Chapter 8: First Cultivation

"To begin cultivation, you must first enter a meditative state through meditation; this is not difficult, but most people need some time to achieve it."

"Once you enter a meditative state, you will sense the energy surrounding you—but ignore it. That is the energy of our world, which cannot be absorbed. I will act as your guide, capturing a pure portion of energy and giving it to you. Your task is to use your will to guide this pure energy into your body and find a way to retain it, preventing it from leaking out."

"Willpower is crucial. If your will is insufficient to move energy, then you have no cultivation talent whatsoever."

"But once your body successfully absorbs its first portion of energy, your path of cultivation is opened."

Lin Yue’s words echoed in Li Yi’s ears.

At this moment, Li Yi sat with closed eyes, attempting to enter a meditative state.

Lin Yue guided Li Yi’s posture, breathing, and other meditation details to help him enter the state more quickly.

As time slowly passed,

Li Yi’s body gradually lost sensation; his consciousness sank into darkness, as if about to be swallowed by an abyss—a helpless fear surged in his heart, and this feeling jolted him awake, immediately breaking his meditative state.

"Scared?" Lin Yue smiled as she watched him.

Li Yi wiped his forehead and found no cold sweat, yet he was still shaken: "I felt my consciousness being swallowed by darkness—I thought I’d never wake up again."

"Don’t be afraid. This is normal. Your consciousness has been fused with your body for twenty years; now, as it tries to separate and act independently, fear is natural. The reason it’s dark is because your consciousness has broken free from the influence of your body’s five senses. Imagine waking up one day and finding your body paralyzed, your ears deaf, your eyes unable to open—wouldn’t you be terrified?" Lin Yue explained patiently.

"Your task is to overcome this fear, adapt to the sensation, and sink deeper. Once you pass that threshold, your consciousness will spontaneously develop new perception—not sight, not hearing, but something entirely unique."

"I understand. I’ll try again." Li Yi nodded and closed his eyes once more.

For his second attempt, perhaps because he sought to overcome the fear from his first try, he spent more time.

This time, Li Yi’s consciousness again sank into darkness, and the fear returned.

But this time, he did not resist it—he let the fear envelop his entire being.

Yet his consciousness felt trapped in darkness—no direction, no time, like a prison.

Soon,

Li Yi shuddered and woke up, immediately exiting the meditative state.

"Failed again?" Lin Yue asked.

Li Yi nodded: "My consciousness was trapped in darkness. An instinct drove me to escape."

"That’s your brain checking whether your body is dead, so it forcibly pulls your consciousness back. Don’t worry—human adaptability is strong. After a few more attempts, your brain will realize this state isn’t death, and it won’t happen again."

"Cultivation isn’t simple. You must overcome countless psychological states and repeatedly train your body and mind to adapt to this sensation. Some say cultivation holds great terror—and they’re right. But if you can’t even pass this first trial, I advise you to abandon cultivation."

Lin Yue spoke seriously.

"I understand. I’ll try once more." Li Yi took a deep breath.

Lin Yue said: "Don’t pressure yourself. Take it slow. There’s plenty of time."

Li Yi nodded.

He said nothing, for he knew well: his peaceful time was limited. Trouble would soon come. Before then, he must enter cultivation and determine whether the half-coin in his hand was truly a marvel.

Continue meditating...

He didn’t know how much time had passed.

The office door opened.

Biao Shu tiptoed in, glanced once, and signaled to Lin Yue.

Lin Yue stepped out lightly.

Biao Shu whispered: "How is Li Yi’s cultivation going?"

"Not progressing well. He still hasn’t truly entered a meditative state," Lin Yue shook her head.

"It’s fine. That’s normal. Didn’t I start the same way? Be patient. He’s new to cultivation—he didn’t know anything before."

Lin Yue said: "Uncle, do you remember how Li Yi’s father, Uncle Li, fared when he first began cultivation?"

She held up one finger: "Once. Uncle Li entered meditation on his first try, then immediately began absorbing cosmic energy and officially entered cultivation."

Biao Shu snorted: "His father was a true genius—no comparison. Otherwise, how could he have become a Silent One? Do you think anyone can become a Silent One? It was because the first cultivators advanced too fast, before anything was understood, and problems arose."

"Niece, tell me—does Li Yi have cultivation talent?"

As he spoke, he nudged Lin Yue’s arm.

