vncnus Chapter 2 Cultivation
Chapter 2 Cultivation
Lin Dong turned around and saw that Li Yi had closed his eyes.
Then open your eyes.
Those eyes turned purple again, just like the ones he had seen before.
Lin Dong tensed up and subconsciously took a half step back.
"There's something inside that rock of yours," Li Yi said, his purple eyes scanning Lin Dong.
Lin Dong's heart skipped a beat, and his hand unconsciously pressed against his chest. The stone talisman was hidden close to his body, but Li Yi saw through it at a glance.
"Wh...what is that?"
Li Yi did not answer.
His eyes gradually returned to normal, and he looked like an ordinary person again.
"But that thing is very weak now."
Upon hearing this, Lin Dong remained silent for a moment, then looked into Li Yi's eyes and asked, "What's wrong with your eyes?"
"Double pupils".
"Double pupils?" Lin Dong had never heard of this term before.
Li Yi didn't explain. He turned around, walked to the bedside, sat down, and closed his eyes.
Lin Dong stood there, staring at him for a long time, before finally closing the door and leaving.
Back in his room, Lin Dong lay on the bed, took the stone talisman out of his inner pocket, and examined it over and over.
"Is there something inside?"
He muttered something to himself, brought the stone talisman close to his eyes, stared at it for a long time, but couldn't see anything.
But Li Yi's double pupils... didn't seem like he was lying to him.
"Whatever, we'll talk about it tomorrow."
He immediately placed the stone talisman against his chest and closed his eyes. The stone talisman against his skin emitted a faint, cool sensation.
In the next room, Li Yi was not asleep.
He sat in the darkness, eyes closed, as fragmented images began to churn in his mind again.
A pair of purple eyes, a gigantic Qilin, a beam of light descending from the sky, a woman whose appearance, though blurry, is undeniably alluring, and a child...
He tried to grab one of the fragments to see what it was.
But we couldn't catch it.
Like water flowing through your fingertips, you can clearly feel it, but you can't hold onto anything.
He opened his eyes, touching the burning bone in his chest; in the darkness, his double pupils glowed faintly.
"Double pupils..."
He muttered to himself, his voice so low that only he could hear it.
"Supreme Bone... Qilin Treasure Technique... Heaven-Mending Technique..."
These words came out of his mouth as if he had said them a million times, but he didn't know when he had said them.
And those runes, combat techniques, and so on, were as if they were engraved in his mind.
But he seemed to be missing something.
Li Yi raised his head and looked at the moon outside the window.
Moonlight streamed in, illuminating his face, and his double pupils slowly closed.
The only sound in the room was the even breathing.
The next morning.
Lin Dong, whose whole body ached, finished a set of Tongbei Fist, put away the stone talisman, and left the room.
As soon as he pushed open the door, he saw Li Yi standing outside, his purple double pupils slowly scanning the surroundings.
"What are you doing?" Lin Dong couldn't help but ask.
"look."
Li Yi only replied with one word.
Lin Dong didn't understand and was about to ask when a gentle female voice came: "Dong'er, dinner's ready! Bring your friend along too!"
She is Lin Dong's mother, Liu Yan.
Lin Dong responded and led Li Yi into the main room. Liu Yan, a woman in her thirties with a gentle face, was carrying two bowls of porridge out of the kitchen.
When she saw Li Yi, she immediately greeted him with a smile, "Come and sit down, don't be shy."
Li Yi nodded and sat down at the table.
Breakfast was simple: porridge, pickled vegetables, and a few pancakes. Liu Yan served each of them a bowl, and then placed an extra pancake in front of Li Yi.
"Eat more, you're so thin," Liu Yan said with a smile.
Li Yi glanced at her, a warm feeling rising in his heart, and whispered, "Thank you."
After breakfast, Lin Dong felt extremely sore all over. He had over-cultivated the night before, and his muscles were swollen and painful, making it difficult even to lift his arms.
"I'm going to the back mountain," he told Li Yi, and then walked out.
Li Yi did not follow.
About half an hour later, Lin Dong returned to the courtyard.
Li Yi sat on the steps, looking around idly. When he saw Lin Dong return, a glint flashed in his eyes, and his double pupils stared intently at Lin Dong.
"You've become stronger."
"Uh...hehe." Lin Dong scratched his head, chuckled, and said, "You've been sitting here the whole time, aren't you bored?"
"And could you please stop staring at me with those double pupils? It feels like I'm being stripped naked, ugh..." Lin Dong shuddered.
Upon hearing this, Li Yi withdrew his gaze and remained silent.
Lin Dong didn't care. He walked to the center of the courtyard, got into a fighting stance, and started practicing Tongbei Fist again, almost with all his might.
"Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap!"
Seven shots!
The fist landed and the palm stopped, Lin Dong's face flushed red. Li Yi, sitting on the steps, watched his actions and suddenly asked, "What are you doing?"
Lin Dong wiped his sweat, walked over and sat down next to Li Yi, and said, "Cultivation? You don't remember anything, do you? Do you want me to explain it to you?"
Li Yi was also curious, so he nodded and waited for Lin Dong to continue.
"In the path of cultivation, physical training comes first." Lin Dong pointed to his body. "The first stage is body tempering, which is simply cultivating the body to gradually become stronger. When the muscles, bones, and marrow in the body are strengthened to a certain level, a trace of Yuan Power seed will be generated. Only then can one truly become a cultivator."
"Body tempering is divided into nine levels." Lin Dong held up three fingers. "The first three levels don't have much effect, they just make the body a little stronger. It's only when you reach the fourth level, skin tempering, that the benefits really become apparent. Your skin will become exceptionally hard, and your speed and strength will both increase."
He paused, his tone tinged with bitterness: "I'm currently at the third level of Body Tempering, and I'll be at the fourth level soon. This level of Body Tempering doesn't really depend on talent; anyone can practice it. But the problem is, after practicing it, your body will suffer from strain and needs nourishment from spiritual herbs. If you don't have money to buy herbs, your cultivation speed will be slow, and your injuries won't heal properly."
Lin Dong sighed and said, "To put it bluntly, it's just a competition of who's richer."
"Martial arts are divided into nine grades. The Tongbei Fist I just practiced is only a first-grade martial art."
After saying that, Lin Dong got up and walked to the center of the courtyard to begin his physical training.
Li Yi followed suit and began practicing his physical training, just like Lin Dong.
After a while, Li Yi seemed to sense something, and immediately sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.
He was sensing what this world called "elemental power".
The bone in my chest started to feel hot.
Supreme Bone.
He could feel something seeping out of his bones. It wasn't energy, but something more primal, warm and viscous, seeping from his bones and flowing through his meridians to his limbs and bones.
Lin Dong squatted down to the side and saw that Li Yi's brows were slightly furrowed and a faint light was shining from his chest.
"Are you... alright?"
Li Yi did not answer.
The liquid produced by the Supreme Bone flowed through his body, transforming his tendons, bones, muscles, and skin wherever it passed. It wasn't cultivation, but nourishment. It was like the spiritual medicine Lin Dong had mentioned, but many times stronger.
An hour has passed.
Two hours, three hours...