Wordless Care

The increase in strength naturally put Shen Changchuan in a very good mood.

Especially when the Light Body Technique Mastery, just as he had expected, produced a Mastery Trait,

it stirred certain ambitions within Shen Changchuan.

Although, over the past two and a half years since his transmigration, he had not dared cultivate too diligently because of the intrigues in the Shen Family Manor's inner courtyard, lest standing out invite someone's hostility.

Shen Changchuan also knew perfectly well that his cultivation aptitude was actually quite ordinary.

It was not so poor as to make him worthless,

but it was certainly inferior to those true cultivation geniuses!

Take, for instance, that half-brother of his who had supposedly committed suicide by stabbing himself seven times in the back.

The other man had also been born of a concubine and had not possessed many cultivation resources.

Yet he had still reached the Qi Gathering Sixth Level at such a young age.

Compared to him,

the gap was wider than that between a man and a dog.

Shen Changchuan had long since seen himself clearly. He was no cultivation genius, merely an ordinary cultivator, an ordinary member among the countless masses.

For someone like him, being able to break through to the Qi Gathering Seventh Level in the future would already be a blessing granted by heaven!

Even Ninth Layer Qi Gathering

would be difficult for cultivators of his aptitude!

But the appearance of the spell Progress Bar Panel gave Shen Changchuan a sliver of hope!

His thinking was simple.

Since Traits appeared whenever he cultivated a spell to Mastery,

then,

if he cultivated several more spells in the future and raised all of them to 100%, gaining several more Traits, could his aptitude undergo a transformation and improve?

Even if he was wrong, and Mastery-level spells could not improve one's aptitude,

100% Mastery spells would at least bring an enormous increase in strength.

And with powerful combat strength, he could obtain more cultivation resources from the outside world, making up for his ordinary aptitude!

This point

was something Shen Changchuan had personally experienced by now!

A Mastery Golden Thorn Technique had allowed him to instantly kill a Qi Gathering Fourth Level Yao Pig. The Yao Pig meat, brimming with potent vital essence, had rapidly raised his cultivation by a minor level in a short time.

At the same time,

because of the Giant Wild Boar's corpse, he had frightened off Shen Shiying, Great Bay Village's original guardian, avoiding a conflict while also receiving five Spirit Stones in compensation.

This was the benefit brought by greater strength!

Though luck might have played a part in the process,

the benefits he received were undeniably real!

As long as one was strong enough, obtaining cultivation resources would undoubtedly become much easier.

And when he thought of the benefits he had gained after killing the Giant Wild Boar,

Shen Changchuan could not help entertaining the urge to enter the mountains and hunt Demon Beasts.

Fortunately,

his steady temperament quickly suppressed that thought.

"Forget it. I shouldn't take risks. I'm only in the early Qi Gathering stage right now; I shouldn't court death."

"Even if I go out to hunt Demon Beasts, I should at least raise my cultivation to the Qi Gathering Mid-stage first."

"Even the Qi Gathering Mid-stage might not be safe. I know nothing about the surrounding terrain, environment, information on the Demon Beasts most active there, or the dangers that might exist. Running into the mountains without knowing anything would be simply seeking death."

"Without sufficient preparations, I should obediently stay in the village and cultivate in seclusion."

"I've been given another life. I can't be too reckless."

Shen Changchuan poured a bucket of cold water over himself and quickly suppressed every thought in his heart.

Even the Giant Wild Boar he had luckily killed had only been at the Qi Gathering Fourth Level.

If he truly believed himself invincible and ran into the mountains to hunt Demon Beasts,

he would not even know how he died!

"Now that I've reached the Peak Qi Gathering Third Layer, I can use that thing."

As Shen Changchuan pondered, he took a palm-sized white jade bottle from his robes. The shadow of a thumb-sized pill flickered indistinctly within it.

A Qi Uniting Pill!

A medicinal pill capable of helping cultivators break through the bottleneck from the early Qi Gathering stage to the Qi Gathering Mid-stage.

In other words, it was a precious pill that could help a cultivator break through the bottleneck from the Peak Qi Gathering Third Layer to the Qi Gathering Fourth Level!

If he relied on normal meditation and cultivation, Shen Changchuan estimated that breaking through his current bottleneck and reaching the Qi Gathering Fourth Level would take at least two or three years of bitter effort!

But with this pill, Shen Changchuan could achieve a breakthrough in a short time!

This pill

was also the first medicinal pill Shen Changchuan had ever obtained in his life!

His mother in this body had given it to him before he left the Shen Family Manor.

Holding the jade bottle and recalling that gentle figure, Shen Changchuan sank into a long silence.

"Mother."

Any medicinal pill

was never cheap.

Pills that could help cultivators break through were even more expensive.

This single Qi Uniting Pill cost more than one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones even at the Shen Family's internal price!

And that was still a restricted internal price.

Outside, it would only cost more!

One hundred and fifty Spirit Stones

were likely most of the savings she had accumulated since Shen Changchuan's birth!

