Cultivation Is Hard

Cultivation Is Hard

In Blackwood Village, the starry night remained silent.

Lu Qingfeng sat up and examined his hands by the hazy moonlight. The Yellow Dragon Pill and Fasting Pill had not been brought into reality.

He opened the Attribute Panel again.

Name: Lu Qingfeng's True Body

Race: Human

Faction: None

Title: None

Cultivation: None

Level: 0 (0/1)

Lifespan: 16/68

Root Bone: 1

Merit: Unknown

Karma: Unknown

Cultivation Method: Yellow Court Scripture First Layer (Not Yet Initiated) Trait: Deriving Methods (First Layer); Govern All Arts (First Layer); Karma Elimination (First Layer); Blazing Sun Scripture First Layer (Initiated), Deriving;

Spells: None

Divine Power: None

Equipment: None

Alchemy: "Alchemy Primer" (Not Yet Initiated), Deriving

Other than the First Layer of the Blazing Sun Scripture changing from Not Yet Initiated to Initiated, his cultivation and level were still empty, and an Inner Breath entry had yet to appear.

"So it seems that mastery of cultivation methods, alchemy, and other skills in the game can be directly brought into reality. But the levels and cultivation in the game do not synchronize with those in reality."

Lu Qingfeng finally understood.

This was rather similar to the reincarnation setting in Primordial Wilderness—memories could be carried over, but things at the level of the physical body, such as Inner Breath and cultivation, could not be synchronized.

"This is already very good."

Lu Qingfeng suddenly lowered his head, burying his face in the darkness.

No one could know how vast the gulf was between the sunlit era of the twenty-first century and the stifling environment of Blackwood Village, a place nearly resembling a slave society—or how great the shock had been to Lu Qingfeng.

Lu Qingfeng was very optimistic.

When he had first transmigrated, he possessed the wisdom of his previous life. He could speak at three months and run at six. But when he was four, his mother died in childbirth, and for the first time, he saw the indifference and darkness of Blackwood Village.

As he gradually grew older and came to understand the dangers of Blackwood Village, along with the rumors of the lofty "immortals" of the Returning Truth Sect, Lu Qingfeng became even more cautious.

The once lively and cheerful boy became quiet and reserved.

He did not dare overstep the rules, because he was not alone.

If he did anything out of line or said anything out of line, there was no guarantee that it would not spread from Blackwood Village to Yellow Ganoderma Mountain by the next day, dragging his father, younger brother, and younger sister to their deaths with him.

"From today onward, everything will be different!"

Lu Qingfeng raised his head. In the darkness, his eyes shone with exceptional brilliance.

After confirming the correspondence between the game and reality, Lu Qingfeng entered the game once more.

"Four Yellow Dragon Pills only barely allowed me to comprehend Qi Sense. Then another round of cultivation gave me 4 Experience Points. I wonder how much experience a Yellow Dragon Pill can provide after comprehending Qi Sense."

"I only have one Yellow Dragon Pill left. Together with the 2 Experience Points I already have, it might be enough to raise my level to Level 2."

Within the Blue Stone Talisman, Lu Qingfeng took out his final Yellow Dragon Pill and swallowed it directly.

The Blazing Sun Scripture circulated, and the faint breath within his body moved with it, continuously absorbing the medicinal power and slowly growing stronger.

Only after the Yellow Dragon Pill's medicinal power had completely faded did Lu Qingfeng stop cultivating.

Level: 1 (5/5)

"Three Experience Points."

"As expected."

"The hardest part was entering the gate and comprehending Qi Sense. Four Yellow Dragon Pills only gave me 5 Experience Points. But after entering the gate, just one Yellow Dragon Pill increased my experience by 3 points!"

Lu Qingfeng relaxed inwardly.

If that was the case, then even if his aptitude was somewhat lacking, as long as he had enough Yellow Dragon Pills, he could eventually pile his cultivation high enough.

"It's getting late. I'll go back and sleep first. Tomorrow, I'll formally begin cultivating the Blazing Sun Scripture!"

Exploring Black Sand Town, cultivating the Blazing Sun Scripture...

Estimating that dawn was near, Lu Qingfeng exited the game. After doing his best to calm his emotions, he fell asleep.

Before he knew it, the night had passed.

