After half a month, Lin Chen had gained a basic understanding of the people living around him.
Take the brother and sister before him, for example. They came from the imperial family of Xuanwu Kingdom. Having been waited upon since childhood, they apparently could not shed their habit of ordering people around overnight.
Today was a lecture day at the Hall of Cultivation Instruction. Lin Chen had been walking along behind the others when he happened to run into the siblings.
“Stop right there!”
Lin Chen walked straight on as though he had heard nothing. The hall was some distance from the residential buildings; with his short little legs, it would take him at least half a shichen to get there.
“How rude! Didn’t you hear me tell you to stop?”
The girl jogged after Lin Chen and spread her arms to block his way.
Which of us is being rude, exactly?
Lin Chen stopped and looked calmly at the girl. He had no desire to speak to her.
“Shanshan, don’t be rude.”
The boy accompanying her pulled her back to his side, cupped his hands toward Lin Chen, and apologized. “Shanshan has been spoiled by our family. I hope you won’t take offense, little brother.”
Lin Chen looked up. At least one of them has some sense.
But Bai Zhishan ignored Bai Shuo beside her. “So you’re the disciple an elder took an interest in? You don’t look like much.”
She inspected Lin Chen from head to toe. Seeing that his clothes resembled those of an impoverished country boy, she looked even more disgusted.
As her remarks grew increasingly excessive, Bai Shuo snapped, “Where are your manners?”
“Imperial Brother! Why are you shouting at me? He’s just some wild boy from the countryside. So what if an elder thinks highly of him? Don’t we also have—”
“Enough!”
Bai Shuo hurriedly cut her off, anger entering his voice. “This is sacred ground belonging to an immortal sect. Watch what you say. How many times have I told you not to call me Imperial Brother here?”
He felt helpless himself. Bai Zhishan was only two years younger than him, and had been raised to be terribly willful. Over the past several days, he had spent no small amount of time cleaning up after her.
Bai Zhishan’s eyes immediately reddened. With her lovely face and aggrieved expression, anyone who didn’t know what had happened might have thought she had suffered some tremendous injustice.
As the little princess of Xuanwu Kingdom, she had never heard a harsh word in her life. Even Bai Shuo ordinarily indulged her. Yet after arriving at this so-called immortal sect, she had to do everything herself, and even her elder brother had become meek and cautious, repeating the same warnings over the smallest matters.
She tore herself free of Bai Shuo’s grasp, glared at Lin Chen, and ran into the crowd without waiting for her brother.
Looking embarrassed, Bai Shuo apologized to Lin Chen once more and hurried after her.
Lin Chen found the entire encounter inexplicable.
[Who did I offend? She came up and started attacking me out of nowhere.]
Compared with people dressed in silk and brocade, his clothing certainly looked shabby. But it was clean and neat, and he had never thought there was anything wrong with it.
[Oh, children are just like that. Their thoughts are simple: they see someone doing better than themselves and get upset. If Host tries to argue with them, you’ll exhaust yourself.]
[Not necessarily.]
Lin Chen had encountered something similar in the orphanage in his previous life.
A few young women volunteering there had noticed how well-behaved he was and bought him several dolls. But when he returned from school the following day, he discovered that someone had deliberately cut the dolls to pieces with scissors. All the stuffing had been pulled out and scattered across the floor, with several footprints stamped into it.
Sometimes, the malice of children could be even more devastating than that of adults.
[Sigh. Human emotions really are complicated.]
Dabai fell silent. Knowing what Lin Chen had experienced, it could no longer bring itself to insist that children were innocent and pure.
[Can you find out who those two are?]
The boy had seemed reasonably measured. As for the girl called Shanshan… better not to make an enemy of her if he could avoid it.
[Naturally! How else would this System dare call itself the cultivation world’s all-knowing sage? They’re members of the royal family of a small kingdom in the mortal territories. The boy’s name is Bai Shuo. Ah, so that’s it!]
[What is it?]
[Bai Shuo has dual Fire and Wood Spiritual Roots, and they’re of the rare high grade! He’s excellent material for an alchemist. An elder of the Alchemy Pavilion has already selected him. As soon as the trial period ends, he’ll be accepted as a personal disciple.]
Now Lin Chen understood, including what the girl had been about to say.
With an Alchemy Pavilion elder backing them, they could throw their weight around even in the inner sect, let alone among these newcomers.
[Bai Zhishan is much less impressive. She only has low-grade triple spiritual roots. But with Bai Shuo around, she’ll probably be able to become a nominal disciple of the Alchemy Pavilion.]
The outer platform of the Hall of Cultivation Instruction was filled with new disciples.
The instructor standing on the raised dais was a familiar face: Luo Yun, who had returned with them from Shifang City.
“Lin Chen, over here!”
There was no need to guess who was calling. It was Xue Yi, the only young disciple Lin Chen knew at Yuntian Sect. Who else could it be?
As an inner disciple, Xue Yi had long since drawn qi into his body and was now at the fourth level of Qi Refining. With Huaiyu Zhenren’s attentive guidance, he had no need to attend such basic lessons.
He had come specifically to find Lin Chen.
Xue Yi jumped down from the dais and waved.
“Didn’t the sect give you disciple robes? Why are you still wearing those clothes? Such a good-looking face, and you’re ruining the whole effect!”
Although he, too, criticized Lin Chen’s clothing, his attitude was entirely different from Bai Zhishan’s.
