You always return to the places you tried to avoid.
CHAPTER 34: You always return to the places you tried to avoid.
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The cultivation method that the sect provided to every disciple when they officially joined was the Basic Qi Cultivation Method.
This method essentially taught how to perceive and manipulate Qi, guiding it through one's body and into the Dantian, where it would be gradually condensed until the Dantian was full.
It's like clouds that, once they have condensed enough, turn into droplets of water.
The same process happens in the Dantian.
When a Dantian is completely full, one advances to the second stage of cultivation, the Qi Refining stage, where this condensed Qi is further processed, eventually leading to the third stage of cultivation, improving the Dantian and so on.
Ethan hadn't fully grasped the entire process behind the various stages of cultivation or the reasons for each stage, but that was normal.
Theory helps up to a certain point; only when applied does it become fully understood.
Now that he had entered Body Refining, he had gained a slightly better understanding of the first stage of cultivation.
Currently, his cultivation manual was the basic one, which helped to enter the first stage and explained how to complete it.
For the subsequent stages, he would have to wait until he reached the peak of his current stage.
In other words, not very soon.
For now, he wasn't worried about that.
His concern was something else.
After freeing himself from the worry of not becoming a cultivator before the annual assessment, he had to deal with his second problem.
Resources.
Just like growing a person requires continuous food intake, cultivation also requires resources.
Sure, unlike eating, resources aren't strictly necessary for cultivation.
A person, as long as they are alive, can cultivate by normally absorbing the spiritual energy present in the air, but if they also consume specific materials for cultivation, their cultivation speed would increase.
Being part of a sect provided this benefit.
Not only did you have protection and thus a force watching your back, but you also had teaching and resources given to you.
Of course, this also depended on your cultivation base and latent talent.
A normal person would have limited resources, while a talented person recognized by the sect would have many more resources.
For Ethan, the regular Qi Pill given to every sect member still in the first stage of cultivation was no longer enough.
This was not only because he had awakened and thus needed an extra push for the next levels but also due to his special physique.
"You need at least three times the resources of a normal cultivator to make fast progress in your cultivation," said Bai Yu's calm voice as if it was nothing.
"..."
F*ck!
In the last week, Ethan had cultivated for many hours a day, only to see his Qi bar increase very slowly.
Thinking that his improvement was slow due to his lack of talent, he calmed down a bit, but hearing from Bai Yu that usually, for a normal cultivator, Qi collection was much slower, he couldn't help but curse.
Apparently, if he wanted rapid growth while maintaining stable foundations, he needed more resources for cultivation.
At the end of the month, when he received his monthly Qi Pill, a pill that disciples would consume over several days of meditation, his body consumed it instantly, giving him a mere +5 Qi.
At this point, Ethan realized that if he didn't find a way to earn enough money to afford cultivation resources, he would probably reach the second level of Body Refining only after more than half a year of cultivation, which was good but not enough for him.
If there was one thing he had learned from cultivation novels, it was that unexpected events were always around the corner.
An enemy could attack out of nowhere, a young master could target him for the stupidest reasons, a catastrophe that had awakened out of nowhere could strike, thinking it was the right time to mess everything up.
In short, anything could happen, and for someone like Ethan, who was trying to be ready for any eventuality, he couldn't remain weak and cultivate slowly like others.
So, after considering various things, he made a decision.
***
In the center of Sun City, in front of the entrance to a large dilapidated building, stood a boy with a slightly furrowed face, hesitating to enter.
The boy was none other than Ethan, who was about to go to the Medicine Pavilion for the second time.
It had been more than seven days since the incident with the artifact, and since then, Ethan had not shown up here.
Not only because there were no missions related to the Medicine Pavilion but also because he feared that if Yan Mei saw him, she wouldn't let him go easily this time.
Thinking that after all this time, she might have forgotten about him, he entered.
He gathered his courage and walked with firm steps toward the reception.
After considering various options, Ethan had decided to try alchemy.
It was a profession where, if you were good enough, you could quickly get rich and earn a reputation.
Although in this world the strong ruled, for alchemists, strength derived more from their skill in creating pills and medicines for both cultivation and other purposes.
And this choice was not made only for these reasons but also for another thing.
He turned to see a status screen, which had appeared as usual this morning
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[----------------------------
[DAILY MISSION]
- Become an apprentice alchemist.
REWARDS:
- Pill refining skill (liv.1)
Time remaining: 16:07:26
-----------------------------]
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FRANK_LEE_JUNIOR:
Ladies and gentlemen, I am officially a contracted author!
With this, the first step to becoming a successful author has been completed.
I don't know if it will be thanks to this novel or another one in the future, but sooner or later, I will become good enough to climb all the rankings.
Well, now that I've told myself my bedtime story, it's time to sleep.
See you tomorrow.