I flew on a sword at the magic academy

Chapter 41 Cultivating Oneself and One Mind

"Now that you're practicing both magic and immortal arts, do you know the difference between the two?" Before the monster's corpse was roasted, Shi Daohan asked Kalman this question.

Kalman thought seriously for a moment and said, "It feels very different, but I can't quite put my finger on it."

"Cultivators, those who cultivate the Dao, sense the spirit of all things, comprehend the Dao of Heaven and Earth, draw the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth into their bodies, temper themselves, shed their mortal form and forge an immortal body. They can directly cast spells without relying on other mediums, because they themselves are the best medium."

"But magic is different. Although it is equally profound and exquisite, it also has obvious drawbacks. It relies too much on magic wands and other magical artifacts. In battle, if I knock out or take away your magic wand, you will basically lose your ability to fight."

Shi Daohan turned the barbecue grill with one hand, grilling the monster meat until it was golden brown on both sides, the aroma of which was irresistible and mouthwatering.

"Of course, I'm not belittling your Western magic. After all, in our Eastern China, there are also talisman cultivators like you. They communicate with the gods of heaven and earth through talismans and magic wands and other tools to borrow their power. But in my opinion, borrowed things are never as good as what you cultivate yourself. They have uncertainties and uncontrollable factors."

After saying that, Shi Daohan snapped his fingers.

A wild grass not far away suddenly changed, and in the blink of an eye, it grew to the size of a towering ancient tree.

Kalman was stunned and speechless for a long time.

"As the saying goes, mountains crumble and people run away. In my opinion, the greatest reliance is to firmly grasp one's own power."

Shi Daohan held a dagger in his hand and cut off pieces of the roasted meat. He tasted one piece himself and was very satisfied before offering it to Kalman and continuing his conversation.

"After all, it is a contest with the creation of heaven. If you are not careful, you may suffer a backlash. At best, you will be paralyzed on one side, and at worst, you will perish on the spot, and your body and soul will be destroyed. Therefore, the ancients and sages have always emphasized that to cultivate immortality, you must first cultivate yourself and your mind."

"What does 'cultivating oneself and one's mind' mean? Does it mean repairing the body and heart?" Kalman was confused and couldn't quite understand what these words meant.

People aren't machines, so how can you repair them?

Shi Daohan wasn't surprised that Kalman couldn't understand the meaning of these words, after all, the other party had only been in contact with them for a short time, so it was normal that he couldn't understand them.

"You can think of our bodies as containers, and spiritual energy as boiling water. What happens if you pour boiling water into a plastic bottle?"

Instead of giving a direct answer, Shi Daohan asked this question.

Kalman pondered seriously and said, "Hmm... plastic bottles can't withstand high temperatures. They won't melt, but they'll at least twist and deform severely."

"That's right." Shi Daohan snapped his fingers and said, "The so-called self-cultivation is about tempering and strengthening one's physical body so that one can better absorb and refine the spiritual energy between heaven and earth."

At this point, Shi Daohan asked again, "Now that you have opened up the internal energy circulation, you can draw spiritual energy into your body and refine it. Tell me about your feelings these past few days."

Kalman told the truth that he had been trying to absorb and refine the spiritual energy of heaven and earth these days, but each time he could only absorb a little bit before he could stop, and he didn't know why.

He was certain that he had done exactly as Shi Daohan had taught him, without missing a single step, but the effect was minimal.

"When you opened up the energy channels within your body, the spiritual energy you absorbed and refined had already reached the limit your body could handle. The cup is only so big; what would happen if you added more water when it was already full?"

"It will overflow."

"If the water overflows, it means your body can no longer handle it."

"What will happen if you can't handle it?" Kalman asked nervously.

"They died from an explosion, just like that, with a 'bang,' leaving probably not even a bone fragment behind."

Shi Daohan cut off a whole thigh from the monster's corpse, held it in his hands, and began to gnaw on it, speaking incoherently.

"That scary?!" Kalman was shocked. The thought of trying to absorb spiritual energy over the past few days made him break out in a cold sweat.

Seeing him like this, Shi Daohan burst into laughter and stopped teasing him.

