The charming widow of the Marquis's mansion: The stable boy carries the flag and raises the dra

Ye Niannu jumped down from the rock, patted off non-existent dust from her skirt, and spoke with a hint of eagerness.

"I've heard that the cultivation methods in the Heart Forging Domain are incredibly diverse, encompassing all sorts of things. Perhaps there will be unexpected gains."

Wang Long nodded. He had hit a bottleneck, and there was no point in staying here any longer.

He immediately stood up as well.

"Alright, let's go together."

Without lingering, the two followed a path that gradually narrowed deep in the valley, passed through a patch of low bushes, and then climbed over a not-too-steep rocky slope.

The members of the four major sects were overjoyed to see the two leave, and instantly felt as if dawn had broken.

Finally, no one is competing with them for these rare and precious materials.

The terrain beneath my feet changed imperceptibly, transforming from soft soil and gravel into a smoother, grayish-white rock surface, as if it had been carefully polished by something.

There was an indescribable sense of emptiness in the air, and the sound of the wind seemed to grow longer.

After walking for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the view ahead suddenly became extremely open.

It was a vast, flat plain, as smooth as a giant gray-white mirror, stretching to the horizon.

There were no rolling hills, no trees to provide shelter, and no landmarks to serve as reference points.

Only even and soft light fell from above, illuminating the entire area.

On the flat ground, groups of two or three cultivators were scattered about.

Some people sat cross-legged, eyes closed and motionless, their spiritual energy fluctuations extremely weak, as if they were in some kind of deep meditation.

Some people lay on the ground with their limbs outstretched in a casual posture, as if they were sleeping.

A few people sat in a small circle, and on the ground in front of them were some crooked lines drawn by some unknown method, resembling the outline of a chessboard.

There was another person who was even more outrageous, running in one direction.

Keep running, and when you get tired, rest for a while and then continue running.

"What are you doing?"

Ye Niannu stood at the edge of the Heart Forging Domain, her peach blossom eyes filled with curiosity.

Wang Long's gaze swept over the bizarre cultivation methods, and for a moment he was also somewhat puzzled.

He had imagined many ways to temper his will, but the scene before him was completely different from what he had expected.

He thought for a moment, then walked toward the nearest monk who was sitting cross-legged.

The man appeared to be in his thirties, with an ordinary face, closed eyes, and steady, long breathing.

Wang Long stopped in front of him, squatted down, and tentatively asked a question.

"Fellow Daoist, excuse me, may I ask what you are cultivating?"

The man slowly opened his eyes, glanced at Wang Long calmly, and showed no displeasure at being disturbed.

His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, carrying a calm and composed air:

"I'm fishing."

"fishing?"

Ye Niannu also came over, squatted down next to Wang Long, blinked, and looked at the empty ground in front of the man, her tone filled with confusion.

"But there's nothing in front of you..."

The man smiled upon hearing this, as if he were already used to such questions.

"Who says fishing requires water and fish? I'm fishing for a state of mind."

"The longer you stay here, the more you'll find that the more you deliberately pursue improvement, the harder it is to break through."

"When you completely stop thinking about it and stop calculating it, that breakthrough will come when you least expect it."

"So some people are sleeping, some are playing chess, some are running, and some, like me, are sitting here."

"These seemingly meaningless things are actually ways to truly relax one's mental energy."

After speaking, the man closed his eyes again, and his breathing became steady and long once more, clearly indicating that he did not intend to say anything more.

Wang Long stood up thoughtfully and exchanged a glance with Ye Niannu.

"So the cultivation method in the third region is actually... doing absolutely nothing?"

"Do not."

Ye Niannu thought for a moment and then said seriously.

"It's not about doing nothing, but about freeing your mental energy from that constantly tense state, allowing it to find a more natural and complete way of operating."

As she spoke, her gaze swept over the people who were immersed in "cultivation" in all sorts of bizarre postures, and a smile appeared on her lips.

"Although it does look quite like he's gone mad."

Wang Long chuckled, not in a hurry to decide what he wanted to do.

He slowly walked around the flat, gray-white ground, observing the condition of everyone.

Some people are genuinely asleep, their breathing is steady and long, and their mental energy fluctuations are minimal.

Some people may appear to be in a daze, but their spiritual energy is circulating at an extremely slow pace, with each cycle becoming more complete than the last.

Some people sat there holding a blade of grass in their hands, repeatedly bending and loosening it, as if using this mechanical repetition to completely empty their minds.

After walking around, Wang Long gradually gained some understanding.

The key to the Mind-Building Domain lies not in what you do, but in "not thinking about anything".

Let your mental energy break free from the pull of your goals and return to its most original and natural state.

He stopped in an open space and lay down without hesitation.

Ye Niannu was slightly taken aback by his actions, and then she smiled.

She didn't ask any more questions, but lay down beside him. The two lay side by side on the gray-white ground, looking up at the uniform and empty light above.

"My lord."

Ye Niannu's voice was very soft, as if she was afraid of disturbing something.

"Um?"

"Do you think our method could be considered a special form of cultivation?"

Looking up at the soft light above, Wang Long felt his spiritual power slowly unfolding in this vast space in an extremely slow yet incredibly natural way.

He didn't answer, but just smiled, his voice carrying a rare sense of relaxed languor:

"Calculate."

"Then let's lie down for a while."

Ye Niannu didn't speak again and quietly closed her eyes.

The sound of the wind swept in from afar and then drifted further away, making the boundless open space appear even more vast and tranquil.

Wang Long lay on his back on the smooth, mirror-like gray-white ground, with Ye Niannu's even and long breaths beside him.

The two intertwined their fingers, palms touching, their spiritual energy slowly unfolding in the boundless emptiness, like two leaves falling on the lake, gently drifting with the unseen ripples.

At first, he could still sense the movements around him. The monk who was running in the distance was still circling in place. A few steps away, someone was folding grass stems into some shape. Further away, someone was lying more upright, as if they had already fallen asleep.

But those perceptions seemed to be diluted little by little by something, like ink dripping into clear water, the outlines gradually blurred, the color gradually faded, until they completely melted into a uniform, boundless blank space.

Wang Long didn't know when he fell asleep.

He only remembered that his last wisp of consciousness floated up lightly like smoke blown away by the wind, and then fell into another world.