3
"....."
Looking at the laughing Lin Kai, old Xu couldn't help but praise him in his heart. 'Good guy, I just told him how difficult it is to cultivate and he still has this carefree mood.'
For a moment, he was ashamed that his mental state was worse than a brat.
Pointing at the bottle of pills, he explained. "That is called the fasting pill. Made up of precious herbs, once you eat it, you won't feel hungry for a month."
"Also, avoid eating any mortal food before you can open up the endless space. Otherwise, it will be extremely hard to make any progress ."
The two of them sat there in silence before Old Xu stood up.
"I will do you a favor and show you the strength of someone who has condensed three stairs."
With this, he grabbed the bag of seeds and walked forward. Unlike the majority of the farms in the area, where the house was in the middle of the farm, Lin Kai's farm was one of the few whose entire farm was in front of the house.
Old Xu stepped in front of the farm and his hands were covered in a white layer of light.
"Haaah."
With a shout, Old Xu smashed both his palms on the ground and after a few seconds, the ground in front of Lin Kai began to tremble.
Under his gaze filled with surprise, Lin Kai saw the soil of his farm twisting like snakes as the weeds were torn apart.
Within a few moments, the entire farm has changed beyond recognition. The weeds were buried underground and the only proof of their existence were a few scattered green leaves.
"Now, I have uprooted the weeds and tilted the soil for you. Go ahead... Plant the seeds."
Old Xu spoke while patting the dust off his hands. Even though he appeared nonchalant, one could see the pride and satisfaction hidden in his eyes.
"Umm." With a nod, Lin Kai jumped out of his chair and soon under the guidance of Old Xu, began to plant the seeds. During that time, Old Xu was also imparting him some basic knowledge.
After almost an hour when Lin Kai finished planting the seeds, Old Xu waved his hands up in the air. And the moment he did, a cluster of clouds formed above the farm at a speed visible to the naked eye, and soon it began to rain.
"These seeds are of the plant called yellow orchid. After three months, you will be able to harvest the yellow flowers and can sell them for some basic resources."
"There are exactly one hundred seeds. And if nothing goes wrong, you will be able to harvest a hundred yellow orchids. Even after paying taxes, you will still have thirty left."
"Not much, but a decent number for a newbie. You can sell it in the market." After saying these words, Old Xu patted his clothes.
"It is about time I head back."
With a smile, he looked at Lin Kai one more time, but this time, his eyes were filled with appreciation and tenderness.
"Take care of yourself now, young lad. And do visit this old man if you have time. I wish you the best for your future."
Patting Lin Kai on his shoulder, Old Xu laughed one last time and turned around, slowly walking towards his farm.
Looking at his back, Lin Kai knew the interaction between him and Old Xu would only get less and less. Perhaps Old Xu wouldn't even come here in the future.
"Thank you old man."
With a shout, Lin Kai thanked the man who brought him to this sect and even gave him so much help. Without him, his life in this new world would have been completely different.
He had decided, that even if the old man wasn't going to come here, he would occasionally visit the old man once in a while.
Taking a deep breath, Lin Kai smelled the soil as the gentle cold breeze hit him on the face. This was the start of his new life and perhaps the answer to his questions.
-------
After sitting on the chair in a daze for a while, Lin Kai headed back inside his room and looked at the empty house. Other than the old wooden bed, there wasn't even a single piece of furniture.
He brought back one of the bamboo chairs from the outside and placed it in front of the window.
Though the house was small and he could even see the spiderwebs up on the slanted wooden roof, it was enough for him.
The first thing that Lin Kai did was to open the bottle and swallow one of the twelve pills inside it. After swallowing a dry and hard pill with some difficulty, Lin Kai sat on his bed and began to read the breathing exercise.
It took him almost two hours to memorize the entire breathing pattern before he was finally able to perform it. And the moment he finished his first round of breathing, Lin Kai was surprised to find changes on the screen in front of him.
[Name: Lin Kai]
[Age: 16/56]
[Realm: None (0/100)]
[Skills: Breathing Technique (1/100)] (Not Started)
Looking at the changes on the screen, Lin Kai finally understood what the function of this screen was. It was a proficiency panel... As long as he practiced, he would get results.
With a smile, Lin Kai closed his eyes and began to practice once again. He then again completed a cycle and then again and then again.
By the time it was night, Lin Kai only managed to complete fifty breathing cycles. Each cycle lasted for almost ten minutes. He even failed in the middle sometimes. But even if he failed, it still increased his progress.
[Name: Lin Kai]
[Age: 16/56]
[Realm: None (0/100)]
[Skills: Breathing Technique (51/100)] (Not Started)
Looking at the realm that hadn't even increased by one point, Lin Kai didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Old Xu wasn't lying when he said it takes a lot of time to open up the space.
