3: New buds of ancient cypress

When the first ray of pale dawn broke through the eastern clouds and cast its light upon the broken eaves of the main hall of Qingfeng Temple, Li Muchen slowly let out a long breath.

The breath was condensed, forming a slender white line in the cold morning air that flew about a foot away before slowly dissipating.

He opened his eyes, which were shining with a clear and spirited light, no longer showing any of the exhaustion or confusion from when he first arrived yesterday. After a night of sitting in meditation and performing the Guiding Technique, he didn't feel any soreness in his waist or numbness in his legs; instead, his entire body felt comfortable, and his spirit was as full as if he had enjoyed a good night's sleep.

The True Qi within his body became increasingly lively and solid, flowing slowly along the path recorded in the "Basic Guidance Technique," nourishing his Meridians and blood at every moment.

This was the benefit of Cultivation, even at its earliest stage.

He stood up and stretched his limbs, his joints making slight popping sounds, filled with a sense of power. Walking into the courtyard, the dried-up well—which should now be called the Spirit Well—reflected the sky's light, its water clear to the bottom. The spirit well water he drew was cold and sweet; after drinking it, a stream of clear Qi permeated his four limbs and hundred bones, the effect even more pronounced than last night.

He washed up simply with the well water, the cold water stimulating his skin and making him more alert.

His stomach growled at the right time. The few wild fruits from last night had long been completely digested by the abundant Origin Qi.

He walked to the few wild fruit trees in the corner of the courtyard and found that there weren't many ripe fruits left. This was not a long-term solution after all.

"Sign in."

Li Muchen stood still and thought silently. According to the System's prompt, today's sign-in location could be anywhere within the temple grounds. He chose the stone steps in front of the main hall.

[Ding! Sign-in successful! Congratulations, Host, for obtaining a Newbie Opportunity reward!]

[Reward: Spirit Plant Seeds · heart-clearing grass ×10 (Resilient vitality, can be planted in Spirit Soil or places where Spiritual Qi converges. After maturing, it emits a faint fragrance, which has the effect of calming the mind and assisting in meditation.)]

Spirit Plant Seeds?

Li Muchen looked at the ten rice-sized, light green seeds that appeared out of thin air in his palm, their surfaces covered in fine cloud patterns, and his heart stirred. He couldn't eat these for now, but in the long run, their value might be even greater. Assisting in meditation was a good thing for one's Cultivate.

But, Spirit Soil? A place where Spiritual Qi converges?

He looked around; weeds were overgrown, and the soil was barren. Only around the Spirit Well, due to the influence of the Spirit Spring Eye, did the ground seem a bit moister, and the wild grass was slightly greener than elsewhere.

Perhaps I can give it a try.

He walked to the Spirit Well and chose a dry patch of land that the sun could reach but wouldn't be directly drenched by the well water. He pulled out the weeds and roughly turned over a small patch of soil with his hands. The soil was still ordinary yellowish-brown and slightly compacted.

He hesitated for a moment, then tried to condense a trace of weak True Qi at his fingertips and slowly injected it into the turned-over soil.

The True Qi sank in, and there seemed to be no change on the surface of the soil. But Li Muchen keenly sensed that the aura of that small area seemed to become "active" for a moment before falling silent again, as if that wisp of True Qi had been absorbed and diluted by the soil.

"Better than nothing, I suppose." He shook his head, sowed the ten heart-clearing grass seeds evenly, covered them with a thin layer of soil, and then used a broken clay jar to fetch spirit well water and carefully soaked them.

Having finished this, he looked at this small, unremarkable "experimental field," a faint sense of expectation in his heart.

With the water issue addressed and the planting attempted, the next issue was housing. That broken bed in the side hall was no longer sleepable, but the main hall... seemed even less suitable for living.

He remembered the System mentioning that "upgrading the temple can unlock Advanced sign-in areas" during yesterday's sign-in. Repairing the temple should be part of the upgrade, right?

