Unlike training strength, where he could eat spirit beast meat to boost his power and soak in medicinal baths to strengthen his body, practicing control relied solely on himself. This process required intense focus, with no room for carelessness. As his senior sister put it, he needed to "find the right feeling and use his body to control the power, rather than relying on his mind."
What Lu Yang had to do was to naturally grasp the tofu without forcing it.
At the end of the day, Lu Yang was covered in the smell of tofu, and his eyes were almost crossed from focusing on the tofu for so long. Thankfully, his puppet, experienced in such matters, slapped him twice, and his eyes returned to normal.
When it was time to eat, Lu Yang looked at the table full of tofu in silence. There was stir-fried tofu, fried tofu, steamed tofu, tofu pudding, and tofu soup... All the ingredients were the tofu he had crushed during the day. He heard that the tofu pudding and tofu soup were gifts from kind shopkeepers. Lu Yang felt grateful to his ancestors for that.
He knew that if he couldn't control his power well for a day, he wouldn't be able to eat anything else. In other words, one of them would have to go—either he or the tofu.
Tofu wasn't just an ordinary food; eating it regularly could help balance a cultivator's five elements, prolong their breath, and increase their endurance in battle. The benefits were countless. But no one could stand eating tofu every day.
With no other choice, Lu Yang buried himself in his meal, thinking about how to control his power better the next day.
...
While deep in sleep, Lu Yang felt a blinding white light shining on his face, forcing his eyelids shut and twisting his expression. Only after slowly getting used to the bright light did he try to open his eyes.
He found himself in a pure white space surrounded by thick mist. Only a small area around him was clear, and he couldn't find the source of the light.
"Where is this?" Lu Yang felt a bit panicked. He was sleeping in the Daoist Sect, surrounded by countless powerful people, and his senior sister was right next door. Who could have quietly brought him to this mysterious space?
Was the person good or evil?
A grand voice echoed from the mist, sounding ancient and resonating through time.
"Young man, this is a temporary space I have created, undetectable by anyone."
Lu Yang's heart tightened. The person's abilities were beyond his imagination, and he could only hope that they meant him no harm.
"I have witnessed the ages, seen countless powerful beings unmatched in the world, yet they all ultimately succumbed to the erosion of time, their passionate struggles turning into sighs at the end."
"Regardless of their brilliance, I remain carefree and eternal." The voice was deep and hoarse, carrying a hint of weariness from ages past.
This existence was more than Lu Yang could comprehend.
"Today, I felt a whim, calculated a bit, and found that you and I are fated. Thus, I summoned your soul to this temporary inheritance space."
"This space contains everything needed from the Qi Refining Stage to the Tribulation Stage—methods, pills, manuals, and insights into cultivation... At each stage, you can unlock a part of my inheritance."
Lu Yang sighed in relief; the person seemed friendly. He clasped his hands politely and asked, "May I ask who you are, senior?"
The senior laughed three times and stepped out of the mist.
The figure was pale and smooth-skinned, with a square head—it was a piece of tofu.
As the tofu senior approached, speaking faster, he said, "I am the Tofu Celestial. Everything I have learned is here. The more tofu you eat, the faster your cultivation will rise, your foundation will become solid, and challenging higher levels will be no problem...”
Lu Yang broke into a cold sweat, suddenly waking up and sitting up in bed. He looked around in confusion; it was pitch black and silent, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"It was just a dream, thank goodness."
He felt the cold sweat on his back and couldn't shake off the lingering fear.
...
Yun Zhi slowly opened her eyes, and a blue light retreated from Lu Yang's room.
"With this, he should train harder," she murmured to herself.
Her master had once told her that appropriate pressure could turn into motivation, pushing people to strive for improvement. Yun Zhi was a successful example of this, so she believed her master was right. She used a dream technique to give Lu Yang a little push.
"The lines provided by Elder Eight were a bit embarrassing; I wonder how he says them normally."
Yun Zhi was good at asking others for advice, and all the steps and lines in the dream were written by Elder Eight, who guaranteed they would work.
...
After some time, Yun Zhi saw Lu Yang effortlessly squeezing tofu, tossing it into the air, and catching it steadily. He could even use the tofu like a sandbag, tossing it back and forth with the puppet.
The soft tofu felt like a part of his body, easily controlled.
"You've achieved lifting light as if it were heavy. This stage is complete."
Lu Yang smiled; he was no longer the same person he once was. With continuous practice, his restless heart gradually calmed down. He didn't need any special techniques; he could do it naturally.
"What should I practice next?"
Lu Yang no longer pursued the same pace as his peers. He believed his senior sister had her reasons for arranging things this way.
Yun Zhi rarely showed a smile: "Consolidate your Qi Refining Stage cultivation."
Lu Yang was taken aback and pointed at himself: "Qi Refining Stage? Me?"
He didn't know when he had become a Qi Refining Stage cultivator. Didn't the books say that drawing Qi into the body required guidance from seniors, teaching techniques, closing off the five senses, and organizing the meridians to succeed?
If someone had poor talent, they would even need pills to assist them.
He hadn't met any of those conditions.
Disciples of the Daoist Sect didn't need pills to draw Qi into their bodies; they were all exceptional talents. If they needed pills to enter the Qi Refining Stage, they might as well leave the sect.
Lu Yang believed he wouldn't need pills either, but the question was, how had he become a Qi Refining Stage cultivator?
"Three mornings ago," his senior sister hinted.
Lu Yang suddenly remembered that morning three days ago.
He had gotten up early, facing the morning light, eyes closed, thinking about how to grasp the tofu.
As his thoughts deepened, he slowly lost awareness of his surroundings, feeling like a rising mist drifting through the world. Then his consciousness sank back into his body, and everything became clear, like a warm breath flowing in his dantian.
It was that moment he successfully grasped the tofu.
He remembered that his senior sister wasn't present when he practiced squeezing the tofu. It turned out she had been observing him from somewhere he didn't know.
"It seems that feeling was drawing Qi into the body," Lu Yang murmured, lost in thought.
That feeling was truly wonderful, like being on a cloud, wrapped in warmth, so comfortable that he didn't want to open his eyes.
Unknowingly, he had fulfilled his small wish, drawing Qi into his body and becoming a Qi Refining Stage cultivator.
(End of Chapter)