Qi Condensation Second Layer!

Three days later, at the core of Cloud Mist Mountain, before a small wooden hut.

Mother Chen Xiuyun said reluctantly, "Yuan'er, you're only seven. Why do you need to live alone and enter seclusion for quiet cultivation?"

"You can cultivate at home too."

"Your father and I won't disturb you."

Li Qingyuan smiled. "Mother, Yuan'er will only come here to cultivate and meditate on Qi during the day. At night, I'll still go home to rest."

"But—" Mother Chen Xiuyun was about to say more.

Li Dingzhou said, "Enough, enough. What do you women know?"

"You must understand, this is the core region of the family's spirit vein. It is less than a hundred zhang from the family Medicine Field, and the spiritual energy is exceptionally abundant. It is one of the family's finest cultivation grounds."

"Others couldn't come here even if they wanted to."

"If the Clan Leader, Great Elder, and Second Elder had not issued their orders, Yuan'er would never have received such a blessing."

Hearing this, Chen Xiuyun could only nod.

So long as it benefited her son, as his mother, she could not hold him back.

Before long, the move was complete.

Li Qingyuan waved. "Father, Mother, I'll cultivate during the day and return home at night."

"Understood." Li Dingzhou and Chen Xiuyun gradually walked away.

Chen Xiuyun said reluctantly, "This child has had a mind of his own since he was little."

Li Dingzhou wrapped an arm around his wife's slender waist and waggled his brows. "Sister Yun, how about we have another one?"

Chen Xiuyun's cheeks reddened. She pushed Li Dingzhou and glared at him. "Are you trying to die?"

After a pause, she added, "We'll talk about that tonight when we get home."

"Haha, all right." Li Dingzhou laughed heartily.

Inside the small wooden hut, Li Qingyuan said in satisfaction, "Now I have a place to enter seclusion."

The family spirit vein was a First-Rank Incomplete Spirit Vein. Though it could not be considered a true First-grade Spirit Vein, the spiritual energy in this core region was still quite abundant.

"Next, I'll cultivate diligently and strive for the Qi Condensation Second Layer."

Li Qingyuan immediately sat cross-legged, bringing his hands together before his dantian and clutching a Spirit Stone between his palms. Silently reciting the Great Spring Technique formula, he began absorbing spiritual energy and entered seclusion for quiet cultivation.

"Sink Qi into the dantian, draw in the spirit breath; let the heart, like the great spring tree, contain heaven and earth."

"Breathe in and out like surging tides through the meridians; gather spiritual resonance and store it within the Purple Mansion."

"..."

Li Qingyuan immersed himself completely, unaware of time passing.

The days went by one after another.

Every morning, Li Qingyuan left home before sunrise and came to the spirit vein's core to cultivate in seclusion.

At noon, he cooked Spirit Rice himself and prepared two small dishes, one meat and one vegetable. Every meal, he ate half a jin of Spirit Rice—three full bowls of rice.

After lunch, he rested briefly before continuing his cultivation in the afternoon.

He made his own dinner as well, handling both daily meals himself.

Two meals a day consumed a full jin of Spirit Rice.

At first, Li Qingyuan took three days to refine a Spirit Stone. Later, it took two days, and then his speed grew faster and faster until he could refine one Spirit Stone in a single day.

Thirty-two Spirit Stones and twenty jin of Spirit Rice.

In less than a month, they were completely depleted.

Over that month, because he had Spirit Stones to cultivate with every day and Spirit Rice to eat almost every day, Li Qingyuan made tremendous progress.

In the second month, the third month... at the beginning of every month, Father Li Dingzhou would deliver the family resources on time—one Spirit Stone and ten jin of Spirit Rice per month.

Father Li Dingzhou hunted demon beasts alongside the Second Elder and the others. At the Qi Condensation Fourth Layer and Body Refining Fourth Layer, his combat strength nearly rivaled the Second Elder's, and he had slain quite a few Low-grade First-tier Spirit Beasts.

Most of the proceeds from the hunt were handed over, after which everyone received shares according to their contributions.

Li Dingzhou exchanged all the Spirit Stones he received from the family for Spirit Rice and brought it to his son, Li Qingyuan.

With his father's support included, Li Qingyuan's monthly Cultivation Resources consisted of one Spirit Stone and twenty jin of Spirit Rice.

At the start of every month, as soon as the Cultivation Resources reached his hands, the first thing Li Qingyuan did was store them in the Mysterious Feminine Space and duplicate them, doubling their amount.

