「One afternoon, half a month later.」
Wang Ping was practicing the Chang Chun Technique as usual. After he finished, his total progress reached 34/100. When he concluded his practice today, Wang Ping clearly felt a flow of qi moving within his body, but when he tried to focus on it, the sensation vanished.
Refusing to accept defeat, he kept trying, but he could only ever feel it for a fleeting moment right at the end. The sensation would vanish the instant it appeared.
After trying five or six times in a row, Wang Ping was drenched in sweat, but the result was the same every time.
"If you keep practicing like this, you'll fall into qi deviation!"
His Second Senior Brother, Liu Zixiu, had appeared at the entrance to the training grounds at some point. He walked over, looked Wang Ping up and down, and said sternly, "Your mind is in chaos. As punishment, go before the Ancestral Master's altar and silently recite the Mental Tranquility Technique ten times!"
Interrupted like this, Wang Ping felt an unpleasant blockage in his chest. He bent over and coughed for a long time before he could stop.
Once he caught his breath, Wang Ping said, "Thank you, Second Senior Brother!"
"Master told me to come check on you. Now go accept your punishment before the Ancestral Master."
"Yes!"
Qianmu Temple worships the Great Celestial Venerable of the Primordial Profound Method, a creator-level being in this world's legends, who is mentioned alongside the Nine Heavens Yin Yang Great Celestial Venerable as one of the Two Sages.
Of course, the Great Celestial Venerable Taichu was merely a symbolic figure. The true Ancestral Masters were the forebears of Qianmu Temple.
Wang Ping forced himself to stop thinking about the sensation from his practice. He quickly walked to the room on the left side of the main hall, knelt before the Ancestral Masters' spirit tablets, and began silently reciting the Mental Tranquility Technique.
He definitely couldn't get through the first recitation. The Heart Demon born from his practice kept appearing, but as time went on, aided by the effects of the Mental Tranquility Technique, Wang Ping returned to his usual state of calm.
Liu Zixiu, who had been observing Wang Ping's condition from the doorway, quietly left the main hall once Wang Ping had calmed down and headed toward Yu Cheng Taoist's pharmacy.
By now, the free clinic had ended. Li An Tian was tidying up the messy pharmacy, while Yu Cheng Taoist was leaning back in his chair, resting with his eyes closed.
"Master, Junior Brother Wang is fine now."
"Mm."
Yu Cheng Taoist just grunted a single sound from his nose.
Liu Zixiu silently withdrew. Li An Tian, who was tidying the pharmacy, also became more cautious. An old Daoist had appeared at the pharmacy window at some point and was peering in at Yu Cheng Taoist. He said with a chuckle, "I've said it before: the path must be walked slowly. He doesn't even understand the principles of being a person yet, and you're already having him read the *Commentary on Heaven and Man*. It's a wonder he hasn't gone mad."
Yu Cheng Taoist had opened his eyes the moment the old Daoist spoke. He first glanced at Li An Tian, who immediately bowed and quickly exited the pharmacy.
"He was born with innate wisdom. He might understand the principles of being a person better than you do." Yu Cheng Taoist's gaze on the old Daoist grew distant. "Why don't you try passing on your *True Explanation* to him?"
Hearing this, the old Daoist's face broke into a wide smile. "Only if he takes me as his master!"
Yu Cheng Taoist, however, just shook his head and closed his eyes again. The old Daoist said no more, swinging his tattered long sleeves as he walked toward the kitchen. Tonight, only Su Dun was busy in the kitchen, so he went to help tend the fire.
…
Wang Ping didn't leave the main hall until 7 p.m. After reciting the Mental Tranquility Technique ten times, he had meditated for over two more hours.
As he walked out of the hall, Su Dun came over with a steamed bun.
"Senior Brother, try a bun I made."
"Thank you, Junior Brother!"
The little fatty's steamed bun had a sour taste, and a bite filled his mouth with dense, uncooked dough. But Wang Ping didn't mind at all. In the first few years after he'd arrived in this world, he had suffered terribly from hunger. His predecessor had died from exhaustion while working on an empty stomach.
