Chapter 4 Cultivation Difficulties
In Black Wood Village, the starry night remained tranquil.
Lu Qingfeng sat up, looked at his hands in the dim moonlight—neither the Yellow Dragon Pill nor the Fasting Pill had made it to reality.
He opened his attribute panel again.
Name: Lu Qingfeng [True Body]
Race: Human
Faction: None
Title: None
Cultivation: None
Level: 0 (0/1)
Life Span: 16/68
Root Bone: 1
Merit: Unknown
Karma: Unknown
Cultivation Technique: Yellow Court Scripture First Layer (unentered) [Features: Derivation Technique (First Layer); Commanding All Methods (First Layer); Karma Removal (First Layer)]; Flame Sun Scripture First Layer (begun) [Deriving];
Spells: None
Divine Skills: None
Equipment: None
Alchemy: (unentered) [Deriving]
Aside from the Flame Sun Scripture First Layer changing from unentered to begun, there were still no cultivation levels or Inner Breath listed.
"It seems that mastery over Cultivation Techniques and Alchemy in the game can be directly brought into reality. However, game levels and cultivation don't sync with reality."
Lu Qingfeng finally understood.
This wasn't too different from the reincarnation setup in Primordial—memories could be carried over but physical aspects, such as Inner Breath and cultivation levels, cannot be synchronized.
"This is already very good."
Lu Qingfeng suddenly lowered his head, burying it in the darkness.
No one would know, the drastic change from a sunrise era of the 21st century to the oppressive environment of a nearly slave society in Black Wood Village, and how huge the impact was on Lu Qingfeng.
Lu Qingfeng was very optimistic.
When he first transmigrated, he had the intelligence of his previous life, speaking at three months, running at six. But at four years old, after his mother died in childbirth, he witnessed Black Wood Village's coldness and darkness for the first time.
As he gradually grew up, he understood the dangers of Black Wood Village and became even more cautious after learning about the lofty rumors of the Returning to Truth Sect 'Immortals.'
He changed from being lively and cheerful to reticent.
He didn't dare to overstep bounds because he wasn't alone.
If he did anything out of line or said anything inappropriate, it couldn't be guaranteed that by the next day it wouldn't spread from Black Wood Village to Yellow Ganoderma Mountain, implicating his father, brother, and sister to die with him.
"From today onwards, everything will be different!"
Lu Qingfeng looked up, his eyes extraordinarily bright in the darkness.
...
After confirming the correlation between the game and reality, Lu Qingfeng entered the game once more.
"Four Yellow Dragon Pills just about enabled me to grasp Qi Perception, and thereafter, cultivation contributed 4 experience points. It's unknown how much experience a single Yellow Dragon Pill can provide after Qi Perception is understood."
"I only have one Yellow Dragon Pill left, plus the existing 2 experience points might just be enough to raise my level to 2."
From the Green Stone Talisman, Lu Qingfeng took out the last Yellow Dragon Pill and swallowed it directly.
The Flame Sun Scripture operated, the faint breath within his body moved accordingly, continuously absorbing the medicinal power, and slowly strengthening.
Only after the power of the Yellow Dragon Pill completely dissipated did Lu Qingfeng cease cultivation.
[Level: 1 (5/5)]
"Three experience points."
"Indeed."
"Understanding Qi Perception at the beginning is the hardest, with four Yellow Dragon Pills providing only 5 experience points. But after beginning, a single Yellow Dragon Pill already increased 3 experience points!"
Lu Qingfeng felt relieved.
In this way, even if his talent was lacking, as long as he had enough Yellow Dragon Pills, he would always be able to pile up his cultivation.
"It's getting late, I should go back to sleep. Tomorrow I'll officially begin cultivating the Flame Sun Scripture!"
Exploring Black Sand Town, cultivating the Flame Sun Scripture...
Lu Qingfeng guessed it was nearly dawn, so he exited the game and tried to calm his emotions before sleeping.
Unconsciously, the night passed by.
...
The next day at dawn, the sun rose once again.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps of the blackwood, shining into the Black Wood House.
