Qi Refining Level Three

"Husband, why did you come back so early today?"

As soon as Baili Qiuyue entered the room, she saw that Lu Wanyuan had already prepared all the food.

"Mm, I finished everything I had to do today, so I came back early. Let's wash up and get ready to eat!"

"Eh, what's this? It looks delicious!"

When Baili Qiuyue sat down, she saw a bowl of braised fish on the table.

"On my way back, I stopped at the market and bought a spirit fish for you, to help nourish your body. You're pregnant now, so you should eat a little more and make sure you get plenty of nutrients. Give it a try and see if you like it."

Lu Wanyuan explained.

"Sure. It looks pretty good. I could smell the fish from far away!"

Then Baili Qiuyue immediately picked up a piece with her chopsticks and carefully tasted it.

"Mmm, it's absolutely delicious! So incredibly fresh and flavorful, with tender, smooth meat—and it's full of spiritual qi. This spirit fish must've cost a fortune!"

"It's all right. If you like it, eat more. The more you eat, the more nourishment the baby will absorb."

"I heard from my elders that if you eat more spirit fish while pregnant, your child will grow up smarter, and their comprehension will be much better. I guess I'm so clever because I ate a lot of spirit fish. Go ahead and eat—it was cheap, only one Spirit Stone per pound!"

Lu Wanyuan said guiltily. He didn't dare let Baili Qiuyue know what it had really cost, so he quoted a lower price, afraid she wouldn't be able to accept the truth. After all, the fish had cost him seventy Spirit Stones—equivalent to seven months' rent.

At the time, he'd had Spirit Stones to spare, and Baili Qiuyue really was pregnant. Besides, they hadn't eaten such good food in a long while, so he'd wanted to give it a try.

Maybe it really was that delicious, because Baili Qiuyue kept eating the spirit fish and, before she knew it, had eaten more than half of it!

"Mmm, I don't know what kind of fish you bought, but it's much better than the fish I've had at Osmanthus Pavilion. I've never seen a spirit fish like this before! Oh no... I need to cultivate. My whole body is brimming with spiritual qi!"

Baili Qiuyue exclaimed excitedly, then went to the bed, sat cross-legged, steadied her breathing, and began cultivating her technique.

Seeing this, Lu Wanyuan was secretly delighted. He hadn't expected a single spirit fish to have such an effect. If they ate them regularly, wouldn't they be even better than Qi Gathering Pills?

But when he thought about it, it made sense. If a spirit fish that cost seventy Spirit Stones had no effect, what would justify such a high price?

Only someone like him would buy one just to try it, thanks to his past life as a foodie.

But after seeing the results, he felt it had been worth the money. It was an incredible bargain for a cultivator to have enough spiritual qi in their body to begin cultivating.

That was because drawing spiritual qi from the outside world was difficult. Just like when he used a "Strand of Spiritual Qi," having enough spiritual qi appear inside his body allowed him to raise his Cultivation Realm quickly.

But if he wanted to improve his cultivation by eating Silver Moon Spirit Carp, he'd probably have to make it his staple food and eat it regularly for the effect to show. It was just like how they ate Spirit Rice, which also replenished spiritual qi.

Still, eating Silver Moon Spirit Carp regularly would definitely be a little impractical. At twenty Spirit Stones per pound, it was beyond his means right now. Having it once in a while was fine, of course. Looking back, buying one to try had been a bit of a rash decision. It had cost a full seven months' rent. Who knew what had gotten into him when he'd bought it on impulse?

If all three of them were going to eat this kind of fish in the future, they'd be better off raising and breeding it themselves. But he'd never had any experience raising Silver Moon Spirit Carp. It was surely difficult, or the price wouldn't be so high.

Everything became expensive because it was rare!

After clearing away the dishes and washing them, Lu Wanyuan found a quiet corner and began cultivating as well. He could feel spiritual power gradually surfacing inside him.

He guessed the effect had been delayed because he hadn't eaten as much.

But now that it had appeared, he naturally had to refine it as soon as possible. All the other miscellaneous matters would have to wait!

He immediately settled down and began cultivating.

An hour later, Lu Wanyuan finally stood up. He found that the spiritual power in his Dantian had grown more abundant, becoming denser and more substantial.

He hadn't expected the spirit fish to be so potent.

After feeling the change, he glanced at Baili Qiuyue, who was still cultivating beside him, then took a Qi Gathering Pill out of his Storage Bag and swallowed it.

He began refining it, and only after two hours did he finish refining and absorbing the pill.

But the Qi Gathering Pill took a long time to refine, and its effect wasn't very noticeable!

He checked his mind and saw that he still had ten "Strand of Spiritual Qi" Entries. That reminded him that after refining these over the past few days—and especially after eating some spirit fish just now—he could feel his Qi Refining second layer loosening. So he decided to use all ten "Strand of Spiritual Qi" Entries, which should be enough to raise him to Qi Refining Level Three.

Once he'd made up his mind, he used his will to activate the "Strand of Spiritual Qi" Entries one by one. By the time five hours had passed, it was already the next morning.

At that moment, he felt spiritual qi surging everywhere inside him, as if he were about to explode. Thankfully, under his forceful restraint, it was all gradually refined.

The spiritual power in his Dantian filled it completely. Then, without warning, a sharp crack rang out from the depths of his mind!

It was the crisp sound of glass shattering, as if some kind of shackle had been broken.

The next moment, he felt that his senses and features had become much sharper, and the space inside his Dantian had expanded considerably.

Feeling the change, he immediately understood. This was clearly what it felt like when one's Cultivation Realm broke through. He had actually reached Qi Refining Level Three!

He was overjoyed. With talent like his, he hadn't even been sure he could reach Qi Refining Level Three. If that weren't the case, he wouldn't have been driven down from Green Bamboo Peak.

He hadn't expected to become a genuine Qi Refining Level Three cultivator.

Of course, he knew that Qi Refining Level Three was an extremely important milestone for him.

Whether or not he could break through Qi Refining Level Three was crucial. If he could, then the common saying that Pseudo Spirit Roots were stuck at Qi Refining Level Three was false, and he'd have even more motivation to cultivate. Otherwise, things would be just as they'd said.

Regardless, reaching Qi Refining Level Three meant his strength had improved, and he'd be able to do more. He could also cast the Spirit Rain Technique for longer, nourishing a wider area of spirit plants, and its power should be greater as well.

Another thing was that he could now properly plan how to reach the Qi Refining middle stage. After all, Qi Refining Level Three was followed by Levels Four, Five, and Six, which made up the Qi Refining middle stage.

Besides, he didn't have many Cultivation Techniques on hand. Should he buy some more to cultivate?

Another thing was that he still had plenty of Entries in his mind that he hadn't used. Any Entries left unused were useless just sitting there, so now he should figure out a way to put them to use.

He still had two "Accelerate Growth" Entries, three "Concealment 2 Hours" Entries, two "First-grade High-grade Golden Sword Talisman" Entries, four "Fire Attribute Magic Power Amplification 2x" Entries, and one "Minor Accomplishment Spirit Rain Technique" Entry.

Looking at them, he figured he could use up the two "Accelerate Growth" Entries and the "Minor Accomplishment Spirit Rain Technique" Entry. He still couldn't find a use for "Concealment 2 Hours," while he could use one "First-grade High-grade Golden Sword Talisman" Entry to obtain a Golden Sword Spirit Talisman and give it to Baili Qiuyue as a trump card!