Early the next morning, the rising sun appeared once again.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the black wood and into the Blackwood House.

For some reason, although he had clearly tossed and turned for a long time the previous night and had probably returned to reality close to dawn, Lu Qingfeng did not feel the slightest exhaustion from lack of sleep.

Instead, he was brimming with energy.

"Could the game also replace sleep?" Lu Qingfeng could not help thinking. Yet when he had logged off last night, he had clearly been exhausted.

He shook his head and stopped dwelling on it.

"Qingyu, get up."

He rolled out of bed in one motion and called out to Lu Qingyu. While washing up, Lu Qingfeng brought up the Attribute Panel.

Name: Lu Qingfeng's True Body

Race: Human

Faction: None

Title: None

Cultivation: None

Level: 0 (0/1)

Lifespan: 16/68

Root Bone: 1

Merit: Unknown

Karma: Unknown

Cultivation Method: Yellow Court Scripture First Layer (Not Yet Initiated) Trait: Deriving Methods (First Layer); Govern All Arts (First Layer); Karma Elimination (First Layer); Blazing Sun Scripture First Layer (Initiated), Deriving;

Spells: None

Divine Power: None

Equipment: None

Alchemy: "Alchemy Primer" (Not Yet Initiated), Deriving

As the Attribute Panel appeared on command, Lu Qingfeng became certain that everything from last night had not been an illusion or a dream.

"Next, I'll cultivate the Blazing Sun Scripture during the day while handling the farm work. At night, I'll enter Primordial Wilderness and explore this game."

Lu Qingfeng splashed two handfuls of cold water onto his face, becoming even more alert.

"Qingyu, get up already!"

Lu Qingyu was still struggling in bed, so Lu Qingfeng grabbed her and pushed the little girl toward the water to wash up.

After washing up, the siblings first went to fetch water from the Chengyang River, seven or eight li south of them. After roughly two trips, they pulled the weeds from the fields one by one. By then, it was noon.

They had brought Coarse Grain Cakes and hot water with them.

Lu Qingfeng took a Coarse Grain Cake from his clothes, broke off the larger half, and handed it to Qingyu. Then he wolfed down his own small half.

"Big Brother, I can't eat this much."

Lu Qingyu devoured her food and tried to stuff the remaining small piece into Lu Qingfeng's mouth. As she did so, she cried, "Big Brother's saliva got on it already, so I don't want to eat it."

Lu Qingfeng opened his mouth and swallowed the Coarse Grain Cake.

Seeing this, Lu Qingyu clapped her hands, her eyes curving into crescents as she smiled.

She had once thought that the Coarse Grain Cake she ate at noon always seemed bigger than when it was made. Only after discovering that Big Brother's other half was much smaller than hers had she stopped eating extra.

Sometimes, when Lu Qingfeng tried to give her more while she was not paying attention, Lu Qingyu would notice immediately and feed the remaining small half back to him.

"Qingyu, do you think it's hard following Big Brother?"

Lu Qingfeng took a great gulp from half a bamboo tube of cooled boiled water and looked at Lu Qingyu.

"Not hard at all!"

"There's no one in all of Blackwood Village who dotes on me more than Big Brother does! Xiao Hua and Da Ju get bullied by their older and younger brothers every day. They don't know how much they envy me!"

Lu Qingyu's eyes shone like stars, and her little face was full of life.

"This little girl is so easily satisfied. Don't let someone sweet-talk you away with just a few pretty words someday."

Lu Qingfeng teased.

"I won't!"

"I'll stay with Big Brother for my whole life."

Lu Qingyu wrinkled her nose and huffed.

Lu Qingfeng smiled and rubbed Lu Qingyu's little head. Thinking of those people who had repeatedly come to propose marriage in recent days, a chill rose in his heart.

"Qingyu, Big Brother encountered a fortunate opportunity two days ago. From now on, I need to cultivate every day. Keep watch for Big Brother. If someone comes, call out to me. How does that sound?"

Lu Qingfeng fiddled with the two yellow braids at the back of Qingyu's head as he discussed it with her.

He and Qingyu were together day and night. He could not hide cultivation from the little girl, nor was there any need to. The three siblings depended on one another for survival. Qingyu and Qingshan had practically been raised by him. In this world, there was no one more worthy of trust than them.

"Big Brother is going to cultivate too?"

