That night, Fang Jueqian began his cultivation.
The door creaked open.
A plump and chubby rabbit slipped inside, and upon seeing Fang Jueqian, it was greatly alarmed:
“Young Master, why are you studying hard again? Didn’t you say you didn’t even want to hear the word cultivation for the entire month?”
Fang Jueqian turned his head with tears in his eyes, furiously writing the four large characters “I Love Cultivation” on a strip of red silk, and then cut off this strip of cloth to tie it around his forehead.
The rabbit left in confusion.
A few days later.
“Crunch, crunch. Young Master, why haven’t you been playing around at all lately? You don’t even pet me anymore. Is cultivation really that interesting?” The rabbit demon Bake asked while munching on a carrot.
Amidst his busy schedule, Fang Jueqian pulled his hand away and stroked the rabbit’s back a few times. The texture was as good as ever.
“Just like that pressure. A bit lower, lower.”
Bake let out a few grunts, his body tipping backward into an ecstatic posture, even letting the carrot slip from his grip and roll onto the ground.
Every time he reached a crucial moment when he wanted to make progress, all kinds of temptations would pop up to affect his state of mind.
Fang Jueqian resisted the urge to keep petting, picked up his manual once more, and pushed the red cloth strap on his forehead, which had slipped down a bit, back up. Full of fighting spirit, he shouted loudly:
“Evil spirit, do not try to use your beauty to affect my cultivation! I want to cultivate, and I want to reach the Nascent Soul stage!”
Bake left, clutching its carrot in disappointment.
A few days later.
Bake pushed the door open with a creak:
“Young Master, the Dao Lord sent someone to deliver things again.”
Fang Jueqian, who was taking a light nap inside, immediately puffed out his chest upon hearing the door open, feigned calmness, and nodded at him:
“Just put the stuff there. I will sort through it when I have time.”
Bake looked disappointed: “That will be a long time. The Young Master hasn’t even soaked in the hot spring these past few days, who knows when you will get around to sorting it.”
Fang Jueqian subconsciously felt a pang of guilt, but upon recalling his achievements over the past few days, the guilt vanished completely:
During these past few days, not only had he successfully broken through to the seventh layer of Qi Condensation, but even the head teacher had specifically called him over to praise the recent momentum of his cultivation.
Having worked diligently to this extent, he felt he had no shame before heaven and earth, no shame before the Dao Lord, and no shame before his own conscience.
“I had better go take a look then. I cannot let down Husband’s romantic sentiments.” Fang Jueqian stood up from his meditation mat, deciding to balance work with leisure and go outside to catch some fresh air.
Time flowed on in a constant cycle of relaxation, tension, and release.
Soon, the ten-day period was up. Filled with confidence, Fang Jueqian carried a thick stack of questions to the mountain peak to seek guidance from the Lingxiao Dao Lord. The Dao Lord rested his head on one hand, flipping through the notes Fang Jueqian had compiled over the past ten days, his mouth twitching slightly:
“Why use different colored pens? Do you not feel that it wastes time?”
“That is to make it easier to distinguish things,” Fang Jueqian explained in a small voice.
“You re-copied the explanations from other books just to distinguish things?”
“No, I was afraid I would not remember them.” His voice became even smaller.
Su Nisheng let out a cold laugh: “You are already at the sixth layer of Qi Condensation, your memory should have improved. Do not give yourself excuses to slack off.”
Casually picking up another booklet, he raised a long eyebrow and pointed at some scrawled little figures on the page, asking: “What is this?”
Fang Jueqian had just wiped the sweat off his forehead and panicked upon seeing this artwork, hurriedly explaining:
“These are just doodles I made during class breaks! I did not take up any class time with them!”
Su Nisheng closed the booklet: “First of all, regarding cultivation, you harbor a severe misunderstanding.”
Fang Jueqian listened respectfully.
“Why would you think you have any need for leisure time?” The young man sneered. “Aside from when you are exhausted to the point of fainting, all other time is cultivation time.”
Hearing this, Fang Jueqian felt as though he were about to faint on the spot.
Yet the Dao Lord did not let him off.
“Secondly, I heard that you still have not undergone Inanition. Start doing so now. Eating wastes far too much time.”
Fang Jueqian was on the verge of collapse.
