Chapter 312: Perseverance

Sitting in lotus position, Lin Dong glanced at Old Man Ding, who was sipping thyme nearby. Taking a deep breath, he took out several jars of thyme and red wine from the mobile cabinet. Closing his eyes slightly, he began to dismiss the distractions in his mind.

Spirit energy slowly flowed out of his dantian and into his meridians. Soon, under Lin Dong’s mental control, it began to move swiftly through them. After one full cycle, the speed of the spirit energy in his meridians increased slightly. Two cycles, three cycles, four cycles… The speed kept rising. After one full week of cycles, it had already surpassed twice the cultivation boost he had when at Lin’s Inn. At the same time, a slight stinging pain began to emanate from his meridians.

During the second full cycle, the cultivation speed reached five times the boost, and the stinging pain grew more intense. Lin Dong felt as though each meridian was being pulled apart by an invisible force, a sensation that was extremely painful but one he had to endure.

By the fourth full cycle, the cultivation speed had increased by over ten times. In addition to the doubled pain from the stretching of his meridians, every inch of his muscles seemed to be affected by this pulling force.

By the eighth full cycle, Lin Dong’s breathing became rapid, and sweat began to appear on his forehead. The excruciating pain made him increasingly irritable.

Next to him, Old Man Ding took a sip of thyme and watched Lin Dong’s expression with satisfaction. As he had predicted, after half an hour, Lin Dong’s meridians and physical strength could no longer withstand the power of the Jinghong Stone. Now, it depended on whether his willpower could hold out for the expected half an hour.

Hold on! He must hold on!

Gritting his teeth, Lin Dong persevered. The better his wife became, the higher the cost. For Yun Lan, he was willing to endure any hardship.

Tenth cycle, eleventh cycle, twelfth cycle… The power of the Jinghong Stone seemed endless. The speed of the spirit energy in his meridians kept increasing, along with the intense tearing pain, neither of which showed any signs of slowing down.

At the sixteenth full cycle, Old Man Ding put down the jar of wine and watched Lin Dong, who was drenched in sweat and trembling violently, ready to intervene and stabilize his meridians at any moment.

His thoughts were becoming increasingly chaotic. Under normal circumstances, Lin Dong would have collapsed by now.

For Lin Dong, the stronger the better, but life is not just about pursuing strength. Lin Dong enjoys the thrill of continuously improving his strength, but he isn’t a martial arts fanatic. He can train non-stop for days and nights, as the growing sense of spiritual energy compensates for the monotony of training. However, he absolutely cannot endure training amidst intense pain—he thinks it’s not worth it. With the training enhancements from Lin’s Inn, reaching the peak of strength is only a matter of time, so there’s no need to torture himself. There are always those better than one; in his mind, achieving invincibility through suffering is far less worthwhile than comfortably reaching the ranks of a peak warrior. At this moment, there’s only one thought in Lin Dong’s mind: Persist, persist! As time passed, the unbearable pain made Lin Dong forget everything, even why he was persisting. His head seemed ready to explode at any moment, the pain was as if his body were being torn apart by immense force, and his meridians could be shattered in an instant… Lin Dong trembled violently, his veins bulging on his forehead, and large drops of sweat soaked through his clothes. Seventeen cycles, eighteen cycles, nineteen cycles… Old Ding’s gaze held a hint of surprise. Lin Dong’s endurance exceeded his expectations. “This kid is really tough on himself!” Old Ding clicked his tongue, finding it hard to understand Lin Dong’s behavior. He had seen the power of the Jinghong Stone before, and with the amount of Tiandihong in it, it was easy to estimate how strong the pulling force would become. In his view, Lin Dong wasn’t the kind of martial arts fanatic who would sacrifice everything for strength, so he had assumed Lin Dong would give up after an hour. Yet, time was already approaching one and a half hours. Thirty cycles, thirty-one cycles, thirty-two cycles… Old Ding’s expression grew increasingly serious. Lin Dong’s trembling became more frequent, his face twisted into a grotesque mask, yet he showed no signs of stopping. Old Ding kept waiting, thinking Lin Dong would stop after the next cycle, but instead, he continued. A pool of sweat spread slowly from Lin Dong outwards—ten centimeters, twenty centimeters, thirty centimeters… Lin Dong was numb, his mind adrift as if in a hazy chaos. No one could understand his state, not even the experienced Old Ding.

