Take It One Step at a Time!

"Money was enough for now. The materials could be found slowly—there was no rushing it." He stood up and rolled his shoulders and back, clenching his fists. "But physical training and combat technique practice can't stop for even a day."

He walked over to the fur-wrapped wooden post standing in the corner of the backyard.

This wooden post had been with him for two years. It was covered in dense fist marks and kick marks, and several layers of the beast hide had been battered into mottled tatters.

He readjusted the positions of the four Weighted Rings, took his stance, and began his second round of training for the day.

This time, he calmed himself and no longer pursued explosive speed and power. Instead, he broke every movement down to be extraordinarily slow and precise, from the angle at which the soles of his feet gripped the ground, to the timing of force from his waist and hips, to the trajectory through which his fist delivered its power. Every stage was refined to the level of muscle memory.

Slow practice found the feeling; fast practice built explosive power. This was the most effective training method he had distilled from real combat.

The wind from his fists became steady once more.

Although his power was far more restrained than during the afternoon session, every punch landed with solid penetrating force at its end, no longer carrying that hollow feeling of losing five percent of its strength.

He maintained this slow-training rhythm for half a shichen, until the sky had completely darkened and the moon climbed above the treetops beyond the courtyard wall.

After finishing his training, he sat down in a small clearing amid the Blue Silver Grass and began to meditate.

Soul Power circulated through his meridians. He no longer had the clear sensation of it growing every day; in its place was a deeper, slower accumulation.

It was like pouring water into a well. The water level rose extremely slowly, but every drop truly remained at the bottom, without being lost.

He had figured it out.

Those with good talent could run quickly in cultivation, while those with poor talent could only walk slowly.

But walking slowly did not mean one would never reach the end. It simply required more time and patience.

What he lacked least after living two lives was patience. Back then, he had been able to stay in that village and quietly cultivate for nineteen years without leaving. What was this little bottleneck compared to that?

Besides, the cards in his hand now far outnumbered what he had possessed back then.

The Nine Heart Begonia sapling was growing taller by the day. Once it matured enough for its leaves to be harvested, it would become a steady supply of high-quality medicinal catalysts.

The three thousand-year Whale Rubber blocks in his storage ring would last him for quite a while.

The storage ring itself had increased the efficiency of his travel and gathering by more than several times.

His status as chief physician gave him a steady monthly income of Gold Soul Coins.

Taken together, his cultivation environment was far superior to that of ninety-nine percent of the Soul Masters in Nuoding City.

"Take it slow. No need to panic."

He said it to himself inwardly, then completely sank into deep meditation.

The evening breeze swept over the courtyard wall, rustling the tender green leaves of the Blue Silver Grass.

The Nine Heart Begonia's nine heart-shaped leaves glowed with a gentle fluorescence beneath the moonlight, as though cradling a tiny piece of starlight fallen into the mortal world. It stood quietly amid the embrace of countless Blue Silver Grass stalks.

Tomorrow would not be much different from today.

He would see patients in the morning, gather herbs or train in the afternoon, tend to the Nine Heart Begonia in the evening, then soak in a medicinal bath and meditate at night.

His days would pass like this, one after another. Building steadily and grounding every bit of accumulation in reality was the proper path.

He believed that as long as he did not slack off, however slowly the road after Level 20 progressed, it could not possibly be slower than those nineteen years in the village. His physique and cultivation realm had already reached heights he once would not have dared dream of. There was nothing to complain about—he only needed to do his best and give it everything he had.

The next morning, Lan Tian woke a little earlier than usual.

When he pushed open the window, the early spring morning breeze rushed in, carrying the damp scent of grass and trees along with a faint, almost imperceptible floral fragrance.

He took a deep breath and felt noticeably more refreshed.

After washing up, he went to check on the Nine Heart Begonia in the backyard as usual. The sapling stretched out its nine heart-shaped leaves in the morning light, the pale pinkish-white shading across their surfaces glittering in fine specks beneath the morning dew.

He crouched down to check the moisture of the soil. Only after confirming that there was no problem did he rise to attend to other matters.

He saw three patients that morning, all with minor ailments. Everything was dealt with in the time it took an incense stick to burn.

With a rare half-day of free time, he cleared out the old, withered Blue Silver Grass stalks in the backyard, then loosened the soil around the newly sprouted Blue Silver Grass.

As he worked, his mind kept turning over the thoughts from the previous night.

His medicinal herbs needed upgrading, his equipment needed updating, and the search of Sunset Forest had to continue.

Although he could not find the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well for the time being, the depths of Sunset Forest surely held many high-age medicinal herbs that he urgently needed.

He straightened up and wiped away his sweat, a preliminary plan forming in his mind.

It was not advisable to travel far again within the next month. The internal conflict in Heaven Dou City had only just ended, and all the various forces were reshuffling. Though the city gates had been reopened, any good things in the surrounding areas had likely already been swept clean by every sort of riffraff.

It would be better to stabilize for now and bring himself into peak condition. Once the Nine Heart Begonia had grown a little more and he had absorbed another round of thousand-year Whale Rubber, he could head straight into the depths of Sunset Forest to gather supplies, while continuing to search for traces of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well by process of elimination.

He went over the plan in his mind again and again, considering every detail. Only then did he feel more at ease.

Towards evening, Louise came over carrying half a roast chicken and a jug of fruit wine. She said her father had just brought them back and told her to deliver a portion for Lan Tian to try.

The two sat in the courtyard, eating and chatting. Louise immediately spotted the Nine Heart Begonia amid the Blue Silver Grass, and her eyes lit up at once. "Wow! What kind of flower is that? It's so pretty! Nine heart-shaped leaves—I've never seen it before!"

Lan Tian gave a muffled reply around a mouthful of chicken leg. "Just planted it. I brought the seeds back from outside. It's called begonia."

"Begonia?" Louise moved closer and crouched beside it, studying it for quite a while. "You really are willing to spend on it. This kind of flower is so delicate, yet you actually dared plant it out in the courtyard? Aren't you afraid it'll freeze to death in winter?"

"I pour Soul Power into it every day. It won't freeze to death."

Louise blinked after hearing that, seeming to understand but not quite. She gave an "oh" and did not ask any further questions.

She chatted for a while longer about the latest news in the city. The City Lord's Mansion had recently allocated another sum to repair the drainage canal in the north of the city; Renn had been promoted to squad leader; Grant's younger brother had fully recovered from his injuries and was preparing to make a living in the Soul Hunting Forest. She prattled on for nearly half an hour before finally getting up to say goodbye.

After seeing Louise off, the courtyard fell quiet again.

Lan Tian sat on the stone bench and finished the remaining fruit wine, feeling the evening breeze skim lightly over the courtyard wall, stirring the Blue Silver Grass leaves with faint rustling sounds.

The small patch of fluorescence from the Nine Heart Begonia glowed quietly in the darkness nearby. Though faint, it was exceptionally steady.

He lowered his head and looked at his hands.

His knuckles were rough, his palms thick with calluses, and beneath his skin lay muscles and bones tempered through countless trials.

This body had trained its way from the boy who had gritted his teeth and endured hardship in the village to who he was now. How much he had suffered, how much sweat he had shed—only he himself knew.

The road ahead was destined to become ever harder, but he had already crossed the most difficult stretch. No matter how steep the path ahead became, it could never be harder than it had been at the start.

"Let's continue."

He stood, brushed the crumbs from his hands, and turned to head inside to prepare tonight's medicinal bath.