Chapter 5: Are You Mentally Ill?
"The first step to cultivation is learning how to absorb the elements in the air." The old man began with a simple explanation.
"Elements in the air? I am breathing in and out, does that count as absorbing?" Ma Zhi asked a pretty normal question.
"That is counted as absorbing, but not absorbing the elements. What you must do is picture the elements that are in the air. Than slowly breath in and out." The old man patiently explained each step, one by one.
Ma Zhi nodded his head and began to concentrate. He pictured something in his mind and began to breath in and out. The old man watched carefully and noticed that there was no fluctuation in the air. Although people learned at different speeds, this step was supposed to be the easiest because it only took a little bit of imagination.
"Ma Zhi, what are you picturing right now?" The old man was curious as to why Ma Zhi was not causing a fluctuation. Sure, he wont be able to absorb the elements, but a fluctuation must occur.
"You said to think of elements in the air, so I am thinking of carbon and oxygen, however they only appear as balls in my head." Ma Zhi answered truthfully. Since he was from earth, elements to him were really the elements found on the periodic table.
The old man looked at Ma Zhi with confusion. Oxygen? Carbon? What were these things?
"Ma Zhi, when I mean elements, what I mean is like moving air or gushing water or burning fire. These are the basic elements." The old man explained the basics to Ma Zhi very carefully. He couldn't understand what Ma Zhi was thinking about.
"Wrinkles, those are not elements. They are just products of Oxygen and Carbon." Ma Zhi, back on earth, was a very dumb person. He couldn't understand any of he subjects that he was taught, however ever since he came into the world where cultivators ruled, e was able to perfectly remember some of the lessons he learned in his previous world. He didn't understand them, but he was able to remember them.
"Listen kid, I don't know who told you what you know, but whatever you are saying is not true. Air is an element, so is water." What Ma Zhi couldn't remember was that the old man was right. Even on earth, Air and water were considered elements, just they were not on the periodic table.
"Whatever you say wrinkles. Just tell me how to absorb the air." Ma Zhi asked without any care.
"You are not absorbing the air; you are absorbing the elements found in the air." The old man began to get irritated. he just couldn't understand why Ma Zhi was unable to get it.
"OK, let me try to absorb the air." He closed his eyes and began to think of elements in the air. At first he thought of carbon, but he scrapped that memory. He then thought of nothing and just began to breath in and out. The old man noticed that there still wasn't any fluctuations in the air.
"What are you imagining now? Please don't tell me it's one of those coxygens or whatever." The old man looked at Ma Zhi helplessly.
"I am not thinking of oxygen, I am thinking about... well, nothing. I can't see air, so I will just not think of anything. Aren't I smart?" Ma Zhi smiled seriously at the old man.
The wrinkly old man couldn't help but fall back into his seat. Sweat appeared on his forehead as he couldn't believe what Ma Zhi was saying. He thought of nothing?
"Ma Zhi, nothing is not air. You have to think of something that is air. Think of gas, or clouds or something like that. You can even think of water, but don't think of nothing!" The old man yelled at Ma Zhi. He couldn't help but get impatient with Ma Zhi.
"A child would be able to get through this step in a minute, but you haven't even gotten a hint in like what... twenty?" The old man couldn't stop ranting. Ma Zhi lifted his hand and began to rub the inside of his ears.
"Can't you quiet down? I am not a bad student, rather you are a bad teacher." Ma Zhi defended himself with a weak, over used rebuttal.
"Yes, I am a bad teacher, so let me try to explain this to you once more. Imagine something that is related to air, and then breath in and out. You can imagine a tornado, or flying leaves, or anything that is related to air. Then you breath in and out. Got it?"
Ma Zhi nodded and closed his eyes once more. After picturing what he wanted, he slowly breathed in and out. The old man didn't noticed any fluctuations in the air, but smelled something repulsive. He looked at Ma Zhi and sniffed once again. He covered his nose and fell back.
"Ma Zhi, open your eyes. What the hell was that? Did you just release?!" The old man kept sooching back, away from Ma Zhi.
"You told me to imagine something related to air, so I imaged Nitrogen. I think I was too detaiked in my picture. Hehe!" The old man couldn't help but stare at Ma Zhi stupidly.
"Are you mentally ill?
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
SN_Collier
SN_Collier Enjoy the chapter! Remember to go on Patreon and check out my Announcement. You can also find short stories which revolve around characters that may appear in TDDL, plus there is some insight on Arnin's past :)
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