Chapter 36: Spirit Awareness

Chen Xinglan and Wang Jianyuan had another small argument, but under the calming influence of Chen Baolan and Chen Yulan, the siblings, they began to compete in drinking.

At the dinner table, the adults formed one group, while Chen Mobai and his younger sister Wang Xinying formed another.

"Look what I have here!" Chen Mobai said, bringing out tickets to the Jade Phoenix Opera Troupe. Wang Xinying, being at the age of idolizing stars, was naturally obsessed with Jiang Yuyuan. She shrieked with excitement on the spot.

"Brother, you're the best! Even Dad couldn't get these tickets. Lili was even bragging to me today that she had tickets..." Wang Xinying jumped up from her stool and snatched the tickets from Chen Mobai's hand.

"Second Uncle gave them to me. If you want to thank someone, thank him. I've already booked the show for tonight. Dad, Uncle, you two should drink less." Chen Mobai knew that if Chen Xinglan and Wang Jianyuan got competitive, they would definitely drink a lot, so he had already booked the Jade Phoenix Opera Troupe show in advance.

"You two young ones go ahead. We older folks are long past the age of idolizing stars." Wang Jianyuan picked up the wine bottle and refilled Chen Xinglan's empty glass. Tang Pancui and Chen Yulan were chatting on the side, not bothering to intervene, letting them be.

"The Jade Phoenix Opera Troupe is Mr. Bian's venue. Tonight is their first performance, so he might even make an appearance and sing a few opening lines," Chen Baolan said with a smile, having understood Chen Mobai's intention.

"Mr. Bian? Which Mr. Bian?"

"Who else could it be? Bian Yiqing, the master of 'Soaring Dragon, Startling Dream'!"

"What?!" Before Chen Xinglan and Wang Jianyuan could react, Tang Pancui and Chen Yulan, who had been cracking melon seeds, couldn't sit still anymore.

"What time does it start? Eat faster! If you miss Master Bian's opera, just wait until we get home; I'll deal with you then!" Tang Pancui directed this at Chen Xinglan. Although Chen Yulan said nothing, her narrowed eyes conveyed the same message to Wang Jianyuan.

In less than half an hour, the three women had urged the entire family out the door.

Outside the Danxia Theater, vehicles were already lined up like dragons. Their group of seven queued for over ten minutes before finally being able to enter.

"These are front-row seats! Thank you, Second Uncle." Wang Xinying, holding Chen Mobai's hand, was the first to find their seats, pulling her brother directly to the very center.

"The tickets Master Bian gave are probably for the best seats, apart from the private boxes upstairs." Chen Mobai looked up and around, and sure enough, saw a circle of private boxes on the second floor. Only two were lit, and the curtain of one was open, dimly revealing two figures.

"Oh, isn't that Master Bian?" Chen Baolan recognized one of the people in the box as Bian Yiqing.

"To have Master Bian visit personally, I wonder if it's the Scarlet Robe True Person or the Shi Qing True Person?" In the entire Danxia City, only these two Golden Core True Persons could warrant a personal visit from Bian Yiqing, the grand master of opera.

"It's a man, so it should be the Scarlet Robe True Person."

While they were speculating, the theater suddenly darkened. Then, a young male lead appeared on stage and delivered an opening speech. Chen Mobai listened and found her skill extraordinary, her voice clear and crisp; it seemed to be a female performer. She first apologized.

"Tonight, due to the strenuous journey, both Teacher Meng and Teacher Jiang are experiencing some vocal issues and are unfortunately unable to perform."

"What?!" No sooner had she finished speaking than the people who had queued so diligently to get into the theater instantly became agitated, standing up and causing an uproar.

"Then what are we here to see?!"

"Damn it, refund!"

Amidst the curses, a young man with a face like polished jade descended from above, appearing like a soaring dragon in the sky, astonishingly magnificent.

"I am truly sorry that this has happened. To avoid disappointing all of you, I, Bian, will perform tonight. If you insist on hearing my two young disciples perform 'Treading the Moon,' your tickets for this performance can be deferred to the twenty-first day." Bian Yiqing's appearance instantly silenced the entire audience.

Except for a few young people who were too young and insisted on seeing Jiang Yuyuan and Meng Huang'er, most of the older audience members looked ecstatic.

"It's Master Bian!"

"What a bonus! Hasn't Mr. Bian not performed in twenty years?"

"Not at all. He appears and sings a couple of lines at the Dance Weapon Dao Academy's annual school anniversary; videos can be found online."

"This trip was well worth it!"

Inside the theater, only a dozen or so young people didn't understand their parents' fervor and insisted on refunding their tickets to exchange them for later shows.

"I want to see Brother Jiang Yuyuan..." Wang Xinying was the same, pouting her small mouth. Although Bian Yiqing was also handsome and graceful, her heart already belonged to her idol.

"Don't worry, I have other tickets here." Chen Mobai immediately reassured her. As Bian Yiqing began to sing, his rendition of "Spring Feast" flowed like a clear, agile, melodious, and uniquely charming stream. Sometimes poignant, sometimes rich and profound, it felt like the first ray of spring sunlight piercing the heart after a long winter, instantly captivating the previously restless Wang Xinying.

"This is..." Chen Mobai, who had initially been nonchalant, felt the spiritual energy within him begin to flow and vibrate with the "Spring Feast" melody. It was like lying on a massage chair, his entire body gently caressed by the music, a tingling, pleasant sensation that made him involuntarily lose himself in it.

He felt as if his soul had left his body, like a feather drifting lightly on the wind. It was like a dream, yet he maintained clear self-awareness. Under the opera's guidance, he seemed to have reached a unique state. In this state, all the content of the Five Elements Cultivation Qi Refining chapter, as taught by Reverend Qingping, became fully integrated in his mind. The spiritual energy within his body surged with the opera, yet he maintained firm control, making it circulate along the Five Elements Cultivation path, fast or slow, entirely at his will.

After one song, another began, and after a full twelve songs, Bian Yiqing had already exited the stage, but the audience in the theater still hadn't fully recovered.

When Chen Mobai came to, his parents were already waiting beside him. Wang Xinying had fallen asleep and was being carried on Wang Jianyuan's back.

"How do you feel? Not everyone gets this kind of opportunity with Master Bian's 'Startling Dream' melody," Chen Baolan asked. Chen Mobai felt himself; his spiritual energy hadn't significantly increased, remaining at the level he had just reached after breaking through to the sixth stage of Qi Refining.

However, something was different.

"Close your eyes and try to look at yourself!" Chen Xinglan prompted. Chen Mobai had a suspicion. He immediately closed his eyes, and then, in the darkness, he saw multicolored light.

This was the spiritual energy of his Five Elements Cultivation inside his Dantian Qi Sea.

"How is this possible? This is 'Divine Sense,' something only available in the late stages of Qi Refining!" Chen Mobai opened his eyes, his face filled with disbelief.

The bottleneck at the seventh stage of Qi Refining trapped the most cultivators in this realm. Tang Pancui herself had been stuck at this stage for thirty years without any progress. The reason was that to break through to the late stages of Qi Refining, one needed to grasp their 'Divine Sense.'

He had grasped it after listening to just one song?