The night wind still blew. I sat on the stone platform with my palms resting on my knees. The spirit beast lay to my right, its head resting on its forepaws, breathing steadily. The images of my failed attempts at taking flight still replayed in my mind. Every time I rose to around five meters, it felt as though something pressed down on me, and my spiritual power scattered at once.
I lowered my head and looked at my fingers. My fingertips were still slightly numb. It was neither pain nor cold, just a hollow feeling, like putting all my strength into a blow only to hit cotton.
I closed my eyes. The system interface still floated in my sea of consciousness. That line had not vanished: [Foundation not yet fully solidified. Forcing flight may cause spiritual power backlash. Breakthrough temporarily not recommended.]
I had always thought that as long as I had enough spiritual power to sustain a single flight, that would be enough. Only now did I understand that having a lot was not enough. It also had to be stable, dense, and controllable.
It was like carrying water. A bucket that was too heavy to lift was a problem, but a leaking bucket was an even greater waste of effort.
I took a deep breath and suppressed my stray thoughts. When I opened my eyes again, I already understood—there was no rushing this. My inability to fly was not because I was too weak, but because I had not walked steadily.
"System," I spoke within my sea of consciousness. "I want to know what I should train most right now."
The interface flashed, and a new prompt appeared:
[Active request for guidance detected] [Beginning analysis of current cultivation structure...]
A few seconds later, the data appeared. My total spiritual power had met the standard, but its density was only sixty percent of the standard value. There were three minor deviations in my meridian circulation paths, especially at the junction of my shoulder and neck, where stagnation occurred easily. The spiritual power mass within my dantian was loose, and compression efficiency was low.
Then, a training plan was automatically generated, titled Basic Solidification Nine Refinements.
First Refinement: Spiritual Power Segmentation and Compression Test
Second Refinement: Meridian Micro-Control Calibration
Third Refinement: Breathing Rhythm and Spiritual Energy Absorption Compatibility Training
Every item was detailed to the extreme. There was no promise of increasing my cultivation realm, nor were there any rewards. It was purely about refinement.
I stared at it for a long time before confirming it.
If I was going to train, I would start with the basics.
I adjusted my posture, leaning against the rock wall with both hands resting on my knees again. I did not perform a Great Heavenly Cycle circulation or force my way through acupoints. I only let spiritual power slowly flow out from my dantian, travel a short distance along my main meridians, then slowly return.
This circulation was incredibly slow, advancing almost inch by inch. Sure enough, when it reached my shoulder, it got stuck. I stopped and focused my thoughts on that point. The spiritual power there was flowing chaotically, like water entering a fork in the stream, splitting into several currents before barely merging again.
I tried drawing that portion of spiritual power back and reorganizing it. I used my consciousness to compress it bit by bit, making it denser. The process was slow, like wringing out a soaked cloth. Every squeeze consumed a great deal of mental energy.
By the time that strand of spiritual power had taken shape again, a thin layer of sweat had formed on my body. But when I sent it out again, it passed through my shoulder much more smoothly.
I continued repeating the process. Each time, I handled only a small portion of spiritual power—compressing, calibrating, and returning it to its proper place. After every completion, the system gave feedback:
[Compression level increased by 3%] [Meridian flow rate +1] [Energy consumption reduced by 0.7 units]
The numbers were small, but they really were improving.
Time passed little by little. The sun slanted in from the west, its light sweeping over the edge of the stone platform before slowly moving to my feet. I did not move, nor did the spirit beast. Its ears only twitched occasionally, as though it sensed some subtle change.
I began another round of training.
This time, I divided the spiritual power in my dantian into nine portions, splitting it evenly like a cake. Then I tested compressing them one by one. I used too much force on the first portion, and it scattered immediately. I was too gentle with the second, and it remained loose even after compression. With the third, I finally found a feeling for it. Its volume shrank by nearly half after compression, and its stability was not bad either.
I kept testing like this, recording each method and result. The system updated the data in real time beside me, telling me which approach required the least effort and worked best.
