Searching for the Qi within his body was far easier than actually controlling it, and Alex quickly discovered that sensing energy and moving energy were two completely different things.
Each time Alex tried to draw Qi out from his dantian, it felt as though an invisible barrier was resisting his attempts. No matter how carefully he focused, the energy simply refused to move freely through his body.
"Seems I'll need another approach," Alex murmured under his breath, staring inward as he tried to understand why the Qi was refusing to obey him.
When he attempted to pull the Qi outward again, only a single, fragile thread responded. It slipped into one narrow meridian before disappearing almost immediately, leaving Alex with an amount of progress that was barely worth mentioning.
After several failed attempts, frustration slowly tightened in his chest. Forcing the energy clearly was not working, and continuing to use the same method would only waste more time.
'I have to use a different method.' Alex thought, deciding that perhaps he was approaching the problem incorrectly from the beginning.
Instead of trying to pull the Qi outward, Alex concentrated on the large pool of energy resting inside his dantian. Rather than forcing it toward the meridians, he began compressing the energy inward with steady mental pressure.
The process felt somewhat like stirring still water at the center of a lake, except Alex was using nothing but his mind to disturb the energy that had remained peacefully inside his dantian.
After maintaining that pressure for several moments, Alex suddenly pushed inward with greater force, hoping that disrupting the energy would produce a different result.
The effect startled him.
The compressed Qi suddenly burst outward like a powerful ripple spreading across water, rushing into countless thin meridians throughout his body almost simultaneously. It was not violent, but the movement was decisive.
For the first time, Alex felt Qi flowing through his body through more than a single weak strand. The energy moved along multiple pathways, allowing him to clearly sense its presence throughout his meridians.
A slow warmth spread through his limbs as the Qi continued moving, and the unfamiliar sensation felt strangely satisfying. Alex could almost trace the energy as it traveled through pathways that had remained completely silent until now.
Carefully, Alex began guiding the Qi into a proper circulation, trying to maintain a steady flow rather than allowing the energy to scatter randomly throughout his body.
That was when everything suddenly changed.
"What is happening?" Alex asked, his expression tightening as a strange sensation spread rapidly across his skin.
A sharp sting erupted across his entire body, making him feel as though every pore had suddenly been forced open. Heat flushed through him, followed by a prickling ache that caused his muscles to tense.
Thick, black impurities slowly began oozing from his pores, coating his skin with a sticky layer. Almost immediately, an unbearable stench filled the room, resembling something that had been rotting for an incredibly long time.
"Argh… W-what?" Alex struggled to think through the sudden discomfort, desperately trying to understand what was happening and what could possibly have caused it.
The pain was not overwhelming, but it was persistent enough to make concentrating extremely difficult. It continued clawing at his focus, forcing Alex to fight against the instinct to stop everything.
Alex clenched his jaw tightly and shut his eyes, refusing to allow the discomfort to break his concentration. He had already come this far, and he needed to understand what was happening inside his body.
Minutes slowly passed while Alex remained completely still, continuing to circulate the Qi despite the unpleasant sensations spreading across his body.
Gradually, the burning sensation began to fade, and the prickling pain slowly disappeared. The flow of Qi also became more stable, moving through his meridians with much greater smoothness than before.
The pressure inside his body eventually eased completely, replaced by an unfamiliar feeling of lightness. Alex could immediately tell that something had changed, even though he did not yet understand exactly what had happened.
When he finally opened his eyes, however, the sight in front of him nearly made him recoil.
The floor was covered with dark residue, while his clothes were completely ruined and stained by the strange substance. The foul odor still hung heavily inside the room, making Alex instinctively wrinkle his nose.
He looked down at himself in disbelief and realized that practically every part of his body was covered in the sticky black substance.
"I need another bath," Alex muttered, grimacing as he looked at the disgusting mess covering both himself and the surrounding floor.
Suppressing his disgust, Alex first cleaned the floor because he did not want to leave the unpleasant residue scattered around the room. The smell made the task miserable, but he forced himself to finish it anyway.
Only after the room had been properly cleaned did Alex enter the bathroom and wash himself thoroughly, making sure that none of the strange substance remained on his skin.
Afterward, he changed into a fresh set of clothes and stepped back into the main room. He took a slow breath and looked around, finally feeling comfortable again.
"It feels good now," Alex said with a small smile, relieved that both his body and the room were finally clean.
Once everything was settled, Alex returned to his previous position and continued practicing from where he had stopped. However, much to his surprise, something was completely different this time.
The moment he circulated his Qi again, the energy responded instantly without offering even the slightest resistance. It flowed smoothly through his meridians, obedient and natural, almost as though it had always belonged there.
A quiet feeling of satisfaction appeared in Alex's eyes as he realized that he had somehow overcome the problem through his own experimentation.
Without hesitation, Alex picked up the talisman Mei Lin had given him earlier. He carefully guided a small amount of Qi into it, following the basic principle she had explained to him.
The talisman trembled faintly in his hand before a red glow slowly spread across its surface. The light shimmered for a brief moment, confirming that the talisman had successfully activated.
A moment later, the glow disappeared.
Alex lowered his hand and waited patiently for someone to arrive, assuming that the talisman had already sent his request to the appropriate person.
As Alex waited inside the quiet room, a sharp knock suddenly echoed from the other side of the door. The sound broke the peaceful silence and pulled him out of his thoughts.
Alex stood up, walked toward the door, and opened it to find Mei Lin standing outside. She looked at him with her usual calm expression, seemingly unsurprised that he had contacted her.
"You need something?" Mei Lin asked plainly, her tone as direct as it had been the previous day.
