Qi Condensation First Layer, Powerful Soul!

"Cultivating the first strand of spiritual energy and completing one full Great Heavenly Cycle marked the official attainment of Qi Condensation First Layer."

Qi Condensation First Layer—the beginning.

Li Qingyuan was filled with motivation. He muttered to himself, "Father said that only after a cultivator cultivates their first strand of spiritual energy can they use the spiritual energy within their body to refine Spirit Stones and accelerate their cultivation."

"And reaching Qi Condensation First Layer is precisely the condition for activating the Mysterious Feminine Space."

"Now that I've activated the Mysterious Feminine Space, I can duplicate Spirit Stones and double my resources."

"With twice the resources, my cultivation speed can double as well."

Li Qingyuan slowly rose to his feet and walked out of the Small Wooden Hut.

The moment he stepped out of the Small Wooden Hut, he was greeted by a sunlit scene. Ten mu of Medicine Fields stretched before him, crisscrossed by furrows and planted with seedlings of all kinds of Spirit Medicine.

Some of the Spirit Medicine was already lush and flourishing, blooming and bearing fruit. It brimmed with spiritual energy and rich fragrance, on the verge of ripening.

Li Qingyuan pulled up a Spirit Plant Seedling and muttered, "I wonder, other than duplicating Spirit Stones, can the Mysterious Feminine Space duplicate Spirit Medicine too?"

Li Qingyuan silently thought, "Collect!"

"Collect!"

"Collect!"

After trying for a long time, Li Qingyuan came to a conclusion: it would not work.

He calculated inwardly, Could it only duplicate Spirit Stones?

"Cough!" The Great Elder emerged from his own large wooden hut. After coughing once, he said irritably, "You brat, why aren't you meditating and cultivating properly? What are you doing here, yanking up this old man's medicine seedlings?"

"Uh..."

With an awkward smile on his little face, Li Qingyuan replanted the medicinal seedling and said, "Great Elder Grandfather, I was just curious, so I took a look."

"Even so, you didn't need to pull it out." The Great Elder stepped forward and said, "Spirit Plant Seedlings are extremely delicate. You'll kill it like this."

"Spirit Rain Technique!"

Buzz! Buzz!

The Great Elder activated a Spirit Rain Technique. With his Qi Condensation Fifth Layer Great Spring Technique, he drew upon his own spiritual energy and gathered the spiritual energy from All Directions, transforming it into a sheet of spiritual rain several zhang wide that fell over the Spirit Medicine.

"Alright, hurry up and go meditate and cultivate, brat."

The Great Elder said, "This old man still needs to water the Medicine Fields. I'll come guide you later."

With that, the Great Elder continued casting the Spirit Rain Technique. Each use could water an area several zhang across, roughly ten zhang in circumference.

With ten mu of Medicine Fields, a single round of watering was enough to keep the old man busy for quite a while.

Li Qingyuan scratched his head and said, "Great Elder Grandfather, I've already cultivated spiritual energy."

"Cultivating spiritual energy is all you've done. What's there to boast about..." The Great Elder casually replied while casting the Spirit Rain Technique.

"What!?"

The Great Elder suddenly froze. His spiritual energy trembled, and the Spirit Rain Technique automatically collapsed. He abruptly turned around and said, "What did you say? You've cultivated spiritual energy?"

Li Qingyuan blinked and nodded. "Yes."

"Look!"

Li Qingyuan circulated the Great Spring Technique. The spiritual energy within his body flowed through his Meridians and gathered above his palm.

A strand of spiritual energy, verdant and pure, curled around his palm.

Though faint, it was truly visible.

The Great Elder grabbed Li Qingyuan's hand and examined it carefully. Then he laughed toward the sky. "Hahaha, you really did cultivate spiritual energy."

Seemingly realizing that this was inappropriate, the Great Elder took a deep breath and steadied himself. Only after looking around the ten mu of Medicine Fields and confirming that no one was nearby did he finally relax.

"Xiao Qingyuan, you truly are a cultivation genius that appears only once in a century in our Li Immortal Clan."

Great Elder Li Guangyao was excited and thrilled. "You must know that normally, a Five-Attribute Mixed Spirit Root might need four or five months, even half a year, to cultivate the first strand of spiritual energy."

"A Four-Attribute Mixed Spirit Root is slightly better, but it would still take around three months to cultivate the first strand of spiritual energy and step into Qi Condensation First Layer."

"This old man truly never expected that you would succeed in cultivating spiritual energy after only ten days—just ten days."

The Great Elder said excitedly, "A genius, a genius indeed!"

"Come, follow me to see the Clan Leader."

The Great Elder summoned a magical artifact, held seven-year-old Li Qingyuan in one arm, poured spiritual energy into his Flying Sword, and used his Spiritual Sense to guide the magical artifact as they shot into the sky.

A moment later, they arrived at the Small Courtyard where the Clan Leader was in seclusion.

