My face darkened.
For cultivators, cultivation wasn't inferior to life.
How many people had devoted decades of their lives to cultivation? A person's cultivation represented not only power, but also decades of hard work. Losing one's cultivation was equivalent to wasting decades of time. Who could bear it?
Just like me back then, after my cultivation was crippled, I was depressed for several months. At that time, I even had the will to die.
In the end, it was thanks to Ye Pianpian's care and the miraculous True Dragon Saliva that I recovered. I didn't dare to imagine what would happen if the fatty found out that his cultivation was destroyed.
After listening to the fatty, not only me, but even Zhang Kanwen couldn't help but look worried.
In the past two days, the two of us had checked the fatty's body condition countless times.
However, we focused on his health and didn't pay much attention to his cultivation. So far, we haven't found any problems with his cultivation.
Zhang Kanwen and I sat next to the fatty, each holding one of his hands. Through the connection between our arms, we channeled our True Essence into the fatty's body and began to check the fatty's Veins of the Heavens.
There was nothing wrong with the fatty's body. His Veins of the Heavens were unobstructed, but just as the fatty had said, there was no trace of Dao Qi in his Veins of the Heavens.
Although the realms of divination and geomancy masters were different, their fundamental cultivation was the same. They were both Dao Qi.
With Zhang Kanwen's and my cultivation, as long as there was a trace of Dao Qi in the fatty's body, it wouldn't be able to escape our check. However, after checking several times, there was nothing.
Zhang Kanwen and I looked at each other, our eyes filled with deep worry.
The fatty allowed Zhang Kanwen and me to check his body. After noticing our gazes, he sighed and said dejectedly, "If it's gone, then it's gone. These years, I've seen so many magical places and encountered so many miraculous things. It's not a waste.
However, I'm afraid I won't be able to help you save Lao Ai or Ye Pianpian in the future.
Third Baby, you … "
I looked at the fatty and interrupted him, "It's okay, Fatty. Don't think too much."
After saying that, I didn't care about the fatty's reaction. With the last bit of hope, I channeled my True Essence into his dantian to check.
The dantian was the foundation of a cultivator. Whether it was the Dao Qi of the Earth Master realm or the True Essence of the Celestial Master realm, they all gathered there through the Veins of the Heavens.
However, the dantian itself was very fragile. Therefore, cultivators wouldn't let anyone else check their dantian.
If the person spying on him had ulterior motives or was slightly careless, then there would only be one result for the person being spied on, and that was to have his Dantian crippled, and he would never be able to cultivate again.
I knew what would happen if I didn't control my true essence well. The fatty knew it, and Zhang Kanwen also knew it. But now, this was the only way to test if the fatty's Dao Qi was still there.
Because of this, the fatty didn't stop my actions, and just gently turned his head to the side, no longer looking at me. Zhang Kanwen also didn't stop my actions, and only withdrew his true essence from the fatty's body. He did this to protect the fatty, and also to avoid disturbing my probing.
I took a deep breath and circulated my True Essence through the veins of the heavens. Soon, it reached the fatty's dantian.
He went deeper into his Dantian, but he did not sense any reaction from the Qi of the Way.
He probed a little deeper, but still couldn't sense anything.
Three points was still the same …
The dantian had a total of nine parts. The first three parts were known as the upper dantian. Things like the Dao Energy Brilliant Stars of the Earthly Master Realm were mostly stored in the upper dantian.
The middle three parts are called the middle dantian. In the middle dantian, it stores the true essence and seal of the Celestial Master Realm. This is the same for me and Zhang Kanwen.
When Fatty was in Wangwu Grotto-Heaven, his cultivation was at the peak of Shimao. He was only one step away from entering the Celestial Master Realm, becoming the first person in the Zhanyan Sect to enter the Celestial Master Realm in a hundred years.
However, in the end, he was unable to cross the threshold between Heavenly Master and Earthly Master to become a Heavenly Master.
Therefore, his Dao Qi should be in his upper dantian.
Now that the exploration of the three dantians had been completed, there was no trace of Dao Qi. This meant that the fatty's cultivation had most likely completely disappeared.
I grimaced, but the fatty seemed to have recovered from the shock. He asked me calmly, "Third Baby, how's the situation?"
I didn't want to hide it from the fatty. After a moment of silence, I told him the truth.
"There's no trace of Dao Qi in the upper dantian."
Hearing what I said, the fatty smiled as if he had been freed and didn't say anything. Zhang Kanwen, who was at the side, suddenly frowned and said to me, "There's no Dao Qi in the upper dantian, but it doesn't mean that the cultivation has disappeared. Maybe the fatty benefited from the disaster and advanced to the Celestial Master Realm like me?"
