Murim's Weakest Princess-Chapter 27: Shifu’s Sacrifice

As expected, Anji derived the right conclusion with just a little hint in the right direction. Mingfeng nodded. The Doctrine of the Mean was a philosophical concept about the way of life. Cultivation was merely another way of life to choose from. Not everyone’s dream or destiny was to slay the demonic sect and start a new martial school like him. Some people like Lizi decided to walk a different path in life. Others were like Doctor He, who had a twisted path. Anji was no exception. Originally, she was born with exceptional cultivation talent. However, it was her fate that she would never cultivate again. Yet, it was changed when Yan Ping saw her. That meant Zhao Mingfeng was the one lacking. Anji’s Path of Duty was not over. It was only beginning. He could not help her because he did not understand her nature. Under Yan Ping’s Instructions, Anji will successfully walk her rightful Path of Duty.

Praising his bright daughter for thinking out of the box, Mingfeng explained the gist of Cultivation and its origins according to Yan Ping’s plan.

"As you’ve learned, cultivation involves an innate ability to harness and use qi. Life energy is present in everyone, allowing us to heal when injured and recover from illness. However, those with the potential to manipulate qi have the capacity for cultivation. As you witnessed in the martial arts exchange, Qi, or life energy, can be utilised in various ways. It can be used to augment the body’s natural abilities or infused into objects like an extension of the body. However, these are considered low-level techniques."

Demonstrating a little of the more advanced technique that Anji had never seen before, Mingfeng extinguished the candle flame on the table without getting up from the bed. The little princess gawked with astonishment when her father controlled the books on the table and brought them over to the bed using a strange levitating power. She had never seen such an ability before, even if she’d heard that many powerful cultivators could fight with flying swords.

Smiling at the impressed look on his daughter’s face, Mingfeng chuckled. Although Ruiting and Wanting could also do this easily, the family concealed their abilities before Anji so she would not feel left out. However, a demonstration was better than a lecture for the sake of the lesson.

"How do you think I accomplished that?" he quizzed. "I’ll give you a hint. Only those of the Enlightened Core and above can move objects at will without coming into direct contact with them."

Even without her father’s hint, Anji already knew that. There was a reason why cultivators were more respected than pugilists. However, she had never thought of the method used to levitate objects. It wasn’t the same as the needle and threads Yu Jiang used in the match against Hao Yizhen.

Was it air pressure? Anji did not feel any wind resistance when her father extinguished the flame. It wasn’t the same as blowing a candle out. If anything, the flame did not flicker. It grew smaller and died out as if it ran out of energy. Similarly, the books merely floated off the table without any rustling of pages. What sort of trick did her father use?

As the creases on Anji’s forehead increased, the sides of Mingfeng’s lips curled higher. Giving her another hint, the Celestial Dragon Sect Leader manipulated water from the teapot and created a ribbon stream that danced in the air according to his will.

Here, Anji studied the movements carefully. Then, she remembered her shifu’s words. Everything had qi, including the grass and rocks. Could the answer be in the qi belonging to the fire, paper and water instead of the qi in her father’s body?

Mingfeng could almost hear the cogs turning in Anji’s little mind. He put the water back into the teapot and continued giving her more examples using everyday objects. The flowers in the vase grew within the blink of an eye, the cloth folded itself, the windows closed without any gust of wind, and Anji felt a tingling on her scalp when Mingfeng used his qi to mess with her hair. It felt like static.

"Are you using the qi in other objects to control their movement?" she finally asked after her father ran out of mischievous options.

Beaming with pride, Mingfeng gave Anji a soft pat on the head.

"Close," he smiled. "However, to be more precise, I’m simply changing my qi to match the objects I am moving. We call this ’resonance’. By understanding the nature of qi in all things, cultivators can command them. Of course, there are limitations."

Nodding in understanding, Anji wondered if using qi to sweep the floor would be more efficient than a broom. By commanding all the dust out of the cabinet and corners of a room hidden behind furniture, the room would be speckless in no time!

Nobody truly understood the last stage of cultivation, not even Mingfeng, who had reached the level of a Divine Core. However, it is all the more important that Anji knew how vast the cultivation world was. The possibilities were endless, and so were the risks.

"When you were born, you had a core even more powerful than your mother’s," Mingfeng explained. "I had no doubts that you’d be able to quickly cultivate to the realm of immortals if you weren’t an infant. Anji, your teacher, is working on a way to unseal what Father has done. However, we don’t know what will happen next. Nobody knows how far you can progress with cultivation. However, you must remember that the source of cultivation is life. Once you lose sight of that, it’s over. Qi deviation is the energy imbalance within the body when someone tries to surpass their limits. Nobody has ever survived a qi deviation before and escaped unscathed. Many become crippled for life or lose their minds forever if they do not die. However, it is a risk that cultivators often have to take when they try to break through to the next level. Your teacher, Yan Ping, is doing that right now in the deepest recess of our mountain’s cultivation chamber. There are less than a hundred Divine Core cultivators in this world. The only other Supreme Core Immortal we know was Yan Ping’s late master. However, not even Yan Ping has learned how to achieve the Supreme Core because her master ascended before she could pass on her knowledge. The bond between a master and a pupil is the same as between a parent and a child. Whether or not your teacher succeeds, you must understand her sacrifice and study hard to return her kindness."

Hearing that her shifu was putting her life on the line, Anji’s expression changed. When the blind prophet asked if she wanted to become her disciple, Anji thought only she had to make sacrifices. If she knew that her teacher had to make that sacrifice first, she would have hesitated more and thought it out properly.

After hearing his daughter’s thoughts earlier, Mingfeng understood that guilty expression and quickly pinched Anji’s cheek to admonish his youngest child.

"It is not your right to feel guilty about another person’s decision. Just as you’ve made your choice, your shifu has also made hers. After having known her for over twenty years, your father can assure you she does not easily accept pupils. You are a special case worth her efforts."

Although Mingfeng did not know what Yan Ping saw in Anji, he knew there was no better teacher for her. Even if he were to teach Anji in the Celestial Dragon Sect, he could not pull out her full potential. Anji was a prodigy in more than one way. Her wisdom came from a different world, and her natural talent was as deep as the ocean. Only Yan Ping understood how to nurture a child like Anji.