The moment the Great Elder reached the Small Courtyard, he called out in a vigorous voice, "Clan Leader, Clan Leader, where are you?"

Bang! An explosion sounded from within the house. The Clan Leader pushed open the door, his silver-white beard and hair somewhat charred, the skin on his face blackened as well.

Suppressing his irritation, he said, "Li Guangyao, this had better be important."

The Great Elder's heart skipped a beat at the sight. He hurriedly said, "Ah, this... I interrupted you while you were drawing talismans, Clan Leader."

Drawing talismans, refining pills, refining artifacts... all required a quiet environment and a peaceful state of mind.

"Speak. What is it that made you bring Xiao Qingyuan along as well?" As Clan Leader Li Guangao spoke, he casually stuck on a Cleaning Talisman. His silver beard and hair were instantly cleaned, and his face was washed clean as well.

Li Qingyuan thought to himself, For Earthlings in my previous life, this kind of Cleaning Talisman would be a blessing for lazy people—a housekeeping miracle.

The Great Elder stepped forward and said in a low voice, "Clan Leader, Xiao Qingyuan has cultivated spiritual energy and officially stepped into Qi Condensation First Layer."

"What?" The Clan Leader was greatly shocked. "Really?"

"Xiao Qingyuan, have you truly cultivated spiritual energy?"

Li Qingyuan nodded and circulated the Great Spring Technique. A strand of spiritual energy curled above his palm.

"Hahaha, good, good, good." Clan Leader Li Guangao laughed loudly.

This was his place of seclusion. Aside from the two elders, no one else—not even the clan's experts at Qi Condensation Fourth Layer—could trespass without being summoned.

There was no one else here.

"Xiao Qingyuan, come here. Let this old man take a look."

Li Guangao called Li Qingyuan over and asked curiously, "Generally speaking, even someone with a Three-Attribute True Spirit Root would need more than twenty days, perhaps even a month, to cultivate their first strand of spiritual energy."

"Yet you accomplished it in ten days."

As he spoke, Clan Leader Li Guangao circulated his cultivation. The spiritual pressure of Qi Condensation Sixth Layer spread out as he placed his palm on Li Qingyuan's Divine Court Acupoint between his brows and sent in spiritual energy.

Li Qingyuan immediately felt dizzy and disoriented, his soul suppressed.

Fortunately, the discomfort quickly vanished because the Clan Leader withdrew his spiritual energy.

Clan Leader Li Guangao laughed. "I knew it. It definitely wasn't just because of the Three-Element Spirit Root."

The Great Elder asked curiously, "What is it, Clan Leader?"

"Is there another reason why Xiao Qingyuan cultivated spiritual energy so quickly?"

Li Qingyuan also looked curious, though his heart sank slightly. Has the Mysterious Feminine Space been discovered?

No, that wasn't right. Grandpa Clan Leader's expression did not look like he had discovered the Mysterious Feminine Space.

The Clan Leader stroked his silver beard and smiled. "Xiao Qingyuan is exceptionally gifted. His soul is stronger than that of ordinary people."

"Those born with powerful souls not only possess extraordinary comprehension, but when they break through Qi Condensation Third Layer Perfection in the future, step into Qi Condensation Fourth Layer, and cultivate Spiritual Sense, it will also be much easier."

"The stronger the soul, the stronger the Spiritual Sense. This will even bring immense benefits when his Spiritual Sense transforms in the future into the divine sense of the Foundation Establishment Realm."

Li Qingyuan's eyes lit up. "It will help with Foundation Establishment too?"

The Clan Leader nodded. "That's right."

"Xiao Qingyuan, if you were merely a Foundation Establishment Seed before—"

"Then now, this old man can be certain that your chances of achieving Foundation Establishment in the future have increased by another ten or twenty percent."

Great Elder Li Guangyao was so excited that his hand trembled, nearly pulling out a tuft of his beard. He said in utter delight, "A naturally powerful soul can aid Foundation Establishment?"

"If we could obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill, wouldn't the odds be even greater?"

"A Foundation Establishment Pill... alas..." Clan Leader Li Guangyao sighed faintly. "How could a small family like ours dare to covet a Foundation Establishment Pill?"

A Third-rate Qi Condensation Family did not even have a single Late Qi Condensation cultivator, and the family had only around sixty cultivators in total. They were among the very bottom ranks of Qi Condensation immortal clans.

Even a Second-rate Qi Condensation Family could not purchase a Foundation Establishment Pill by gathering the strength of its entire clan.

Only a First-rate Qi Condensation Family barely had the qualifications to purchase one—and merely the qualifications at that.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a streak of light swept across the sky.

Screech!

An Immortal Crane stood in the air as it arrived atop Cloud Mist Mountain, hovering above the core of the Li Family.

Upon the Immortal Crane stood a middle-aged man facing the wind. Looking down below with an arrogant, lofty air, he said, "Li Clan, where is your Clan Leader?"