Spiritual Energy Revival (17): 

Zhou Qinghao was anxious and kept circulating his cultivation method.

His golden core had already shattered, turning into liquid spiritual power that flowed within his body, slowly condensing into a nascent soul.

His strength had greatly improved, and he was about to enter the legendary Nascent Soul stage.

Yet not long ago, he thought he would be possessed.

At that time, all sorts of dark thoughts flashed through his mind—pressing Gu Juntian into dual cultivation, even considering perishing together with him.

But Gu Juntian had kept comforting him, constantly saying he loved him.

Back then, he didn’t believe those words at all. He thought Gu Juntian was lying to him.

He wanted to kill Gu Juntian, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Seeing Gu Juntian tortured and covered in wounds because of him, he even felt distressed.

He struggled for as long as he forced Gu Juntian into dual cultivation, until finally, he decided to let go.

This life of his had been saved by Gu Juntian, so he should return it to him.

Once he thought that way, a sense of relief washed over him, as if something had left him.

He calmed down, treated Gu Juntian’s injuries, and then voluntarily reinforced the surrounding formations.

From then on, no matter what Gu Juntian did to him, he would not resist.

Then, he saw a bolt of heavenly thunder fall from the sky…

After that, everything was chaos.

At first, he wanted to take Gu Juntian to dodge the lightning, but they were both struck together. Only then did he realize the heavenly thunder had appeared because he was about to advance to the Nascent Soul.

So he distanced himself from Gu Juntian and even faced the thunder head-on, hoping it wouldn’t target Gu Juntian. But the thunder split in two, and half still struck Gu Juntian.

That thunder was clearly summoned by him, yet it kept chasing after both of them.

Zhou Qinghao couldn’t avoid it. He knew the only thing he could do now was to quickly form his nascent soul.

Once he did, the thunder should disappear, right?

Clenching his teeth, Zhou Qinghao continued cultivating.

The nascent soul in his body gradually took shape. At the same time, the clouds in the sky began to disperse, leaving only one final thunder cluster within them…

Finally, the last bolt of heavenly thunder descended.

The nascent soul inside Zhou Qinghao trembled, then solidified. Zhou Qinghao took a deep breath and immediately ran toward Gu Juntian.

At the same time, the people nearby also sighed in relief: “The thunderclouds have finally dispersed!”

“Let’s hurry and check the situation.”

“Who knows how it is now…”

“Hopefully Zhou Qinghao is unharmed.”

…

However, before they reached the mountain peak, another cluster of thunderclouds appeared in the sky.

This time, the thundercloud was just like before, striking two people at once, Gu Juntian and Zhou Qinghao each taking half.

But this thundercloud was not summoned by Zhou Qinghao—it was summoned by Gu Juntian.

Gu Juntian was tempering his body with lightning, and the effect was remarkable.

Heavenly thunder contained immense energy. He locked this energy within his body, absorbing some of it, though much of it still rampaged inside him.

Gu Juntian exerted all his strength to control this energy circulating within him.

Before, his body could not store energy, but now it could.

So, as he kept circulating it, a golden core that flickered with lightning appeared inside him.

Gu Juntian possessed a powerful divine sense. In terms of realm, he was already beyond the Nascent Soul, meaning that as long as the energy was sufficient, he could break through at any time.

And now, the energy was more than enough!

So, like Zhou Qinghao, he began advancing to the Nascent Soul.

He had no inner demon tribulation; he simply endured the lightning strikes…

While condensing his nascent soul, Gu Juntian also pinched his face. At last, the final bolt of heavenly thunder struck.

Inside his body, a nascent soul flickering with lightning appeared.

At last, he had advanced to the Nascent Soul! At last, he was rid of his old man appearance!

With the help of the thunder, he even tempered his body to become impervious to blades and spears.

His cultivation speed was far faster than he had imagined, all thanks to Zhou Qinghao.

Thinking of Zhou Qinghao, Gu Juntian immediately turned to him: “Qinghao, are you alright?”

Zhou Qinghao had just formed his nascent soul, only to be struck by lightning right after. Truly unlucky—who knew what condition he was in now.

He should be fine. After all, he had reached the Nascent Soul stage, and all the tribulation lightning had been shared between the two of them.

“I’m fine.” Zhou Qinghao stared blankly at Gu Juntian.

His adoptive father had returned to how he looked seven years ago.

No, he looked even younger than seven years ago—sharp brows, starry eyes, just like the first time they met.

