Chapter 16: Sweet After Bitter

The morning light gradually lights up on the horizon, and the thick darkness of night fades away.

In the small courtyard prepared for guests at the Rebirth Hall, a sparrow landed on a branch, preened its feathers, and was frightened away by the sound below.

"Thank you Mr. Zhongli, I completely understand!"

Chen Tianfeng was so excited that he stood up solemnly and saluted Zhongli.

Preaching, receiving karma and solving doubts, this is a mentor!

"You don't have to be polite, little friend. This is a fair transaction and a contract. You should abide by it."

Zhong Li smiled, looked up at the sky, and then at the teapot: "Young man, try it here, I'll make a pot of tea."

Chen Tianfeng's expression stiffened for a moment, and he raised his hand to refuse, but then put it down angrily.

Forget it, just drink tea, it’s not a big deal, it’s just a bit bitter.

Now the practice is important... Chen Tianfeng took back his thoughts, sat cross-legged on the spot, his heart sank into his Dantian, his thoughts were concentrated, he breathed rhythmically, gradually abandoned the interference of external objects, and successfully entered into silence and looked inside.

The mysterious energy from the outside world, which Zhongli called [Qi], was attracted to Chen Tianfeng's body, gathering little by little, and finally submerged into his body and merged into the gray-white torrent flowing in his meridians.

This is the first time Chen Tianfeng "sees" the meridians and acupoints in his body. The acupoints are like stars, emitting bright or dim light; the meridians are like big rivers, with thousands of branches, forming a loop that connects the star acupoints.

The gray-white [Qi] flows between the meridians, naturally rotating and circulating along a mysterious and mysterious route. Every time it circulates, the dim stars will become a tiny bit brighter.

Chen Tianfeng estimated that if [Qi] were allowed to operate freely without interference, at this rate, it might take more than four months to light up all the stars in the acupoints.

He no longer waited, and used the nameless technique with all his strength, speeding up the absorption and operation of [Qi], greatly increasing the speed of this process.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew up in the small courtyard, and countless invisible and intangible [Qi] swarmed in, rushing to throw themselves into Chen Tianfeng's body. It took a while to stop and slowly return to normal.

The gray-white [Qi] seems to be inspired or stimulated, and it is visibly invigorated. It works harder than the employees who believed in the boss's pie, roaring and rushing through the meridians!

The dim aperture stars lit up quickly, and the previously "lit" aperture stars became brighter, and even the meridians showed signs of widening.

Chen Tianfeng opened his eyes and exhaled, with joy in his eyes.

According to the current progress, in three to five days, all the stars in the acupoints will be lit up. His instinct was also shouting faintly, indicating that after the stars in the acupoints were lit up, more prompts would be given, accurate ones.

My strength has increased a lot, and my self-healing ability should also be enhanced.

Chen Tianfeng clenched his fist, pulled out his long knife, and slashed twice in the open space of the small courtyard, his brows gradually furrowed.

The knife is too light and is no longer comfortable to use. Please find time to replace it.

Chen Tianfeng murmured and sheathed the long knife given by the bandit brother Chang Dao. He was satisfied with the current situation that he finally had power and a way to become stronger.

If things go on like this, he will definitely be able to get rid of the dilemma of "I can't do anything" and be able to loudly say no to any existence and turn their tables over at the same time!

"It seems that my little friend has gained a lot. Congratulations. Come and have a cup of tea."

"···Yes, sir."

Chen Tianfeng twitched the corner of his mouth, returned to the stone table in a subtle mood, picked up the tea cup and took a sip: "Huh?"

Why is this tea not so bitter?

Chen Tianfeng was stunned, then took another sip, and was surprised to find that he actually tasted a hint of sweetness from the bitter tea soup.

It's broken. Could it be that my tongue was damaged by this tea?

"My little friend, do you have a new feeling about this tea? After all the hardships, happiness comes. After all the hardships, happiness comes. Now the suffering is over."

Zhongli smiled, his golden eyes exceptionally gentle.

There was no clue that he had just changed the tea leaves.

