Time carves one's heart

Ancestral Grotto, Sun Lotus City

Bao Zhi was strolling on the street. His classes in the academy have just ended. He was on his way home while replenishing his primeval essence to continue cultivating. This was his daily routine.

He was quite content with his current situation. Life in the academy was very easy. There were only lessons in the morning, followed by lunch, and then he was free to do whatever he wanted. He usually went back home to cultivate. Life in the academy was very monotonous. He was not disturbed by anyone and his cultivation was progressing smoothly.

He suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked at his palms questioningly.

"This monotony. Unknowingly, days fly by really quickly!"

He closed his eyes and recalled the memories of the past hundreds of years while he was refining gu. He was just a will in the refinement formation. Looking back now, each day seemed indistinctly the same.

Now he felt like falling into a similar routine.

"In this incessant sameness, one is in danger of losing the experience of time, which is so closely related to the feeling and instinct for life that the weakening of the first is inevitably accompanied by the sad dimming of the second."

There are many misconceptions among people about boredom.

"It is generally believed that novel, interesting content banishes boredom, i.e. shortens time, and that monotony and emptiness slow down and inhibit the passage of time."

"But this is not necessarily true. Emptiness and monotony may stretch the moment of right now, making it boring, but they can shorten the largest chunks of time, or even make them insignificant."

"And vice versa: the rich, interesting content can shorten the hour or even the day, but when converted into large units it gives breadth, weight, solidity to the passage of time, and so the meaningful years pass much more slowly than the poor, empty, light ones that are blown away by the wind and drift away."

"What one calls boredom, long-windedness, is rather the morbid shortening of time, and the cause of this is monotony; in the uninterrupted sameness even long periods of time shrink in a heart-rending way."

"If one day is like another, then all are like one day, and in complete uniformity, the longest life would feel short and fly by unnoticed."

"Habituation is the drowsiness, or at least the dulling, of the sense of time; it is obviously also based on habituation that one lives their young years slowly, but their later lives are faster and faster, more and more hurried."

"One knows well that introducing new habits, habits of adjustment is the only way to slow down their lives, to refresh their sense of time, to stimulate, strengthen, slow down their passage of time, and thus to renew their zest for life, their sense of life in general."

"This is the crux of every change of place, every change of air, every journey, the secret of the exhilaration of the episode and of variety. The first few days in one's new place of residence are 'youthful', i.e. vigorous, wide-ranging; they last about a few days or weeks."

"Then, as one 'acclimatizes', one notices a slow shortening of the days: those who are hanging on to life, or rather, those who want to hang on to life, are horrified to find that the days begin to ebb and flow again."

"The refreshment of one's sense of time, of course, continues, and when one returns to their regular life after the relaxation, it reasserts itself; the first days at home, after the change, are again experienced in a new, fresh, youthful way, but only the first few: for one gets used to regularity again more quickly than one gets used to breaking it; and if their sense of time has been worn out by old age, or has never been strongly developed, which is the sign of an inherent lack of vitality, it very soon falls asleep again, and after just a day it seems as if one had never been away, and the journey had been nothing but a dream of a night."

"The sense of time is the sense of life's richness and density. The sense of time is not the same as the concept of time, it is the sense of the passage of time."

Bao Zhi was not a time path expert, he was clear on that. But the sense of time was something every living being experienced. It was an aspect that every human eventually encountered during their lives.

Bao Zhi clutched his fists and turned on his heels.

"I'm wasting my time with this way of cultivation. Too much of it is wasted on managing my primeval essence."

He was referring to painstakingly retrieving primeval stones from his Primeval Elder gu. He could not carry enough primeval stones with him, nor could his fake aperture produce his own essence naturally.

If he wanted to cultivate further, he needed to find a way to make the most of his time.

He suddenly had an idea.

"What if... What if I could refine a gu worm that could solve this? It would also be a change of pace for me. I think it would be worth a try."

Bao Zhi sat down at one of the stalls on the street and started to deduce a mortal gu recipe. But he eventually encountered a problem. He needed a rare gu material.

"Leaving out this gu material is possible, but it would increase the refinement steps by two-fold. The success rate would also be lower as a result." - He calculated in his mind.

"I'm not going to compromise on this." - He decided.

Bao Zhi raised his gaze at the sky. His vision landed on the gigantic Azure Crown Oak tree. It was like a mountain towering over the land, piercing through the clouds.

This tree was a landmark visible from the entire grotto heaven.

Bao Zhi estimated the location of Sun Lotus City compared to the tree and where the hidden refinement formation was.

"If I remember correctly, a resource point is nearby, and my movement killer move is already usable."

"This is hitting two birds with one stone." - He finished his meal and stood up confidently.

