Chapter 27: Mental Force Part 3

After exiting his inner world, Luo Ling sat down in contemplation.

[Meditation] didn’t appear out of nowhere. Although it caught him off guard, now that he thought about it, its entry on Records of Toil should have eventually happened. It was only a matter of time.

[Archery] had already set a precedent. Whenever a skill was practiced to excess, the Records of Toil would capture and inscribe it. Luo Ling had deduced this pattern early on; the only unknown was the precise threshold. So far, he was approximating it in months.

Just as with archery, meditation was something Luo Ling had practiced diligently for months. Initially, it served a simple purpose: to calm his mind, conditioning himself to endure the grueling hours of stillness as he refined his body through mental force.

Unexpectedly, it appeared on his Records of Toil dolling out a powerful boost.

That modest energy intake wasn’t something to dismiss lightly. After all, it was being drawn from thin air itself. Practically free. Once he advanced this skill, its efficiency in absorbing energy would soar, transforming this humble trickle into a substantial potency.

It’s just that, the daunting amount of proficiency required to upgrade dampened his soaring mood.

Settling into a cross-legged position, Luo Ling closed his eyes and let his breath flow, each inhale drawing warmth into his core. A gentle heat pulsed from his chest, spreading through every limb. With each exhale, that warmth transformed, weaving into his reserves, not only replenishing his stamina but soothing the strains his body endured from pushing his vitality to awaken mental force.

The rate of restoration was slow, painfully so. But it was there.

Luo Ling’s consciousness sank into his inner world. He had to see how much proficiency he would be gaining after the successful completion of a routine.

[Meditation (Houtian I)] — Proficiency: 25/100,000

Surprise filled Luo Ling’s heart when he saw the numbers. It had already grown to double digits. Was it the result of a single breath? That’s impossible.

Records of Toil was born from his soul that ascended godhood, even if it was for only a few seconds. To some extent, he understood how it worked. And he was sure a single breath didn’t gain him so many proficiency points.

Then, from where did so many points come from?

Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind. Meditation is about breathing in a relaxed rhythm. But, does it have to be when he sits down cross-legged? Couldn’t it be done through normal breathing, too?

And so, he experimented to validate his conjecture. The result agreed with him.

A complete cycle of breathing offers one proficiency point. On average, a person breathes about twenty to twenty-two thousand cycles daily. That was twenty-two thousand proficiency points obtained without even working for it. Furthermore, each cycle of meditation rewards five proficiency points.

When all of them were combined, the previously daunting target of a hundred thousand points no longer seemed so insurmountable. In fact, it felt almost within reach.

-~X~-

“Big brother, can you hear me? Hello!!”

Luo Ling’s pupils lazily moved, glancing at Xiao Ru who was waving her hand in front of his face. Only now he remembered he was not alone in the backyard and all his impulsive actions must have appeared weird in the eyes of the onlooker.

Luckily, it was only a child. He could fool her without feeling shame.

“I can hear you. Sorry for my abrupt behavior, I just got a sudden inspiration and wanted to verify my guess,” Luo Ling veiled truth with lies, making it sound convincing to the young girl.

“Inspiration! Wow, big brother, you are so smart.” The child gushed, her round eyes sparkling with admiration. “Mother Yi said only geniuses could gain inspirations out of mundane tasks. You must be a genius.”

“It’s okay. Not a big deal,” Luo Ling waved her off and laughed. “Anyway, as I was saying, try this exercise and you’ll see improvement by the third day.”

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“But it’s so hard,” Xiao Ru slumped on the dusty ground, her brows laden in thick beads of sweat. “I can’t believe those people from the Sparta kingdom consider this a warmup. Are they even humans?”

“Maybe, who knows? I’ve never seen them. I only read about them in the books.”

As he talked about Sparta, Luo Ling’s mind drifted off into the memories of his past. Training was not the only thing he was invested in. In his spare time, he liked to spend time with books, reading about history and topics beyond martial arts.

The Sparta Kingdom was a recurring name in the historical records of the mundane world, etched into the library shelves of the martial arts school. It wasn’t their tactics or political influence that earned them a place there, but rather their unique, battle-hardened physique—a natural gift that drew the attention of the Jianghu.

With their fleshy bodies, without a shred of Inner Breath in their system, they could easily contend against even the Martial Grandmasters. It was said that they were blessed by the gods, but Luo Ling was disinclined to agree with such a claim. The existence of gods had never been proven in the Murim.

On the contrary, Luo Ling believed it was their harsh training regimen that forced their Inner Breath to passively strengthen their bodies at the expense of its active existence.

Honestly, Luo Ling wanted to cross blades with their warriors. Unfortunately, by the time he was born, that kingdom had long since vanished into the annals of history.

