Mental Energy

After examining the three items in turn, Lu Heng's fingertips still retained the cool touch of the books. He first placed the Star Tear and the books on the stone platform, then reached out and picked up the Star Altar.

The altar looked only the size of a palm, but it was heavy. The stone was dense and felt heavy in the hand, and the center of gravity was very stable. The second floor was an empty hall carved out of the upper level of the stone cave, usually used to store unused wood and Stone. The floor was flat and did not block the way. Lu Heng carried the altar up the stairs. The stone steps were cool and hard, and his footsteps made a muffled sound in the closed stone cave.

Reaching the middle of the second floor, he randomly picked a flat-looking piece of ground, bent down, and placed it down.

The moment the fingertips loosened their grip, the stone platform suddenly trembled slightly.

It wasn't a shaking, but a slight tremor emanating from within, sending a tingling sensation up his fingertips. Lu Heng's hand paused, and before he could react, he saw something invisible rise silently from the ground beneath the altar, sliding less than two feet diagonally forward while still close to the ground.

The movements were slow, steady, and silent; only a thin layer of dust on the ground was pushed along, leaving a very shallow imprint.

It glided to that position, then suddenly stopped and gently fell down.

With a muffled "click," very softly, it sounded like the stone's texture fitting perfectly into the ground.

Lu Heng stood there, his hand still in the open position, stunned for two seconds.

He took two steps forward and squatted down. The altar was firmly placed there, looking no different from the surrounding stone ground. He reached out and pushed it, applying force with his fingertips, but the stone platform did not budge, as if it had grown out of the ground. Lu Heng ran his fingertips along the bottom edge, and then touched the ground next to it. It was the same rough stone, the same cold temperature, and even the stone texture was the same.

He looked up and scanned his surroundings. To his left was a natural stone wall, to his right a pile of timber half a person's height, and in front and behind him was empty space, without any carvings or markings, or recesses or grooves. Was it facing south or north? He knew nothing about these things, and looking around, he felt that this place was no different from the one he had just chosen, just an ordinary stone ground, with nothing special about it.

I have absolutely no idea why it stopped here.

Lu Heng gripped the edge again and tried to lift it up, his knuckles turning white, but the stone platform didn't budge an inch. He gave up and stood up, dusting off his hands.

It's certainly amazing, but I just can't figure out how it works. There are many strange things in the wilderness, and there's no need to dwell on things that don't make sense. As long as it works and doesn't cause trouble, that's fine. This location doesn't block the way and is close to the stairwell, making it convenient to maintain in the future, so there's nothing wrong with it.

He stood there catching his breath, looking at the clean stone surface of the altar, and a thought popped into his mind.

Any altar or similar structure must have offerings placed on it to make it look proper.

Lu Heng opened the Wristband Space and rummaged through his inventory. On top was a considerable amount of hunted animal meat, and the quantity was plentiful. The thought had just popped into his head when he suppressed it. He glanced at the altar; the stone was clear and smooth, with a faint, almost invisible starlight aura. He felt that placing such pungent raw meat on it was incongruous and didn't look quite right.

He rummaged through the pile and found some stored fruits and vegetables. Several Tomato were plump and red, and there was a large, round, heavy Pumpkin that he hadn't eaten yet.

He had originally intended to arrange the Tomato and Pumpkin together, to make them look neater. He looked around his space but couldn't find a suitable tray, a porcelain plate, or even a flat wooden plate. He couldn't just pile them haphazardly on the table; that would only make it look disrespectful.

Lu Heng thought for a moment and then took out the large Pumpkin.

The Pumpkin had a firm skin, was quite heavy, and was round and plump, making it stable even when placed alone. He held it in both hands and gently placed it in the center of the altar, arranging it correctly. The golden pumpkin contrasted against the plain stone platform, looking simple yet solemn.

After placing the offerings, he took half a step back.

Looking at the small, unmoving stone platform, Lu Heng knew that this was a unique and rare item, and it might be of great use in the future. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it could support him for the rest of his life; it could be considered his provider.

