Opening his eyes, Ye Wen glanced at the faint purple mist still swirling around him, leaving him utterly bewildered. He knew his Zixia Shen Gong produced a purple aura, so he hadn't paid it much mind. However, the Xiantian Gong seemed to have no connection to the color purple, so why was he still enveloped in it?

“Could it be that the innate zhenqi within my body is impure?” If that were the case, the trouble would be immense. He couldn't possibly discard his Zixia Gong just to practice Xiantian Gong, could he? But if he did that, what would he use to cultivate the Xiantian Gong? He would have no zhenqi left. Would he have to pick up the Quanzhen Xinfa and start over?

“This is truly depressing…”

Unable to find a clear answer, Ye Wen kept poring over the manual in his hands. This time, he read it word by word, terrified of missing any crucial detail.

This time, he gained a thorough understanding of some of the specific characteristics of the Xiantian Gong. Simultaneously, he formed a simple overview of the technique in his mind.

Firstly, anyone practicing this technique must meet at least one of the following prerequisites.

Being exceptionally gifted with an innate trace of Xiantian Zhenqi within the body, exemplified by Wang Chongyang. This is why Patriarch Chongyang could practice this divine art even before his internal skills were fully mastered. According to the manual, Master Chongyang only reached the minor completion stage, meaning he had connected the Ren and Du meridians and converted all his existing zhenqi into Xiantian Zhenqi, but he never achieved the later stages or opened the other profound gates.

The second option is to practice it as a virgin. However, this requires a foundation of profound internal energy—at least reaching the threshold of breaking through the gates of Heaven and Earth. Then, using the Xiantian Gong technique, the pure yang energy within the body is converted into Xiantian Zhenqi, which then forces open the gates of Heaven and Earth. This newly birthed trace of Xiantian Zhenqi must then be carefully nurtured and consolidated before one can continue practicing the Xiantian Gong.

Although troublesome, it is still viable, and this requirement is the second lowest. Apart from those born with a trace of innate energy, most people practice the Xiantian Gong this way.

There are no representative examples of success for this method, but there are several negative case studies. Firstly, Zhou Botong broke his virginity before his martial arts were fully developed, and his pure yang energy had already leaked. Furthermore, his skill level hadn't reached the point of nearing the breakthrough of the gates of Heaven and Earth, so Wang Chongyang never taught him the technique. Once his virginity was broken, they assumed he could no longer practice it, so he was never taught.

The final prerequisite is having already broken through the gates of Heaven and Earth using one's own power, transforming all innate energy from acquired to innate. This technically meets the requirements for practicing the Xiantian Gong, making it permissible to practice.

The representative figure here is Master Yideng. Although he was not a virgin and lacked any innate trace of congenital energy, his high level of cultivation still allowed him to practice this skill. In fact, Zhou Botong also reached this level in his later years, but Wang Chongyang had already passed away, so he never learned it. Whether he learned it from Yideng after becoming his neighbor later on is unknown, as the original text provides no clarification.

When Ye Wen first read these details, he only had a vague impression and didn't pay them much attention. Since he failed the first condition, the latter two options both suited his situation, so he simply started practicing without overthinking.

It was only upon re-reading that he discovered a critical detail: one must avoid women while practicing the Xiantian Gong! Otherwise, one cannot achieve great mastery.

“Good grief, is this another virginity technique?” But thinking it over carefully, Master Yideng had already taken the monastic vows when he practiced it, and it’s debatable whether Zhou Botong ever practiced it successfully in the end. As for Wang Chongyang? Everyone knew the world’s greatest master ignored all of Lady Lin’s advances and affections. It seemed the root of it all was this Xiantian Gong.

The manual stated that if one approaches women before the Xiantian Gong reaches great mastery, the Xiantian Zhenqi will become contaminated by external matter and impure. Even if the final gate is broken through, true mastery will be difficult to attain. This is because the state of great mastery in this skill involves the purest Xiantian Zhenqi circulating throughout the entire body; zhenqi tainted by impurities, even at the final stage, would result in a drastically reduced level of power.

