Chapter 13: Why Not Just Give It a Try

In the afternoon, the playground basked in a warm glow. People lay scattered around, bathing lazily in the comfortable sunlight. Among them, Deluk wasn't the only one lounging; groups of students dotted the area, chatting idly.

Suddenly, something seemed to catch their attention, and they all looked in one direction. Deluk felt a shadow cast over him, blocking the sun.

"What's the matter? Ignoring me again?" a girlish, playful voice chided.

Deluk was puzzled. "Don't you have anything better to do? You've sought me out three times today."

"I did not come looking for you!" Lisa quickly denied, then sat down beside him. "I just came out to enjoy the sun and happened to see you here."

Deluk was confused. "Then why aren't you focusing on your cultivation? I've heard of 'the early bird gets the worm,' but never of 'the early bird sunbathing...'"

His words were swiftly cut off by the girl.

"Wait a minute, who are you calling an early bird?!" Lisa Demergus stared at Deluk intently. "Let me repeat, I am a genius!"

She huffed, "It's mainly because I can't cultivate right now, or else I would be on Greenfield Mountain."

Deluk turned to her. "Why can't you cultivate?"

"I'm missing the essential introductory technique," she explained, propping herself up on the grass and gazing skyward. "A year ago, when I first came to Ronaki, my family had arranged for me to join the Greenfield Mountain sect. But we later found out that everyone's abilities seemed to manifest mysteriously, with no clear method for introducing energy into the body."

She said this with a smile. "But no need to worry. I heard the officials are collaborating with top sects to develop a method suitable for us to introduce energy into our bodies." (introduce she means to make the qi energy more familiar to the body)

"After the college entrance exams, they'll select those eligible for cultivation and teach us all uniformly."

"Then, we'll all enter the official Immortal Cultivation University together."

Lisa said this, glancing at Deluk, who looked utterly astonished, and couldn't help but giggle.

"What, does it sound magical to you? Learning something new, huh?"

Deluk nodded, impressed. "You guys are quite progressive."

"Of course," Lisa replied, as if she had been holding back a lot and finally found someone to talk to. She had a lot to share.

"They even said they want to maintain fairness, ensuring everyone starts on an equal footing."

Deluk shook his head. "That's unrealistic."

The young girl chuckled lightly, "Of course, it's unrealistic. Just considering myself, even though I lack the specific methods to step into Qi cultivation, the breathing techniques Master taught me are key to laying a solid foundation."

"Once we start school, people like me will definitely be miles ahead of the others."

Lisa sighed, "It's a pity our sect forbids sharing these techniques with outsiders."

Hearing this, Deluk smiled.

Her sigh was obviously because of Deluk, unable to pass on the techniques to him.

'But if we're talking about breathing techniques, I knew dozens of the very best ones. Why would I care about these?'

Something crossed his mind, and he curiously asked, "Then how do they judge whether someone has the aptitude for cultivation? Just by looking?"

"How could that be?"

Lisa explained, "Greenfield Mountain has several inherited spirit stones. It's said that just by holding them, you can sense a person's aptitude. It's not very precise, but it's sufficient."

Deluk nodded.

So earth still being in the most primitive stage of cultivation, where methods to nurture disciples were quite rudimentary.

Take the use of spirit stones to measure aptitude, for example. In the ninth era, that was a method used by ancient cultivators.

Holding a spirit stone, if it emits a faint light, it indicates the presence of a spirit root, making one eligible for cultivation.

The brighter the light from the spirit stone, the better the aptitude.

But in Deluk's era of cultivation, they had specific techniques to check one's spiritual root, needing just a glance to know one's aptitude.

For instance, with Lisa Demergus right in front of him, a single glance from Deluk was enough to know the ultimate height she could reach in her cultivation.

Her aptitude was decent, probably up to the golden core stage.

But due to the sparse spiritual energy on earth, this needed to be taken with a grain of salt.

However, these weren't absolutes.

A person's spiritual root could often be altered through various means.

"You seem quite confident about me. What if I lack aptitude?" Deluk asked.

Lisa waved her hand, a smile curling on her lips.

"As I said, you have no idea what saving me means. Even if you really lack aptitude, I can still help you take a shortcut."

"As long as the will is strong, solutions outnumber problems."

In the sunlight, her smile was particularly dazzling.

Deluk watched her quietly for a moment before shifting his gaze.

"Do you want to cultivate Qi?"

Faced with this somewhat bizarre question, Lisa rolled her eyes at him.

"Stop beating around the bush. I'm eagerly awaiting the Qi cultivation techniques," Lisa said impatiently.

"Do you really want it?" Deluk asked with a hint of mischief.

"I do..." Lisa started to reply instinctively, then abruptly stopped herself. Turning to Deluk, her gaze intense and unblinking, she said with a skeptical frown, "Are you just messing with me? The authorities and those top sects have been researching for ages. Do you really have a method for Qi intake?"

Deluk replied calmly, "You must realize that this world of cultivation is new to you, only about half a day old, right?"

Lisa's tone had been mocking at first, but seeing Deluk's serene demeanor, she couldn't help but feel a flicker of uncertainty.

"You can't possibly have a real method, can you?"

Lisa was anxious. She didn't actually believe Deluk had a legitimate technique, but a possibility crossed her mind. She recalled her senior mentioning that although the method for Qi intake hadn't been officially developed, some people had taken unconventional paths, often dark ones.

Like those malevolent cultivators, who obtained methods through questionable means - some from the antiques market, others unearthed from unknown places. But invariably, these methods of Qi intake involved a heinous price – consuming flesh and blood.

Initially, it would just be ordinary birds, but as the practice progressed, the need for blood and flesh grew - from one or two to a whole flock. Eventually, even human flesh, the flesh of fellow cultivators, was required. Breaking through barriers was equally brutal and simple.

Cannibalism, an ultimate evil.

Such paths were never righteous and never ended well. One would either become a monstrous entity, neither human nor ghost, or lose control over the wild and tumultuous spiritual energy within, leading to a catastrophic implosion.

Lisa feared Deluk had stumbled upon such a method and mistakenly thought it beneficial.

Seeing her concern, Deluk smiled and said, "Want to give it a try? It's completely natural and harmless."

Lisa, stunned, repeated, "Natural and harmless...?"

She had never heard such descriptions for a cultivation method before.

Deluk nodded, "Shall we try?"

After a moment of thought and a firm bite of her lip, Lisa decided, reasoning that if anything seemed off, she could simply stop. There was nothing to lose. She was curious to hear what his method was.

"Let's try it then," she said, slightly lifting her chin to meet Deluk's clear, distinct eyes.

"What should I do?"

Deluk, still lying down, stretched lazily and said, "Just meditate as usual."

Though puzzled, Lisa did as instructed. She sat cross-legged on the grass of the playground, beginning her meditation.

Her posture might have seemed odd to onlookers, but no one bothered to ask.

One minute... Ten minutes... Until an hour later, the bell for class rang.

Lisa slowly opened her eyes, only to find Deluk's figure gone.

She felt a sinking in her heart and took a moment to sense any changes in her body. Indeed, there was no change, absolutely none.

"De..luk!"

Biting her lip, Lisa clenched her hand into a fist at her side.