Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

He said to his sister, "Fishing is a lot of fun. This is a fishing rod I made. Let me take you fishing in the river behind the mountain."

He said, "Sister, this is called badminton. I invited a few friends to play together. Let's go outside and play for a while."

Yan Huai'an followed him to many places. Sometimes, it was just the two of them, and sometimes, there were other people he didn't know.

In the past, when she met someone new, she would always unconsciously grip the hilt of her sword.

Even if she knows in her heart that the person is a good person, she will still do it involuntarily.

When talking to someone, she has to prepare the words she wants to say in her mind beforehand. If you ask her to say it on the spot, she will always forget the words. Sometimes she will open her mouth for a long time but not be able to say a word. She always wants to end the conversation as soon as possible and it is best not to talk to her.

However, during the days she spent with Zhuang Xing, her symptoms improved significantly. She no longer seemed nervous when meeting new acquaintances, and she seemed to have no problem without holding a sword.

Fishing, gardening, badminton—these are all very interesting activities. She never knew they were so fun.

These past few days, when Zhuang Xing wasn't home, she tried going fishing by the river alone. She would also go for walks outside with the panda, and when she met people she had seen before who greeted her, she could wave and respond with a few words.

Has she found what she wants to do?

She doesn't know yet, but there is something she does want to do right now.

While Zhuang Xing was watering the flowers, she quietly returned to her room, took out a roll of parchment and a pen from her neatly organized cabinet.

She brought the pen, ink, and paper to the courtyard.

I sat down under the eaves, looked up at the figure loosening the soil and watering the flowers, and picked up my pen to draw on the paper.

Zhuang Xing glanced back and saw her drawing something, so he tried not to make any noise to disturb her.

When creating art, a quiet and harmonious environment is needed. If one's thoughts are interrupted, even for just a short while, one may lose all inspiration.

He didn't know what the female knight was drawing. Although he had let her experience all sorts of interesting things, he didn't know if it had helped her think things through or find something she liked.

The new sword was almost finished being forged, and he was planning to take the female warrior to the sword forging hall to see the swords. The female warrior had been with swords for many years, and perhaps she would especially like those metal objects.

He did his best to help the female knight find joy in life. Perhaps she would open a flower shop in a flower market because of these flowers and plants, grow and sell flowers, or perhaps she would find a big lake to fish and raise chickens because of the fish she caught, and live a secluded life.

However, despite saying that, he couldn't quite figure out what the female knight-errant really liked. Perhaps she still liked painting. After staying here for a few days, she got tired of it and wanted to go outside to find some scenic spots so that she could pick up her brush and sketch as the sun rose and set, and sit and watch the clouds and mist rise.

In any case, as long as she can live the life she wants and things go smoothly, that's all that matters.

While he was thinking about these random thoughts, Yan Huai'an sketched out the shapes and meanings of the characters on the paper, stroke by stroke.

Yan Huai'an painted very smoothly. In the past, when she painted, she would often look and paint at the same time, observing and reproducing what she saw on the paper. But at this moment, she didn't need to look; the image appeared in her mind.

As the sun was about to set, she stopped painting and laid the painting flat on the table to allow the ink to dry.

Zhuang Xing saw the vegetable garden in the painting, with a panda and a boy holding a watering can.

...

More than a month has passed since Yan Huai'an came to the mountain.

Zhuang Xing is celebrating another birthday; he will be thirteen years old soon.

People in the mountains don't have a tradition of celebrating small birthdays. He didn't do anything special or insist on having a banquet, but it's not too much to cook a good meal to treat himself, is it?

That day, in the kitchen, he cut the fresh pork he had bought into thin slices and arranged them on a plate in a flower-like pattern. In addition to the pork, there were also sliced ​​fish, autumn crabs and river shrimp that he had caught, and he had also prepared a lot of vegetables, such as lettuce, bamboo shoots, radishes, wood ear fungus, and wild mushrooms from the mountains.

He poured the chicken soup that had been simmering yesterday into the pot.

