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 Grain-Repelling Pill had not been brought into reality.
He opened the status panel again.
Name: Lu Qingfeng's True Body Race: Human Alignment: None Title: None Cultivation: None Level: Level 0 (0/1) Lifespan: 16/68 Root Bone: 1 Merit: Unknown Karma: Unknown Cultivation Method: Yellow Court Scripture, First Layer (Not Initiated). Traits: Evolving Method (First Layer); Dominion over All Arts (First Layer); Karmic Power Erasure (First Layer); Blazing Sun Scripture, First Layer (Initiated), currently being evolved; Arts: None Divine Powers: None Equipment: None Alchemy: "Elementary Guide to Alchemy" (Not Initiated), currently being evolved
Other than the first layer of the Blazing Sun Scripture changing from not initiated to initiated, his cultivation and level were still empty, and no internal breath entry had appeared either.
"It seems that mastery of cultivation methods, alchemy, and other skills in the game can be brought directly into reality. But levels and cultivation in the game do not synchronize with those in reality."
Lu Qingfeng finally understood.
This was rather similar to the reincarnation and rebirth settings in Primordial World—memories could be carried over, but things tied to the physical body, such as internal breath and cultivation, could not be synchronized.
"This is already good enough."
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 oppressive environment of Blackwood Village, a place practically still in a slave society, nor how great the impact on Lu Qingfeng had been.
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 he saw Blackwood Village's coldness and darkness for the first time.
As he gradually grew older and came to understand the dangers of Blackwood Village, as well as the rumors of the lofty "immortals" of the Return to Truth Sect, Lu Qingfeng became even more cautious.
He changed from lively and cheerful to 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 improper, there was no guarantee that word would not spread from Blackwood Village to Huangzhi Mountain the next day, dragging his father, younger brother, and younger sister down with him to their deaths.
"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 barely allowed me to comprehend the sense of qi, and another round of cultivation afterward yielded 4 experience points. I wonder how much experience one Yellow Dragon Pill can provide after comprehending the sense of qi."
"I only have one Yellow Dragon Pill left. Together with my current 2 experience points, it might be enough to raise my level to Level 2."
Within the Bluestone 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 stirred with it, continuously absorbing the medicinal power and slowly growing stronger.
Only after the Yellow Dragon Pill's medicinal power had completely dissipated did Lu Qingfeng stop cultivating.
Level: Level 1 (5/5)
"Three experience points."
"Just as expected."
"Comprehending the sense of qi upon initiation was the hardest part. Four Yellow Dragon Pills only gave me 5 experience points. But after initiation, a single Yellow Dragon Pill increased it by 3 experience points!"
Lu Qingfeng relaxed inwardly.
If that was the case, then even if his aptitude was somewhat poor, as long as he had enough Yellow Dragon Pills, he could still pile his cultivation up.
"It's getting late. I'll go back and sleep first. Tomorrow, I'll officially 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 climbed into the sky once more.
Sunlight streamed through gaps in the blackwood and into the Blackwood House.
For some reason, although he had clearly tossed and turned for a long time last night and it had probably been close to dawn by the time he returned to reality to sleep, Lu Qingfeng did not feel the slightest fatigue 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.
Shaking his head, he stopped dwelling on it.
"Qingyu, get up."
He rolled out of bed and called to Lu Qingyu. As Lu Qingfeng washed up, he brought up the status panel.
Name: Lu Qingfeng's True Body Race: Human Alignment: None Title: None Cultivation: None Level: Level 0 (0/1) Lifespan: 16/68 Root Bone: 1 Merit: Unknown Karma: Unknown Cultivation Method: Yellow Court Scripture, First Layer (Not Initiated). Traits: Evolving Method (First Layer); Dominion over All Arts (First Layer); Karmic Power Erasure (First Layer); Blazing Sun Scripture, First Layer (Initiated), currently being evolved; Arts: None Divine Powers: None Equipment: None Alchemy: "Elementary Guide to Alchemy" (Not Initiated), currently being evolved
The status panel appeared at his command, and only then did Lu Qingfeng become certain that everything from last night had not been an illusion or a dream.
"From now on, I'll cultivate the Blazing Sun Scripture while handling farm work during the day. At night, I'll enter Primordial World and explore this game."
Lu Qingfeng splashed his face twice with cold water, feeling even more awake.
"Qingyu, get up already!"
Lu Qingyu was still struggling in bed. Lu Qingfeng grabbed her and pulled her up, then pushed the little girl off to wash up.
After washing up, the siblings first went to fetch water from the Chengyang River, seven or eight li south of the village. After roughly two trips, they pulled the weeds from the fields one by one. By then, it was noon.
They had brought coarse grain flatbread and hot water with them.
Lu Qingfeng took out a coarse grain flatbread from his chest, broke off most of it, and handed it to Qingyu. Then he wolfed down his own small half.
"Big Brother, I can't eat this much."
Lu Qingyu wolfed down her food, then stuffed the small piece she had left into Lu Qingfeng's mouth. As she did, she shouted, "Big Brother's saliva is already on it. I don't want to eat it."
