Human Relationships Are Thin as Paper, Cultivation

In Luo Bei's world, the concept of "ingratiating oneself" didn't exist. Before Yuan Tianyi brought him to Luofu, no one would have been foolish enough to try and curry favor with a beggar who could die of hunger or illness in the wilderness at any moment. Even after arriving at Luofu, Luo Bei was surrounded by an unchanging, desolate environment and had no idea what a Luofu disciple represented to the cultivation sects of the world.

However, Luo Bei, who didn't understand ingratiation, could clearly sense the vastly different attitudes Zi Xuangu and Ling Dong Shan had towards him and Lin Hang. Furthermore, Luo Bei's nature made him dislike Zi Xuangu and Ling Dong Shan. Seeing Lin Hang lower his head, appearing even more timid and small under their scornful gazes, Luo Bei suddenly asked, "Senior Brother Lin Hang, have you eaten dinner yet?"

"..." Lin Hang looked up in astonishment.

"Thank you for bringing me meals these past few days." Amidst the equally stunned gazes of Zi Xuangu and Ling Dong Shan, Luo Bei stood up and said, "Senior Brother Lin Hang, if you haven't eaten yet, how about we eat together?"

"Luo... Luo Bei... Junior Brother... you..." Lin Hang's heart was greatly shaken, and he couldn't even finish his sentence. This was because, in the past two years, very few fellow disciples, besides Luo Bei, had ever spoken to him so kindly, let alone invited him to share a meal at the same table like a friend.

Human relationships are as thin as paper! Although Lin Hang wasn't old, he had already experienced the warmth and coldness of human interactions. When Lin Hang first arrived at Shushan two years ago, his stutter wasn't this severe, nor was he lame. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been selected as a Shushan disciple in the first place. Despite his stutter, Lin Hang was naturally intelligent, and his memory was superior among his peers, often being among the first to recite the scriptures for the day's lessons. One day, in a valley within Shushan, he discovered an herb that looked very similar to the one described in the Pill Scripture as having a miraculous effect on treating cold poison – the Seven-leaf Vermillion Grass. He wanted to pick it and show it to Senior Brother Qinglian, who taught the Pill Scripture, to see if it was indeed the Seven-leaf Vermillion Grass. However, when he went to pick it, he didn't notice that a green venomous snake was coiled in the bushes next to the herb. By the time someone found him, he was unconscious. Although the snake venom was quickly removed by his elders, it had been too long, and the venom had seeped deep into his bones and meridians. The muscles and meridians in the right leg bitten by the snake had suffered necrosis, and that right leg became lame.

Shushan's foundational cultivation lessons, besides reciting scriptures and understanding principles, also included strengthening the body and toughening the skin and bones. This strengthening of the body and toughening of the skin and bones involved not only physical exercises to temper the will but also some martial arts routines that were profound for ordinary people but rudimentary for cultivators.

Given Lin Hang's talent, his cultivation progress, even if not far surpassing others, shouldn't have fallen too far behind. However, after Lin Hang became lame in one leg, he found it difficult to perform certain stances in some martial arts routines, such as twisting the waist, hunching like a chicken, and the bear stance, which were very simple for ordinary disciples.

As a result, his cultivation progress fell far behind all his fellow disciples.

When he couldn't complete his lessons and was still practicing things others had long mastered, he often became the target of ridicule from his peers. Even his stutter, which his fellow disciples hadn't mocked much before, became another aspect of their mockery.

His fellow disciples gradually distanced themselves from him, and he became increasingly self-conscious and withdrawn. His stutter worsened, and the more it did, the more he became an "uncooperative... useless person" in the eyes of his peers!

Over the past two years, while other disciples exchanged insights during their cultivation, he remained isolated and self-conscious. His cultivation over two years yielded results worse than a disciple who had only been practicing for three months. Even the elders responsible for teaching them foundational cultivation and introductory techniques had lost hope in him and had gradually become accustomed to ordering him around like a laborer or a servant.

Even many newly admitted Shushan disciples looked down on him, yet now Luo Bei was inviting him to eat.

Moreover, Lin Hang saw genuine sincerity in Luo Bei's eyes, devoid of any pretense or hypocrisy.

"Gulp." Lin Hang indeed hadn't eaten yet. He had also heard that Luo Bei was a highly valued disciple in all of Geli, and even all of Shushan. These past few days, he had been afraid of delaying Luo Bei's mealtime and incurring the elders' scolding, so he had brought the food over before eating himself. At this moment, he didn't know how he felt, and his stutter prevented him from speaking. His stomach, however, growled.

"Senior Brother Lin Hang, it seems you haven't had dinner yet," Luo Bei said sincerely upon hearing his stomach rumble. "If Senior Brother Lin Hang is willing, you can eat with me from now on when you bring the food."

"Why is Luo Bei being so nice to this good-for-nothing?"

Those who have never experienced hardship often possess an innate sense of superiority. It's like some major sects, even those far inferior to Shushan, where cultivators who have practiced for a long time should have understood many principles, yet they still unconsciously adopt a condescending attitude towards smaller sects. In fact, the rules of the Heavenly Dao that Yuan Tianyi instilled in Luo Bei, that survival of the fittest is largely correct, and while the Buddha said all beings are equal, when have beings ever been equal? Even in Shushan, considered a divine land by the world, Zi Xuangu and Ling Dong Shan, fellow Shushan disciples, exhibit such inherent snobbery.

