"Mmm~"
Meng Nan's movement woke Zhao Xiaoshuang. The young girl opened her eyes and found herself staring straight into Meng Nan's. She froze for a moment, then immediately lowered her head in embarrassment, her ears turning crimson all the way to the roots.
Meng Nan found it amusing.
Thinking about it, he had spent eight years with the Zhao Xiaoshuang of twelve years in the future, yet he had never seen—or even imagined—that the usually poised Zhao Xiaoshuang could ever be this bashful.
She was clearly the same person.
And yet, Zhao Xiaoshuang from twelve years ago and Zhao Xiaoshuang from twelve years later were so different. Being able to encounter these contrasting sides of her in such a short time had dispelled much of the melancholy in Meng Nan's heart.
In his arms,
Zhao Xiaoshuang peeked out from under the covers. Seeing the smile on Meng Nan's face, she suppressed her embarrassment and struggled to get up.
"Sleep a little longer."
Meng Nan knew Zhao Xiaoshuang loved to sleep. She had also been exhausted last night, and if she got up now, she probably wouldn't have any energy for the rest of the day.
So he let her sleep a little longer.
He got up, got dressed, found his cultivation mat, and sat down cross-legged.
From beneath the covers, Zhao Xiaoshuang secretly watched Meng Nan cultivate in the early morning. As she watched, she drifted off to sleep.
Inside the new house,
on the mat,
Meng Nan closed his eyes and opened the information panel—
Name: Meng Nan
Lifespan: 18/80
Faction: Chashan Cave
Cultivation: Fetal Breath Tranquility
Inner Breath: 0
Root Bone: 1
Cultivation Method: Thunder Illumination Scripture, Third Layer
Arts: Spirit Wandering Steps (Second Layer)
Skills: None
Opening Progress: Viewable
"My cultivation hasn't changed."
"But my cultivation method and arts have improved!"
"Just as I suspected."
Looking at the panel, Meng Nan felt a faint surge of joy.
He had spent eight years cultivating diligently in the future, and had finally managed to reach the third layer of the Thunder Illumination Scripture before the end of the eighth year.
It was one of the entry-level cultivation methods of Tianlin Cave, studied by all the boys and girls of the Three Hundred Cave Villages.
The first layer corresponded to "Fetal Breath Tranquility."
The second layer corresponded to "Fetal Breath Qi Sensing."
The third layer corresponded to "Fetal Breath Contemplation."
Reaching the third layer meant Meng Nan had attained the "Visualization Realm" in that future.
"Two years laying the groundwork."
"Eight years of arduous cultivation."
"It wasn't easy!"
Looking back over those eight years, Meng Nan had never stopped, through summer and winter, wind and rain. A full eight years—ten years in all—and only then had he finally reached this level, the final hurdle of the "Fetal Breath Stage."
Three and a half years for Fetal Breath Qi Sensing.
Six and a half years for Fetal Breath Contemplation.
So hard!
So hard!
During this cultivation, even with the "information panel" to monitor the growth of his Inner Breath and changes in his cultivation in real time, he could only make a little progress every three or five months.
Going three or five months without seeing any progress, lost in a vast fog with no idea what to do—most people couldn't endure that.
Without Meng Nan's "information panel," others would have had an even harder time.
"No wonder so many people in the village gradually gave up cultivating."
Meng Nan understood now.
They simply couldn't see any hope. Even someone like Meng Nan, who had spent ten years reaching "Fetal Breath Contemplation," would need who knew how long to complete his "Visualization" and advance to the "Inner Qi Stage."
Twenty years?
Thirty years?
And what use would reaching the "Inner Qi Stage" be by then?
A single wavering thought along the way could make someone give up. And once they did, one day became two. As time passed, they could never pick it up again.
How many authors in his previous life had dropped their novels or abandoned them halfway? They would know this feeling better than anyone.
Once the breath escaped, it was hard to gather it again.
Some did manage to pick it back up, but they were few and far between.
"I'll see this through!"
Meng Nan swore to himself.
However,
from here on,
advancing from "Fetal Breath Contemplation" to "Inner Qi Circulation" was another major hurdle, far harder than the first two minor ones.
