After Skyfall - Chapter 8: First Meditation
“To begin your journey of cultivation, you must first enter a state of deep meditation. This isn’t difficult, but it might take some time for most people.”
“When you achieve this meditative state, you’ll start to sense the energy around you. However, you must ignore it; that’s the energy of our world, which you can’t absorb. I will guide you to capture a pure form of energy for you. Your task is to use your mind to direct this pure energy into your body and find a way to retain it without letting it dissipate.”
“The power of your mind is crucial. If your mind isn’t strong enough to direct the energy, then you lack the talent for cultivation.”
“But once your body successfully absorbs the first batch of energy, your path to cultivation will open.”
Lin Yue’s words echoed in Li Yi’s ears.
At this moment, Li Yi sat with his eyes closed, trying to enter the meditative state.
Lin Yue guided him in his posture, breathing, and some meditation details to help him enter the state more quickly.
As time passed, Li Yi’s body gradually lost sensation, and his consciousness seemed to plunge into darkness, as if being swallowed by an abyss. A wave of helpless fear surged within him, jolting him awake and snapping him out of the meditative state.
“Scared?” Lin Yue asked with a smile.
Li Yi wiped his forehead, realising there was no cold sweat, but the fear lingered. “I felt like my consciousness was being swallowed by darkness, and I would never wake up.”
“There’s no need to be afraid; this is a normal feeling. Your consciousness has been connected to your body for twenty years. Letting go of your body now to move independently generates fear. The darkness is due to your consciousness being freed from the influence of your five senses. Imagine waking up one day unable to move, hear, or see—wouldn’t you be scared?” Lin Yue patiently explained.
“You need to overcome this fear, adapt to that feeling, and then continue to immerse yourself in it. Once you overcome this barrier, your consciousness will develop new perceptions. These perceptions are neither visual nor auditory; they are something unique.”
“I understand. I’ll try again.” Li Yi nodded and closed his eyes once more.
During his second attempt at meditation, he took more time, possibly to overcome the fear he experienced during his first attempt.
This time, his consciousness once again sank into darkness, and the fear resurfaced.
However, this time, he did not resist the fear. Instead, he let it envelop him completely.
Yet, his consciousness felt trapped in a void without direction or time, like a person locked in a cage.
It was quick.
Li Yi shuddered and woke up immediately, exiting the meditative state.
“Failed again?” Lin Yue asked.
Li Yi nodded. “My consciousness was trapped in the darkness, and an instinct made me want to break free.”
“That’s your brain checking if your body is dead, so your consciousness was forcibly pulled back. But don’t worry; the human body is highly adaptable. After a few more tries, your brain will realise that this state doesn’t mean death, and it won’t happen again.”
“Cultivation isn’t a simple task. You need to overcome various psychological states and repeatedly train your body and mind to adapt. Some say that cultivation comes with great fear, and that’s true. But if you can’t get past this stage, I suggest you give up on cultivation.”
Lin Yue spoke seriously.
“I understand. I’ll try once more,” Li Yi said, taking a deep breath.
Lin Yue advised, “Don’t pressure yourself too much. Take it slow; we have plenty of time.”
Li Yi nodded.
Although he did not say anything, he was acutely aware that his peaceful days were numbered. Trouble was on its way, and before it arrived, he needed to start his cultivation and verify whether the half-knife coin in his possession was indeed an Artifact.
He resumed his meditation.
It was hard to tell how much time had passed.
Then, the office door opened.
Uncle Biao cautiously stepped in, glancing around before signalling to Lin Yue.
Lin Yue understood and quietly tiptoed out.
Uncle Biao whispered, “How is Li Yi’s cultivation going?”
Lin Yue shook her head. “Progress isn’t going well. He still hasn’t truly entered the meditative state.”
“That’s normal,” Uncle Biao reassured. “I was the same at first. Be patient; this is his first experience with cultivation, and he knew nothing before.”
“Uncle, do you remember how Li Yi’s father, Uncle Li, was during his first cultivation?” Lin Yue asked.
She held up one finger. “First try. Uncle Li entered the meditative state on his first try and immediately started absorbing cosmic energy, officially beginning his cultivation.”
Uncle Biao snorted. “His father was a true genius, incomparable. Otherwise, how could he have become Mute? Not just anyone can achieve that. The first generation of cultivators progressed too quickly without fully understanding everything, which led to problems.”
“Do you think Li Yi has the talent for cultivation?” Uncle Biao nudged Lin Yue.
Lin Yue pondered for a moment before replying, “It’s hard to say right now. He did enter the meditative state on his first try, but he got scared and came out of it quickly. However, these days, talent for cultivation isn’t measured by how quickly someone can meditate but by how efficiently they can absorb cosmic energy.”