The bun was a bit hard to swallow. After forcing it down, Wang Ping ran to the water vat in the kitchen, scooped out a ladle of cold water, and gulped it down.
The cool sensation spread from his mouth down to his stomach, sending a shiver through his whole body. He looked up through the small window at the night outside and couldn't help but sigh, "It's autumn again."
This sigh came from the original owner's memories. After the autumn harvest, the county would conscript laborers to repair the canals that had been destroyed this year and to plant trees to prevent coastal typhoons.
He shook his head, driving the unpleasant memories from his mind. Wang Ping walked briskly out of the kitchen, looked at the moonlight cast upon the courtyard ground, and once again assumed the opening stance of the Chang Chun Technique.
"Senior Brother, you're still practicing this late at night?" Su Dun asked curiously.
Wang Ping didn't answer. He just stood there motionless in the opening stance, like a wooden post.
Second Senior Brother Liu Zixiu had appeared beside them at some point. He suddenly said, "Fourth Junior Brother, do you think Junior Brother Su doesn't understand anything? Because I think his Chang Chun Technique is better than yours."
"No! No!" Su Dun waved his hands frantically. He knew he was just going through the motions in his daily practice and was no match for Wang Ping at all.
"Junior Brother Su, don't sell yourself short. Most of the turbid qi in your body has been cleared out. At this rate, your vital essence will return to your body within half a year at most. This proves your daily practice method isn't wrong."
Liu Zixiu explained this to Su Dun with a cheerful smile, then turned back to Wang Ping. "You think Junior Brother Su's practice is terrible, don't you? That he's restless and mischievous? He might have many thoughts, but they don't affect his state of mind at all. That's because his thoughts are filled with pleasant images, and he even believes from the bottom of his heart that those pleasant images are an absolute reality."
Wang Ping understood what Liu Zixiu was saying. Liu Zixiu was warning him that his own thoughts were too complex and that he was unknowingly backing himself into a corner.
"However, Junior Brother Wang, you don't need to be discouraged. To be able to contemplate the mortal world from within this small Daoist Temple without ever having entered society is a great skill in itself. It's just that this step can sometimes be harder than ascending to the heavens, and other times as simple as drinking water." At this point, Liu Zixiu gave Wang Ping a slight bow before leaving without a backward glance.
After Liu Zixiu left, Su Dun walked over to Wang Ping and asked, "What did Second Senior Brother mean?"
"He said you're smarter than me!"
"Really? What do you think?" Su Dun's face lit up.
"First, tell me, what do you feel every time you practice?"
"Feeling? I don't feel anything special. I'm just exhausted after I finish."
"How do you practice?"
"How else? I just follow what Master taught, doing whatever feels comfortable!"
A glint flashed in Wang Ping's eyes, as if he had grasped something. He thought for a moment, then asked, "What do you think of my practice?"
"It's very precise. Sometimes even more precise than Master's demonstrations. But… sometimes it's really awkward to watch. It's like you're a puppet, just copying the movements…"
Wang Ping frowned slightly. He didn't hear the rest of what Su Dun said. He instinctively assumed the opening stance but then stopped, just as he had before. Then, following the impulse in his heart, he casually performed a set of movements—not the first set, but the third. It was his favorite.
After finishing the third set of movements, he felt a warm current fill his limbs and bones, seeming to nourish his body. But he didn't stop. Following his preference, he completed the other sets, and then, without caring whether he had finished the entire routine, he concluded his practice and rested.
The moment he concluded his practice, the guide for the Chang Chun Technique on the glowing screen before his eyes changed:
[Chang Chun Technique: You have had a sudden epiphany and discovered a better way to practice. Persist in practicing your method 10 times a day, and you can achieve a sensation of qi in half a year. (Progress: 78/100, Today's Progress: 0/10)]
'Alright, so the cheat is just a safety net,' he thought. 'But then again, without the fundamentals taught by the cheat, I never would have been able to grasp a more efficient method!'