Laojun said, "Those who cultivate the great elixir must diligently practice their skills and purify themselves. They should seek out secluded mountains and mysterious stone caves, far from the sound of chickens and dogs. They must leave worldly disputes behind, neither seeing outside things nor hearing outside sounds, and guard their hearts within instead of exhausting themselves in pursuit of things beyond."
However, those who cultivated the Dao faced ten demons and nine trials, which tested their hearts and made them lose their resolve over worldly things.
The nine trials were: first, hardship in food and clothing; second, obstruction by elders; third, entanglement in romantic attachments; fourth, ensnarement by fame and wealth; fifth, sudden disaster; sixth, restraint by an ignorant master; seventh, disputes and disagreements; eighth, wavering resolve; and ninth, wasting away the years.
The ten demons were the demons of the six thieves, the demon of wealth, the demon of status, the demon of the six emotions, the demon of romantic attachments, the demon of hardship, the demon of sages, the demon of weapons and war, the demon of female music, and the demon of feminine beauty.
Bai Sui was utterly focused and devoted to pursuing the Great Dao, hoping to attain immortality soon and take his place among the ranks of the immortals.
So he used his need to recover from his injuries as an excuse to cut back on his daytime interactions with everyone.
He also stopped leaving his room. Every morning, just as the sky began to lighten, he practiced the Eight-Section Vajra Skill indoors, facing the rising sun.
As mentioned before, the human meridians in this world were different from those in his previous life. That meant the Eight Brocades, which regulated the meridians according to the Midnight-Noon Ebb-Flow theory, was not the best choice.
The Vajra Skill, on the other hand, followed the order of the organs. It first regulated the kidneys, which belonged to the pre-heaven, then the spleen, which belonged to the post-heaven, followed by the liver, lungs, and heart. It reversed the pre-heaven Five Elements to return to the origin.
Bai Sui knew this was the time to lay his foundation, so he didn't rush ahead. He focused on strengthening his body and mind, ate and drank as usual, and used his spare time to explore his meridians and acupoints through inner observation.
He also relied on his own observations to judge the changing seasons outside.
Combining his memories with what he saw, he confirmed that this world also had four distinct seasons, at least within the Land of Fire.
However, when Bai Sui tried to apply the twenty-four solar terms to this world, he found they didn't match. If he wanted to use the twenty-four solar terms, he would need to observe the world for at least several more decades before he could compile a calendar suited to it. But Bai Sui didn't think he had the patience for that.
After resting for more than ten days, perhaps the people in charge decided he had recovered enough, because they assigned Bai Sui another job.
Unlike his previous work carrying cargo at the Fishing Port, this time he was tasked with teaching children to read and write.
Previously, such work had always been handled by members of the Uzumaki Clan. Was it because he had behaved well lately, and the clan considered him trustworthy? Or had the war left them so short-handed that they had no other choice?
Either way, it was good news for Bai Sui. He wouldn't have to spend most of his usable time each day carrying things, leaving him with far more free time.
Visualization had already cut into his sleep more and more, giving him a few extra usable hours at night compared with ordinary people. But the more time he could arrange freely, the better.
So Bai Sui began recalling how the Uzumaki people in his memories had taught.
Now that he thought about it, their methods had been far too crude. But there wasn't much they could do about it. They weren't professionals, and with the war causing frequent staff rotations, none of them had much experience. More often than not, they simply left the children to fend for themselves.
The commoner children they taught didn't dare ask the Uzumaki Clan members about anything they didn't understand or found confusing. As a result, the lessons had always been terrible: the teachers were frustrated, and the students were lost.
Many commoners could only write their own names and a handful of common characters. Bai Sui had learned the basics from his parents when he was young, so studying further had been much easier for him. Since he had also done well from an early age, he had been chosen to join the supply convoy. He didn't know whether to call it luck or misfortune.
After reviewing his memories of their teaching methods, he looked over the teaching materials he had been given. They contained only a few hundred common words, written in both hiragana and katakana. The teachers were left to improvise everything else.
Bai Sui didn't want to attract attention, so he didn't take it upon himself to change anything. He simply prepared a basic lesson and got ready to teach the next day.
The following morning, Bai Sui finished his practice, ate breakfast, and waited outside his door for someone from the Uzumaki Clan to give him instructions.
Soon, he saw an adult approaching with eight or nine children. Bai Sui hurried forward to greet them.
The adult at the front wore a black Japanese-style outfit emblazoned with the Uzumaki Clan crest. He was clearly one of the clan members.
The children beside him ranged in age. The youngest looked about five, and the oldest seemed to be under ten.
"Sir, you're here." Bai Sui hurried forward and bowed to the Uzumaki Clan member.
The man seemed to have a lot on his plate; fatigue showed on his face. "I'm leaving these children in your care. You'll collect and distribute their food, and assign them places to live. You can use any vacant houses nearby. If you need to build additional ones, you can gather workers from over there." As he spoke, he pointed to a place behind him.
Bai Sui nodded quickly to show he had understood, then beckoned the children over.
Once the children had gathered around Bai Sui, the man continued, "Every day, all the children have to work at the Fishing Port. I assume you know about that, so I won't go into it. You can handle the rest as you see fit. If there are any problems, report them to your superiors. All right, I'll be off."
True to his word, the man left as soon as he said he would. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.
Looking down at the children, Bai Sui sighed. They were all so unfortunate.
They were all boys, which was good. It meant he wouldn't have to worry about anything when assigning them places to live.
"Come on, let's go inside first." He led the children into the room where he lived and had them sit down.
"Have you all eaten?" Looking at their little faces, Bai Sui felt he ought to say something.
"Not yet," one of the older children answered.
Bai Sui stood up, pushed open the window, and lit the firewood in the hearth. "All right, sit tight. I'll make you something to eat."
Bai Sui set a pot over the fire and cooked a meal. While it simmered, he asked everyone about their circumstances.
By the time they finished eating, they had gradually gotten to know one another.
Over the following days, Bai Sui immersed himself in his role as a kindergarten teacher.
The work was broken up into many little tasks. It wasn't tiring, but it did take a lot out of him.
But the children were all very considerate, doing their best not to bother Bai Sui whenever they could manage on their own. The more considerate they were, though, the more it pained him.