“Some people can absorb ten portions of cosmic energy in one go but only manage to retain one or two portions. That low retention rate indicates poor cultivation talent.”
“On the other hand, some can absorb just five portions but retain them all, showing a hundred percent efficiency. Such a high retention rate indicates great talent and potential. With the right guidance, these individuals can reach genius-level proficiency.”
“Additionally, there are those who, despite a low retention rate, can capture a hundred portions of cosmic energy in one go. Even if they only retain twenty percent, it’s still remarkable.”
“We’ll need to test Li Yi to see where he stands.”
“I’ll leave it to you, then. I’ll treat you to a meal later,” Uncle Biao said with a smile.
Lin Yue rolled her eyes. “No need for that. Let me make it clear: if Li Yi doesn’t show any talent for cultivation, I’ll only guide him for three days, free of charge. That’s my way of repaying Uncle Li’s kindness. I’m very busy and can’t spend all my time teaching him, especially since I need to prepare for my guidance certification exam.”
“Haha, don’t worry. Like father, like son. Li Yi is sure to have talent. Three days will be plenty for him,” Uncle Biao said confidently.
It was not that he was particularly confident in Li Yi’s talent, but he knew Li Yi was sensible. If there was no progress in three days, he would not continue to trouble Lin Yue.
“Let’s hope so.”
Suddenly, Lin Yue hushed. “It looks like he’s succeeded in entering the meditative state. Uncle, you go ahead and continue doing your work. I’ll check on him and evaluate his cultivation level.”
Uncle Biao nodded and quietly left the room.
At this moment, Li Yi, who had entered the state of meditation, began to adapt to the sensation of his consciousness sinking into darkness.
His mind remained calm and composed, without a hint of panic or disturbance.
As his consciousness detached from the influence of his body and began to acclimatise to the darkness, new changes started to manifest.
Gradually, amid the darkness, some faint lights began to appear.
These lights filled the surroundings, flowing around him like a river, but their colour was peculiar—a ghostly greyish-white, as if tainted by some contamination, instinctively repelling.
This must be the contaminated spiritual energy that pervades reality, something that cannot be absorbed.
However, soon, in this greyish-white world, another peculiar light emerged. This light was ancient and clear, akin to a sharp blade of light that instantly tore open a rift in those contaminated areas. The light expanded, gradually forming the shape of a half-piece of a knife coin.
Within the range covered by that radiance, pure cosmic energy flowed. Under his conscious awareness, it shimmered like a galaxy of stars.
At that moment, Li Yi felt a surge of excitement.
He understood that the half-knife coin in his hand was truly a unique Artifact, capable of generating its own energy field to purify polluted spiritual energy. With this, his progress in cultivation would be as swift as a thousand miles in a day.
However, now was not the time for excitement.
Li Yi attempted to guide the energy with his mind.
Initially, there was no change in energy. But after a while, several points of light seemed to be drawn towards him, slowly trickling into his body.
The mental guidance was successful.
It seems I have a talent for cultivation.
However, the cosmic energy guided towards him quickly dispersed before being absorbed, blending back into that grey-white world and ultimately evaporating.
“Failed?” he recalled Lin Yue’s words.
Guiding cosmic energy into the body was just the first step; the second was retaining and absorbing it.
If he could not achieve the second step, then no matter how much cosmic energy he guided, it would all be futile.
Li Yi tried again.
Several pure cosmic energies entered his body again.
This time, the result was the same: the energy dissipated—assimilating and disappearing completely.
Yet Li Yi was not discouraged because the cosmic energy within that energy field seemed limitless to him now, allowing for endless trial and error.
Finally, on the fifth attempt, he finally succeeded in retaining a portion of pure energy and binding it to his body. It began to melt into his core, as if being absorbed. At the same time, a cool sensation surged into his mind, bringing an indescribable sense of clarity and comfort.
Success!
After five attempts, he finally succeeded once.
Li Yi continued his practice.
At this point, he noticed that in the contaminated grey-white world around him, there were suddenly scattered points of light, seemingly cosmic energy overflowing from wormholes. However, compared to the amount of cosmic energy in that area, these points were pitifully sparse.
Why are these energies rushing towards me?
Suddenly, Li Yi noticed that these points of energy seemed to be drawn into his body by some other force.
Is Lin Yue guiding me?
He thought so, but without hesitation, he attempted to absorb them.
Some Li Yi successfully absorbed, while others failed. Those energies that were not absorbed could only be wasted and contaminated by the world.
Generally speaking, the probability of failure was higher, and successful absorption was in the minority.
With this, Li Yi gradually immersed himself in his cultivation.
(End of chapter)
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