Cultivation Kill

The morning air was cool, the rooster crowed, and outside the carved window, the sky was already beginning to brighten.

The vendors carrying loads in the distance had put aside their worries, opened their buckets, and started operating on the street. Steam rose from the buckets, instantly attracting the attention of several passersby.

Shen Zige didn't expect time to pass so quickly; there was sometimes a difference between the time it took for spiritual energy to circulate and the actual passage of time.

If it takes this long to circulate spiritual energy through one small cycle each time, then the book says that circulating spiritual energy through 365 small cycles is one large cycle. That means it would take him at least half a year to circulate one large cycle!

The book on Spirit Condensation Basics says that you need to run the Great Cycle at least three times to advance to the next level. So, to reach the Great Perfection of Spirit Condensation, you need to run the Great Cycle thirty times, which means it will take about fifteen years! Shen Zige silently did the mental calculations.

If there is only one secret realm per year, then one would have to go through fourteen secret realms. If half of the people survive each secret realm, then the probability of survival is one in two to the power of fourteen. That is, the probability of him surviving to the Great Perfection of Spirit Condensation is only one in sixteen thousand!

"It's like the probability of getting heads after flipping a coin fourteen times in a row," Shen Zige said. "I don't know how fast other people cultivate, but if I honestly cultivate in seclusion like this, I'll definitely die. I have to think of another way."

"Cuckoo."

Shen Zige's stomach rumbled, instantly pulling him back to reality—he needed to eat immediately!

He hadn't learned the method of fasting yet; he planned to learn it in a few days. Who could easily give up delicious food?

The spiritual energy continuously spreads from the acupoints, slowly nourishing the whole body, while much of the impurities condense outside the body.

Shen Zige went to the bathroom to shower. Although it was a first-class room, there was no water tap in the bathroom, only buckets filled with water.

"What a stark contrast! On one side is technological cultivation, and on the other is a backward civilization," Shen Zige remarked. "The Star Realm Company's stay in the Bamboo Kingdom must not be too long."

After changing into clean clothes, Shen Zige went out to have breakfast.

Although he was starving, he was in good spirits; as the saying goes, good things make people feel refreshed.

Shen Zige thought of a poem by Meng Jiao: "Riding a horse in the spring breeze, one can see all the flowers of Chang'an in a single day."

Meng Jiao's joy at passing the imperial examination transcends time and space, allowing us to share in his experience.

He pictured Meng Jiao smiling broadly, raising his cup in a toast with the scholars.

The clear broth noodles at the street stalls tasted much better than usual, and even the fly floating on the soup wasn't as annoying as it usually is.

Shen Zige put down her chopsticks. Although she was in a good mood, she didn't feel she should finish the noodle soup with flies in it!

Qin Jie, dressed in a plain long gown and looking haggard, walked out of the inn and walked straight towards Shen Zige after seeing her.

“You weren’t in the room last night,” Qin Jie said softly, sitting on the bamboo stool next to Shen Zige.

“He’s in the room, but he can’t make a sound,” Shen Zige explained.

"What happened?" Qin Jie asked with concern.

"Spirit Condensation," Shen Zige said. "Successfully."

"Hmm—Spirit Condensation." Qin Jie replied absentmindedly, about to ask the breakfast stall owner for a bowl of noodles, when she suddenly stopped. "You succeeded in Spirit Condensation?" Her voice trembled, her bright eyes sparkling with joy. "I knew you would succeed! If you didn't succeed, I can't think of anyone else! Although I'm the class's academic representative, I'm not as good as you. You got the school to nominate you for the Mathematical Olympiad and you won an award, while I didn't even qualify!"

"It was just good luck; I happened to have done the questions for that competition beforehand," Shen Zige said. "Another contestant from our school also won an award."

"No, he only got second prize," Qin Jie said. "You also won a gold medal in the physics competition. You don't need to take the college entrance exam; top universities are vying for your spots!"

“It’s just about reading more books. You can do that too if you read and learn more.” Shen Zige tried to remain modest. “My brother Ziming is much smarter than me. He’s the real genius.”

"Your brother Ziming? Shen Ziming!" Qin Jie exclaimed in surprise. "Your brother is the world-famous Shen Ziming! The man hailed as the Earth's Smartest Star! I heard that he and Shi Yuan jointly founded a technology company and developed a super intelligent software called Zheyun No. 1."

"Didn't your sister tell you?"

Shen Zige thought Qin Jing would bring it up with Qin Jie, but to his surprise, Qin Jing didn't say anything. Qin Jing knew his and his brother's identities.

When Qin Jie heard Shen Zige mention her sister, her face darkened, and she said, "I haven't seen my sister for two days. She's disappeared. I've searched most of the arena but haven't found her."

