Chapter 30: Failure of an Opportunity

Translator: Noodletown Translated Editor: Noodletown Translated

Zhao Guang dropped Hao Ren off at the gate of the dorm and left.

Zhao Yanzi was still asleep, and Hao Ren didn’t want to wake her up. He said good-bye to Mr. and Mrs. Zhao and thanked them for the weekend.

Zhao Hongyu had gotten more and more satisfied with their future son-in-law. She felt that he was considerate, smart, and even more pleasing than Zhao Yanzi. She already secretly treated him as her son.

Hao Ren returned to his dorm room and saw no one was in there; he guessed that they probably went to the internet cafe. It was because the school regulations stated that first and second-year students couldn’t bring their computers to the dorm, and the school wouldn’t connect internet for lower years’ dorms. Therefore, internet cafes were the most visited places by lower-year students.

While they were out, Hao Ren finished the assignments that had been accumulating for a week. He didn’t bother to do the complicated ones as he had planned to borrow someone’s and copy their assignment.

Near dinner time, the other three guys were still not back. In fact, Zhao Jiayi and the others believed that Hao Ren went home already and would only come back to the dorm around seven or eight o’clock on Sunday night. They wouldn’t have guessed that Hao Ren went to spend some time with his “fiancée” this weekend.

Hao Ren recalled the weekend that he spent at GreenStone Mountain. It was probably the most substantial and meaningful weekend he has had in a while.

Hao Ren took out his cell phone and found the picture of Zhao Yanzi pouting in anger.

He uploaded the picture from the computer in the hotel to his cell phone.

Her shiny eyes were like black pearls, her nose was delicate, her mouth was as small as a cherry, and her eyelashes were naturally curly. With the background of green forest and gray stone stairs, this girl seemed like she had potential as a fashion model.

If Zhao Jiayi and the others didn’t see Zhao Yanzi in person, they would think that Hao Ren had downloaded a beauty’s picture from somewhere on the internet and set it as his cell phone’s wallpaper.

Hao Ren thought about it and still didn’t dare to use the picture as the wallpaper on his cell phone.

“Although she is just a little girl, she will become a super beautiful lady after three years. Anyway, the fifteen-year-old Zhao Yanzi is probably already a super pretty girl with that kind of appearance. She is probably really popular at her school too.”

“Uh, what am I thinking about? Am I jealous…” Hao Ren suddenly realized.

Zhao Jiayi and others finally came back noisily around seven o’clock in the evening. They were caught by surprise when they saw Hao Ren in the room.

“How come you came back so early today?” Zhao Jiayi asked.

They totally thought Hao Ren went back home, and Hao Ren certainly didn’t mention that he went on a trip with Zhao Yanzi’s family. If they knew that he went out with the little girl’s family, they would definitely doubt his relationship with the little girl.

“Tomorrow is the Athletic Game. Ren, you got to work hard and try not to come in at the last place,” Zhou Liren patted Hao Ren’s shoulder and said encouragingly.

“Your expectations of me are so ‘high’!” A drop of cold sweat appeared on Hao Ren’s forehead as he thought.

“It’s great that we don’t have any classes for the whole day tomorrow!” Speaking of the Athletic Games, Cao Ronghua who usually had a calm personality seemed to be excited as well.

They chitchatted about which class’ beauty would be there and looked everywhere for a telescope. They didn’t have any hope towards Hao Ren’s 1500-meter race. If he wasn’t their roommate, they probably wouldn’t even care.

From their perspective, Hao Ren was a “last-minute resort kind of guy”. He would be doing great if he didn’t get the last place. After all, there weren’t any great athletes in their major. Most of the people were ordinary students. Occasionally, there were a few people who were talented, but those talents were mainly in regards to academics.

They talked about tomorrow’s Athletic Games excitedly. Hao Ren ignored them and went to the balcony for some fresh air.

The rain was already gone, and the moon that was in the sky was bright.

