The precise diagnosis for Ming Feizhen’s condition was the inability to use the internal energy that had been mixed with essence over the years of training. They were still there; he just couldn’t wield them as freely as he once did. Frankly, he deserved praise for being able to minimise damage to this degree considering who his opponent was. After all, living to tell the tale after clashing with the mightiest entity since the world’s creation should be considered a miracle.
Ming Feizhen didn’t lose his abilities due to exhaustion as Pangu did. Pangu would recover its strength through hibernation; Pangu wouldn’t even bother waking even when it finished recuperating. To put it into perspective, Pangu lost “volume”, while Ming Feizhen lost “quality”.
Pangu utilised natural energy, while Ming Feizhen used man-made energy. Despite “Spring Wind Rainy Night” being a discipline that surpassed human limits at the present paradigm, at the end of the day, it still required the user to utilise man-made energy.
The repercussion of expending all of one’s produced energy was blockage of blood flow. As a consequence, true qi couldn’t be circulated at will. The body would instantly absorb any newly accumulated energy to promote blood flow. Hence, Ming Feizhen’s body was akin to a bottomless pit that absorbed all the new energy he collected.
People who examined Ming Feizhen would find that he didn’t have any internal energy just as Tianhu did. All of the Fengpeng’s energy had pretty much been absorbed, while the “core” that circulated the energy was immobilised since it was linked to blood flow. If someone were to examine him carefully, they’d notice that his blood flow was nigh stagnant, as well. It was a miracle he was still able to go about his daily life without any hassles. If he wasn’t accumulating an enormous amount of energy to stimulate the Fengpeng’s blood into circulation, he’d already be dead. He would’ve recovered faster if the adepts he came across would help him instead of primarily being out for him.
One hundred days was only a rough estimation that could easily be an underestimation or overestimation based on numerous variables.
Just as Ming Feizhen only lost the ability to employ his internal energy, the Fengpeng’s power remained intact for as long as he was still breathing, still alive and still in contact with nature. Ever since the Fengpeng became part of him, he was physically stronger, more agile, immune to illness, had an inconceivable tank and could achieve more results with less effort. As long as his head wasn’t separated from his body, he could recover from almost any injury without reliance on drugs or anything of that nature. The Fengpeng deserved a lot of credit for his survival against Pangu. As he expended the energy in the battle, he transiently lost those physical enhancements for a short period while the energy gradually restored itself.
Ming Feizhen had the luxury to indulge in good food and rest ever since back in Nanjiang. As a glutton, all the premium foods Ming Feizhen dined on were the best nourishment – excluding human flesh – for the Fengpeng. In the last two-plus months, the Fengpeng’s power had been restored to approximately 80%. The first sign that Ming Feizhen was recovering was the colour of his hair changing back.
Hair was an extension of one’s blood, so Ming Feizhen’s hair reverted to white as blood circulation returned to normal. Had Jiang Chen seen the white hair, he might’ve made a remark about Ming Feizhen having truly inherited Hero Shenzhou’s teachings. Ming Feizhen wasn’t completely defenceless when Jiang Chen kidnapped him; however, seeing as he knew nothing about Jiang Chen and nothing about what Jiang Chen knew about him, he chose to bear with it and wait.
Jiang Chen was cognisant of what Ming Feizhen’s silence meant. As a matter of fact, he could tell from Ming Feizhen’s gaze that Ming Feizhen had something prepared enough to protect himself in his predicament. That was the reason he tortured Ming Feizhen and had Zero watch over him at their base. Jiang Chen’s only miscalculation was that Ming Feizhen wasn’t unconscious when he pierced the latter’s collarbone. Ming Feizhen wasn’t unconscious for even a moment; it was all an act. Ming Feizhen was well aware that he couldn’t escape Jiang Chen even if he could escape Tiangou, let alone Shitou.
To reiterate for emphasis: Ming Feizhen never ran out of internal energy. He merely couldn’t wield it. By extension, his incredible hearing was fully functional.
Ming Feizhen’s hearing informed him that Shitou was a Divine Realm fighter, one who surpassed Jiang Chen by miles. That said, Ming Feizhen didn’t understand why Shitou was constantly sleeping and wearing a deadpan visage.
Ever since Ming Feizhen started his sleeping performance, he didn’t move. He only did one thing – listen carefully for every iota of detail. He learnt how many people were around, what the arrangements were, what everyone’s special traits were and a map of the base.
Black and White Reflection covered the Yan brothers’ matters – and even mentioned Yan Jibei’s wife’s name was Yu Lian. As for the discord between them, eavesdropping on their everyday conversations, in addition to the information in Black and White Reflection, provided a lot of insight to form a reasonable theory.
After much rumination, Ming Feizhen decided the Yan brothers were the ideal targets to start with because their discipline was the only one he knew well. From then on, it was triggering them and reciting the theory from the manual to create a discrepancy in their progress.
Yan Jiangnan would never find out that he didn’t learn his ancestor’s disciple. The qi circulation method he learnt from watching his brother’s movements derived from a discipline of Demon Sect, one that taught the practitioner how to go down with their opponent.