His body, meridians, spiritual energy… Lin Dong couldn’t sense anything at all. His mind was empty, indistinct—unable to think, yet still allowing him to truly feel that he was awake.
Finally, Old Man Ding flashed into action, appearing behind Lin Dong and pressing his palms firmly on his back.
His violently trembling body gradually calmed down as surging spiritual energy flowed into it. His unstable mind slowly returned to focus, and the excruciating pain gradually reentered Lin Dong’s consciousness.
As Old Man Ding’s spiritual energy formed an invisible barrier around him, which grew thicker and thicker, the pain diminished, and Lin Dong’s thoughts slowly returned to clarity.
Slowly lifting his eyelids, which felt as heavy as if weighed down by a thousand pounds, Lin Dong looked at the blurry surroundings that refused to sharpen. He opened his cracked lips, his parched throat twitching.
“How… how long has it been?”
“Nine hours! Hold on just two more hours, and you’ll be almost at the limit of the Jinghong Stone,” Old Man Ding replied indifferently, his spiritual energy continuing to flow through Lin Dong’s body.
“Not bad. Next time, I should be able to reach the limit of the Jinghong Stone.”
A faint smile tugged at the corners of Lin Dong’s mouth. He could feel significant progress in the spiritual energy within his dantian, which meant the unbearable pain was still worth it.
“You still plan to break through the limit next time?” Old Man Ding was astonished. “What drove you? I thought you could only hold on for an hour. Who would have thought you’d push past the limit of mental endurance to a state I can’t even comprehend?”
“I have no choice!” Lin Dong said with a bitter smile. “I’m already 25. If I don’t marry soon, I’ll become an old man.”
“So it’s for Girl Yun. I wondered why you’d risk your life for just a few minor breakthroughs. Do you realize you could die in another fifteen minutes?” Old Man Ding lowered his hands, waved, and a jar ofthyme flew into his palm.
“Die?” Lin Dong was surprised.
Old Man Ding smiled calmly, removed the mud seal from the jar, placed it in front of Lin Dong, and gestured, “Try it!”
Lin Dong lifted his right arm slightly. After a moment, his face twisted in pain as his arm drooped uselessly.
“How can I not even have the strength to lift my hand?”
“Do a few more small circulations, and you won’t even have the strength to speak,” Old Man Ding said, grabbing the jar and pouring its contents onto Lin Dong’s head without hesitation.
Bang!
Lin Dong couldn’t withstand the impact of thethyme and fell backward.

With his eyes closed, his throat moving continuously as mouthfuls of thyme were swallowed—dozens of them in a row—Lin Dong finally felt his body regain some strength. When half of the thyme in the jar was used, Lin Dong, somewhat unsatisfied, raised his hands, snatched the jar from Old Ding, and began gulping it down. Half of the thyme was wasted, while the other half was consumed. After expelling the alcohol from his body, Lin Dong finally burped and asked, “What exactly happened?”
“I’m the one who wants to ask what happened to you!” Old Ding retorted irritably. “I’ve only heard of people unable to withstand training with the Jinghong Stone; I’ve never heard of anyone dying because of it.”
“What do you mean?” Lin Dong asked confusedly.
“When using the Jinghong Stone for training, if one can’t bear it, most will choose to give up,” Old Ding explained. “Even if they push through, at most they’ll faint. After fainting, their mental state is damaged, and the spiritual energy in their meridians, losing control, disperses throughout their body. With a couple of hours, they can recover even without anyone taking care of them. But you—you endured it for nine hours straight. Your mental state had already exceeded its limit, yet you continued training. As a result, your body’s tolerance reached its limit.”
Lin Dong was stunned. “So, what you’re saying is my body’s tolerance isn’t enough to fully overcome the limits of the Jinghong Stone?”
Old Ding nodded and asked, “What exactly happened to you? Normally, once one’s mental state reaches its limit, unless they possess the strength of the Heart Reversal Phase, the spiritual energy can’t circulate on its own in the meridians.”
“Spiritual energy circulating on its own in the meridians?” Lin Dong scratched his head and shook it. “I don’t understand. After the pain became unbearable, I just felt dizzy.”
Old Ding was speechless. If he ever saw another ancient text claiming that using the Jinghong Stone for training posed no life threat, he would tear that book to pieces.
“Elder, is there any spiritual medicine that can improve my body?” Lin Dong asked.
“Don’t even think about it,” Old Ding said firmly. “There are many spiritual medicines that can improve the body, but the strength of the meridians depends on one’s actual strength.”
“But aren’t there spiritual medicines that can boost strength in a short time?” Lin Dong asked, his expression brightening.
“The stronger one is, the worse the effect of the Jinghong Stone’s assistance in training,” Old Ding said calmly.
Lin Dong felt disappointed. “If that’s the case, does it mean I can only train for nine hours at a time?”

