The sun rose over the horizon, just like every other day. Its light poured directly into Tian Han's room, illuminating the interior.
As the sunlight struck his face, Tian Han opened his eyes. Though he had just woken up, his pitch-black eyes sparkled like stars in the darkness. His face carried an unusually refreshed expression.
He had already started the day at a brisk pace. As he stretched, he noticed his injuries no longer hurt like before—he could move as if nothing was wrong. He realized he was almost completely healed.
He completed his now-regular morning routine: stretches, breakfast, and reading the Floating Leaf Breathing Technique.
Feeling much better, Tian Han decided he would train using the Floating Leaf Breathing Technique. It had been a long time since he'd last trained, so he was both anxious and excited.
Over the past few days, he had read the Floating Leaf Breathing Technique countless times and had solidified the knowledge in his mind. He felt confident in his understanding this time and believed he could finally achieve something—but his expectations weren't too high. After all, he could still fail like before.
He calmly sat in the lotus position. Clearing his mind, he began following the technique's instructions.
Tian Han's mind was calm and clear, like a sea without waves. Sitting there, he tried to sense the Arcen energy.
Time passed as he maintained the lotus position. Hours went by, yet Tian Han still hadn't felt anything.
Still, his face remained calm. He wasn't impatient like the first time. Though he wasn't content with the lack of progress, he hadn't suffered the crushing disappointment he did initially. He simply continued.
More hours passed. Tian Han still made no progress, and now, his muscles and joints began to ache from sitting in the same position for so long. The discomfort broke his focus, and he slowly came to the conclusion that he needed to stop.
He opened his eyes and rose from the lotus position.
Though a disappointed expression lingered on his face, it wasn't as bitter as before.
Feeling sore, Tian Han decided to sit on the couch and rest for a while.
As he sat, he reflected on the training session, trying to figure out what he had done wrong or why he failed.
After a while, he stood up, grabbed a pen and paper, and began jotting down small things he noticed during his practice.
The sun began to dim, and evening approached. Seeing this, Tian Han panicked.
"The sun's setting, and I haven't even checked the garden yet. I need to hurry!"
He rushed to the garden, grabbed the watering can from the shed, and began watering the seeds as quickly as he could.
About thirty minutes later, the task was complete. The sun had fully set, darkness covered the land, and the cold night breeze rolled in.
Tian Han shivered as the wind hit his skin and ran back toward the house.
He closed the door behind him and threw himself onto the living room couch.
Exhausted from the training and daily chores, he slumped into the cushions.
Lying face down on the couch, he mumbled to himself.
"I'm really tired, but I don't regret it. I'm not frustrated either. In fact… I'm kind of enjoying this. The road to immortality may be harder than I expected, but it's actually pretty fun."
Tian Han was slowly growing used to this intense pace, becoming more diligent and hard-working by the day.
Back when he lived with his family, there was always someone to do things for him. He had the luxury of slacking off, but now, he was alone. He had to do everything himself.
Because of this, Tian Han was becoming a more diligent and mature child with each passing day.
Rolling onto his back, he stared at the ceiling.
A sense of longing surfaced in his eyes. Just a few days ago, he had been living a happy life with his family—and now, everything was different.
"I really want to become immortal… but I miss my family. I miss my mother's warm hugs, and my father's lame but charming jokes."
His face clearly reflected that longing.
He had always lived with his family and had never been alone before. Such a sudden change was difficult for him—but it was fair to say he was handling it pretty well.
He was about to lose himself in those thoughts when he suddenly stopped.
"Thinking about the past won't help me move forward. This is my life now. I need to get used to it."
He spoke those words to ground himself.
Tian Han sprang up from the couch and, before heading to his room, grabbed the notes he took earlier and walked off.
When he reached his room, he sat calmly on his bed. He began reading the notes, retracing each mistake and playing the scenarios back in his head.
He carefully examined every sentence, recalling the training moments in detail and analyzing whether his observations had been correct.
It took him a while to go through everything, but once done, he set the paper aside and lay down, falling into sleep mode.