The amount of work was too immense. With just him and his two hands, there were no Materials, no tools, and no money.

Li Muchen walked back to the main hall, his gaze sweeping over the broken statues, the dusty altar, and the roof that let in light. Perhaps he could start with the simplest cleaning.

He rolled up his sleeves and walked to the altar. The dust on and under the table was probably half an inch thick, mixed with bird droppings and withered leaves. He took a deep breath, concentrated his mind, and with the True Qi circulating in his body, he slowly raised his right hand according to the basic technique he had initially mastered last night.

Dust Removal Technique!

This was one of the several basic minor techniques included in the Basic Guidance Technique he had studied last night. The principle was to use True Qi to form a weak air vortex to whirl away dust and dirt. It sounded simple, but it required a high level of fine control over True Qi.

He slightly cupped his palm, and True Qi emerged from his body, forming a small invisible vortex about a foot in front of his palm.

"Go!"

The vortex slowly flew toward the surface of the altar.

The effect... was barely satisfactory.

The thick dust in an area about the size of a washbasin at the center of the table was swept up and tossed into the air, creating a murky atmosphere. However, the vortex was very unstable, unable to reach the edges at all, and the strength control was poor; it almost whirled away a piece of wood from the altar that was already about to fall off.

Li Muchen quickly withdrew his True Qi. Dust fell in a flurry, most of it landing back where it was, and some of it drifting all over his head and face.

"Cough, cough..." He waved his hand to disperse the dust, looked at the altar that had barely become clean, and smiled helplessly.

As expected, theory and practice were two different things. Ten years of pure Origin Qi gave him a high starting point, but the application of True Qi still required a lot of practice and exploration.

He stopped trying to take shortcuts and honestly went to the ruins of the side hall to find tools. In the end, he only found a broken broom with only a few stiff bristles left and a broken wooden basin with one side caved in.

He used the wooden basin to draw water from the well, soaked the hem of his broken Daoist robe to use as a rag, and began manual cleaning.

It was a tedious and slow process. The dust was too much, and he had to go out frequently for fresh air. The collapsed door panels were too heavy; he tried using True Qi to assist and found it much easier, but it was also extremely taxing on his mind. After moving them a few times, he felt mentally exhausted, and his True Qi was more than half consumed.

After being busy for more than a full double-hour, he barely managed to clean the area in front of the main hall's statue and the altar into a rough shape. He didn't dare to touch the thick dust on the statue itself, fearing he might shatter the already precarious clay sculpture.

Straightening his back and looking at the main hall, which was still dilapidated but at least a bit cleaner, Li Muchen wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling a strange sense of satisfaction. This was a grounded feeling of personally changing his environment, different from the instantaneous improvement given by the System.

His stomach growled again, and this time it was particularly loud.

He walked to the wild fruit trees and picked the last few edible fruits. Looking at the sparse branches, he knew the food problem had to be solved as soon as possible.

The village at the foot of the mountain might be a place to trade for grain, but he was penniless now; what could he use to trade? spirit well water? It wasn't easy to explain for now.

He had to find a way to get some food himself. Hunting? He didn't know how. Digging for wild vegetables? On this barren mountain, besides those few wild fruit trees and the overgrown weeds, he hadn't found any other edible plants for the time being.

Perhaps... he could try True Qi again?

He walked outside the temple gates, where there was a small patch of relatively flat wasteland that might have been a vegetable garden before, now overgrown with tough cogon grass. He tried to condense True Qi at his fingertips, turning it into an extremely thin Qi blade, and sliced toward the base of a clump of cogon grass.

"Swoosh—"

With a soft sound, the cogon grass snapped as intended, the cut being smooth.

It worked! Although the efficiency was low and it consumed True Qi, it was at least a way to obtain "tools." Using this clumsy method, it took him nearly half a double-hour to clear a patch of land the size of a tabletop, leaving him panting and his True Qi almost depleted.

