Sky Clears

Half a day later,

Spirit Spring Secret Chamber,

Shen Changchuan sat cross-legged atop a massive boulder, weighing the White Jade Token carved with the character for elephant in his hand, his brows slightly furrowed.

Elephant—

what did that mean?

Could it be some kind of token?

And who had hidden it within that concealed cave?

As he carefully recalled the details of how he had found it,

Shen Changchuan sank even deeper into thought.

Because he had noticed some traces worth paying attention to.

That stalk of Azure Origin Water Grass did not seem to have grown there naturally. It appeared to have been transplanted by someone.

Someone had planted it deep within the hidden cave.

A small invisibility Formation had even been arranged outside to conceal everything within.

But perhaps because it had fallen into disrepair over the years,

the Formation outside the hidden cave had failed, ultimately drawing in the Crocodile Demon.

In his mind, Shen Changchuan had already pieced together scene after scene of what might have happened.

Though he had never personally witnessed what had occurred in the past,

his perfected Spirit Eye Technique allowed him to see more details from the traces around him.

By reasoning through and assembling those details,

the truth was likely not far from what he had imagined.

"Those traces were probably left around twenty years ago. Could that hidden cave beneath the river have been the work of Great Bay Village's former master from twenty years ago?"

Shen Changchuan secretly guessed to himself.

He could not help but think so.

Twenty years ago, Great Bay Village's previous ruler had secretly murdered a member of a Shen Family branch line. After being reported, the Shen Family had sent people from afar to kill him on the spot.

Great Bay Village had changed hands from then on.

The marks of time within that hidden cave beneath the river

also matched the time when Great Bay Village changed masters.

"So that stalk of Azure Origin Water Grass was the legacy of that former minor cultivation family?"

"But what exactly is this token?"

Shen Changchuan looked once more at the White Jade Token in his hand, the confusion on his face deepening.

He vaguely sensed

that this token seemed even more precious to the person who had hidden treasures in that cave than the Azure Origin Water Grass.

Perhaps even

the Azure Origin Water Grass itself had been a cover for this White Jade Token!

Shen Changchuan pondered for a moment.

His gaze settled on the token in his hand.

He activated the Spirit Eye Technique.

Shen Changchuan immediately saw more extraordinary details.

This token

seemed to have been forged from some unknown material, rather than actual white jade.

Moreover,

wisps of spiritual energy in the air appeared to be gathering under the token's influence!

It itself seemed to possess a faint spirit-gathering effect!

It was truly miraculous!

However,

after examining it for a long time,

Shen Changchuan found nothing else beyond that.

"Forget it. There's no point sitting here and spinning wild guesses."

"Unless I drag in someone connected to this and question them, I won't be able to learn anything from a single token."

A moment later,

Shen Changchuan shook his head,

then cast the matter aside.

"Later, I can perhaps ask around the village about the minor cultivation family that had once ruled Great Bay Village and see if I can uncover any clues."

"As for now, forget it."

"I should refine the Azure Origin Water Grass first. No more wasting time."

With that thought,

Shen Changchuan put away the token.

Then he sat cross-legged atop the boulder

and began meditating to calm himself and adjust his condition.

Half a day later,

Shen Changchuan felt that his condition had returned to its peak once more.

It was time to consume the Azure Origin Water Grass!

Shen Changchuan did not delay further.

He took out the jade box beside him that sealed the Azure Origin Water Grass

and opened it.

The Azure Origin Water Grass, as green and translucent as glazed emerald, now glimmered with hazy Azure Light.

As the jade box opened,

a current of spiritual vitality brimming with life spilled forth.

At that moment, the entire Spirit Spring Secret Chamber seemed to grow clear and natural.

Spiritual charm lingered all around,

and even the air became fresh!

Yet at this moment,

a trace of heartache flashed through Shen Changchuan's heart.

