Daily Cultivation

After dinner, Ye Feng gave Kuina a few instructions before returning to his room to cultivate his own "Nine Yang Manual."

Fortunately, he had already memorized the Nine Yang Manual by heart. Otherwise, he would have had to read through it twice every time.

Casting aside all distracting thoughts, Ye Feng quietly recited the Nine Yang Manual: "Stillness gives rise to radiance; motion brings flight. Qi rises and the form follows; intent moves and the spirit remains firm. When thought stirs, the spirit commands qi, and the form follows qi's ascent. Train the form to make it steadfast, train essence to make it steadfast, train qi to make it strong, train spirit to make it light. Secure form and qi as the foundation for traversing all directions; gather essence and spirit as the basis for soaring. First understand the momentum of advance and retreat, then investigate the roots of movement and stillness—only then may success be achieved. Advance by crouching before rising; retreat by closing before moving. Take stillness as the foundation. Though the body may move swiftly, the heart remains calm. True stillness lies between each outward breath. Thus may form and qi roam freely, and essence and spirit transcend the heavens. Only then is the Nine Yang complete."

As Ye Feng recited the incantation, a faint light glowed around his body. He cultivated like that throughout the night.

Before he knew it, morning had arrived. Ye Feng slowly opened his eyes, drew in a deep breath, and exhaled a stream of turbid air.

Ye Feng said happily, "I finally broke through to the second level of the Nine Yang Manual."

Ye Feng washed his face, picked up the bamboo sword resting on the table, opened the door, and headed out. He looked around the dojo but did not see Kuina anywhere.

He then headed toward her room.

Ye Feng opened the door and found her still asleep, her little mouth slightly open beneath the blanket.

After looking at her, an idea came to him. Ye Feng went outside, and when he returned a while later, he had a stalk of foxtail grass in his hand.

He quietly brushed the foxtail grass over her little nose.

Kuina immediately grabbed the foxtail grass and pulled it away. Then she turned her head, pulled the blanket over her head, and went back to sleep.

Seeing that she had fallen asleep again, Ye Feng pulled the blanket off Kuina's head and patted her little face.

Then he said, "Little pig, stop sleeping. If you sleep any longer, the sun will be shining on your butt. It's time to go practice swordsmanship."

At this moment, Kuina tugged at the blanket with her little hand and said sleepily, "Ye Feng, you're the best! Let me sleep a little longer."

Ye Feng said helplessly, "If you don't get up now, I'm going to call your master."

Kuina threw off the blanket and said drowsily, "I know. Stop rushing me."

After telling her to hurry up, Ye Feng left.

A little while later, the door opened. Kuina came out holding her bamboo sword and yawning, saying lazily, "Let's go."

Ye Feng and Kuina headed together toward the training grounds. There were many wooden stakes half-buried in the ground, while others had been severed by something extremely sharp.

Ye Feng and Kuina each stood before a fresh wooden stake. After taking a breath, they gripped their bamboo swords tightly with both hands and struck the stakes before them. With a crack, the wooden stake in front of Ye Feng broke—along with the bamboo sword in his hand.

The sound drew Kuina's attention. Looking at the broken stake and bamboo sword, she said with a pained expression, "Ye Feng, that's already the 432nd wooden stake and the 678th bamboo sword. Didn't Master tell you not to hit the stakes anymore? How did you break another one?"

Ye Feng said awkwardly, "The people selling these wooden stakes and bamboo swords must have been cutting corners. Yeah, that must be it."

After thinking for a moment, he said, "You keep practicing. I'll head back first."

Kuina said, "Ye Feng, can't you come up with another excuse? How many times have you used that one already?"

Ye Feng picked up the broken bamboo sword and headed toward the dojo. As soon as he entered, he found Koushirou sitting there, seemingly waiting for someone.

"Master, good morning," Ye Feng said.

Koushirou said calmly, "Good. Tomorrow, I'll teach you a sword technique. Whether you can learn it will depend on your own fortune."

"Oh! Got it, Master. I'll be going out first," Ye Feng said.

He picked up an iron sword he had custom-made. Since he was not used to the katana-style swords here, he had asked a local blacksmith to forge it based on Abyss Rainbow from the Qin's Moon anime he had watched in his previous life.

On his way out of the dojo, he thought that he did not actually need any more sword techniques. He had the Nine Yang Sword Scripture inside the jade pendant, and with the Nine Yang Manual as his internal cultivation method, once he achieved mastery, he would surely be the strongest in the world.

My Nine Yang Manual is already at the second level, but my Nine Yang Sword Scripture is only at the first level.

After a while, Ye Feng arrived at the edge of a cliff. He sat cross-legged, laid his sword flat across his thighs, calmed his breathing, focused his mind, and began cultivating.

He had no idea how much time passed.

Ye Feng opened his eyes. By the time he returned to the dojo, the sky had already turned dark. He headed to Koushirou's room and opened the door, finding Koushirou and Kuina waiting for him to eat.

Just as Ye Feng was about to speak, Kuina spoke first. "Senior Brother, where did you go? Why are you back so late?"

Koushirou merely smiled and said nothing.

Ye Feng said apologetically, "Sorry. I lost track of time while cultivating. I'll be more careful next time."

He then sat down at a small round table and ate. After finishing his meal—

He returned to his room and began packing his luggage. Once he was done, he thought, In one year, I'll be returning to Windmill Village. I wonder how Avril is doing there now?