"Master, what is this?" Zhang Ergou took the booklet.
On it were written five large characters: "Heaven and Earth Chaotic Scripture".
"This is the cultivation method I practice. This is only the upper volume. Follow the cultivation method above to first cultivate qi, and then come to find me," said Chunyang Sanren, stroking his beard.
"Master, aren't I supposed to cultivate with you?"
"Silly disciple, the most important thing in cultivation is to lay a solid foundation. Laying the foundation is also a stage of self-exploration."
"Only when you thoroughly understand it yourself will your foundation be more stable."
"If you always follow me and ask me whenever you don't understand, it will make you lose the ability to think independently."
"That way, you will become a cultivation tool, and the realms you can reach will be limited."
"I don't want you to be such a person. There can be no shortcuts when laying the foundation. The more detours you take at the beginning of cultivation, the more benefits you will gain."
"Do you understand what I'm saying?" Chunyang Sanren looked at Zhang Ergou hopefully.
"Master, you mean that cultivation is like blacksmith Li forging iron in the village. Only after enduring countless refinements can good steel be forged, right?" Zhang Ergou said after a moment of thought.
"A promising student, haha! I didn't expect Chunyang Sanren to meet such a clever disciple when he went out. This trip was not in vain." Chunyang Sanren looked at Zhang Ergou, liking him more and more.
"Master, when can I cultivate the qi you mentioned?" While Chunyang Sanren was present, Zhang Ergou asked all his doubts. He didn't want to be in the dark when he started cultivating. He might not have the chance to ask Chunyang Sanren then.
"This varies from person to person. Everyone's comprehension ability is different, so their cultivation speed is also different. Back then, it took me more than a month to cultivate qi."
"A month? So long?" Zhang Ergou exclaimed in surprise.
"Stinky brat, do you think cultivation is as easy as eating and sleeping? Some dull-witted people can't even touch the threshold of qi cultivation for decades!"
"It took me more than a month, which can be considered a genius among geniuses. It caused quite a stir back then." Chunyang Sanren's face showed a hint of pride.
"Ah, so Master, you are so powerful. My apologies, I was ignorant." Zhang Ergou quickly changed his tune.
"It's understandable not to know, after all, you've only just started cultivating. It's natural not to know these things. How could I blame you?"
"I knew Master was the best master in the world." Flattery never fails. Since childhood, Zhang Ergou knew how to say the right thing to the right person. Two nice words made Chunyang Sanren smile broadly.
"I am happy today. I will give you this sword, so you will have a weapon for self-defense." As he spoke, Chunyang Sanren conjured a sword out of thin air and handed it to Zhang Ergou.
Zhang Ergou looked at the sword that appeared out of nowhere with disbelief. "Master, what kind of magic is this?"
"Silly disciple, this is taken from a storage ring. Look at the ring on my finger. It has the function of storage."
"When you reach the qi refining realm, I will give you a storage ring as a reward."
"Is that true?" Zhang Ergou's face immediately lit up with joy. This gave him even more motivation to cultivate.
"Of course, how could I deceive a little child like you?"
"Thank you, Master. Please accept another bow from your disciple. I will definitely cultivate diligently and strive to reach the so-called qi refining stage as soon as possible." Zhang Ergou said, kneeling down and kowtowing to Chunyang Sanren again.
"Haha, good. Now you know the importance of qi cultivation and the difficulty of cultivation. Do not seek shortcuts when cultivating."
"You must remember to cultivate diligently and reach the qi refining stage through your own comprehension."
"I will be waiting for you here. Now, you can go down the mountain."
"Master, can I only find you when I reach the qi refining stage? What if I don't reach the qi refining stage in ten years?" Zhang Ergou voiced his worries again.
"Then it can only be blamed on our lack of master-disciple fate. I will only wait for you here for one year. If you do not return to the mountain within a year, it means your cultivation aptitude is limited."
"I will not waste any more time. Only when you enter the qi refining stage will we be considered true master and disciple." Chunyang Sanren looked at Zhang Ergou sternly.
Zhang Ergou now understood the urgency of the matter, which instantly shattered his previous idea of cultivating slowly.
"Alright, Master. I will obey your teachings and strive to enter the qi refining stage within a year." Zhang Ergou solemnly promised Chunyang Sanren. After speaking, he knelt down and kowtowed to Chunyang Sanren three times. Standing up, he walked towards the foot of the mountain.
"Zhang Ergou, you little rascal, you dare to come back? If I don't break your legs today, I won't be surnamed Liu!" Zhang Ergou was about to enter his house with his head down when he was startled. It turned out that the pretty widow Liu Cuilan was standing in Zhang Ergou's yard holding a wooden club, with her younger brother Liu Dafa standing beside her.
"Sister Cuilan, what's wrong? I don't think I've offended you?" Zhang Ergou did not enter the yard immediately, but shouted to Liu Cuilan in the center of the yard from the doorway. If the situation looked bad, Zhang Ergou planned to run away immediately.
"Dafa, tell me what happened?" Liu Cuilan turned to her brother. Liu Dafa's face was bruised and purple, clearly having been beaten.
"Sister, when my companions and I finished chopping wood and came down the mountain, we happened to meet Zhang Ergou. We jokingly called him a commoner, Zhang Ergou."
"Unexpectedly, Zhang Ergou became furious. He first punched me hard in the face, and then, not satisfied, he pinned me to the ground and beat me badly."
"He also said that he would beat me every time he saw me, and that it would be useless even if I told my sister, because my sister wouldn't always be by my side."
"I was angry and argued with him for a couple of sentences."
"Zhang Ergou acted like he had gone mad and pinned me to the ground again and beat me. Sister, look at the injuries on my face, they were all inflicted by Zhang Ergou."
Zhang Ergou remembered that he had only kicked Liu Dafa to the ground, but he was confident in his strength and it was definitely not enough to injure someone. It seemed that this Liu Dafa was trying to frame him. Seeing the marks on Liu Dafa's face that were clearly from a fall, Zhang Ergou realized he had underestimated this kid. To frame him, he was willing to injure himself.
"Zhang Ergou, you commoner, what's wrong with calling you a commoner? How could you be so heavy-handed?" Liu Cuilan glared at Zhang Ergou with her beautiful eyes.