Chapter 6 Ruoxi, Ruoxi (1/2)

Shen Lian had never been good with physical exertions, but he could notice the twitch of every muscle with his strong sensing abilities. As every ounce of energy in his body was being juiced and he was pushed to his limits, he was filled with euphoria – akin to the excitement that he felt from gaining experience points in online games.

Even if the insignificant experience was negligible, he could clearly notice the improvement that he made and the deficiencies that he still needed to work on.

The reason why most people gave up with their training was the lack of a clear goal, motivation, and their lack of understanding in relation to their own body.

Shen Lian was luckier than all of them. The contentment and joy that he felt from reaping the benefits of his hard work, those were the feelings that kept him going. Fatigue from his training faded away as he knew that every drop of his sweat was rewarded.

Due to the limited resources in Qing Xia Temple, Shen Lian did not give his all to his training. He knew that he should not test his limits because of his physical frailty. If he were to go even slightly overboard, the end result would be disastrous due to the lack of herbs and medication like Ginseng tea.

Shen Lian immersed himself in the numb sensation caused by the Qi energy flow that was absorbing the medication.

When the Qi energy in his body finally settled down, he stepped into the wooden bathtub filled with hot water to wash away the dirt on his body.

This was one of the perks of returning to the Shen family. If he was still at Qing Xia Temple, he would have to waste his time on menial chores.

The bath was relaxing. Shen Lian was able to slowly ease himself into the state of concentration.

A mere relaxing technique in The Mastery of Senses had changed Shen Lian's world. The deity that birthed from nothingness remained indescribable. Although he could not strengthen his spirit by picturing the deity, he was able to clear his mind of distracting thoughts, allowing him to rejoice in the purity and intensity of his spirit.

The joy he derived from spiritual calmness was beyond materialistic gains.

It was as the Analects of Confucius said, ”Although he led a simple lifestyle of humility, Yan Hui remained a happy person.” Shen Lian thought his predicament was similar to that of Yan Hui's.

Unlike the Sage, Yan Hui, Shen Lian could not be in a state of spiritual calmness in every waking moment.

However, most of the successful people from the past until then had attained some form of spiritual calmness. This allowed them to tune out of external distractions and achieve greatness.

Out of a sudden, someone knocked on his door urgently.

This put him out of his zone of calmness.

It could not have been the servants, as Shen Lian had sent them away earlier. Hence, it should be someone from the Shen family.

Shen Lian was not pleased by the disturbance at all. He finally understood why there was a need for the cultivators of Daoism to retreat into the mountains. No one would be able to stand this kind of disturbance. ”Who's at the door?” Shen Lian asked in spite of his annoyance.

”It's me.”

It was a familiar female voice. After giving it some thoughts, Shen Lian realized that it was his cousin sister, Shen Ruoxi.

”Give me a second, I will be out.”

Shen Lian took a while to dry himself up and put on his clothes.

Despite the urging of Shen Ruoxi for Shen Lian to be quicker, he maintained his pace.