"No... no need..." Lin Hang, of course, could see Luo Bei's sincerity. When Luo Bei stood up and asked if he had eaten dinner, he had already felt Luo Bei was special. He also longed for a friend like Luo Bei, but he glanced at Luo Bei, lowered his head, and retreated somewhat timidly, uttering those words.

"What a thankless, strange person!"

"No wonder none of the disciples like being with him." Hearing Lin Hang refuse, Zi Xuangu and Ling Dong Shan inwardly snorted.

However, the two of them didn't realize that it was precisely because of them that Lin Hang refused Luo Bei's kindness!

Because everyone could see Zi Xuangu and Ling Dong Shan's disdain for him, if he also ate with them and Luo Bei, it would inevitably make the atmosphere awkward.

His refusal was simply to prevent Luo Bei from being embarrassed!

The more one understands the vicissitudes of life, the more one appreciates the value of sincere friendship. Shaking his head bitterly and retreating humbly from the room, Lin Hang silently said two words in his heart to Luo Bei, "Thank you."

Although his kind and sincere offer was rejected, Luo Bei felt no displeasure as he watched Lin Hang's humble exit from the room. He thought of the Two-headed Mountain Salamander that had given him the Zhanxikezha Grass that day. Although that Two-headed Mountain Salamander was a humble existence before Yuan Tianyi, what it had done for Luo Bei taught him that even the most humble beings have their own dignity.

"To act without being driven by self-interest..."

Luo Bei suddenly remembered Yuan Tianyi's words. "Did I do the right thing?" Although he could clearly see the awkwardness in Zi Xuangu and Ling Dong Shan's eyes due to his actions, such a thought still crossed Luo Bei's mind.

"To cultivate, one must first cultivate the true heart. When the true heart is firm, external demons cannot invade."

After Zi Xuangu and Ling Dong Shan left, under the dim oil lamp, Luo Bei mulled over the words Old Zhao Nan had spoken when explaining the Mahākāla Secret Method to him, feeling that his understanding of them had deepened.

"Entering the world... leaving the world... this tempering is truly beneficial for cultivation."

Luo Bei's gaze involuntarily fell back to the Shushan Qi Nourishing Chapter he had casually placed aside.

With a thought, Luo Bei quickly washed his hands and feet, blew out the oil lamp, and lay down on the bed.

Although it was already time for sleep, Luo Bei wasn't going to sleep. Instead, he thought of the Eternal Life Sutra of Delusion that Yuan Tianyi had taught him.

Luo Bei didn't know what Yuan Tianyi's Natal Sword Essence was yet, but he vaguely understood it was related to Flying Sword techniques, and Shushan was the sect with the most powerful Flying Sword techniques in the world. He also felt that his ability to enter Shushan was due to Yuan Tianyi's arrangement, so he dedicated himself to learning the Dao at Shushan without overthinking other matters. He had also spent the past three days wholeheartedly studying the lessons taught by Xiao Xiao and had not had any free time. But today, he had already memorized all these lessons. Recalling the principles Yuan Tianyi and Old Zhao Nan had told him, he was eager to practice Luofu's cultivation technique.

"Calm the spirit... internal observation... visualization... The first step of the Eternal Life Sutra of Delusion is similar to the Qi Introduction of the Mahākāla Secret Method?"

Luo Bei carefully considered the scripture in his mind and found that the initial cultivation principles were not significantly different, only the visualization and the meridians' path for Qi Introduction varied.

Having experience cultivating the Mahākāla Secret Method, Luo Bei no longer felt the uncontrollable excitement and trepidation of a beginner cultivator. Taking a deep breath, Luo Bei calmed himself, stopped thinking about other things, and focused on silently reciting the scripture. He formed a mudra with his hands, slowly calmed his mind like still water, and entered a state of tranquility.

Unlike the Mahākāla Secret Method, which involved visualizing oneself as a golden Buddha, the initial visualization for the Eternal Life Sutra of Delusion was non-self.

He imagined himself as a formless void, an existence of nothingness, merging with heaven and earth. This initial visualization of non-self was, in fact, still self, because the thought of visualization existed. But in later stages of great accomplishment, one could enter a state of non-self naturally without the need for visualization.

Under Luo Bei's visualization, his Sea of Consciousness was vast and empty, devoid of anything, as if it had merged with the entire world. Soon, the spiritual energy from the outside began to pour into this empty, vacuum-like Sea of Consciousness.

This influx of spiritual energy began to gather into streams, flowing naturally through Luo Bei's meridians. Following the path dictated by the technique, it circulated through nine heavenly cycles.

It was very smooth. The spiritual energy in Shushan was by no means inferior to that of Luofu. Moreover, the spiritual energy in Shushan was much purer than in Luofu, with virtually no impurities or extraneous qi. Even after circulating through nine heavenly cycles, the spiritual energy gathered and flowed like liquid in his meridians. Luo Bei did not encounter any manifestations of inner demons.

However, as the ninth heavenly cycle ended and the spiritual energy continued to flow along the meridians, Luo Bei suddenly felt an intense, sharp pain as if his meridians were being cut by knives and pricked by needles!