Time flew by like a shuttle. In the blink of an eye, a year had passed.
During the year, Ding Yan's spiritual soul slowly recovered, and his cultivation had also unconsciously improved. Some internal injuries in his body were gradually recovering while his Qi refining cultivation had already reached the completion stage a month ago. This was achieved due to Ding Yan primarily focusing on nourishing his spiritual soul.
In the early morning, as the sun rose, a hint of pink appeared on the horizon. Ding Yan sat alone outside, holding a jar of wine, drinking alone with a trace of indescribable loneliness in his expression.
The wine was bitter.
In the small village, Ding Yan also worked as a winemaker during the day. Since moving to the village, people who loved good wine in the village would come to exchange goods for his wine because there was no currency in the village.
The villagers would offer things like grains and animal pelts in exchange for the wine.
Although these items were of no use to Ding Yan, he still accepted them and gave the wine to the villagers.
That's life; things given to you by others might not be useful, but you still have to accept them.
"Young brother, drinking again?"
Ding Yan nodded without turning his head. He could tell who the speaker was without looking. It was the village chief, the person with the highest cultivation level in the village, who had reached the fifth level of Qi refining.
The village chief was an old man with white hair, dressed in a gray cloth robe. His withered face held a pair of eyes that seemed to see through the complexities of the world, giving off a sense of vicissitudes.
Sitting beside Ding Yan on a stone, the village chief was also holding a jug of wine.
"This wine still tastes good." After taking a sip, the village chief let out a long sigh, praising the wine.
Ding Yan shook his head with a bitter smile.
In the village, Ding Yan brewed more than ten kinds of wine; there were rare and exceptional wines, and then there was the unnamed bitter wine he was currently drinking. He had assumed that nobody else would like this wine except himself. Surprisingly, the old village chief also liked this wine, disregarding all other great wines, and even went so far as to name it "Bitter Memory".
"Why are you out so early, sir?" Ding Yan asked, setting down his wine jar.
The mayor had an inexplicable feeling about Ding Yan. It was like the feeling of encountering one's master in a previous life, a kind of indescribable sense of intimacy. So, normally, Ding Yan would address him as "sir," not as the mayor.
"The old man is in a good mood, just like you young people, coming out to see the sunrise." The old mayor laughed heartily.
Ding Yan shook his head, ignoring the mayor, picked up a wine jar, and took a big gulp. The bitter taste flowed down his throat, extending all the way to his heart...
Cultivation is not always about seclusion.
Most cultivators have something they like. For Ding Yan, it was this wine!
The long and dull path of cultivation, sometimes, for these cultivators, their hobbies were a spiritual support.
One old and one young, silent, only the sound of drinking remained.
A faint bitter taste filled their hearts...
Time passed by, minute by minute, until the sun rose on the eastern horizon. After the appearance of the red sun, the old mayor finally finished the last drop of wine in his jug. He stood up, faced the sky, took a deep breath, then hung the wine jug around his waist.
"After drinking so much of your wine, it's time to pay the bill. I... don't like owing others... yes, I don't like the feeling of owing others, so today, I'll pay you for the wine." The old mayor said, facing away from Ding Yan.
Every time Ding Yan made wine, the mayor would take what he wanted and never leave anything behind.
"The old man has no money from the outside world, no animal skins or food. His cultivation level is not high. The only thing he can offer is this set of boxing techniques. Take a good look, learn as much as you can..." Ding Yan was astonished at the words and then shook his head.
The old mayor, with only the cultivation level of the fifth stage of Qi Condensation, what good boxing techniques could he have at this realm?
It seemed like the old mayor hadn't noticed Ding Yan's expression at all. He slowly closed his eyes, and his expression gradually became serious. At the moment, his aura also became more condensed.
Start with a hand gesture.
Draw a circle.
The old mayor's movements were extremely slow, without the vigorous and forceful aura of boxing techniques, but rather resembling a martial art practiced by old people in the mundane world for health.
"Hmm?" Ding Yan put down the wine jar.
He furrowed his brow, pondering.
The old mayor's punches were extremely slow, each move clear and distinct.
