Watching the Mountain

Chapter 2: Chapter 1: Bowing to the Sect with a White Head

”I know you find this hard to believe, thinking you can cultivate. And it’s true that it isn’t absolutely impossible, but cultivation is like ascending to heaven one step at a time. Each step forward is a massive chasm.”

”Even if you manage to enter the gate of cultivation through hard work and some luck, so what? Lacking Spirituality and Comprehension, you will never get far.”

Just as despair filled Xu Ran’s heart, Yue Qingyu sighed softly and continued.

”Our meeting must be fate. Very well, in that case, I’ll teach you a Cultivation Technique. Once you’ve tried to cultivate, you will understand what I mean by ’Spirituality’.”

”If you can successfully begin cultivating through your own efforts and reach the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer, that will prove I misjudged you. When that time comes, you can find me at the Profound Pure Sect, and I will personally recommend you for entry.”

After she spoke, she stepped forward, extended a finger, and tapped Xu Ran between the eyebrows, transmitting a Cultivation Technique called the Five Elements Breathing Spell.

Next, she glanced around and magically drew a piece of withered wood to her. Using her finger as a sword, she carved it into a Wooden Token, then channeled her Spiritual Power to engrave the word ”Yue” onto it.

She handed the Wooden Token to Xu Ran, saying, ”When you get to the Profound Pure Sect, just show them this token.”

Yue Qingyu’s actions came as a huge surprise to Xu Ran. He had assumed her earlier words meant she was rejecting him outright and never imagined she would do this.

Just when all hope seemed lost, a new path opened up.

He hurriedly bowed in gratitude.

Yue Qingyu simply waved his thanks away. She remained in the village for a few more days to ensure it was safe before leaving with Xiaoque’Er.

As they were leaving, Xiaoque’Er clung reluctantly to Xu Ran’s arm, bawling as she said:

”Brother Xu, you have to cultivate hard and get to the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer as fast as you can, okay? You have to give Senior Sister Yue a big surprise! Make her look down on you! Hmph, hmph.”

”You have to be quick, okay? I’ll be waiting for you at the Profound Pure Sect.”

Xu Ran merely smiled faintly at Xiaoque’Er’s petulant words. He bore no grudge against Yue Qingyu; on the contrary, he was deeply grateful that she had been willing to leave him a path to cultivation, even in such a situation.

’This is a great debt, one I must never forget.’

He patted Xiaoque’Er’s head, offering a few words of comfort and encouragement, then gave Yue Qingyu another deep bow.

Yue Qingyu gave a slight nod, then summoned her Flying Sword. With Xiaoque’Er in tow, she transformed into a streak of light and vanished from Xu Ran’s sight.

...

Perhaps Yue Qingyu’s assessment had been correct. A period of time passed, and although Xu Ran focused on studying and comprehending the Cultivation Technique she had left him, he was still completely unable to take the first step.

He recognized every word in the Cultivation Technique and could generally grasp their meaning when read together, yet he simply could not perceive the existence of the Heaven and Earth Spirit Qi as the text described, nor could he step through the gate of cultivation.

However, Xu Ran was not in a hurry.

’Thinking about it now, I understand why she taught me the Cultivation Technique. She wanted me to see how difficult it was and give up on my own.’

But Xu Ran had no intention of giving up. He wasn’t in a hurry, either. He believed he would definitely succeed.

He possessed a Longevity Dao Fruit, which granted him eternal life. Aside from allowing him to adjust his apparent age, it had no other effects.

Xu Ran refused to believe that with an infinite lifespan, he would be unable to even reach the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer.

Thus, still unable to take the first step, he temporarily set aside the Cultivation Technique and left Xu Family Village.

It wasn’t that he had given up on cultivation; rather, he was thinking about what Yue Qingyu had said.

According to her, he was like an adult with a fully formed worldview, lacking the innate nature of a child—something that couldn’t be changed through study later in life.

This so-called innate nature was, by definition, something one was born with.

’And it’s true. I’m living a second life, after all. I’d already grown up in my past life, had my rough edges worn smooth by hardship. How could I possibly still have the innate nature of a child?’

But Xu Ran was unwilling to give up just like that. He decided to try and reshape his worldview in his own way.

After leaving Xu Family Village, he moved to a city and started a business. Relying on memories and knowledge from his past life, he became one of the wealthiest men in the region in just a few years.

He then used his wealth to collect books from this world, hiring tutors to give him lessons.

Astronomy, geography, historical anecdotes, Tao Scriptures and classics—he devoured every book he could find, studying them with intense focus.

He would use the knowledge of this world to wash away the preconceptions of his last one.

This was the method he had devised. While it couldn’t restore a child’s innate nature, it could wash away some of the cognitive barriers obstructing his cultivation.

His method may have been a bit crude, but there was no denying that it was effective.

After several years of study, on a certain night in the tenth year since he had parted ways with Yue Qingyu, Xu Ran was reading a Tao Scripture when he had a sudden epiphany. He finally gained some insight into the Cultivation Technique that had been utterly incomprehensible to him before.

Riding that flash of inspiration, he successfully sensed the presence of Heaven and Earth Spirit Qi. After several months of arduous cultivation, he broke through to the Qi Cultivation First Layer, officially becoming a Cultivator.

After officially becoming a Cultivator, Xu Ran assumed all he had to do was continue cultivating step-by-step.

It was only then, however, that he truly began to appreciate the importance of what Yue Qingyu had called Spirituality and Comprehension.

He had once believed that so-called cultivation was simply a matter of methodically refining and accumulating Heaven and Earth Spirit Qi, converting it into one’s own Magical Power and Spiritual Power.

He thought that as long as one had enough Spiritual Qi and resources, cultivation progress would be as easy as splitting bamboo.

But after becoming a Cultivator, he realized just how ridiculously wrong he had been.