“Lastly, I spoke with your head teacher. The pace of the classes you are currently taking is much too slow. She has agreed to spare three hours after class to give you remedial lessons.”
Before Su Nisheng could finish his sentence, Fang Jueqian had already collapsed forward.
However, he only remained unconscious for less than half a minute, because the cold and ruthless Dao Lord used spellcraft to wake him right back up after he passed out:
“Do not waste my time. Now, you may present the questions you have accumulated over the past few days.”
This is simply unreasonable!
Fang Jueqian desperately wanted to give him a fierce scolding, but driven by a strong desire for survival, he could only let out a tearful, heavy grunt of acknowledgment, pick up his question logbook, and ask the Lingxiao Dao Lord one by one.
Yet the questions he had accumulated over ten days were all answered by the Lingxiao Dao Lord in just over an hour.
Su Nisheng glanced at the sky outside, looking somewhat dissatisfied:
“Why are there only these? We will stop here for today. Next time you come, do not be so perfunctory.”
Fang Jueqian left in a daze, his soul nearly departing his body.
Time, time, time!
In the days that followed, he seemed trapped in a race against time, running like a wind-up dog that could not stop for even a single second.
Even the beautiful youth who had once amazed him so deeply could no longer rekindle his passion; whenever he looked at the Lingxiao Dao Lord now, it felt like looking at a demon holding a small whip.
The demon drove him forward day and night without stopping, ready to lash him with the whip the moment he slowed down.
Even in his dreams, he could not escape the clutches of the Lingxiao Dao Lord.
After struggling for a long time, Fang Jueqian finally managed to barely meet the standards set by the Lingxiao Dao Lord.
“We will leave it at that for now. The key is persistence,” the Dao Lord said to Fang Jueqian with a frown.
Yet when he thought about having to live like this for decades, Fang Jueqian completely broke down.
No longer caring about his awe and reverence for the Lingxiao Dao Lord, he resolutely tossed aside the book in his hand and took a step forward.
Only to have his knees go weak under the cold gaze of the Lingxiao Dao Lord, causing him to drop to the floor, wrap his arms around the Dao Lord’s thigh, and weep tearfully:
“Husband, spare me! If things go on like this, I will not survive another few decades!”
Su Nisheng looked displeased: “You are giving up just like that?”
Fang Jueqian sniffled and nodded.
Su Nisheng was nearly laughed to anger by him:
“Do you not even care about your own life?”
Fang Jueqian was trembling all over, yet he still whispered out the genuine thoughts in his heart:
“If I have to live like this for several decades, I might as well just drop dead.”
Su Nisheng said coldly: “Then go die.”
A bolt of thunder split down, striking the stunned Fang Jueqian into a pile of charred charcoal dust fluttering freely in the wind.
The next second, Fang Jueqian bolted awake from his nightmare, staring at the familiar classroom before him and feeling like crying without tears.
Protesting was something he dared not do, dreaming was all he could do, and with several decades stretching ahead of him, how on earth was he supposed to endure this.
Fang Jueqian slammed his head onto the desk, wishing he could pass out in one breath.
After class, his deskmate expressed concern for his health:
“Although I know you are worried that Senior Brother He might come looking for trouble, taking too many pills is not good either. Look at you lately, you have worn yourself thin.”
In Class Wu, where everyone’s innate talent fell just a bit short of the standards required to enter the Guiyuan Immortal Sect, the pill-popping school of thought was extremely popular.
Most students had relatively deep pockets and were willing to spend spiritual stones to purchase medicinal pills. Furthermore, because long-term consumption of a single pill would build up drug tolerance, classmates not only actively exchanged experiences on popping pills, but also inquired about and traded newly released pills among one another.
Because of this, Fang Jueqian’s rapid breakthrough in cultivation over this period was easily accepted by his classmates, and from time to time, people would privately try to buy pills from him that were rumored to have powerful effects.
However, aside from medicinal baths used to purge impurities and widen his meridians, Fang Jueqian had genuinely never consumed a single pill meant to boost cultivation.
This was because the Lingxiao Dao Lord had once warned him that if his foundational base was not firmly established in the early stages and he relied too heavily on external items, he would find every step forward after reaching the Core Formation stage to be unimaginably difficult.
