I'm quitting!

Chapter 4 Cultivation, Initiated!

The waning moon hangs high, casting dappled light and shadow on the bamboo leaves.

Lin Xiaofan was awakened by a sharp pain in his forehead, a pain that felt like someone was repeatedly scraping his forehead with a dull knife. He subconsciously reached out to touch it, his fingertips touching something sticky and damp, mixed with dirt and dried scabs.

"hiss--"

He gasped and tried to sit up, only to find his arm resting on something soft.

Turning his head, he saw Su Qingxue lying beside him, her white clothes covered in mud, and dark red bloodstains still remaining at the corner of her lips.

"Hmm..."

As luck would have it, just as she was watching, Su Qingxue woke up, rubbing her head.

Lin Xiaofan abruptly turned her face away: "Senior sister... I didn't see anything!"

"It's alright." The cold voice was weak. "When life and death are at stake, why bother with trifles?"

Lin Xiaofan glanced over furtively and saw that Su Qingxue had sat up and was adjusting her clothes with trembling hands. Her movements were very slow, as if even raising her hand was extremely difficult. Her usually cold and beautiful face was now flushed with an unnatural blush, whether from her injuries or the embarrassment from just now, it was hard to tell.

"Senior sister's injury...?"

"Your meridians are blocked, and you can't circulate your energy for the time being." Su Qingxue lowered her eyes, avoiding his gaze. "The wound on your forehead is quite serious. If it's not treated properly, it might leave a scar."

She took out a plain white handkerchief from her sleeve, soaked it in the dew from the bamboo leaves, and gently pressed it onto Lin Xiaofan's forehead. The coolness made him shiver, but what unsettled him even more was that Su Qingxue's fingertips inadvertently brushed against his skin; that subtle touch felt like an electric current shooting straight into his heart.

The bamboo forest was so quiet that they could hear each other breathing. Lin Xiaofan smelled the faint fragrance of plum blossoms on Su Qingxue's body, mixed with the smell of blood, which had a strange attraction to it.

"Senior sister..." he began tentatively, "Have you ever felt... that this world is too rigidly bound by rules?"

Su Qingxue's hand paused for a moment, and the bloodstains on the handkerchief spread out in a dark red hue.

"Since I was old enough to understand, I have been seeking enlightenment at the Star Gazing Cliff. Sometimes I see the stars in the sky condense into words, saying, 'Su Qingxue should slay demons and monsters and dance like a phoenix in the nine heavens'... Every time the moon is full, my heart feels like it is being pierced by an ice pick."

She looked up at Lin Xiaofan, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes: "When we met by the stream this morning, your behavior... made me feel a little uneasy. Now that I think about it, it was thanks to that that I was able to confirm the abnormality."

"Do you... know the cause and effect?" She leaned forward naturally.

Lin Xiaofan understood—Su Qingxue had awakened, but she didn't know what it meant.

After much thought, Lin Xiaofan only vaguely said, "I don't quite understand either. My ability to perceive the subtleties of the world is entirely due to my innate ability to see what ordinary people cannot."

Su Qingxue remained silent for a moment, then fumbled in her robes and placed an ice crystal jade pendant into his hand: "You have done me a favor, this can protect your heart meridian, consider it a token of my gratitude."

The jade pendant felt cool to the touch, as if a cold current circulated inside.

Lin Xiaofan tried to clench his fist and felt the cool sensation spread, which lessened the pain in his forehead.

Just then, the rustling of bamboo leaves suddenly intensified.

Su Qingxue's eyes turned cold, and the handkerchief in her hand instantly transformed into a white ribbon, wrapping around the ankle of a pale yellow figure and pulling the person out of the bamboo bushes.

"what!"

With a startled cry, Shan Ling'er stumbled and fell to the ground. The lid of the food box in her arms was lifted, and the sweet aroma of osmanthus cake filled the air.

Lin Xiaofan and Su Qingxue tensed up at the same time, staring warily at the uninvited guest.

Shan Ling'er?

Lin Xiaofan secretly activated his Eye of Truth and saw that the girl's head was clearly marked with "Kind Junior Sister" and there was nothing unusual about it.

"Junior sister, what brings you to the back mountain in the middle of the night?"

He stepped forward to help Shan Ling'er to her feet. She brushed the grass clippings off her clothes, her cheeks slightly flushed. "I...I came here specifically to congratulate Senior Brother Lin on his first victory."

Holding up the food box, her voice trailed off: "I was passing through the bamboo forest when I heard a noise, so...so I came to check..."

Her curious gaze shifted between Lin Su and Lin Xiaofan, finally settling on their mud- and blood-stained clothes. Her face flushed red, then paled, and then flushed again. Especially when she saw Lin Xiaofan's muscular chest revealed by his open shirt, she abruptly covered her eyes and took a step back, crying, "I...I'm sorry to bother you!"

"Stop!" Su Qingxue said coldly. "What you see is nothing more than healing."

Shan Ling'er peeked through her fingers and whispered, "Does healing... require undressing?"

Lin Xiaofan looked down and realized that his belt had come undone, so he hurriedly tried to tie it back up. This scene, witnessed by Shan Ling'er, further confirmed her frivolous suspicions.

"Senior Brother Lin was truly impressive today..." She tried to change the subject, "The elders are all talking about that sword strike that cleaved the heavens, shattering Senior Brother Shi's invincible Dao heart..."

"Whoa..." Lin Xiaofan scratched his head, secretly lamenting: It seems I've gone a bit too far. I hope I don't attract some old monster.

"Ah... I almost forgot." Shan Ling'er took out osmanthus cake from the food box and handed it to Lin Su and the other person.

"Thank you..." Lin Xiaofan took a bite and stared intently at Shan Ling'er: The Script Management Bureau has not continued to send "correctors"... Could it be that frequent "domination" would affect the script, so they are hesitant to act?

