I Can Only Cultivate In A Game-Chapter 370: Bai Feng’s Journey

The young boy was none other than, Bai Feng.

He couldn’t have been more than six.

"Again!" an instructor barked.

The boy lunged forward with an imperfect stance but determined look. His strike lacked refinement, yet there was something else there... intent. A refusal to yield.

A larger boy scoffed from the sidelines. "Why does a bastard even get training time?"

Laughter rang out.

The memory changed again, displaying a different scene in a courtyard.

The image was clear. Cold stone pressing against small knees.

A young boy knelt at its center.

It was Bai Feng.

He was clad in a fabric that was worn thin at the elbows and slightly torn at the hem. His hands were clenched, knuckles pale, nails digging into skin as laughter echoed around him.

"Again?"

"That’s all he can do?"

"Six years old and still can’t circulate qi properly?"

The voices came from boys his age—and older ones too. Sons of legitimate bloodlines. Clan heirs.

Bai Feng lowered his head with pursed lips.

A thin line of blood ran from the corner of his lip.

A stone lay near his knee.

Someone had thrown it.

Before another voice could join the mockery, a sharp, clear sound cut through the air.

Pah~

A girl stepped forward.

She was small with her hair tied messily and her eyes blazing with fury far too big for her frame.

"Say it again," she snapped. "I dare you."

The courtyard went quiet.

"Lan... Lan Rui?" one of the boys stammered.

She planted herself directly in front of Bai Feng with arms spread slightly and chin lifted.

"You throw stones at someone who’s kneeling?" she continued. "What are you—dogs?"

One of the older boys scoffed. "This doesn’t concern you."

She turned on him instantly.

"He’s my friend. That means it concerns me."

Victor felt something tighten in his chest.

The memory transformed once more...

---

Age 8 — The Creek

Bai Feng sat by a shallow creek outside the clan grounds with his feet submerged in cold water. He stared at the ripples, shoulders slumped.

Lan Rui sat beside him, chewing on a blade of grass.

"You’ll get it eventually," she said casually.

He didn’t look at her. "They say my meridians are weak."

"They say a lot of stupid things."

"They say I’ll never reach Core Formation."

She snorted. "They also said Elder Zhou would never stop drinking, and yet—"

"He stopped?"

"No. He died."

Bai Feng let out a startled laugh before quickly covering his mouth.

Lan Rui grinned.

"That’s the point. People are wrong all the time."

She flicked water at him. "And when you become strong, you can flick them back."

He glanced at her then. "You really think I can?"

She met his eyes, serious now. "I know you can."

---

Age 10 —

Moonlight washed over the rooftops.

Bai Feng sat cross-legged on a hidden terrace, sweat soaking his robes as he struggled to maintain circulation. Qi slipped, scattered, refusing to obey.

Frustration burned behind his eyes.

Again.

His breath hitched.

Suddenly another presence was felt.

A shadow moved beside him.

"Tense shoulders," a calm voice said. "You’re forcing it."

Bai Feng jumped. "Raosheng?!"

A tall boy with dark hair and lazy eyes crouched nearby, chewing on something.

"You’ll choke your meridians if you keep doing that," Raosheng continued. "Relax."

"I didn’t ask for help."

"Good," Raosheng replied. "I wasn’t offering."

He reached out and tapped Bai Feng’s chest.

"Here. You’re breathing wrong."

Bai Feng hesitated then followed the instruction.

Qi flowed gently and smoothly.

For the first time, it stayed.

Bai Feng’s eyes widened.

Raosheng smirked. "See? Not broken. Just stubborn."

From that night on, Raosheng trained with him.

Quietly. Illegally. After curfew.

---

Bai Feng grew older in flashes... ten, eleven twelve, thirteen.

Always training harder than the others. Always lingering after lessons ended, practicing alone under moonlight until his hands bled.

The clan compound was grand, but Bai Feng’s quarters were modest. Sparse. Forgotten.

At meals, he sat at the edge of the hall. At gatherings, he stood behind pillars.

Yet despite it all—

He smiled.

Not weakly.

Genuinely.

He helped servants carry water. He defended younger disciples when bullies grew too bold. When mocked, he laughed it off with humor sharp enough to disarm tension.

Victor watched one moment in particular.

A rainy afternoon.

Bai Feng, at the age of thirteen was running through the outer streets, soaked to the bone, chasing after a girl with bright eyes and mud-stained robes.

"Wait! I said I’m sorry!" he yelled, nearly slipping.

Lan Rui spun around with a furious look. "You ate my spirit buns again!"

"I was starving!" he protested. "Besides, you make them too well. That’s a crime in itself."

