Slaying the Sleep Demon

Zhou Mingde spent the next two days in a state of anxious excitement.

During these two days, he constantly monitored domestic and international news for any reports of gold theft or robbery.

Three hundred kilograms of gold would be enough to make any country's front page.

However, he saw nothing.

What did this mean? It meant that this batch of gold was either stolen by someone with immense influence and inside connections, or, as Zhou Qi had said, its origin was completely legitimate and without any issues.

If it was the former, he would most likely be implicated when something went wrong. If it was the latter, he could just wait for a promotion.

Zhou Mingde chose to believe the latter. Even if it were the former, he would pretend to know nothing.

After all, a stable source of gold was extremely important to a large jewelry company like Zhou Fuyuan, let alone to him, a mere regional manager.

This was a golden opportunity.

The bold starve, the timid feast. What was there to fear!

Even if something did happen, I'd just be an ordinary person who was kept in the dark!

"Who is it that sent you to my side..."

His phone rang. Zhou Mingde glanced at the caller ID and immediately answered.

"Brother Qi, good afternoon. Are you bringing me some business?" Even though they were separated by a phone, Zhou Mingde still adopted a posture of bowing and scraping.

Only with sincerity from the heart could his earnestness be conveyed to the other end of the line.

"It's not that fast!" Zhou Qi said speechlessly. "That's gold, not steel!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Zhou Mingde nodded repeatedly. "So, Brother Qi, what's this about this time?"

"Oh, I want to rent a warehouse. Do you have any connections?"

"Yes, yes!" Even if he didn't, he had to say he did. "How big do you need? Any special requirements?"

"About two to three thousand square meters would be fine. The location doesn't matter, as long as it's within Nanan City," Zhou Qi said. "Also, it needs to be a place where chemical items can be stored."

"I'll start contacting people right away and give you the results within a day!" Zhou Mingde replied immediately.

"OK!" Zhou Qi nodded. "I'll be waiting for your good news!"

He swiped down on his phone. There were still a few days until the 12th, and since Brother Bo hadn't arrived yet, he couldn't transfer money to the company.

Although Jiang Mingran had acted loyal and rational, what if something happened!

After informing Zhou Yibing, Zhou Qi found a private place and returned to Nanhai City. After a thorough disinfection, he then traveled to Shimotsuki Village.

He had traveled all day yesterday, and today he had a meeting all morning. This meant he had only cultivated for three days in total, with a deficit of a day and a half.

How could he achieve great things with such laziness!

Didn't he see that Koshiro's gaze towards him held a hint of dissatisfaction!

So, Zhou Qi spent the entire afternoon practicing suburi.

When he was tired, he had the fish from One Piece to eat. The meat here was excellent for restoring stamina. After a hearty meal, the fatigue from his training was quickly dispelled.

Koshiro also taught him a massage technique, where he could massage his right hand with his left, and his right shoulder with his left hand, and his left shoulder with his right. It was awkward, but effective.

It was a pity that Zhou Qi had not yet mastered Koshiro's teachings on condensing the body into a single force; he could still only rely on the strength of his arms.

After dinner, as usual, he meditated. Zhou Qi suddenly thought of something and returned to the modern era through a space gate.

Then, he closed his eyes and meditated.

Before, he would always meditate to create a space gate, then erase it from his consciousness, and enter a state of no thought. But after switching worlds, he found that the same method was exceptionally difficult.

It took him a very, very long time just to meditate a space gate into existence, and erasing it was practically impossible.

It was as if it was permanently fixed in his mind, impossible to expel!

Or, if he expelled one thing, another would immediately take its place, his mind a chaotic mess, unable to quiet down!

"What's going on?" Zhou Qi suddenly opened his eyes, then returned to the quiet room in Shimotsuki Village and tried again.

This time, he quickly entered a meditative state.

And once he entered it, he didn't wake up. When he opened his eyes again, it was already the next morning!

