Feng Bai Xiao didn’t try to be mysterious. Since Mei Chao Bing needed more explanations, he willingly provided them: “You roughly know what your constitution is. You can take in any kind of energy, convert it, and pass it on.”
Mei Chao Bing nodded. He had indeed figured out that much and even tested it. Only the quantity had been a problem. What this had to do with this scroll … He lowered his head and frowned. “You mean to say that this is connected to the different sects.”
He suddenly thought of Yan Hong Min and what he had said about the mark cultivation might leave on them. He hadn’t been sure how it worked and figured that it might be in the blood but … maybe this was instead tied to the energy instead. Or maybe the energy was contained in the blood, who knew?
Mei Chao Bing’s expression changed, his eyebrows slowly furrowing. “You mean to say that every cultivator generates a certain kind of energy themselves and depending on the way they cultivate, there are different forms of energy they form which is very similar in some sects.”
“Not bad but you always managed to see through things fast.” Feng Bai Xiao inclined his head and then raised a hand. “Now, you should know that changing from one cultivation style to another is a path fraught with danger.”
Mei Chao Bing stared at his Master, suddenly feeling unsettled. Changing one’s cultivation path? This was something that few people ever tried. Just as his Master had said, the risk of doing so wasn’t low. Even more so, the benefits were hardly worth it. If you cultivated to a decent level with one set of skills, you became used to them while making new experiences. Forcefully letting go of what had already become a habit and changing it to something else … it usually meant that you would be worse off than your peers who had directly started out learning those techniques. It truly wasn’t desirable to do that.
His mind churned and he couldn’t help but glance at Lei Chen who still stood only a step away from him. An Elder with a low cultivation level … could it be tied to him? If somebody indeed changed their path of cultivation, they usually had to start over from the bottom because their cultivation base would be destroyed so if this person had done so, it would explain why he had the cultivation level of a young disciple.
Of course, the initial speed of cultivation for a person who did this would be faster compared to the first time around since they were not only older but also had the experience. It wasn’t like their memories just vanished, after all. So bottlenecks and those things were hardly worth a thought to them until the moment they either caught up to their previous cultivation level or ran into problems with the new cultivation skills.
So, the only reason why somebody wouldn’t soon leave the beginning levels of cultivation after starting over should be that there were injuries. And looking at the scroll in his hands … maybe it was more likely for a cultivator who changed paths to get injured if the new path was very different or maybe even contrary to the one they had previously cultivated. It seemed to be a possibility.
As Mei Chao Bing tried to think of what plan could be hidden behind his Master’s words, Feng Bai Xiao continued to explain. “The reason is precisely what you said just now: As we cultivate, we generate a type of energy ourselves, and not all of them are compatible. This is also why few cultivators learn skills from another sect.”
Mei Chao Bing hummed, suddenly thinking of Yun Bei Fen’s first senior martial brother. Zhi Guan … wouldn’t be in danger of having this happen to him, would he? He glanced at the scroll again and hurriedly took note of the sword cultivation sects. Thankfully, they were all rather close together so it should be possible to integrate the energies these skills could create. It might just take some time and careful handling.
Having cleared that doubt, Mei Chao Bing raised his head. “Does this concern how my constitution works or is this about what you want me to do?”
Feng Bai Xiao smiled faintly. “A bit of both. I believe that you need to understand these basics to use your constitution to the fullest. As for what I want you to do … well, you should realize that this means that you can not only absorb and transform the energy of your surroundings but also that of other people.”
Mei Chao Bing stared at him silently. This possibility, he was naturally aware of it. Wasn’t that exactly what he had tried with Da Hei and Song Mu earlier today when testing his constitution? But the thing was … doing an experiment with someone you were close to just for the sake of gathering information and being told that you could absorb the energy others had cultivated by your Master who had joined the demonic faction were two very different matters.
He took a deep breath and told himself not to think too much. Maybe he was expecting something even worse than what was actually going on. It was very much possible that his Master had something planned that he wasn’t even able to think of. He certainly wouldn’t have considered that before but the fact that that Elder Lei was still standing next to him made him feel that there might be more to all of this.
Seeing as he couldn’t figure it out on his own, Mei Chao Bing could only be straightforward and ask. “Whose energy am I supposed to absorb and transform then?”
Feng Bai Xiao still showed the same breezy smile as before as if all of this wasn’t strange at all. “It’s the person beneath the territory of the righteous sects. Thankfully, you’ve already further opened up the way to get to them. That was truly kind of you.”