Diluted Spirit Rice Water

With a quick glance, Shen Fan frowned slightly. He saw Old Man Duan in his Spirit Field, bending over and working diligently, tilling the land.

When Shen Fan's gaze met his, Old Man Duan grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. The smile was completely different from the eerie appearance he had seen the night before.

Shen Fan couldn't help but feel suspicious, wondering to himself: Could what I saw last night have just been a dream?

But then he thought about the Treasure Gathering Universe Bowl, which was definitely real, and he shook his head, dismissing the idea.

Over the years, Old Man Duan's care for him was no less than his care for Lu Qingzhu.

Although they were not related by blood, they were like grandfather and grandson in practice.

Old Man Duan had been a handyman disciple for over a decade since joining the sect, and had suffered a lot of bullying.

Beneath that patient exterior, who knew how many seeds of hatred were buried.

His pursuit of cultivation was almost fanatical, and he would do anything to achieve his goals.

Handyman disciples were not taught spells. Old Man Duan must have secrets unknown to others during his decade or so at the Heavenly Xuan Sect.

At noon, Shen Fan invited Old Man Duan to his room for a meal.

"I traded some of your Spirit Rice for some coarse rice. Let's eat it with some wild vegetables!"

As Shen Fan spoke, he took out chopsticks and bowls, setting a place for Old Man Duan.

Old Man Duan frowned, clearly not satisfied with the simple meal. "You're eating this? Not even a bit of meat? How can you swallow this?"

With that, Old Man Duan took out a piece of cured meat from his pocket, chopped it up, and put some in Shen Fan's bowl.

Then, he took out a porcelain bottle and poured out some scarlet blood, mixing it into the rice.

This scene instantly reminded Shen Fan of the cold corpse from last night, and his stomach churned.

Seeing the disgusted look on Shen Fan's face, Old Man Duan explained, "Cultivators need to maintain sufficient Blood Essence. This is some sheep's blood I exchanged for at the market down the mountain. Mixing it with rice can effectively replenish our Blood Essence!"

As he spoke, he handed the bottle over: "Want some?"

The smell of blood assaulted his nostrils, and Shen Fan waved his hands in refusal.

"Well..." Shen Fan picked at his rice, hesitating before finally speaking, "What time did you go to sleep last night?"

"Hmm?" Old Man Duan paused slightly, his chopsticks hovering in mid-air.

He narrowed his eyes, looking at Shen Fan across from him. "Did you see something?"

Shen Fan didn't speak, but just nodded. "Old Man Duan, tell me honestly, have you been practicing demonic arts? If the Heavenly Xuan Sect finds out, you'll be dead!"

As Shen Fan spoke, he quickly looked outside, lowering his voice to advise him.

Old Man Duan took a deep breath, stood up, walked to the door, and after confirming that it was locked, turned around and looked at Shen Fan with a sinister expression:

"You shouldn't have asked me that. Some things, you have to bury in your heart forever, otherwise, it will bring you a bloody disaster!"

"What do you mean?" Shen Fan's heart tightened. "I'm advising you out of kindness. I haven't told anyone!"

Old Man Duan held one hand behind his back, as if hiding something, slowly approaching.

"What are you doing?" Shen Fan retreated in a panic, accidentally knocking over a stool. He looked around, picked up a broom, and held it in front of him. "Don't come over here, I'll call for someone if you come any closer!"

"Hehe!" Old Man Duan grinned, and the atmosphere eased.

He sat back down, picking at the bloody rice, and said to himself, "Boy, this old man is telling you from experience, this world is a jungle. Before you have the power to protect yourself, don't reveal anyone's secrets, understand? Otherwise, it will bring you a bloody disaster!"

"You discovered my secret, and I should have silenced you. But you, kid, I've taken care of you for three years after all, and this old man isn't that heartless!"

Shen Fan breathed a sigh of relief and sat down uneasily. "I won't tell anyone, but please don't continue, okay? Don't you know how strict the Heavenly Xuan Sect is about monitoring demons? It's lucky that I saw it. If it were someone else, wouldn't they have reported you to Zhao Erhu?"