Before I said anything, the fatty smiled bitterly.
"The Heavenly Punishment isn't a good bird. It's good enough that it didn't kill me. How could it be a blessing?"
Although he rejected me, I was moved.
What Zhang Kanwen said was indeed possible, but it wasn't a blessing from the disaster. The fatty had told me before that in order to enter the Celestial Master Realm, not only did one have to have sufficient cultivation, but they also had to detect a major event that was related to the fate of the world. Only then could one become a Celestial Master.
Although the fatty's Zhanlu didn't sound like a major event that was related to the fate of the world, it had attracted the Heavenly Punishment. Maybe the fatty had used this opportunity to successfully advance to the Celestial Master Realm?
After a cultivator stepped into the Celestial Master Realm, their Dao Qi would be converted into True Essence and stored in the middle dantian.
Under such circumstances, there wouldn't be any Dao Qi in the upper dantian.
I looked at the fatty. Although his expression was calm, as a close friend that had grown up together, how could I not know the despair in the fatty's heart?
Seeing this, I gritted my teeth and sent my True Essence into the fatty's middle dantian.
I'll treat a hopeless situation as a last resort!
Compared to the upper dantian, the middle dantian was much weaker. Hence, before entering the middle dantian, I had purposely weakened my True Essence, afraid that I would hurt the fatty if I wasn't careful.
I carefully controlled a wisp of True Essence and sent it into the fatty's middle dantian. Just as I was about to move forward, a soft force suddenly appeared in the fatty's middle dantian and sent my True Essence out.
I frowned. What was going on?
If the fatty's cultivation had really been erased by the Heavenly Punishment, then there shouldn't be anyone in his dantian. Even if my wisp of True Essence was much weaker, it wasn't something that a normal person without cultivation could fight against.
For there to be such power in the fatty's middle dantian, there seemed to be a chance!
Just as I was about to gather True Essence again and send it into the fatty's middle dantian, I saw that the fatty was frowning, as if he was in great pain.
The dantian was very weak. Although I controlled my True Essence very lightly, it would still bring great discomfort to the fatty.
I took a deep breath and said to the fatty, "Bear with it. I'll try one more time. No matter what the result is, I'll withdraw my True Essence. Is that alright?"
"Alright!"
The fatty wasn't as talkative as he usually was. He just nodded.
"Bear with it …" I thought and gathered True Essence again, sending it into the fatty's middle dantian.
With the previous experience, this time, I wasn't as blind as before. I condensed a bit more True Essence. I didn't hope to break through the obstruction of that power, I just wanted to stay in the fatty's dantian for a second longer.
In just one second, I could clearly feel the situation in the fatty's middle dantian.
I controlled my True Essence and carefully approached the fatty's dantian. After smoothly breaking through the upper dantian, I stopped at the intersection of the upper dantian and middle dantian. Then, I gritted my teeth and sent my True Essence in.
It was the same situation as before. Just as my True Essence entered the fatty's middle dantian, that gentle power welcomed it. It was like a wave, slowly washing me.
The last time was too short, so I couldn't identify what this power was. But this time, I could feel it.
Could this be … True Essence?
If this was True Essence, why couldn't the fatty feel it? Why could it only move in the middle dantian and not enter the upper dantian?
There was only one second. Although the energy in the fatty's body was as gentle as a wave, it kept rejecting my True Essence. So, the time I could use to investigate the situation was less than one second.
Time was tight, so I didn't think too much and directly released my True Essence.
Just as I released my True Essence, I found a huge mass of Qi in the fatty's middle dantian.
It was a mass of True Essence that appeared after Dao Qi had turned into True Essence!
This meant that the fatty had indeed advanced to Sky Master!
But very quickly, I found that the True Essence mass was covered in a layer of golden membrane. Moreover, that golden membrane was emitting a shocking power.
That was the power of the Way of Heaven!
I couldn't be more familiar with this power. Three days ago, Zhang Kanwen and I had come into contact with it. Thanks to it, Zhang Kanwen had entered the Sky Master realm, and my cultivation had also advanced.
One second passed in the blink of an eye. Just as I understood what that power was, the fatty's True Essence pushed my True Essence to the barrier between the upper dantian and middle dantian. Here, the power of the Way of Heaven in the fatty's True Essence was even more obvious. It seemed to be attached to the barrier, imprisoning the fatty's True Essence.
In an instant, my True Essence collided with the power of the Way of Heaven and disappeared. At the same time, I opened my eyes.