Li Yang prepared to leave the hospital, a faint smile on his face, all traces of his previous dejection gone.
The most important thing on his mind now was the body-tempering Cultivation Technique; it had completely overshadowed the college entrance exams.
"Mm."
Seeing the look on her brother's face, Li Xue figured Li Yang was feeling better. She nodded, and after a moment's thought, said, "Yangyang, don't go to the exam this afternoon. Just stay home and get some proper rest."
There was still one more subject in the afternoon, but Li Yang had already missed three exams. Taking the last one wouldn't change the outcome.
More than anything, Li Xue was worried her brother would feel pressured again.
'Sigh... It must be Dad's situation that made him feel like he absolutely had to get a good score. That's why he put more and more pressure on himself, until he finally fainted.'
Hearing what Li Xue said, Li Yang nodded. "Okay."
After completing the discharge paperwork, Li Yang was soon back home.
...
"I'm fine now, Sis. You can go take care of your own business," Li Yang said to Li Xue once they were home.
Seeing that her brother was indeed fine, Li Xue didn't insist on staying. She nodded and said, "Alright, Yangyang, I'm heading out. Don't overthink things, just focus on resting. If you feel anything is off, call me immediately."
After a pause, still a bit worried, she added, "Text me every two hours."
Li Xue did have things she needed to do, but she was worried Li Yang might suddenly collapse again, so she wanted him to check in regularly.
Li Yang had no choice but to agree.
Li Xue was ten years older than him. When they were kids, their parents were always busy with work, so Li Xue was the one who looked after him most of the time. The two siblings shared a very deep bond.
The moment he saw Li Xue leave, Li Yang sat right down on the floor and eagerly began to cultivate!
He circulated the Cultivation Technique, and in just a short while, he once again felt the strange energy in the air.
As the Cultivation Technique circulated, this energy was continuously drawn into his body...
An hour, two hours...
Li Yang was almost completely immersed in his cultivation, tirelessly circulating the Cultivation Technique.
This sort of thing, which he'd only ever read about in novels, made him feel incredibly excited and thrilled!
Even the supreme Emperor Qin Shi Huang had yearned for a method to achieve immortality through cultivation; one can only imagine how alluring it was.
Just like that, more than four hours passed in the blink of an eye.
'So tired!'
At this point, Li Yang finally stopped cultivating. He felt very fatigued from circulating the Cultivation Technique, but it wasn't a physical tiredness—it was a different kind of fatigue, one that came from somewhere else.
'Looks like my body has an adaptation period. I can't just absorb energy indefinitely.'
As he circulated the Cultivation Technique and absorbed energy, his body's absorption rate was fairly consistent for the first two hours. But after that, it slowed down. Pushing on for another two hours left him feeling extremely fatigued.
He recalled that during his session, he had taken a break partway through. After resting, his fatigue had lessened considerably, and his rate of energy absorption had picked up again.
This led Li Yang to a conclusion: he clearly couldn't absorb this energy twenty-four hours a day. The correct path was to cultivate, rest for a while, and then cultivate again.
Li Yang got to his feet. His body felt sticky, and a viscous substance was clinging to his clothes.
'Are these the impurities being expelled from my body?'
With that thought, Li Yang walked into the bathroom, rinsed himself off, and changed into a clean set of clothes.
After his shower, Li Yang looked at his reflection in the mirror.
A handsome young man stood before the mirror. He was over five-foot-eleven, with a well-proportioned build and short, textured hair. The overall impression was clean and fresh.
When it came to looks, Li Yang was definitely top-tier.
His mother, Zhao Rou, was a member of the Zhao family, so her beauty was a given. When Li Yang's father was young, he had even been scouted for idol dramas, though he wasn't interested—which spoke volumes about his good looks.
Clenching his fists, Li Yang assessed his body's condition.
'My strength has increased a little.'
He picked up the 40-kilogram power twister from the corner, grabbed both ends, and gave it a try. A power twister was the most direct way to gauge strength. Previously, Li Yang could manage thirty reps in one go. This time, he easily did over forty and wasn't even exhausted.
'So hungry.'
After testing his strength for a moment, Li Yang rubbed his stomach.
After cultivating for several hours, he was hungrier than he'd ever been.
He checked the refrigerator and saw plenty of ingredients. In the cupboard, there were several bundles of noodles.
Li Yang usually cooked rice, but he was too hungry now, and making rice would take too long. It would be faster to just make some noodles.
He cooked half a pot of noodles, adding two eggs and some shredded pork. As soon as they were done, Li Yang dug in.
After two bowls of noodles, Li Yang was surprised to find he still wasn't full.
He cooked another two bowls, finishing off an entire bundle of noodles. Only after eating all of it did Li Yang finally feel full.
'My appetite is huge now, isn't it?' Li Yang thought with a sense of resignation. He'd turned into a bottomless pit.
After washing the dishes, Li Yang sat down and resumed his cultivation!
This time, he only cultivated for half an hour before stopping. Clearly, his body hadn't fully recovered yet.
He took out his phone and video-called his parents.
After talking for a bit, he hung up. Li Yang sighed internally.
'It's a shame. I'm the only one who can practice this Cultivation Technique from the small sword.'
He didn't recognize the characters that made up the Cultivation Technique, but he understood their meaning as if the knowledge had been directly poured into his mind.
He could use this method to cultivate, but he couldn't describe it or explain the specific way to practice it.
It was just like the saying, "some things can be understood, but not explained." He now truly understood the meaning of that phrase.
'Dad has late-stage cancer. If he could cultivate... even if it couldn't cure him, could it extend his life?'
Given the circumstances, if it were possible, Li Yang would have definitely told Li Guohai about the Cultivation Technique.
But even though he couldn't tell him, this Cultivation Technique was too miraculous. 'If I can achieve some success in my cultivation,' Li Yang thought, 'maybe I'll be able to cure my father?'
He couldn't think of a way how, of course. For now, the Cultivation Technique only seemed to improve his physical fitness; it didn't seem to have any healing properties.
Even so, he was filled with hope.
'Keep cultivating!'
After resting for three hours, Li Yang felt he was more or less recovered, and he began to cultivate again!
...
Over the next few days, Li Yang became a cultivation fanatic. He was completely engrossed in his practice. Aside from taking necessary breaks, the moment his body recovered, he would start cultivating again.
And his physical fitness was improving at a dramatic rate.
And just like that, a week flew by.