At the thought of coming to the Mass Burial Grounds in the dead of night, those red bridal dresses, faceless women, and sounds of opera singing... surfaced again.
Chen Yu stood up and headed out of the Mass Burial Grounds.
Destination: the Stone House.
It's not that I'm scared of ghosts. There are fewer than seven days left until the Dao Sect assessment. Cultivating here in the early hours might increase the rate at which I gain experience, but that only leaves six nights. At eight hours per session, that's forty-eight hours. I can't guarantee I'll reach the third layer of Qi Refining within forty-eight hours.
Besides, running off to cultivate in the Mass Burial Grounds in the dead of night would be bound to arouse suspicion.
Yes, that's all.
With that thought, Chen Yu made up his mind.
If this road won't work, I'll just have to take another.
Since getting stronger slowed down my experience gains... it's simple. Why don't I just drop my cultivation back down?
Do it!
When Chen Yu returned, he happened to see his Dao Companion, Yun Miaozhen, stepping out of the Stone House.
Yun Miaozhen had gone to wash herself after waking that morning, only to return and find Chen Yu missing. She was about to head out to cultivate when she saw her Dao Companion returning. With a reproachful look, she pouted and asked, "Where did you go?" "......"
"..."
Chen Yu said nothing.
He merely took Yun Miaozhen by the wrist and led her into the room.
"C'mon, get inside with me!"
Several days later.
The Stone House's door, which had been shut for who knew how long, slowly opened with a creak. As the gap widened, a wooden stick emerged first and planted itself outside. Holding his walking stick in his right hand and supporting his lower back with his left, Chen Yu stepped through the doorway on trembling legs.
As the long-missed sunlight fell across his face, it revealed waxy skin, protruding cheekbones, cracked lips, and two dark circles beneath his eyes. He looked as though he already had one foot in the grave.
Yet his slightly unfocused eyes were filled with the joy of having achieved his goal.
[Attributes updated!] [Name: Chen Yu.] [Age: 18.] [Level: mortal (0/10).] [Spiritual root: false spiritual root.] [Martial techniques: none.] [Cultivation art: "Qi Guiding Art"] [Currently available experience points: 0.00003.]
He had no idea just how thoroughly he had been drained before to end up with -1 experience point. This time, despite trying for ages, he found that once his experience reached zero, it stubbornly refused to drop any further.
Leaning on his walking stick,
Chen Yu tottered toward the Mass Burial Grounds.
Behind him,
the Stone House's door opened again.
Bracing herself against the wall, Yun Miaozhen stood in the doorway and watched Chen Yu's retreating figure. Weakly, she asked, "Will you be back for lunch?"
"..."
Whether he had not heard her or was merely pretending not to,
Chen Yu simply kept walking without looking back.
Seeing this, Yun Miaozhen withdrew her gaze and returned inside, her expression turning troubled. She raised a hand and circulated her spiritual power.
"The peak of the second layer of Qi Refining..."
"After two days of harvesting his vitality, Chen Yu's cultivation has regressed to that of a mortal. Now he's nothing but medicine dregs, a useless man squeezed completely dry."
"Only four days remain until the assessment. Can I really reach the third layer of Qi Refining?" Yun Miaozhen was worried. "I'm clearly only one step away, yet a bottleneck has blocked me. Tomorrow is the elder's last lecture. Hopefully, I'll gain some insight..."
After half an hour of walking and resting, Chen Yu finally reached the Mass Burial Grounds and made his way along the familiar route to the hollow where he had cultivated before.
"So cold..."
Cold air seeped into his body from every direction, sending chills through him.
Chen Yu set down his walking stick and sat cross-legged.
"Time to test the results."
He took a deep breath.
Closed his eyes,
and calmed his mind.
Gradually, he entered a meditative state.
He sensed the "qi" drifting around his body.
He went through the motions of circulating the "Qi Guiding Art."
The next second, that familiar sensation appeared. The surrounding yin qi resembled wandering souls searching for flesh to inhabit. Upon seeing someone as weak as Chen Yu, they could hardly wait to burrow inside and seize his body.
Notifications appeared.
[Cultivating...] [Experience points: +0.0007.] [Cultivation ended.]
Chen Yu opened his eyes excitedly.
"It worked! It worked!"
"Although I'm gaining experience a little more slowly than the first time, 0.0007 per second still means 0.042 per minute, 2.52 per hour, and sixty experience points per day."
"Four days should be enough to reach the third layer of Qi Refining!"
Reaching the first layer of Qi Refining required ten experience points, and the second layer required twenty. It was reasonable to infer that the third layer would most likely require thirty.
That meant he had to save up at least sixty experience points in one go before allocating them!
Having worked it out, Chen Yu closed his eyes.
[Cultivating...] [Experience points: +0.0007.] [Experience points: +0.0007.]
He rested.
Then continued.
[Cultivating...] [Experience points: +0.0007.] [Experience points: +0.0007.]
He repeated the process.
Before leaving, Chen Yu had packed some dry provisions and water, enough for a full day.
He cultivated until nightfall, noticing the yin qi around him growing increasingly dense. Although his experience gain gradually increased to 0.001, the Mass Burial Grounds at night... always gave him a sense of extreme danger, as though some great terror lurked within.
Leaning on his walking stick and dragging his depleted body along, Chen Yu left as swiftly and stubbornly as he could, one step at a time.
His gains from today's cultivation were fairly good.
[Name: Chen Yu.] [Age: 18.] [Level: mortal (0/10).] [Spiritual root: false spiritual root.] [Martial techniques: none.] [Cultivation art: "Qi Guiding Art"] [Currently available experience points: 20.16003.]
"Twenty experience points. If I went by my previous rate at the first layer of Qi Refining, gaining 0.000
3 experience points per second, I'd have to cultivate for 185 hours..." At that thought, Chen Yu could not help sighing. "Thank goodness for Miaozhen."
Although his body had been drained dry, his heart felt at ease.
He returned to the Stone House.
Yun Miaozhen was sitting cross-legged on the bed, circulating the "Qi Guiding Art" as she cultivated.
When Chen Yu pushed open the door and entered, Yun Miaozhen merely gave him a cold glance. Seeing his gaunt, haggard face and the complete absence of spiritual power within him, she waved a hand and said, "Keep it down. I need to cultivate."
Hah.
Women.
In truth, Chen Yu was not surprised by Yun Miaozhen's change in attitude.
Yun Miaozhen had already reached the peak of the second layer of Qi Refining. Her next task was to break through her bottleneck; she no longer needed to obtain spiritual qi by harvesting his vitality.
Likewise, with his rate of experience gain essentially restored, Yun Miaozhen was no longer of any use to Chen Yu, either.
Chen Yu ignored her.
After cultivating all day without converting the experience he had gained into levels, his body was utterly exhausted.
Beside him, Yun Miaozhen withdrew her gaze when she saw her Dao Companion sink into sleep.
She closed her eyes.
And continued cultivating.
The next day.
When Chen Yu opened his eyes, Yun Miaozhen was not in the house.
He got up and packed half a day's worth of dry provisions and water,
then headed to the Mass Burial Grounds.
He had only packed half a day's worth of food and water because a Dao Sect elder would be giving a lecture that afternoon. All nominal disciples had to arrive on time; being late was forbidden, and skipping it was even more out of the question.