Chapter 2: Cultivation on Taihang Mountain

  "On the second day, Guan Xing said to Guan Yu: 'Brother, I've recovered now. Why don't we go hunting in the mountains? I want to eat some meat. We can also help the villagers get some game while we're at it. We can't just freeload here, after all!'"

  Guan Yu thought for a moment and said: "You're right, we can hunt more game, sell the meat to get money, and buy some books to read."

  Guan Chen heard this and nodded with a smile. The two brothers said they would do it, so they borrowed two iron rods from the village elder and set off towards the big mountain with fire seeds.

  Guan Chen followed Guan Yu to the mountain, where they first hunted small animals to fill their stomachs before preparing for a bigger move. Guan Chen discovered that he was now cultivating at all times, although his progress was extremely slow, but he was always moving forward, and when eating meat, his cultivation would accelerate.

  After understanding this accelerated cultivation method, Guan Chen began to hunt and eat different animals. He found that the meat of each animal could accelerate his cultivation, with only slight differences in intensity. Once he understood this principle, Guan Chen focused on eating what he liked.

  That day, Guan Yu and Guan Suo, the two brothers, ran into a herd of wild cattle with over sixty heads. Guan Yu wanted to detour around them, but Guan Suo smiled and said: "Brother, we've been running around like this for so long, it's tiring. Why don't we each grab one of the wild cattle to ride? We can't afford horses, but catching a wild cattle should be possible, right?"

  Guan Yu shook his head and said, "Younger brother, your idea is not bad, but there are too many wild oxen, and they are a kind of gregarious animal. We can't separate them easily! Unless you want to risk your life, we won't have any chance to make a move. I don't allow you to play with your life!"

  "Brother, don't worry! I'll scatter the wild cattle, you take advantage of the opportunity to catch a strong one for me, and we'll tame it slowly when we get back."

  "What are you going to do to disperse the wild cattle?" Guan Yu asked in puzzlement.

  "Brother, since you said that, it means you agreed! Alright then, are you ready to help me catch the wild ox? I'll go first."

  Before long, a loud tiger's roar echoed through the mountains, followed by a series of tiger roars that shook the forest. Guan Yu changed color: How could there be tigers roaming around here? He tightened his grip on the iron rod again, and his eyes kept looking around, but saw that the wild cattle scattered in all directions, with two rushing towards him.

  Guan Yu smiled slightly and said: "Even I was affected by the spell, let alone this beast!"

  Guan Yu understood the reason and looked at the two wild bulls rushing over, swung his iron rod to kill one of the slightly weaker wild bulls, then quickly rushed forward to grab the horns of the bull that wanted to escape, throwing it to the ground.

  At this time, Guan Xing also rushed back to Guan Yu's side. Then he let out a tiger roar again, and the wild ox in front of him stopped moving instantly. The rest of the wild oxen quickly ran away into the distance.

  "Brother, we succeeded! Haha...!" Guan Chen said happily.

  "You little devil! You've got a lot of nerve! How do you plan to tame this wild bull?" Guan Yu asked with a smile.

  Guan Chen heard this and furrowed his brow, thinking for a moment before walking up to the Wild Ox's ear and saying: "Great Wild Ox, I only want you to be my mount, I don't have any intention of killing you. Are you willing?"

  A magical scene unfolded, the wild ox suddenly stood up with a shake of its body, and then half-knelt down to gently rub Guan Chen's clothes corner with its horns. Guan Chen saw this and flipped over to ride on the back of the wild ox, bursting into loud laughter.

  Guan Yu saw the wild ox using its horns to rub against Guan Xing, and nearly swung his iron club at it. When he discovered that the wild ox was actually submitting to Guan Xing, and Guan Xing sat on the back of the wild ox, Guan Yu relaxed and said: "Younger brother, your skills are greater than mine! I couldn't make a wild ox listen like this."

  "Brother, I don't know what's going on either," Guan Chen said with a big laugh. "Maybe this wild cow thinks I'm pleasing to the eye!"

  Guan Yu smiled again and shook his head, then he picked up the dead wild cow and walked out of the mountain with Guan Chen riding on its back, happily following behind Guan Yu while gnawing on a roasted wild rabbit that Guan Yu had cooked for him. Guan Chen, still not satisfied with riding on the cow's back, went back to carve a wooden saddle, padded it with a layer of broken cotton, and only then was he contentedly riding the cow around the village in circles, with villagers everywhere looking on with envy, marveling at how Guan Chen had tamed a wild cow.

  Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, four years have passed. Guan Yu is now 22 years old, and Guan Chen is 18 years old. In these four years, the two brothers have provided countless meat for this village and earned over a hundred taels of silver. Guan Chen has also gone to the mountains several times alone, riding on a wild cow to cultivate himself, because he found that cultivating in the mountains is faster than in the village.

  Guan Chen has spent four years cultivating and has just entered the fifth layer of Qi refining. At this point, he already understands his own cultivation principles and with his ability to introspect, he also knows his innate talent - 100 Divine Artisan.

  Originally, everyone is born with the five elements, which are gold, water, wood, fire, and earth. The five elements have values, ranging from 0 to 100. Different people have different values for their five elements, thus forming diverse personalities and abilities.

  Only when a person's certain five-line value exceeds 50 can they demonstrate their ability and stand out from the ordinary crowd. When a person's certain five-line value reaches 100, he is the king of the corresponding field, and others cannot look up to him.

  Due to the existence of the five elements, different people have different areas of expertise. Those with a prominent Metal element are strong in martial arts, those with a prominent Water element often have clever ideas, those with a prominent Wood element are meticulous and have strong analytical skills; those with a prominent Fire element value emotions and righteousness, and those with a prominent Earth element have strong leadership abilities.

  According to the characteristics of the five elements, if the value exceeds 50, the five elements are combined in pairs to form five occupations: Metal and Water form a strong assignment teacher; Water and Wood form a doctor; Wood and Fire form an alchemy teacher; Fire and Earth form a smelting teacher; Earth and Metal form an array teacher.

  If three values above 50 of the five elements spiritual roots are combined, they form corresponding super-level occupations; four values above 50 of the five elements spiritual roots are combined to form corresponding reverse-level occupations; all five elements with values above 50 of the five elements spiritual roots are combined to form five corresponding divine-level occupations.

  Guan Chen discovered that his innate talent was a five-element spiritual root value of 100, which allowed him to possess the divine-level professions of Array Master, Alchemist, Artifact Refiner, Physician, and Engraver.

  Guan Chen knew all of this after he advanced to the third layer of Qi refinement. Moreover, he also knew that for now, he could only use the ability of a Divine Doctor, and other abilities required a higher level to be used. Especially the ability of a Divine Strong Assigner, which could help others form their Dantian, allowing them to also enter the ranks of cultivators. However, this ability could only be used when he himself reached the peak of the ninth layer of Qi refinement; otherwise, his spiritual energy would not be enough, and it would harm others.

  Because Guan Zhen knew that his abilities could only be applied after reaching the fifth layer of Qi cultivation, he stayed in a small village at the foot of Taihang Mountain to cultivate. Because he clearly knew: The chaotic world originated from the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and if the Yellow Turbans did not rebel, he could only remain hidden.

  Originally, Guan Chen thought it would take him five years to reach the fifth layer of Qi Refining, but unexpectedly, he had advanced nearly a year ahead of schedule. It seemed that this was due to the abundance of spiritual energy on Taixing Mountain and his constant consumption of meat. The accelerated cultivation caused Guan Chen's already restless mind to become even more active: "The chaotic era will arrive in just over a year, I should also make some preparations!" Should he go find helpers first or get an official position?