Fortunately, the manual didn't make this absolute. It only mentioned that once mastery is achieved and the Xiantian Zhenqi integrates completely, no longer touching external matter, intimacy with women would not only be harmless but beneficial. Specifically, this pure, innate vigor could even assist the woman in refining her own cultivation.

“Does this mean that once I master this skill, I’ll become an excellent cultivation furnace?” However, these were concerns for later. For now, due to his reckless start, Ye Wen might have to remain a virgin indefinitely.

Even after reading all this, he still hadn't found the source of the supposed anomaly in his Xiantian Gong. He finally had to search for answers in peripheral details and scattered remarks.

“The Xiantian Gong has powerful healing abilities; ordinary internal injuries can be healed with just a bit of massage and regulation…” Not this part! Although the healing power of the Xiantian Gong was even stronger than the Zixia Shen Gong, even including a set of massage therapy methods, it wasn't what Ye Wen was looking for right now.

“The Xiantian Gong is a supreme Daoist mind technique! Its methods are balanced and harmonious, embracing all things…” This section indicated that the internal energy of the Xiantian Gong was inherently neutral and peaceful, greatly contradicting the widespread speculation that it was an extremely yang and hard energy.

But upon reflection, this seemed more logical. In the original story, Yideng used the Xiantian Gong to heal others. A technique that is supremely yang and hard rarely possesses such healing capabilities. The Jiuyang Shen Gong seems to have healing properties, but it specifically targets yin and cold internal energies, or it swallows energies that are weaker than its source yang energy—this is energy suppression, not the Jiuyang Shen Gong possessing some miraculous healing ability.

However, the phrase "embracing all things" made Ye Wen sense something amiss.

“Embracing all things… embracing all things… Could it have simply absorbed the Zixia Shen Gong?”

With this thought, Ye Wen circulated his energy again, carefully observing the flow of the Xiantian Zhenqi. He discovered that when the Xiantian Gong circulated, it faintly drove the Zixia Shen Gong as well. At this point, one could say Ye Wen was practicing Xiantian Gong, but it would be equally correct to say he was practicing Zixia Shen Gong.

When the Xiantian Gong operated, it summoned the energies of two techniques. This compatibility left Ye Wen stunned. But thinking deeper, since both techniques originated from the same school and were inherently similar, their mutual fusion was actually quite reasonable.

This alone didn't worry Ye Wen. He was concerned that after integrating the Zixia Gong, the power of the Xiantian Gong might decrease because of this.

“Since the Xiantian Gong aims to nurture the purest Xiantian Zhenqi, wouldn't merging with it mean it becomes contaminated by the Zixia qi essence? Would it still be considered pure?”

Ye Wen couldn't figure out this answer quickly. For now, he could only nervously put away the Xiantian Gong manual, planning to find an opportunity to test the current strength of his power; that should provide the answer.

In the following days, Ye Wen continued to practice the Xiantian Gong. Despite numerous issues, he could only continue down this path. The Zixia Shen Gong had already been absorbed and merged; he could no longer operate it independently. Once he activated his zhenqi, it naturally followed the path of the Xiantian Gong.

When he struck out, purple energy still surrounded him, and outsiders couldn't discern anything contradictory. On that day, when sparring casually with Ning Ruxue, his junior sister suddenly remarked, "Senior Brother’s internal energy seems to be growing purer!" This relieved Ye Wen slightly.

“Fortunately, she didn’t say my internal skill seems to have significantly regressed… Regardless, as long as my power is progressing, it’s a good thing! Even if a problem arises, there will be time to solve it slowly.”

With some reassurance, Ye Wen stopped dwelling on the matter.

However, a few days later, Xu Xian suffered a deviation in his qi flow while practicing. Being in the cold pool, the icy air resonated with the coldness in his lungs, and his illness suddenly worsened. If Xu Xian hadn't used a surge of pure yang zhenqi to protect himself and fled back immediately, the handsome young master might have died in the secluded valley behind the mountain.

“Senior Brother… cough cough… I’m troubling you again…” Cough cough cough cough!

The coughing fit, which had been much better, now became severe. Xu Xian couldn't even speak a full sentence, only coughing incessantly. Seeing this, Ye Wen immediately activated his internal circulation; in just a thought, purple mist billowed around him, causing even his clothes to swell.

