“It’s honestly a hassle,” the youth murmured. “Do we really have to shout something like that before we fight? Or, as it says, fight for real.”

“You can find solace in the fact that everyone before you yelled it the same way you will. They weren’t even embarrassed!”

“O-Of course, they wouldn’t be! A phrase like this perfectly fits the aesthetic of this world.”

“It would fit any wuxia novel,” Jian Gong grumbled. He then waved his hand dismissively and said, “But I don’t think that matters right now, does it?”

He sighed, “I guess not.”

“So, let’s do what really matters and try to hide your Qi.”

“Fine, just read off the bookmark and tell me what to do,” saying this, the youth pulled up the search result he had previously bookmarked and without looking, shoved the screen towards Jian Gong.

“Okay,-” Jian Gong wetted his dry lips while the youth sat down in lotus position. “-there’s actually only one line here.”

The youth who was already halfway into ‘emptying himself’, flinched and looked at Jian Gong with a disbelieving expression, “The fuck did you just say?”

“No, no, I’m serious,” Jian Gong shrugged and turned the screen around. There was only a single sentence on it- ‘Put yourself under the illusion that you’ve fallen to one realm below and rinse and repeat until you’ve put yourself under the impression that your body is empty of Qi.’

The youth’s lips twitched, “W-Why is it so vague?”

“Come on, man. It’s ancient times, everything has to be vague! It’s like the rule of ancient times.”

“That doesn’t sound rational much less convincing.”

“Exactly, get used to it.” Jian Gong sighed on his behalf. “Honestly, there’s not much I can elaborate here other than you know, just repeat the words on the screen.”

“No, no, I get it. Even I can’t find a way.” The youth started walking, “Let’s keep moving. I’ll think as I walk.”

“Very well,” Jian Gong lifted his feet and followed beside him. The both of them kept quiet- one thinking deeply about a technique while the other was immersed in the scenery around them which had unsurprisingly not changed since the moment they had gotten out of the cave.

After five and half hours of walking so, the sun had already lit the previously dark sky as well as the youth’s face. With a glowing expression, he clapped his hands, “I think I have it!”

“Oh, you figured it out?” Jian Gong raised an eyebrow.

“Yep! And it’s easy too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it says to ‘put myself under the illusion’ but why try doing something so hard when I can experience the real thing?”

“Right,” he had a satisfied expression.

“It hasn’t been that long since I ascended to the Seventh Stage from the Fifth, so, I remember what my Qi levels were at those times as well as the aura I had. I also remember the time when I entered the First Stage since it was quite a vivid experience for me.”

“W-What?” Jian Gong instantly became dumbfounded.

“The only problem is that I don’t quite remember the Second, Third, and Fourth Stages but I’m sure I can find a way!” The youth puffed up his chest and looked particularly pleased with himself.

Meanwhile, Jian Gong rubbed his face with a tired expression and groaned, “How does he manage to derail so fast?”

He then sighed and poked the youth, “Listen, if you try like that, you’ll have to constantly remember your own Qi levels. And worse, you’ll actually stop enemies from underestimating you more since people who cultivate Divine Grade Cultivation Arts actually are more powerful than your average Cultivator on the same level. You should try to estimate the Qi levels by looking at other people and make a general estimate from that.”

The youth instantly deflated. Jian Gong patted his back and tried to comfort him. The gloomy youth just sighed and decided to do the next best thing- completely hide his Qi.

He quickly surveyed the area and found a spot where he wouldn’t be ambushed like last time. After sitting down in the lotus position, the youth started releasing Qi out of his body.

Soon, his body was completely devoid of Qi and his eyes shot open. He gasped for air like a fish out of air.

“What the fuck? Haah!” the youth spoke between gasps, “This feels-haah-so fucking pathetic.”

“Powerless is the correct word,” Jian Gong leaned in and smiled at him. “You never know how weak you were until now, did you? And honestly, you were even weaker than this.”

