Moving Forward with Perseverance

Three months later.

The spring plowing had long since ended, the blazing summer was about to pass, and the autumn harvest was not far off.

Over the past three months, whenever he had spare time outside the busy farming season, Ling Yi's father, Ling Xiaoshan, took Zhang Xiaoyu to the outskirts of the woodland north of the village and set hunting lassos made from long, thin cords twisted from the stems and leaves of Gray Rock Grass.

In a full three months, they caught one strangled wild rabbit and two live pheasants.

Most of the gains had come in the first month. Whether it was bad luck over the following two months or the wild animals around the woodland had grown wiser, they gained nothing more of substance.

Fortunately, the two pheasants were one male and one female!

Not to mention that the strangled wild rabbit had gone into the bellies of the six members of the Ling and Zhang families, the two pheasants had laid two clutches of eggs from spring to summer. Aside from the dozen or so pheasant eggs they had found and given to Ling Yi and Zhang Lei to supplement their nutrition, there were now two adults and eighteen chicks—a total of twenty pheasants—in the chicken coop built in the corner of the Ling family's yard!

In a few more days, once these chicks matured, the Ling family would be able to proudly declare: egg freedom!

Golden sunlight poured down from the blazing sky, falling into an unremarkable little courtyard at the southwestern corner of Shan Hai Village.

What set this ordinary courtyard apart from the others in the village was the expanse of azure within it.

At that moment, Ling Yi wore only a pair of skimpy cloth shorts as he lay on his back in the grass at the center of the courtyard. Ignoring the Blue Silver Grass blades all over the ground tempering the delicate skin of his back, he inhaled the Herbal Fragrance filling the yard and the earthy scent beneath him. He felt the endless Great Sun Power cleanse him, his tiny body growing ever fairer beneath the sunlight as his temperature slowly rose.

His breathing was steady, his mind tranquil. He tried his best to merge with his surroundings, to let his spirit transcend the limits of his flesh, hoping to reach that legendary realm of Heaven and Man as One.

As for the results...

They were practically nonexistent!

It could not be helped. Something as profound as one's state of mind—let alone in the Douluo Worldview, where cultivation concepts remained primitive—even in the information-explosion era of his previous life, Ling Yi had only known a few terms and some supposedly theoretical ideas that sounded plausible, whether true or false.

As for the practical effects of those "theories," they clearly were not as easy to achieve as Ling Yi had hoped.

Fortunately, this world truly possessed paths of cultivation. All Ling Yi lacked was a stepping stone, an opportunity to enter the gate.

Still, although he was currently sunbathing amid Blue Silver Grass and had gained neither Soul Power nor spiritual insight, getting more sun was at least beneficial to the development of Ling Yi's infant body.

As for his original hopes—comprehending a state of mind, stirring his soul, awakening Mental Strength, and so on...

He would leave it to fate!

When Ling Yi was young in his previous life, he had watched a television drama featuring a supreme art called the Muscle Change Sutra. The prerequisite for cultivating it was to see through "the self and others," harboring no thought of practicing martial arts in one's heart.

At the time, a huge question mark had appeared in Ling Yi's tiny head.

If I don't even want to practice martial arts anymore, why the hell would I cultivate the damn Muscle Change Sutra?!

Later, after Ling Yi watched more and more television dramas and anime and read more and more novels, he looked back at that question and realized how shallow he had been.

Whether it was the realm of No Thought No Mind in the Human Immortal Martial Path from Yang God, or entering meditation through hypnosis in Star River Great Emperor, either could easily resolve the issue above.

Ling Yi: Thanks, Shenji. Among countless web novels, when it comes to the theoretical systems of fantasy cultivation alone, I, Ling Yi, am willing to call you half the world!

As for Red-Haired Dong, if that bastard could just keep updating, then the other half would naturally be—

Stop!

Ling Yi reined in his wandering thoughts. If he kept going, he feared he might vaguely see a giant character for "danger"!

Back to the point: having watched so many television dramas and anime and read so many novels in his previous life, Ling Yi knew far too many "theories."

In this world where cultivation was possible, those "theories" were undoubtedly an immensely rich and precious treasure.