The Dao Lord’s intentions were naturally good, but for someone in Fang Jueqian’s current position, even reaching Foundation Establishment seemed an impossibly distant dream, let alone the Core Formation stage that lay beyond.
How I want to pop some pills.
Fang Jueqian banged his head against the desk a few times, and suddenly inspired, he asked his deskmate:
“Is there any way to advance simply and easily?”
“Of course, take pills.”
“Aside from taking pills?”
His deskmate thought about it: “Find an upper-grade or top-grade spiritual vein to cultivate in, but almost all the famous spiritual veins in the world already have owners, and people find their own supply barely enough, how could they possibly share.”
Fang Jueqian thought to himself that he already had that, so he continued to press: “Besides that?”
His deskmate paused even longer: “It is said that one’s cultivation will increase drastically after achieving sudden enlightenment, but that kind of thing basically never happens to people like us. Only those geniuses in Class A have the slightest possibility.”
Fang Jueqian thought to himself that since even the geniuses in Class A only had the slightest possibility, he shouldn’t even bother thinking about it. He then asked: “Is there anything else?”
“Then that only leaves dual cultivation.”
“Du, dual cultivation?!” Fang Jueqian nearly jumped out of his stool.
“Yeah. Find a cultivator whose cultivation technique is compatible with yours, and boost your cultivation through dual cultivation. The higher the other person’s realm, the better. But that is even more impossible; high-level cultivators feel that their own cultivation time is insufficient, let alone dual cultivating with someone of a lower realm. The bit of cultivation gained is not even comparable to what they would get cultivating on their own. If you ever encounter a high-level cultivator who agrees to dual cultivate with you, you must never believe them. They are basically all trying to trick you into becoming their cauldron vessel.”
“That is true.”
Fang Jueqian’s previously rapid heartbeat calmed back down. He rested his chin on the desk, feeling both a sense of loss and relief, and sighed after a long moment:
“If only I could wake up at the Deity Transformation stage.”
His deskmate chuckled:
“My standards are not that high. I would be completely satisfied if I could wake up at the Void Integration stage.”
“Actually, I think the Dao Integration stage is not bad either.”
“Ah, Dao Integration is still too weak. Better go straight to Great Perfection.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
Although he couldn’t wake up at Great Perfection, he could wake up to face tomorrow.
However, whether due to the recent hot weather or something else, for several consecutive days upon waking up, Fang Jueqian felt parched, dry-throated, and feverish all over.
Fang Jueqian didn’t pay much attention to it, because the once-every-ten-days time to report his study progress to the Lingxiao Dao Lord was right around the corner. He was frantically trying to accumulate questions, and even his sleeping time had been compressed, leaving him with no energy to spare for such minor physical ailments.
Finally, the time to meet the Lingxiao Dao Lord arrived. Carrying a stack of books that had grown several times thicker, he arrived at the peak of the Tranquil Peak, paid his respects to the Dao Lord, and obediently sought his instruction.
At first, everything was normal.
Only, the Lingxiao Dao Lord seemed to be in a somewhat displeased mood; not only was he radiating waves of cold air, but his words were also much scarcer, answering the questions that Fang Jueqian had wracked his brains to gather in just a few brief sentences.
Fang Jueqian assumed that his slacking off had been discovered, making him more terrified the more he spoke. The more afraid he grew, the weaker his legs felt, and the softer and more trembling his voice became.
Until even his brain began to feel inexplicably dizzy, his body grew hotter and hotter, and he found himself repeatedly thinking that the seemingly icy-cold Dao Lord must feel very cool and refreshing to hug, at that point Fang Jueqian’s mind finally short-circuited, and he blurted out a foolish remark completely unrelated to cultivation:
“Haha, Dao Lord, do you not feel like the weather is a bit hot today?”
The Dao Lord maintained a blank expression: “No.”
Continuing to drift out of touch with reality, Fang Jueqian rubbed his head and laughed foolishly: “But I am so hot.”
“That is because you are in heat.”
Fang Jueqian subconsciously nodded:
“So, it turns out I am in heat. Hahaha, no wonder it is so hot.”
Four eyes met.
The Dao Lord raised an eyebrow, looking somewhat speechless.
Only then did Fang Jueqian react.
Wait, what did he just say?!