To be honest,

whether he sold this Azure Origin Water Grass to a great cultivation clan or refined it into pills,

the gains would surpass simply swallowing and refining it directly as Shen Changchuan was doing.

But there was no helping it.

Without strength to match it, wealth beyond what one could bear would only become the source of disaster.

Better to turn it into something real first.

Without the slightest hesitation,

Shen Changchuan swallowed the Azure Origin Water Grass.

The instant it entered his mouth,

the Azure Origin Water Grass seemed to melt into a cool liquid.

It felt as though the force of life had exploded within his mouth, like cold springwater trembling!

Shen Changchuan swallowed it in one gulp.

In an instant,

as that liquid filled with life-rich spiritual charm entered his Dantian, vast vitality spread from the Dantian through his Meridians in all directions.

An incomparably strange sensation arose within him.

At that moment, Shen Changchuan felt as though he had sunk into a warm liquid, returning to the feeling of infancy, wrapped in the primal energy of the womb!

His body and soul were gradually cleansed by some cool force.

His body slowly became more transparent.

His soul, too, was nourished and strengthened bit by bit.

Shen Changchuan immersed himself in refining the medicinal power of the Azure Origin Water Grass.

Time quietly flowed by.

In the blink of an eye, another half month had passed.

During that half month,

not much changed in the outside world.

The Rainy Season had not yet ended.

The sky remained overcast.

The pounding rain that had continued for more than a month still had not stopped. A curtain of rain blanketed nearly the entire sky, and the whole world lay steeped in unbearable dampness.

Within Great Bay Village,

with the aid of the roots from those spirit ginseng plants, Han Qinhu and Han Dayong swiftly recovered from their injuries, their strength faintly rising another level.

The funerals for those who had died in the battle against the Crocodile Demon had also all been completed.

The houses in the village that had been destroyed in the battle

were rebuilt one by one.

Other than that,

nothing else of note occurred.

After the village's affairs had been settled,

peace soon returned amid the Rainy Season.

No further accidents occurred.

The villagers stayed in their homes one after another,

waiting for the long Rainy Season to pass,

just as they always had.

Yet during this peaceful half month,

none knew

that Shen Changchuan within the Spirit Spring Secret Chamber had quietly undergone a certain transformation.

"The Azure Origin Water Grass was worth it!"

Within the secret chamber,

Shen Changchuan opened his eyes.

A lightning-like gleam flashed through his pupils in the darkness, sharp as needles and enough to shake the mind!

Feeling the mana within him having surged by more than thirty percent, and the clearly smoother circulation of mana through his Meridians,

an expression of immense delight appeared on Shen Changchuan's face.

He had reached the middle phase of Qi Gathering Fourth Level!

That was right.

After consuming the Azure Origin Water Grass,

following half a month of effort, his strength had improved, and his cultivation had reached the middle phase of the Fourth Level!

But that was not the most important part.

What mattered most was that, during the refining process, the exceedingly pure water-vein essence and spiritual energy within the Azure Origin Water Grass had worked together to cleanse Shen Changchuan from head to toe!

This cleansing expanded and strengthened the Meridians within Shen Changchuan's body.

At the same time, it helped expel all kinds of impurities from within him, making his body even more "transparent."

And this

meant that Shen Changchuan's future efficiency in cultivating and absorbing spiritual energy, as well as converting it into mana, would increase!

In other words,

his aptitude had improved to a certain extent!

Why was Shen Changchuan so certain?

Because after refining the Azure Origin Water Grass, while his cultivation aptitude improved, his mind and soul had also been nourished and enhanced to a certain degree!

The current Shen Changchuan

could already use his strengthened mental power to achieve Internal Vision.

Through Internal Vision,

he sensed the process of the changes within his body!

And this was something that could only be done once one's mental strength had reached a certain level!

Under normal circumstances,

only cultivators in the Qi Gathering Late-stage could unlock the ability of Internal Vision.

But Shen Changchuan had achieved it ahead of time.