Chen Tianfeng was thoughtful. What Mr. Zhongli said must have a deep meaning, but he was too stupid and could only barely guess three or two. I wonder if it was what Mr. Zhongli wanted to express.

"The night has passed. Fortunately, my little friend's guard has nothing to do. It's time to work."

Zhongli didn't explain, picked up the tea cup and took a sip.

"It's me who should thank Mr. Zhongli."

Chen Tianfeng stood up, saluted, solemnly thanked him, and then left without stopping.

It wasn't until he walked out of the small courtyard and away from the area where the Hall of Rebirth was located that Chen Tianfeng relaxed his tight heartstrings.

It's still too challenging to talk to gods, especially when you have to pretend that you don't know that gods are gods...

However, judging from the results, it cannot be confirmed whether Zhongli knew that he actually knew his identity, but Zhongli should know that he was not a native of Teyvat.

Due to the age, I don’t know which immortal created the incomplete technique - whoever believes it is a fool!

It is clearly the work of the Rock King himself.

Chen Tianfeng withdrew his thoughts and stopped thinking about the purpose of Zhongli's teaching of skills. No matter what it was, he couldn't accomplish it now, so he might as well find a way to improve his strength first.

When you get to the point where you can escape from Zhongli's hands, if the demon god forces you to do something to risk your death, at worst, you will seek refuge in Heaven or the Abyss, or you can trick the Twins into, well, get a way to travel through the world, and then leave. Let it go.

If you can't get there, then there's nothing much to say. Try to survive. If you don't survive, you have to leave in a dignified way.

But Zhongli should not be a god who can do such a thing. In the game, he is a character based on the emperor and god of Shenzhou - Mingjun and Shanshen - and he can still be trusted.

He shook his head and turned to think about what Zhongli said, "After suffering, there will be happiness." But somehow he suddenly remembered the story that Lanyou told him when he was on the road.

There is a merchant in Liyue who collects a painting called "Blue Shirt Sunny and Rainy Picture". It is said that it was made by an immortal and is extremely magical.

This painting is very simple. It depicts a man in a blue shirt holding an umbrella and walking on a wooden bridge. The magical thing is that the umbrella of this man in a blue shirt will change with the changes in the real weather. In reality, when it rains, the umbrella is open, and in reality, when it is sunny, the umbrella is closed.

After this incident was reported, many guests came to visit, and they all went twice, once on a sunny day and once on a rainy day. The person in the painting really closed the umbrella on a sunny day and opened the umbrella on a rainy day. For a time, this painting became famous and the price soared.

I don't know how many people wanted to buy it, but unfortunately the merchant insisted on not selling it.

Until one day, a young man from a noble family came to the merchant's house, and bought the painting from the merchant by offering a high price and using power to coerce.

But when the painting was in the hands of the young man, it lost its ability to change. It still closed the umbrella on sunny days, but no longer held the umbrella on rainy days.

The young man realized that he had been deceived and hurried to find the merchant. Unexpectedly, the merchant did not leave, but waited for the young man to come to his door to question him.

The merchant said that just as there is life and death in the world, and all things are divided into yin and yang, "Blue Shirt Sunny and Rainy Picture" also has two volumes. One is for crossing the bridge with an umbrella, called "Blue Shirt Crossing the Bridge with an Umbrella"; the other is for crossing the bridge with an umbrella, called "Blue Shirt Crossing the Bridge with an Umbrella".

"Holding Umbrella Picture" is hung on sunny days, and "Holding Umbrella Picture" is hung on rainy days. This is the secret of the change of "Blue Shirt Sunny and Rainy Picture".

The young man was very angry and angrily accused the merchant of violating the contract. However, the merchant calmly took out the contract signed by the two, which clearly stated that the young man bought "Holding Umbrella Picture", so the merchant did not breach the contract.

Chen Tianfeng's eyes gradually became strange. Could it be that Zhongli, this old...old man, did the same thing?

This shouldn't be the case... After all, he is a god, and a rock god, not Mond's unreliable wind god...

Chen Tianfeng shook his head, threw these "disrespectful" thoughts out of his mind, turned around, and walked towards No. 27 Willow Street.

He had a big business to discuss with Brother Lanyou in detail!