Swordsmanship Showing Initial Success, Qi Sensation

In Yin Wind Gorge, the cold wind howled.

As the sun slanted westward, the sunlight that illuminated all things gradually dimmed, and the temperature within the gorge grew ever colder.

Practicing his swordsmanship head-on against the freezing wind, Lin Lin felt increasingly unwell. His Qi Blood kept falling, while his fatigue steadily rose.

Yet the factors that had once made Lin Lin want to give up sword practice at every moment now seemed to have lost all meaning.

"Completed Hundred Flowers in Disarray training. Qi Blood -5. Current progress: Initial Glimpse 60/100."

As a fanatical gamer who could grind from waking in the morning until sleeping at night, Lin Lin felt filled with motivation whenever he glanced at the training progress displayed on his Attribute Panel. The powerful mental strength bursting from his heart directly suppressed every trace of discomfort in his body.

Lin Lin was not afraid of hard work. What he feared was working hard without seeing any return.

And now, Lin Lin could clearly see the changes brought about by every bit of effort and dedication he gave.

This state made Lin Lin genuinely want to practice martial arts and cultivate. Naturally, he no longer felt that practicing martial arts was as painful as being imprisoned.

In his focus, time flew by.

After practicing the sword technique again and again, Lin Lin felt his grasp of Hundred Flowers in Disarray steadily improving.

Whenever he finished a set of sword practice and found that his training progress had not risen, he would stop to ponder briefly, compare it against the explanations he had once heard from the Elder of Teaching Skills, and correct the mistakes in his sword training. Only when he saw the progress bar move forward again would he continue immersing himself in sword practice with satisfaction.

In this training, Lin Lin forgot both his fatigue and the chill in the air.

It was not until he completed another round of sword practice and tried to swing his sword again, only to find his arms so sore and weak that he could no longer lift it, that he realized his Qi Blood was nearly depleted.

Of his nearly five hundred maximum Qi Blood, only a little over ten points remained. His Satiety had also dropped to just 3 points.

His body had truly reached its limit. If he continued to consume himself through training, it would affect his health.

"It's already this late."

Glancing at the moon, half-hidden among the clouds and faintly visible, Lin Lin reluctantly stopped training.

According to his true feelings at that moment, he wanted to continue cultivating. Unfortunately, his physical condition was already close to its limit. Continuing would not make him stronger; it would only damage his body.

Just as Lin Lin had said before, moderate cultivation benefited the growth of one's strength, while excessive cultivation only harmed the body.

But unlike before, when he used those words as an excuse to deceive himself into slacking off, Lin Lin had truly reached his limit this time.

"Then I'll rest. I'll get up early tomorrow and continue cultivating."

Having made his decision, Lin Lin dragged his exhausted body into the Rock Cave.

He took out a porcelain bottle from his luggage, removed two pea-sized red Medicinal Pills, and swallowed them.

These were the Ginseng Qi Nourishing Pills Lin Lin took daily while practicing martial arts. They could rapidly replenish Essence and Qi Blood and restore physical strength. Before sending him here to reflect on his mistakes, his father, Lin Yue, had prepared enough for him to take for two months.

Thus, only moments after swallowing them, Lin Lin felt a warm current rise in his abdomen. The fatigue and weakness in his body eased considerably as well.

Only then did Lin Lin barely muster the energy to use the ingredients he had brought to light a fire and cook. After washing the rice, he sliced preserved meat and laid it on top, steaming it into a large pot brimming with Preserved Meat Rice.

Starving, Lin Lin sprinkled the Preserved Meat Rice with a little chopped scallion, drizzled it with soy sauce, mixed it, and began to feast heartily.

Though Lin Lin normally had a large appetite, this time it was directly doubled and more. The huge pot of Preserved Meat Rice was soon swept clean.

After eating, he fetched water and took a bath. Only after finishing all this did Lin Lin crawl into the warm bedding made up of thick quilts.

Compared to the howling cold wind outside, this truly felt comfortable.

Before sleeping, Lin Lin looked once more at his Attribute Panel.

The results of such earnest cultivation, from the afternoon until the moon hung high at midnight, were extremely gratifying.

At this moment, Lin Lin's Hundred Flowers in Disarray swordsmanship had reached Initial Glimpse 87/100.

Besides that, through persistent cultivation, his Constitution had increased by two points, while his Agility, Endurance, and Strength had each increased by one point.

"I don't know whether I was simply too unfocused in my past training, or whether this Attribute Panel has unlocked my innate potential. Either way, this day's cultivation progress has been quite gratifying."

As he browsed the Quest Log on his Attribute Panel, Lin Lin sighed inwardly.

Though a day of cultivation had left his body full of fatigue, his spirit felt exceptionally fulfilled and satisfied. There was none of the anxiety or emptiness of letting his days slip by in vain.

The feeling of growing stronger constantly increased one's sense of security.

"Sleep. I'll keep working hard tomorrow."

Muttering this to himself, Lin Lin closed his eyes and slipped into dreamland in an extremely short time.

When he opened his eyes again, daylight was already bright.

He checked his Attribute Panel and saw that his Satiety had bottomed out once more. His body had completely digested the food he had eaten in order to restore the Qi Blood it had expended.

Correspondingly, however, his Qi Blood had recovered to full. The few points of Health he had lost from being battered by the cold wind for so long had also recovered to its full value of 100.

A single night's rest had restored his body from the brink of exhaustion. Aside from replenishing enough food, the two Ginseng Qi Nourishing Pills he had taken the night before had also played no small part.

Lin Lin got up, washed up, practiced a set of swordsmanship to warm up, and then began cooking.

This time, he was not merely preparing breakfast. He also prepared lunch, dinner, snacks, and all the hot water he would need.

He kept everything warm over the fire with charcoal covered in plant ash, making it convenient to take whenever needed.

Only after making these preparations did Lin Lin devote all his thoughts to cultivation.

The further one progressed in martial arts, the harder it became to advance another step.

Sometimes, if one practiced incorrectly, progress would remain stuck in place, with no improvement for a long time.

But Lin Lin had an Attribute Panel and could clearly see the changes in his condition.

Lin Lin continued using the cultivation method he had summarized yesterday. When his swordsmanship proficiency steadily rose through practice, he calmed his mind, focused his spirit, and practiced with unwavering persistence.

When his progress became stuck, he began reflecting, correcting his mistakes, and searching for a way to continue forward.

Under such circumstances, although Lin Lin's swordsmanship proficiency grew ever higher, the progress of his swordsmanship did not fall into stagnation.

When the sun rose, then once more slanted westward, and then the moon climbed to the center of the sky, Lin Lin was still practicing his sword.

At this moment, he felt as though he had entered an extraordinarily special state. As his swordsmanship moved, every muscle and bone throughout his body seemed to move along with it. His organs rose and fell with his breathing. Though his body was exhausted, it seemed as though a hidden force was about to burst forth.

Gradually, within his body, whose Qi Blood was nearing exhaustion, Lin Lin felt an entirely new force rise from the Dantian Qi Sea in his lower abdomen.

This force was immensely powerful, making Lin Lin's body, which was near its limit, seem to return once more to its peak state.

Though this state faded after lasting only an extremely short time, Lin Lin knew that he had comprehended Qi Sensation.