To break through, he had to visualize a complete "Qi Circulation Diagram" and guide his Inner Breath into it. It would then transform naturally, turning "Inner Breath" into "Inner Qi" and spreading throughout his body, enveloping it completely. Only then could he advance to "Inner Qi Circulation."
Diligence!
Insight!
Memory!
Imagination!
It involved every facet of cultivation. It wasn't something one could achieve easily.
"Cultivation really is hard!"
Meng Nan sighed.
Without this extraordinary encounter, he wouldn't have reached the "Visualization Realm" until he was twenty-six. And who knew when he could break through after that? He might even suffer Qi Deviation and lose his life.
The immortal path would remain forever out of reach in this lifetime.
But now—
Even now!
"Still not enough!"
Meng Nan didn't rush to cultivate. Following the panel down, he reached the final entry, [Opening Progress], and tapped it.
[Opening Progress—]
[Basic Progress: 0%] [Required]
[Spirit Sand: 0%] [Choose one of two]
[Sacrifice: 0/1] [Choose one of two]
"Basic Progress."
"Spirit Sand."
"Sacrifice."
Meng Nan examined each one and soon understood.
The "information panel" really could open the future again and send him back there.
But there was "progress" to fill and "requirements" to meet.
There were three conditions in all: one was required, and he had to choose one of the other two. In other words, Meng Nan had to complete two of the conditions to open the future again.
He inspected them one by one.
"Basic Progress."
This was the simplest.
"Consume the maximum Inner Breath value."
"That's basically my cultivation."
"Some of my cultivation has to be swallowed up to complete the basic progress."
After looking over the first opening requirement, Meng Nan had the information flow into his mind and quickly sorted it out.
This requirement was both difficult and easy.
The "Fetal Breath Stage" was all about cultivating Inner Breath. Meng Nan had experience cultivating in the future, so it should be much easier for him now. If he could also find "Suoluo Seeds" to aid his cultivation, his Inner Breath should grow even faster.
"Cultivating the Thunder Illumination Scripture, the maximum Inner Breath in the Qi Sensing Realm is ten points. I don't know the limit for the Visualization Realm yet."
"How much maximum Inner Breath does the 'Basic Progress' need to fill up?"
Meng Nan had cultivated before and knew roughly how much Inner Breath the Qi Sensing Realm could hold. If "Basic Progress" required too much, it would be a problem.
If it only needed seven or eight, maybe ten points, then it would be simple.
He didn't know yet.
But there was no need to rush.
Once he cultivated some Inner Breath, he could try spending a point or two and find out.
He continued reading.
Spirit Sand.
What was that?
He had never heard of it.
But with "spirit" in the name, it was probably related to cultivation.
There was no way to get it for now. He didn't even know what it was, and had never heard of it. Where was he supposed to find it?
"I'll skip this one."
Meng Nan shook his head.
Then he looked at the final condition—
"Sacrifice."
"I have to personally kill a cultivator one level above me for them to count as a 'sacrifice.'"
"I'm at the 'Fetal Breath Stage' now, so I have to kill someone at the 'Inner Qi Stage.'"
"If I reach the 'Inner Qi Stage,' then I'll have to kill someone at the 'True Qi Stage.'"
"The farther I go, the harder this condition will get."
Meng Nan frowned.
Killing someone above his level wouldn't be too hard at his current stage.
Poison.
Traps.
Ambushes.
With a few unconventional methods like those, killing a weaker prospective "Inner Qi Stage" cultivator shouldn't be difficult.
The hard part would be choosing a target and dealing with the aftermath.
"I can't go around killing innocent people."
"And someone with powerful backing is out of the question."
"This isn't easy."
Meng Nan thought back over the next twenty years. Which "Inner Qi Stage" cultivators in Yinlian Village deserved to die? As he considered it, more than a dozen names and faces came to mind.
As the saying went, once you carried a sharp blade, the urge to kill arose.
The Inner Qi Stage cultivators were middle-ranking figures in Yinlian Village, and they were strong fighters. If one of them developed crooked ideas, the consequences could be serious enough to make them deserve death.
Meng Nan couldn't foresee the future. He hadn't made a point of remembering such people in his future life. But since they all belonged to the same village, he had worried that one of these villains might harm him through some careless slip or unforeseen accident. So he had learned a little about them.
Every one of them deserved to die.