While resting with his hands on his knees, his gaze inadvertently swept over the ancient cypress tree in front of the hall that he had watered with spirit well water yesterday.

That ancient cypress tree was located directly in front of the main hall, about seven or eight steps from the Spirit Well. Its trunk required two people to encircle it, and its bark was cracked like Dragon scales, but it had already been dead for many years, with no branches or leaves, pointing baldly toward the sky, looking completely devoid of life.

Yesterday, when he first obtained the Spirit Spring water, in his excitement, he had used a clay jar to scoop water and splash it on its roots, not paying much attention at the time.

Looking at it now... Li Muchen rubbed his eyes, thinking he had seen it wrong.

At the bottom of that dry, moistureless trunk, near the root System, between the cracks in the bark, there actually... emerged several extremely tiny, bright green protrusions!

Were those... bud points?

He walked over quickly, knelt down, and looked closely.

Yes! They were indeed new bud points! They were only the size of rice grains, their color so tender it seemed as if water could be squeezed out of them. Against the backdrop of the withered, black, and cracked bark, they appeared exceptionally fragile, yet exceptionally stubborn, filled with vitality.

The ancient tree that had been dead for many years had actually sprouted new life because of a few ladles of well water containing weak Spiritual Qi!

Li Muchen reached out, his fingertips lightly touching the tender green bud points. The touch was slightly cool, yet he could clearly feel the tiny but resilient vitality contained within. This vitality faintly resonated with the True Qi in his body and the aura emitted by the Spirit Well.

He stared blankly, feeling an indescribable shock in his heart.

The cultivation level and items granted by the System were certainly miraculous, but they were ultimately "external" powers. Yet the sight of this withered tree coming back to life in spring was the most primitive and essential "vitality" catalyzed by Spiritual Qi acting upon all things in the world.

This gave him a more intuitive and profound understanding of "Spiritual Qi" and "Cultivate." This was not just an improvement in personal power, but an influence and resonance with life and nature.

Perhaps rebuilding the halls, remolding the golden statues, and recruiting many disciples were still far off.

But letting this barren mountain regain its vitality and making this broken temple truly become a "spiritual land" could perhaps start with every plant and tree.

He stood up, returned to the well, drew a full basin of spirit well water, and carefully and evenly watered the dry soil at the base of the ancient cypress tree. As the clear water seeped in, the color of that patch of land seemed to become a bit deeper and moister.

Having done all this, he stepped back a few paces and watched quietly.

The morning light grew brighter, and the mountain mist thinned. Qingfeng Temple was still dilapidated, with the hole in the main hall's roof letting in the sky's light, and the ruins of the side hall still an eyesore.

But at the base of that dead ancient cypress tree, a few spots of new green stubbornly announced a new life.

Within Li Muchen's Dantian and Qi Sea, the True Qi that had been more than half consumed by a night of Cultivate and the various attempts just now was, along with his calmed breathing, slowly and continuously absorbing the thin but ubiquitous Spiritual Qi from the direction of the Spirit Well, from the ground beneath his feet, and from the surrounding air, recovering and growing bit by bit.

He turned around and looked at the small "experimental field" he had cleared yesterday, at the remaining wild fruits in his hand, and at the roof and courtyard walls that needed repair.

The road ahead was long, and everything was waiting to be rebuilt.

But with last night's entry into the Dao, with this morning's new shoots, with the True Qi circulating endlessly in his body, and with that daily Opportunity sign-in... hope had already broken through the soil, just like the new shoots of this ancient cypress tree.

Li Muchen walked to the Spirit Well, took another sip of the clear well water, and felt the clear Qi dissolve within his body. Then, he picked up the broken broom with only stiff bristles left and began to seriously sweep the fallen leaves and dust from the stone steps in front of the main hall.

The rustling sound of sweeping echoed on the silent, barren mountain, slow but steady.

The mountain wind blew, and those few tender green bud points on the ancient cypress tree trembled slightly in the morning light.