Bamboo Mound

Ning was dressed and looking at herself in the bronze mirror when the door was suddenly pushed open with a bang.

"Young Master, are you alright?" Xiao Li asked hurriedly.

But when he saw that Ning Chang was unharmed and even dressed and tidied up, he was stunned.

Ning Chang was startled by the sudden sound.

"What's wrong? Why are you so flustered?"

Seeing that nothing was wrong, Xiao Li breathed a sigh of relief and resumed his respectful demeanor.

"When I heard your shouts, young master, I thought you were in danger, so I rushed over here!"

"They did their job well," Ning Chang thought to himself, then turned to Xiao Li and said.

"It's nothing, you can go now."

Xiao Li responded and turned to leave.

After washing up, Ning Chang sat down at the table and opened the cloth bag containing the fasting pills.

By candlelight, Ning Chang examined the earth-colored pills. There were seven pills in the bag, each about the size of a fingernail.

"Is it really not a ball of dirt?" Looking at these pills that looked like they were made of mud, Ning Chang found it hard to put them in his mouth.

"One pill can keep you from being hungry for a day, but if it only keeps you from being hungry, how can it provide nutritional value?"

"And it's so loose." Ning Chang looked at the Bigu Pill that he had easily broken in half earlier.

"The interior and the surface are the same color, which seems to be due to the material."

Ning Chang looked at it for a long time but couldn't figure out what was going on. He then put the broken-open Bigu pill into his mouth.

Just as he was about to chew, the fasting pill melted instantly upon entering his mouth, dissolving and flowing into his stomach with just a sip.

"It doesn't really taste like anything." Ning Chang smacked his lips.

Having lost interest in the fasting pills, Ning Chang got up to stroll around the courtyard, having not yet thoroughly observed it since arriving yesterday.

Stepping outside, bathed in the morning light, I saw that the courtyard was completely empty. The area within the walls was bare, containing only my main house, Xiao Li's side room on the left, a stone pavilion in one corner, and a stone well in front of the side room. Apart from these, not even a weed could be seen!

"How come it's so desolate? Let's plant something when we have some free time!"

Ning Chang walked around and got a feel for the environment, but he didn't see any toilets.

"The Bigu Pill saves us the trouble and time," Ning Chang chuckled dryly.

At that moment, Ning Chang's vision blurred for a second, and when he regained consciousness, his master was already standing in front of him.

"Disciple, how did you rest last night? Were the servants obedient?"

Ning Chang bowed.

"Master, I slept very well last night, and Xiao Li was also very dedicated, without the slightest slack."

"That's good. Your master will take you to listen to the sermon now. This is the beginning of your path to immortality. Remember, listen carefully!"

The master spoke with a serious expression, then picked up Ning Chang and flew towards the square.

In a few breaths, Ning Chang was standing in the square again, but this time, his master placed him directly on one side of the stone platform.

After settling Ning Chang in, the master sat down cross-legged in the center of the stone platform.

Ning Chang also sat down cross-legged on the spot and glanced sideways at the crowd in the square.

They all wore white robes with cloud patterns, but their chests were bare, unlike Ning Chang's simulated flames.

The formation of the crowd resembled military training more than listening to a lecture.

"Indeed, cultivation is nine parts hard work and one part innate talent," Ning Chang thought to himself.

At that moment, a melodious bell rang out, and everyone fell silent instantly.

The master coughed lightly and slowly began to speak: "Today's lecture is on the foundation of cultivation—the guidance of spiritual energy."

As we all know, the world is filled with spiritual energy, and we cultivators are meant to guide this spiritual energy into our bodies, refine and absorb it…”

The master's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.

Ning Chang closed his eyes and listened attentively, memorizing everything his master said.

With his master's explanation, Ning Chang gradually understood the secrets of guiding spiritual energy.

Because the entire square is covered by a spirit-gathering array, the spiritual energy is much denser than in other places.

At this point, the master stopped preaching, giving everyone time to explore.

Ning calmed down and sensed the spiritual energy around her.

He believed that if a certain substance was added to the air, the air resistance would also increase.

Even though it wasn't obvious, Ning Chang quickly caught these ubiquitous particles by combining them with what his master had just said.

These particles do not enter the body without guidance. Even if some stick to the skin, they will only enter the body through breathing, but this passive absorption is very inefficient.

Although inefficient, the cumulative absorption over time is enough to make the physical strength of mortals in this world far exceed that of people in Ning Chang's original world.

Ning often imagined these spiritual particles approaching her body, as if she were using her mental power to pull them towards her; it was a wonderful feeling.

At first, Ning Chang was not skilled and could only guide one particle at a time.

"Can you control their movement with your imagination just by observing them...?" Ning Chang suddenly had a brilliant idea and tried to make them move away, and to his surprise, he succeeded!

During the test in Ningchang, I suddenly discovered that the areas on my skin that had just absorbed the spiritual energy particles were starting to automatically guide the surrounding particles. Although it wasn't as fast as I had guided them myself, it was definitely working non-stop!

The spiritual energy particles slowly approached the skin, and suddenly, Ning Chang thought of another method.

Ning Chang guided another microparticle into his body through a spot next to the skin, then focused his attention on feeling the changes there.

As expected, when applied to the same particle, the speed of passive guidance increased, but not by much.

Ning Chang thought about trying it again to see the effect, when he suddenly realized:

"Spiritual energy has a mutual attraction!"

When Ning guided this particle, the particle behind it floated forward a little, while the particle on the side remained at the same distance from it and floated over together!

Ning Chang was pleasantly surprised by her discovery, but then realized that she had wasted a lot of time, so she stopped thinking about it and focused on absorbing spiritual energy.

Ning Chang continuously guided the spiritual energy into the skin that had never absorbed spiritual energy before, starting with one grain at a time, then two...

An hour later, Ning Chang was able to roughly control the spiritual energy around him entering his body.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Ning Chang felt much lighter and her mind gradually calmed down.

Outside, the master sensed the spiritual energy around Ning Chang and felt increasingly gratified. His lips twitched incessantly, as if they were about to break free and curl up to the corners of his eyes.

"As expected of my disciple, he was able to draw qi into his body in less than half an hour. Back in my day, it took me two hours to succeed. With such talent, he will surely have a place in the future!"

At this moment, he coughed lightly, interrupting everyone: "I presume that everyone has already grasped the basic method of guiding spiritual energy."

The master smiled as he looked at everyone, "From now on, you will cultivate on your own. Remember, the key to cultivation is perseverance."

After saying that, the master got up and came to Ning Chang's side.

“Disciple, come with me.”