But the time period stretched across twenty years. Many of them were still only at the Fetal Breath Stage, while others were still lively little children.
Leaving aside whether he could bring himself to kill them, killing them wouldn't count anyway.
Some others had reached the Inner Qi Stage long ago. They were sure to be strong, and might have plenty of experience. Meng Nan was worried he might lose to one of them and end up dead himself.
So,
after turning it over and over,
there was only one person he could think of in the near future.
This person hadn't broken through yet and was still at the "Fetal Breath Stage." He was also a hotheaded fool. In the future, he'd get into trouble because he couldn't keep his actions secret, which showed he wasn't particularly cautious or difficult to deal with.
And then there were the things he'd done—
"I'll tentatively settle on him."
"There are still a few months. I can let him grow a little while I think about how to kill him. No need to rush."
Meng Nan remained calm as he pondered it carefully.
That meant he had a chance of completing both "Basic Progress" and "Sacrifice." It wouldn't be long before he could open the "future" again.
"The future."
At the thought that he might have another chance to visit the "future," Meng Nan felt strange. He had deliberately kept from thinking about the first eight years in the future while he considered the "information panel." Now all those memories came rushing back at once, filling him with an indescribable feeling.
Pain?
Yearning?
I couldn't say.
It always felt like something was missing.
A hollow emptiness.
"What's past has already been decided."
"But the future holds infinite possibilities."
"The future timeline—"
"Was it real or not? After I left, did that timeline vanish, or did it keep moving forward?"
"Xiaoshuang."
"Traveler."
"Erlang."
"Three Altars."
"They—"
As Meng Nan thought of it all, his face suddenly felt cold. He touched it, and his fingers came away wet.
In the bridal chamber.
"The future has become the past, too."
"Don't think about it!"
Meng Nan shook his head lightly, sweeping away his stray thoughts, and began to cultivate.
In reality, he had bitterly cultivated for two years without ever sensing that trace of true breath at his navel. But now, with just a little effort, he sensed it as easily as drinking water or tea.
This was the fruit of Meng Nan's eight years of effort in the future timeline.
The realms carried over.
So did the experience.
"Entering stillness" wasn't difficult.
"Qi sensing" wasn't difficult.
After sensing that trace of true breath, Meng Nan felt neither sorrow nor joy. He continued cultivating.
He deliberately vibrated his nasal passages and drew in a deep breath, filling himself to eight-tenths capacity. Once the qi entered his abdomen, his mind sank with it. He calmed his thoughts and stilled his breath.
He silently recited the cultivation method.
When someone first entered the "Qi Sensing Realm," they often weren't used to "holding their breath." They would quickly feel suffocated, their breath rising, stale air threatening to escape, and their chest and throat growing tight.
Though Meng Nan had experience from the future timeline, his body was still far from accustomed to it.
So he found an opportunity to exhale once, then inhaled again as before.
This was normal.
As he cultivated longer, his endurance would improve. He would be able to hold his breath longer, and his Inner Breath would gradually grow stronger.
One inhalation and one exhalation made "one breath."
In a single session of cultivation in the future timeline, Meng Nan had managed "Twenty-four Breaths," an average result.
They said that an upper-tier practitioner could cultivate "Forty-nine Breaths" in one session, with each breath lasting longer and proving more effective. That was why their progress was so remarkable—beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Now that Meng Nan had just entered the "Qi Sensing Realm" in reality, he couldn't yet manage "Twenty-four Breaths." But he would catch up soon; at most, it would take ten days or so to get used to it.
His first cultivation session.
After seven breaths.
Meng Nan opened his eyes and let out a long breath.
He looked at the panel again—
Name: Meng Nan Lifespan: 18/80 Faction: Chashan Cave Cultivation: Fetal Breath Qi Sensing Inner Breath: 1 Root Bone: 1 Cultivation Method: Thunder Illumination Scripture, Third Layer Art: Spirit Wandering Steps (Second Layer) Skills: None Unlock Progress: Available to view
"Qi Sensing Realm!"
"I did it!"
When Zhao Xiaoshuang woke up again, the first thing she saw was Meng Nan sitting cross-legged on the meditation cushion, smiling as if something wonderful had happened.
Seeing him smile made her happy, too.
Then she noticed the time and hurried out of bed.
And so began her first day as a married woman.
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