She glared at him, then broke into laughter despite her anger.

"Idiot," she muttered.

Victor recognized her importance. One of his very few genuine friends.

Age 14—

The memory darkened.

A narrow alley inside the clan.

Bai Feng lay curled on the ground.

Boots surrounded him.

Blood soaked his sleeve.

"You think learning a few tricks makes you equal to us?"

A kick landed in his ribs.

He gasped.

Then—

A scream.

Lan Rui burst into the alley like a storm.

"You cowards!"

She slammed a talisman onto the ground.

BOOM.

Smoke erupted.

The boys scattered, cursing.

She dropped to Bai Feng’s side instantly, hands trembling as she checked him.

"Idiot," she whispered. "Why didn’t you run?"

He tried to smile and failed.

"Didn’t want to give them the satisfaction."

Her eyes burned with tears.

"Next time," she said fiercely, "we run together."

---

Age 15 —

They sat on the roof again.

Lan Rui stared at the sky.

"When I leave this place," she said, "I want to see the oceans."

Bai Feng frowned. "Why?"

"Because the world is bigger than this stupid clan."

He nodded slowly. "I’ll get strong. Then I’ll go with you." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

She smiled softly. "Promise?"

"I promise."

They hooked pinkies.

Victor felt a chill.

---

Age 16 —

Panic, furious and desperate shouts overlapped.

Spiritual light flickered violently through the trees as talismans detonated in rapid succession, turning the forest into a warzone of flame and shadow.

Bai Feng stumbled forward with blood all over his sword. Fortunately, not all of it was his.

"Formation!" someone shouted.

Too late.

The Blackthorn Ravine was nothing like the map described. The narrow canyon walls rose unnaturally high with spiky stone blotting out the sky, spiritual pressure crushing down in uneven waves. This wasn’t a simple escort mission.

The Objective was to escort a merchant convoy carrying spirit crystals through Blackthorn Ravine.

Low-risk. Low-threat. Minimal resistance expected.

At least, that was what the elders said.

The moment the convoy reached the canyon’s midpoint, the air twisted.

Runes ignited along the cliff walls.

Locking formations.

Escape routes vanished.

The ground shook as something massive moved beneath the earth.

"Ambush!" Lan Rui yelled.

Bai Feng spun just in time to see her throw herself forward, blade flashing as three shadow-clad figures emerged from thin air.

Assassins.

Not bandits.

Professionals.

Immediately first contact was made, the sound of steel clashing, rang out.

Bai Feng barely blocked a killing strike aimed at his throat, making his arms feel numb due to the impact. His attacker moved like smoke—too fast.

"Two o’clock!" Lan Rui shouted.

She moved without hesitation, back-to-back with him, her sword blazing with pale blue qi.

They had trained together for years.

They trusted each other completely.

And for a brief moment—

They held.

Then suddenly, the earth erupted.

A massive Ravine Stalker burst from below with its chitinous body glistening black and eyes glowing crimson. A second followed.

And then a third.

Someone screamed.

"This wasn’t in the report!"

"No one said anything about spirit beasts!"

Lan Rui’s eyes widened.

"Bai Feng—this is wrong!"

The formation cracked and chaos rained.

One escort was impaled instantly, dragged screaming into the darkness below.

Another detonated a talisman in panic, collapsing part of the canyon wall—sealing the exit.

The assassins retreated.

The sudden turn of events was a threat to them as well.

Lan Rui leapt onto a boulder, shouting commands.

"Pull back! Defensive circle!"

She was bleeding—badly.

Bai Feng saw it then.

A deep gash across her side, blood soaking her robes.

His heart seized.

"Lan Rui—!"

"I’m fine!" she snapped, even as her legs trembled. "Focus!"

A Ravine Stalker dove forward and Bai Feng intercepted by sinking his sword into its eye.

It screeched—violently.

The second beast struck from behind but

Lan Rui turned too slow.

Boom~

Victor felt it through the memory.

The sound of flesh tearing.

A claw pierced clean through Lan Rui’s back and emerged from her chest causing blood to spray across Bai Feng’s face.

Time froze.

Her body jerked once.

Twice.

Then went limp.

"LAN RUI—!"

Bai Feng screamed as his world shattered in that very moment.

He didn’t remember killing the beast.

Only that suddenly, it was dead.

He caught her before she fell.

Her blood soaked his hands, warm, unstoppable.

"No... no no no..."

Her eyes fluttered open.

She smiled weakly.

"Hey..." she whispered. "You’re... crying."

"Don’t talk," he begged. "Please. We’ll fix this."

She coughed and soon her lips were stained with blood.

"Guess... I should’ve... listened when you said the ravine felt wrong."