Chapter 18
Chapter 18: Cultivation Is Hard?
Han Tian and the others had wanted to go down the mountain earlier. Morning was the best time.
A Wu paused, then nodded. “Sure. I’ll take you. Our spirit fields need more spirit herb seeds anyway. You can come with me.”
Han Tian nodded. “Then Senior Brother, wait a moment. We need to handle the spirit fields first.”
They’d promised to wait for Jiang Ya, so Han Tian and Zhou Xiao still had to kill time until he logged in.
Other players watched with a mix of curiosity and worry. “big shot, you’re going down the mountain already?”
Han Tian nodded. “We’ll follow Senior Brother and take a look. If there aren’t many people, it should be fine.”
The others hesitated, but they were still drunk on the joy of cultivation. Their minds weren’t on danger yet.
Besides, most of them truly didn’t want to go down the mountain.
This wasn’t a normal game. If something went wrong, that was a permanent ban. They had barely entered. Most players didn’t dare gamble.
If a big shot wanted to test the waters, let him bring back intel. Everyone’s tasks were the same for now.
If the game had infinite respawns, they would’ve already sprinted into chaos without fear.
Han Tian tested his spirit root as well. No surprise—purple.
A Wu looked both impressed and regretful.
“The earlier talent is found, the better,” he explained. “If you awaken it late, you’ve already missed the best years. Great sects don’t usually take people like that unless the talent is exceptional—orange, at least.”
Gold spirit roots were another matter entirely. If you had that, it didn’t matter when you were found.
Spirit root ranking existed for a reason: the better your spirit root, the more spiritual qi your body could hold, and the easier it was to break through realms.
That was talent.
Comprehension was something you were born with. Sometimes you could have great talent and terrible comprehension, and you’d still get stuck.
That was why so many people ended up in small sects.
And once you were there, with poor resources and weak spiritual qi, advancement slowed even more. A vicious cycle.
Great sects monopolized the best lands and the best resources. Small sects couldn’t even sip the leftover broth.
Disciples from great sects stepped out wrapped in treasures.
Longevity Sect?
Raised by nature. Barely getting by.
Han Tian and Zhou Xiao chose two spirit fields next to each other.
The land didn’t care about water or terrain. Once you opened it, you could plant. Growing herbs only required one thing: spiritual qi.
As they walked, Han Tian asked, “Do you feel any changes after logging in?”
“Yeah,” Zhou Xiao said, breathing in. “I can see more clearly. I’m nearsighted in real life. I never dreamed I’d see this clearly without glasses.”
Han Tian exhaled slowly. “Same. This game is so real it’s… unsettling.”
Except there was no pain.
And after eating, they didn’t seem to need the bathroom.
Everything else felt disturbingly, perfectly normal.
Zhou Xiao laughed. “Even if it’s real, being able to cultivate is still unreal.”
Han Tian’s gaze lifted to the far horizon. “What’s more shocking to you—cultivation itself, or the existence of this game?”
Zhou Xiao blinked. “Is there a difference? They’re both shocking.”
Han Tian said softly, “From the moment this game appeared, the genre didn’t matter anymore. What matters is why it’s cultivation.”
Clouds churned in the distance. Golden sunlight spilled through, turning the mist into pale fire.
It looked like a dream.
And it felt too real to be one.
“The game company is Longevity Sect,” Han Tian continued, “and our sect in the game is Longevity Sect. There has to be something behind it.”
Then he pushed the thought away, forcing himself back to the practical.
“We need to seize this chance. Jiang Ya and Chen Miao Miao—we have to hold onto them. Early on, we need to stick together. Later the game will probably open to more players. Getting first-mover advantage matters.”
Zhou Xiao flashed an OK sign. “big shot, I’m with you. I know Sister Chen Miao Miao. She has a sister who’s one of the female players this time. I have her in my friends list in real life—I’ll pull her in later.”
Han Tian nodded.
They’d already heard the theory from other players: spiritual qi as a key.
Matter conversion.
Simple to understand, like a concept from school.
But understanding a formula and using it were not the same thing.
At the edge of the spirit fields, Zhou Xiao and Han Tian sat cross-legged and started cultivating, trying to get a grip on spiritual qi.
It felt… strange. Like spiritual qi had always been there, like it belonged in their bodies from birth.
Their bodies seemed to form a channel to everything under heaven. All they had to do was follow that channel and control it.
Everything had patterns.
Cultivation did too.
Han Tian’s comprehension wasn’t bad. After a while, he managed to get spiritual qi to circulate smoothly through his body. But using it to interact with the outside world was harder. He ended up sweating heavily.
Still, he could feel it—he was getting it.
And once he sank in, the sensation was addictive.
In real life, Han Tian had graduated from a top university. He’d long returned most of what he learned to his teachers. Back then, he survived by grinding, because he wasn’t naturally gifted at studying. He remembered it as pure exhaustion.
But this?
This was effort that felt worth it.
He didn’t know if his progress was fast, but Zhou Xiao beside him moved surprisingly well.
She’d only just started, yet she quickly grasped the feel of it. She could barely lift a handful of dirt for a brief instant.
“Whew,” Zhou Xiao breathed, opening her eyes. Sweat slid down her forehead, but her smile was fierce. “This is awesome.”
That feeling—controlling spiritual qi—hit something deep in the bones of people raised on stories of cultivation.
It was intoxicating.
Han Tian stared. “Your comprehension is really good.”
Zhou Xiao wiped her sweat and grinned. “Hehe. It’s fine. It’s just… once you touch it, you realize this stuff is slippery.”
Hard to describe.
And while they struggled to describe it, time slipped away. Half an hour passed in a blink.
So it was true—when you cultivated, you didn’t feel time at all.
By the time they looked up, Jiang Ya and Chen Miao Miao had logged in.
Han Tian exhaled. Cultivation wasn’t something you could swallow overnight. Right now, developing the sect mattered more.
He stood and called Zhou Xiao to regroup.