Progress Soars

One afternoon half a month later.

Wang Ping practiced the Evergreen Cultivation Technique as usual. When he finished, his total progress had reached 34/100. As he concluded his practice that day, Wang Ping clearly felt a current of qi flowing within his body, but the moment he focused on it, the Qi Sensation vanished again.

Unwilling to accept this, he continued experimenting, yet he could still only sense it at the very last moment. The instant he sensed it, it disappeared.

After trying five or six times in a row, Wang Ping was drenched in sweat, but every attempt ended the same way.

"If you keep practicing like this, you'll Go Astray!"

Second Senior Brother Liu Zixiu had appeared at the entrance to the Training Ground at some point. He walked over, looked Wang Ping up and down, and said sternly, "Your mind is in chaos. Your punishment is to recite the Calm Heart Incantation ten times before the Ancestor Master!"

Interrupted like that, Wang Ping only felt a murky breath lodged uncomfortably in his chest. He bent over and coughed continuously for a long while before finally stopping.

Once his breath had settled, Wang Ping said, "Thank you, Second Senior Brother!"

"Master told me to come check on you. Go receive your punishment before the Ancestor Master now."

"Yes!"

Thousand Wood Temple worshipped the Grand Celestial Venerable of Primordial Marvelous Law, a Creation Level existence from the legends of this world, known alongside the Grand Celestial Venerable of Nine Heavens Yin Yang as the Twin Saints.

Of course, the Great Celestial Lord of Primordial Beginning was merely symbolic. The true Ancestor Master was one of Thousand Wood Temple's ancient sages.

Wang Ping tried his best to stop thinking about the sensation from his cultivation. He hurried to the Ancestor Master's Memorial Tablet in the room on the left side of the Main Hall, knelt before it, and silently began reciting the Calm Heart Incantation.

He definitely could not get through the first recitation. The inner demons born from his practice surfaced from time to time, but as time passed, coupled with the effects of the Calm Heart Incantation, Wang Ping returned to his usual calm and peaceful state.

After observing Wang Ping at the doorway and seeing that his mind had calmed, Liu Zixiu silently left the Main Hall and headed toward Daoist Yucheng's pharmacy.

The Free Clinic had ended by then. Li Antian was tidying up the chaotic pharmacy, while Daoist Yucheng leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed, resting.

"Master, Junior Brother Wang is fine now."

"Mm."

Daoist Yucheng merely grunted a single syllable through his nose.

Liu Zixiu silently withdrew. Li Antian, who was cleaning the pharmacy, also became careful and quiet. At some point, the Old Daoist had leaned against the pharmacy window, staring at Daoist Yucheng with a cheerful smile. "I told you long ago, the road must be walked slowly. He doesn't even understand the principles of how to be a person, yet you let him read the Annotation of Heaven and Man. It's already fortunate that he didn't go mad."

Daoist Yucheng opened his eyes the moment the Old Daoist spoke. He first glanced at Li Antian, who immediately bowed and quickly left the pharmacy.

"He possesses an Innate Spiritual Root. Perhaps he understands the principles of how to be a person even better than you do." Daoist Yucheng's gaze at the Old Daoist turned distant. "Why not try passing your True Exposition on to him?"

The Old Daoist said with a broad smile, "Unless he takes me as his master!"

Daoist Yucheng merely shook his head and closed his eyes again. The Old Daoist said nothing further, swinging his tattered long sleeves as he headed toward the kitchen. Only Su Dun was busy in the kitchen that evening, so he went over to help tend the fire.

Wang Ping did not leave the Main Hall until Xu Shi. After silently reciting the Calm Heart Incantation ten times, he sat in meditation for over another hour.

As soon as he stepped out of the Main Hall, Su Dun approached with a steamed bun in hand.

"Senior Brother, try the steamed buns I made."

"Many thanks, Junior Brother!"

The little fatty's steamed bun had a sour smell, and every bite was full of dead dough, but Wang Ping did not mind at all. He had suffered terribly from hunger during his first few years in this world. The Original Owner had worked himself to death with an empty stomach.