I discovered that compressing too quickly or too harshly actually made failure more likely. Slow, steady pressure combined with the rhythm of breathing produced the best results. Moreover, if I let each strand of spiritual power settle for three breaths before compressing it, the success rate became much higher.
It reminded me of grinding ink when I was little. My father used to say that grinding too fast would not produce rich color; only slow grinding made the ink dark.
Cultivation was the same.
I no longer pursued speed, nor did I think of reshaping all my spiritual power in one go. I worked through it strand by strand, section by section. When I encountered a blockage, I did not force my way through. I first pulled back, then tried another method.
Gradually, the circulation of spiritual power in my body changed. It was no longer rough and disorderly as it surged outward. It gained layers and sequence. It moved quickly where it should move quickly, and stopped where it should stop.
The system suddenly displayed a new prompt:
[Significant increase in spiritual power circulation precision detected] [Basic reinforcement milestone triggered: First Glimpse of the Threshold] [Reward: Spiritual power return efficiency +15%; interference resistance slightly increased]
I did not stop. I only nodded and continued with the next cycle.
The sky darkened, and the wind at the mouth of the valley grew colder. The spirit beast raised its head, glanced at me, then lay back down. Its horn glowed faintly for a moment. It was not a warning, but more like a response to the fluctuations of spiritual power within me.
I knew it was keeping me company.
I also knew there was no way to skip this path. It did not matter how many times I watched others fly. I had to make every step firm myself.
I began trying another kind of training—simulating loss of control.
I deliberately made a strand of spiritual power deviate from the main meridian and rush into a side branch, then pulled it back in an emergency. At first, I was always a step too late, leaving a dull pain in my chest. Later, I gradually mastered the timing and corrected it the instant the spiritual power began to drift.
Each attempt became faster and steadier than the last.
By the end, I could predict where a problem would arise in advance. Before the spiritual power even moved, I could already straighten out the path.
The feeling was like changing from passive response to active control.
I opened my eyes and let out a long breath. It was heavier than any breath I had released before, carrying the impurities within my body out with it. Although the total amount of spiritual power in my dantian had not increased, it had clearly become denser, like cotton soaked and pressed free of water—solid and no longer floating.
I raised my hand, palm upward. A strand of spiritual power extended from my fingertips. It no longer flickered between bright and dim or swayed unsteadily as it had before. Instead, it hovered there steadily, like a thin thread, straight and unbending.
I tried bending it, straightening it again, then dividing it into two strands that crossed each other. Every movement was executed precisely, without the slightest waste.
This was control.
I lowered my hand and closed my eyes again.
Next came breathing training. I stopped all cultivation chants and returned to the most primitive form of breathing. I inhaled through my nose and exhaled through my mouth. I did not guide spiritual power or force my way through acupoints. I simply felt the air entering and leaving my lungs.
Once, twice, ten times...
I discovered that whenever I inhaled, the spiritual energy around me naturally drifted closer. Even when I did not actively absorb it, it seeped inward through the entrances of my meridians. When I exhaled, impurities within my body were expelled with it, leaving my mind clearer as well.
So the true foundation began with breathing.
I had relied too much on the advanced cultivation techniques given by the system. I had always thought the more complicated, the better. But now I understood that the simpler the movement, the more clearly it revealed one's mastery.
I continued training.
The sky turned completely dark, and stars appeared above the mouth of the valley. The stone platform had grown cold, but my body was warm. It was not the heat of a fever, but the warmth brought by circulating blood and qi.
The spirit beast suddenly moved, brushing its nose against my wrist.
I opened my eyes.
It looked at me with clear, bright eyes, not as though anything was wrong. I lowered my gaze to my wrist. The veins beneath my skin pulsed faintly, their rhythm steady and strong.
I smiled and stroked its horn.
"That's enough for today," I said.
But it did not move. Its ears stood upright as it stared toward the rock wall behind me.
I turned to look.
Within a crack in the rock wrapped in vines, a tiny point of light flickered on and off. It looked like a firefly, yet not quite.