28: Chapter 28 Only with a clear mind can one move forward without hesitation.

"I did see it once from a distance," Wang Gang's gaze drifted towards the Heifeng Mountain in the distance, seemingly lost in thought.

"That was a Wild Boar King, even larger than the previous wolf king.

It merely bumped into a tree, and a tree that two people couldn't encircle fell.

I was so scared I didn't dare to breathe until it had completely gone far away before I dared to run back."

"Since then, I've never dared to hunt in that direction again."

At this point, Wang Gang chuckled self-deprecatingly: "I just never thought I'd avoid that wild boar, but not the wolf king. Fate truly is unpredictable."

Lin Ye also fell silent.

After all, strictly speaking, his presence was also a factor in Wang Gang being targeted by the wolf king.

The two then sat by the door, chatting occasionally, mostly Wang Gang talking and Lin Ye listening, until the sun slowly set.

"Lin Ye, have you ever thought about leaving Wang Family Village?" Wang Gang suddenly asked, looking at the distant mountains.

Lin Ye was startled, then nodded frankly after a moment.

He had a good impression of Wang Family Village; there were too many lovely people here.

But he always remembered that he was a player.

No player would stay in the Novice village forever; one day, he would have to leave.

Wang Gang didn't seem surprised by Lin Ye's answer.

"Indeed, with your abilities, you shouldn't be stuck in this small mountain gully."

"The Town, the Prefectural City, and even the legendary capital city—those are the places where you can truly shine."

Wang Gang's tone was very calm, as if he was merely stating a fact.

Lin Ye remained silent for a long time, then patted Wang Gang's shoulder:

"Don't worry, Brother Gang, I won't be leaving anytime soon. I'll at least wait until you've recovered."

"Haha, then it seems I need to recover quickly, so I don't delay Brother Lin's future."

...

That night, Lin Ye sat cross-legged on the bed, his heart restless for a long time, so he simply opened his attribute panel.

[Character]: Lin Ye

[Realm]: Unranked

[Essence]: 17

[Qi]: 8

[Spirit]: 5

[Cultivation Technique]: Omitted

[Talent]: Heaven Rewards Diligence (Red)

[Life-Bound Weapon]: ruyi jingu bang (Seal)

Unknowingly, his Essence attribute had reached 17 points, with that extra point coming from the Hundred Refinements Method.

In fact, among ordinary Martial Artists, this was already a quite astonishing number.

Even among the Disciples of major sects who had abundant resources from a young age, few could temper their Physical Body to such an extent at this stage.

This had nothing to do with whether resources were sufficient, but rather with one's individual Physique.

Generally speaking, once the Essence attribute breaks through 10 points, one can begin to Breakthrough to a Ranked Martial Artist.

Because beyond that, the Qi within the body will gradually be unable to sustain the consumption of the Physical Body itself.

Take Lin Ye now, for example; he would often feel a void within his body, a sign that Qi and Essence were about to become unbalanced.

If not for the wolf king essence blood and wolf king meat sustaining him, he might have starved to death due to insufficient energy replenishment.

But this method is ultimately a temporary solution, not a fundamental one.

Ultimately, it still relies on Qi to support the energy consumption of the Physical Body.

"Perhaps this is what Taoists call 'too much is as bad as too little,'" a hint of understanding rose in Lin Ye's heart.

Originally, he planned to desperately Cultivate the Body Tempering Method, raising his Essence attribute to an unprecedented level before attempting a Breakthrough.

As it turned out, he had overthought things.

If even the Disciples of major powers with endless resources couldn't do it, how could he, a nobody with no resources or background, possibly achieve it?

Did he really think he was the Son of Destiny?

Unless he possessed a special Physique, 19 points was the limit of the Physical Body Lin Ye could reach at his current stage.

"But speaking of which, my Breathing Method clearly hasn't broken through, so why did my Qi inexplicably increase by one point?"

Lin Ye suddenly noticed that his Qi attribute had changed from the previous 7 to 8.

Although it only increased by one point, the significance it represented was quite substantial.

This meant that attribute values could be increased not only by Cultivation Technique Realm Breakthroughs.

Through daily Cultivation, attributes could also be improved, but the rate of improvement was very slow.

