Cultivation Begins with Skill Points-Chapter 143: The Grandpa Carried Everywhere

"Zhong Xiong, how is it? Have you found the reason?"

Gu Ning was also quite anxious. After all, Gu Chen was once the family’s number one prodigy. If he could truly be cured, Gu Ning would be happy to see it happen. Who wouldn’t want the family to have another stronger member? Moreover, Gu Chen was still young and wouldn’t compete with him for the position of clan leader; the two had no interest conflicts.

Zhong Lin withdrew the inner breath from Gu Chen’s body, shook his head, and said, "Sorry."

Upon hearing this, Gu Chen’s face was full of despair and pain.

"There’s nothing wrong with Gu Chen’s body. It’s just that, for some unknown reason, his Qi-blood keeps dissipating. This is why his cultivation has regressed instead of progressing over the years," Zhong Lin said.

"Is there really no way to handle this?"

"Not exactly."

Zhong Lin continued, "Gu Chen’s body is like a funnel right now. Although we don’t know where the Qi-blood is leaking to, every issue arises for a reason. Since we can’t find the cause of the leak, we can address it from the intake side."

"What do you mean, Zhong Xiong?"

"We can have Gu Chen consume more elixirs that replenish Qi-blood to maintain a balanced state. At that point, he can continue his cultivation. Perhaps when he reaches the Middle Third Grades and condenses his own Qi-blood, the root cause can be found, locking the Qi-blood in place so his body will naturally heal," Zhong Lin said.

Gu Ning frowned slightly and asked, "Qi Blood Pills? How many are needed?"

"Given the current situation, one a day should suffice. However, as his martial arts progress, more will be required. By the time he reaches the Seventh Grade Bone Forging Realm, at least ten pills a day will be needed."

Zhong Lin made a simple calculation.

"This is..."

Gu Ning furrowed his brow, no longer speaking, calculating quickly in his mind.

A Qi Blood Pill costs fifteen silver taels each. Even with the Gu Family’s bulk purchase discount, each pill still costs thirteen silver taels.

If it’s ten pills a day, that means a daily cost of one hundred thirty silver taels.

Even he, as the family head’s son, couldn’t afford such luxury, let alone investing in Gu Chen, whose future is still uncertain.

Despair appeared in Gu Chen’s eyes. He knew the situation well. Even if his parents were alive, they couldn’t invest over a hundred silver taels daily for him, let alone having the family shoulder such a burden.

This is essentially a bottomless pit and an uncertain one at that. The family couldn’t possibly invest so heavily in him.

Zhong Lin patted Gu Chen’s shoulder and softly said, "Don’t lose hope. After all, your body didn’t have such symptoms before, so it might be resolved quickly."

Gu Chen forced himself to suppress the despair within and said in a deep voice, "Thank you for your kind words. I will never give up."

"Hahaha, not bad, not bad. You have determination. My friend Gu, please get a hundred Qi Blood Pills for young Gu Chen here. Consider it my support. Deduct the cost from next month’s resources," Zhong Lin said with a laugh.

Gu Chen’s eyes lit up, and he thanked him again, "Thank you, Pill Master Zhong."

In theory, he should refuse, but he couldn’t bear to give up this sliver of hope. Silently, he vowed that if his body does recover, he will repay Zhong Lin well after achieving cultivation.

Gu Ning also gave Zhong Lin a deep bow, "Thank you, Zhong Xiong."

The two did not linger longer and left the courtyard.

At night, rejecting the two Gu Family maidens that Gu Xiaofeng sent, Zhong Lin moved stealthily across the rooftops like a phantom until the third watch.

Without disturbing anyone, he swiftly arrived at the courtyard where Gu Chen resided.

Even through the door, Zhong Lin could sense that Gu Chen had already fallen asleep. With a shake of his palm, the beam behind the bedroom door was dislodged.

Looking at the sleeping Gu Chen, Zhong Lin pressed down on his neck, causing him to sleep even more soundly.

"I must see if there really is an old man."

Reaching out, he took the black ring from Gu Chen’s neck without tearing off the string.

The ring was entirely black and had a slight weight to it. It appeared to be made of black iron, but even when he applied force, the ring’s shape didn’t change at all.

"It’s definitely not an ordinary object."

It should be known that even without channeling his inner breath, Zhong Lin could easily crush a piece of steel into pulp, yet this black iron ring was unchanged.

Zhong Lin didn’t dare apply more force, afraid of actually damaging it.

A stream of inner breath emanated from his fingertips, slowly probing into the ring.

In the next moment, a violent suction force suddenly came from the ring. Zhong Lin’s inner breath was crazily absorbed like a floodgate opening, and in just a moment, three-tenths of it was devoured.

"More... still... need... more."

A distant voice came from within the ring, almost like an illusion, barely audible unless one was actively listening.

Zhong Lin’s face turned frantic. He slapped the ring with his left hand, retreating quickly as the ring left his palm.

Gasping for breath, Zhong Lin warily looked at the black ring on Gu Chen’s neck.

In just a few breaths, over sixty percent of the energy in Zhong Lin’s Dantian was absorbed by the ring.

"I didn’t hear wrong. There’s indeed a voice inside the ring, and it can absorb my inner breath. It’s really like ’Yao Lao’!"

At this moment, Zhong Lin was filled with shock. The ring on Gu Chen’s neck was indeed suspicious. It seemed his Qi-blood loss was also due to this ring.

"The nine grades of martial arts are clear to me; it’s impossible for a soul to be housed in a ring like the novels of my previous life portrayed ’Yao Lao.’ Master has also said that even breaking through the First Grade only grants more power, nothing as miraculous as this."

"So, either martial arts has a higher, more mysterious, more incredible realm, or there is another cultivation system, one entirely different from martial arts."

"Either way, this ring is a treasure, or more accurately, the person inside the ring is."

"This is a ’grandpa in the ring’ situation! Only it’s unclear if this grandpa is good or bad."

In his previous life, Zhong Lin was also a member of a certain online reading community, having read countless novels. The trend of the ’grandpa in the ring’ was once popular.

In the beginning, the grandpa was always benevolent, helping the protagonist resolve various cultivation issues, teaching various martial arts, cultivation techniques, and secret techniques. However, as this genre matured, more conspiratorial grandpas also started to appear.

But in any case, Zhong Lin would never underestimate them with the worst assumptions.

"Gu Chen, my boy, your grandpa got exposed! I also wish to have a grandpa in the ring, sorry, but taking the grandpa is also for your own good. My cultivation of the Upper Third Grades had six-tenths of inner breath absorbed in an instant; you can’t even train your Qi-blood properly, let alone withstand this grandpa’s devouring. You may never satisfy it until you meet your end."

"Taking this ring away might actually be a good thing for you."