Zhou Qinghao was dazed.

At that moment, both of them were still half-naked…

Zhou Qinghao couldn’t help but lean forward to kiss Gu Juntian.

Gu Juntian blocked him with his hand: “Qinghao, someone’s coming.”

Zhou Qinghao snapped back to his senses and noticed people nearby.

He quickly set up a formation to make them invisible, then asked, “Who’s there?”

“Benefactor Zhou?” Master Rongfu called out.

Zhou Qinghao recognized the voice: “Master Rongfu? Why are you here?”

“Captain Zhou, are you alright?” Su Xuancheng quickly followed.

“I’m fine… do you have spare clothes? Our clothes were struck by lightning. Give us two sets.” Zhou Qinghao said.

Two sets of clothes? Gu Juntian was fine too?

And was that really Zhou Qinghao speaking?

The people outside were puzzled.

Daoist Guanyun looked around, then had one of the Daoists with him take off his robe and send it into the formation.

Gu Juntian said: “Qinghao, put on your clothes and go out first. I’ll follow later.”

Zhou Qinghao possessed the Celestial Spirit Body, which had undergone a second awakening before he advanced to the Nascent Soul.

Thus, Zhou Qinghao was in excellent condition, clean all over. But Gu Juntian was different—he was filthy.

The impurities expelled during body tempering, the charred skin left from lightning strikes—all of it clung to him.

Looking like that, Zhou Qinghao had still wanted to kiss him just now. That was true love.

Gu Juntian planned to take a bath, then suddenly remembered—he was a cultivator. He should be able to use a spell to cleanse his body.

But… how exactly was that spell used?

As he was thinking, a cleansing spell popped into his mind.

He immediately activated it and cleaned himself up.

Now, he should look handsome and dashing—fit to be seen again!

While Gu Juntian was tidying himself, Zhou Qinghao had already gone out.

As soon as he stepped out of the formation, he saw everyone around him on high alert, tense and ready.

“You’re Captain Zhou?” Su Xuancheng asked.

Zhou Qinghao frowned, not understanding why Su Xuancheng would ask that.

“His soul is stable. He is indeed Zhou Qinghao,” Daoist Guanyun said.

Master Rongfu added: “It is indeed Benefactor Zhou. Benefactor Zhou, I received a report saying Director Gu of the Bureau intended to seize your body. Benefactor Zhou, what have you been doing these past few days?”

Zhou Qinghao knew that if Master Rongfu and Daoist Guanyun had come together to the Bureau, something serious must have happened. But he hadn’t expected them to come because of this.

In fact, until today, he himself had thought Gu Juntian was going to seize his body.

But Gu Juntian hadn’t.

After advancing to the Nascent Soul, he was absolutely certain of one thing: his soul was perfectly fine, even more stable than before.

Everything Gu Juntian had told him was true. Gu Juntian had not deceived him!

Without hesitation, Zhou Qinghao said: “Seizing my body? Absolutely not! A few days ago, when I realized I was about to advance to the Nascent Soul, my adoptive father brought me here to go into seclusion. The thunder tribulation just now was mine. I have already advanced to the Nascent Soul.”

Zhou Qinghao had reached the Nascent Soul?

“Then what about Director Gu…” Everyone looked confused.

Gu Juntian walked out from behind Zhou Qinghao and said, “I also advanced to the Nascent Soul. What’s the problem?”

Everyone stared in shock at Gu Juntian. “Director Gu?!”

“It’s me,” Gu Juntian replied.

“Y-you… Director, your face…” Those who had known Gu Juntian from earlier weren’t too surprised, but those who had joined the Bureau in recent years were stunned.

“Oh, this face? I forgot to make myself look older again.” Gu Juntian gave a light cough and returned to his elderly appearance. “This looks more authoritative, right?”

The Bureau staff: “???”

Was this really their director? Wasn’t it said that their director had aged and was gravely injured, with little time left?

What was going on? Why had he suddenly become young again?

And from what he just said… he had advanced to the Nascent Soul together with Zhou Qinghao?

Gu Juntian said: “This advancement to the Nascent Soul had some unexpected complications. Both Qinghao’s and my phones were destroyed, so we couldn’t contact you in time. The Bureau is fine, right?”

“It’s fine…” everyone instinctively answered.

But Gu Juntian suddenly frowned: “How can it be fine? There are blood-soaked demons and evil spirits running loose into the Bureau?!”

Given the situation, he might as well first establish his authority against the hidden enemies.