Here, Ye Fan found the situation rather amusing.
To have a goblin attempt cultivation, he mused, was likely an endeavor unprecedented in history.
"Is there anything like mechanical arts that doesn't require magic?" Krota asked glumly, "Techniques that ordinary people can use through learning?"
To learn inscription, he had previously been forced to study magic for a time.
Perhaps due to his exceptional talent in alchemy and mechanical arts, the goblins' aptitude for magic was truly not something to be commended.
While not as abysmal as their culinary skills, it wasn't much better.
Krota had spent a full fifty years to barely become a beginner Magus.
That painful experience was an absolute nightmare for him.
Therefore, upon hearing Ye Fan suggest cultivation, his green face immediately contorted into a bitter gourd.
"I'm afraid not," Ye Fan shook his head. "There isn't."
"All right then…" Krota sighed. "What should I do?"
"To start, it's similar to a magician's meditation," Ye Fan began his impromptu lesson. "The difference is that magic involves sensing the surrounding magical elements, while cultivation is about sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth…"
Ye Fan taught him step by step, in detail.
He clearly explained the differences and commonalities of each step.
Although Ye Fan couldn't cultivate now, these fundamental aspects were already ingrained in his very being.
Teaching a novice was more than enough for him.
Moreover, Ye Fan incorporated some of his own experiences and insights into the teaching.
Involuntarily, this allowed Krota to avoid countless detours.
Gradually, the night deepened.
Having explained all he could, Ye Fan went to sleep.
Krota sat cross-legged on the ground, entering a meditative state.
The next day.
Upon waking, Ye Fan glanced at the floor.
He saw Krota still sitting cross-legged, motionless.
Ye Fan blinked in bewilderment.
If Krota hadn't succeeded, he would have surely succumbed to sleep due to drowsiness.
Judging by his current posture, had he succeeded?
After getting dressed and leaving bed, Ye Fan tiptoed out of the room.
It wasn't until Yun Hua Zhenren's granddaughter brought the food that Krota emerged from the room.
Of course.
Ye Fan suspected the fellow had been drawn out by the aroma.
"How did it go last night?" Ye Fan casually asked.
"Later, I'm starving."
Krota replied, then buried his head in eating ravenously.
Only when he was so full he rolled his eyes did he stop.
"I tried what you said last night," Krota said, wiping his mouth. "Around the latter half of the night, I finally sensed that wondrous spiritual energy, and then I tried to guide it into my body…"
Listening to Krota's account, Ye Fan inwardly exclaimed "What the heck!"
Honestly, he hadn't held out any hope for this matter.
After all, cultivation techniques were designed based on the human body structure.
And Krota, a goblin, was clearly a different race from humans.
Ye Fan had never dissected a goblin to study their physical structure before.
Who knew how different the meridians and other internal structures were?
Or rather…
Who knew if goblins even possessed meridians and a Dantian?
The reason he agreed to teach Krota last night was purely out of a whim.
He never expected it to actually, bloody hell, succeed.
Not only did it succeed, but it only took one night!
To go from zero to guiding true energy into the body in a single night would be considered a genius among humans.
A goblin was actually starting to cultivate!
And seemingly a genius at that!
Could there be anything more absurd in this world?
Ye Fan got up and walked over, placing his hand on Krota's wrist.
Then, he guided a wisp of spiritual energy from his surroundings to examine Krota's body.
To be honest, observing a goblin's physical structure for the first time was a rather peculiar experience.
This examination revealed that goblins did not possess a Dantian.
The spiritual energy Krota had gathered was currently stored in his meridians as true energy.
Furthermore, the structure of a goblin's meridians was entirely different from that of humans.
They lacked several common major meridians found in humans, while possessing several extraneous ones whose purpose was unknown.
Even with Ye Fan's past prowess, he was a bit bewildered at this point.
This meant that although Krota could cultivate, his future path was destined to be walked alone.
Whether he could continue on it was even an unknown.
"Krota, your situation is a bit complicated…"
Ye Fan clicked his tongue and shared his thoughts.
"It's alright," Krota was quite optimistic. "It's better than having no hope at all."
"Although I can't help you elsewhere, I can help you widen your meridians for now," Ye Fan said earnestly. "It will be a little painful, though."
"Then let's begin," Krota said excitedly.
After Ye Fan's explanation last night, Krota had gained some understanding of meridians.
Meridians could be likened to a water tank.
If the meridians were widened, naturally, they could store more true energy.
How could he refuse such a good thing?
As for Ye Fan's mention of a little pain, he paid it no mind.
When he was learning magic before, in his haste to achieve results, he had experienced a magic backlash once.
That feeling…
He still remembered it vividly!
Through their interactions, Krota felt that Ye Fan was a decent person.
Since he said it would only be a little painful, he assumed it wouldn't be much of an issue.
He felt that compared to the feeling of magic backlash, a little pain was nothing.
However, he soon realized he was mistaken.
Seeing Krota nod, Ye Fan began his work.
Outside the residence.
A disciple of the Yun Hua Sect happened to pass by Ye Fan's dwelling and instinctively glanced inside.
All the disciples of the Yun Hua Sect now knew that a seventh-rank Pill Master, a great expert, lived here.
A seventh-rank Pill Master was an unimaginable existence!
Moreover, after the Sect Master returned from the ruins, he had brought back many new powerful cultivation techniques.
It was said that the Sect Master was able to bring back these techniques thanks to this great Pill Master.
This disciple felt a surge of gratitude towards Ye Fan.
He wondered what a seventh-rank Pill Master was busy with all day; he really wanted to witness it.
As he was thinking, a scream suddenly came from within the residence.
"Aow—!"
The heart-wrenching cry made the disciple tremble.
Because he suddenly remembered something.
It was said that some of these great Pill Masters had one or two perverse hobbies.
Take their Second Elder, for instance. He often liked to use demonic beasts to test the effects of various elixirs.
It was said that sometimes he would even dissect demonic beasts alive to observe the effect of elixirs under different conditions.
The sound coming from the residence just now, how did it sound like it came from a person…
This…
Could it be that this great expert was doing something terrifying?
Thinking of this, the disciple fled as if his life depended on it!
…
A quarter of an hour later, Ye Fan stopped.
Krota lay sprawled on the ground, his green face pale.
His gaze towards Ye Fan was filled with terror!
Are you… a demon?!
Is this what you called a little painful?
Compared to the agony he just experienced, the previous magic backlash felt like a massage!
If you wanted me dead, you could have just said so!
…
"That's enough for today," Ye Fan said with a gentle smile. "This needs to be done slowly; you can't be too impatient."
From where do you see me being impatient…
The thought that such terrifying torment would continue made Krota's face turn ashen.