Start Working

The Old Lord says: Those who refine the Great Elixir must be diligent in their practice and purify their own bodies. Seclude yourself in deep mountains or mysterious stone caves, far from the sounds of chickens and dogs. Sever all disputes, look upon no external objects, listen to no external sounds. Keep your focus entirely within; do not labor by seeking outside.

Yet, those who cultivate the Dao face ten demons and nine difficulties, which cause one to generate attachments to the environment and lose one's ambition through material things.

The nine difficulties are: first, the pressure of food and clothing; second, the interference of elders; third, the entanglement of affection and love; fourth, the bondage of fame and wealth; fifth, the sudden occurrence of disasters; sixth, the constraints of blind teachers; seventh, the discord of differing opinions; eighth, the slackening of will; and ninth, the wasting of time.

The ten demons are: the six thieves, the demon of wealth, the demon of nobility, the demon of the six senses, the demon of affection, the demon of adversity, the demon of sages, the demon of blades and weapons, the demon of female entertainment, and the demon of female beauty.

Regarding this, Bai Sui kept his heart and intent guarded, seeking only the Great Dao with a single mind, hoping to ascend to longevity early and take his place among the immortals.

Consequently, using the excuse of needing to recover from his injuries, he reduced his contact with others during the day.

He did not leave his room. Every morning, just as the sky began to brighten, he would face the rising sun and practice the Eight-Section Vajra Skill inside his room.

The reason for this choice, as mentioned before, is that the human meridians in this world differ from those of his previous life; thus, the Eight-Section Brocade, which relies on the Zi-Wu flow to regulate meridians, was not his first choice.

The Vajra Skill follows the order of the viscera, first regulating the innate kidneys, then the acquired spleen, followed by the liver, lungs, and heart in sequence, reversing the innate five elements to return to the origin.

Bai Sui knew this was the time to lay his foundation, so he did not rush. He simply focused on strengthening his body and mind, eating and drinking as usual, and using his spare time to explore his meridians and acupoints through internal observation.

Furthermore, he used his own practical observations to judge the seasonal changes of the outside world.

Combined with his memories and observations, this world indeed had a cycle of four seasons, at least within the borders of the Land of Fire.

However, when Bai Sui tried to apply the 24 solar terms, he found they did not match. If he wanted to use the 24 solar terms, he would need to observe for at least several decades to create a calendar that fit this world, but Bai Sui felt he might not have the leisure for that.

After recuperating for a dozen days or so, perhaps because the higher-ups deemed his body sufficiently healed, they assigned Bai Sui work once again.

Unlike his previous job of moving cargo at the fishing port, this time he was tasked with teaching children how to read and write.

In the past, such work was performed by members of the Uzumaki Clan. Could it be that his good performance during this period led the Uzumaki Clan to believe he was trustworthy? Or was it because the war had caused such a severe shortage of manpower?

Regardless, this was a good thing for Bai Sui; after all, he no longer had to spend the vast majority of his day moving cargo, leaving him with much more free time.

Although his meditation practice had caused his sleep requirements to shrink and shrink, giving him several more hours of usable time at night than the average person, having more freely allocatable time was naturally better.

Thus, Bai Sui began to recall how those Uzumaki clansmen had taught in his memories.

Thinking back, their methods were truly too crude, but there was no help for it; those people were not professionals, and due to the frequent personnel rotations caused by the war, they lacked experience and often acted as absentee managers.

The civilian children learning below, even if they had questions or confusion, dared not speak directly to the Uzumaki people. This resulted in extremely poor teaching standards, leaving the teachers frustrated and the students bewildered.

This led to many civilians knowing only their own names and a few common characters. Bai Sui, however, had been tutored by his parents as a child, so learning with that foundation was much simpler. It was also because of this that he had performed well since childhood, leading to his selection for the supply transport team—it was hard to say whether that was fortunate or unfortunate.

After recalling the teaching methods from his memories and looking at the teaching materials provided to him, he found only a few hundred common words written in both Hiragana and Katakana; the rest was left entirely to the teacher's discretion.

Bai Sui did not want to attract attention, so he did not take it upon himself to make any changes. He simply prepared his lessons and prepared to teach the next day.

The next morning, after finishing his practice and breakfast, Bai Sui waited at his doorway for the Uzumaki Clan to make arrangements.

Soon, Bai Sui saw an adult leading eight or nine children walking toward him. Bai Sui hurried forward to meet them.

The leading adult wore black Japanese-style casual clothing with the Uzumaki Clan crest, clearly a member of the Uzumaki Clan.

The children beside him were of various ages, the youngest around five and the oldest looking not yet ten.

"My lord, you have arrived." Bai Sui quickly stepped forward to salute the Uzumaki clansman.

The man seemed to have many things on his mind, his face showing signs of fatigue. "These children are now in your care. You will collect and distribute their food, and you will assign their living quarters. You may use any vacant houses nearby; if you need to build more, you can summon the workers from over there." He pointed to a place behind him.

Bai Sui nodded quickly, signaling that he had noted everything down, and waved for the children to come to him.

Seeing that the children had gathered around Bai Sui, the man continued, "All the children must go to the fishing port to work every day. I believe you understand this, so I won't say more. You can arrange the rest as you see fit. If there are any problems, you can report them upward. That is all, I am leaving."

The man was as good as his word; he turned to leave, and in a blink, he was gone.

Looking down at the children, Bai Sui sighed. They were all poor souls.

He saw that they were all young boys, which was actually quite convenient; he wouldn't have to worry about living arrangements.

"Come, let's go inside first." He brought the children into his room and had them sit down.

"Have you all eaten?" Looking at their small faces, Bai Sui felt he needed to say something.

"Not yet~" an older child spoke up.

Bai Sui stood up, opened the window, and lit the firewood in the hearth. "Alright, then sit here. I will prepare some food for you first."

Bai Sui set up a pot, stewed some food, and used the time to ask about their situations.

As they finished the meal, they gradually came to understand one another.

In the days that followed, Bai Sui immersed himself in his role as the kindergarten director.

Although the work was fragmented—not physically exhausting, but mentally taxing—the children were all very sensible. They tried their best not to trouble Bai Sui, yet the more sensible they were, the more Bai Sui's heart ached for them.