[This kid really is obsessed with pretty faces. When Host grows a little older, you might become the cultivation world’s great heartbreaker.]
[You’re a System. How do you even know about things like that?]
[That’s the conclusion drawn from my database. Host’s looks are of the most popular type.]
Lin Chen did not agree. The cultivation world had no shortage of handsome men and beautiful women. Whether Xue Yi or the siblings from earlier, all were strikingly good-looking, with handsome features and bright eyes.
Having entered Qi Refining, Xue Yi also possessed an air of otherworldly refinement that Bai Shuo and the others lacked.
“We haven’t formally entered the sect yet. It only provides our cultivation resources for these six months. Everything else is our responsibility. Didn’t you know?”
Xue Yi rubbed his nose and laughed. “I really didn’t. Shizun brought me straight into the sect. I’ve never stayed in the outer sect.”
Lin Chen understood. “Then what did you come to see me about?”
He drew Xue Yi into the crowd and found what he thought was an inconspicuous place to sit. Unfortunately, it was inconspicuous only in his own opinion.
Xue Yi sat beside him of his own accord. “Can’t I come find you without a reason? You’re younger than me, but every time I see you, you act like a little old man.”
He suddenly reached out and tugged Lin Chen’s cheek, grinning. “That feels pretty nice.”
Lin Chen resisted the urge to pinch him back. He now believed Xue Yi had really come just to visit.
Not bothering with this little brat, he turned his attention back to Luo Yun.
Luo Yun began by giving everyone a basic education. His voice was clear and gentle as a flowing stream. He did not speak loudly, yet every word reached every listener’s ears with perfect clarity.
He explained the distribution of power throughout the Qianyuan Great World, then Yuntian Sect’s rules and internal organization, working from the broadest matters down to the smallest details so that everyone would understand their new surroundings.
The System had mentioned some of this, but nowhere near so thoroughly. Lin Chen listened attentively. Beside him, Xue Yi yawned repeatedly and was nearly falling asleep.
If Lin Chen had not been there, he would probably have left long ago. No—more accurately, he would never have come in the first place. Even sitting in meditation would have been more interesting.
For those hearing this information for the first time, every detail was important. Only a handful behaved like Xue Yi.
In the modern world, most children of this age would only be in first or second grade. It was perfectly normal that some couldn’t pay attention.
Once the background explanations were complete, Luo Yun moved on to the most important topic: how to cultivate.
He cleared his throat and drew everyone’s attention back to him. Then he lifted his sword and swept it through the air several times. Several lines of large characters appeared before the crowd.
“To cultivate, you must first learn to draw qi into your body. This is the Spirit Refining Formula. It will help you absorb the spiritual qi of heaven and earth and transform it for your own use.”
He paused, then continued. “While meditating, keep your mind tranquil. Silently recite the formula and attempt to communicate with the spiritual qi of heaven and earth…”
In simple terms, one had to use breathing exercises to draw the surrounding spiritual qi into the dantian, retain the spiritual power one needed, and expel what one did not.
Lin Chen did not find the explanation difficult to understand. Actually doing it was another matter. Qi was invisible and intangible. How was he supposed to sense it in the first place?
He rested his hands on his knees and closed his eyes. His mind settled, and his already steady breathing grew even lighter. It was as though he had entered a peculiar state.
Xue Yi had been dozing beside him, but when he happened to glance at Lin Chen, his eyes flew wide open. Suddenly he wasn’t sleepy at all.
Good heavens. He’s entered meditation already?
He dared not disturb Lin Chen, and naturally would not permit anyone else to disturb him either.
The Spirit Refining Formula was the lowest-level introductory cultivation method in the cultivation world. One could buy it outside for one or two low-grade spirit stones. Practically everyone had a copy, which said enough about its effectiveness.
Lin Chen felt as though he were floating among the clouds, gently caressed by a breeze. His body and mind relaxed completely.
He did not know how much time passed before he sensed a change in the air. Five-colored clusters of light gradually appeared, drifting around him. The green radiance seemed particularly drawn to him.
[Host, this is spiritual qi. You need to draw it into your body, use its power to open the blocked meridians throughout your body, and then gather it in your dantian. Only then will you have successfully taken the first step.]
[Easy for you to say.]
[Host, don’t underestimate yourself. The Wood Spiritual Root has the strongest affinity. As long as Host is willing, this will be effortless.]
Lin Chen silently recited the Spirit Refining Formula. At once, the clusters of qi suspended in the air surged madly toward him.
His meridians were suddenly forced open by the spiritual power. Pain contorted his face, and he nearly lost his seated posture.
He cursed inwardly. Dabai hadn’t said that opening his meridians would hurt this much!
[Host, I can hear you! Of course opening your meridians hurts. Isn’t that common knowledge?!]
Being accused of lacking common sense by a System left Lin Chen feeling rather wronged. He knew it would hurt. He simply hadn’t expected it to hurt so much.
And so Lin Chen remained in meditation for an entire day and night.
| 师尊 | shīzūn | An honored or revered master. A particularly respectful form of address for a teacher who transmits spiritual, martial, or cultivation teachings; it emphasizes reverence and the formal master–disciple relationship. |
| 真人 | zhēnrén | Literally “true person” or “perfected person.” A Daoist designation for someone who has attained spiritual realization and cultivated harmony with the Dao. In cultivation fiction, a respectful title for an accomplished cultivator; the cultivation realm associated with it depends on the setting. |