Wild cultivation begins with wielding the Taiyin talisman.

Ning Che silently reviewed the method of refining moonlight several times, suddenly feeling puzzled by the meridians mentioned within. He had studied human anatomy for battlefield emergency treatment, and was intimately familiar with the pathways of major blood vessels. However, the meridians described in the method were vastly different from the distribution of blood vessels.

But if meridians aren't blood vessels, then what are they?

Furthermore, the soul isn't the brain; he can not only separate his soul from his body, but he can even travel through time. Memories seem to reside in the brain, but no, we can't rule out the possibility that the original soul directly merged with him…

The more he thought about it, the more confused he became. He quickly pulled his thoughts back, not daring to let his mind wander. He didn't want to fall into a cognitive trap before his cultivation had even officially begun, thus needlessly increasing the risk of going astray in his practice.

After struggling with himself for a moment, Ning Che suddenly had an idea—seeing is believing, why not directly use his Yin spirit to enter the body and see what these meridians really are?

He closed his eyes, held his breath, and his soul instantly left his body, switching to a familiar third-person perspective.

He stuck his head inside his body, only to find it pitch black and he couldn't see anything at all.

So even the soul needs light to see?

Ning Che, utterly bewildered, peeked out from the center of his body when suddenly something caught in his chest. He instinctively looked down at the location of the object and saw it was the dried fruit he had kept close to his body and brought back from the Moon Palace!

With one unexpected event after another these past two days, he had completely forgotten about the dried fruit. If it weren't for this coincidence, he probably wouldn't have remembered it until he changed his clothes.

Ning Che has only ever seen two kinds of things that his soul can directly touch: one is the building materials in the ruins of the Moon Palace, and the other is this dried fruit, which must be extraordinary. However, before he understands its origin and effects, he dares not test it on himself. He can only keep it safe for now and explore it slowly.

After trying it out, his turbulent thoughts calmed down considerably.

Ning Che focused his mind again, returning his soul to its place. He stood facing the waning moon in the sky, ready to officially begin his cultivation. But then he thought that although this method did not require a specific posture, standing upright to cultivate was too rigid. So, following his memory, he found a relatively flat large blue stone at the village entrance and sat cross-legged on it.

As he practiced again, the Dao talisman floating in his sea of ​​consciousness immediately emitted a faint, clear light, as if drawing something in. Sure enough, the moonlight condensed and flowed between his mouth and nose with his breath, actually forming a white mist of light that seemed to be tangible.

This sight was already miraculous, but an even more astonishing change was taking place within his body: his flesh and blood were resonating with this Yin energy, and wisps of translucent veins were slowly manifesting within him, shining with specks of silver light as he refined the moonlight.

Ning Che remained completely unaware of all the wondrous sights.

The practice felt neither comfortable nor painful; in fact, he had even forgotten about sensations. He focused solely on the energy circulating within his body. He didn't know how much time had passed before an overwhelming exhaustion pulled him from his state of absorption.

The results of the cultivation were not significant, only slightly brightening the Dao talisman in the sea of ​​consciousness. Upon closer inspection, one could see wisps of clear light slowly rotating around the talisman.

It was just dawn, the distant mountains still shrouded in darkness, with only a faint hint of pale white on the horizon. Ning Che wanted to try out the newly unlocked spell, but he was so sleepy that he barely had the strength to lift his hand. He then realized with a start that he hadn't slept for two nights in a row.

While improving one's strength is important, neglecting sleep and meals is not a long-term solution. Ning Che finished his training and headed home. As soon as he opened the courtyard gate, he saw that Shi Xiujuan's door was tightly closed and there was no sound from inside, so he tiptoed into the kitchen.

There were only some grains left in the house that were similar to millet but coarser. He searched around again but only found a little salt that wasn't pure in color. In the end, he could only cook a pot of thin porridge with salt, and put a bowl of it on the stove to keep warm for Shi Xiujuan.

After a hasty breakfast, Ning Che went back to his room and went to sleep fully clothed. When he woke up again, the moon was high in the sky. It was the time when the moonlight was at its brightest, and Ning Che immediately sprang up, dusted off his clothes, and that was it.

Seeing that the porridge he had prepared for Shi Xiujuan was all gone, he went to the village entrance to continue his spiritual practice. He didn't return home until it was broad daylight to cook more porridge.

However, simply drinking porridge is not a long-term solution...