By now, Alex had already grown accustomed to Mei Lin's straightforward manner, so her lack of unnecessary politeness no longer seemed strange to him.
Alex rubbed his stomach slightly before giving her a small, somewhat awkward smile. "Could you show me where I can get something to eat?" he asked, realizing that his hunger had become impossible to ignore.
Mei Lin nodded without hesitation and gestured for him to follow. "Of course. There's a dining hall inside the inn, and I'll take you there. Please follow me."
Alex stepped out of his room and followed Mei Lin through the corridors of the building. The wooden floor creaked softly beneath their footsteps as they continued deeper into the inn.
The scent of freshly cooked food gradually became stronger the farther they walked, and Alex's stomach responded immediately with another loud growl.
After walking for a short while, they finally arrived at a large open room filled with tables and chairs. The warm atmosphere immediately made Alex feel more comfortable.
Many people were already seated throughout the dining hall, quietly eating their meals or talking among themselves. The place was lively without being excessively noisy, creating a comfortable atmosphere for the guests.
The smell of various dishes filled the entire room, and Alex's stomach growled again as he looked around at all the food.
"Here it is," Mei Lin said simply before turning around and leaving, apparently having other work to attend to.
Alex found an empty seat and sat down before ordering several dishes for himself. He had no idea what most of the food was, so he simply chose several things that looked interesting.
When the dishes finally arrived, Alex immediately noticed that many of them looked completely unfamiliar. There were different vegetables, strange spices, and several types of meat that he had never seen during his time on Earth.
Curiosity mixed with hunger as Alex picked up his utensils and began eating slowly, carefully tasting each dish before deciding whether he liked it.
To his surprise, most of the dishes were incredibly flavorful. The food was rich and warm, and every bite seemed to restore some of the energy he had lost during his journey.
Alex continued eating until his hunger was finally satisfied, and by the time he finished, nearly every plate in front of him had been emptied.
Satisfied with his meal, Alex stood up from his seat and walked toward the exit of the inn. Now that his immediate hunger had disappeared, another thought quickly occupied his mind.
'I should explore the city.'
The streets outside were already busy with people moving in different directions, while shops lined both sides of the road and displayed countless items that Alex still did not understand.
The architecture, clothing, buildings, and even the way people spoke constantly reminded Alex that he was truly living in a different world.
As he continued walking through the unfamiliar streets, a simple idea suddenly crossed his mind.
A library.
If Alex wanted to properly understand this world, there was probably no better place to begin than a library. Books could teach him about the city, its people, its history, and perhaps even the cultivation system itself.
'There's no way a city like this doesn't have one,' Alex thought while looking at the buildings around him. 'A place like this must have a library. It's practically necessary.'
Still, a small doubt remained in his mind as he continued walking through the unfamiliar streets.
'But what if this world doesn't have libraries?'
Alex kept moving while carefully observing the buildings around him, searching for anything that might resemble a place dedicated to storing books and information.
Nearly an hour passed before Alex finally spotted a small stone building standing quietly along one of the streets. Unlike the surrounding shops, it seemed relatively calm and received far less attention.
Above the entrance hung a simple wooden board, and several words had been written clearly across its surface.
Library.
"There it is," Alex muttered softly, feeling a small sense of relief after searching for nearly an hour.
He pushed the wooden door open and stepped inside, immediately noticing the rows of shelves filling the room.
Books were packed across the shelves, while the faint smell of old paper lingered throughout the building. The library was smaller than the large libraries Alex remembered from Earth, but to him, it still felt like a treasure house filled with information.
However, before he could walk any farther inside, someone suddenly stepped in front of him.
It was a woman who appeared to be managing the library, and she calmly looked at Alex before speaking.
"Sir, you need to pay an entry fee before entering," the woman explained, her tone polite but firm.
Alex paused for a moment before mentally sighing.
'Yeah… of course.'
He almost laughed at himself for forgetting such an obvious possibility.
'How did I forget something so obvious?' Alex thought. 'Even on Earth, some places charge money for certain library services or access.'
"How much is it?" Alex asked, accepting that paying was simply part of gaining access to the information he wanted.
"The entry fee is two silver coins," the woman explained calmly. "And for every hour you stay inside, another two silver coins will be added."
Alex nodded after hearing the price, finding it completely reasonable considering how valuable the information inside might be.
"Alright," he replied before handing over the required coins without complaint.
For Alex, information was far more valuable than a few silver coins, especially when he knew almost nothing about the world he had suddenly been thrown into.
After paying the required amount, Alex finally stepped fully into the library and began looking around more carefully.
The building appeared to have two floors, and a staircase at the far end of the room led toward the upper level. However, two guards were standing firmly in front of the staircase, clearly preventing ordinary visitors from going upstairs.
Alex glanced at them briefly before looking away.
'Restricted area… probably for more valuable books.' he guessed, deciding that there was no reason to involve himself with something that was clearly restricted.
He did not bother asking about it because the information he needed was likely available somewhere on the first floor anyway.
Alex began walking slowly between the shelves, scanning the titles written across the spines of the books. Most of them covered subjects he did not understand, and several titles were written using terms completely unfamiliar to him.
Then one particular title immediately caught his attention.
It was placed among several other books, yet the simple words written across its cover stood out to him instantly.
About the City.
Alex chuckled softly as he reached toward the book and pulled it from the shelf.
'A simple name… but exactly what I need.'
Holding the book carefully in his hands, Alex felt a small sense of anticipation rising inside him. Finally, he had found a way to begin understanding the place he had entered.
He moved toward an empty seat nearby, sat down comfortably, opened the book, and began to read.