Old Man Duan nodded in satisfaction. "I know you have a good heart, but... some things, once you start, you can't stop!"

"I entered the Heavenly Xuan Sect when I was over seventy years old, and it took me more than ten years to reach the third level of the Qi Refining Stage. The hardships I've suffered over the years, you've only seen a glimpse of in these three years. I originally thought that I could enter the outer sect this year to learn spells and obtain better opportunities, but I didn't expect the Heavenly Xuan Sect to be so dark, which forced me to make some helpless choices."

"The method I've learned is the Nether Corpse Sect's secret method of refining corpses. Do you want to learn it? I'll teach you?"

"No, no, no!" Shen Fan shook his head like a rattle-drum.

Seeing this, Old Man Duan smiled. "With your talent, you'll never catch up to Lu Qingzhu in this lifetime. You'll come looking for me!"

After speaking, he finished the rice in his bowl, opened the door, and left.

Watching Old Man Duan leave, Shen Fan chuckled. "You have secrets, and I have secrets too!"

With that, he looked at the broken bowl on the table.

At noon, he still needed to water Li Wei's five Spirit Fields.

Shen Fan carried a bucket up the mountain, stopping again halfway at the place where he had cultivated yesterday.

Looking around to make sure no one was there, Shen Fan sat down under a large tree and took out the kettle.

He pulled out the stopper, and a fragrant spiritual energy wafted out. In the hot mountain breeze, the spiritual energy gradually thinned and then disappeared.

He tilted his head back and took a gulp. Instantly, the spiritual energy flowed through the meridians in his body like a river, stimulating the damaged meridians and causing Shen Fan to gasp.

This water was no ordinary water. It was made by Shen Fan crushing a Supreme-Grade Spirit Rice and diluting it with water.

The diluted spirit rice water circulated for a week under the operation of the Qi Guiding Art.

After a moment, Shen Fan opened his eyes with joy. Because this diluted spirit rice water actually began to slowly repair his meridians.

This Supreme-Grade Spirit Rice truly lives up to its name!

It's a pity that the spirit rice contains too much spiritual energy; it would be discovered if I took it out.

With my current strength, not only can I not protect it, but it would also invite disaster.

I can only secretly consume one grain each day, relying on the time I spend carrying water up the mountain.

Before long, a bottle of spirit rice water was finished.

Shen Fan discovered that this diluted spirit rice water seemed gentler than consuming it directly, and his body's meridians could withstand it, but the speed was a bit slow.

With two or three more times like this, the damaged meridians could be completely repaired.

After going down the mountain, Shen Fan continued to cultivate in the Spirit Field, but his mind was thinking about how to get Zhao Erhu to help him get introduced to the Waste Elixir Chamber or the Spirit Herb Department.

Not far away, Zhao Erhu was enjoying the cool under a tree, but his eyes were fixed on Shen Fan.

Last night, Li Qingshan had contacted him again, saying that he wanted to drive Shen Fan down the mountain as soon as possible.

But the sect rules are strict, and forcibly making things difficult for him rashly might lead to being held accountable!

At that time, Li Qingshan, an outer disciple, wouldn't be able to protect him.

Just as Zhao Erhu was in trouble, Li Wei walked over with a cool and delicious watermelon.

"Overseer Zhao, have some watermelon, it's been chilled!"

Zhao Erhu took the watermelon with satisfaction and began to eat.

Li Wei observed his expression and immediately noticed that Zhao Erhu seemed to have something troubling him.

So he tentatively asked, "Overseer Zhao, is there something troubling you? I wonder if I can be of assistance?"

Zhao Erhu raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, "You little brat have a lot of tricks up your sleeve, tell me..."

As he spoke, he told Li Wei about the matter that Li Qingshan had entrusted to him.

Li Wei said without hesitation upon hearing this, "It's that simple. If Senior Brother Qingshan wants to kill this guy, and we can't handle it, let someone else handle it!"

"What do you mean?"

"Send him to the Waste Elixir Chamber!"