“Wha- seriously?”

“Yeah, no joke. Qi also strengthens your physical body. The body of an ordinary mortal will never be able to handle the Qi of a Fourth Stage Qi Refinement Cultivator. So, with every bit of Qi that increases your body, it also nourishes and strengthens your body. In this vein, Cultivation is divided into two main types- Internal and External Cultivation.

Internal Cultivation is the cultivation and strengthening of Qi inside the body by using the dantian. External Cultivation is the use of Qi and exercise to strengthen the physical body.”

“Exercising? Does exercise for Cultivators even exist?”

“Yep, the famous ones are tempering your body by getting beaten up and bench-pressing a mountain.”

The youth’s breath stabilized. He frowned and asked, “Bench-pressing a mountain? Sounds fucking absurd!”

“Well, this is a world with Cultivators. Get used to it.”

The youth sighed, “I’ll do External Cultivation when I get the time. For now, let me rest and get my Qi back.”

“Yeah, sure. How long’s that going to take?” Jian Gong laid down on a nearby rock.

“Give me two hours.” He closed his eyes and went back to recuperating. Jian Gong similarly closed his eyes and enjoyed the gentle breeze on his skin.

“Having this kind of body is quite nice, no? This world can’t interact with me but I can interact with it.” Jian Gong sighed

Two hours passed by in a flash. The youth let out a turbid breath of air before opening his eyes slowly and standing up.

He stretched and beckoned Jian Gong, “Oi, let’s go!”

“You done?” he got up and stretched as well. “Let’s keep moving then.”

“Did you get the hang of it?” Jian Gong asked.

The youth didn’t answer but Jian Gong felt that the youth’s body had no Qi anymore just like before. He smiled knowingly. “Good, this should make our journey easier.”

“Yeah.” He sighed, “Honestly, I’ve been in this forest for too long. I’m going to go insane.”

Jian Gong nodded in agreement, “I feel you, man. Please fuck off from this forest quicker.”

“I’m trying, I’m trying! But shit just keeps popping up!”

“Focus on escaping, you bastard. You get into more events than a dating sim protagonist!”

“I would have no complaints if these events had beautiful girls. So far, I’ve only seen married women, little girls, and women out of my fucking reach.”

“Hah!” Jian Gong sneered, “Don’t spout that bullshit. Even if some hot girls fell into your lap, you’d do nothing to them.”

“You don’t know that!”

“I know that Li Chyou was slowly falling for you. It hit its peak last year.”

“That’s…” the youth paused. “She- no, I-”

“You didn’t fall for her, why?”

“…what do you want me to say? ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I couldn’t’? Maybe I didn’t know what I was feeling?”

“You definitely knew what you felt towards her, just that it wasn’t romantic love. Something akin to ‘like’, the type friends feel for each other, perhaps? You felt comfortable enough to think of her as a friend.”

“That’s…true,” he hung his head.

“That’s not weird by itself. No. You haven’t felt any lustful or otherwise romantic feelings towards any of the women you’ve seen in your life. And you’ve been around so many types of women; it’s a bit astonishing to think about this.”

“Maybe, I’m waiting for the right one?”

“See, even you don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not talking about falling in love. We’ve moved past that. I’m asking- why do you not feel lust? One of the few emotions that invoke desire.”

“Isn’t it good that I haven’t felt lust yet? Isn’t that one of Seven Deadly Sins?”

“Lust in of itself isn’t a sin. Excessive lust, however, is. But that goes for excessive anything. Excessive love without boundaries turns into obsession, excessive anger turns to wrath, and excessive desire turns to greed, gluttony, envy, and so on. But-” Jian Gong smiled, “-there’s no need for me to tell you about these things. Even if you know something, it’s only when you experience it do you truly understand.”

“I feel like you’ve said something like this before.”

“Have I? Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. You-” he pointed at the youth’s nose, “-should focus on leaving this forest.”

The youth sighed, “Yeah, sure.”