Because his mother in this body was not a cultivator, her status as a mortal within the Shen Family Manor was only slightly higher than that of the servants.

Even that was because he was the Patriarch's child and a cultivator, giving her a small measure of support.

And because of that,

the personal funds she could receive from the family were very limited.

Shen Changchuan could imagine how she had accumulated those one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones, bit by bit and coin by coin, over more than a decade.

Then,

when her son was preparing to spread his wings and soar, she silently took out everything she had and exchanged it for what he needed most.

At this moment,

an emotion arose in Shen Changchuan's heart that he did not know how to describe.

When he left,

his mother in this body had said nothing.

But he could sense the faint worry hidden beneath her gentle gaze as she watched him depart, along with her earnest hopes for him.

"Shen Changchuan, Shen Changchuan. I have occupied your body, inherited your memories, and perhaps even merged with your soul."

"Then from this day onward, I am you, and you are me. Your mother is my mother as well!"

Holding the jade bottle containing the Qi Uniting Pill, Shen Changchuan closed his eyes and spoke silently to himself.

At that moment,

he let go in his heart and accepted everything belonging to this body.

And perhaps in that instant,

whether it was merely Shen Changchuan's illusion or not, he seemed to feel his heart release some burden. The world itself seemed to grow clearer.

Shen Changchuan carefully experienced this change.

After a long while,

he opened his eyes again.

His gaze had become utterly calm.

Yet deep within his heart, the thought he had carried ever since leaving the Shen Family Manor

had now become incomparably clear.

He would keep walking forward,

and become stronger.

At the very least,

he would ensure that his mother could live a better life within the Shen Family Manor!

He was no longer

living for himself alone.

Shen Changchuan lowered his head and looked at the jade bottle in his hand.

After pondering for a moment, he ultimately tucked it into his robes.

As for taking the pill,

he would wait a few days first.

He should be more cautious.

He had only just reached the Peak Qi Gathering Third Layer, and his cultivation had yet to stabilize. If he hurried to force a breakthrough, he might damage his Meridians.

He should spend half a month stabilizing and tempering his Cultivation Realm first.

Fortunately,

he had not been born into a wealthy household and was not a pill-guzzler, so he did not need to worry about pill toxins.

Even if some medicinal potency and trace pill toxins remained in his body after taking the Qi Uniting Pill, a cultivator's body had the ability to cleanse itself. Given one or two months, it would naturally expel and digest them completely.

So there was no need for concern.

Pill toxins

were the troubles of wealthy families who ate pills as though they were meals.

When they consumed too many pills, the accumulated pill toxins would overwhelm the body's ability to expel them. Only when little amounts piled up into much would they cause harm.

A pauper like Shen Changchuan, who was touching a medicinal pill for the first time in his life, had no need to consider such matters.

So long as he waited until his condition reached its peak, he could take it directly and break through to the Qi Gathering Fourth Level.

Over the following days,

Shen Changchuan supervised Great Bay Village's various reforms and arranged all manner of work, beginning preparations for next season's Spirit Grain planting,

while also diligently meditating and refining qi.

Even though he had reached a bottleneck and the spiritual power in his body could no longer improve, he did not relax in the slightest.

Every day, he set aside one shichen to meditate and refine qi, doing his utmost to temper himself to perfection.

Besides that,

he also spent at least another shichen practicing spells.

With the Progress Bar Panel, he naturally could not abandon his advantage.

Advancing on two fronts was the true royal road.

Looking at the several spells he had mastered on the panel,

Shen Changchuan deliberated for a long time before deciding on the next spell he wanted to study to Mastery.

Considering that he already had the Golden Thorn Technique for attack and the Light Body Technique for Movement Technique, neither area needed supplementing for the moment.

Then he would make up for his means of scouting.

Thus, Shen Changchuan set his sights on the Spirit Eye Technique Shen Shiying had given him.

That spell should strengthen his methods.

So over the past few days, Shen Changchuan had devoted his spell-practice time to grinding the Spirit Eye Technique.

But soon,

Shen Changchuan encountered a problem.

That was, after the Yao Pig meat was used up, he no longer had food capable of replenishing large amounts of vital essence.

Therefore, whenever he used the Spirit Eye Technique eight or nine times and exhausted the spiritual power in his body, he had to meditate for half a shichen before recovering it.

This made his Spirit Eye Technique progress rather slow.

After seven or eight days had passed,

the Spirit Eye Technique's progress had only reached 51%.

Fortunately, Shen Changchuan was not anxious.

Compared with when he was at the Shen Family Manor, where he had suppressed his cultivation and needed two and a half years just to master a single Golden Thorn Technique,

his Spirit Eye Technique cultivation was already extremely fast now that he was free of restraints.

There was plenty of time ahead, so there was no need to hurry.

Besides, a Spirit Eye Technique at 51% progress, judged by the standards of the cultivation world, had already surpassed minor accomplishment and could serve quite a useful role when cast.

But Shen Changchuan ultimately did not continue cultivating. His bitter practice was interrupted.

Because

a nearby neighbor came to visit with gifts.