“The premise is that you can maintain this strange and incomprehensible state every time, and that I can intervene in time,” said Old Ding slowly.
“Then I’ll have to rely on you, old man,” Lin Dong replied. There were still three hours left before reaching the ultimate limit of the Li Jinghong Stone. Though disappointed, it was still better than having to stop every hour. He looked up at Old Ding with a smile and said, “Once I return, I’ll send someone to the capital to see if they can get some hundred-year-old Jade Dew.”
“That’s what you said!” Old Ding couldn’t help but lick his lips.
“It’s what I said!” Lin Dong nodded eagerly.
“Alright, then try controlling your spiritual energy to cultivate on its own through your mind,” Old Ding instructed.
“How do I control it?” Lin Dong was confused.
“It’s the same as normal cultivation; you just don’t interfere with it once the spiritual energy starts flowing through your meridians,” Old Ding explained.
Lin Dong nodded, closed his eyes slightly, and with a thought, his spiritual energy surged from his dantian and flowed into his meridians, where it began to move rapidly.
With another thought, Lin Dong opened his eyes and looked at Old Ding.
“Internalize it!” Old Ding said.
With a mental command, all of Lin Dong’s meridians appeared in his mind, with spiritual energy flowing swiftly through them.
“It really can operate on its own… By this logic…” Lin Dong was astonished. “Does that mean I can, like the strong ones, have my spiritual energy constantly flowing through my meridians without any cultivation?”
Old Ding nodded slowly. “It’s strange, but that’s likely. Who knows? Once you reach the Heart Reversal stage, the effect of letting your spiritual energy cultivate on its own might even be faster than controlling it manually.”
Lin Dong was delighted. How could he have acquired a skill unique to the strong? Although he practiced for no less than nine hours a day, gaining three more hours—even without the cultivation boost from the inn system—was equivalent to accelerating his progress by a factor of ten or twenty. If what Old Ding said was true, breaking through to the Heart Reversal stage might even be faster than controlling his own cultivation. This gain would be even greater than advancing two or three levels at once.
“Enough, don’t get too excited,” Old Ding said. With a wave of his hand, a jar of red wine appeared in his palm. “The reason why the Heart Reversal stage allows your spiritual energy to absorb external energy for cultivation is that after breaking through the Mind Concentration stage, your mental power will increase by dozens of times. Logically, your current mental power is already at a level where you can cultivate on your own. Once it increases by another dozens of times, it might surpass the speed of focused cultivation. But it’s just a possibility; it’s also possible that your mental power won’t increase after reaching the Mind Concentration stage.”
“We’ll see then!”

