The Difficulties of Immortal Cultivation

In a small wooden cabin at the foot of Yingping Peak.

Fang Zelin suddenly opened his eyes, then rubbed his stomach, feeling a little hungry.

"Just now, I think I went back to that mountain again?"

Fang Zelin recalled that he seemed to have returned to the peak he had entered while comprehending the cultivation method.

But for some reason, Fang Zelin could not quite remember what he had just experienced.

Had I only exchanged a few words with the old man?

Fang Zelin thought it over carefully and felt that seemed to be the case.

With that thought, Fang Zelin stopped dwelling on it.

At present, he knew little about how to cultivate immortality, and he knew even less about what that mountain was called.

"Looks like I'll have to leave for a while later and look for other immortal cultivators, so I can obtain some immortal cultivation techniques."

At this thought, Fang Zelin immediately frowned and spoke with a helpless expression.

As someone cultivating immortality without proper guidance, he had only become a Qi Refining practitioner so far.

As for other things, such as how to use spells, what purpose that mountain served, and what hurdles came after Qi Refining, and so on-

Fang Zelin knew nothing about any of them.

After some thought, Fang Zelin decided to leave for a while once the spirit rice ripened, to see if he could find other immortal cultivators and obtain spells and the like.

With that thought, Fang Zelin got up at once and went to the fishpond.

There were quite a few fish here that he had caught earlier. Fang Zelin grabbed one and lit a fire to roast it.

Once the fire was going and the fish had been cleaned and placed over it to roast, Fang Zelin turned and went to the rice paddy.

The spirit rice's growth was looking increasingly unusual.

At first, they had clearly been nothing more than rice seedlings, yet now...

The seedlings before him had become like little trees, growing quite sturdy and vigorous.

But to say they looked like little trees was not quite right either.

The spirit rice's build was beginning to tend that way, but its leaves were like willow branches, drooping in curves and dancing in the wind.

"I wonder when you'll ripen. Ripen soon so I can taste the spirit rice and go seek immortals."

Fang Zelin stared at the spirit rice before him and murmured to himself.

These days, Fang Zelin was extremely punctual about cultivating every day.

It was all so that the spirit rice would have a stretch of time each day when it could absorb Spiritual Qi.

With him feeding the spirit rice like this, surely it ought to ripen a little faster?

Who knew whether the spirit rice before him had understood Fang Zelin's words, but at that moment, all its leaves began to sway.

Fang Zelin did not look any longer, turning to walk back to the roasting fish.

He turned it slightly, and its fragrance immediately wafted out.

Taking the seasonings he had bought earlier in Anzi County, Fang Zelin sprinkled them over the fish.

A short while later, the fish was cooked through.

Fang Zelin took the roasted fish and sat by the river, frowning as he ate.

"After eating so much roasted fish, I'm really getting sick of it. Eating roasted fish every day isn't a solution. It would be nice if I could raise some chickens, ducks, and geese, but..."

If he wanted to raise chickens, ducks, and geese, he had nothing to feed them. If they went and pecked at his spirit rice, he would really have something to cry about.

At that thought, Fang Zelin set the idea aside for now.

Once he finished the roasted fish in his hand, Fang Zelin picked up a branch nearby and began practicing the Wind-Riding Sword Art.

If he had not lacked spells to practice, with this sword art being the only technique he had mastered so far, Fang Zelin would not have needed to devote his attention to this.

As he set the sword art in motion, Fang Zelin moved with the wind.

This was a sliver of its essence that Fang Zelin had comprehended, making his whole figure seem exceptionally ethereal and nimble.

With a sword art like this, he should be a little safer when he left to seek immortals.

That was what Fang Zelin thought.

Monsters and the like were not particularly common. The main thing was to avoid running into bandits or the like along the way.

Although Fang Zelin had already entered Qi Refining, he had no method for using the Spiritual Qi that entered his body.

However, over this recent stretch of time, Fang Zelin had been able to feel that his vision was becoming increasingly clear. He also felt, to some extent, that his body seemed to have grown much stronger.

After practicing the sword art for a while, Fang Zelin returned to Earth.

Earth.

After opening his eyes, Fang Zelin carefully shifted his body. Once he successfully settled into his wheelchair, he let out a long breath of relief.

"Has something gone wrong somewhere? I've been cultivating on Earth for some time now, but I still can't get a foot through the door."

Fang Zelin wheeled himself over to his computer desk, feeling somewhat puzzled.

Fang Zelin had already sensed Internal Force earlier, and by now, a thread of Qi Force was circulating within his body.

Yet why, despite having Qi Force, could he still never sense Spiritual Qi?

This could not help reminding Fang Zelin that, back in Seeking the Dao, he had also visited that mountain before taking his first steps into Qi Refining.

And while cultivating, he had distinctly felt that Spiritual Power did not actually exist in his surroundings.

Only when Fang Zelin began cultivating, as though using a key to open a door, would Spiritual Qi pour out.

"Could it be that I don't have a key here, so I can't open that door? In that case, will I never be able to cultivate immortality?"

At that thought, Fang Zelin frowned slightly, inwardly sensing that things were not looking good.

If that were the case, it would be terrible.

Back then, he had possessed a book on Qi Refining. Only after Fang Zelin fully comprehended it and entered that mountain had he been able to begin cultivating.

But on Earth, there were no Qi Refining books here, and he had even less idea whether that mountain existed.

In that case, would his path of cultivation on Earth not be cut off?

As Fang Zelin thought of this, his heart went numb.

Earlier, he had been thinking that if he could cultivate immortality, would he not have a chance to stand again?

Yet from the look of things now, it felt rather as though he had been getting ahead of himself.

I should still look for other immortal cultivators in Seeking the Dao later.

Perhaps if I learn more about immortal cultivation from others, there might be a slight chance of opening up a path to immortal cultivation here.

Fang Zelin thought it over and felt that he could still only pin his hopes on the world of Seeking the Dao.

Wheeling himself into the living room, Fang Zelin picked up the garbage bag nearby with a slight lift, then turned toward the door with it.

Not long after sensing Qi Force earlier, Fang Zelin had dismissed the housekeeper he had originally hired.

The main reason was that Fang Zelin would also conduct experiments while cultivating Qi Force.

Worried that the housekeeper might discover this, he could only dismiss her.

But after dismissing her, Fang Zelin had to take the household garbage and such downstairs himself, which was somewhat troublesome.

Fortunately, Fang Zelin now had immortal cultivation to motivate him and no longer lay flat as he had before, so he did not mind the trouble of such things.

When Fang Zelin wheeled himself up to the elevator, a ding sounded, and the elevator doors slowly opened.