Even though he didn't do any hard labor today, the breathing exercise still made him exhausted.
Closing his eyes, he fell on his bed and drifted into sleep.
---------
Waking up the next day, Lin Kai grabbed the small wooden barrels and made his way to the nearby water stream. Unlike Old Xu who could perform a rain technique, he needed to water the plants with his own hands.
After filling the water barrel, he headed back and then started to water the plants.
It took him almost an hour to complete this task. And with it, he could now finally focus on his cultivation.
Closing his eyes Lin Kai once again began his breathing exercise. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even feel the aura of heaven and earth much less store it in his heart.
It wasn't until evening did he stopped his practice and looked at the panel in front of him with some excitement and expectations.
[Name: Lin Kai]
[Age: 16/56]
[Realm: None (0/100)]
[Skills: Breathing Technique (99/100)] (Not Started)
"Huff..."
Taking a deep breath, he began to perform one last set of breathing techniques. It didn't take long before he managed to perform one more set of breathing exercises. But the moment he finished it, a tremor ran throughout his body as a vast array of knowledge suddenly poured inside his head. Not only that, but even the muscles in his body began to contract and expand.
Subconsciously, Lin Kai performed one more set of Breathing Techniques, but this time, it was a bit different compared to before.
"This...." As soon as he started it, Lin Kai could feel a sliver of white light entering his body before circulating around and finally entering his heart.
"HUFF... HUFF... HUFF"
Lin Kai immediately opened his eyes as he breathed heavily. It was as if something heavy was pressing his heart, making it hard for him to breathe.
But fortunately, this feeling lasted only for a while before Lin Kai could properly breathe again.
"Shit... Almost died." Thinking about it, Lin Kai couldn't help but sweat nervously. He couldn't help but think whether it was a special case just for him or whether everyone faced this situation.
It took a while for him to calm down before he looked at the panel in front of him.
[Name: Lin Kai]
[Age: 16/56]
[Realm: None (1/100)]
[Skills: Breathing Technique (1/500)] (Minor Accomplishment)
"Finally."
Looking at the changes, he almost shed tears of joy. Even with the panel, it took him two days and a skill upgrade just to sense the aura of heaven and earth. One could only imagine the difficulty others had to face.
Even though it was night, Lin Kai was in high spirits after upgrading his breathing skills. Now that he made some progress, he was unwilling to stop.
Soon, he began another set of breathing exercises. Closing his eyes, he could feel the aura of heaven and earth around him. It was limitless.
He tried to absorb it and after some difficulty, managed to inhale one strand of the aura and started to guide it to his heart. And just when he was in the middle of the process, the aura suddenly got hectic before disappearing completely.
"Huh!?"
"HUUUUUUUUUH!?"
[Name: Lin Kai]
[Age: 16/56]
[Realm: None (1/100)]
[Skills: Breathing Technique (2/500)] (Minor Accomplishment)
"Damn it."
Other than the increase in breathing technique, there was no other change.
Lin Kai let out a cold snort before trying again. But just like the previous time, the aura disappeared.
He tried for the third time, but it disappeared the moment it entered his body.
Lin Kai kept on trying but no matter how hard he tried, the aura would disappear.
Helplessly, Lin Kai could only stop. Since there was no progress today, then perhaps there would be progress tomorrow.
----------
The next day, Lin Kai repeated the process of fetching water from the stream and watering his crops.
After finishing his daily chores, he once again began his daily practice.
By the end of the day, he was finally able to absorb a ray of aura in his heart.
[Name: Lin Kai]
[Age: 16/56]
[Realm: None (2/100)]
[Skills: Breathing Technique (12/500)] (Minor Accomplishment)
The breathing technique after the upgrade takes one hour for every cycle. Lin Kai tried to perform the old breathing technique but to his disappointment, neither he was able to increase his proficiency nor he was able to absorb the aura of heaven and earth.
"It's going to take a lot of time." In silence, Lin Kai stepped out of his house and looked at his peaceful surroundings.
Since he wasn't going to get any immediate results, it would be better to practice patiently. With this thought in mind, he finally let go of his obsession of constantly practicing every second and began to live peacefully.
.
.
.
.
Three months passed in the blink of an eye as Lin Kai was engrossed in practice. Every day, he would wake up and take care of his farm. From weeding to watering, he performed everything with great care.
During these three months, other than a middle-aged man who came to deliver him some clothes and some basic necessities, he didn't see anyone else. Even Old Xu seemed to have disappeared. Lin Kai knew thst just like him, perhaps the old man too was busy with his practice.
It was finally the day of harvest and the day Lin Kai was about to make a major breakthrough...