Master, What Dao Do You Cultivate?-Chapter 46: Thunderclap and Sudden Change

The young man in black, stroking his goatee, had an ethereal, immortal-like aura despite his face being unclear. He sat across from a disheveled, gray-robed uncle who was drinking.
The place they were in seemed to be a combination of a computer lab and an operating room—there were both network cables and screens, as well as bloodstained surgical tables, with several cryo-chambers piled not far away.
The young man in black lowered his head and asked,
“Science-based cultivation methods have been developed. Are you really going to give up?”
The disheveled uncle’s voice sounded quite despondent:
“So what if they’ve been created? Didn’t they just bring this disaster? And look at all those who were given these methods of scientific cultivation—haven’t they all perished? If you don’t cultivate your heart along with your body, destruction is inevitable. It seems that cultivation really can’t take shortcuts.”
After speaking, the uncle gulped down more alcohol. The young man in black took the jug and drank a few sips as well, offering some comfort:
“At least you tried. Not everyone can achieve the Dao. At least your sincere heart for the Dao can truly be called a Dao heart that will remain steadfast forever.”
“I’m fine, just a failure. But aren’t you regretful for staying behind to help me, abandoning the chance to try ascending through the Heavenly Gate?”
The young man in black shrugged:
“The Dao is impartial. It should have been this way.”
After finishing, he noticed several cryo-chambers still in the lab and pointed at them, asking:
“Do you want to try again?”
The disheveled uncle shook his head:
“The failed creations we made before all self-destructed. I wanted to try with a corpse that no longer has any consciousness. But without any main consciousness, just relying on the memory units is impossible to awaken, so those few were failures before they even began.”
The young man in black suggested:
“Why not try putting my divine consciousness in and see?”
“A mortal’s body can’t bear divine consciousness, even if modified. Besides, that would be cheating, not truly achieving scientific cultivation.”
Boom—
As they chatted, an explosion rang out not far away.
The young man in black finished his drink, stood up, and said:
“They’re here faster than expected. I’ll go deal with them. This place will hold up, right?”
The disheveled uncle, still sitting on the floor, didn’t get up:
“I have my ways to keep this place safe, but without a true breakthrough in scientific cultivation, whether I keep it safe or not doesn’t matter.”
The young man in black didn’t say anything more, stamped his foot, and flew out. Several streaks of thunder followed him as he went.
Crack—
A thunderous clap rang out from outside the window, and Ji Qinglin, who had been sleeping, suddenly woke up. At this moment, heavy rain was falling outside the General Store, with lightning flashing and thunder clapping in quick succession.
Ji Qinglin exhaled and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
The dream was blurry, the scenes indistinct, and the conversations fragmented.
He wasn’t sure if his constant search for the reason behind his resurrection was causing some hysteria, but occasionally, Ji Qinglin would have strange dreams like this one.
Perhaps it was just his brain speculating about the outcome, or maybe it was a pursuit of memory, but if it was memory, from what perspective was he seeing these images?
Ever since unlocking the cultivation phone on his body, Ji Qinglin had grown more and more convinced that this blurred dream and his awakening were definitely connected.
Was he an experimental subject for science-based cultivation? If that was the case, just like what he had heard, how could a body that lost its original self-consciousness possibly come back to life?
Every time his thoughts reached this point, Ji Qinglin would feel a bit of palpitations and an inexplicable sense of panic, unable to continue thinking. And this time, the sense of panic was particularly strong, especially since the dream was clearer than usual.
Could it be because of that immortal’s bone?
Feeling extremely uncomfortable, Ji Qinglin didn’t want to think any longer. He got up and went to the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face to calm down. On his way back to his room, he stopped by the living room to check on Yu Ye, who was sleeping on the sofa bed.
The little one didn’t seem to be disturbed by the thunder; perhaps it was because of her training these past few days that she was exhausted, lying sprawled out with a completely carefree sleeping posture.