Lin Dong nodded. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Thinking more now was pointless; it was better to focus on finishing this Heavenly Cave. Concentrating deeply, Lin Dong entered a meditative state without hesitation once again. As before, after eight full cycles, the tearing force caused by the Jinghong Stone became unbearable. Lin Dong gritted his teeth and endured. Over time, the water stains that had spread to over sixty centimeters began to spread further. One hour, two hours, three hours… Just as before, when Lin Dong could no longer bear it, his spiritual energy began to flow automatically through his meridians. After about nine hours, as Lin Dong was on the verge of physical collapse, Old Ding suddenly put down the wine jar he had been holding high. His drowsy eyes snapped open, and in a flash, he appeared in front of Lin Dong, pressing his palms firmly against his back. The intense pain gradually subsided, and Lin Dong slowly woke up, saying weakly, “How long?” “Nine hours!” Old Ding took out a jar of thyme, tore open the mud seal, and poured it over Lin Dong. Lying on the ground, gulping down the thyme, Lin Dong’s face still showed signs of pain, but there was now a hint of a smile. The first time might have been a coincidence, but the second time clearly proved that he could cultivate for nine hours at a time. After regaining some strength, Lin Dong took the wine jar from Old Ding and asked, “At this rate, what level will I reach once the effect of the Jinghong Stone wears off?” “Just about enough to break through to the ninth level of the Mind Phase,” Old Ding replied casually. With a wave of his hand, a jar of red wine rushed to his hands. “What, feeling happy and wanting to celebrate with good wine?” Old Ding was somewhat displeased. There were only ten jars of red wine in total. If it were just him, it would take nine days to finish one jar. With one jar less, it would take ten days. Lin Dong shook his head smilingly, tossed the red wine back to Old Ding, then raised the thyme wine jar in his hand. “Reaching the ninth level of the Mind Phase in just three months—such good news deserves celebration!” “That’s why it’s worth it for an old man to spare time to save you every nine hours!” Old Ding grinned, ripped open the mud seal of the red wine, raised his right arm, and the two jars collided, producing a clear ringing sound. Lin Dong tilted his head back and drained the remaining half of the thyme wine in one gulp. He now appeared full of energy, free from the previous exhaustion and weakness.

“By the way!” When Lin Dong put down the wine jar and fetched another jar of thyme, Old Ding also stopped and said, “Not long ago, that little girl in the red dress came by.”
“Young Miss You?” Lin Dong shuddered and asked, “What did she say?”
“She’s come to terms with it, but she’s still a bit unwilling,” Old Ding said leisurely. “But with my advice, plus your pitiful condition, and after learning it was all for Young Girl Yun, she should have completely let go by now.”
Lin Dong let out a long sigh; the weight weighing on his heart finally lifted completely.
After hesitating for a moment, Lin Dong stood up and decided, “Elder, I’ll go find Young Miss You. I’ll be back later.”
“No need. She should be coming soon,” Old Ding said contentedly. “The young girl came to see you and bring you food, which I ate all. I think she’ll bring more soon.”
Lin Dong nodded, lifted the mud seal, and drank the thyme while using his spiritual energy to dispel the alcohol smell.
In less than half an hour, a beautiful figure appeared from afar.
Seeing that Lin Dong had woken up, You Qinxang remembered her confession from the previous day and hesitated shyly.
Lin Dong touched his somewhat shriveled stomach and asked, “Young Miss You, is there spirit beast meat in it?”
You Qinxang nodded gently. After hesitating for a moment, she still lowered her head and slowly approached.
Taking the bamboo basket from You Qinxang, Lin Dong lifted the clean cloth covering it to see two dishes, a soup, and a bowl of white rice, all steaming.
“The dishes are good, but the owner is a bit stingy… With my appetite, I only eat this much in a day. In three months, I’ll definitely become skin and bones,” Lin Dong said with a laugh as he took out the dishes one by one.
You Qinxang pursed her lips, struggling to hold back her laughter before quickly picking up the bamboo basket. “Brother Lin, eat slowly. I’ll go back first. Next time, I’ll bring more food.”
With that, without waiting for Lin Dong’s reply, You Qinxang turned around quickly and walked away at a fast pace.
Lin Dong didn’t stop her. Unlike himself, she didn’t have thick skin, so it was normal for her to feel awkward at first. Over time, things would surely improve.
After eating all the dishes, soup, and rice, Lin Dong stretched and sat cross-legged again, ready to challenge the Jinghong Stone once more…