"Hoo, is this what it feels like to have spiritual energy enter the body? Such a wondrous feeling, as if I've ascended."
"The only downside is that my legs have gone numb from sitting so long."
Ling Feng opened his eyes, exhaling a breath of turbid air. This was the impurity expelled as natural spiritual energy transformed into true qi.
Feeling the wisp of true qi in his dantian, Ling Feng was extremely excited.
"This first step, spiritual energy entering the body, is complete. I've now officially stepped onto the threshold of a cultivator, becoming a cultivator in the first stage of Qi Refining."
"I've mastered the simplest breathing technique. Next, I can try the Five Elements Auxiliary Cultivation Method for gold, wood, water, fire, and earth."
Ling Feng attempted to control the wisp of true qi in his dantian.
At first, Ling Feng thought it would be difficult, but he soon discovered that the wisp of true qi was like a part of his body, easily controlled.
Looking at the white gas in his palm, Ling Feng felt a sense of accomplishment. He quickly retracted the true qi back into his dantian.
He dared not be careless. This single wisp of true qi had cost him great effort to obtain. What if it disappeared later?
"Huh? Why is the sun setting so quickly? Have I been cultivating for this long?"
After cultivating, Ling Feng finally noticed that the sun had disappeared from the sky.
However, there were still orange hues of twilight painting the sky, signifying the time of sunset.
It was equivalent to around five or six in the evening.
"I didn't expect cultivating to take four to five hours. It truly takes a lot of time."
"Just reaching the first stage of Qi Refining took so long. Future cultivation will only become more difficult, and advancement will be even slower."
Ling Feng clenched his fists. He felt a surge of power throughout his body.
"Right, let me check my character status panel."
Ling Feng remembered that the system came with a character panel, allowing him to check his personal information.
With a thought, a semi-transparent virtual panel quickly appeared before Ling Feng.
[Host]: Ling Feng
[Level]: Qi Refining Stage One
[Wishes]: 0
[Spiritual Root]: All-Heaven Spiritual Root (The quality of a spiritual root determines the speed at which one cultivates elemental techniques. An All-Heaven Spiritual Root signifies exceptional talent in cultivating all elemental techniques, a prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years.)
"It seems I'm a rare prodigy, but why is it taking me so long to reach the first stage of Qi Refining?"
Ling Feng grumbled. Others achieved it in an instant, while he spent four to five hours just to reach the first stage of Qi Refining.
[Host, the All-Attribute Heavenly Spiritual Root is very powerful. You can quickly comprehend any elemental technique. Furthermore, the true qi in your body is far more abundant than that of others at the same level. However, the only drawback is that cultivation is significantly slower than others.]
"I understand. It's like others can fill a cup and then move to a larger one, while I need to fill many cups, and only when all of them are full can I get a new batch."
Ling Feng articulated his understanding, and the system readily agreed with his analogy. That was roughly the meaning.
After communicating with the system, Ling Feng looked up at the sky again.
By now, the sky had completely darkened without him realizing it. Countless stars twinkled, like innumerable silver pearls embedded in the deep black night.
The star-studded sky made Ling Feng's eyes shine.
"It's so beautiful, far more so than the night sky on Earth. This is my first night in the Teyvat continent after transmigration, a truly memorable day."
Ling Feng returned to the dilapidated tent, lay down, covered himself with a straw mat, and rested his head on his hands, gazing up at the star-filled sky. He quietly admired the beauty of the night sky, something he had never seen on Earth.
"Such a scene of a sky full of stars is now rarely seen, even in sparsely populated rural areas," Ling Feng exclaimed with a sigh.
This was inevitable due to technological advancement. The development of technological civilization demanded too many resources, damaging the natural environment. As a result, people could no longer see the starry skies of the past.
Unlike cultivation civilizations, even technologically advanced cultivation civilizations had a much better natural environment than Earth's technological civilization.
As he watched, Ling Feng slowly drifted off to sleep.
As for why he wasn't worried about monster attacks, this was an immortal realm where the probability of monsters existing was astronomically low.
...
In the cave dwelling of the Cloud Retainer, the esteemed Adeptus, Cloud Retainer, wore an expression of shock, as if she had witnessed something unbelievable.
"I never expected a person from another world to possess the art of cultivation!"
As one of the Three-Eyed Five-Worshipped Adepti, Cloud Retainer could naturally sense the anomalies in spiritual energy caused by Ling Feng's cultivation.
Logically, unless an Archon's Vision user was employing elemental power, it was virtually impossible to cause such a stir in spiritual energy.
While they, the Three-Eyed Five-Worshipped Adepti, also possessed Visions,
they could absorb natural spiritual energy to power their own immortal energy and elemental abilities even without a Vision. Combining them with the elemental power of a Vision would further enhance their corresponding immortal arts.
These Adepti were elemental beings, often beast-like, and were inherently sensitive to elements. Their physical bodies were also stronger than humans', allowing them to withstand spiritual energy.
Human physiques were weak, and any attempt at cultivation would result in a catastrophic explosion. Only those with an Archon's Vision had a chance of successfully cultivating.
However, even then, reaching their level of mastery was difficult. Their understanding of nature differed. Animals were more attuned to natural changes, which is why they fled before disasters.
Humans had lost that innate sensory ability, unable to anticipate natural changes.
Before Ling Feng began cultivating, Cloud Retainer had sensed him and confirmed he was an ordinary human, not some other life form, and he didn't even possess an Archon's Vision.
Yet, he had now successfully absorbed spiritual energy without exploding. This made Cloud Retainer utterly incredulous.
"I must inform the Geo Archon of this matter."
Cloud Retainer immediately contacted the Geo Archon.
In the guest bedroom of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Zhongli listened to Cloud Retainer's telepathic message and learned that Ling Feng could cultivate. Zhongli's usually placid expression shifted slightly.
He was mildly surprised that an ordinary person like Ling Feng could embark on the path of cultivation.
However, remembering that Ling Feng was from another world, their physiques might differ from humans of Teyvat. Thus, his ability to cultivate was not entirely unacceptable.
"If that is the case, you may attempt to take him as a disciple of the Adepti, with each of you teaching him your respective immortal arts."
"If he agrees, that would be best. If not, it is of no consequence."
Zhongli's voice echoed in Cloud Retainer's mind.
"Your command is my will."
Cloud Retainer replied, and the telepathic transmission ceased. She closed her eyes to rest, as it was nighttime, and taking a disciple would not be suitable in the middle of the night.
"Perhaps I should test this individual. If his talent and character are up to par, and in the future, when I entrust Liyue to its people, perhaps Liyue might gain another guardian to protect its safety."
Zhongli gazed at the high moon hanging in the sky, and at... the Celestial Islands.
Ling Feng was likely unaware that he had already caught the attention of a deity. He was currently sleeping soundly, snoring away.
Time flowed by, and the night passed quickly.
In the early morning, all was silent. A faint glow appeared on the eastern horizon, cautiously seeping into the pale blue sky. A new day was gradually approaching from afar.
Ling Feng had also woken up. He was now sitting cross-legged on a rock, facing the sun, circulating his breathing technique.
In the morning, as purple qi flowed from the east, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was at its most concentrated. Cultivating at this time yielded twice the results with half the effort!
If Ling Feng had not yet fully grasped the Five Elements Auxiliary Cultivation Method, his cultivation speed would have been even faster. With the Yuan Ling Art combined with the "purple qi from the east," one minute of cultivation would yield the equivalent of over a dozen minutes of regular practice.