Lu Qingfeng opened his mouth and swallowed the coarse grain flatbread.
Seeing this, Lu Qingyu clapped her hands, her eyes curving into crescents.
She had once always thought that the coarse grain flatbread she ate at noon was bigger than the ones they made. But after discovering that the other half in her big brother's hand was far smaller than hers, she never ate more than her share again.
Occasionally, Lu Qingfeng would try to give her a little extra while she was not paying attention, only for Lu Qingyu to notice immediately and feed the remaining small piece back to him.
"Qingyu, do you think life is hard following Big Brother?"
Lu Qingfeng took a large gulp from half a bamboo tube of cooled boiled water and looked at Lu Qingyu as he asked.
"Not hard at all!"
"No one in all of Blackwood Village dotes on me more than Big Brother does! Little Flower and Big Chrysanthemum get bullied by their older brothers and younger brothers every day. They have no idea how much they envy me!"
Lu Qingyu's eyes shone like stars, her little face full of radiance.
"This little girl is so easily satisfied. Don't let someone sweet-talk you away someday with just a few pretty words."
Lu Qingfeng teased.
"I won't!"
"I want to stay with Big Brother forever."
Lu Qingyu snorted, wrinkling her nose.
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 trace of coldness rose in his heart.
"Qingyu, Big Brother had a fortuitous encounter two days ago, and from now on, I need to cultivate every day. Keep watch for Big Brother. If anyone comes, call out to me. How about it?"
Lu Qingfeng fiddled with the two yellowish braids at the back of Qingyu's head as he discussed it with her.
He and Qingyu were together day and night, so he could not hide his 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. There was no one in this world more worthy of trust than them.
"Big Brother is going to cultivate too?"
"Okay, okay!"
"I'll keep watch for Big Brother!"
Lu Qingyu cried out in delight.
Then she realized she had been too loud. Shrinking her neck, she stood up and sneakily looked around. Only after seeing that no one was nearby did she pat her chest, stand on tiptoe, lean close to Lu Qingfeng's ear, and whisper, "Big Brother, cultivate in secret. I won't tell anyone. Once you succeed, we'll go to Huangzhi Mountain and rescue Second Brother!"
Though the little girl never said it aloud, she thought about 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 got up, craned her neck, and carefully kept watch in every direction.
Lu Qingfeng knew Qingyu's personality. They were also in the middle of a wheat field, hidden by stalks of wheat, 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 Tier cultivation method, it was more like a support-type method and could not directly raise cultivation.
Therefore, the only method Lu Qingfeng could cultivate for the time being was the Blazing Sun Scripture.
This was his first time cultivating in reality.
Without the help of Yellow Dragon Pills, Lu Qingfeng truly realized just how poor his aptitude was—
An entire afternoon passed, yet he failed to comprehend the sense of qi.
Even though the first layer of the Blazing Sun Scripture had already been initiated, even though he had comprehended the sense of qi once in the game, he was still stuck at this hurdle.
"This—"
After sitting cross-legged all afternoon and still failing to grasp the sense of qi, Lu Qingfeng became somewhat restless and irritated. His legs were so numb that he could not move them.
Cultivating in reality was even harder than he had imagined.
"I have experience comprehending the sense of qi. 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 truly means terribly poor aptitude. If I want to achieve anything, I either have to endure it with time. If an afternoon isn't enough, then a day. If a day isn't enough, then ten days! I could comprehend the sense of qi with the help of Yellow Dragon Pills, so there's no reason I can't comprehend it on my own."
"If it really comes to it, I'll learn how to refine Yellow Dragon Pills in the game!"
His aptitude was far worse than he had imagined, but Lu Qingfeng was not discouraged. As long as Primordial World existed, nothing would be difficult.
He opened his eyes.
Qingyu was still keeping watch, meticulous and earnest. When she turned around, she happened to see Lu Qingfeng waking up.
"Big Brother, you're awake!"
Lu Qingyu skipped over to Lu Qingfeng in a few steps. Her eyes fixed on his face as she asked expectantly, "How did cultivation go? When can we rescue Second Brother?"
"Cultivation isn't that fast."
Lu Qingfeng shook his head.
"Is cultivation hard?"
Lu Qingyu tilted her head, her face full of confusion.
"When Qingyu grows up in a couple of years, Big Brother will teach you cultivation. Then you'll know whether it's hard or not." Lu Qingfeng massaged his legs, working his blood, qi, and muscles loose.
But at those words, 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 Return to Truth Sect came to Blackwood Village to select disciples and menial servants, they selected only boys between the ages of twelve and sixteen.
Lu Qingyu had thought only people like her big brother and second brother could cultivate.
"Of course you can!"
"But Qingyu must first learn to read, as well as memorize all sorts of meridians and acupoints. Once you remember them, you can cultivate in another two years."
Lu Qingfeng smiled.
He had Primordial World, so he would certainly not lack all kinds of inheritances in the future. As long as they overcame the most difficult initial stage, 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 that was Blackwood Village.
Naturally, they had to cultivate together.
If embarking upon the path of cultivation instead turned him into a man all alone, would that not be putting the cart before the horse?
Before you continue