"Good, good!"

"I'll keep watch for Big Brother!"

Lu Qingyu cried out in delight.

Then she realized she had spoken too loudly. Shrinking her neck, she got up and looked around sneakily. Only after seeing that no one was nearby did she pat her chest, stand on tiptoe, and lean close to Lu Qingfeng's ear to whisper, "Big Brother, you're cultivating in secret. I won't tell anyone. Once you succeed, we'll go to Yellow Ganoderma Mountain and rescue Second Brother!"

Though she never said it aloud, the little girl thought of her Second Brother, Lu Qingshan, every day.

"Good girl."

Lu Qingfeng smiled, then sat down and impatiently began cultivating the Blazing Sun Scripture.

Seeing this, Lu Qingyu stood up and craned her neck to look in every direction, keeping watch with utmost seriousness.

Lu Qingfeng knew Qingyu's temperament. They were in the Wheat Field at the moment, with wheat stalks concealing them, so there was little fear of being discovered.

At present, Lu Qingfeng had mastered two cultivation methods.

Although the Yellow Court Scripture was a Dao Ancestor Level cultivation method, it was more like an auxiliary cultivation method and could not directly raise cultivation.

Therefore, the only cultivation method Lu Qingfeng could currently cultivate was the Blazing Sun Scripture.

This was his first time cultivating in reality.

Without the aid of Yellow Dragon Pills, Lu Qingfeng finally realized just how poor his aptitude truly was—

An entire afternoon passed, yet he failed to comprehend Qi Sense.

Even though the First Layer of the Blazing Sun Scripture had already been initiated, and even though he had comprehended Qi Sense once in the game, he was still stuck at this hurdle.

"This—"

Having sat cross-legged for an entire afternoon without grasping Qi Sense, Lu Qingfeng grew restless and irritated. His legs had become so numb that he could barely move them.

Cultivating in reality was even harder than he had imagined.

"I have the experience of comprehending Qi Sense. In theory, as long as I have even a little aptitude, I should be able to grasp it quickly."

"But I haven't."

"It seems Root Bone: 1 really is exceptionally poor aptitude. If I want to achieve anything, I either have to endure with time. If one afternoon doesn't work, then one day. If one day doesn't work, then ten days! I was able to comprehend Qi Sense with the help of Yellow Dragon Pills. There's no reason I can't comprehend it by myself."

"If all else fails, I'll learn how to refine Yellow Dragon Pills in the game!"

His aptitude was worse than he had imagined, but Lu Qingfeng was not discouraged. As long as Primordial Wilderness existed, nothing would be difficult.

He opened his eyes.

Qingyu was still keeping watch, meticulous and utterly serious. When she turned around, she happened to see Lu Qingfeng awaken.

"Big Brother, you're awake!"

Lu Qingyu hopped over to Lu Qingfeng in two or three steps. Staring intently at his face, she asked expectantly, "How did cultivation go? When can we rescue Second Brother?"

"How could cultivation be that fast?"

Lu Qingfeng shook his head.

"Is cultivation very difficult?"

Lu Qingyu tilted her head, her face full of confusion.

"When Qingyu grows up in a couple of years, Big Brother will teach you to cultivate. Then you'll know whether it's difficult or not." Lu Qingfeng massaged his legs, loosening his blood, qi, and muscles.

At this, Lu Qingyu's eyes widened, and her little mouth fell open—

"Big Brother, I can cultivate too?"

She had never known that girls could cultivate as well!

Every year, when the Returning Truth Sect came to Blackwood Village to select disciples and servants, they chose only boys between twelve and sixteen.

Lu Qingyu had thought that only people like Big Brother and Second Brother could cultivate.

"Of course you can!"

"But Qingyu must first learn to read, as well as all kinds of Meridians and Acupoints. Once you have memorized them, you can cultivate in another two years."

Lu Qingfeng smiled.

He had Primordial Wilderness. In the future, he would certainly never lack all kinds of inheritances. As long as they passed through the most difficult Early Stage of entering the gate, they could achieve something by cultivating step by step.

When that time came, whether it was Qingyu or Qingshan, he would not let them remain in the cramped place known as Blackwood Village.

Naturally, they would cultivate together.

If he stepped onto the path of cultivation only to become a lone man with no family, would that not be putting the cart before the horse?