Heaven-Grade Cultivation Method
Shen Jingchuan bought some more Mid-Grade Qi Nourishing Pill Qi Gathering Pills, and the three of them returned to their cave abode.
It was evening, and a lamp was lit in the courtyard. Huan'er was busy preparing dinner under the stove, while Shen Jingchuan and Xiao Mingshu sat around the stone table, chatting idly.
Shen Jingchuan remained silent for a moment before speaking.
"Sister, there's something I need to tell you."
Xiao Mingshu glanced at him.
"What's wrong? Tell me."
Shen Jingchuan then briefly recounted the events. First, on his way back from the market, he encountered the Bandit Cultivator in the mountains and, forced into a corner, fought back and killed them.
Then, when they went to the market today, Accountant Wu came to their door and revealed everything. Those people were members of the Wang Lineage who farm spirit fields nearby, and now the Wang Household has sent people to the market to investigate.
Xiao Mingshu's brows furrowed more and more as she listened, and her expression changed completely as she heard the rest.
"Two at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, and one at the Qi Refining Great Perfection." She stared at Shen Jingchuan, her voice rising several decibels, "You killed all three of them? How did you do it?"
"I always carry a few top-grade talismans with me, given to me by my Lineage."
Shen Jingchuan spoke casually:
"Taking advantage of their unpreparedness, we struck first, unleashing machine guns and talismans all at once, along with my Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring. It was a desperate struggle, a near-death experience, that finally brought down all three of them."
Xiao Mingshu felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing this, and it took her a long time to speak.
"My God, this is such a big thing, why didn't you tell me?"
"What's the point of telling you now that it's already happened? It'll only make you worry unnecessarily."
Shen Jingchuan smiled:
"If it weren't for Accountant Wu's message today saying that the Wang Household had come to the market to look for me again, I would have been afraid that you two would be implicated, so I told you the truth. Otherwise, I wouldn't have said anything, so you wouldn't have been worrying. Besides, it's all in the past now."
Xiao Mingshu stared at him for a while, then slowly shook her head.
"You don't need to worry about me. I am, after all, surnamed Xiao. Within the Great Qian Kingdom, a small Lineage that cultivates spirit fields wouldn't dare to touch me unless they want to be wiped out."
She paused, her gaze falling on him.
"But it's you."
Shen Jingchuan smiled.
"What's wrong with me?" He leaned back in his chair and said slowly, "Do you think the Shen Household is just a bunch of pushovers?"
Xiao Mingshu was taken aback, but then she understood and nodded.
"That's true." She sighed. "Alright, just be careful. There are rules in the market; they won't dare to mess around. I'll see you off when you're ready to leave."
Shen Jingchuan neither agreed nor disagreed, only waving his hand.
"It's alright, we can talk about it when we leave."
After dinner, Shen Jingchuan returned to his room, activated the Spirit Gathering Formation, and entered his Ring space.
The space was filled with Spiritual Qi, and the spiritual field was even more uniform than before. Su Qingshu was sitting cross-legged on the ridge of the field in the distance, meditating, while Su Qinghua squatted beside him, feeding the horses with hay in her hands.
Hearing the noise, Su Qinghua turned around abruptly. When she saw it was him, her eyes lit up immediately. She dropped the hay and ran over, grabbing his arm tightly.
"Brother, you've finally arrived!" She looked up, her voice tinged with a hint of grievance. "I thought you'd forgotten about us."
Shen Jingchuan reached out and ruffled her hair.
"How could I forget?" he laughed. "My two dear sisters are right here, how could I possibly forget them?"
At this moment, Big Black, Little Black, and Treading Snow also saw him, snorted, and came over, their big heads nuzzling against him. Shen Jingchuan smiled and patted them one by one, then took out a few apples from his Storage Ring and fed them with them.
While feeding her, he turned his head and asked Su Qinghua.
"See? I wasn't wrong, were I? Those three are quite obedient, aren't they?"
"Little Black and Treading Snow are so well-behaved, they like me too."
Su Qinghua counted on her fingers, then pointed at Big Black, her tone somewhat dejected:
"Big Black is very well-behaved; he never fights with the other two for food, he's like a real man. It's just... he's too proud, he never lets me touch him."
"Oh?" Shen Jingchuan became interested and turned to look at Big Black. "Big Black, what's going on? People feed you hay and water you every day, what's wrong with petting you a couple of times?"
Big Black raised its head, its eyes glancing sideways at Su Qinghua with a hint of disdain, clearly unwilling to back down.
Shen Jingchuan was both amused and annoyed. He reached out and forcefully pulled its big head down a bit, then took Su Qinghua's small hand and pressed it against its forehead, stroking it back and forth a couple of times.
"You're quite arrogant." He patted Big Black's neck. "Letting her touch you a couple of times won't cost you anything. If she touches you, it means she likes you, don't you understand?"
Big Black didn't struggle to break free, but its eyes still wouldn't look at Su Qinghua. It stiffened its neck, looking like it was barely enduring it.
"From now on, be nicer to those two. They're my sisters, they're family. You have to treat them like family too, understand?"
Big Black reluctantly snorted and slowly nodded.
As they were talking, a flash of light appeared in mid-air, and Xian'er's figure floated over leisurely.
"You little rascal, what brings you here today?"
Shen Jingchuan looked up and saw her, then smiled and cupped his hands in a respectful greeting.
"Sister Xian," he gestured with his chin towards the two girls beside him, "Have my two younger sisters caused you any trouble?"
Xian'er raised an eyebrow, her gaze sweeping over the neatly tidied spirit field and the corner where the three horses were resting, her tone surprisingly carrying a hint of approval:
"Look at yourself, how neatly they've kept this place? The two children are well-behaved and obedient, and they're so hardworking, I can't find anything wrong with them."
She paused, then continued.
"As for cultivation, these two girls are also very quick-witted and intelligent. In just a few days, they have already Qi Refining Second Layer."
Shen Jingchuan was taken aback and quickly released his Divine Sense to probe the two of them. Sure enough, Su Qinghua's Spiritual Qi was already flowing slowly along her meridians, her foundation was firmly established, and she was indeed at the Qi Refining Second Layer.
"Wow, you guys are amazing!" He was both surprised and delighted, and reached out to ruffle Su Qinghua's hair. "It's only been a few days, and you've already Qi Refining Second Layer!"
Su Qinghua blushed bright red from the praise and grinned broadly.
On the ridge of the field, Su Qingshu had just finished circulating her energy for a cycle and stood up. When she looked up and saw Shen Jingchuan, her eyes lit up, and she lifted her skirt and ran over.
Su Qingshu ran up to him, grabbed his other arm, and smiled up at him.
"Elder brother."
Shen Jingchuan looked around and saw a girl hanging from each of his arms, and couldn't help but laugh.
"Not bad. You've already Qi Refining Second Layer. This progress is faster than I expected."
The two girls beamed with delight at the praise, each clinging to one of his arms, their smiles wide and uncontrollable.
Shen Jingchuan looked up at Xian'er.
"Sister Xian'er, I was just about to ask you something. I know that cultivators with Five Phases Spirit Roots are the slowest to progress outside, because their Spirit Roots are mixed and their advancement is difficult. But look at me, and then look at the other two; their progress is faster than the other. Is this related to the Cultivation Method we practice?"