He had also clearly witnessed the process of his body being cleansed and his aptitude improving.

"No wonder the Azure Origin Water Grass is so astonishingly valuable, with every great cultivation family willing to pay a fortune for it. Its effects are actually this powerful!"

"Leaving aside the strengthening of one's mind and Spiritual Sense, which benefits a future breakthrough into the Out of Body Stage realm—"

"Just this improvement in cultivation aptitude alone is enough to make people flock to it like ducks!"

Feeling the considerably smoother circulation of spiritual energy within him, Shen Changchuan could not help but sigh aloud.

He could feel it,

His cultivation efficiency had increased by at least one-fifth!

Don't be fooled by how little a one-fifth increase in efficiency seemed.

It only meant that from the original five days of cultivation progress, he could save about one day's time.

But over time,

That became extremely considerable!

For instance, an improvement that originally required twelve months of arduous cultivation over an entire year,

Now only needed about nine and a half months.

To Shen Changchuan, this was undoubtedly wonderful news!

"I never expected such a huge gain. I just wonder where this Azure Origin Water Grass came from, and whether it has anything to do with that White Jade Token."

Recalling the other White Jade Token he had obtained together with the Azure Origin Water Grass,

Shen Changchuan could not help sinking into thought.

"It seems that later on, I should dig into the little cultivation family that had owned Great Bay Village before."

"I hope I can find some clues."

A heaven-and-earth Spirit Item like Azure Origin Water Grass clearly could not have been born from such a small waterway as the Great Bay River.

It must have come from somewhere else.

And that token engraved with the character Elephant might perhaps be related to its origins.

There might even be another great fortune hidden within!

But after thinking about it only briefly,

Shen Changchuan put the matter aside.

Tracing information from twenty years ago was something for later.

For now, the most important thing for him was to first stabilize his own Cultivation Realm.

Shen Changchuan then closed his eyes once more.

He continued meditating and cultivating, circulating the Elephant Mountain Qi Absorption Art,

To stabilize his Cultivation Realm, which had just broken through to the middle stage of the Qi Gathering Fourth Level.

At the same time,

Considering that it had not even been Two to Three Months since his last breakthrough to the Qi Gathering Fourth Level,

Shen Changchuan, worried that his cultivation was not stable enough, took out two Spirit Stones to cultivate with.

They were two of the five Spirit Stones Shen Shiying had given him as compensation.

Although using Spirit Stones for cultivation was truly far too extravagant for Shen Changchuan, who was still poor as a beggar,

There was no helping it.

Spirit Stones were, in the end, external possessions.

By comparison,

It was better to stabilize his own Cultivation Realm as much as possible.

Time flew by,

And in the blink of an eye,

Several more days passed.

Shen Changchuan's cultivation at the middle stage of the Qi Gathering Fourth Level was completely stabilized.

Shen Changchuan then stopped the arduous Secluded cultivation that had lasted more than half a month.

Although the feeling of growing stronger was quite pleasant,

The unbroken stretch of arduous Secluded cultivation

Had left him feeling somewhat weary inside.

Shen Changchuan decided to end his Secluded cultivation.

He walked out of the Spirit Spring Secret Chamber,

Planning to go outside and relax for a while.

When Shen Changchuan emerged from the passageway,

He looked up and saw brilliant sunlight shining outside.

The Dark Clouds that had blanketed the entire sky for over a month without dispersing, along with the wind and rain that had swept endlessly between heaven and earth, had completely vanished.

The Rainy Season had ended.

The sky had cleared!

Shen Changchuan raised his head and looked out.

Beneath the golden sunlight,

The Spirit Grain miao in the patches of Spirit Fields among the mountains had begun to form ears.

A gentle breeze swept past,

Rolling up waves upon waves of green.

From time to time, pleasant birdsong drifted from the mountains.

Life surged in abundance, and all things raced to flourish.

Shen Changchuan's mood brightened as well.