Ning Che drank two bowls in a row, put down the bowls, and while thinking about how to improve the meals, got up to fetch water to wash the dishes. Suddenly, very light footsteps came from outside the door, followed by a cautious knock.

He was initially wary when he heard footsteps, but relaxed when he heard the knocking: the only person in the village who would knock so gently on his door so early in the morning was Zhao Di, and she must be there to deliver something.

In the past, Zhao Di would bring something around this time because her mother was sleeping the most soundly then. Otherwise, if she were seen, she would be tied to a tree and beaten—even the village chief was alerted that time.

When the villagers talked about Zhaodi's family situation, most of them sighed with regret. This girl was intelligent and obedient, but she was stuck with a local thug as her father. Although her mother was relatively family-oriented, she was notoriously patriarchal.

Of course, in the village, favoring sons over daughters wasn't a big deal; everyone assumed boys would inherit the family business, unless a girl achieved success in her cultivation, in which case it would be a different story. But the fact that she wouldn't allow Zhaodi to participate in the Shi family's free aptitude test clearly showed she didn't care about her well-being.

His thoughts drifted by in an instant, and Ning Che sighed inwardly, saying calmly, "Come in, the door isn't latched."

The door was gently pushed open, and Zhao Di leaned in, carrying a familiar cloth bag. Seeing him sitting comfortably in the main room, she visibly relaxed and said:

"Second brother, it's good that you're awake. I... I got up this morning and brewed some calming herbal tea to relieve my dizziness. I also made some coarse grain cakes at home, thinking that you've been busy with your cultivation these past few days and probably haven't had time to prepare anything to eat."

She spoke softly, placing the cloth bag at the doorway without coming closer or asking about the details of his cultivation. She simply added, with her eyes lowered, "The herbal tea is warm; it's perfect with the cakes. I asked the shaman, and the prescription is safe and won't harm your health."

Ning Che paused in his grip on the bowl.

He casually remarked that he felt dizzy after using the spell, without explaining that it was his first time using the spell and that he hadn't even started practicing it yet. This likely caused Zhao Di to misunderstand, and she even went to learn a calming remedy and brewed some herbal tea to bring over.

This is really...

Even though Ning Che had never bothered with social niceties in his two lifetimes, he understood that explaining at this moment would not only be useless but would also offend Zhao Di's good intentions. He considered for a moment, then tried his best to appear surprised and raised his voice, saying, "This is really troubling you."

As he spoke, he got up, jogged to the door, picked up the earthenware pot on the ground, and took a sip. Unexpectedly, the temperature was just right for his mouth, with a faint herbal aroma, and instead of the expected bitterness, it had a hint of sweetness.

Setting down the teapot, Ning Che exclaimed sincerely, "Excellent tea! Impressive! You even know how to make this!"

A faint blush spread across Zhao Di's cheeks, and her long eyelashes hurriedly drooped down, concealing the turbulent emotions churning in her eyes. She whispered, "I'll come to pick up the pot tomorrow." With that, she turned to leave.

Seeing that she was about to leave, Ning Che quickly called out to her, "Wait!"

Zhao Di stopped in her tracks, turned around to look at him, her eyes filled with confusion.

"Is it okay if your house is missing a kettle? I'm afraid..." Ning Che looked at her slightly flushed cheeks, and remembering that this was a family scandal, he stopped talking and softened his tone, saying:

"Moreover, the calamity is imminent, and the forest is becoming more dangerous every day. Don't go running into dangerous places again just to make me these foods and medicines."

She nodded quickly: "I know, my mom hasn't been in the kitchen for a year. I bought this pot when I went to the market before. The herbal tea is brewed at home. We've already gathered all the herbs; we didn't go far."

After saying that, she paused, as if she remembered something, and added in a low voice, "There have been unfamiliar faces in the village these past two days. It might be the mountain guardian. Second brother, if you go out, you'd better be careful."

Ning Che's gaze darkened slightly. Most of the mountain guards were arrogant and looked down on them, these "lowly people." Normally, if they simply avoided them and endured it, they wouldn't push them to such a desperate point. But he had beaten two people before, and he didn't know what would happen next.

Fortunately, Zhao Di was observant and reminded him that it would be best to avoid them for the next couple of days—but his cultivation required bathing in moonlight, which made things a bit difficult.

He nodded and said, "I understand, thank you."

Seeing that he had listened to her, Zhao Di didn't linger. She said goodbye and made sure to close his door behind her.

The light footsteps faded into the distance, leaving Ning Che staring blankly at the window paper bathed in the golden light of the rising sun.