Sure enough, as the spiritual qi used in the casting decreased, the amount of rain produced by the Spiritual Rain Technique also visibly dwindled, falling in sparse drizzles.
"Haha, this is the right direction!"
Xu Chunniang was overjoyed. She had not expected that a casual attempt would actually succeed.
With this scaled-down version of the Spiritual Rain Technique, Xu Chunniang found it much easier to control the amount of rainwater.
Under her control, several sparse drops of spiritual rain gathered together, forming a new drop of spiritual rain that drifted down...
Half a month later, Xu Chunniang had no choice but to pause her cultivation. She had finished her Grain Abstinence Pills and needed to collect more from the Dining Hall.
Over the past half month, she had continuously practiced controlling the amount of spiritual rain, and had achieved modest results.
She had started by practicing with one-tenth of the Spiritual Rain Technique. Once she had adapted and become proficient, she gradually increased the spiritual qi. Now, she could control a Spiritual Rain Technique using one-third of her spiritual power.
Over the course of two months, Xu Chunniang had practiced the Spiritual Rain Technique without interruption. The water level in the pool had risen considerably, and the pool water even contained a faint trace of spiritual qi.
Leaping several times off the rock wall, Xu Chunniang easily jumped out of the cave.
She narrowed her eyes, somewhat unaccustomed to the bright light outside. It took her quite a while to recover.
"When I first learned I was trapped in this cave, I cultivated desperately, thinking only of escaping this place. Who would have thought that later, I would voluntarily jump into this cave?"
Xu Chunniang shook her head with a smile, concealed the cave entrance, and headed toward the Dining Hall.
Steward Zhao of the Dining Hall wore a genial smile for everyone he met. "It's you, Girl Xu."
"Steward Zhao, it has been a long time."
Xu Chunniang felt a warmth in her heart. In the vast outer sect, he was probably the only kind senior brother she could speak with.
Sensing Xu Chunniang's aura, a smile flashed through Steward Zhao's eyes. "First level Qi Condensation. Not bad."
He remembered that when this girl had first entered the sect, she had not even recognized her own name. Only four months had passed, yet she had reached the first level of Qi Condensation—and she did not look like she had just broken through.
"Senior Brother, don't make fun of me."
Xu Chunniang shook her head. Though she believed she had not slackened for a single day since joining the Carefree Sect, how could she compare to these senior brothers who had spent decades in the sect?
After all, anyone capable of serving as a hall steward had to possess at least the cultivation of the seventh level Qi Condensation.
Compared to them, her little bit of cultivation was not worth mentioning at all.
Seeing Xu Chunniang's earnest expression, Steward Zhao shook his head rather speechlessly. He truly was not joking. Among the disciples who had entered alongside her, quite a few had only just completed Qi Introduction!
"How many are you taking this time?"
Xu Chunniang thought about it. A round trip took nearly four hours, so collecting only one bottle did not seem worthwhile.
"Same as last time, two bottles. One bottle is this month's allotment, and I'll draw next month's allotment in advance."
Steward Zhao quickly completed the process. Carrying the two newly collected bottles of Grain Abstinence Pills, Xu Chunniang set off on her way back.
"I've already been at the Carefree Sect for four months. I wonder how things are at home."
On the way back, Xu Chunniang recalled life in Xu Family Village.
Her household had been very poor. From the age of three, she had started caring for her younger brother; at six, she began doing housework. Ever since she could remember, she had never seemed to have a moment's rest, yet she had still never had enough to eat or warm clothes to wear.
It was not just her family. Most households in Xu Family Village seemed to be the same.
The entire family, young and old, labored all year round merely to fill their bellies, unable to save more than a few silver coins.
Thinking back on her former life, Xu Chunniang could still remember the terror of worrying every day that there would be nothing to eat.
Only four months had passed since all that, yet it felt as though several years had gone by.
"With those hundred taels of silver, the family should no longer have to worry about food and clothing."
