Chapter 7: The Difficult Cultivation

Han Li slowly gathered the energy flow in his body’s meridians back to his dantian. This was the seventh major cycle he had completed today. He knew his body had reached its limit. If he were to run another major cycle, his meridians would most likely rupture again, and he would once more experience that unbearable pain. Just thinking about the pain of his meridians tearing apart, the usually bold Han Li couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat.

It had been more than half a year since Han Li entered the sect, and the formal entry examination for the named disciples had ended over two months ago.

Only a small portion of the named disciples were able to officially join the inner sect. Most of the examined disciples failed this test and had to leave the mountain with their belongings to become outer sect disciples.

These children who failed were mostly assigned to the Treasure Gathering Hall and the Flying Bird Hall. Those with outstanding abilities might receive further training and have the chance to be recruited into the better-treated Outer Blade Hall. Of course, the best treatment in the outer sect was in the Four Seas Hall, but unfortunately, the Four Seas Hall only recruited famous figures from the martial world. Without a few impressive skills, one shouldn’t even think about it, let alone these young children.

Whenever Han Li thought about the content of the examination that the other named disciples underwent two months ago, he still felt a chill run down his spine.

Running around the Caihua Mountains, which spanned several miles, followed by team combat in a sparsely populated forest, and finally, withstanding a certain number of attacks from the highly skilled senior disciples. All these tests made Han Li involuntarily feel a bit schadenfreude.

Han Li and Zhang Tie did not participate in these terrifying tests. As Doctor Mo had said, they only tested the cultivation of the incantation. However, this test was not as easy as Han Li had thought. Even now, Han Li remembered the cultivation process clearly.

According to Doctor Mo, the nameless incantation was divided into several levels. Han Li and Zhang Tie only received the cultivation method for the first level. This meant that as long as the two could achieve some success in the first level within half a year, Doctor Mo would consider them to have passed and they would become his formal disciples, enjoying the same good treatment as the other inner sect disciples of the Seven Profound Sect.

After learning from others about the difference in treatment between inner and outer sect disciples, Han Li completely abandoned the idea of just getting by for half a year to become an outer sect disciple and return home. To him, the ability to receive more silver from the Seven Profound Sect and have it sent home was more important than anything else. He had been so poor at home that he knew every extra bit of silver he received would improve his family’s life.

After receiving the incantation from Doctor Mo, Han Li stayed in his room and began cultivating day and night, spending all his available time on it. Since Doctor Mo gave them no guidance on cultivation, Han Li had to figure it out on his own, referring to the methods other children used to cultivate the Seven Profound Sect’s basic internal energy, the "Zhengyang Power," to understand the cultivation method.

Following this method, after three months of hard cultivation, Han Li was shocked to find that his cultivation of the incantation was extremely slow. Despite his best efforts, he could only generate a faint, cool energy flow in his body. This energy was so subtle that he could hardly detect it without careful internal observation.

This was probably what the instructors called internal true qi, Han Li naturally assumed.

However, he heard from other children cultivating the "Zhengyang Power" that the true qi they generated was a very obvious warm flow. Moreover, the effects of their cultivation were much more significant compared to his. Other children could already break small trees with a single punch and jump over ten feet high after using their "Zhengyang Power" true qi. In contrast, when Han Li used his strange true qi, there was almost no noticeable change. The only difference was that his spirit seemed more vigorous and his appetite was much better than before he came to the mountain. But what was the use of that? Seeing the other children display their prowess, Han Li became disheartened.

This unexpected discovery almost made Han Li give up on his months of effort. He believed his talent was too poor to pass Doctor Mo’s examination in the remaining time and even prepared to leave the mountain.

One day, by chance, Han Li learned from Zhang Tie that Zhang Tie had not experienced any changes in his body since he started cultivating the incantation. He had not generated any true qi, not even a trace.

This accidental discovery helped Han Li regain some of the confidence he had lost. In the remaining days, he resumed his arduous cultivation, working even harder and more intensely.

Han Li now used every moment to meditate and cultivate. Even at night, he tried to maintain his cultivation posture while sleeping, hoping to gain a bit more effect from his cultivation. However, this extreme approach only lasted a few days before it failed. The reason was that he was not getting enough sleep, which affected his daytime cultivation efficiency.

What puzzled Han Li was that after teaching them the incantation, Doctor Mo ignored them completely, never asking about their progress or any cultivation issues, as if he had completely forgotten about their existence.

Every day, Doctor Mo spent his time reading a book with a black cover that had three characters. It seemed as if the book truly contained beauty and wealth. At first, Han Li and Zhang Tie even thought Doctor Mo was planning to give up his medical practice and study to become a scholar. Later, after they learned to read, they recognized the three characters as "Longevity Sutra," a book about cultivating the body and mind to extend one’s lifespan.

At that moment, the two realized that Doctor Mo was not planning to become a scholar but wanted to live for thousands of years like a turtle in the river, never dying.