For some reason, despite tossing and turning for a long time last night, and probably going to sleep in real life close to dawn, Lu Qingfeng didn't feel any tiredness from lack of sleep.
On the contrary, he felt refreshed.
"Could the game also serve as a substitute for sleep?" Lu Qingfeng couldn't help but wonder. After all, he was clearly exhausted when he logged off last night.
He shook his head, deciding not to dwell on these thoughts.
"Qingyu, wake up."
He climbed out of bed and called out to Lu Qingyu. Lu Qingfeng simultaneously pulled up his attribute panel while beginning to wash up.
Name: Lu Qingfeng [True Body]
Race: Human
Faction: None
Title: None
Cultivation: None
Level: 0 (0/1)
Life Span: 16/68
Root Bone: 1
Merit: Unknown
Karma: Unknown
Cultivation Technique: Yellow Court Scripture First Layer (unentered) [Features: Derivation Technique (First Layer); Commanding All Methods (First Layer); Karma Removal (First Layer)]; Flame Sun Scripture First Layer (begun) [Deriving];
Spells: None
Divine Skills: None
Equipment: None
Alchemy: (unentered) [Deriving]
The attribute panel appeared as called, and Lu Qingfeng was convinced that everything from last night was not an illusion or a dream.
"Next, I'll cultivate the Flame Sun Scripture during the day while managing farmwork. At night, I'll delve into 'Primordial' to explore this game."
Lu Qingfeng splashed his face with cold water, feeling more spirited.
"Qingyu, get up quickly!"
Lu Qingyu was still struggling in bed, but Lu Qingfeng yanked her up, pushing the little girl to wash up.
After washing up, the siblings first went to carry water from the Chengyang River, about seven or eight miles to the south. Roughly after two trips, they pulled out the weeds in the fields one by one, and then it was noon.
The two had coarse grain cakes and hot water with them.
Lu Qingfeng took out a coarse grain cake from his bosom, broke off the larger part for Qingyu, and then gulped down the smaller half of his own.
"Big Brother, I can't eat so much."
Lu Qingyu wolfed down her food. Stuffed with the leftover small half, she shoved it into Lu Qingfeng's mouth, shouting as she did so, "Big Brother's saliva is all over it; I don't want to eat it now."
Lu Qingfeng opened his mouth and swallowed the coarse grain cake.
Seeing this, Lu Qingyu clapped her hands, her eyes curving into crescent moons.
She had always felt that the coarse grain cakes they ate at noon were bigger than when they were made, until she realized that the other half in her big brother's hand was much smaller than hers, and then she never overate again.
Occasionally when Lu Qingfeng tried to give her more when she wasn't paying attention, Lu Qingyu would notice right away and then feed the remaining half to Lu Qingfeng.
"Qingyu, do you think it's tough following your big brother?"
Lu Qingfeng took a big gulp of cool boiled water from a bamboo tube and looked at Lu Qingyu as he asked.
"Not tough at all!"
"There is no one in Black Wood Village who loves me more than Big Brother! Little Hua and Da Ju are bullied by their brothers every day; they don't know how envious they are of me!"
Lu Qingyu's eyes sparkled like stars, her little face full of expression.
"This little girl is so easily content; in the future, don't get swayed by someone's sweet words."
Lu Qingfeng teased.
"I won't!"
"I want to be with Big Brother for a lifetime."
Lu Qingyu pouted her nose and hummed.
Lu Qingfeng smiled and ruffled Lu Qingyu's little head, his heart turning cold thinking about those who had come to discuss marriage proposals in recent days.
"Qingyu, your big brother had a fortuitous encounter a few days ago; I need to cultivate every day from now on. You keep a lookout for me, and if anyone comes, call me. What do you say?"
Lu Qingfeng was playing with the two yellow braids at the back of Qingyu's head as he negotiated.
He spent day and night with Qingyu, and there was no way he could hide his cultivation from the little girl, nor was there any need to. The three siblings depended on each other for survival; Qingyu and Qingshan were almost raised by him, and in this world, there wasn't anyone more trustworthy than them.
"Big Brother, you're going to cultivate too?"
"Yeah, yeah!"
