Legend of Eternity

Chapter 7: Difficulty Cultivating

Chapter 7: Difficulty Cultivating

Han Li slowly transferred the energy from his meridians back to his dantian. He had managed to reach the 7th cycle of Qi circulation today, and Han Li knew that his body had reached the limit of what it could handle. If he tried to perform another cycle, all of his meridians would completely rupture, inflicting pain worse than death. Although he was a brave person, Han Li could not help but break out in cold sweat at the thought of this pain.

It had been half a year since Han Li joined the sect, and the official examination of the Unofficial Disciple had ended a little over two months ago.

Only a small percentage of the Unofficial Disciples were officially promoted to the Inner Branch. Most Unofficial Disciples were unable to pass this point and had no other choice but to pack their belongings and become Outer Branch disciples.

Children who do not graduate will generally enter the Treasure Collection Division or the Flying Bird Division. For those who showed outstanding performances, they would receive one step further in their training and would then have the chance to join the more respected External Blade Division. Of course, it was natural that the Four Seas Division was the most respected of the four Divisions, but unfortunately, they only accepted those who made a name for themselves through their martial arts. If one did not possess a certain level of skill in martial arts, it would be useless for them to dream of joining the Four Seas Division; these immature and inexperienced children are even less worth mentioning.

When Han Li recalled the examination details from two months ago, he felt a little scared.

A few dozen miles away from the Celestial Rainbow Mountains was a remote mountain of neighbors where a group of people were arguing. There were some senior disciples who excelled in martial arts and were extremely locked into battle. With each exam, Han Li could only feel a hint of joy on top of the suffering of others.

During their stay in the Seven Mysteries Sect, Han Li and Zhang Tie had never taken such a frightening test before. Doctor Mo had said that his examination would only test them on cultivation chants, but Han Li did not believe the test would be as easy as it sounded. Looking back, Han Li was able to clearly remember the hard effort he had to put in his cultivation.

According to Doctor Mo, this oracle chant was only one part of a set. Within half a year, Han Li and Zhang Tie had managed to grasp the first layer of the cultivation spell, which Doctor Mo would examine. If the two were able to overcome Doctor Mo's expectations, then they could become Doctor Mo's personal disciples and even share the same benefits as Inner Disciples.

Not to mention, Han Li had also heard from others that the treatment the Inner Disciple and Outer Disciple received was so different that it spoke volumes about how great the difference between the two was. He then realized how stupid he was and discarded all thoughts of becoming an Inner Disciple. Han Li would be satisfied just by joining the Seven Mysteries Sect and receiving some silver to send back to his family. Everything else seemed irrelevant because, above all, he really wanted to help his poor family. His only goal is to be able to bring home the money so that he can provide a better life for his family.

After learning Doctor Mo's chant, Han Li never stopped cultivating. He spent every moment of the day and night endlessly practicing spells. Since Doctor Mo did not give them any pointers on how to cultivate, Han Li could only theorize on his own. After discussing with other young cultivators, he found that they were using “Positive Energy” of the Seven Mysteries, a cultivation method of meditating on its own.

Relying on spells and Positive Yang Energy, he cultivated diligently for 3 months, but Han Li was surprised to realize that his progress was extremely slow! He had spent a lot of effort, yet he was rewarded with one small thread of cold energy within his body. His energy was so small that he could barely realize that the energy was there. If he did not examine his body carefully to obtain results, he would not have noticed the strands of energy.

The other disciples who were cultivating Positive Yang Energy had told him that there was a flow of warm energy and different Qi being produced within their bodies. However, the energy threads in Han Li's body were extremely cold, completely opposite to the energy obtained from cultivating Positive Yang Energy! Seeing the results, it was clear Han Li was very far behind from the other disciples.

Those who used the True Qi of Positive Energy cultivation were able to make a fist-sized hole through the trunk of a small tree and jump three meters into the air. Han Li, however, after circulating a strange Qi in his body, felt practically no different from his normal state. The only difference he knew was that his spirit was stronger and eating it was even more greedy than before he came to the mountain. But what good is that? Seeing that the other children in the mountains were gaining ridiculous strength, Han Li could not help feeling sad.

After realizing that he had barely made any progress, Han Li almost gave up on his hard work for several months. He thought that with such a long distance between himself and the others, he would not have the chance to chase after the other children in the rest of the time before Doctor Mo's test and successfully passed. It would be best to plan his trip back home.

Coincidentally, one day Han Li found Zhang Tie who was cultivating and realized something. Ever since Zhang Tie started his cultivation with this mysterious formula chant, his body showed no change at all. There was no effect; not even a hint of True Qi could be seen!

Knowing that he had at least managed to form a single strand of True Qi, Han Li regained the trust he had thrown away earlier. With the rest of the time, he desperately tried to cultivate the oracular singing.

He worked harder than ever, training like crazy.

Han Li started to use every second to meditate and cultivate. Even while he was sleeping, he kept his body upright in a meditative position in hopes of getting a slight breakthrough. Of course, this method of intensive training cannot be maintained for more than a few days. If he forced himself past his limits, his lack of sleep would make him unable to cultivate efficiently.

What puzzled Han Li the most was that after Doctor Mo passed on the oracular spell to the two of them, he stopped interacting with them. Even their questions about cultivation had been ignored by him as if he was not even aware of their existence.

Every day, Doctor Mo would pull out a book with three black characters inscribed on the back cover and study it, staring intently as if a line of text outlining the image of a beautiful woman and the cover was made of pure gold. At first, Han Li and Zhang Tie thought that Doctor Mo no longer wanted to become a doctor, but instead studied hard to pass the imperial examination. However, after the two children learned to read, they recognized three words on the back cover, which read ”Long Book of Life”. Doctor Mo was reading a book on how to cultivate oneself to the extent of extending one's lifespan.

At that moment, the two children suddenly realized that Doctor Mo was not trying to pass the imperial examination; he was trying to live thousands of years like a river turtle.