2: Did he really succeed in his cultivation?!

A month flowed by like water. After Lin Fan's injuries healed, Lu Yuchen taught him the Daoist meditation and breathing techniques he had learned in his previous life on Blue Star, to see if Lin Fan could achieve something from it.

Lin Fan sat cross-legged on the bluestone in front of the thatched hut, his backside almost worn smooth.

Apart from his sitting posture becoming more solid—from his legs going numb after half an hour to now being able to sit motionlessly for an entire day without changing expression—he hadn't even caught a glimpse of the so-called "Qi sense."

His mind was as restless as if it had grown weeds.

It wasn't that he couldn't maintain composure; it was that the hope for this thing was too tormenting.

Sometimes he even wondered if his Master was just making fun of him? But then he thought again, it didn't seem like it.

His Master saved his life, healed his injuries, and even provided food and shelter. What was his motive? Just to watch him act like a stone pillar here every day? It didn't make sense.

"The Dao follows nature; it cannot be forced."

Whenever he couldn't help but ask, Lu Yuchen would always dismiss him with that one sentence, his eyes indifferent, as if everything was under his control.

Lin Fan could only swallow his full belly of doubt and anxiety, and continue to sit.

Inside the thatched hut, Lu Yuchen was also feeling anxious.

Damn it, it's been a month, and there's nothing!

Could this kid be a fake? Did I misjudge him as a protagonist template?

On the surface, he was as steady as an old dog, but secretly, he was so anxious he was almost wearing out the pillars of the thatched hut. The System was activated, but his Disciple had no reaction. How was this different from having a warehouse full of gold bars with nowhere to spend them?

"Wait ten more days... no, three days! If there's still no movement in three days, I'll have to think of other methods. I can't really live like a monkey in this broken mountain for a lifetime!"

Lu Yuchen thought fiercely to himself.

Days passed one by one.

Above the mountain peak, the morning glow faintly appeared, and purple Qi came from the east.

Lin Fan, as usual, sat with his five centers facing the sky, his breathing long and steady.

These days, he had gradually gone from initial anticipation and anxiety to numbness, and even some despair.

He no longer deliberately tried to "sense" anything, but merely mechanically repeated the breathing movements. Hatred, unwillingness, confusion about the future—all sorts of thoughts churned in his mind, but ultimately returned to a state of emptiness.

Perhaps, he truly didn't have that Immortal Opportunity.

It was at the very moment his mind completely sank into despair, when all hope was lost.

"Hmm?"

A wisp of warmth, even finer than a spider silk, appeared silently and without warning deep within his Dantian!

The feeling was extremely faint; if his heart hadn't been as dead as ash and his spirit concentrated as never before, he would never have noticed it!

Lin Fan stiffened all over, even his breathing stopped!

He carefully, following the method Lu Yuchen taught him, inhaled...

That wisp of warmth, as if drawn by something, grew infinitesimally stronger! Although it almost dissipated the next second, it... truly existed!

"Qi sense!!"

Lin Fan suddenly opened his eyes, his eye sockets instantly turning red. Immense ecstasy overwhelmed his reason, making him almost want to let out a long howl to the sky!

It worked! I really did it!

At the same time, Lu Yuchen, who was leaning against the doorframe in a daze, heard a "buzz" in his head!

Ding! Detected that Disciple Lin Fan has successfully drawn Qi into his body!

Triggering a tenfold critical return!

Congratulations to the host, you have gained 'Qi Gathering Stage One' Cultivation!

Boom!

A surge of immense and irresistible power exploded out of nowhere within Lu Yuchen's body!

In his Dantian, a tiny Qi vortex formed out of thin air, slowly rotating, and an unprecedented feeling of power filled his entire body!

His five senses were infinitely magnified; he could even clearly hear the rustling sound of a beetle chewing on a leaf in the distant forest!

Holy crap!

It actually worked?!

The stuff I just made up, can it really Cultivate True Qi?!

Lu Yuchen's heart churned, but his face still maintained that profound and unfathomable appearance, though the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.

"Master! Master! I succeeded! I sensed Qi!"

Lin Fan scrambled down the hillside, incoherent with excitement, and plopped down on his knees in front of Lu Yuchen.

Lu Yuchen suppressed the raging waves in his heart and calmly "hmmmed," then extended his hand to offer a subtle support: "Not bad. It wasn't in vain that I had such expectations. Get up."

He paused, feeling the time was right, and began to raise the stakes.

"Now that you have drawn Qi into your body, you are officially considered to have entered the gates of my 'Tai Xuan Immortal Sect.'"

"Thank you, Master!" Lin Fan trembled with excitement.

"This is just the first step in Immortal Cultivation, merely the Foundation." Lu Yuchen paced a couple of steps, then retrieved a piece of prepared beast hide from the hut. On it were charcoal drawings of human meridian charts and incantations that looked like scribbles. "This is the first layer of my Sect's fundamental Mind-Cultivation Technique, the 'Tai Xuan Qi Gathering Art.' Take it and study it carefully. Remember, haste makes waste."

Of course, this was also something he had concocted through guesswork.

Lin Fan received the beast hide as if it were a treasure, his hands trembling, and kowtowed heavily: "This Disciple obeys!"

In the following days, Lin Fan completely transformed into a Cultivation fanatic.

But five days later, he discovered a critical problem.

This "Tai Xuan Qi Gathering Art" felt sluggish everywhere during Cultivation, and several Qi circulation methods simply couldn't connect! It was like a broken bridge; forcefully circulating Qi would only cause the hard-earned wisp of True Qi to run wild.

That day, he finally couldn't hold it in and, with trepidation, sought out Lu Yuchen again.

"Master, this Cultivation Technique... this Disciple is dull-witted, but several crucial points seem... seem to be missing?"

Lu Yuchen didn't even lift an eyelid.

Here it comes!

He had long anticipated this question and had been preparing his answer for several days.

"Missing?" He chuckled softly, then retorted: "What do you think supreme Immortal Arts are? Are they dead things to be followed word for word?"

Lin Fan was stunned.

"Cultivation Techniques are dead, but people are alive." Lu Yuchen stood up, his hands behind his back, perfectly exuding the demeanor of a Grandmaster. "My Tai Xuan Immortal Sect's teaching has always been to impart the essence, not the specifics. Those missing parts are both a test and an Opportunity! It requires the Disciple to complete them with his own Comprehension Ability and perseverance!"

"If you can complete it, you will have walked your own Dao, and the path to Immortality will be within reach. If you cannot, then your Immortal Opportunity has not arrived, and it's better to descend the mountain early than to waste your life."

These words struck Lin Fan like lightning, yet also enlightened him!

So that's how it is!

As expected of an ancient Immortal Sect! Even the transmission of Cultivation Techniques is so... domineering!

This wasn't a flawed Cultivation Technique; this was clearly a supreme test and trust for the Disciple!

"This Disciple... understands!" Lin Fan's eyes instantly changed, his previous doubts swept away, replaced by burning fighting spirit. "Please rest assured, Master, this Disciple will never tarnish the prestige of the Tai Xuan Immortal Sect!"

Watching Lin Fan run back like he was pumped up, to continue studying the "incomplete Cultivation Technique," Lu Yuchen secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Damn it, you scared me... Child of Luck, give it your all! Whether you can complete it depends on your own imagination!"