Without thinking twice, he lifted his shirt and knelt directly on the cold stone floor.

He stood up straight and kowtowed three times earnestly. His forehead touched the stone surface, the cool, hard touch sending a shiver through him. His mind was free of all sorts of chaotic thoughts; he had only one idea: it's always better to be solemn.

After kowtowing, he stood up, his knees covered in dust, which he casually brushed off. This was how he would set out the offerings for the first time; he would add more later when he found a suitable container.

Going downstairs and back to the Planting Room, the scent of plants wafted towards me.

A simple wooden frame stood against the wall, with Sunlight Pearl and Moonlight Pearl embedded in the groove in the center of the frame, casting a warm light during the day that covered the entire area. The Pumpkin and tomatoes inside had grown back, sprouting tall before you knew it, so you had to tie them back to the side and plant new branches.

Lu Heng took out the Star Tear. The bead was cool, smooth, and translucent, and felt comfortable in his hand. He walked over along the stone slabs by the earthen ridge, found a spot next to the Sunlight Pearl, and gently embedded the Star Tear into it.

One bead of warm, solid light, the other of clear, restrained radiance, placed side by side, their auras blending together quite naturally.

He stood there watching for a while. The light from the Sunlight Pearl and Moonlight Pearl was steady, shining on the edges of the leaves; the Star Tear didn't emit much light, just hung there quietly, and the surrounding air seemed a little clearer, or maybe it was just his imagination.

As he was looking at it, he suddenly remembered something. He had collected a wild tea seedling while exploring the mountains and forests, and had left it in his spatial backpack, running around aimlessly, forgetting to plant it.

Lu Heng summoned his spatial storage and, after a few flips, found the tea seedling still wrapped in its original soil ball. The seedling was small, only about half a foot tall, with slender branches and tender green leaves, looking delicate, but its roots were firmly planted, showing the resilience of something that grows in the wild.

He turned and went to the corner to get a small shovel.

The shovel blade was sharpened to a fine point, and the wooden handle was smoothed by his hands. Lu Heng squatted down and chose a clearing near the edge of the furrow, where it wouldn't block other crops, and began digging, shovel by shovel. The humus soil was loose, mixed with grass roots and pebbles. As he dug, he picked out the pebbles and threw them aside, digging a small hole about the depth of a fist, just enough to fit the soil ball of the tea seedling.

Place the sapling in, hold the branches upright with your fingertips, then fill the soil back in one shovelful at a time, and finally use the heel of your hand to compact the soil around the roots.

After finishing, he straightened up and shook the mud off his hands.

The small tea tree stood steadily in the soil, its slender branches upright. It looked unremarkable, but if it was well cared for in the future, perhaps some tender buds could be picked and used to make tea. In this desolate place, being able to drink a cup of hot tea was a rare treat.

His gaze returned to the Star Tear on the shelf.

The description says it collects 100 milliliters of Star Water daily, but where does this water actually come from?

Lu Heng moved closer and examined the surface of the bead carefully. Tiny specks floated on the translucent bead, so faint that they were almost invisible unless you looked very closely. He then looked at the wooden frame beneath the bead and at the ground below; it was dry and clean, without a single water stain.

I walked around the wooden frame twice, examining it from top to bottom. There were no holes in the bead, no drainage channels at the bottom, and no containers to receive it around it.

Does it condense directly in the air? Or will it seep out when there's enough starlight at night?

Lu Heng frowned. He couldn't see any clues or explanations right now. Perhaps the water would only start to condense when the starlight gathered at night; or perhaps the condensed water would adhere to the bead's surface and accumulate before dripping down. There was no use in rushing. He made a note of this and planned to come back early the next morning to check. Then he would naturally know where the water came from and how to collect it.

After finishing his business in the Planting Room, he returned to the main room.

The scroll of Starlight Meditation Method was still on the stone platform.

Lu Heng walked over and picked up the scroll. The silver patterns on the scroll seemed alive; when his fingertips touched them, they emitted a very faint halo. He originally wanted to open it and see what words were written inside, and what kind of cultivation method it was.