Xu Chunniang shook her head. She was only at the first level of Qi Condensation, one of the weakest existences in the entire Cultivation World. There was no use thinking so much. She should cultivate properly instead.
Suppressing those thoughts, Xu Chunniang quickened her pace, returned to the cave, and continued the cultivation she had left unfinished.
The practice of controlling the amount of spiritual rain went smoothly at first, but as the spiritual qi increased, so did the difficulty.
Xu Chunniang had no choice but to control her spiritual qi with greater precision, increasing it thread by thread to make it easier for herself to control. She sought not speed, but steadiness.
A full month later, she finally gained complete control over the amount of spiritual rain.
"Spiritual Qi Manifests as Rain!"
With Xu Chunniang's movements, a ball of watery vapor the size of a teacup appeared above the pool. Then, drops of rain rich in spiritual qi slowly fell. Only after thirteen drops of spiritual rain had fallen did the vapor ball disappear.
She had succeeded!
A glint of excitement flashed through Xu Chunniang's eyes. Not only had she reduced the amount of spiritual rain to the minimum, she had also further compressed the casting range of the Spiritual Rain Technique. To her, this was no small breakthrough.
When she had first learned the Spiritual Rain Technique, she had only wanted to master it so that she could become a qualified Spiritual Plant Cultivator in the future. But as she repeatedly studied the technique inside out, she gradually fell in love with the feeling of constant exploration and learning.
Watching spiritual qi change form beneath her precise control gave her a profound sense of accomplishment.
After the rainwater, clearly rich in spiritual qi, fell into the pool, the spiritual qi within the pool seemed to grow a little more abundant.
Xu Chunniang secretly felt it was a pity. Such fine spiritual rain was simply being wasted.
Although the spiritual rain falling into the pool made the spiritual qi in the pool and cave dwelling richer, this ownerless spiritual qi would dissipate at no slow rate. Only a tiny portion could remain completely within the pool.
Watching the spiritual rain fall into the pool, only for less than one part in ten of its spiritual qi to remain in the end, Xu Chunniang's heart ached terribly. All that spiritual qi had been earned through her hard cultivation!
It would be wonderful if she could collect all this spiritual rain. If she needed to irrigate spiritual plants in the future, she could use it directly.
But even if she could collect the spiritual rain, without a suitable vessel to store it in, the spiritual qi within it would probably completely dissipate in less than a day.
Her stomach growled twice, pulling Xu Chunniang back from her thoughts.
She shook her head and skillfully took out the bottle containing Grain Abstinence Pills, only to find her hand unexpectedly light. This bottle of Grain Abstinence Pills had been eaten clean again. Out of habit, Xu Chunniang was about to put the bottle back into her Storage Bag.
Suddenly, her hand froze in midair as though someone had cast a body-freezing talisman on her.
Xu Chunniang slowly turned her head and stared thoughtfully at the empty bottle in her hand.
The bottles the sect used to hold Grain Abstinence Pills were made from some kind of natural white jade. When used to store Grain Abstinence Pills, they could preserve the pills' medicinal properties rather well and slow the loss of spiritual power within them.
If she used this bottle to collect spiritual rain, could it preserve the spiritual qi in the rain?
Xu Chunniang had always been a woman of action. The moment she had an idea, she put it into practice the next.
One use of the Spiritual Rain Technique only yielded thirteen drops of spiritual rain. When they fell into the pill bottle, they barely covered the bottom.
Though the amount of spiritual rain was small, the spiritual qi within it was astonishingly abundant.
Xu Chunniang had remained at the first level of Qi Condensation for three months. Compared to when she had first entered the first level, her spiritual qi had increased by more than double.
The spiritual rain she had formed from one-third of her spiritual qi had been compressed into merely thirteen drops. One could easily imagine just how astonishing the spiritual qi contained within that rain was.
Perhaps it was no longer merely "spiritual rain." After such extreme compression, "spiritual dew" was a more fitting name for this liquid.
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