Morning came again—sunrise, chirping birds, gentle winds.
Tian Han woke up and began his usual routine. Once finished, he resumed his training in the lotus position.
He made sure to follow the Floating Leaf Breathing Technique exactly as written and continued practicing.
A few hours passed, but Tian Han once again made no progress. Still, he continued taking notes to analyze his mistakes. It looked like note-taking would soon become a staple in his daily routine.
After finishing his training and resting a bit, he decided to head outside to take care of the garden.
Tian Han stepped into the yard and surveyed the area. He checked for new weeds and whether birds had disturbed the soil.
Seeing everything in order, he went to the shed, grabbed the watering can, and began the day's watering.
While tending the garden, he spaced out.
Suddenly, someone slowly approached from behind and placed a hand on his shoulder.
Startled, Tian Han quickly turned around—only to find a young man three heads taller than him, with short hair and a decent-looking face.
Overjoyed, Tian Han shouted:
"Big Brother Li!"
Li Shan smiled warmly at him.
"Little Brother Han, I can see you're working hard."
Tian Han scratched the back of his neck shyly.
"I'm not doing much really. Just some gardening and a bit of training."
Li Shan looked at Tian Han. The boy's exhaustion was evident, but he was working with determination, doing his best. Seeing this, a faint, unreadable smile appeared on Li Shan's face.
"Just gardening and training, huh? Don't underestimate yourself, Little Brother Han. It seems like you're already giving it your all. If you continue to work this hard, I'm sure you'll reach the Arcen Awareness stage in a few years."
Upon hearing this, Tian Han's eyebrow twitched.
"A few years?! You must be joking! Am I going to be trapped here that long? No way! I don't want that!"
Li Shan was visibly surprised. He looked puzzled—his evaluation had been quite generous, so why did the boy react so negatively?
"Did he understand I was talking about the Arcen Awareness stage? A few years is actually really fast… Then why is he reacting like this? Could it be that… he has no idea what this stage entails?"
Li Shan spoke in a tone filled with confusion.
"Little Brother Han, is it possible that you don't know much about the Arcen Awareness stage?"
Tian Han nodded in confirmation. Li Shan, now even more intrigued by the boy's reaction, raised an eyebrow.
"Is reaching the Arcen Awareness stage even harder than I imagined? Please say it's not…"
A trace of panic and despair began to show on Tian Han's face.
Li Shan continued speaking.
"Little Brother Han, you at least know the names and features of the stages, right?"
Once again, Tian Han nodded and answered:
"Yes, Big Brother Li. The Respected Sect Master explained it to me."
Li Shan paused for a moment.
"The Sect Master himself? He handled something so trivial?"
As their conversation progressed, the surprise on Li Shan's face grew, but he pushed forward.
"The Arcen Awareness stage is the first major threshold for becoming a cultivator, and reaching it is incredibly difficult. Even the 'few years' I mentioned is actually quite fast—many people try for decades and only manage to reach it after a long, arduous journey. Some never reach it at all. Talented individuals might manage it in a few years. For example, Chun Hai—the most talented disciple in the Outer Sect—joined at thirteen. It took him two years to reach the Arcen Awareness stage and join the Outer Sect. He became its strongest disciple exactly a year after that."
Hearing this, Tian Han felt like the world was collapsing around him.
"My worst fears came true… I'll be trapped in this house for years! Repeating the same routines, day after day… rotting away until I die!"
Tian Han's face visibly dropped; he looked as if his soul had started to wither.
Noticing his expression, Li Shan wore a strange smile—one that was hard to interpret.
"Little Brother Han probably didn't know any of this. It's okay. You're still young, so it's hard to understand now, but for us cultivators, one or two years isn't a long time."
Li Shan's attempt to comfort him didn't seem to work—it only made Tian Han more panicked, as it confirmed a harsh truth.
"So you're telling me… I'll be locked up here for at least two years, living the same day over and over again?! I reject this! I don't want it!"
Tian Han didn't want to accept it, but the fact that his training hadn't yielded any results so far supported Li Shan's words.