Their disappearance had been an abrupt affair, leaving many puzzled. An entire island, their Sparta Kingdom, simply disappeared overnight without anyone noticing.

Many claimed a few Martial Transcendents joined forces to eradicate them, but Luo Ling didn’t believe such tall tales. Those Spartans minded their own business and never poked their noses where they didn’t belong. Why would anyone want to find trouble with them?

“They must be brutish people, bald and oily, and taller than a house. Don’t you think so?” Xiao Ru chattered, her tone betraying her frustrations. “Big brother, I won’t become bald and oily, right?”

“Then, you are okay with being taller than a house?” Luo Ling asked, suppressing his bubbling laughter. This girl was rather cute once you get past her emotional walls. Since he had never spent time with her that much, he never got to see this side of the seemingly reserved girl.

“NO!” She all but screamed. “I don’t want that either. People will think I am a monster.”

“But you can easily reach those unreachable shelves in the kitchen.”

“Oh, true. I can steal pickled carrots… err… I mean I can get those jars for the children without needing to bother anyone.” Xiao Ru seemed conflicted, weighing down the pros of cons of being as tall as a house.

-~X~-

While Xiao Ru trained on her own, Luo Ling decided to get his breakfast. He could no longer ignore his growling stomach. After brushing his teeth and getting cleaned, he changed into a fresh set of clothes before showing up at the orphanage diner.

Mother Yi, being the kind matron she was, generously served him five steamed buns and two steaming boiled eggs. Of course, it might also be because she knew of his friendship with Lord Ping’s disciple. Perhaps she thought she could use him to funnel some benefits from the exalted immortal.

Luo Ling never questioned her intentions and enjoyed the generosity as they came.

He didn’t linger in the dining hall, preferring the solitude of his room over the rambunctious kids scourging the hall.

When he stepped into his room, he almost got blinded by a burst of light reflecting off a shiny bald head.

“Gatekeeper Daluo,” Luo Ling said, carefully placing his breakfast on the table before addressing the grinning man in his room. “How many times have I told you to wrap a bandana around your bald head? It’s too reflective.”

“I’m not bald. It’s a fashion choice.” Daluo protested although the grin on his face didn’t wane. “Forget it, a little brat like you who has never stepped out of this backward place wouldn’t understand. But I am not here to discuss my bal- smooth head.”

Daluo eased into the only chair in the room, the ancient furniture groaning under his weight. The blady didn’t care.

“Li Kai has disappeared from the village,” the burly man revealed.

“Oh.” Luo Ling bit into his steamed bun, savoring the crunch of the stuffed vegetables as their earthy flavors blossomed on his tongue. It wasn’t quite up to Madam Wei’s standard, but it was still satisfying, rich enough to keep his spirits high. “Well, that fool simply proved that he got something extraordinary from me. Hopefully, no one will harbor any more designs on me. But…”

Luo Ling narrowed his eyes. “A mere skin of a semi-demonized beast and some pills shouldn’t warrant flee from a well-connected hunter like him. What’s going on here?”

Li Kai was the one who had ambushed him—the same man later cast as a scapegoat in a larger scheme to keep hunters at bay. Luo Ling had arranged for Daluo to spread rumors, claiming that Li Kai had seized everything of value from him after the ambush. The lie was simple but effective; it made Li Kai a target while shielding Luo Ling, redirecting the prying eyes of the greedy bastards elsewhere.

Ideally, it should have ended with a few minor skirmishes, and the issue would be laid to rest.

But things didn’t go the way he wanted.

“Someone spread the word that Li Kai obtained a cultivation manual from you which was gifted by Lord Ping. Not only those greedy hunters but a few… obscure people also joined in the fun to besiege him. Perhaps he felt threatened, he ran away from the village for a while. Not even Turban knows where he went.”

Daluo's complexion looked grave.

“Ling, be careful from now on. Things have escalated out of hand and now some shady people have appeared.”

“These hunters surely have a rich imagination,” Luo Ling sneered. He gobbled up the rest of the buns while his mind went into overdrive, processing everything Daluo said.

The fact that somehow those hunters hit the mark with him getting a cultivation technique surprised him. Even stranger was the fact that, after word of the manual had spread, no one came directly after him. It was as though he had vanished from their radar, while the rumor blazed on elsewhere.

They can’t seriously believe he hadn’t even looked at the manual, can they? It seemed almost too naïve. Normally, after a rumor like that, at least a few reckless types would’ve come after him to try their luck, thinking he might have remembered the contents.

“Strange,” Luo Ling mumbled, and Daluo bobbed his head, echoing his statement.