Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation (Requesting Follows Monthly Tickets Recommendation Tickets)

After eating with his parents, Zhou Ling gave the Thunder Fire Bead to his father as well.

With the initial surprise already behind him, Zhou Shan was able to accept it this time, though his heart was still filled with delight.

This time, the Medicine Seeking Team would be entering a relatively deep region, so the risks would certainly be greater.

Thus, having one more means at hand meant one more measure of safety.

After returning to his room, Zhou Ling began comprehending the Spirit Condensing Engraving.

The Spirit Condensing Engraving was not difficult. Zhou Ling spent one night on it and had basically grasped it.

Upon waking early the next morning, Zhou Ling took out Spirit Paper and attempted to draw it.

However, both attempts failed.

Though the Spirit Condensing Engraving did not seem particularly difficult, the way its patterns interconnected and the structure of the entire engraving demanded extremely high precision.

The slightest lapse could easily lead to an error.

Fortunately, under the [Basic Analysis] talent, Zhou Ling quickly grasped the techniques involved in drawing it.

By the time he returned that evening, he was already able to successfully draw the Spirit Condensing Engraving.

However, in order to ensure that the Success Rate could reach Over Sixty Percent, Zhou Ling did not rush to draw it on the Golden Bristle Brush.

Instead, he continued drawing it on Spirit Paper for another five days. With the boost from the [Born to Excel] talent, his proficiency with the Spirit Condensing Engraving rose sharply.

Only then did he begin attempting to draw it on the Golden Bristle Brush.

Yet problems still arose during his first attempt.

There had been no issue from the first stroke to the last.

It was only after the drawing was complete, when Zhou Ling carefully inspected it, that he discovered the Spirit Brush's spiritual energy conduction was poor.

After analyzing it, he learned that the problem lay with his Spirit Ink.

The shaft of the Golden Bristle Brush was refined from Green Pattern Bamboo, so using wood-element Spirit Ink would make it a better match.

Zhou Ling sighed. He had still been too careless.

The next day, he went to Market Street and bought some high-quality wood-element Spirit Ink.

The subsequent drawings went much more smoothly.

Over five days, he barely managed to successfully draw six Golden Bristle Brushes.

He had completed the task just in time.

Afterward, Zhou Ling completed the drawing of around ten Golden Bristle Brushes every month.

The more he drew, the more his proficiency steadily improved.

After more than two months, his Success Rate improved further, nearing seventy percent.

At the same time, his spiritual energy consumption continued to decrease.

During the first month, he could only draw one brush in the span of a single evening.

As his consumption decreased, he was now able to draw two during that evening period.

This was mainly due to his increased proficiency and his deeper understanding of the engravings.

In addition, the improvement of his [Precise Control] talent continuously reduced his consumption while drawing.

Its effects on engraving had become increasingly apparent.

The first time he drew the Thunder Fire Engraving, it had consumed half the spiritual energy in his body.

Now, it only consumed around a quarter.

Meanwhile, from the Spirit Stones he earned each month, he would take out eight Spirit Stones to purchase Fire Haze Grass, refining the medicinal power contained within it to raise his cultivation.

He saved the rest, preparing to make a Brewing Furnace for his mother when the time came.

Also, after the third month, Zhou Ling was able to refine an additional one or two Golden Bristle Brushes every month.

After doing the math, Zhou Ling had Yuan Hu sell them within the Dao Academy to other disciples studying engravings, Runes, and array patterns, pricing them one Low-grade Spirit Stone below market value.

Even so, each one still cost seven Low-grade Spirit Stones, and they were quickly bought up, allowing him to earn quite a bit more each month.

Of course, for every three Spirit Brushes sold, he gave Yuan Hu one Low-grade Spirit Stone as payment.

Moreover, during this period, through Chu Xing's introduction, some Herb Seekers also brought Magic Artifacts to Zhou Ling every month for repairs.

Such as Fire Patterned Sabers, Golden Silk Nets, Black Jade Swords, and so on.

There were quite a few types of Magic Artifacts, all of them First-Grade Low-Rank Magic Artifacts.

Most bore engravings with six or seven Inscription Patterns. Among them were some with eight or nine-pattern engravings, which Zhou Ling gradually became able to repair as well.