Ji Qinglin raised his hand to cover Yu Ye with the blanket, and just as he was about to leave, he was surprised to find that the inexplicable sense of palpitations and fear had completely vanished. Ji Qinglin was sure that this wasn’t a psychological effect, but a genuine physical change.
After a moment of hesitation, Ji Qinglin didn’t wake Yu Ye. Instead, he gently pushed her further into the blanket, and he himself lay down on the edge of the sofa bed.
Though Yu Ye was deep in sleep, she was still woken up by the movement. When she opened her eyes, she saw Ji Qinglin, wearing his pajamas, lying beside her. She didn’t scream but softly exclaimed:
“Master!? What are you...?”
Ji Qinglin didn’t open his eyes, speaking calmly:
“Just sleeping beside you for a bit. Don’t mind it, right?”
“Uh... no... I don’t mind.”
Yu Ye said, wrapping herself up more in the blanket, making room for Ji Qinglin. However, Ji Qinglin didn’t make any advances; he simply lay there with his eyes closed, continuing to sleep.
Though she didn’t know what her master was up to, Yu Ye didn’t rush to fall asleep. Instead, she lay on her side, gazing at Ji Qinglin, who was so close to her.
Outside, the thunderstorm continued, but her master breathed evenly, his muscular chest rising and falling. His jaw, nose bridge, and the contours of his face were very distinct, and even his slightly furrowed brows began to relax. It seemed like he was lost in thought about something troubling.
Her gaze moved downward—
Before she could finish observing, Ji Qinglin suddenly opened his eyes and looked at her:
“Go to sleep early. Tomorrow I’m going to teach you how to train.”
Yu Ye had no choice but to obediently lie back down.
“Got it.”
Just as Ji Qinglin was about to calm his mind and fall asleep, Yu Ye, unable to hold back her curiosity, whispered again:
“Master, you’re not afraid of the thunder, are you?”
“Go to sleep!”
Though there was no fierce wind accompanying it, the heavy downpour still bathed the entire city in rain.
Aside from the glitzy neon lights of the nightlife, most residential areas were quiet in the early hours of the rainstorm.
Except—
In the Thunderclap Manor, the last room in the courtyard still had its lights on.
Every time there was a thunderstorm, the back yard of Thunderclap Manor was left unoccupied. This was the rule set by the manor’s owner.
Lei Qiong, the president of the Xindong Street Commerce Guild, was inside, practicing his technique while keeping an eye on the crystal objects on the table. Meanwhile, streaks of thunder were falling all around the manor.
But just as he was about to complete his last set of movements, Lei Qiong suddenly paused, quickly raised his hand to put away the crystal objects, and turned his head to look into the dark corner of the backyard, cautiously saying:
“Since you’re here, there’s no need to hide.”
As soon as his words ended, a shadow flew straight into the room.
The figure was thin, dressed in night clothes, and though the person had entered the room, there was no rain on their back.
“Hand over the immortal’s corpse.”
The voice sounded like withered leaves in the mountain forest, indicating it was an old man.
Lei Qiong had never told anyone about the immortal’s corpse. This person had arrived while he was still in the middle of his technique, clearly prepared. Lei Qiong couldn’t help but tighten his grip on the crystal object in his hand.
“How did you find out?”
The person didn’t respond to such questioning words. Instead, they took a step forward and flew toward Lei Qiong. Seeing this, Lei Qiong’s arms flashed with purple lightning as he faced them head-on.
Boom—
A loud crash rang out, and with the crackling thunder, the doors and windows of the back courtyard room shattered, and the rain curtain in the yard was blown open in a large hole.
The man in the night clothes was blasted out, crashing into the wall. Lei Qiong strode forward, his arms glowing with even more intense lightning.
“If you want the corpse, you’ll need to see if you have the ability!”
The old man still didn’t respond. He leaped high into the air, then performed a diving kick, charging directly at Lei Qiong. Along with him came a downpour of thunder.
Crack—
More streaks of thunder fell from the sky in the midst of Bangkok’s storm.