"You don't need to worry. After the internal energy channels are opened, our bodies will have a protective mechanism. Once the threshold that our bodies can withstand is exceeded, we will no longer absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth."

Hearing Shi Daohan's explanation, Kalman finally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that no wonder he had been trying so hard these past few days but could only absorb a little bit of spiritual energy.

"So, self-cultivation is about making plastic bottles stronger and bigger, right?" After summarizing all of Shi Daohan's words, Kalman finally understood.

"That's one way to understand it, but it's only the initial stage. After one's cultivation reaches a certain level, one can use the power of heaven and earth to temper one's soul and limbs, shed one's mortal body and create an immortal body, reaching the realm of transcendence and sainthood."

The Way of Poetry is neither hurried nor slow.

"Master, have you reached that level yet?" Kalman looked over with a curious expression.

Shi Daohan shook her head. Even her cheap master was far from reaching that level, let alone her.

Kalman took a big bite of the roast meat, and then asked what cultivating the mind meant.

"Cultivating the mind is a bit complicated to explain, but it basically refers to one's state of mind. You'll understand this in the future."

Shi Daohan waved her hand. She had spent half a day explaining just the concept of self-cultivation. If she wanted Kalman to understand what self-cultivation meant, she would have to explain it until dawn.

Before long, they had finished eating the entire monster's carcass. Shi Daohan burped and looked at a vacant lot not far away, muttering to himself, "Since it's just sitting there empty anyway, I might as well make a field for spiritual herbs and plant some spiritual plants."

Thinking of this, she looked at Kalman with a mischievous grin.

Seeing her smug look, Kalman immediately had a bad feeling.

Shi Daohan pointed to a vacant lot not far ahead and said, "Go and dig up that piece of land."

"Huh?" Kalman paused for three or four seconds, then frowned deeply. "I'm not a farmer!"

"Are you going or not?" Shi Daohan asked in a slightly somber tone.

"I won't go!" Kalman said defiantly. He was, after all, the young master of the Pearson family. He would never put aside his status and go dig the ground with a hoe.

"Alright." Shi Daohan nodded and said slowly, "Don't blame me for not reminding you, what you just ate was a fourth-grade demon beast. The abundant spiritual power contained in its flesh and blood is definitely not something you can withstand. If you don't dissipate it as soon as possible, not even a god could save you, let alone me."

Kalman was shocked to hear this. His life was at stake, and he immediately lost his composure. But then he seemed to remember something.

"You're trying to scare me. You just said that my body has a protective mechanism that stops absorbing spiritual energy once it exceeds a certain threshold."

"That's right, but it seems you actually ate it just now." Shi Daohan's eyes narrowed into crescent shapes as she smiled and said, "The spiritual power contained in the demon beast's flesh and blood was forcibly swallowed into your body, not absorbed by you."

"You!" Kalman was furious, annoyed, and shocked, and it took him a while to finally choke out, "You're bullying me!"

"Hurry up and go, or it will be too late, even a miracle won't save you."

Shi Daohan, looking smug, took out a hoe from his storage ring and threw it over. He realized that he would have another source of fun during his three years at Horagaka Academy: teasing his little apprentice.

Kalman, looking dejected, brandished his hoe and began digging in the open space.

"It's a pity we didn't bring the Yunxi soil with us, otherwise we could have planted spiritual herbs of grade four or higher." Shi Daohan muttered to himself.

In their Eastern China, spiritual herbs are divided into eighteen grades, namely Grade 9, Grade 9, Grade 8, Grade 8, and so on. The higher the grade of the spiritual herb, the rarer it is, and they are almost always priceless.

Shi Daohan has a spiritual spring given to her by the Qingxu Sect Leader. If she were to add Yunxi soil, she could grow spiritual herbs of grade four or higher. Unfortunately, she did not bring it with her.

By the time Kalman had turned over all the soil in the open space, the sky was already beginning to lighten.

He lay on the ground, covered in sweat, looking utterly dejected.

Shi Daohan ignored him, drew a clear spring from the spiritual spring on the peak of Shengdajia, irrigated the fields, and then planted the ancient herbs he had found in the battlefield of Wangyun.

