Chapter 157: The Beginning of Training
"Calm your mind and spirit."
"Calm your spirit."
"Spirit."
"Damn it! I can't calm down at all," Kyosuke said, opening his eyes and scratching his head in frustration.
The thought of about to master Sage Art made him feel so excited that he couldn't even sit still, let alone calmly sense the natural energy.
After trying for a long time to no avail, Kyosuke decided to get up and walk around, hoping to find the right feeling.
"How can I empty my mind and enter a state of no desires?" Kyosuke thought, walking back and forth in the cave with his head bowed, while also thinking about some of the experiences from his "past life" on the internet.
"Listen to music?"
"Imagine myself floating on the sea?"
"Do yoga?"
Kyosuke looked back at the expressionless Tagitsuhime and couldn't help but throw these stupid-sounding methods out of his mind.
Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he looked down.
"Could it be that I really have to... no, I'm still growing. I should think of another way."
At this time, Tagitsuhime, seeing that Kyosuke was still struggling to calm his mind, directly got up and walked behind him.
Although Tagitsuhime's movements were not deliberately hidden, Kyosuke, who had his back to her, did not notice her approach in the slightest. This showed how powerful Tagitsuhime's control over her own aura was.
Just as Kyosuke was still struggling, he suddenly felt a surprising killing intent from behind. At the same time, a cold little hand touched his heart.
"Is Tagitsuhime going to kill me?!" In an instant, a cold sweat broke out on Kyosuke's forehead.
He felt the terrifying chakra contained in that small hand, and he was so nervous that he almost stopped breathing.
"Now, do you feel your mind calming down?" Tagitsuhime's cold voice slowly entered Kyosuke's ears.
It turned out that the reason Tagitsuhime had done this was to help Kyosuke calm his restlessness. Kyosuke later heard from her that she had used this method to help countless cultivators.
However, when Kyosuke asked how those people were doing now, Tagitsuhime suddenly fell silent. It was clear that the fate of these people was not very beautiful.
With a stiff expression, he thanked Tagitsuhime for her help, and then sat down cross-legged again.
And it had to be said that after that tense feeling had subsided, he found that he was indeed much calmer.
Taking this opportunity, Kyosuke couldn't help but mobilize all his spiritual power to sense the natural energy around him.
Time thus passed, second by second. Suddenly, a trace of visible chakra emerged from Kyosuke's body, and then more and more.
"Is his speed of gathering natural energy so fast?" Tagitsuhime had been maintaining a high degree of attention, observing the changes in Kyosuke's body. When she saw the overflowing natural energy, she couldn't help but think with a bit of surprise.
But surprise was surprise. She was still ready to "make a move" at any time. Because whether one could gather natural energy was one thing, and whether one could convert it into sage art chakra after gathering it was another.
Sure enough, not long after, Kyosuke's originally calm face suddenly twisted, and then pieces of snake scales crazily drilled out from under his skin.
Seeing this, Tagitsuhime directly slapped Kyosuke's head.
Slap!
Kyosuke, who had been slapped dizzy, successfully woke up from the edge of losing control.
While rubbing the large bump on his head, he helplessly thanked Tagitsuhime.
"Sure enough, because of the cursed seal, my efficiency in absorbing natural energy is very high. But it's too troublesome to control it. I don't know if three months will be enough."
After taking a deep breath, Kyosuke sat down on the spot again, preparing for his second round of training.
For the next while, Kyosuke and Tagitsuhime spent their days in this "playful" manner.
Hiss, hiss. One day, a week later, Kyosuke, who was sitting cross-legged on the spot, suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a forked tongue.
Slap!
One day, two weeks later, Kyosuke's originally upright body suddenly went limp, as if he had no bones.
Slap!
One day, three weeks later, several fangs, a dozen centimeters long, suddenly grew out of Kyosuke's mouth.
Slap!
But from the fourth week on, Kyosuke rarely showed any abnormal conditions.
He could also remain in a state of meditation for a long time, surrounded by natural energy. Although there was still some distance to go before he could transform it into sage art chakra, the first step was undoubtedly a complete success.
"Come on, it's time to eat," Tagitsuhime said, bringing over a plate of food. The corner of Kyosuke's mouth twitched imperceptibly.
Rats, frogs, eels, earthworms, birds—all kinds of strange food were on the table in front of him.
Looking at the still-struggling and not-yet-dead rat in the pot, Kyosuke only felt his stomach churn.
"You humans are really picky about food," Tagitsuhime said to Kyosuke with a helpless tone, while chewing on a "fresh and juicy" rat.
But despite her words, as the "person" in Ryuchi Cave who had the best relationship with Kyosuke besides Aoda, she had still prepared something for him.
Rustle. A pile of dry wood was thus thrown in front of Kyosuke.
"Haha, thank you for your trouble," Kyosuke said with great joy. After thanking her, he began to make a fire and prepare to roast the meat.
Of course, things like rat meat and earthworm meat, even if they were cooked, Kyosuke would not eat. He was preparing to roast some birds and large meat animals.
After a long while, a mouth-watering aroma floated through the cave.
"Birds are the best when roasted," Kyosuke said, carefully chewing on the bird bones, and at the same time, he silently sighed with emotion.
Sniff.
"Wow, I don't know where Tagitsuhime found this wild pheasant. It's so much more fragrant than the farm-raised ones."
Sniff.
"Burp, I can't eat the rest of this half a roast chicken. It's a pity to throw it away. Forget it, I'm not afraid of getting fat anyway. I'll just force myself to eat it."
Sniff, sniff.
Kyosuke tried his best to hold back his laughter and looked at Tagitsuhime, who was sucking on an "earthworm." After teasing her for a while, he handed her the half a roast chicken in his hand.
"It's alright, have a bite. I won't harm you, will I?" Kyosuke coaxed her.
In fact, for a long time, Tagitsuhime had shown great interest in the food he had made, but she had never dared to try it.
Today, perhaps because the pheasant was particularly fragrant, Kyosuke saw that she seemed to be unable to resist.
She looked at the fragrant roast chicken in Kyosuke's hand, then looked down at the still-squirming earthworm in her mouth. Tagitsuhime "slurped" and swallowed the entire earthworm, then took the roast chicken with a solemn expression.
"" Holding the roast chicken, she looked it up and down for a while, and finally, she tentatively took a bite.
"How is it?" Kyosuke asked softly.
"Mmm... delicious."