"According to the token, I'm supposed to sense the surrounding spirit energy and draw it into my eyes in order to cultivate the spirit technique, but I can't sense any spirit energy. Am I really unable to cultivate this technique?" Yang Bin was frustrated. He was sitting in the middle of an opening in the forest near his home. For the past 20 minutes, he had tried to sense the spirit energy, but to no avail.
"Forget it, I'll learn the movement technique first, and come back to it later." He shook his head and stood up.
Unfortunately, the movement technique wasn't any easier. Phantom Tracks required a cultivator to have very fine control over one's qi: using too much qi would make it impossible to control, and using too less would produce no results. Unable to adeptly manage his qi, he ended up crashing into trees a couple times. After an hour of attempting, he was getting better (no longer running into trunks), but still a long way from being able to perform Phantom Tracks.
After numerous failures, Yang Bin collapsed onto the ground exhausted. Phantom tracks, once mastered, would not consume much qi. In fact, it would be possible for Yang Bin to maintain it indefinitely, once he opened a few more meridians. Sadly, he has yet to perform it, much less master. If not for him opening two meridians, he would have collapsed long ago.
Sweating and tired, Yang Bin was meditating on the ground to replenish his qi. While he was replenishing his qi, he attempted the spirit cultivation technique again.
Quiet and still, minutes slowly ticked away. Yang Bin, still feeling nothing, started to feel dejected and hopeless, but he forced himself to continue. It didn't help that he was also starting to feel tired and sleepy, since he didn't get any sleep. A few minutes of struggling to concentrate, his persistence paid off. He felt something, a fluctuation of energy that felt both unfamiliar and familiar at the same time.
This must be spirit energy! Yang Bin hurriedly channeled a strand of his spirit to absorb it and draw it into his eyes.
He felt a wave of coolness, when it entered his closed eyes, erasing his drowsiness. After it was absorbed, it was as if he had unlocked another sense. He faintly felt more and more of these energy fluctuations. Joyfully, he absorbed more and more until he couldn't feel the spirit energy anymore. Pleased, he slowly opened his eyes. In front of him, there was a pair of large purple eyes staring at him.
"Er, Mengyao, what are you doing here?" Yang Bin awkwardly asked the face centimeters away from him.
Yang Mengyao, who was squatting in front of him, ignored the questions. She continued to squint at his eyes. "Brother, why do I feel like something entered your eyes?" She asked.
Yang Bin blinked. "You aren't wrong. Something did enter my eyes. I was cultivating a spirit cultivation technique." He smiled. Internally, he was shocked. Mengyao is able to feel spirit energy more clearly than me! He thought.
"Spirit cultivation technique?" Yang Mengyao asked curiously.
"A technique that cultivates your spirit by absorbing spirit energy from the air. The one I was cultivating requires me to draw it into my eyes." Yang Bin explained.
"Oh I see." Yang Mengyao nodded. Smiling, she stood up and tugged on his arm. "Mom is calling us for lunch."
"So soon?" Yang Bin was surprised and stood up.
"It's almost noon." Yang Mengyao answered. "I came here several minutes ago, but since you were cultivating, I decided not to bother you. You made me wait quite a while…"
Yang Bin looked up and saw that the sun was almost at its highest point. "Sorry about that. I didn't notice." Yang Bin said apologetically. The two started to walk back.
"I heard from mom that you've reached the second rank of body tempering. Congratulations."
"Haha thank you."
"But I'm still stronger than you."
"…"
****
Days flashed by and Yang Bin cultivated with intense fervor. Ever since he received the techniques, cultivation wasn't as boring as before. Everyday he could feel himself getting slightly better, motivating him. In the past, it was impossible for Yang Bin to feel this.
In the mornings, he would cultivate Mystic Eyes in his room. For some reason, he discovered that his home was richer in spirit energy, when compared elsewhere. Later in the afternoon, he would go out and practice Phantom Tracks. Finally in the evening, he would recover and cultivate. His schedule was packed, and his training was rigorous. Undoubtedly, this brought his parents some worry.
"Son, don't you think you are working too hard?" Li Jing inquired. Seeing her son constantly pushing himself and not taking a break made her concerned.
"Mom, I'm fine. The academic entrance exam is in 6 months. If I want to enter, I can't slack off." Yang Bin reassured her with a smile. He just came back after practicing Phantom Tracks and beads of sweat were dripping down his face.
"Son, you realize that the academic entrance exam allows 12 year old's to participate right? You're only 11 this year. Even if you don't make it this year, you can still wait until next year." Yang Gang said. On his face was a frown. He too thought that Yang Bin's rigorous schedule could be detrimental to him in the long run.
