Gu Xue took her time to digest and said, "Is this even possible?"
"I don't know if it is," I replied, "since I don't even know how Qi truly works. But I'm sure even if it's incorrect, it'll help us in the future."
I had another idea in mind, one that even I thought was insane. I sighed for a moment and smiled faintly. "Well, it won't hurt to try, right?"
When I looked at Gu Xue again, her unease was gone. I knew the reason — she wasn't confident this method would work. That's why I gave her more information, so she could feel that even if one plan failed, there were other paths to take.
"Well, you go to sleep," I said. "I'll keep watch throughout the night."
"Aren't you tired? You've been doing most of the work. Your body needs rest," Gu Xue said.
"Who said I'm not going to rest? In fact, I'll be sleeping for more than twelve hours," I said.
"Huh? Didn't you just say you'll keep watch?" she asked, confused.
"I think you misunderstood me," I said with a small smile. "I want to understand the Planetary Path and harmony more deeply. At first, I thought about staying awake all night to cultivate, but I realized pushing too hard would be pointless. So I came up with another way."
"A way?" Gu Xue asked, her curiosity piqued.
"Yes," I nodded. "It's simple. I call it Sleeping State Cultivation. I first memorize the planet's pulse pattern, then enter a lucid dream where both my body and mind repeat that rhythm. It allows me to stay aware of my surroundings while continuing to cultivate, but there's one problem — I have to sleep far longer than normal."
Gu Xue blinked, then smiled faintly. "You really are something. Not only can you understand everything properly, but you also find ways to fix their flaws. Finding the fundamentals of a path is one thing, but correcting their weaknesses… that's not something just anyone can do."
I didn't say anything. If it were someone else, I might've thought she was becoming more open with me, but something about her felt… different. I couldn't pinpoint it, so I decided to keep it in mind.
That night, I entered the Sleeping State and cultivated. Time passed faster than I expected, and when I opened my eyes again, the sun was already up. Gu Xue woke up at the same time.
"Good afternoon," I said casually.
Her eyes widened before realization hit her — she had overslept. Her expression shifted slightly, showing embarrassment.
"Sorry, I might've overslept," she said softly.
"Don't worry," I replied. "I just woke up too."
I had stayed in a half-sleep, half-conscious state, so I could wake up at the same time she did, though even I didn't expect her to sleep for fifteen hours.
She understood what I meant and didn't say anything.
"I'll be collecting Qi for a while," I said. "After that, we'll start trying the Ancient Cultivation Path."
I used the word collecting instead of cultivating since I only intended to gather Qi using the Planetary Path and then refine and absorb it using the Ancient Path — it was much faster and produced purer Qi.
After focusing for some time, I started to measure my progress mentally. If I had to assign a value, I currently had around one thousand, three hundred and twenty-six units of Qi. To break through to the next major realm, I would need at least a hundred thousand.
It sounded overwhelming, but that wasn't all — unrefined Qi didn't count as true strength. Refinement made Qi purer, and the higher the cultivation path, the better the refinement process. I was confident I could perfect the Qi Condensing Realm soon.
Gu Xue, on the other hand, had an immense reserve of Qi within her — at least ten million, and that was unrefined. I couldn't imagine how powerful she would become once she began refining it.
Now that I think about it, I haven't even mentioned the realms, have I? The first is the Qi Condensing Realm, which starts one's cultivation. Next is the Foundation Establishment Realm, the stage that determines your future progress. After that comes Core Formation, which stabilizes the core of your energy — the last realm I currently understand. It'll take a long time to reach it.
I continued collecting Qi until hunger kicked in. When I returned to camp, I saw cooked meat laid neatly beside the fire.
"Where did you find this?" I asked.
"What do you mean where I found it? I made it," Gu Xue said.
"You... made it? You actually know how to cook?" I asked, surprised.
"Yes," she said calmly.
That confirmed my suspicion — her sudden change wasn't random.
"So, how much of your memories have you actually restored?" I asked.
She looked at me, a little surprised, then shook her head slightly. "Not all of them, but I remember much more than before. Still, none of it is related to cultivation. Everything I know now, I learned from you."
So her memories were still being pieced together, not completely returned. But I was still unsure how they were coming back at all, so I asked, "Now that you've recovered some, do you know how they're being restored?"
"Yes," she said. "My memories start to return when I learn new fundamental rules. The first time it happened was when we talked about them. I suddenly became anxious — that's why I asked for confirmation from you."
So that was the reason. She had started asking those questions because her memories were triggering at the same time — no wonder she seemed uncertain.
"It's good that we now have a way to restore your memories," I said.
"Yes," she replied.
"Then let's cultivate," I said with a faint smile.