The night passed quickly. The next morning, I deliberately woke up a little earlier and went to the beach.
By then, everyone had already arrived and were transporting sand from the city to the beach.
After a brief greeting, I found Lin Chun.
"How is it going?" I asked.
"The earliest arrivals were Shen Zhi, then Zuo Qing and Bei Chi," Lin Chun said, glancing at Chen Ran and Bai Ran. "They two came much later..."
I nodded. I was quite familiar with them and could basically understand what they were thinking.
After all, I hadn't shown them anything tangible so far, which was a torment for them.
It was difficult to pursue something ethereal, requiring immense willpower and sufficient faith in me.
Only with these prerequisites could one persevere.
But these were precisely what I needed, so I couldn't go easy on them.
Another full week passed.
The tasks performed every day during this week were largely the same.
Besides the basic tasks of counting sand, transporting sand, moving stones, and even sweeping and picking up trash... there was nothing else.
It was dull, boring, and offered no training whatsoever.
"Alright, everyone did well today. You don't need to come so early tomorrow. The cleaning of the city has already been done," I said, standing by the beach and looking at the five people in front of me. "I haven't decided what to do tomorrow yet. I'll inform you when I get here!"
"You can all go back and rest now!" I said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Chen Ran finally couldn't sit still. "Lu Ge, although I don't know what exactly you want us to do, we've been doing these very boring tasks for so many days, and I feel they have no training value at all..."
"I don't think what we're doing can make us stronger. I even..." Chen Ran hesitated, then spoke his mind, "feel like I'm being toyed with like a monkey..."
Hearing this, Lin Chun's expression changed slightly. He stepped forward to speak, but I stopped him.
"Hmm, I understand... Anything else?" I asked.
"Lu Ge... you suggested changing the training program before. If you continue with these boring exercises tomorrow, I might not participate..." Chen Ran said apologetically. "If I spend this time doing push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups, I feel my strength would improve faster than this way..."
"The training for the next phase will be the same," I said very seriously. "If you wish to leave, I won't stop you, and it won't affect our relationship. Everyone has their own choices!"
"Then I'm sorry, Lu Ge..." Chen Ran smiled. "I won't come tomorrow!"
The other few wanted to persuade him, but after a moment's hesitation, they remained silent.
"Anyone else?" I continued to ask. "If you want to leave, you can do so at any time. I won't force anyone, and your departure will absolutely not affect our relationship. It will be the same as it was before, and will be the same in the future!"
At this point, Bai Ran also stood up. "Lu Ge, I won't come tomorrow either. I feel this kind of training is meaningless, and I haven't felt any improvement..."
"Hmm..." I nodded.
"I truly crave strength, but I believe this requires a scientific training method and useful techniques. However, simply sweeping, picking up trash, counting sand, and moving stones... I don't think it can achieve that goal..." Bai Ran said with a smile.
"I understand," I nodded. "If anyone else wants to leave, please do so quickly..."
No one else spoke at this moment.
"Alright, then we'll continue our training tomorrow," I said. "Tomorrow, we'll continue counting sand!"
After speaking, I turned and left directly.
The current outcome was within my expectations. The reason was simple: not everyone possessed such patience, nor did everyone have such determination.
However, cultivation requires patience and determination.
And I needed them to trust me implicitly.
The departure of Chen Ran and Bai Ran was not necessarily a bad thing for me.
Thus, another week passed. This week, the training content was virtually identical to the previous one, even more tedious.
Now, there were even more boring training tasks like counting the leaves on a tree, then plucking these leaves and arranging them neatly in one place...
These training exercises sounded like a child playing house.