After finishing our desserts, the moon began to set in the west.

"Ling'er..." Su Qingxue took a few steps closer, "What happened tonight must not be told to anyone."

Dan Ling'er nodded, not quite understanding, and before leaving, she handed Lin Xiaofan a new handkerchief: "For bandaging... use this to keep it clean."

Only after that petite figure disappeared into the depths of the bamboo forest did Lin Xiaofan notice the crooked character "Fan" embroidered on the corner of the handkerchief.

Su Qingxue caught a glimpse of this, and a flicker of emotion crossed her eyes: "So, Ling'er has some feelings for you?"

"Don't tease me, senior sister," Lin Xiaofan said with a wry smile. "This must be the 'Fan' in 'Ordinary Heart'."

Su Qingxue gave a soft snort, her fingertips secretly fiddling with the hem of her dress: "An ordinary heart...that's a good phrase." She suddenly became serious, "You've been observing Ling'er repeatedly, do you suspect there's something wrong with her?"

"Hmm..." Lin Xiaofan pondered for a moment, "I only have some guesses for now."

At the fourth quarter of the hour of Zi (11:45), the old and the new give way to the new.

Lin Xiaofan walked Su Qingxue for a while, then stepped onto the bluestone path alone.

After turning a corner, the old servant stood on the steps, his bamboo broom scraping against the stone, making a "swish" sound, unhurried and slow, as if he could sweep until the end of time.

Lin Xiaofan stopped and looked up. The label above the old servant's head had been removed, and the words "Pending Activation" had been removed.

He stepped forward slowly and bowed silently. The old servant did not look up, but the broom made an extra circle around his feet.

Just as the two brushed past each other, Lin Xiaofan felt a chill in his palm, as if a hard object had quietly slipped inside. His expression remained unchanged, and he naturally tightened his grip.

Back inside, after closing the doors and windows, he could finally see by candlelight—a marble wrapped in coarse straw paper, with three-dimensional stars carved inside, shimmering with a ghostly blue light.

There was only one line of text on the paper:

"Do not ask, do not speak. The leaping marble can shatter in a moment of panic."

"An escape tool?" Lin Xiaofan stroked the surface of the marble, the cool touch seeping into his fingertips.

The old servant had never made any contact before. Was his delivery of this item a gesture of goodwill or a test?

He sighed and put the marbles into his pocket.

Neither the former editor-in-chief, Lao Pu, nor the newly awakened Su Qingxue can be fully entrusted for the time being... one must be strong oneself to succeed.

You might get away with it today, but what about next time? The world isn't friendly, especially with that mad dog, the "Script Management Bureau," deliberately targeting you...

"No matter what, with the cheat code for cultivating immortality, the advantage is mine."

He pulled out the "Basic Cultivation Manual" he had "borrowed" from the library from under the bed. The cover of the book had glaring red words floating on it: "Extra roles are not qualified to read cultivation classics."

"Always turning to the first page? Hmph, times have changed."

Lin Xiaofan chuckled and activated his Eye of Truth. The red characters dissolved, revealing tiny, fly-like characters:

"At the beginning of cultivation, one can reach the Reflection Stage and the Enlightenment Stage. The Reflection Stage is when a lotus flower blooms in the dantian, illuminating one's true nature..."

He sat cross-legged, sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth according to the instructions in the mental cultivation method.

However... the spiritual energy in the back mountain was thin, and there was only a faint warmth in my dantian, which vaguely condensed into the phantom of a lotus seed, but it was extinguished as it swayed.

"This crappy place has a lower concentration of spiritual energy than a WiFi signal..."

Lin Xiaofan thought to himself, but dared not raise his voice.

"Hmm..." He rested his chin on his hand, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the slowly setting waning moon. His eyes lit up, and an idea came to him.

"Yeah! The number of 'atmospheric narration' comments has been refreshed, let's do something funny!"

He cautiously defined the scope: "This house gathers the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and condenses the essence of the sun and moon..."

Lin Xiaofan thought of almost every good word that wouldn't attract attention from outsiders.

After he finished reciting it, a strange phenomenon occurred.

The candlelight flickered on its own without wind, condensing into a bluish-white pillar of light that hung from the roof beam; dewdrops clung to the spiderwebs in the corner, refracting a rainbow of colors; and moonlight seeped through the cracks in the window, slowly flowing and gathering into streams on the ground.

The beam of light dissipated upon touching the wall, and the dewdrops left no trace upon landing—within the strictly defined area, no unusual phenomena were ever leaked out.

Lin Xiaofan sensed it again, and this time it was completely different!

The illusory image of the lotus seed quickly solidified, expanding from the size of a grain of rice to the thickness of a thumb.

To my delight, the wound on my forehead healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, the scab fell off, and no trace was left.

"That's amazing?! Even the paradise of immortals couldn't be better than this..." Lin Xiaofan touched his smooth skin. "Sorry, Lao Xian, I misunderstood you. This time next year, I'll definitely burn the biggest incense for you."

He was immersed in a wondrous state, cultivating frantically, completely unaware of the passage of time.

At dawn, while others would need at least ten years to reach the Perfect Illumination Stage, Lin Xiaofan accomplished it in a single night.

"Hoo..." He breathed a sigh of relief, slowly lifted his eyelids, a glint of light flashed in his eyes, and looked around. The strange phenomena had all faded away.

"It seems... this is the only way to end it for now."

Tap...tap...

Just as Lin Xiaofan was pondering how to absorb spiritual energy into his body and break through his bottleneck, extremely light footsteps came from outside the door and stopped three zhang away.

Pfft!

His heart tightened, and he quickly clutched the leap marble in his pocket, quietly moving towards the crack in the door.