Zhang Ergou felt increasingly anxious as he noticed no change in his body.
The more impatient he became, the less progress he made.
Not only could he not feel any changes, but his agitated state made it uncomfortable even to sit.
Zhang Ergou had fallen into a vicious cycle.
The less movement he felt, the more he yearned for quick results, which directly contradicted the opening principle of the "Heaven and Earth Chaos Art": a mind as still as water, with qi following the heart.
Zhang Ergou, however, failed to recognize his mistake, having fallen into a trance during his first encounter with cultivation.
If he had any cultivation base at this point, his current state would have surely led to qi deviation.
Qi Refining was the gateway to cultivation. To cultivate, one had to transform essence into qi and condense spiritual qi. Zhang Ergou was currently in the most basic stage of condensing spiritual qi.
Success in condensing spiritual qi meant the cultivator had officially entered the early stage of Qi Refining.
In the early stage of Qi Refining, one could absorb spiritual qi from heaven and earth, which would transform into primal force within the body, thus extending one's lifespan.
In the early stage of Qi Refining, the dantian was gaseous, and one possessed rudimentary divine sense, allowing for the initial application of some spiritual qi techniques. However, one could not yet abstain from grains, and the primal qi within the body was limited.
One was only slightly stronger than an ordinary person.
Although Zhang Ergou's physical prowess was somewhat better than that of an average young boy, he had not undergone systematic training.
Consequently, as he just began cultivating, his impatience prevented him from condensing even a sliver of spiritual qi. Instead, his agitated state caused his breathing to become increasingly erratic. The website Sudan Fiction Network.
Seeing Zhang Ergou's face turn red with exertion, it was clear that something serious would happen if he didn't snap out of it!
Zhang Ergou's current state violated the cultivation technique, yet he was completely unaware of it.
"Crack!" Suddenly, a pebble falling from the sky jolted Zhang Ergou out of his frantic state.
Startled, Zhang Ergou broke out in a cold sweat.
Coming back to his senses, he realized he had been caught up in a pointless obsession.
If it hadn't been for that falling pebble, he might have faced dire consequences due to his improper cultivation method.
Of course, this was merely Zhang Ergou's speculation.
Before entering the Qi Refining stage, he was just an ordinary person, and the legendary qi deviation was still a long way off.
Zhang Ergou was merely scaring himself.
Knowing he was not in the right state for cultivation today, Zhang Ergou crawled out of his hiding spot, intending to go home. He assumed Liu Cuilan and the others would have left by now.
Zhang Ergou thought to himself.
He carefully packed the small booklet and hid the sword given to him by Chunyang Sanren inside his clothes.
Only then did Zhang Ergou leave his hiding place.
He felt that this spot was unsuitable for his cultivation and realized he needed to find a better location.
Ideally, it should be a place free from any disturbances.
This was all Zhang Ergou could think of for now, as he still didn't understand much about spiritual qi.
After a simple dinner at home and washing up, Zhang Ergou found a corner to hide the sword given to him by Chunyang Sanren.
He didn't rush to bed to rest.
When the night was deep and silent, Zhang Ergou secretly slipped out.
Having made no progress meditating by the river, Zhang Ergou had been thinking of finding an excellent place for cultivation.
Finally, he found it.
As Zhang Ergou arrived at the village's crooked-necked tree, he nodded with satisfaction.
The trunk of this crooked-necked tree was over a meter thick; even an adult stretching out both arms couldn't embrace it.
Whenever Zhang Ergou got into trouble and was chased by villagers, he would climb this tree to hide.
Sometimes, he would even fall asleep up there.
Zhang Ergou looked around, saw no one, and quickly scrambled up the crooked-necked tree.
Upon climbing higher, he found the tree had a hidden space within. Its center was unusually flat, as if it had been deliberately tended.
Zhang Ergou had discovered its peculiarity as soon as he could climb the tree.
Accustomed to this spot, and finding nothing unusual, Zhang Ergou sat down.
Recalling the cultivation techniques from the "Heaven and Earth Chaos Art," Zhang Ergou slowly entered the flow.
Guarding his dantian, Zhang Ergou strove for a single-minded focus, meditating with undivided attention.
This time, with the experience of his previous failure, Zhang Ergou did not immediately try to condense the qi mentioned in the technique.
Instead, he focused on adjusting his state to achieve optimal readiness.
Gradually, Zhang Ergou entered a profound and mystical state. In a haze, he seemed to perceive something, but he did not rush.
He continued at his own pace, slowly feeling the changes in his body.
As the sun rose, Zhang Ergou opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing within them.
Although he hadn't yet reached the Qi Refining stage as his master described, and hadn't condensed qi to circulate within his body, Zhang Ergou felt his body had become much lighter.
This was the benefit of meditation.
Zhang Ergou was quite pleased with the physical changes and recalled his master's parting words.
Cultivation was an extremely tedious endeavor, a defiance of heaven, demanding patience and the absence of arrogance.
Standing up, Zhang Ergou stretched and saw villagers heading to the fields with farming tools. He quickly jumped down from the tree and scurried back home.
"Ergou, Ergou... are you home, Ergou?"
As soon as Zhang Ergou returned home, he heard someone calling him from outside the courtyard gate.
Zhang Ergou feigned sleepiness and walked out of the room with drooping eyelids.
It was Li Dazhuang, a close friend, calling him.
"Dazhuang, what's wrong? Why are you calling so early? I'm not even awake yet!" Zhang Ergou yawned again.
"Ergou, I have something to tell you!"
Li Dazhuang entered the courtyard, closed the gate, and said mysteriously.
"What is it?" Li Dazhuang's actions successfully piqued Zhang Ergou's curiosity.
"Ergou, my brother and I went hunting in the back mountains yesterday. Did you know?"
"That's why I searched for you all over the village yesterday but couldn't find you," Zhang Ergou nodded. Li Dazhuang's brother, Li Dayong, was a renowned hunter, known far and wide.
He was on par with Xu Dalu, who was killed by a black bear.
"That's not the important part. Guess what we discovered in the back mountains yesterday?"
Li Dazhuang maintained his mysterious demeanor.
Zhang Ergou shed his sleepy pretense and asked curiously, "What did you discover?"
"We found a lone wild boar. If my brother and I hadn't been unprepared and lacked sufficient equipment yesterday, that boar might be on our dinner table by now."
"Then I missed out on a free meal opportunity," Zhang Ergou joked.
Li Dazhuang lightly hit Zhang Ergou: "Ergou, I came to find you today because I wanted to ask you to go to the back mountains with us. My brother and I plan to get our gear ready, gather a few people, and go face that boar again today."
"That boar won't just stand there waiting for you, will it?"
Zhang Ergou rolled his eyes.
"We observed it yesterday. It seems that wild boar was guarding something there, and it probably won't leave anytime soon, which is why we plan to go back today."
"Ergou, do you want to come with us?"