In the Sky Precepts sect, Head elder Han was cultivating in his residence in silence when his communication jade hummed. He opened his eyes and touched the jade to know what message he received. The message was from the head disciple of Star catching peak.
'Hmm, more spatial disturbances were detected in the Northern lands and they appear every day. This is more common than I thought. Even though spatial disturbances also occur naturally, they don't occur this often. We need to be faster in the investigation, we don't know how bad this could get.'
Done with his thoughts, Head elder Han stood up and walked out of his residence. Looking up in the sky, he took a step and disappeared from sight. A minute later he appeared in front of the Mission pavilion.
There were hundreds of disciples moving in and out of the Mission's pavilion. As soon as the disciples saw Head elder Han, they all cupped their hands in salute.
"Greetings to the Head elder"
"This disciple greets Head elder"
"May the Head elder's cultivation be unobstructed and smooth."
All the disciples erupted in praises and greetings trying to bootlick the Head elder and gain his favor. The Head elder was used to such occurrences for decades now. In fact, the same thing would occur if any other high ranking elder would appear in public.
Elder Han paid no attention to the disciples and walked into the Missions pavilion. Once inside, he made his way towards the location of the elder at the pavilion. He reached a hall, the door of which was already opened, and a young man looking to be in his late twenties was standing. He was similarly dressed in a black robe but had the symbols for 'Missions Pavilion' on the left side of his chest.
The young man had a gentle smile on his face as he cupped his hands in greetings.
"What brings you here, Head elder Han?"
"How's the process for the mission to the northern lands going?" Elder Han said with a straight face.
"The selection for the disciples has been completed and they will be departing for the Northern lands in a week."
"Why do they still need a week?" Elder Han asked while raising an eyebrow.
"Some of the selected disciples are in seclusion and should be out within the week. Considering the severity of the missions, I had to select some senior disciples who had been cultivating in seclusion for more than a year now." The young man calmly explained.
Elder Han nodded his head in agreement and continued,
"More spatial disturbances have been detected, the star catching peak reports one every day. Ask the disciples to be careful and more thorough in their investigation."
The young man's smile stiffened upon hearing the news from elder Han.
"Yes, I'll inform the disciples of this."
Not wasting a moment more, Elder Han sped out of the Missions pavilion and disappeared in the blink of an eye. The young elder was left standing in the hall with a smile, which soon turned to a frown as soon as the Head elder disappeared.
He turned his left palm upward, and a small disc appeared on it. The young man placed his finger on top of the disc which glowed and runes started floating around it, forming a small screen on which details of all the missions can be seen. Using his spirit sense, he made some changes to the mission, raising its danger level one level higher.
After doing this, the young looking elder placed the disc away and closed the door of the hall with a wave of his hand. He had many more tasks to do, tasks which were very important, which he had delayed as soon as he detected the Head elder entering the Missions pavilion.
Back in the outskirts of Northern town, Lin Mu was searching for some bird nests to snatch a couple of eggs for his dinner. He spent half an hour and found 4 small eggs the size of a quail's egg. After finding them, he no longer wanted to spend any more time searching for eggs and went back to the hunting shack.
He placed the eggs in the pot to boil and withdrew the sack of rice he had put in his ring. He placed the sack in one corner and waited for the eggs to boil so that he could cook the rice. While he waited, he chanted the calming heart sutra and embraced the calm waves that spread throughout his body. Finishing the chant, he did not feel any increase in his strength.
'How do I increase my strength with the calming heart sutra? Just chanting it no longer works, what else does it need more to work?'
While he thought about the calming heart sutra, the eggs were done boiling. Lin Mu removed the eggs from the pot and added some rice to let it cook. He pondered on what else he could do to make the calming sutra work.
'I should do physical training and then try reciting the calming heart sutra and see if that's any better. Even though I don't have any physical training manual, just normal exercises should work too.'
The body tempering realm was considered to be the easiest realm in cultivation; not only because it was the first realm, but because it required little to no resources to progress. In fact, even a common peasant would reach the fourth stage of the body tempering realm by the age of 30 just by doing manual labour.
Even if one did not have a training manual, the person could just exercise and train themself normally and they would reach higher stages. Though this was only until the 7th stage of the body tempering realm. Progressing any further, without a proper training manual, was not impossible but was exponentially more difficult.
Having planned his next approach, Lin Mu waited for the rice to cook. As soon as the rice was cooked he ate it all, along with the 4 eggs he had boiled. With his stomach now filled and hunger sated, Lin Mu walked out to train.
He first decided to do a run and then try other exercises. Lin Mu ran a lap all the way to the apple tree, at the end of which he was gasping for his breath. He rested for a few minutes and then started to do push-ups. He did as many push-ups as he could until his arms felt sore and he could no more. Resting for a few more minutes he stood in a horse stance and practiced his punches. He performed rhythmic punches until his legs felt like jelly and he collapsed.
This was the most intense physical training Lin Mu had ever done. Fuelled with the desire to become a Qi cultivator, Lin Mu had solidified his resolve and had decided to push his body to its limits.
Lin Mu forced himself to sit cross-legged and chanted the calming heart sutra. The experience that he had this time differed completely from before. The calming waves were the same, but he still felt the aching of his muscles. In the pain of his muscles, he felt faint waves of energy flowing. As he kept on chanting the calming heart sutra, his mind was stilled and he was able to focus on the faint waves of energy.
The more he focused, the more they intensified; until they reached a crescendo and dispersed all over his body! He felt his fatigue reducing and the waves of energy disappearing. A glint appeared in Lin Mu's eyes.
"Hahaha, this is indeed the right method to practice the calming heart sutra." Lin Mu shouted out loud.
'If the calming heart sutra has such a profound effect even without a proper training manual, I can only imagine what kind of effect it would have with one.'
Lin Mu decided to wash up before going back to sleep in the hunting shack, as he was covered in sweat from all the training he did. Lin Mu removed his clothes and jumped into the stream nearby. The water was chilly and helped reduce the soreness of his muscles. Lin Mu also washed his clothes and wrung them out to remove as much water from them that he could.
'I need to buy another set of clothes on my next trip to the town, I can't just make do with only one set.'
Adding a new task to his mental note, Lin Mu wore the slightly wet clothes and walked back to the hunting shack. By the time he reached the shack, his clothes were completely dry. Having had a successful day, Lin Mu was satisfied with himself and slipped into a deep sleep.
Same as before, he found himself in the dark place. Now used to the phenomenon, Lin Mu just spent his time in planning for the future until he woke up from sleep.