Shen Jingqi could not see the form of the world, only feel his body suspended within it.
The gray medium was like a vast ocean.
Waves upon waves were crashing around him.
Shen Jingqi felt a sense of pressure surging through him, instinctively instilling fear in his body.
Unknown giant waves came one after another, Shen Jingqi groped his way through, but was dizzy from being tossed head over heels by the waves.
It seemed there was a huge whirlpool nearby, and Shen Jingqi was accidentally sucked in.
In an instant, his body lost balance, with only the most primitive survival instincts in his mind.
Shen Jingqi flailed his arms, kicked his legs, trying to escape the whirlpool.
But the whirlpool seemed to entangle him, the more he struggled, the stronger the binding became.
Not knowing how long he struggled, Shen Jingqi felt utterly exhausted.
He stopped struggling and went along with the whirlpool’s movement.
Slowly, the force of the whirlpool diminished.
Shen Jingqi spread open his body, rising and falling with the waves.
The surroundings felt like a large hand, supporting Shen Jingqi’s body and mind, repeatedly soothing and affirming.
Just like the hands of parents!
Shen Jingqi subconsciously felt it, the surrounding area was still a vast expanse, with no other creatures in sight.
But at this moment, Shen Jingqi’s heartbeat was steady.
In the quiet environment, Shen Jingqi could hear his own breathing clearly.
A complete breath, deep and lingering.
If there was time to measure it, Shen Jingqi felt this single breath could last at least a minute.
But at this moment, he could see nothing.
Relying on experience, he counted in his mind.
One number per second.
Shen Jingqi could count to 72.
This was his longest record doing the Treasure Qi Bottle practice.
Unexpectedly, in such a place, it was about five times more effective than practicing on land.
After doing six breaths, Shen Jingqi felt energized, his senses more at peace.
Although he still couldn’t see his surroundings, during the last Treasure Qi Bottle breath, he felt an extremely bright spot of light between his eyes.
That light spot originated from his mind, something he observed during practice, but this time it was larger and brighter, persisting for a few seconds.
Shen Jingqi completely relaxed his body, forming a unified frequency with the surrounding medium.
His body was no longer adrift without direction, but wholly integrated with the world, connecting from his being to the vast everything.
He had no sense of how long he drifted.
Shen Jingqi no longer counted.
Here, space and time are one.
Eternal undulations and blending.
Until Shen Jingqi’s body touched a soft wall.
There were some indistinct wrinkles and groves on it, but it gave a sense of fitting.
Shen Jingqi reached out his hand, touching it.
If the medium he was in before was the vast ocean, then could this be the shore?
In reality, Shen Jingqi had seen many types of shores countless times.
Seashore, riverbank, waterfront.
But he seemed to have seldom touched them.
Perhaps it felt sandy, with some places harder like stones.
But incomparable to how it feels now.
At the moment, Shen Jingqi was touching something soft and warm.
The softness was very similar to the feeling of his own body.
As if it was a part of his body.
But not very familiar.
It seemed to carry some distant memories, yet they were not immediately recalled.
And that warmth, too, was just perfect.
Shen Jingqi comfortably leaned against it, his body emanating a sense of joy.
At this moment, there was no sorrow, no worry, only endless freedom.
Shen Jingqi stretched within it, letting himself fully stretch without concern.
Even if he exerted too much force, the surrounding soft walls would catch him, allowing him complete ease.
At some undetermined moment, Shen Jingqi began to dance.
Having adjusted to the surrounding medium’s pressure, Shen Jingqi surrendered to each movement, extending his legs and arms, twisting his head, spinning in circles within the medium.
Without any instruction, Shen Jingqi naturally learned the movement.
After a backflip, Shen Jingqi felt completely agile.
The continuous dance kept Shen Jingqi in a heightened state of excitement, never tired.
In such chaos, Shen Jingqi suddenly felt a powerful squeeze.
His entire body was enveloped, and his head was wedged into a passage.
Shen Jingqi pushed upward, feeling creases and sticky liquid surround his head.
The touch of the canal’s walls was similar to the medium’s wall.
Shen Jingqi slipped through the passage slowly.
Shen Jingqi felt himself land on a patch of grass.
It might be noon, the sun was out, and the dew on the grass had dissipated with the warmth of the sunlight.
Shen Jingqi rolled over, his hands exploring the surrounding grass.
This was a familiar sensation; as a child, he often liked to lie on the grass, touching the earth, inhaling its enduring fragrance.
Sunlight bathed his body, warm and gentle.
Shen Jingqi felt every cell in his body was growing.
The back of the grass blades had soft serrations, lightly stroking them, eliciting a tingling sensation throughout his body.
Shen Jingqi lay on the vast grassland, his body electrified, immersed in the fragrant world.
Feeling along the green leaves, he found between them something like a straight stem, topped with a fuzzy ball-like substance. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn novᴇl(ꜰ)ire.ɴet
Apparently, this ball-shaped thing was undoubtedly the plant’s fruit!
Shen Jingqi extended his hands, caressing the hairy ball.
The ball was composed of countless branches, each topped with clusters of protrusions, inside were bundles of fluffy structures, tickling his face as he touched them.
The branches extended from the top, folding together, perfectly forming a spherical shape.
Shen Jingqi lowered his head, his nose touching the top of the hairy ball.
A leaf fluttered onto Shen Jingqi’s face.
Bringing a refreshing touch.
One flower, one world; one leaf, one enlightenment.
The whole leaf stretched across his face, Shen Jingqi seemed to enter the complete world within the leaf.
Shen Jingqi showed no extra reaction, simply maintaining silent communication with the leaf.
The great images have no form, the loudest sound is silence.
Is a form of communication.
Often, more powerful than words.
In that moment, Shen Jingqi understood the leaf’s feeling.
Shen Jingqi sensed beneath his feet, there was a ginkgo tree.
Although he couldn’t see the tree, the following entry appeared clearly before Shen Jingqi’s eyes:
[1-year-old ginkgo tree, fond of white dandelions.]