Chapter 42: Cultivation Plan

Lin Yang did not mind the system’s focus on nurturing him; after all, he was naturally willing to see his own strength grow.

It was just that the system usually produced a single task every few months, giving him plenty of time to complete it.

Now, upon entering the middle school stage, it unexpectedly tossed a full five subjects at him all at once.

Apart from internal energy—where he already possessed a top-tier mental cultivation method, and where the Pure Element Technique had the ability to cultivate automatically so he didn’t need to worry too much as long as he had sufficient resources to accumulate slowly—

The other four subjects all required a vast amount of time and mental energy.

This immediately reminded Lin Yang of his experience studying in middle school and high school during his past life, when he likewise studied seven or eight subjects at the same time, each varying in difficulty.

The hours of the day were fragmented by studying these subjects, and the entire middle school period had truly given Lin Yang and his peers a grueling time.

Although the tasks given by the Top Student System consisted of fewer subjects, they still gave him a tense feeling of reliving that past experience.

Lin Yang took a light breath, patted the gourd at his waist, and walked slowly down the mountain.

As he walked, thoughts continuously turned in his mind: although the Top Student System had assigned so many subjects, it had not imposed a time limit on his learning.

Possessing the mindset of an adult, he naturally understood priorities and knew he had to allocate his limited time toward one or two core subjects, or even focus primarily on just one.

Only by completing the task for that specific subject before moving on to the study and research of the next could he maintain his former pace.

If he attempted several subjects all at once, it would only endlessly fragment his time, leaving him having accomplished nothing in the end.

Among the remaining four subjects, the first one Lin Yang looked at was the Medical Chapter.

In Lin Yang’s eyes, the project for the Medical Chapter was the least difficult.

Having previously read those medical and alchemy texts, combined with the foundational alchemy knowledge provided by the Top Student System—even though his primary focus had been on refining pills—his theoretical knowledge of medicine was extremely rich.

He only needed to search for a few medical texts in the Library Pavilion later to patch up any flaws, which would theoretically turn him into a master of medicine.

The rest was merely a matter of practice.

Starting out with practical application, Lin Yang naturally did not dare to experiment directly on Yu Daiyan, nor did he dare to reveal even a single trace of information regarding this to Yu Daiyan, fearing his skills might prove insufficient and leave Yu Daiyan with empty hopes.

If so, the location for practical experience would likely have to be the towns at the foot of Mount Wudang.

However, Lin Yang still felt a lingering trepidation about leaving Mount Wudang; after all, he had just turned ten years old.

Although his own internal energy had grown to a certain degree, his swordsmanship had only undergone basic practice, and his light work had no foundation whatsoever.

Leaving Mount Wudang under such circumstances was still not safe enough for Lin Yang.

Thus, for the Medical Chapter, he could only supplement its theory later on, while pushing the practical application to the back of the line.

Following that line of thought, moving up in priority were swordsmanship and movement techniques.

For swordsmanship, he already possessed a foundation from previous practice, and combined with the vast number of basic sword moves he had created based on his own understanding, Lin Yang’s foundation in swordsmanship was laid quite deep.

Next, as long as he obtained a sufficient number of swordsmanship manuals from Zhang Songxi in the Library Pavilion, it should allow him to smoothly tread the path of swordsmanship cultivation.

As for whether he could ultimately create a top-tier swordsmanship technique, that would perhaps depend on the situation after learning one hundred sets of swordsmanship techniques.

As for movement techniques, although Lin Yang himself had never learned any light-work movement techniques, his internal energy had already cleared two and a half of the Foot Three Yin Meridians, and the remaining half-meridian would be cleared before long.

Clearing the three meridians in his feet allowed his internal energy to freely enter his legs, which laid a sufficiently solid foundation for his light-work cultivation.

If he began practicing light work, it should proceed relatively smoothly as well.

Only the final subject—the practice of the Body Chapter—was an area where Lin Yang lacked any foundation.

The only thing that came to his mind was the Indestructible Mixed-Element Technique he had seen alongside Zhang Sanfeng in the secret alcove of Zhenwu Hall.

Perhaps he could find a few ideas for cultivation within that top-tier body-tempering method.

This subject could only be temporarily placed at the very end.

These three subjects all required Lin Yang to research their essence and then create a top-tier technique, which gave Lin Yang quite a headache; one could only say the Top Student System truly lived up to its name, holding extraordinarily high demands for its host.

After sorting everything out, Lin Yang’s mind settled down.

Then, the first thing to do next was to begin the study of swordsmanship.

Aside from learning swordsmanship, if there was still time left, he would practice light-work movement techniques.

These two would serve as his main cultivation subjects for the coming period.

Whenever he occasionally had time, he could make room to supplement theoretical gaps in medicine, preparing himself for going down the mountain in the future.

With a plan set in his heart, Lin Yang let out a sigh of relief.

He did not return directly to Yu Daiyan’s place, but went straight to the small hill for alchemy in the back mountain, entering the alchemy room where he frequently stayed.

Looking at the several boxes in the corner, the medicinal herbs inside that had been consumed by him earlier were completely replenished once again.

The corner of Lin Yang’s mouth hooked up slightly.

Those martial uncles and aunts of Mount Wudang still paid quite a bit of attention to him, replenishing his alchemy materials so quickly upon knowing they were used up.

Lin Yang refined the essence and blood pills according to his previous routine.

As he refined them, he looked at the Eight Trigrams Furnace before him.

Having refined pills for so long, he was already intimately familiar with the various functions of the Eight Trigrams Furnace, and his ideas regarding how to modify it and what kind of furnace to transform it into gradually grew clear in his mind.

However, during the coming period, he estimated he would be even busier, and likely would not have time to spare to forge a new Eight Trigrams Furnace for now; besides, he was unclear about the casting of an Eight Trigrams Furnace, so this matter could only be put aside temporarily.

Once the pills were refined, Lin Yang placed them into the gourd at his side, and subsequently went down the mountain.

Just as he reached the foot of the hill, he encountered Song Qingshu once again.

Lin Yang had been immersed in the creation and cultivation of the Pure Element Technique during this period, and had not run into Song Qingshu for more than half a year.

“Junior Brother Qingyang, long time no see,” Song Qingshu took the initiative to greet Lin Yang, a hint of embarrassment in his expression, looking as though he hesitated to speak, as if wanting to say something.