No sooner said than done. After getting dressed, Xu Chunniang began to climb.
As she climbed, she discovered that after being transformed by spiritual energy, her body was far more nimble and light than before.
But the entrance to the mountain fissure was too steep. It was still difficult to climb out, and though she tried more than ten times, she failed every time.
After another failed climb and another fall into the pool, Xu Chunniang could not hide the disappointment in her eyes. She had not expected that even after Qi Introduction, she still could not leave this place.
"Forget it. Since I can't get out, I should keep cultivating."
Xu Chunniang thought it over. Though she could not climb out right now, if her cultivation reached the first level of Qi Condensation, she might have a chance.
She still had ten Grain Abstinence Pills left, enough to last another twenty days.
But in twenty days, even a genius with a Dual-Element Spiritual Root would find it hard to cultivate to the first level of Qi Condensation in such a short time.
Although the spiritual energy here was far denser than that around the Lecture Room, cultivation speed was not determined solely by the richness of the surrounding spiritual energy.
After all, no matter how abundant the spiritual energy between heaven and earth was, it still took time to absorb it into one's body...
Wait, if it came to absorbing spiritual energy?
Xu Chunniang slapped her forehead. How had she forgotten that she still had spirit stones?
Spirit stones contained a vast amount of spiritual energy. Unlike the spiritual energy drifting through heaven and earth, the energy within them could be used directly for cultivation!
Under normal circumstances, she would never bear to use spirit stones directly for cultivation. Spirit stones had countless uses; they could be used to buy cultivation methods, spiritual artifacts, pills, formation disks, and more.
But now she was trapped inside the mountain's belly. If she could not get out soon, she would starve to death here. No matter how many spirit stones she had, they would be useless.
Xu Chunniang picked up her Storage Bag. Now, she no longer needed to press it against her forehead to retrieve items from it.
She took out two stones gleaming with spiritual light. After reluctantly stroking them once, Xu Chunniang gripped the spirit stones and began cultivating.
There was no sense of time in the mountains. Once Xu Chunniang began cultivating, she lost all track of it.
After Qi Introduction, her spirits were better than before, and the three hours of sleep she allowed herself each day had been compressed to two.
Her most urgent task now was to raise her cultivation and leave this cave as soon as possible.
In the blink of an eye, eighteen days passed.
On this day, Xu Chunniang was still absorbing spiritual energy. She held a spirit stone in each hand, but the stones that had once brimmed with spiritual energy were now dull and gray, no different from roadside rocks.
As the final wisp of spiritual energy was drawn from them, the spirit stones seemed unable to endure any longer and crumbled into powder.
Xu Chunniang opened her eyes, and a flash of excitement crossed them. She had finally reached the first level of Qi Condensation!
Absorbing the spiritual energy within spirit stones was indeed much faster than cultivating normally. But when Xu Chunniang looked at the spirit stones that had been reduced entirely to powder, her heart ached fiercely.
Those had been two whole spirit stones! A single spirit stone was worth more than a thousand gold, yet after cultivating for only a dozen or so days, she had spent more than two thousand gold!
Xu Chunniang felt the world spinning around her. She kept rubbing her chest, and only after a long while did she suppress that heartache.
Forget it. What was done was done. Let's see what was different about the first level of Qi Condensation.
Xu Chunniang clenched her little fists, a faint happy smile appearing on her face. Only at times like this did she seem like an eight-year-old child.
The first level of Qi Condensation could already be considered the first step onto the immortal path. Xu Chunniang found that her body had become even more nimble. With a single leap, she could jump from one side of the pool to the other—and she had not even used much strength.
Not only had her body become lighter, but even her five senses seemed to have sharpened considerably.
Even during the day, the cave was always dim, and many places could not be seen clearly. But after breaking through to the first level of Qi Condensation, she could see every corner with perfect clarity.
Xu Chunniang looked upward with confidence. She was ninety percent certain that she could leave the cave!
She leaped upward and began climbing the steep rock wall. Before long, she reached the mountain fissure. With a light hook of her hand, her entire body slipped out of the cave.
She was finally out!
Basking in the long-lost sunlight, Xu Chunniang pursed her lips, overcome by the urge to cry. Thinking back on the days she had been trapped, she truly had endured only by relying on that single breath of determination in her chest.
After greedily basking in the sun for two hours, Xu Chunniang jumped down and returned to the cave.
Now that she could leave the cave, she was no longer in a hurry.
Martial Uncle Gu had said that after a breakthrough in cultivation, the most important thing was to consolidate one's cultivation.
If one failed to consolidate it, having an unstable foundation was the lesser concern. If an accident occurred later, one might even fall in realm!
She had spent two whole spirit stones to raise her cultivation. She could not let it fall so easily, or she would suffer a crushing loss.
Only three full days later, when she felt her cultivation had completely stabilized, did Xu Chunniang stop cultivating in satisfaction. She left the cave and headed straight for the Dining Hall.
This time, Xu Chunniang took only two hours to reach the Dining Hall, nearly twice as fast as before.
Steward Zhao of the Dining Hall was unusually busy. He was briskly processing a dead wolf.
"This is a Gale Wolf from the late stages of Qi Condensation." Steward Zhao jerked his chin. "Those people hunted it and asked me to help clean it up."
Although Steward Zhao was the steward of the Dining Hall and held an elevated position, he was fond of food by nature and loved to eat.
Thus, regardless of their cultivation level, disciples who hunted demonic beasts could bring them to him for processing. He would take a certain amount of the beast meat as payment.
Following the direction Steward Zhao pointed, Xu Chunniang saw three imposing men seated inside the Dining Hall. Since they could hunt a demonic beast from the late stages of Qi Condensation, their cultivation could not possibly be below the seventh level of Qi Condensation.
Since Steward Zhao was occupied, Xu Chunniang did not say much. She collected next month's Grain Abstinence Pills in advance, then left the Dining Hall with two bottles of pills and headed toward the Merit Pavilion.
After Qi Introduction, new disciples could enter the Merit Pavilion once and choose two low-grade spells for free.
After entering the Scripture Pavilion, she had not expected to encounter an acquaintance inside—Qi Haozhi.
This Qi Haozhi had followed the richly dressed young girl. But after that arrogant girl entered the inner sect, he had remained in the outer sect.
Xu Chunniang remembered that outside the Lecture Hall, Qi Haozhi had been among the first group to go upstairs for lessons.
Back when she was still learning to read, he had already achieved Qi Introduction. She had not expected that he would only come to the Lecture Hall to choose spells today.
"It's you!"
Qi Haozhi was also quite surprised to see Xu Chunniang. His impression of her could be said to run deep.
Not only had someone helped her after Huangfu Yao targeted her aboard the Flying Ship, but Xu Chunniang had also been particularly conspicuous before Steward Zhang Donglai.
Moreover, the fierce and eye-catching red birthmark beneath Xu Chunniang's right eye was unforgettable at a single glance.
Although her complexion looked much better than before, she was still unbearably ugly in his eyes.
Xu Chunniang saw Qi Haozhi, but treated him as air. She walked on her own to the low-grade spell section, preparing to choose spells.
But Qi Haozhi frowned deeply and followed behind her to the spell selection area. "You've achieved Qi Introduction too? No, that's not right!"
He sensed her aura, his expression changing as he said in disbelief, "You've actually already reached the first level of Qi Condensation!"
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