The moment my fingertips lifted the rolled edge.

The scrolls suddenly fell apart.

It wasn't that the pages were falling apart; rather, the entire scroll transformed into a shower of fine, silvery light, like stardust scattered by the wind, flowing from his fingertips and wrists straight to his brow.

Lu Heng subconsciously closed his eyes for a moment.

There was no pain, nor any dizziness or throbbing. It was just that his mind suddenly contained a lot of information. A complete Meditation Method, how to breathe, how to concentrate, how to visualize the star chart, every step was crystal clear, as if he had practiced it for several years and knew it by heart. Even the arrangement of the stars during visualization, the path of the starlight, and the method of concluding the practice were all clearly imprinted in his memory, without the slightest ambiguity.

He stood there for a few seconds, then opened his eyes.

My hands were empty; the book had vanished completely, leaving not even a scrap of paper.

Lu Heng looked down at his hands, then raised his hand to touch his forehead. It was directly imprinted in his mind, saving him the trouble of learning and figuring out the characters.

Without hesitation, he took two steps back, found a flat, dry spot on the ground, and sat down cross-legged.

The cool stone ground seeped through his coarse cloth trousers, carrying the dampness unique to the cave. Lu Heng straightened his back, placed his hands naturally on his knees, and slowly adjusted his breathing according to the method that appeared in his mind.

Inhale slowly, letting the breath sink into your Dantian); exhale slowly, pushing the breath out through your nose. Let your chest rise and fall steadily, gradually evening out the rhythm.

The jumbled thoughts in his mind gradually subsided. The images of fighting the hyenas during the day, the exhaustion from clearing the path, the gravitational pressure in the crater—those chaotic thoughts settled like sediment at the bottom of the sea. He closed his eyes and, following the guidance of the method, sketched the shape of the starry sky in his mind.

It wasn't a chaotic jumble of stars; rather, they emerged one by one, following the arrangement of the star chart in the cultivation method. At first, they were blurry, the stars were faint, and their shapes were hard to grasp. But the method was so familiar that it seemed to be engraved in one's bones that one didn't need to think about the path; one could simply follow one's intuition, and the stars would gradually stabilize.

One, two, ten, a hundred.

Gradually, a faint starry sky unfolded in my mind. The starlight was faint, yet steady, quietly suspended in the darkness, neither swaying nor dissipating.

There was no exaggerated feeling of spiritual infusion, just that my mind gradually became clearer, my distracting thoughts lessened, and even the fatigue in my shoulders and back lessened. The sound of the wind outside the cave, the sounds in the distant forest, and the dripping sound of water seeping from the stone wall all slowly faded away, leaving only the rhythm of my breathing and the faint starlight slowly flowing in my mind.

It was much easier than he had expected. Come to think of it, the technique was directly engraved into his mind, which was like paving a smooth path for him. He just had to follow it and didn't have to fumble around in the dark or take detours and make mistakes.

I don't know how long I sat there.

[drop--]

The familiar electronic sound echoed in my mind.

Lu Heng slowly opened his eyes.

The blue light screen on the Wristband automatically popped up in front of my eyes, displaying a new notification:

[Host's Mental Energy awakening detected; Mental Energy panel officially unlocked.]

Below this is a line of clear numerical values:

Current Mental Energy: 0

Lu Heng stared at the zero for two seconds.

As expected. It's perfectly normal to start from scratch, just beginning and unlocking the system. Just like the basic attributes such as physique and strength, they were all developed slowly through repeated battles and daily journeys. Mental Energy is even more difficult to rush; it requires daily meditation, slow refinement, and gradual accumulation. There's no use in being impatient.

He raised his hand and turned off the panel.

His legs were a little numb from sitting, so he slowly stood up, supporting himself on the ground. He moved his ankles and knees, and his bones made a slight cracking sound.

The sky outside the window had completely darkened, and the mountain wind howled against the rock walls.