"I'll keep watch for Big Brother!"
Lu Qingyu cried out in surprise.
Then realizing she was too loud, she shrank her neck and stealthily stood up to look around. Seeing no one nearby, she patted her chest and tiptoed to whisper into Lu Qingfeng's ear, "Big Brother, you're secretly cultivating; I won't tell anyone. When you've succeeded, we'll go to Yellow Ganoderma Mountain to save Second Brother!"
Although the little girl didn't say it, she thought of her second brother, Lu Qingshan, every day.
"Good girl."
Lu Qingfeng smiled and then sat down, unable to wait to start cultivating the Flame Sun Scripture.
Upon seeing this, Lu Qingyu stood up, looking in all directions attentively and standing guard seriously.
Lu Qingfeng knew Qingyu's temperament well; they were currently in the wheat fields, hidden by the stalks, with no fear of being discovered.
At present.
Lu Qingfeng had mastered two Cultivation Techniques.
Although the Yellow Court Scripture was a Taoist Ancestor Level Cultivation Method, it was more an auxiliary technique that couldn't directly improve cultivation levels.
Therefore, the only scripture Lu Qingfeng could currently cultivate was the Flame Sun Scripture.
This was his first time cultivating in reality.
Without the aid of the Yellow Dragon Pill, Lu Qingfeng truly realized just how poor his talents were—
The entire afternoon passed, and he still couldn't comprehend Qi Perception.
Even though he had already mastered the Flame Sun Scripture First Layer, and even though he had already experienced Qi Perception once in the game, he was still stuck at this hurdle.
"This—"
After sitting in meditation the whole afternoon, failing to grasp Qi Perception, Lu Qingfeng became somewhat frustrated, his legs numbing to the point of immobility.
Cultivation in reality was harder than he had imagined.
"I have the experience of comprehending Qi Perception; in theory, as long as there's a slight talent, Qi Perception should be quickly caught."
"But it wasn't."
"It seems a Root Bone of 1 indeed indicates very poor talent. To achieve anything, I either have to endure the struggle over time, if not one afternoon, then one day, if not one day, then ten days! I was able to grasp Qi Perception with the help of the Yellow Dragon Pill, there's no reason I can't do it on my own."
"If all else fails, I'll learn to refine the Yellow Dragon Pill in the game!"
Even though his talents were worse than he ever imagined, Lu Qingfeng wasn't disheartened. As long as he had 'Primordial', nothing was too difficult.
Opening his eyes.
Qingyu was still keeping watch, extremely serious and meticulous. Turning her head, she happened to see Lu Qingfeng waking up.
"Big Brother, you're awake!"
Lu Qingyu bounded over to Lu Qingfeng in a few strides, her eyes fixed on his face, eagerly asking, "How's the cultivation going? When can we save Second Brother?"
"Cultivation doesn't happen that fast."
Lu Qingfeng shook his head.
"Is cultivation very hard?"
Lu Qingyu tilted her head, puzzled.
"Wait a couple of years until Qingyu grows up; Big Brother will teach you to cultivate, and then you'll know how hard it is," said Lu Qingfeng massaging his legs to stimulate the circulation of blood and invigorate his muscles.
Hearing this, Lu Qingyu's eyes went wide and her mouth hung open—
"Big Brother, can I also cultivate?"
She had never known that girls could also cultivate!
Every year the Returning to Truth Sect would come to Black Wood Village to select disciples and servants, choosing among boys aged twelve to sixteen.
Lu Qingyu thought only big brothers like hers and second brothers could cultivate.
"Of course, you can!"
"But first, Qingyu needs to learn to read, as well as various meridians, acupoints, and to memorize them. After that, in two more years, you too can start cultivating."
Lu Qingfeng said with a smile.
He had 'Primordial', and in the future, he wouldn't lack legacies. As long as he overcame the most difficult initial stage of entry, systematic cultivation could lead to success.
When the time came, whether it was Qingyu or Qingshan, he wouldn't let them continue to stay in the cramped Black Wood Village.
Naturally, they would cultivate together.
If he embarked on the path of cultivation only to end up alone, that would be putting the cart before the horse.