"Dad, I thought you would support me." Yang Bin was hurt by the lack of faith.
"Diligence and persistence is good, but you must also know your limits. If you don't give yourself a break, you will hurt your health, and it could make your future cultivation harder." Yang Gang replied.
"Dad, mom, don't worry. I really do feel fine." Yang Bin reassured them. Aside from an increase in appetite, he was perfectly fine. His opened meridians not only enhanced his qi recovery, it can also restore his strength quickly as well. Because of this, he only needs a good night of rest to fully recover.
Yang Bin's parents weren't convinced but seeing his insisting, they didn't oppose him any further. Instead, they started paying more attention to him.
A month later, his training paid off.
As the sun rose from the horizon, Yang Bin began to stir. After a month of rigorous training, he now automatically wakes up without an alarm. Sitting up on his bed, he started to cultivate his spirit. Since every drop of spirit energy would wash away his sleepiness, spirit cultivation had become the first thing he did every morning. However, this time, there was a difference.
With slow and steady breaths, he concentrated on drawing in the spirit energy. As the minutes passed, he started to feel like he was getting fuller and fuller. About an hour later, he realized he can't absorb any more spirit energy. Suddenly, he felt something change. Starting from his head, a wave of coolness spread across his body and his senses began to strengthen.
Opening his eyes, Yang Bin revealed a smile. "After a month, I finally have enough spirit power to perform Mystic Pupils." His eyes, which were usually black, now had a faint golden glow.
Normally, the initial mastery of the Mystic Pupils would represent stepping foot into the spirit condensing stage, but since Yang Bin was too weak, his spirit world had yet to be completely developed. Thus, he was not a true Spirit Condensing Stage spirit cultivator.
Looking around, he could see things in much more detail, the specks of dust at the corner of the room and the dew on the blades of grass outside his window. Deactivating his Mystic Pupils, Yang Bin got out of bed and went to the living room. By now, everyone else was already up.
"Good morning mom! Good morning dad!" Yang Bin cheerfully greeted his parents like usual.
"Good morning." Yang Bin's parents both replied.
He walked to the table where Yang Mengyao was slowly munching on her breakfast. She seemed in a daze, as if not completely awake.
Smiling slightly, Yang Bin took a seat next to her. Right as he was about to greet her, he realized that she had changed as well.
"Mengyao, you've reached the fourth rank of body tempering!?" Yang Bin looked at her with an incredulous expression; his voice was a bit louder than he expected.
"Ah!" Yang Mengyao jolted. Realizing it was Yang Bin, she let out a pout. "Brother, could you not scare me like that in the morning?" Then processing what he said, she blinked a couple times. "Eh? It seems like I did reach the fourth rank."
"Mengyao, you've reached the fourth rank?" Li Jing was surprised as well.
"Yes, I think just this morning." Yang Mengyao replied.
Yang Gang immediately turned to Yang Bin and interrogated him. "And son what about you? You've been training quite diligently recently. Have you made any progress?"
Yang Bin coughed. "Not yet, not yet. I feel like I'm only one step away from the third rank."
To which his dad sighed, evidently he was a little disappointed. After some celebration and congratulating, the day proceeded as normal.
****
"Huu." Yang Bin sat on the ground and took a deep breath. "Still a bit off from being able to perform phantom tracks."
Unlike his spirit cultivation technique, Yang Bin still had yet to succeed in his movement technique even after a month of practicing. But now that his spirit had undergone a significant improvement, he understood the technique better.
As he meditated on the ground pondering on his attempts, he heard someone calling him.
"Brother Yang Bin! Brother Yang Bin!" A short and chubby kid called his name, as he ran towards him. The chubby kid had a round face with small eyes and a small nose. He was panting between every word and Yang Bin could see the urgency in his eyes.
This youth is Yang Lin. He is a bit younger than Yang Bin and, like him, didn't have a high aptitude for cultivation: only at the second rank of body tempering.
"Yang Lin, you're actually running? What's so urgent that you rushed here?" Yang Bin joked while smiling.
"It's about sister Yang Mengyao." Yang Lin said with difficulty.
Yang Bin's smile instantly faded. "What happened?"
"She found a 100 year old sky chrysanthemum, but she was spotted by Yang Yu and his gang. They have her surrounded." Yang Lin quickly spoke.
Hearing this, Yang Bin's face contorted with rage. "Which direction?" He asked.
Tiredly, Yang Lin raised his hand and pointed in the direction he came from.
Without another word, Yang Bin sprinted off in that direction.
Exhausted, Yang Lin collapsed. He turned his head to look at Yang Bin's departing figure, and he mumbled to himself, "Did my vision go bad? Why does brother Yang Bin look so blurry?"