Hao Ren recited the Spirit Concentration Scroll silently twice. He felt refreshed, as all the negative energy around him seemed to have disappeared.

He tried to recall the ancient tree from the Daoist temple in GreenStone Mountain and the stone monument attentively. He always felt that there were some inspirations that he couldn’t grasp on to no matter what.

Even now, Hao Ren still couldn’t forget the comfortable feeling of the rich wood essence entering his body. He also couldn’t comprehend the weak suction that happened when the energy in his body went towards the trunk of the tree.

“Water element…”

Hao Ren suddenly thought of what Su Han said when she grabbed his arm.

“Is it possible that the Spirit Concentration Scroll utilizes the water elements that originates from heaven and earth?” An idea came to Hao Ren’s mind.

“If desire shall conceal the true self, the true self will manifest itself even more. If desire shall weaken the true self, the true self will strengthen itself even more. If desire shall abandon the true self, the true self will prosperous even more. If desire shall deprive the true self, the true self will give even more. This is known as the enlightened nature that is subtle yet profound. Gentleness overcomes strength, and the meek overcomes the strong…”.

The scripts on the stone monument appeared in front of Hao Ren’s eyes again.

Hao Ren felt his heart pounding, and the barrier that stopped him from advancing to the second level of the Spirit Concentration Scroll was about to be broken.

“As a matter of fact, Zhao Guang asked me to go to that Daoist temple not only to accompany Zhao Yanzi but also to test how much I could comprehend and understand.”

Hao Ren frowned and tried his best to look for the sensation of “water”.

However, the more stubborn he was, the harder it was for him to comprehend it.

He took a deep breath and slowly recited the Spirit Concentration Scroll to calm down his mind.

“Water is Yin and wood is Yang; affinity and counter can complement each other; combining toughness with tenderness so they can have mutual control and support… Hao Ren thought about the ancient tree and suddenly had some profound inspirations.

The seed that the ancient tree left inside Hao Ren’s body that contained pure wood essence abruptly sprouted. In the meantime, the water element in the air formed into a few tiny water streams and poured into Hao Ren’s body.

Hao Ren felt his whole body was extremely comfortable, and the body that was originally “transparent” became a clear container and took in all the nature’s energy from heaven and earth.

He knew that he was about to break through the first level of the Spirit Concentration Scroll and achieve the second level! It was the inspiration that the ancient tree brought him. In terms of that stone monument, it talked about the ways of managing and controlling water, and it matched the essence of the third level of Spirit Concentration Scroll.

The mist that was originally spreading in the air gradually formed into nine vague whirling streams of water and entered into Hao Ren’s nine crucial acupoints around his body.

After entering Hao Ren’s body, the thick streams tried to find their own positions and began to settle down.

“What are you doing outside, Ren?” Zhao Jiayi yelled from inside the room.

Hao Ren was suddenly shocked and the nine water streams that were filling Hao Ren’s body immediately vanished.

Zhao Jiayi walked to the balcony and patted Hao Ren’s shoulder, “What are you thinking out there? You have a race to attend tomorrow! Go to bed early!”

He dragged Hao Ren back inside.

At the same time, the ancient tree that brought Hao Ren his seed of inspiration completely vanished and Hao Ren couldn’t find any trace of wood essence nor control the abundant water energy inside his body. His body was like a container that leaked from the bottom, and all the accumulated “water” was gone.

Nature’s energy around Hao Ren’s body once again returned back to chaos as it wasn’t divided into the five elements anymore.

Hao Ren understood that this failure wasted a great opportunity to advance to the second level of the Spirit Concentration Scroll. Additionally, he didn’t know when his next breakthrough will be.

Even though he was disappointed, he didn’t want to blame it on Zhao Jiayi. After all, Zhao Jiayi saw him standing outside for too long and asked him to take a break for his own good.

“Sigh, I better find a quiet place without disruption for cultivation,” Hao Ren climbed up to his upper berth and thought in annoyance.