The Urban Cultivation Grandmaster

Chapter 42: The Era of Mass Cultivation 1

Li Qiang is an ordinary migrant worker from a small town in Huaxia. Li Qiang found a job at a factory in the city. Although, in theory, he was supposed to work five days a week and have two days off, in reality, he had virtually no time off during the month—he spent all his time working overtime. Not only does he work four hours of overtime after his regular eight-hour shift to earn a little overtime pay, but he also works 12-hour shifts on weekends without exception. This is the insidious nature of capitalists—they use all sorts of tactics to make you work overtime “voluntarily.” If he didn’t work overtime—sticking to a five-day workweek with two days off—he’d basically only earn a base salary of just over 2,000. With weekend overtime, he could make over 4,000; working 12-hour days could bring in 6,000 to 7,000; and during holidays and the Lunar New Year, he could even earn over 10,000. Overtime comes with snacks, and the overtime pay is higher than the regular wage. So tell me, would you be willing to work overtime? If you’d asked Li Qiang a few years ago—back when he was in his early twenties, unmarried, and free of financial pressures—he would naturally have refused. Unfortunately, now that he’s older, has started a family, and has a wife and children, he faces responsibilities and pressures. Even though he deeply despises the monotonous, repetitive work at the factory, he has no choice but to grit his teeth, roll up his sleeves, and work tirelessly. Every day at work, Li Qiang puts in extra effort—not because he loves labor so much, but simply to finish his production quota early and have a little more free time for fun and relaxation. The machine Li Qiang operates is a CNC machine, which is highly automated, so the output is essentially fixed—a certain amount of work is produced in a set amount of time, with very little wiggle room. After a day of hard work, Li Qiang finally met his production quota, leaving him with nearly two hours of free time (well, to be honest, he only managed to squeeze out those two hours by making up for the shortfall from his previous shift). So, feeling quite pleased, he found a quiet corner, picked up his phone, and started watching a live stream. Huh, it’s that cute guy! “Is ‘Cute Boy’ streaming again today?” Li Qiang’s eyes lit up instantly, and his expression turned serious. He had subscribed to “That Cute Boy”’s channel long ago and never missed a single stream. Even if he missed one due to overtime or shift work at the factory, he would find the recording as soon as possible to study it thoroughly. Not only did he study the videos himself, but he also shared them with his family so they could learn together. Master Daowen Mu Tian is giving another lecture! Li Qiang felt a surge of excitement. Although his life was monotonous and dull—a daily grind with no clear sense of hope—deep down, he harbored an ambitious dream he’d never shared with anyone. Li Qiang didn’t know what he would do once he’d mastered Daowen, but he firmly believed that learning it well would eventually pay off. A brand-new era was dawning, yet he had no chance to activate an invincible “Defy-Heaven Mode” like the protagonists in novels. In fact, over the past three years, his life hadn’t changed in the slightest—still just a daily grind between home and work, with nothing but working to support his family. His surroundings remained exactly the same; at most, the industrial products that passed through his hands were vastly different from before, and even their names carried a hint of a magical world. Li Qiang knew that the times were beginning to change, but unfortunately, he still hadn’t found a way to keep pace with the times... Until one day, when Li Qiang accidentally stumbled upon a livestream by the cross-dressing influencer “What a Cute Boy,” who was teaching Daowen Mu Tian’s “Pasture of Heaven” technique. Though Li Qiang’s usually impassive exterior remained unchanged, his inner world began to take on new colors. It was a flicker of hope amidst the stagnation—even if his goals remained unclear, at least he was no longer numb, wasn’t he? To avoid the factory security guards’ patrols, Li Qiang chose to crouch in the restroom. The restroom had squat toilets, so crouching over the bowl was excruciating for his legs. However, to ensure no one disturbed his study of Daowen scriptures, he chose to endure it in silence. With a touch of anticipation and excitement, Li Qiang raised his phone with weary hands and tapped the screen