“Senior Brother’s…” Cough cough “…internal energy…” Cough cough “…has strengthened across the board…”

Ye Wen could achieve this level of display before, but not with such instantaneous effort. Now, a mere thought and a slight acceleration of his zhenqi created such a dramatic effect. Ye Wen finally confirmed that the energy within him was indeed Xiantian Zhenqi, albeit tinged with the color of Zixia energy.

He slapped his hand onto Xu Xian’s chest, circulating his zhenqi. He discovered that the pervasive cold energy, which had previously troubled him greatly, was utterly fragile. Ye Wen simply followed the healing methods recorded in the Xiantian Gong manual, and in less than half an hour, he managed to melt away the majority of the cold energy surging within Xu Xian. At the same time, his wounded heart meridian and lung meridian were nourished by Ye Wen’s zhenqi, returning them to a healthy state.

“What a terrifying healing capability…” Xu Xian’s injury, if treated two months ago, even with Ye Wen’s perfected Zixia Shen Gong, would have required considerable effort just to suppress it temporarily. To dispel the cold energy would have taken at least ten days to half a month. Even to restore Xu Xian to the state of occasional light coughing would have taken months.

But now, in just half an hour, Ye Wen had largely healed Xu Xian’s injury—the speed was simply incredible.

What surprised Ye Wen even more was that despite his zhenqi circulating rapidly and expending significant internal power, he didn't feel exhausted or like his energy was running out. The zhenqi inside him seemed endless as it flowed.

Ye Wen knew this was the benefit of reaching the minor completion stage of the Xiantian Gong. Wang Chongyang used this level of internal skill to subdue the other Four Masters, even when they were all exhausted, this elder brother was still breathing evenly, his face showing no redness—the Xiantian Gong caused the face to glow white when circulating, preventing redness.

This experience today allowed Ye Wen to taste the delight of this power. After another half hour, Xu Xian's cold energy was almost entirely dissolved, leaving only a tiny trace deep within his organs, which external force could no longer solve. With his power greatly increased, Ye Wen understood that Xu Xian's illness would ultimately require him to cultivate yang internal energy himself to resolve; no one else could truly help.

“With my current healing ability, if I were to treat Zhang Gui’s injury now, it probably wouldn't take half a day!” He recalled spending an entire month treating Zhang Gui, compared to healing the majority of Xu Xian’s ailment in just one hour—the difference was like heaven and earth.

Returning to his room, Ye Wen took out the Xiantian Gong manual and reviewed it in detail one more time. He finally confirmed that even the standard Xiantian Gong did not possess such formidable healing capabilities. This meant that after merging with the Zixia Gong, the Xiantian Gong's power hadn't necessarily increased, but its healing capacity had certainly become stronger.

“Well… I’m still destined to be a healer! And after mastering it, I might even become a top-tier cultivation furnace…”

He flipped through the descriptions of the power levels associated with each stage of the Xiantian Gong. Combining this with his recent experiments, Ye Wen finally settled his mind: “At least the power hasn't dropped; it’s still on par with the original! But this way, it might not be purely Xiantian Zhenqi anymore!”

Scratching his head, Ye Wen felt he should rename the technique. After some thought, looking at the swirling purple mist in his hands, Ye Wen blurted out, “Since it’s innate energy and it’s purple, I might as well call it Xiantian Ziqi—I can’t escape the fate of being a purple eggplant anyway!” Finishing his cultivation, he got up just as Ning Ruxue knocked on his door. He had already confirmed his affection for his junior sister, and since she seemed to return his feelings, Ye Wen’s thoughts had been getting lively. But unexpectedly, he had learned this Xiantian Gong, which meant he couldn't engage in intimacy for the time being. Frustrated, he hadn't sought out his junior sister for conversation these past few days, only occasionally discussing martial arts.

Today, he wondered why his junior sister had come to see him.

“Senior Brother, Li Sen just returned and brought some dried fruits. I know you like eating these things when you’re idle, so I brought some for you.”

Ye Wen saw Ning Ruxue indeed holding a tray with a plate of boiled peanuts, some other dried fruits, a stack of small dishes, and even a pot of wine… “This is unusual; there’s even wine? And two cups?”

