This gradually swept away the eerie and terrifying encounters from his heart, that had once been frozen and silent, as if a block of ice were slowly melting under the surrounding warmth.
Lu Ren understood in his heart that it wasn’t without reason that Ji Quanzhen brought him here!
"Hey, hey, are you back with us? Look, is there anything you’d like to eat?"
Lu Ren snapped back to reality, seeing Ji Quanzhen handing over the menu in front of him with a slight smile. He took it, seriously looked it over, checked a few dishes, and handed it back.
Ji Quanzhen glanced at it, muttering something under his breath.
"You really are a carnivore, aren’t you?"
Lu Ren laughed and said, "I belong to the kind who can’t live without meat."
Ji Quanzhen handed the menu to the waiter, shouting, "Let’s start with these, add more if it’s not enough, and bring us two more cases of cold beer."
The waiter wasn’t surprised at all, after all, it was an era where the Martial Arts Family was flourishing, and towering figures like Lu Ren were rare but not unseen, he had seen even more exaggerated ones.
The waiter skillfully flipped through it, asked them to wait, and then busied himself.
Soon, two cases of cold beer were brought over, they opened two bottles, clinked them together, and after drinking more than half, Ji Quanzhen contentedly wiped the beer foam from his mouth.
"This beer is really refreshing, as soon as it hits your mouth, it’s full of flavor."
Lu Ren looked at the beer in his hand, about the size of a medicine vial, and his expression gradually relaxed.
When the meat was on the grill, mixed with garlic oil dipping sauce, and a dry spice plate was ready, Lu Ren picked up a piece of cooked barbecue, dipped it lightly in the dry spices, and chewed it, feeling the spicy flavor unfolding in his mouth, and couldn’t help but squint his eyes.
Ji Quanzhen also picked up a piece of barbecue, dipped it in the sauce, and put it in his mouth.
"How about it? I reckon it’s been a long time since you’ve eaten something , hasn’t it?"
Lu Ren nodded slightly, sighing, "Counting, it’s probably been five or six years since I last ate."
Ji Quanzhen nodded slightly, saying, "In fact, if you don’t eat for a long time, like a Qi Refiner living on dew, you’ll lose human warmth."
"Don’t you feel that you’re separated from this lively life by a very long distance, like a spectator with God’s view, watching everything without any emotions."
While eating and drinking, Ji Quanzhen said, "This is very bad, it’ll cause you to lose your humanity, and because your strength and realm keep rising, completely detach from your tribe and move towards godhood."
Lu Ren was quite curious. Honestly, because his strength progressed so quickly, and he was mostly immersed in his own cultivation, he didn’t know much about the overall understanding of the cultivation system.
"Treat people like pigs and dogs."
Lu Ren’s hand with his chopsticks paused for a moment before picking up the meat without any unusual move, dipped it in the sauce, and put it in his mouth to chew.
After a while, he slowly nodded and said, "Indeed, my mentality has changed somewhat."
"So!" Ji Quanzhen sighed, "Sometimes you can’t really blame those in the Bright Awakening Realm, or the Qi Refiners, because both sides have completely become two different species. You say your part, he hears his part, in the end, they are incompatible, how can they come together in one piece?"
The two talked a lot, mostly about everyday trivialities, some anecdotal high-level talks about international situations, and mentioned the specific policies after the Kunlun Exotic Realm and the Underworld became solidly connected to reality.
After downing several boxes of beer, and also the special white liquor Ji Quanzhen brought, Lu Ren was quite tipsy. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by NoveI~Fire.net
He didn’t use Qi and Blood to sober up, instead, he enjoyed this state very much. He hadn’t been this relaxed in many years, feeling the hustle and bustle of human life around him, he felt like his heart was slowly coming home.
While eating grilled intestines, Ji Quanzhen smacked his lips.
"Alright then, let’s talk about the Seeking Truth Realm next. I’ve been inside."
Lu Ren wasn’t surprised to hear this, after all, as the environment of heaven and earth gradually relaxed, with the suppressed extraordinary beginning to recover, Ji Quanzhen’s rapid progress was to be expected.
It could be said that even when the environment of heaven and earth was completely cut off, Ji Quanzhen still managed to reach the Bright Awakening realm and even approached the Path Determination. Now to enter the Seeking Truth Realm within a few short years wasn’t exactly shocking, it was only natural.
"You’ve reached the Seeking Truth Realm?" Lu Ren casually asked, grabbing a piece of intestine to put into his mouth, then washing it down with beer.
"Not yet, seeking truth is not that easy, I’m stuck at a bottleneck."
Ji Quanzhen sighed, "For this bottleneck I’ve scoured everything, finally, in an extremely worn out ancient text, it was recorded that this obstacle must be understood by oneself. Once realized, it’s overcome, if not, that’s it for this lifetime.
After all, after the Path Determination, the path is walked on your own, if you want to advance, you must take it step by step, and others can’t help you. If they do, you’ll always just follow behind others, never surpassing them."
"Then how did you enter the Seeking Truth Realm?"
Lu Ren was very curious about this point. Strictly speaking, if one doesn’t touch upon the Seeking Truth, and the five senses aren’t elevated, it’s impossible to see inside the world or enter the place of Seeking Truth.
Hearing Lu Ren ask, Ji Quanzhen’s expression was a bit complex, he contemplated for a long time, then took a swig from his bottle before speaking.
"A patriarch in our sect once developed a technique allowing someone at my level to sense the Seeking Truth and enter it, but it’s very dangerous..."
Ji Quanzhen’s face showed a frightened expression, "It’s very dangerous inside, but... it indeed holds many unimaginable great opportunities, but those opportunities..."
Lu Ren frowned, "We’re already in our fifties and hundreds, why are you hesitating so much?"
"It’s just hard to describe." His brows furrowed deeply, pacing hesitantly, he slowly spoke, "I feel like the things I encountered can’t be described, or rather, our language system can’t describe them, chaotic and twisted, as if just one glance would cause contamination."
Lu Ren remained silent, Ji Quanzhen and what he saw seemed different, but it’s hard to say, after all, without experiencing it firsthand, he couldn’t know whether he and Ji Quanzhen were seeing the same thing.
Furthermore, the Seeking Truth Realm Ji Quanzhen entered might not even be the same as the one he entered.
"The Seeking Truth Realm is subspace!"
Ji Quanzhen’s face was serious as he spoke, still finding it hard to believe, gripping the beer bottle tightly causing his knuckles to turn white, chest heaving unpredictably.
Lu Ren’s expression moved, "How did you confirm this?"
"I specifically spent a year at the Space Measurement Institute conducting experiments, after over a thousand determinations, finally coming to a conclusion."
He stared intently at Lu Ren, his eyes, usually clear and pristine, were bloodshot, and his emotions escalated.