lightly, opening the livestream with an overwhelming number of viewers. “Come on, man!” Li Qiang grew impatient—instead of the usual video feed, the live stream displayed a “network error” message. Li Qiang was frustrated—his phone had full 5G signal, so why couldn’t he watch it? “Damn, there are too many people—I can’t even get in. Let me try a different connection...” Li Qiang was frustrated, afraid he’d miss something exciting. After switching through several different connections, Li Qiang finally managed to load the live stream. Li Qiang breathed a sigh of relief, but the moment he saw what was on the screen, his whole body jolted, and his breathing became rapid. What did he see? The Ancient Wild Ox Visualization Diagram! A cultivation technique!!! Master Mu was actually explaining and teaching a cultivation technique!!! Li Qiang was completely stunned, but in the next instant, he was overcome with excitement. Hope! Wasn’t this exactly where his hope lay? Wasn’t this the turning point he’d been dreaming of? On the screen, Mu Tian was using a laser pointer to highlight the illustrations and text of the cultivation technique, explaining it in detail. His gentle, composed voice flowed slowly into Li Qiang’s ears through his Bluetooth headset. “Here, this is the energy circulation diagram for this cultivation method. These bolded lines show how spiritual energy circulates through the body after it’s absorbed. Actually, that’s not the main point. The key is to ‘condense’ one’s spirit. Spiritual energy is never gentle or harmless; on the contrary, the spiritual energy in nature is violent and chaotic. To subdue it, the ‘spirit’ is crucial. Only by visualizing a powerful ‘deity’ within your mind—to the point where your spirit can influence the energy—can you step through the gateway to becoming a cultivator...” It wasn’t that Li Qiang hadn’t considered becoming a cultivator. In his small town, there were quite a few martial arts schools and sects, as well as a Cultivator Academy run by the local government, but none of them were right for him. Cultivator Academies didn’t accept students as old as him, and martial arts sects practiced an elite education system, admitting only prodigies. Martial arts schools were open to anyone, but the costs were too high. It was out of the question for him to attend on his own—after all, they prioritized children just a few years old, pouring all their efforts into training them to become cultivators. All Li Qiang could do was find a run-of-the-mill boxing manual online and practice haphazardly at home. Since he hadn’t cultivated any spiritual energy, it could only be considered a way to build physical strength. Hearing that Mu Tian was actually teaching cultivation techniques, Li Qiang felt an indescribable surge of excitement. He was so thrilled he almost jumped for joy; he clenched his fist and slammed it against the wooden floor of the bathroom. “Thud,” “thud,” “thud.” One after another, at least half of the “comrades” in the row of toilet stalls were so overcome with excitement they didn’t know what to do, so they could only pound the wooden slats to vent their pent-up excitement. And all of this was happening precisely because of Mu Tian’s lecture in the livestream: “To condense and visualize the ‘Divine,’ one’s own spiritual power is also crucial. There are many terms for spiritual power—soul, divine soul, mind… In fact, to a certain extent, they are the same. However, according to the translation in Daowen, ‘divine soul’ is the most accurate term. What follows is very important. If you’ve thoroughly mastered the previous Daowen texts, you can now begin learning how to visualize the Wild Ox and condense the ‘Divine.’ ” “In ancient times, there was a bull named Man. Its body was majestic and vast as a mountain; its horns were rugged and soared straight into the clouds; its hooves...” With each recitation of the ancient Daowen, imbued with a primal aura, the peerless majesty of the Wild Ox seemed to transcend time and space, reappearing in the light of day. Mu Tian’s words flowed like lotus blossoms, and the voice of the Great Dao resounded ceaselessly before millions! At that moment, Li Qiang felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head. He silently recited the Daowen texts along with Mu Tian, his entire being seemingly immersed in them, as the image of a Wild Ox flashed through his mind... Across the land of Huaxia, throughout Asia, and in every corner of the world, this scene was unfolding time and again. A new chapter in the era of universal cultivation has begun!