Lin Yue paused, then said: "It’s too early to tell. But he did enter meditation on the first try—just panicked and exited due to inexperience. Still, cultivation talent isn’t measured by how quickly one enters meditation anymore, but by efficiency in absorbing cosmic energy."

"Some can absorb ten portions of cosmic energy at once, yet retain only one or two—such a low conversion rate means poor talent."

"But others absorb only five portions—and retain all of them, a hundred percent conversion rate. That’s high talent, great potential. With a guide’s help, they can reach genius level."

"Then there are those who, though with low conversion rates, can capture a hundred portions at once—even if they only convert twenty percent, that’s still extraordinary."

"I need to test Li Yi to know which category he belongs to."

"Then I leave it all to you. Uncle will treat you to dinner later," Biao Shu smiled.

Lin Yue rolled her eyes: "No. I’ll say it upfront—if Li Yi has no cultivation talent, I’ll guide him for three days free, just to repay Uncle Li’s favor. I’m busy—I can’t tutor him daily, and I’m preparing for my Guide Certification soon."

"Haha, of course not. A tiger doesn’t raise a dog. Li Yi’s got talent, I’m sure. Don’t worry—three days is plenty for him," Biao Shu said.

He wasn’t confident in Li Yi’s talent—he knew the boy was sensible. If he made no progress in three days, he’d likely stop bothering Lin Yue.

"I hope so."

Lin Yue suddenly shushed: "He’s entered meditation. Uncle, go ahead and attend to your business. I’ll go check on him and test his cultivation talent."

Biao Shu nodded and tiptoed away.

At this moment, Li Yi, now in meditation, began adapting to the sensation of consciousness sinking into darkness.

His mind remained calm, without a trace of panic or agitation.

As his consciousness detached from his body’s influence and adjusted to the darkness, new changes emerged.

Light began to appear within the darkness.

These lights filled the surroundings, flowing like rivers around him—but their color was strange: a sickly gray-white, as if polluted, instinctively repelling.

"These must be the polluted spiritual energy permeating reality—these cannot be absorbed," Li Yi understood.

Soon, another light appeared in this gray-white world—a simple, clear radiance, like a sharp blade slicing through the polluted zone, tearing open a gap. The light expanded, gradually forming the shape of a half-coin.

Within the light’s radius, pure cosmic energy flowed, shimmering like a starry river under his consciousness.

At that moment, Li Yi felt excitement.

He understood: the half-coin in his hand was truly a broken marvel, capable of generating its own energy field to purify polluted spiritual energy. If so, his cultivation speed would skyrocket.

But now was not the time for excitement.

Li Yi attempted to guide that energy with his will.

At first, the energy showed no change—but soon, several points of light, as if drawn by an invisible force, slowly drifted into his body.

Will-guided absorption succeeded.

He clearly had cultivation talent.

Yet the cosmic energy he had guided into his body immediately leaked out, dissolving back into the gray-white world and being fully assimilated.

"Failed?" He recalled Lin Yue’s words.

Guiding cosmic energy into the body was only the first step—the second was retaining and absorbing it.

If he couldn’t achieve the second step, no matter how much energy he guided, it was useless.

Li Yi tried again.

Several more pure portions of cosmic energy entered his body.

The result was the same: the energy dissipated, then was assimilated, vanishing completely.

But Li Yi was not discouraged. The cosmic energy within that field was infinite to him now—endless trials possible.

Third time, fourth time... On the fifth attempt, a single pure portion of energy was held within his body by his will, not leaking out—it began to melt, as if absorbed, while a cool sensation flooded his mind, bringing an indescribable sense of mental clarity and comfort.

Success!

After five failures, he finally succeeded once.

Li Yi continued cultivating.

At this point, he noticed a few scattered specks of light appearing in the polluted gray-white world—these seemed to be cosmic energy leaking from wormholes, but their quantity was negligible compared to the energy field.

"Why are those few energies moving toward me?"

Suddenly, Li Yi realized: the scattered pure energies in the gray-white world were being drawn into his body by some external force.

"Is Lin Yue helping me guide them?"

He thought this but didn’t hesitate—he tried to absorb them.

Some he absorbed successfully; others failed. The unabsorbed energies were wasted, polluted by the world.

Overall, failure was far more common than success.

Thus, Li Yi gradually sank into cultivation.