As Tian Han's face sank further, Li Shan tried saying a few more comforting words—but with each one, Tian Han's expression grew even darker.
Their conversation continued a little longer. Eventually, Li Shan's own expression began to dim, as if some troubling thought had crossed his mind.
Tian Han noticed and asked, concerned:
"Big Brother Li, did something happen?"
Li Shan replied with a sad and troubled expression:
"Little Brother Han… lately I've been stuck in my cultivation. I can't make any progress. And to make matters worse, there's an Outer Sect Tournament in a year. I'm feeling stressed and anxious about it."
Tian Han felt bad for him. Since arriving at the sect, Li Shan was the only one who treated him kindly, who listened to him, who spoke to him like a human being. Tian Han wanted to help, but he had nothing to offer. He couldn't even protect himself—how could he help Li Shan?
"Big Brother Li… I wish I could help you, but there's nothing I can do."
Li Shan nodded with a gentle smile.
"You're right, Little Brother Han. How could you help me? You're barely hanging on yourself. And besides, I wasn't expecting help from you. I just wish Ye Liu hadn't stolen my pills… Maybe things would be different."
"Pills? Wait—pills?! How could I forget?! The Sect Master gave me twenty pills to help reach the Arcen Awareness stage! Ah, stupid Tian Han! Idiot Tian Han! How could you forget that?!"
Remembering this, Tian Han smacked himself on the forehead. Li Shan's eyes filled with a strange curiosity as he watched, trying to figure out why the boy was acting this way.
"Big Brother Li! The Sect Master gave me some pills. Maybe they could help you!"
A wide smile spread across Li Shan's face.
"Little Brother Han, you truly are a good person. If those pills are the kind I need and you're willing to share them, I'll owe you a great debt."
A shy but joyful smile bloomed on Tian Han's face.
"Alright, Big Brother Li! I'll go grab them from my room right now!"
Tian Han dashed back inside, grabbed the pills he had left on the table, and quickly ran back out.
He rushed to Li Shan's side, handing him the bottle of pills and asking him to take a look. Li Shan accepted the bottle with a satisfied expression and examined the pills. After looking them over, his smile widened, his face clearly pleased.
"Little Brother Han, these pills will definitely be useful to me. If you give me all of them, I'll truly owe you a great debt."
Tian Han was happy to see Li Shan so pleased—but all of the pills?
"Big Brother Li, I wish I could give you all of them, but the Sect Master told me they would help me reach the Arcen Awareness stage. So I'd like to keep a portion for myself."
Upon hearing this, Li Shan paused for a moment. His smile faded slightly, but it didn't disappear completely.
"Little Brother Han, you're right. You need them too. Taking all of them would be quite selfish of me."
Li Shan took ten of the twenty pills from the bottle. Tian Han nodded innocently in agreement, and the two continued chatting for a while longer.
...
The sun was slowly beginning to set.
"Little Brother Han, I should be going now. I need to continue with my training. I wish you the best of luck."
Tian Han felt reluctant to see Li Shan go—after all, he was the only person he could talk to—but he didn't insist. He simply waved goodbye and saw him off.
After Li Shan left, Tian Han went back inside. Having finished all his daily tasks, his mind was at ease, and he planned to head straight to bed. He made his way to his room, and as soon as he entered, he threw himself face-first onto the bed.
"I hope I was able to help Big Brother Li. And how could I have forgotten about the pills? I'm such an idiot. If I had used them for training earlier, maybe I would've made some progress by now."
Tian Han muttered to himself, lamenting his forgetfulness—when he suddenly realized he hadn't reviewed the notes he'd written earlier about today's mistakes. He quickly grabbed the paper and began going over his errors.
After finishing, he set the paper aside. A curious look appeared in his eyes.
"I wonder what will happen when I use the pills?"
There was only one way to find out—by actually using them.
Tian Han laid his head on the pillow, and just before drifting off to sleep, he whispered his final thought aloud:
"I should take the pills tomorrow."