Naturally, most were Magic Artifacts belonging to low-level Rogue Cultivators. Even those at the Mid Qi Refining Stage mostly still used First-Grade Low-Rank Magic Artifacts.

After all, First-Grade Mid-Rank Magic Artifacts cost several times as much as First-Grade Low-Rank Magic Artifacts.

Most Rogue Cultivators could not afford them either.

By repairing these Herb Seekers' Magic Artifacts, Zhou Ling also earned their profound gratitude.

Of course, it wasn't free either—they paid with spirit medicines.

All things considered, it was much cheaper than outside.

As Zhou Ling repaired these engravings, he not only received spirit medicines as payment, but also used [Born to Excel] to improve his proficiency with engravings.

He gained a deeper understanding of engravings with all kinds of different attributes.

Moreover, with different engravings and different materials, [Basic Analysis] allowed him to gain more practical experience in drawing them.

Drawing engravings on different materials consumed different amounts of spiritual power, while demanding greater control over spiritual power and brushwork. The difficulty kept rising as well.

Fortunately, he possessed the [Stronger from Adversity] talent. No matter how difficult it was, as long as he practiced diligently, his understanding of engravings would grow ever more thorough.

Of the spirit medicines he obtained, Zhou Ling mainly chose Fire Haze Grass and other spirit medicines that could aid cultivation or be used to prepare spirit ink.

He gave the rest to Wang Xin for alchemy.

And before he knew it, Wang Xin was already capable of refining First-order Mid-grade pills.

Compared to Zhou Ling's artifact crafting level, hers was quite a bit higher.

But that was only normal. Wang Xin had talent when it came to talent, resources when it came to resources, and inheritance when it came to inheritance.

It was not something Zhou Ling could compare himself to.

Among rogue cultivators, reaching his current level already made him outstanding!

And so, more than nine months passed in the blink of an eye.

Spring gave way to summer.

[You are absorbing Fire Haze Grass. Stronger from Adversity +1, Spiritual Energy +3]

[You are absorbing Fire Haze Grass. Spirit Medicine Reaction +1, Fire Haze Grass Medicinal Potency +1]

That evening, Zhou Ling sat cross-legged in meditation, circulating the Spirit Flame Art as he refined the medicinal potency of Fire Haze Grass.

Suddenly, a crisp pop rang out within his body.

Within his meridians, the medicinal potency of the Fire Haze Grass he had just refined and absorbed surged fiercely through them like a wildfire sweeping across the plains.

The thirty-first spiritual acupoint within Zhou Ling's body was finally successfully opened.

"I've finally reached the Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation!"

Zhou Ling let out a breath, his face full of delight.

At that moment, he could feel that the spiritual power within his body had increased by more than thirty percent, and his divine sense had clearly grown stronger as well.

There was still more than a month before he turned nine.

He had already entered the Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation. Next year's outer court assessment at the Dao Academy should be no problem, barring any surprises.

As he sensed the changes in his internal spiritual power, Zhou Ling opened the panel.

[Spiritual Root]: Five Elements Low-grade 2/100

[Cultivation]: Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation 2/100

[Body Tempering]: First Order, Third Layer 85/100

[Physical Quality]: Comprehension (Average Talent 920/1000), Physique (Considerable Potential 43600/100000)

[Unique Talent]: Stronger from Adversity (Second Order 430/1000)

[Growth Talent]: Naturally Malnourished, No Mother's Milk Feeding, Crisis Reaction (First Order 80/100), Physique Evolution (Third Order 4636/10000), Mountain Treasure Hunt (Second Order 370/1000), Immortal Root Aptitude (Second Order 873/1000), Basic Insight (Third Order 1368/10000), Spiritual Energy Affinity (Fourth Order 17600/100000), Lion's Roar (Fourth Order 13430/100000), Born to Excel (Third Order 2170/10000), Basic Analysis (Third Order 1218/10000), Precise Control (Second Order 468/1000), Spirit Medicine Reaction (First Order 38/100)

[Technique]: Spirit Flame Art (First Layer, Perfected 330/1000)

[Skills]: Great Yang Fist (First Layer, Perfected 820/1000), Five Elements Basic Engraving (Perfected 70/1000)

Zhou Ling's heart surged with excitement. All kinds of talents had improved considerably, and he murmured to himself, "Now that I've entered the Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation, I can start trying to craft First-order Mid-grade Engravings!"