Kalman glanced over. Although he didn't know anything about elixirs, he could tell at a glance that the plants in the field, which looked like saplings and were crystal clear and shimmering with light, were no ordinary plants.

"I won't let you work for nothing. How about I teach you a little spell?" Shi Daohan raised an eyebrow and smiled at Kalman, who was lying motionless in the field, as if he were dead.

"Sure!" Kalman replied without hesitation, brushing the dust off his clothes and running over excitedly.

"Calm your mind and focus your thoughts to draw upon the spiritual energy within you..."

Kalman was very serious. After witnessing how Shi Daohan could conjure fire out of thin air without any spells and make wild grass grow as tall as trees, it would be a lie to say he wasn't tempted.

"Gather your spiritual energy in your palm, then imagine yourself unleashing a gust of wind with a single palm strike, and slowly release the spiritual energy gathered in your palm."

Shi Daohan patiently guided Kalman on how to do it.

Kalman was highly focused and could clearly feel a warm current flowing from his chest and abdomen to his arm, eventually converging in the palm of his right hand.

Then he began to imagine himself creating a gust of wind that blew through a patch of trees.

"call!"

As he released the spiritual energy from his palm, a strong wind swept by, causing the surrounding trees to sway violently. But that was all; the trees were not uprooted as he had imagined. Instead, a large number of leaves fluttered down.

"After all, this is only your first attempt, and your spiritual power is still very weak. You've already done a great job. Keep up the good work in the future," Shi Daohan encouraged with a smile.

"Yes!" Kalman nodded emphatically, not discouraged at all.

"Simple techniques like these only require mental focus to activate spiritual energy. More complex and advanced techniques require combining hand seals with scriptures, like this."

After saying that, Shi Daohan personally demonstrated it once.

She formed hand seals, and an extremely terrifying energy wave spread outwards from her like ripples on water.

"boom!"

Five majestic mountains appeared in the sky, like five towering deities, while four vast and undulating rivers, like soaring dragons, encircled the five mountains.

The Five Sacred Mountains and Four Great Rivers together form a large seal, giving people a powerful sense of oppression and awe.

With a flick of his wrist, Shi Daohan caused the large seal to vanish into thin air, as if it had never existed at all.

After a long while, Kalman finally recovered from his shock and cried out in surprise.

Putting aside the visual shock, for just a moment, he felt like he couldn't move at all, and he couldn't even breathe!

"Can I do what you do?" Kalman asked with longing.

"With a little effort, it might be possible," Shi Daohan said with a smile.

Finally, she added, "Cultivating immortality, things like flying and teleporting, and summoning wind and rain are just the most basic. The most important thing is that it can also lead to longevity. Living for three or four hundred years is not a problem at all."

"What?! Three or four hundred years?"

Kalman stared wide-eyed in disbelief, wondering if he had misheard.

Three or four hundred years—what does that mean? It's almost like looking at the entire history of their British Empire. Can a person really live that long?

"What's so strange about that? If one successfully sheds their mortal body, forges an immortal body, and reaches the realm of transcendence, it wouldn't be surprising to live for six or seven hundred years."

Shi Daohan shrugged dismissively. Although her cheap master looked only in his forties or fifties, he was actually over four hundred years old.

And there are many like him in Eastern China.

"Headmaster Donaldson seems to be over a hundred years old now. He's a great magician, so he should be able to live for over two hundred years, right?" Kalman thought of Headmaster Donaldson.

Shi Daohan nodded: "Even in China, Dean Donaldson would be considered a powerful figure. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he should be able to live for over two hundred years without any problem."

Kalman was truly shocked. He had never imagined that a person could live for so long, often by one or two hundred years, or even three or four hundred years. It was simply like a fantasy, severely shattering his understanding of the world.

"Ha, the night has passed by without me even realizing it. I need to take a shower first, and then get a good night's sleep." Shi Daohan got up and stretched.

Because the town of Silfe is located in the far north of the British Empire, where the climate is extremely cold, the people there do not have the habit of taking a bath every day. Shi Daohan is temporarily staying in the tavern and cannot make any special arrangements. Now that he has returned to Horagaka Academy, he naturally wants to take a comfortable bath in the Spirit Spring.

(End of this chapter)