Carefree Art

Xu Chunniang stayed in the lecture hall all day, only snapping back to reality when the sky had completely darkened. She realized how quickly time had passed without her noticing.

She had originally planned to return to the dormitory, but checking the map showed that the trip back would take at least two to three hours, meaning five to six hours would be spent on travel alone.

Not to mention, it was already dark, and she wasn't familiar with the path. The travel time would only increase.

Out of the twelve hours in a day, subtracting three for sleep and the travel time, only three hours remained for literacy.

Three hours of study time might seem like a lot, but it was definitely not enough!

After all, while she was traveling, others could dedicate more time to studying and cultivating.

She was already falling behind due to her illiteracy, and she absolutely couldn't let that gap widen further!

Xu Chunniang knew very well that although she had joined the Carefree Sect, her cultivation talent was only average, and there was still much to learn.

Putting aside comparisons with inner disciples, even among the outer disciples who joined at the same time, many were literate. Some even came from immortal cultivation families and were already attending lectures by inner sect uncles on the second floor.

Take Qi Haozhi, for example. Although he hadn't bothered her again after that young girl entered the ship's cabin, Xu Chunniang felt a sense of urgency, always feeling that this matter wasn't over so easily.

She had to put in more effort to close the gap between herself and those people!

Gritting her teeth, Xu Chunniang made a bold decision: she wouldn't go back at all and would sleep directly in the lecture hall.

Although she was only eight years old, poverty and hunger had made her much more mature and sensible than her peers. Furthermore, being constantly scorned for her ugliness since childhood had instilled in Xu Chunniang a stubborn resilience. She was like a blade of grass, possessing astonishing vitality despite her humble origins.

She was determined to catch up to those people in the shortest possible time!

Xu Chunniang woke up every day at the Mao hour. After a simple wash and purification in the backyard of the lecture hall, she would begin her new day of study.

If she was hungry, she would eat a Grain Abstinence Pill. If she was tired, she would rest her head on the desk for a short nap. Relying on her astonishing willpower and learning ability, she rapidly absorbed new knowledge until the Zi hour, when the night was completely dark, and she would fall asleep in exhaustion in the lecture hall.

The next day was a repetition of the previous one...

This kind of life might seem monotonous and boring to others, but to her, it was no different from a dream.

After all, in Xu Family Village, Xu Chunniang woke earlier than the chickens and slept later than the dogs, working in the fields all day and never having enough to eat.

In comparison, she didn't feel any hardship in her current life, where she didn't have to starve and could learn skills. Instead, she found joy in it.

One day, Xu Chunniang was still in the small lecture hall. The puppet-like small sphere in front of her was tirelessly explaining knowledge. After a full hour, the small sphere fell silent as usual.

Xu Chunniang did not, as usual, turn the button to have the small sphere continue its lecture. Instead, she pressed the pause button and took out several books from her storage bag.

After this period of effort, Xu Chunniang's progress was rapid, and she could recognize most of the commonly used characters.

She recognized the titles of these books: "Carefree Disciple Rules," "Carefree Art," and "Cultivation World Encyclopedia."

Xu Chunniang thought for a moment and first picked up the "Carefree Disciple Rules" to read.

The rules of the Carefree Sect were not numerous. In a little less than half a day, Xu Chunniang had roughly read through the thin book. She could understand most of the characters, and for the few she didn't recognize, she could guess their general meaning.

She put the book away, feeling both proud and emotional. Her efforts over the past few days had truly paid off; she was literate now!

If her parents and brother knew, they would surely be happy for her!

They probably didn't even know that one had to be literate to become an immortal.

Xu Chunniang smiled and then picked up the thickest book, the "Cultivation World Encyclopedia."

Just by looking at the table of contents, Xu Chunniang knew that this book couldn't be finished all at once. The table of contents alone had over ten pages, covering a vast amount of knowledge about the cultivation world.

However, the detailed table of contents had its advantages; it would be very convenient to look things up later if she encountered anything she didn't understand.

Casually flipping through the book's contents, she found, as expected, that they were all things Xu Chunniang had never heard of before.

Each item even came with corresponding illustrations, depicting details clearly, truly living up to its name as an "encyclopedia."

Shaking her head, Xu Chunniang put away the "Cultivation World Encyclopedia" as well. The only book left on the table was "Carefree Art."

This was the cultivation technique that outer disciples had to learn. Suppressing her excitement, Xu Chunniang gently opened the pages.

"To be carefree in the world, with a contented heart, embracing all under heaven... to live unrestrained and at ease, one can attain longevity."

Xu Chunniang blinked. She recognized every word, but when put together, she couldn't understand a single sentence.

It seemed she would only understand the meaning of these words after going to the second floor to listen to the lectures of the inner sect uncles.

The familiar feeling of hunger returned. Xu Chunniang simply put away the "Carefree Art" and skillfully took out the white jade bottle from her storage bag, only to find that she couldn't pour out a single Grain Abstinence Pill.

Only then did Xu Chunniang realize that she had been studying in the lecture hall for a full month.

It was time to go to the Food Hall to collect Grain Abstinence Pills. Since she was also almost done with her literacy studies, she would start attending the common knowledge classes in the west courtyard from this afternoon.

After planning her next steps, Xu Chunniang walked out of the lecture hall and headed towards the Food Hall.

The Food Hall was as deserted as ever. Steward Zhao sat inside, looking somewhat bored. Seeing someone arrive, a smile appeared on his plump face. "It's you."

Clearly, he still remembered Xu Chunniang. After all, the girl's appearance was quite distinctive.

Having been confined to the lecture hall for a month, Xu Chunniang was happy to see a familiar face and revealed two small dimples. "Greetings, Senior Brother Zhao."

"You girl, you seem more spirited than the last time I saw you, and your complexion is much better."

Steward Zhao looked her up and down. The last time he saw this girl, she was sallow and thin, appearing severely malnourished, with even her hair sparse and pitiful, only her eyes shining astonishingly bright.

Seeing her again, she had clearly improved, no longer looking like a refugee.

Xu Chunniang had been busy with literacy for the past month and hadn't paid any attention to her appearance. Hearing Steward Zhao say this, she didn't believe him and simply thought he was being polite. She smiled and handed over her token.

Steward Zhao took the token, registered it, and then handed back the token along with a new bottle of Grain Abstinence Pills.

"How is your literacy coming along? While literacy is important, cultivation is even more crucial. If you can recite the 'Carefree Art,' you should go to the second floor for lectures soon.

I heard that among this batch of new disciples, several have already achieved Qi Introduction in the past few days."

Xu Chunniang was greatly shocked. She had spent the past month just learning to read, and others had already successfully achieved Qi Introduction and officially embarked on the path of cultivation!