Strangely, such a simple boxing technique gave Ding Yan an inexplicable feeling. It was like seeing flowers in the mist, hazy, and unclear. No matter how hard Ding Yan tried, he couldn't discern the trajectory of this technique.
Time passed, minute by minute.
Gradually, Ding Yan felt the old mayor's figure gradually disappearing, and everything around him started to fade away, even the sound of the seawater hitting the rocks in the distance. At that moment, it seemed as if there was nothing but the old mayor's set of boxing techniques in the world.
...
When Ding Yan came back to his senses, the old mayor had already left. Looking up at the sky, he realized it was already noon. A light breeze brought a hint of the salty sea odor.
"The payment for this wine..." After a long time, Ding Yan let out a long sigh and bowed in the direction of the old mayor's house.
Ding Yan did not ask, nor did he want to know why the old mayor had this set of boxing techniques. In Ding Yan's view, everyone has their own secrets. Perhaps the old mayor had extraordinary experiences in the past, but all that was in the past. Now, he was just the mayor of this small village and a cultivator at the fifth stage of Qi Condensation.
Picking up the wine jar, Ding Yan turned and walked towards the outskirts of the village.
As he stood up, a mysterious aura began to appear around Ding Yan. This aura was much more immature than the momentum generated by the old mayor's boxing techniques, but it contained the essence.
After just one glance, Ding Yan comprehended the essence of the boxing technique, without a single detour. This progress depended mainly on Ding Yan's own vision.
Step by step, the momentum became more condensed, and the natural energy around him began to silently gather. His cultivation, which had not made a breakthrough in a year, suddenly broke through the barrier in an instant, reaching the strength of the fourth stage of Qi Condensation.
Leaving the small village, Ding Yan walked all the way to the seaside.
The village was not far from the sea. With the guidance of the villagers, it only took the time for an incense stick to walk from the village to the seaside.
From the villagers, Ding Yan learned that this island was a floating sea island, constantly changing its position around the entire Dao Fan Formation. Generally, people who left this island found it very difficult to return, just like the legendary Peach Blossom Spring, mysterious and unpredictable.
Standing on a reef, Ding Yan gazed at the endless sea, took a deep breath, and casually threw the wine jar into the sea.
A year of nurturing his soul had finally healed Ding Yan's soul trauma. The next thing to prepare for was to restore his cultivation to the fifth stage of Qi Condensation, and then refine the Foundation-Building Pill.
Sitting cross-legged, Ding Yan took out three ordinary jade stones from his sleeve and placed them beside him. These jade stones were collected by Ding Yan when he was one of the top ten disciples. They were not spiritual stones, but they contained a small amount of natural energy.
After setting up a simple Spiritual Gathering Array with these jade stones, Ding Yan closed his eyes and began to sense the freely roaming natural energy between heaven and earth, refining and integrating it into his body, removing impurities, a process called Qi Condensation. Generally, only Foundation-Building cultivators could achieve this; that is to say, in this world, only those who had undergone the Tribulation of Mortality could do so.
However, Ding Yan had an advantage that was difficult for ordinary people to compare. In his previous life, he was a cultivator who had experienced the tribulation.
Now, having been reborn, although he had lost the terrifying strength of his previous life, he had an unparalleled advantage in terms of mentality and experience.
After closing his eyes, Ding Yan fell into silence in the world of spiritual consciousness.
All around him was pitch black. For a moment, Ding Yan felt his divine consciousness infinitely magnified, as if a deity, wandering throughout the entire world.
"Why can't I sense the natural energy? Even if I have been reborn, I shouldn't be unable to sense the natural energy..." Ding Yan furrowed his brow.
The small Spiritual Gathering Array beside him had started to operate. Looking from a distance, Ding Yan seemed to be shrouded in a layer of mist.
In the world of martial artists, this sense was called Martial Perception, while in the mouths of cultivators, it was called Spiritual Perception or Spiritual Awareness.
At this moment, Ding Yan's consciousness was lingering in the world of Spiritual Perception, constantly spreading. However, what puzzled him was that the entire world of Spiritual Perception was still pitch black, devoid of natural energy. Yet, with an unwavering Dao heart from his previous life, Ding Yan took a deep breath, closed his eyes again, and began to feel with all his heart.
Time passed, minute by minute...