I can use my morality points to allocate stats

As promised, Lin Mo was determined to stay up all night, but before midnight, he nearly succumbed to drowsiness.

Rubbing his flushed cheeks, he muttered to himself:

"You're a cultivator, is sleep really that important?"

Legend has it that ancient cultivators replaced sleep with meditation, practicing tirelessly for all twelve hours of the day without interruption. Their level of dedication was truly exemplary for modern cultivators.

If Lin Mo could achieve this, even without the [Merit Fish], he might have already advanced to the middle stage of Qi Refinement.

Time to buckle down!

Lin Mo sprang up from the ground with a flip.

Meditation was no longer very effective for him, and sitting quietly in his room tapping the wooden fish at night only made him more drowsy.

Instead of staying at home, he decided to go to the park to practice stance training, which would help keep him alert.

He quickly changed into workout clothes, grabbed his keys, and headed out the door.

Leaving home, he circled past the overgrown landscaping in the community courtyard. As he passed the security booth at the entrance, he tossed two coins he had prepared earlier into the air.

With two soft "clinks," the coins landed precisely in the porcelain bowl Old Qin the security guard had placed on the windowsill.

"Old Qin, open up!"

Before long, Old Qin, motivated by the sound of money, emerged from the security room wearing his guard uniform.

He first glanced at the coins in the bowl, then glared at Lin Mo, saying:

"What's gotten into you in the middle of the night?"

Despite his words, he quickly pocketed the coins and used his keys to open the main gate for Lin Mo. As he left, he added:

"Be back by 2 AM at the latest, or you'll have to wait until 5:40 AM tomorrow morning when the gates open again!"

Your old man is truly your old man, apparently only sleeping for just over three hours... At this moment, Lin Mo felt a hint of awe for Old Qin.

To earn extra money, Old Qin persevered until 2 AM every night. Couldn't I also persevere until 2 AM for the sake of cultivation?

Lin Mo stepped through the small gate in the fence, and a gust of summer night wind greeted him.

"Whew~!"

His eyes brightened slightly, and some of his drowsiness was carried away by the breeze.

Lin Mo looked up and saw a flying sword streak across the city's night sky like a shooting star.

So cool, a sword cultivator!

He watched enviously as the sword immortal sped across the dome of the sky.

Since ancient times, sword cultivators have always been the most dashing profession in the cultivation world.

However, it's said that the requirements for sword cultivation are very high, with the primary condition being a single-attribute metal spiritual root.

This condition alone has disqualified countless aspiring cultivators.

Lin Mo had once imagined himself standing gracefully on a flying sword, speeding over people's heads, leaving only a gradually fading silhouette of coolness.

Unfortunately, with his five-element spiritual root, even with his cheat ability, he no longer had the chance to become a sword cultivator.

I wonder what kind of cultivator I'll be able to become after the celestial examination with my five-element spiritual root...

Lin Mo regretfully withdrew his gaze and stretched.

As the time approached midnight, it was just when Chengdu's lights were coming on, and the nightlife was beginning.

Colorful fireworks scattered across the sky, casting layers of light on the towering skyscrapers. The jewel-like brilliance of the tall buildings was captivating.

At that moment, a faint aroma of barbecue wafted over from across the street...

Lin Mo first swallowed, then felt his empty pockets, before resolutely heading towards Sandy River Park behind the residential complex.

As he walked, he invested the merit he had just accumulated into the spiritual root on his status panel.

[You have invested merit into the metal spiritual root...]

As the prompt ended, the purity of his metal spiritual root reached 32%, and his average spiritual root value just broke through to 22%.

Good, another small step closer to genius!

Lin Mo nodded with satisfaction and began jogging along the quiet path behind the residential complex.

He enjoyed the night scenery by the river while feeling the gentle night breeze on his face.

By the time he reached the pavilion in Sandy River Park, what little drowsiness remained had completely disappeared.

Suddenly, another whiff of barbecue aroma drifted by.

He looked in the direction of the scent and saw a barbecue stand set up at the corner of the park.

"...Can't escape it even after running all the way here."

Lin Mo complained.

There weren't many people on the running track outside Sandy River Park, but as he approached the park pavilion, the number of people increased slightly.

There were no noisy square dances or constantly hawking vendors.

In the evening, most of the people here were elderly folks practicing stance training or going through martial arts moves.

"Hei!"

"Ha!"

"Huo!"

"..."

The vigorous voices of the elderly continuously rang out, their expressions as serious as could be.

In the age of cultivation, even if one couldn't embark on the path to immortality, achieving longevity through advanced qigong wasn't difficult.

With modern nutrition, the average lifespan was already over a hundred years.

If one mastered some longevity techniques, living to 120 years old wasn't out of the question.

It was clear that the desire for longevity had become the mainstream life philosophy of the Great Cultivation Era, bar none.

Just as Lin Mo was about to find an empty space to practice the Kuixing stance, a flash of red caught his eye.

Bright red Taoist robes, a neat and tidy hair bun, spirited phoenix eyes...

Hey, isn't that the school beauty?

He looked closely at the girl practicing the Kuixing stance near the pavilion. Who else could it be but Chu Wange?

"The school beauty is doing stance training too?"

Lin Mo curiously watched her practice the Kuixing stance near the pavilion.

Chu Wange was still wearing her eye-catching red Taoist robes. Though it was a rather garish color, on her it exuded an air of otherworldly elegance.

With a sword on her back, her steps were steady, and her muscle control was perfect as she moved through the stance.

Her movements were fluid and as stable as the old men nearby.

Of course, this wasn't meant as an insult.

These retired old men with nothing better to do loved to practice stance training in the park, occasionally even organizing stance competitions for the elderly.

Their stance work was so refined that even Foundation Establishment cultivators might not be able to match it.

Despite her young age, Chu Wange's stance work had the gravitas of these experienced elders.

Even if she hasn't perfected it, she must be close... Lin Mo speculated silently.

"As expected of South Mountain's number one, still working hard so late!"

He couldn't help but exclaim, before refocusing his attention.

"I need to work hard too!"

Lin Mo didn't shamelessly try to approach her, but instead chose an empty spot near the riverbank and began practicing the Kuixing stance.

Compared to the spells he had acquired, the Kuixing stance taught at school had the advantage of careful instruction in the essentials of the technique, making it easier to cultivate.

As one of the stance training methods accessible to the general public, the key points of the Kuixing stance were: top pressing, interlocking, loosening and drooping, dispersing, putting down, and continuous movement.

Having practiced stance training for many years, Lin Mo was naturally familiar with these key points and essentials.

However, knowing them and being able to execute them were two different things.

He tried his best to control his body, but the body he had only mastered for eighteen years was far less agile than those of the old men. His movements were visibly stiffer compared to the surrounding elderly.

The entire stance sequence consisted of only twelve steps, but it took him about five or six minutes to complete.

Stance work is fundamental, and its quality can be judged at a glance.

Compared to the old men nearby who could complete an entire set of stances in less than a minute, Lin Mo was even more "elderly" than the elderly.

"Phew~!"

He took a deep breath, not discouraged, and quickly calmed his mind to begin a new round of stance training.