The bun was a little choking. After swallowing it, Wang Ping ran to the water vat outside the kitchen, scooped up a ladle of cold water, and poured it down his throat.

The cool sensation traveled from his mouth straight to his stomach, making his whole body shiver. He raised his head and looked through the narrow window at the night outside, unable to stop himself from sighing. "It's autumn again."

It was a sigh drawn from the Original Owner's memories. After the autumn harvest, the county would recruit corvée laborers to repair water channels damaged that year and plant trees to guard against coastal typhoons.

Shaking his head and driving the unpleasant memories from his mind, Wang Ping hurried out of the kitchen. Looking at the moonlight cast across the courtyard floor, he once again assumed the opening stance of the Evergreen Cultivation Technique.

"Senior Brother, you're still practicing this late at night?" Su Dun asked curiously.

Wang Ping did not answer. Like a wooden stake, he quietly held the opening stance.

Second Senior Brother Liu Zixiu had appeared nearby at some point. He suddenly said, "Fourth Junior Brother, do you think Junior Brother Su understands nothing? But I think he practices the Evergreen Cultivation Technique better than you do."

"No, no!" Su Dun waved his hands repeatedly. He knew that he only went through the motions when practicing every day. There was no way he could compare with Wang Ping.

"Junior Brother Su, don't belittle yourself. More than half the murky qi in your body has already been cleared away, and your vital essence will return to your body in half a year at most. That proves there is nothing wrong with the method you practice every day."

Liu Zixiu explained with a smile, then looked at Wang Ping. "In your eyes, Junior Brother Su's practice must look terrible, and he is active and playful besides. His thoughts may be many, yet they do not affect his state of mind in the slightest, because his thoughts are filled with beautiful imagery. Deep in his heart, he even believes that such beautiful imagery is absolute."

Wang Ping understood Liu Zixiu's meaning. Liu Zixiu was warning him that his thoughts were too complicated, and that without realizing it, he could end up trapped in a dead end.

"Still, Junior Brother Wang, there is no need to be discouraged. Though you have yet to enter the mortal world, you can ponder it within this tiny Daoist temple. That is also Great Ability. It is simply that this step is sometimes harder than climbing to heaven, yet at other times as easy as drinking water." When Liu Zixiu finished, he gave Wang Ping a slight salute and left without looking back.

After Liu Zixiu left, Su Dun walked over to Wang Ping and asked, "What did Second Senior Brother mean?"

"He said you're smarter than me!"

"Really? What do you think?" Su Dun's eyebrows danced with delight.

"First tell me, what do you feel every time you practice?"

"Feel? I don't feel anything. I'm just exhausted after practicing."

"How do you practice?"

"How else would I practice? I follow what Master taught us—whatever feels comfortable goes!"

Wang Ping's eyes flashed as though he had grasped something. After thinking for a moment, he asked again, "How do you think I practice?"

"Very standard. Sometimes, even more standard than Master's demonstrations. But... sometimes it makes me feel especially uncomfortable, like you're a fake person, constantly copying movements..."

Wang Ping frowned slightly. He no longer heard what Su Dun said afterward. Instinctively, he assumed the opening stance, but then stopped as he had just done. Following the thoughts in his heart, he casually performed a set of movements—not the first set, but the third, his favorite set.

After completing the third set, he felt a warm current fill his limbs and bones, seemingly nourishing his body. Yet the movements in his hands did not stop. He followed his preferences and completed several other sets, then concluded his practice to rest without caring whether he had finished every full set.

The instant he concluded his practice, the guide for the Evergreen Cultivation Technique on the Light Screen Panel changed:

[Evergreen Cultivation Technique: You suddenly gained an insight. You have found a better way to practice. Persist in practicing your method 10 times every day, and you can gain Qi Sensation in half a year. (Progress 78/100, today's progress 0/10 times)]

Fine, the cheat was only a safeguard. Still, without the foundation taught by the cheat, he would not have been able to comprehend a more efficient method!