Zhou Qi was a little bewildered. He felt his legs, which had been crossed all night, and they didn't seem to be very numb.

"What's the principle behind this?" Zhou Qi was confused. Why was it so easy to enter a meditative state here, but not on Earth?

Was it because of the traffic or the noise? That didn't seem right either. My place is in the center of the residential complex, and my bedroom has excellent soundproofing. I also drew thick curtains, so no light gets in.

Zhou Qi first investigated some information himself, and then went to ask Koshiro.

"Teacher, may I ask, how long does it usually take you from closing your eyes to entering a meditative state?"

"Hmm, I've never specifically timed it, but I'd say it takes about five or six minutes!" Koshiro replied.

"Five or six minutes?" It seemed like it was the same for me, but I'm a beginner!

"And how long can you maintain a meditation session?" Zhou Qi asked again.

"From the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, to an hour or two!"

"Is it possible we could use Meditation instead of sleep?" Zhou Qi asked again. "Meditate for a whole night, professionally!"

Koshiro shook his head. "How could that be possible? Sleep is essential for the human body to replenish energy and refresh the spirit. No matter how deep your Meditation skills are, sleep is indispensable!"

Zhou Qi remembered that Zoro always liked to sleep on the deck.

But!

Zhou Qi asked, "Then, Teacher, have you ever heard of the Sleep Demon?"

"Sleep Demon?" Koshiro shook his head. "Is that the name of some great Pirate?"

Zhou Qi shook his head. "The Sleep Demon refers to the process of sleeping. A person's life is less than a hundred years, yet sleeping 8 hours a day means one-third of your life is spent sleeping. Isn't that an incredibly extravagant act?"

"That's why ancient cultivators in our country called sleep the Sleep Demon, and the process of replacing sleep with Meditation was called Slaying the Sleep Demon!"

"Slaying the Sleep Demon?" Koshiro pondered seriously, then nodded. "What you say makes a lot of sense. If sleep could be replaced by Meditation, it would indeed free up a lot of cultivation time. But this is only a theoretical possibility. In reality, no one can achieve replacing sleep with Meditation. At least, I haven't seen anyone like that, nor have I heard of them!"

"Why don't you try it?" Zhou Qi suggested. "What if it works?"

"This..." Koshiro thought about it. He was quite interested. After all, in this world, Meditation represented the growth of the spirit, and spiritual growth would increase the consciousness's control over the body, which could then give rise to all sorts of incredible Spiritual Powers.

Meditation was a practice that could be cultivated for a lifetime. If there truly was a way to replace sleep with Meditation, it would be great news for swordsmen.

"I'll give it a try!" Koshiro nodded.

"Mhm!" Zhou Qi nodded along. He was curious whether he was special, or if the people in this world hadn't discovered this method.

If he was special, it would mean that besides this Space Gate, he might have some other talents.

If Koshiro could also achieve it, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, he was one of his own. If his strength increased, Zhou Qi would also benefit.

In the morning, he continued his Suburi.

He was a lazy person, fond of pleasure and women, prone to slacking off, and possessed all the flaws a normal person would have.

So, swinging the sword like this was really difficult to persist with, especially when he saw the brats next to him go off to play in groups after a short while. It made him want to rest even more.

But he thought about working over ten hours a day at the electronics factory, sitting for five to six hours when writing novels, and spending one to two days editing a video when he was an UP host.

The most unbearable thing was when the things he worked so hard on were simply dismissed with two words.

"Shit."

Or four words, "worse than shit"...

Compared to all that hardship, what was swinging a sword?

The contemporary famous philosopher Zhou Jiji once said: When you don't want to put in the effort, you might as well ask yourself.

Are your parents section chiefs?

No, not even division chiefs, just ordinary farmers.

Do you have ten houses at home?

No, just one, and it's a rural self-built house.

Then what's the point of all this nonsense? As long as it doesn't kill you, train to death!