"What does this count as? Is the attribute increase after a Cultivation Technique Breakthrough actually an additional reward from Heaven Rewards Diligence, not stemming from my personal efforts?

Only this one point of Qi that has now increased is what I genuinely cultivated?"

His mindset collapsed.

How could he ever proudly say in the future that everything was the result of his hard work and sweat?

"Eh? No, who says that increasing attributes through talent doesn't count as one's own effort?

This is called extraordinary talent!"

Lin Ye quickly convinced himself.

After all, a small cheat isn't a cheat.

It's my own talent, why shouldn't I use it?

However, what Lin Ye didn't know was that the reason he could Cultivate Qi on his own in such a short time was entirely due to the sufficiently high Realm of the Basic Breathing Method.

Therefore, from this perspective, even this bit of Qi was still cultivated thanks to the benefit of Heaven Rewards Diligence.

Without Heaven Rewards Diligence to improve his Cultivation Technique Realm, he would probably still be slowly lingering in the Novice stage by now.

Closing the panel, Lin Ye shut his eyes, the conversation he had with Wang Gang earlier echoing in his mind.

As his Qi attribute gradually approached the 10-point mark, Lin Ye knew that he was not far from becoming a Ranked Martial Artist.

At the same time, he also understood that once he successfully became a Ranked Martial Artist, it would be time to formally leave Wang Family Village.

But leaving quietly like this didn't align with his grateful nature.

Therefore, he decided that before leaving, he must do something more for Wang Family Village.

For example, clearing out the beast groups on Heifeng Mountain, so they wouldn't occasionally descend to harm the villagers.

Also, there was the Wild Boar King that Wang Gang mentioned today.

From the description, it was most likely a mutated beast, and its strength might even be greater than the wolf king's.

And since it had appeared on the outskirts of Heifeng Mountain before, there was no guarantee it wouldn't lead its pack down the mountain to rampage someday.

This was a potential threat that had to be eliminated.

Of course, Lin Ye knew his limits.

With his current strength, dealing with mutated beasts was still a bit difficult; he couldn't always rely on the ruyi jingu bang, could he?

It would be best to wait until he became a Ranked Martial Artist before going to Heifeng Mountain to trouble that Wild Boar King.

Understanding these things, the sense of frustration in Lin Ye's heart immediately vanished, and even his breathing became much lighter.

Silently operating the Basic Breathing Method, Lin Ye quickly entered a state of Cultivation.

Because he had been using the Breathing Method to heal his injuries these past few days, his proficiency hadn't fallen behind much; the progress bar was already about halfway complete.

It was estimated that in another ten days, he would officially enter the Ninth Grade Realm.

By then, his Physical Body would undergo its first true transformation.

This was not comparable to the Physical Body breaking through the human limit.

"Copper Skin and Iron Bones, Impervious to Blades and Spears—what a fascinating Martial Dao Realm."

With a longing for the Ranked Martial Artist Realm, Lin Ye slowly cleared his mind of distractions and completely immersed himself in Cultivation.

The Qi in his body flowed gently with his breathing, a warm current circulating through his Meridians again and again.

Each time the Qi flow circulated, it would grow a little stronger.

Although the increase was very subtle, the feeling of gradually becoming stronger was addictive.

"Proficiency +5"

"Proficiency +5"

"Proficiency +5"

...

The night passed without incident. As dawn gradually broke, Lin Ye slowly opened his eyes and let out a long breath of turbid air.

After a night of effort, the Basic Breathing Method's proficiency increased by a full 12,000 points.

This speed genuinely surprised Lin Ye; it was nearly twice as fast as yesterday.

Logically, his Cultivation Technique Realm hadn't improved, so how could his Cultivation speed suddenly surge by such a large margin?

"Could it be... related to my state of mind during Cultivation?" Lin Ye secretly guessed.

Previously, while his Cultivation wasn't exactly half-hearted, it was mostly done with a mindset of completing a task.

Only last night, his emotions were first fluctuating due to his conversation with Wang Gang, and then became suddenly clear after understanding some things.

As the saying goes, only with an unburdened heart can one advance fearlessly.

Perhaps, the change in his state of mind was the fundamental reason for his surge in Cultivation speed.

"The Martial Dao is truly profound and extensive!"

Lin Ye couldn't help but exclaim.