He lit the charcoal fire and placed the large pot on the small stove he had borrowed from Yunling. He also specially made a round table with a hollow center so that he could place the table on the stove and cook and eat at the same time.

Yunling gave him a beautiful gourd, which she had grown herself. It had a perfect shape, was hollow inside, and could hold more water than a water pouch. Moreover, it had a special effect. Yunling said that the water inside, after being left for a while, could help him restore some of his true qi. It was a very practical little magic tool.

He was naturally overjoyed, not only because Yunling gave him a gift, but also because the panda gave him a gift.

"Your Majesty, this is what we bought for you with our saved-up pocket money!"

Each of the five pandas took out several flatbreads from their satchels.

Zhuang Xing was both amused and exasperated. In the panda's eyes, a pancake was probably the best thing in the world.

The gift was a bit unusual, but he appreciated the sentiment.

He patted the pandas' heads and said that starting tomorrow, he would give them a little more pocket money.

The panda wagged its tail and rubbed against his ankle.

The dinner table was bustling with activity; hot pot should be this lively.

Unlike previous years, there is one more person this year.

He asked Sister Yan if she had decided where to go.

Yan Huai'an looked at the painting hanging on the wall and shook his head.

He said, "Sister, take your time thinking about it. Don't rush."

Yan Huai'an gave a soft "hmm," remaining as taciturn as ever, but Zhuang Xing seemed to catch a glimpse of a smile on her face.

He thought that at least the female knight-errant should be happy staying in his room.

As long as he's happy, he'll grow a year older amidst all that joy and excitement.

(The Youthful Chapter: Part Four, The End)

(One chapter today, and no update tomorrow as I need to organize my thoughts for the new volume)

In case some readers missed it

As mentioned at the end of yesterday's chapter, this volume is now complete. Today, I'll organize my thoughts for the new volume, and I'll update the next volume tomorrow. In case some readers missed it, I'll post a separate chapter.

Chapter 255 Early Winter

Early winter of the first year of the Yuankang era.

Before Zhuang Xing even opened his eyes, he felt several heavy objects pressing down on him.

His nose was a little itchy, as if someone was gently tickling him with a feather.

He felt unwell and woke up from his sleep.

It was still pitch black inside the house, and it was still dark outside.

In his hazy vision, he saw three furry balls curled up on his bedding, pressing down on his chest, right hand, and left leg respectively. Another one was lying next to his pillow, its fluffy tail resting on his nose, occasionally swaying restlessly like a large feather duster.

Only one little guy was lying obediently in that little nest made of bamboo strips and covered with cotton and a blanket. It was the second one. It lazily rolled over in the nest and made a purring sound, sleeping soundly.

The first thing Zhuang Xing did after getting up was to stretch out his hands, lift the panda on his body, and place it aside.

No wonder I had a dream last night about sinking into an icy lake and being unable to breathe properly. There was a red panda weighing over ten kilograms pressing on my chest, just like having a rock on your chest while you're sleeping, compressing your lungs and making it difficult to breathe.

Fortunately, he has recently been practicing the Dragon Breath Technique and has made some progress; otherwise, he would probably have been so uncomfortable at night that he would have woken up.

Amidst the rustling sounds, he quietly put on his clothes, adjusted his breathing rhythm, and slowly exhaled and inhaled, circulating his true qi.

This is the method of cultivating the Dragon Breath Technique. The Dragon Breath Technique is a breathing method that coordinates with the flow of true qi. To succeed in cultivating it, one must follow the requirements described in the method from day to night without interruption, so that the rhythm of breathing is coordinated with the true qi flowing in the meridians.

This is not a simple matter, and in fact, it is indeed very difficult.

First of all, it places requirements on the practitioner's meridians. If the meridians are not naturally smooth and are blocked, practicing the Dragon Breath Technique can be said to be a very laborious and ineffective thing.

Secondly, breathing is an instinctive reaction that can be carried out naturally without any thought. However, coordinating breathing with the operation of the Dragon Breath Technique is actually a very energy-consuming task.

