Chapter 1977 — A Reluctant Surrender
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Since we've thought of it, let's try it now!" Wei Zhao nodded and said, "We begin right away!"
"What do I need to do?" Granny Sun asked at once.
"Nothing at all. Just circulate the mnemonic of your cultivation method as you normally would in practice, and draw in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth," Wei Zhao said.
"All right!" Granny Sun nodded quickly to show she understood.
As for Wei Zhao, he grasped the pulse point at Granny Sun's wrist and set the first layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art into motion...
But that familiar sensation — true qi flowing from his own hand into Granny Sun's body — did not come. Between the two of them there seemed to be no exchange of true qi whatsoever, which left Wei Zhao deeply puzzled.
"Granny Sun, you haven't been circulating your inner-art method?" Wei Zhao asked, somewhat surprised.
"I have been!" Granny Sun nodded and said, "I've been circulating it the whole time, but from you I can't draw in any of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth..."
"Something's wrong..." Wei Zhao frowned, and went on circulating the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, converting his all-purpose true qi into true qi identical to Uncle Qing's. Yet still there was no response at all — it was as if not one shred of this true qi could be absorbed by Granny Sun.
By all reason, judging from Wei Zhao's past experience, he did not even need to deliberately employ the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art to convert true qi into some specific kind of true qi; as long as the recipient of the true qi circulated his or her own inner-art method, the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art would automatically convert the true qi into the kind the other party required.
But now this situation had met with an unexpected turn. Not only could Granny Sun not convert Wei Zhao's true qi into the true qi she required, she could not even absorb the true qi that Wei Zhao had already converted!
"Still no good..." Granny Sun shook her head and said.
"What's going on here? I've already converted my true qi into the same true qi as Uncle Qing's, and Granny Sun still can't absorb it..." Wei Zhao said with a frown.
"Eh? That is a little strange!" Uncle Qing's heart had been full of anticipation; now it turned into a head full of questions.
This was the first time Wei Zhao had ever encountered such a peculiar situation. In the past, this method of helping others advance had never failed him, and he had never once met with a case where it did not work.
"Could it be... that the Sun family's method is different from ordinary cultivation, and cannot be elevated by your special means?" Granny Sun had hit upon a very important question: "After all, the Sun family's method is not for cultivating strength — it is a support method..."
"A support method... I think I've grasped something. Let me think it over!" Wei Zhao said aloud, though in truth he meant to consult Jiao Yazi and verify whether his idea was correct. He put on an appearance of sitting with eyes closed in deep thought, but in his heart he asked, "Elder Jiao, what's going on here? Why has this happened? Isn't my true qi all-purpose true qi? Why is it useless against Granny Sun?"
Seeing Wei Zhao with his eyes closed in thought, Uncle Qing and Granny Sun did not dare disturb him; they simply sat to one side and waited quietly.
Hearing Wei Zhao's question, Elder Jiao showed little confusion; he only pondered briefly, then said, "If my inference is not mistaken, Granny Sun's method must be one that draws in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and converts it into a unique form of energy peculiar to the Sun family's method, storing it within the body. And this form of energy can, through Granny Sun's method, be converted into true qi that Uncle Qing can use, and then passed on to Uncle Qing for his use... But because of the peculiar nature of her method, she can only absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and cannot directly absorb the true qi you have already converted..."