“Shall we eat outside?” Ye Wen knew Ning Ruxue rarely entered his room, perhaps to avoid suspicion; at most, she’d call out loudly from the doorway, never stepping across the threshold.

Hearing Ye Wen’s question, Ning Ruxue glanced at the stone table in the courtyard, then seemed to make a decision, saying, “Right here in Senior Brother’s room will be fine!” This statement greatly surprised Ye Wen. He invited Ning Ruxue into the room, and they sat down by the round table. Ye Wen watched as Ning Ruxue arranged the peanuts, side dishes, poured the wine into both cups, and then sat down herself.

They sat in silence for a long while. Seeing this, Ye Wen was about to speak when he heard Ning Ruxue say, “Senior Brother is turning twenty-three this year, right?” Ye Wen paused, remembering he had been in this world for over three years now. When he first possessed this body, he was twenty. His twenty-first birthday was spent on this mountain, although the house he lived in then has since been demolished.

Time flew by so quickly; another birthday was approaching. He wasn't sure why Ning Ruxue brought this up suddenly, so he casually replied, “Yes, another year passes in a blink!” Hearing Ye Wen’s response, Ning Ruxue secretly rolled her eyes, drained the wine in her cup, hesitated for a moment, and finally managed to say, “Junior Sister will soon be nineteen as well…” Her words were direct enough, and Ye Wen immediately understood what Ning Ruxue was trying to convey!

The two had grown up together, relying on each other through many trials, never separating. If Ye Wen’s cheap master were still alive, he might have arranged to bring them together.

But later, too many messy things happened. Ye Wen was constantly busy reviving the sect and practicing martial arts, and Ning Ruxue was focused on surpassing her senior brother. Thus, neither of them considered this matter.

Now, Ye Wen had finally achieved something. While his martial arts weren't yet among the top masters of the Jianghu, he had certainly made a name for himself. These past few months, although the title 'Gentleman Sword' hadn't reached the Central Plains, it was well-known throughout Pingzhou.

Watching everything her senior brother accomplished, Ning Ruxue gradually let go of her ambition to contend for the position of sect leader. She mused, “Since Senior Brother is doing so well, what would it matter if I took the position? If the sect declined under me, wouldn't I become a sinner? It’s better to assist Senior Brother wholeheartedly, ensuring he doesn't suddenly slack off!” Harboring this thought, coupled with their childhood bond and increasing age, Ning Ruxue naturally began to consider marriage. Moreover, Ye Wen had often teased her recently, taking small liberties, and she had already let him see things he shouldn't have. If she wouldn't marry him, who would she marry? Furthermore, her senior brother was now striving diligently, practicing hard, and making their sect prosper, all of which pleased her.

Thinking of these things, and considering she was nearing twenty and already considered an older maiden, if she waited another two years, perhaps no one would want her.

“What if Senior Brother rejects me then?” This thought surfaced, and although she immediately suppressed it with, “How dare he? What right does he have to reject me?”, the worry remained in her heart. This is why she plucked up her courage under the influence of wine to come and hint at Ye Wen.

If Ye Wen had responded favorably, even if they didn't marry immediately, she would have some security; from then on, she could consider herself Ye Wen’s woman. But if Ye Wen didn't have those intentions… she truly hadn't considered what she would do then!

Ye Wen knew his own bitter predicament. He understood that Ning Ruxue’s age made her prospects somewhat urgent in this world. If she had come to him a little earlier, he would have readily agreed with a cheerful heart. But now that he had just learned that cursed Xiantian Gong, he absolutely couldn't marry. If he could never practice it to completion, would he force his junior sister to remain widowed her entire life?

Thinking of this, Ye Wen smacked his lips, finally draining the wine in his cup, and said bitterly, “Junior Sister, your Senior Brother has just comprehended a new skill these past few days. It’s a virginity technique; unless it’s mastered, one cannot… um… do that sort of thing…”

Ning Ruxue looked up in confusion, blinking her pure eyes twice, before finally asking puzzledly, “What are you trying to say, Senior Brother?”

PS: Oh dear!