It only depended on how Ling Yi would excavate them.

Time slowly passed. When the sunlight shining on his body grew scorching and Ling Yi was preparing to end this session of "cultivation," the serene expression on his closed-eyed face shifted slightly.

He heard the rustling of Blue Silver Grass blades brushing together, the sound drawing closer from afar as it approached where Ling Yi lay. Only when it reached his left and right did the movement stop.

The next second, a moist, warm, slightly rough sensation appeared on Ling Yi's cheek.

Ling Yi opened his eyes to find a long, scarlet tongue right before him, seemingly ready to lick him again. He hurriedly raised an arm, grabbed at random, and lifted upward, pulling the yellow dog head that had leaned close to him a little farther away.

Sitting up, he first looked down to his right. He raised a hand and rubbed the furry little head covered in black, white, yellow, brown, and gray fur, then turned back to look at the yellow dog head in his left hand. Meeting its eyes, he said irritably:

"A'Huang, how many times have I told you? When I'm sleeping here, you're not allowed to come disturb me. Look how well-behaved Meow Meow is..."

As he spoke, he ignored A'Huang, who had not listened at all and thought they were playing, flailing about incessantly. Reaching out, he pulled the elegantly seated Meow Meow into his arms and stroked her back and forth from head to tail.

A'Huang was an utterly ordinary little Earth Dog.

Meow Meow was likewise an entirely unremarkable Li Hua Cat.

Neither had the bloodline of an ancient divine beast or the lineage of a Soul Beast. They were merely cat and dog pups Ling Yi's maternal uncle, Zhang Dahe, had traded for from two households in Shan Hai Village, using a River Fish for each.

These two little ones were birthday gifts Ling Yi had asked his family for last month, and now served as his little companions.

At the same time, once Ling Yi's body had developed to a certain stage and he embarked on the path of body tempering, they would be a source of aid whose usefulness remained unknown.

Across the myriad heavens and worlds, the paths of cultivation were countless.

Yet when categorized, they generally could not escape the three paths of essence, energy, and spirit.

Put simply, they were the physical body, energy, and soul.

Clearly, for Ling Yi, who was only one year and one month old on Douluo Continent, neither body tempering nor cultivating Soul Power met the necessary conditions.

Only the soul—nothing but the soul!

Watching Meow Meow comfortably narrow her eyes, and A'Huang, who had placed his front paws on Ling Yi's leg and was panting with his tongue out in a smiling expression, Ling Yi felt inexplicably lighter. He also came to terms with having gained nothing earlier.

Although he had kept telling himself that he was still young, that this journey of feeling his way across the river had only just taken its first step—perhaps he had merely reached the bank and touched the water—and that he should proceed steadily, one step at a time, with an even mind...

But!

The sense of urgency he ought to have was unavoidable.

After all, this was a supernatural world where power belonged to the individual!

Leaving aside the most instinctive desire of all living things—immortality.

At the very least, Ling Yi did not want to wake up one day, find himself in danger, and be left helpless to do anything about it.

Strip away the protagonist halo that beautified the Original Protagonist's group, peel away the so-called love, hatred, and grudges of both sides, and beneath all those dazzling Martial Souls, Soul Beasts, Soul Rings, and Soul Skills, Douluo Continent was a naked, bloody portrait of a barbaric world.

Here, there were Soul Master families that controlled entire regions and cities; commoners without Soul Power whose lives were worth less than grass; Wolf Bandits and Evil Soul Masters who burned, killed, pillaged, and plundered...

Though Ling Yi could not remember whether Evil Soul Masters had appeared in Douluo I or Douluo II.

Still, could Soul Masters who burned, killed, looted, and abducted others just like Wolf Bandits not be called "Evil Soul Masters"?

Just think about the fallen ones in Slaughter City from the original Douluo I. How had they gotten in?

Surely they had not happily volunteered to enter, had they?

Just for a taste of the "Bloody Mary" inside?

All of this kept Ling Yi, who was only one year and one month old, mentally taut. Coupled with the complicated thoughts brought by the soul of an adult from his previous life, it added several degrees of difficulty to the only path of cultivation currently available to him.