Next, Bao Zhi headed toward the city gates.

* * * * *

Lingering Mountains Grotto, Icy Peak Mountain

"Sister you got this, the next try will surely succeed." - Encouraged Wen Tu.

Qinyang looked at her brother with a complicated gaze. She couldn't understand this guy's unending positiveness.

"This Qinyang has always written harsh words about him in her diary. Yet he is always there to help..." - She pondered on the history of the previous owner of her body.

"Sister?"

"I'm concentrating, give me some time."

Wen Tu nodded at her.

Qinyang took a deep breath and then breathed out. She lifted her arm again and pointed at Wen Tu once more.

She called out in her mind: "Icicle Gu!"

At a moment's notice a pointy piece of ice condensed out of thin air.

"Go!" - She flicked her finger.

The icicle trembled for a breath of time before it shot out.

It flew at an awkward angle and missed Wen Tu completely.

Crash!

Wen Tu was ready to receive the icicle using his defensive gu. He turned around and saw that the fist-sized icicle pierced into the ground behind him again. There were many similar marks around from before.

"Missed again..." - Qinyang muttered.

"Try again. I know you can do it!" - Said Wen Tu.

"Okay, this time for sure!" - She enthusiastically nodded.

Qinyang activated the Icicle Gu once more. This time the result was even worse.

The icicle was at least three times thicker than the previous one. It was clearly too big to be controlled by her.

"Argh! I hope this won't be a problem when I fight a real battle..." - She complained.

Qinyang sat down in the snow and put her face in her hands.

"Why is this so difficult?" - She muttered.

"Sister, you've used this gu for many years. You just need to remember how you did it before. I'm sure you can do it." - Wen Tu said.

"I'm sure you can do it." - He repeated.

Qinyang stood up and looked at Wen Tu.

"How can you still be so positive? I'm already sure that this Gu is defective." - She lamented, trying to find an excuse.

"You shouldn't think so badly, this Icicle Gu is definitely not a defective Gu. You just need some time to get used to it again. Let's try one more time!"

She readied herself and activated the gu again.

"Take this!" - She shouted and flicked her finger.

The next icicle flew in a high arc over Wen Tu's head.

Crash!

The icicle pierced the wall. A large chunk of the wall fell down.

"No! I missed again?" - Qinyang angrily yelled.

Wen Tu walked towards the wall. He looked at the hole and then looked at Qinyang.

"It's okay, you've tried your best. You'll surely succeed the next time." - He said.

"We should take a short break." - Qinyang suggested with a flustered expression on her face.

"Controlling gu worms is more difficult than I thought. It was never explained really how gu masters did it. It feels like I have another arm I can control, but it's not even attached to me. It's hard to even explain. Like learning to walk again, it will take some time." - She summarized her experiences in her mind.

Wen Tu sat beside her to take a rest. He exhaled loudly.

"You always told me I had to do better. To keep pushing myself to reach your level." - Wen Tu recalled.

"Do you remember how we used to race who could shoot icicles further?" - He asked.

Qinyang nodded slowly.

"Did this happen? Strange. This wasn't mentioned in the diary." - Qinyang thought.

Wen Tu kept silent for a moment before continuing.

"I hated it! I was always the little useless brother that everyone looked down upon. I thought you did it to show off how amazing you were." - He shook his head.

"I was indignant and weak." - He continued.

"I wanted to prove to you, and to myself, that I was better than you. I wanted to beat you in everything. I wanted to be stronger. I wanted to be the one that saved you."

Qinyang was surprised. She never expected to hear him say anything like this.

"Now I saved you! Now I became the better shot... And now I kind of understand it, hahaha. You just wanted me to step out of your shadow, right?"

"You made me the person I am today. Looking back, I wouldn't choose another way even if I could." - He said.

Qinyang looked at him in silence. She was touched by his words.

"I'm sorry." - She said after a while.

"For what? Now I know you were right! This is why I'm not going to let you down when you need me, Qinyang. This brother is here to repay your kindness!" - Wen Tu's expression couldn't be seen as his head hung low, but drops of tears landed in the snow before him.

"Sister, you have to get better again. I won't rest until I get back my brilliant sister!" - Wen Tu stood up and proclaimed his goal as he looked into the distance.

Qinyang sat there silently but she was not unaffected. She felt warmth in her heart as if the cold had melted away.

"This guy... Maybe this place isn't home to just wretched people." - A faint smile appeared on her face as she stood up as well.

"Wen Tu..." - She whispered.

"Yes?" - He turned back to her.

"Thank you." - She said with a sincere smile.

He nodded and turned back to gaze into the distant snow.

"Come on, let's continue training."

* * * * *