Thus, his monthly Cultivation Resources became—two Spirit Stones and forty jin of Spirit Rice.

In just two days, the two Spirit Stones were completely depleted.

After that, every day he ate Spirit Rice, then meditated to cultivate Qi, refining the faint spiritual power within the Spirit Rice and absorbing the spiritual energy from the spirit vein, turning it into his own use.

Without Spirit Stones to sustain him, Li Qingyuan's cultivation speed was far inferior to that of the first month.

Yet he did not grow restless or impatient. He still patiently continued his secluded cultivation, day after day.

In cultivating immortality, one had to be able to endure loneliness.

In his previous life, Li Qingyuan had often kept loneliness company because of his congenital heart disease. He had scarcely any friends. Feeling loneliness, enjoying loneliness, overcoming loneliness—these were things he was long accustomed to.

All the more so in this life, where he could cultivate immortality.

Li Qingyuan devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivation, unable to feel loneliness in the slightest. He was completely immersed in the joy of training, savoring the exhilarating comfort of spiritual energy coursing through his meridians.

This disposition of his greatly gratified the Clan Leader, the Great Elder, and the Second Elder. They repeatedly exclaimed that he truly was the Kirin Son of the Li family, a future Foundation Establishment Venerable.

In the blink of an eye, half a year passed.

Li Qingyuan sat cross-legged on his bed, with four Spirit Stones placed before him. He murmured to himself, "A month ago, I already felt that Qi Condensation First Layer had reached completion."

"Now, after a month of settling and polishing, this bottleneck has become increasingly clear."

"Last month's Spirit Stones, plus this month's, make four Spirit Stones in total. They should be enough to help me break through the bottleneck and Step Into Qi Condensation Second Layer."

Having said that, Li Qingyuan grabbed the Spirit Stones, holding two in each hand. He calmed his breath and focused his mind, silently circulating the Great Spring Technique.

Buzz! Buzz!

The spiritual energy within his body erupted from his dantian, flowed through his meridians, and gathered in his palms. It drew upon the Spirit Stones in his hands, stripping away their spiritual energy and bringing it into his meridians to circulate through a heavenly cycle, turning it into his own use.

At the same time, the thin spiritual energy in the surrounding heavens and earth gathered toward him, slipping into the acupoints across his body and entering his meridians, where it began circulating under the guidance of the Great Spring Technique.

One hour, two hours, three hours...

Finally.

With a soft pop, Li Qingyuan's body trembled. The spiritual energy within him seemed to have built up to a critical point, smashing through the barrier. A considerable spiritual pressure spilled from the surface of his body.

That spiritual pressure formed a gust of wind, Causing a light breeze to rise inside the room.

"Phew—"

Li Qingyuan let out a long breath of turbid air and smiled in satisfaction. "Qi Condensation Second Layer—I've reached it!"

Half a year of cultivation, and he had reached Qi Condensation Second Layer. This speed surpassed the other Immortal Seedlings of the family by tenfold.

There were many reasons for this.

First, Li Qingyuan possessed Three Spirit Roots—and High-Grade Three Spirit Roots at that—so his cultivation speed was faster.

Second, his innate divine soul was different from ordinary people's. His comprehension and mentality surpassed those of other seven-year-old children, which greatly helped him understand cultivation techniques.

Then there was the Mysterious Feminine Space. With its doubled resources, he possessed quite considerable Cultivation Resources, something the other Immortal Seedlings could not have.

Especially during the first month, when he had thirty-two Spirit Stones, his progress had been the fastest.

With all these factors layered together, Li Qingyuan had been able to advance to Qi Condensation Second Layer in only half a year.

"The Spirit Stones haven't all been refined yet. I'll refine them and stabilize my realm." Neither arrogant nor impatient, Li Qingyuan continued cultivating.

A day later, all the Spirit Stones had been fully refined. Li Qingyuan had also initially stabilized his Qi Condensation Second Layer cultivation, transforming the spiritual energy that had been unsteady after his breakthrough into something stable and restrained.

By then, the sky was already bright.

This seclusion session of Li Qingyuan's had lasted a full day and night.

"Great Elder Grandfather said that once I Step Into Qi Condensation Second Layer, he would teach me spells."

With an expectant look on his face, Li Qingyuan walked out the door. "Now that I'm at Qi Condensation Second Layer, I can cultivate spells alongside my main technique."

One of the Chinese people's obsessions with cultivating immortality: spells and divine abilities.

"Spells, here I come!"