The initial shock of his sudden translocation gave way to a cautious curiosity. Lin Mu tentatively reached out, his fingers brushing against a leaf that shimmered with an inner light. A surge of pure energy coursed through him, a sensation utterly unlike the faint, frustrating whispers he had tried to grasp in the outside world. Here, the spiritual energy was not a distant concept but a tangible force, a lifeblood of this vibrant dimension.
He spent the first few days simply observing, his senses overwhelmed by the alien beauty of the Verdant Heaven. Towering trees with bark like polished jade bore fruit that pulsed with concentrated energy. Strange, melodious cries echoed from unseen creatures. The very ground beneath his feet seemed to hum with power.
Driven by the system's directive to "Embrace Seclusion," Lin Mu sought out a secluded spot. He found a small cave nestled at the base of a waterfall cascading down a cliff face that seemed impossibly high. The air here was thick with mist and the sound of rushing water, creating a natural barrier against any potential inhabitants of this strange realm.
He sat down cross-legged, mimicking the meditation postures he had been taught in the village, but this time, the experience was drastically different. The spiritual energy in the Verdant Heaven rushed towards him, eager and abundant, like thirsty travelers finding an oasis. It flowed into his meridians, not as a trickle, but as a steady stream, a nourishing warmth spreading through his limbs.
[+100 Cultivation Points gained.]
The notification in his mind was clear and concise. A thrill shot through him. One day in this place had already yielded progress that had eluded him for sixteen years in the outside world. The time dilation was real, and its implications were staggering.
He began to experiment, tentatively guiding the influx of energy through his meridians, following the rudimentary Qi Gathering techniques he vaguely remembered from the village elder's infrequent lessons. The progress was astonishing. Within what felt like a few hours, he could already sense a faint swirling of energy gathering in his lower dantian, a nascent Qi vortex beginning to form.
Days bled into weeks within the Verdant Heaven. Lin Mu established a simple routine: meditate to absorb spiritual energy, circulate it through his body, and cautiously explore his surroundings. He discovered that the plants and fruits of this realm held potent medicinal properties and varying concentrations of spiritual energy. He learned to identify the safer ones through trial and error, his Earthly knowledge of basic botany proving surprisingly useful in this fantastical environment.
He also began to understand the value of the "random attribute boost" mentioned by the system. After each year (equivalent to a day outside), he felt subtle but noticeable changes in his strength, his senses, or his mental clarity. It was a slow but steady accumulation of improvements, a foundation being built brick by painstaking brick.
The thought of his parents flickered in his mind. They would be worried about his absence. He had left the village on the pretense of gathering firewood in the deeper parts of the Azure Dragon Mountains, a common enough occurrence for a boy his age. But days had passed. He would need to return soon, to allay their fears and maintain the facade of his ordinary existence.
It was then that he truly grasped the delicate balance he would need to maintain. He had access to a treasure beyond imagination, a chance to rewrite his destiny. But he also had ties to the outside world, to the people who cared for him. He couldn't simply disappear into this timeless paradise.
He decided to set a schedule. He would spend a few days (equivalent to years within) cultivating in the Verdant Heaven, then return to the outside world for a day or two to maintain appearances and gather any necessary information. It would be a life lived in two realities, one of explosive growth and hidden power, the other of mundane normalcy.
His first return was nerve-wracking. His parents were indeed worried, their faces etched with concern. He offered a clumsy excuse about getting lost and finding his way back, which they accepted with relieved sighs. He noticed subtle changes in himself – his senses were sharper, his movements more fluid, his mind clearer. But to their eyes, he was still the same unremarkable Lin Mu.
Back in the Verdant Heaven, the cycle continued. He delved deeper into the Qi Gathering stage, the abundant energy accelerating his progress. He experimented with manipulating the gathered Qi, learning to channel it through his limbs for slightly enhanced strength and speed. It was crude, rudimentary, but it was progress.
One day, as he meditated near a luminous pool, a faint ripple disturbed the still water. A small, serpentine creature with iridescent scales emerged, its eyes like tiny emeralds. It regarded him with a curious intelligence, its forked tongue flicking. Fear clenched Lin Mu's heart, but the creature made no aggressive move. Instead, it emitted a soft, melodic chirp.
This was the first sentient being he had encountered in the Verdant Heaven. It was a reminder that this place, while a haven for his cultivation, was also a living ecosystem with its own inhabitants, potentially both benevolent and dangerous. His secret cultivation had just gained another layer of complexity. He wasn't just cultivating in a vacuum; he was doing so in a world with its own rules and mysteries.
As the sun began to set in the vibrant sky of the Verdant Heaven, casting long, ethereal shadows, Lin Mu felt a sense of quiet determination settle within him. The path ahead would be long and arduous, filled with challenges both within this hidden realm and in the oblivious world outside. But for the first time in his sixteen years, Lin Mu felt a genuine sense of hope. He might have been born with a Dust Root, but in this timeless paradise, he would forge his own destiny, one silent step at a time. The Eternal Earthling had begun his long, secret ascent.