Shen Zige's heart skipped a beat—could Qin Jing have already been murdered? In this unfamiliar world, anything could happen!

"Finish your noodles first, and then I'll go with you to find it, considering you often help me with my homework," Shen Zige said in a low voice. "But you'll have to go to a different breakfast stall; there are flies in the noodle soup at this one."

With something on her mind, Qin Jie wolfed down her noodles and then went with Shen Zige to search for her sister in the city.

"Have you seen a woman this tall, three years older than me, with shoulder-length hair?" Qin Jie asked, gesturing as she pulled a passerby along.

"Never seen it before, never seen it before." The passerby waved and left.

“If you describe it like that, no one will understand who you’re talking about,” Shen Zige said. “Why don’t you have someone draw a portrait of you? That would make it easier to find the person.”

“You’re right, I have photos of my sister on my phone. I can just show them the phone,” Qin Jie said. “But before I met you and my sister, I pawned the phone for ten taels of silver because it was almost out of battery and there was no point in keeping it. I couldn’t find a place to charge it. All of Star Realm’s technology is powered by spirit stones and arrays.”

"Did you turn off your phone when you pawned it?" Shen Zige said. "Maybe there's still some battery left. You can have an artist draw it from the photo; that would be much better than just describing it verbally."

The two went to the pawnshop.

"Twenty taels of silver."

The pawnshop owner was a bit hunchbacked, and the wrinkles on his forehead resembled the number "3". At this moment, he held up two fingers and said to Shen Zige and Qin Jie.

"The ransom has doubled in just a few days!" Qin Jie complained. "Why don't you just rob someone?"

"This is the price, do you want it or not!" The old pawnshop owner's wrinkles deepened.

"Here you go!" Qin Jie took out some silver from her pocket and handed it over.

The old pawnshop owner took the silver and the number plate made by the pawnshop, opened the fourth hidden cabinet in the sixth row, took out Qin Jie's mobile phone, and threw it out the window.

The two took the phone and left the pawnshop.

“This guy has a bad temper,” Qin Jie said. “I should have pawned it at another pawnshop. But all the businessmen in the city are in cahoots with the city guards. If you cause trouble with them, the city guards will only kill you.”

“He saw that you and I weren’t locals and thought we wouldn’t live long, which is why he acted this way,” Shen Zige said. “Sigh, most people in Zhu Kingdom are hostile towards us.”

"I suspect it's more about jealousy," Qin Jie said. "I've been out and about these past few days, and I've come to understand this deeply."

"How so?" Shen Zige asked.

"It's because we Earthlings have a high talent for cultivation. To put it specifically, it's like someone about to inherit billions of dollars coming to a slum," Qin Jie said. "You successfully condensed your spirit, what difference did you notice?"

"The painter's house is in this direction, right?" Shen Zige turned and walked into the deep alley on the left. "When you condense your spiritual energy, you need to find a cold room, preferably in the snow. Be careful of the moment the spiritual energy enters your body for the first time; it will be extremely painful and may even make you faint! If the spiritual energy is still outside the skin, it's okay, at least it won't be fatal. But if it's inside the body, you will definitely die!"

Qin Jie listened attentively to Shen Zige, just like a diligent student facing an excellent teacher.

"Also, you need to mentally simulate the acupoints that your spiritual energy passes through in one cycle several times, ideally until it becomes an instinct." Shen Zige thought for a moment and added, "Otherwise, pain might invade your consciousness, causing you to forget the circuit or lose control."

As they talked, they arrived at a courtyard house. The double doors, painted brown, had bronze rings hanging on them, presumably for knocking.

"Dong, dong——"

Qin Jie grabbed the bottom of the copper ring with her hand and tapped it twice.

After waiting for about half a minute, a woman dressed as a servant opened the door a crack.

"What's the matter between you two?" the woman asked.

"I would like to ask Mr. Teda to paint a picture for me," Qin Jie said.

"Master is very busy, he doesn't have time!" Upon hearing this, the woman was about to close the door and muttered under her breath, "Master is a great painter at the Bamboo Kingdom Academy, not just anyone can get him to paint for them."

"Don't close the door, just help me pass on a message." Shen Zige handed her ten taels of silver. "My photographs are more realistic than any of his paintings."

Shen Zige bet that this Mr. Teda had never seen the photos on the smartphone.

Cell phones are extremely hard to find here. Even if you sell one to a pawn shop, most people will only sell it when the battery is completely dead. Even if the flashlight you sell has a little bit of battery left, the pawn shop owner won't know the unlock password, and they won't reflash the phone. Even if you don't need a password to unlock it, the phone owner will format it first and delete all the photos. Even if you don't format the phone, Teda wouldn't specifically think of going to a pawn shop to buy a cell phone. Who in ancient times would specifically look for a cell phone they didn't know?