yanzi's face turned burning red, wondering if this 'Uncle' was so dense that he had to wait for a second invitation.
"I mean… The bed is not so small. I can give you half of it," Zhao Yanzi said. Then she added, "But the quilt is mine."
Hao Ren thought for a while before standing up from the floor and climbing onto the wood board bed.
Zhao Yanzi's face turned bright red. In her home, the floors were covered by carpets, and it wasn't cold to sleep on it. But in this countryside house, the floor was paved with cold bricks, and it was very uncomfortable to sleep on it even though Hao Ren had the cushion he brought from the car.
She pulled the quilt tightly around her body and shifted to lie on her side with her back to Hao Ren.
After sitting so long on the hard floor, Hao Ren found that it was a lot more comfortable to sleep on the bed. He lied on his side facing the wall with his back to Zhao Yanzi.
The atmosphere between them was still a bit awkward.
"You… Can't… Touch me," After a moment of consideration, Zhao Yanzi felt like she had to warn him.
"Your figure is not good enough to tempt me," Hao Ren retorted casually.
"You!" Zhao Yanzi widened her eyes and had the urge to turn and hit him. On second thought, it was quite improper to mess with him in the current situation. She held herself in check.
Soon, Hao Ren's breathing became even and long. Zhao Yanzi turned silently and sat up slowly to look at him over his shoulder. She tried to determine if he had really fallen asleep.
After seeing that Hao Ren didn't move for half a minute, she was certain that he was asleep.
"Pig!" With a silent insult, she moved back to her side of the bed carefully.
When she moved back, a thought occurred to her; when she was hovering over Hao Ren, if he had suddenly woken up and reached out, she would have landed in his arms. This thought brought redness to her face again, and she moved back and pulled the quilt around her immediately. Lying on her side with her back several centimeters away from Hao Ren, she bit hard on her lip.
"Forget it. No one would know anyway." Zhao Yanzi consoled herself before falling asleep.
Premier Xia peeked through the crack of the door when he passed the room. Immediately, he covered his eyes with his hands and silently murmured before resuming his patrol in the courtyard, "I saw nothing; I saw nothing!"
When Zhao Yanzi woke up the second morning, she found that she was alone in the room. Subconsciously, she checked her quilt and realized that it was still tightly tucked around her. She looked at Hao Ren's side and saw a slight dent in the bed, showing that he hadn't moved during the night.
"I thought he wouldn't be able to sleep." Zhao Yanzi was a little disappointed. She opened her suitcase and changed out of her pajamas.
During this time, Hao Ren was at the hilltop cultivating the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll. After getting the second opening in the Dragon Core, he seemed to have gained some new inspirations.
The hundun sword energy that was made from the five elemental sword energies was gradually condensing. The vague grey sword energy now looked like a real sword. The only problem with it was that it was not retractable. The only time it would return to Hao Ren's body was when it fell straight back down after he shot it high up into the sky.
He cultivated on the quiet hilltop almost until noon. Thinking that Zhao Yanzi would be up by now, he walked down the hill and returned to the old Grandma's courtyard.
The old Grandma's family were sitting together peeling bamboo shoots while chatting. Grandma had joined them, reliving the country life.
Zhao Yanzi was making rounds unsteadily on an old black Phoenix-Brand bike. The old-style bike had too big of a frame for Zhao Yanzi's petite size, and her feet barely touched the pedals.
"You're finally back. Zi looked for you everywhere early this morning, and you didn't even bring your cell phone," Grandma complained to Hao Ren when she saw him enter the courtyard.
"Well, I just went to the nearby hills for a walk." The moment he said this, Zhao Yanzi's bike crashed toward him unsteadily.
Hao Ren gave the bike a gentle push, so it passed him instead of crashing into him. Zhao Yanzi seemed to be having a good time without him.
Many kids in the city didn't know how to ride a bike, and Zhao Yanzi didn't seem familiar with it either. However, with her strong athleticism, she managed to gain her balance on such a big bike.
"Ah…" Zhao Yanzi tried to turn, but it was too late for her. She rode directly toward the mud wall of the yard.
She could only make small turns in the yard. When Hao Ren pushed the bike forward, it sped up and was too fast for her to make a turn, so she crashed toward the short wall.
In a big stride, Hao Ren reached out and carried her from the bike before it crashed into a pile of hay in the corner.
Zhao Yanzi hit Hao Ren on his chest furious, and Grandma who was peeling bamboo shoots saw it and chuckled happily. She had been through a lot of things, and it was flirtation disguised as fighting in her eyes.
After lunch, the old Grandma's family was about to work in the fields, and it was almost time for Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi to return home. Grandma was reluctant to let Zi go, but she was comfortable here and didn't want to return to East Ocean City for the time being.
Zhao Yanzi was pleased with the two-day trip in which she not only ate sweet potatoes she baked herself but also learned to ride a bike as well, though it had been quite painful in the beginning when Hao Ren wasn't around to prevent the falls.
Sitting in the car, Hao Ren waved goodbye to the old Grandma's family and his grandma. He drove the car onto the road outside of the village before entering the highway.
Soft music floated in the car, but it couldn't pull Zhao Yanzi into a nap. She looked at the lush green fields on both sides of the highway and asked Hao Ren abruptly, "Tell me the truth, did you sleep last night?"
"I did. Soundly," Hao Ren told the truth.
Zhao Yanzi gritted her teeth and glared at Hao Ren. It seemed like she was not satisfied with his answer.
Nonplussed, Hao Ren wondered what was wrong with him falling asleep. After a moment of consideration, he gave up and turned his attention to the road.
Zhao Yanzi pouted and turned her gaze toward the fields.
"Humph! I'm not attractive to you at all!" she thought.
They returned to East Ocean City safely, and Hao Ren drove directly to Zhao Yanzi's home.
Both Zhao Guang and Zhao Hongyu were home. It seemed like they knew that Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi would return since they had prepared dinner for them already.
As Zhao Guang predicted, the people from West Ocean Dragon Palace stayed two more days in East Ocean City and fought a small-scale battle with East Ocean Dragon Palace. They had at least 30 'practices' with each other and ended with light injuries on three Elders from West Ocean and moderate injuries on seven Elders from East Ocean. By gaining the upper hand over the East Ocean, the West Ocean got the revenge they wanted.
Since Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi were out of the city, they were not engaged in the fierce battle. Now, West Ocean had withdrawn their forces, and things began to settle down a bit.
"Ren, you can go with me to the Dragon Palace today. Now that you are on Kan-level, I think it's necessary for you to choose a Natal Dharma Treasure as soon as possible," sitting down at the dinner table, Zhao Guang said after a moment of consideration.
Hundun means 'primordial chaos and the nebulous state of the universe before heaven and earth separated' in Chinese.