One or two hours is fine, but after a while, it becomes a bit difficult to keep up. If he meditates without any distractions, Zhuang Xing feels that he can still stay calm. But if he does other things during the time, such as cooking or practicing swordsmanship, it is easy to disrupt the rhythm and make his breathing disordered.

The most difficult part of cultivating this method is that if the rhythm is interrupted, even for just a moment, the effect of the day's cultivation will be greatly reduced.

According to Zhuang Xing's experience, it is best to ensure at least ten hours of stable breathing at a time, otherwise the whole day's efforts will be wasted.

However, practicing for ten hours a day is only the initial stage. When you reach the intermediate stage, you can maintain your mind even when you need to sleep.

The ultimate goal of perfecting this technique is to make it as natural as breathing, without any thought, and to do as one pleases. However, that's thinking too far ahead. Zhuang Xing felt that it would be difficult for him to reach the intermediate level in a short period of time.

Even so, after two months of adjustment and practice, he has at least made it into the basics.

He felt his breathing had become much longer. If you gave him a big balloon, he felt he could blow it up in one breath without needing to breathe.

In just two months, his true qi had increased by about one-tenth.

You have to understand, he's no longer a greenhorn who's just entered the Taoist path. He's been on the mountain for eight years, and even if he only grows by one-tenth of that, it's already equivalent to two and a half of him when he was five years old in the village.

Ideally, after two or three years of such practice, his true qi could increase several times over.

Normal cultivation methods cannot achieve such miraculous effects. Whether it is the internal energy cultivation of Xuanqing Temple or the internal energy cultivation that Zhuang Xing learned from Bailian Jushi, they will encounter bottlenecks in the growth of true qi.

The human body is like a water tank. When the vital energy fills the tank, it will overflow if you fill it with too much.

However, the Dragon Breath Technique is a wondrous method that can gradually enlarge a water vat during the process of filling it with water, and it also has the wonderful effect of refining true qi. It is indeed a technique created by Yinglong.

Zhuang Xing could roughly sense that this Dragon Breath Technique was truly imitating "dragon breath," just like the "Five Animal Frolics" that it was created.

The increase in his true qi was visible to the naked eye, which motivated him and resulted in a real improvement.

After stabilizing his breathing, he began a new day.

He didn't wake the panda. Although red pandas don't hibernate, they do sleep longer when it's cold.

They have been here for more than three years and their appearance has not changed much, but in terms of age, they are all more than ten years old. At the age of pandas, they have entered middle age and are no longer young and strong. They are fine when the temperature is suitable, but when it is too cold or too hot, they lose their vitality.

Let them rest more. After three years, Zhuang Xing had already gotten used to the pandas' company. He hoped the little guys would live a long life, so he never let them go hungry or get tired.

However, judging from their size, they have all become quite rounder.

Although animals need fat to provide energy during winter, fat that cannot be burned off turns into fat. Perhaps pandas should be given some exercise?

He stepped out of the bedroom as he pondered. The door to his bedroom was not closed; instead, a curtain hung down. The reason for leaving the door open was to make it easier for the pandas to move around. The little guys' huts were built outside the yard, on a sandy and gravelly area covered with thatch.

The first thing I do after getting up is boil water, the second thing is to go to the hut to relieve myself, and the third thing is to wash up.

A thick fog rolled in on the mountain today. When he opened the door, a white mist obscured his view.

A cold front swept in, covering the rooftops and the ground with a thin layer of snow. It had been snowing last night. In this dim and pure white world, he had a feeling of being isolated from the world. The cucumber vines in the vegetable garden had long since withered from the cold.

This winter was really cold. He habitually did a set of warm-up exercises in the yard, and his slightly stiff joints slowly started to move, and his body warmed up.

The fog was thick, but as the sun rose into the sky, the dark and pale background came to life.

He was completely absorbed in it, and the practice of the Warm-up Technique and Dragon Breath Technique required even greater concentration. He had no time to pay attention to anything else; all his attention was focused on himself.

His footsteps drew a complete circle in the snow, and his breathing was restrained, like a steady rock.

Only when he finished his last stance and brought his fist to his waist did he sense that gaze.