Taixu Sect

Seeing this, Shi Yue's face lit up with delight. If he couldn't get out soon, he'd starve to death before long.

Shi Yue wrapped the Blue Pearl in a piece of rag and tucked it safely against his body. Then he skinned the Crimson Scale Python and removed its gallbladder, placing the hide and gallbladder in separate wooden boxes before hurrying out.

Once outside the cave, Shi Yue slapped the Storage Bag at his waist. A Green Leaf shot out and hovered before him.

Shi Yue leaped onto the Green Leaf and formed a Hand Seal, sending it flying. The Green Leaf immediately blazed with green light and carried him high into the sky.

After the time it took to eat a meal, Shi Yue arrived above a range of verdant mountains, their peaks rising one after another.

Lush trees could be seen everywhere, but there wasn't a single building in sight.

Shi Yue turned his hand over and produced a square, green token. The front was engraved with the image of a Green Flame.

After Shi Yue infused it with magical power, the Green Flame began to sway as if it were alive.

A streak of green light shot from the token and plunged toward the mountains below.

Before long, a circle of green ripples suddenly spread across the mountains below, and a transparent, arched Green Light Screen appeared.

As far as the eye could see, the mountain range stretched for hundreds of miles, all of it shrouded beneath the Green Light Screen.

Beneath it, palaces and pavilions rose among the mountains.

Some stood atop steep cliffs, others were built on plains, and still others rested halfway up the slopes, forming a vast expanse of distinctive courtyards.

Besides these, countless cultivators dressed in Taixu Sect Robes flew through the sky: some rode gleaming magical artifacts, some sat cross-legged atop white clouds, and others rode white cranes as pure as jade. It was a scene straight out of an Immortal Abode.

Shi Yue formed a Hand Seal, and the Green Leaf beneath his feet swiftly flew downward.

Shi Yue passed through the Green Light Screen with ease. The Green Leaf carried him southeast, finally landing at the foot of a lush green peak two or three hundred zhang tall.

At its base stood a humble little courtyard. Its walls were built from piled blue-gray stones and thickly covered in green moss.

This was Shi Yue's residence—and the smallest courtyard on all of Azure Origin Peak, with the poorest spiritual energy.

Most of those living on Azure Origin Peak were outer-sect disciples of the Taixu Sect. The higher the cave abode's location, the richer its spiritual energy.

Shi Yue wanted to live in a spacious courtyard with abundant spiritual energy, too, but unfortunately, he couldn't afford the rent and had no choice but to stay in this dilapidated place.

The Taixu Sect had a rule: outer-sect disciples living in courtyards smaller than one mu had to pay five Spirit Stones in rent each year, though they could pay with goods of equivalent value. For courtyards of one mu or more, the rent was ten Spirit Stones a year, with an additional five Spirit Stones for every extra mu. Any area under one mu counted as one mu. The cave abodes of Foundation Establishment Realm disciples and inner-sect disciples were free, no matter how large; they didn't have to pay a single Spirit Stone.

The Taixu Sect had established this rule in the hope that Qi Refining Stage disciples would devote themselves to cultivation, focus on their training, and strive to become inner-sect disciples or achieve Foundation Establishment as soon as possible.

All in all, the rule helped the Taixu Sect grow, but for most Qi Refining Stage disciples, it was a massive boulder crushing their chests, leaving them barely able to breathe.

Most Qi Refining Stage disciples had no connections. They had earned their place in the Taixu Sect through their own efforts, and to get the Spirit Stones they needed for cultivation, they took every dirty, backbreaking job they could find. Some even risked their lives hunting demonic beasts deep in the mountains, and most never returned.

In these circumstances, the size of one's Spirit Field was extremely important to a Qi Refining Stage disciple—especially an outer-sect disciple without family connections. A larger Spirit Field meant they could grow more Spirit Grain and Spirit Herbs to sell. If their field was small, they had to find other work, such as patrolling the mountain gates or making rain for a Foundation Establishment Realm uncle-master's Spirit Field.

An ordinary Qi Refining Stage disciple could work himself to the bone for a month and still earn barely enough Spirit Stones to sustain his cultivation. Only a handful ever advanced to Foundation Establishment.

Shi Yue took out the square token and waved it at the courtyard. A flash of green light shot out and fell inside.

Every courtyard had a Minor Formation. It couldn't harm anyone, but if triggered, it made a great commotion. These formations had been set up to prevent theft.

After deactivating the restriction, Shi Yue pushed open the courtyard gate and went inside.

To the left of the gate stood a simple stone hut, five meters long and wide. It was where Shi Yue meditated and cultivated. The courtyard covered one mu; apart from the stone hut, the entire area was Spirit Fields.

A plant with a main stalk as thick as a bowl grew in the fields. Each one bore several ears of rice, each as large as a fist. Their leaves were thick and flat, and a purplish red. They also gave off a faint, sweet fragrance.

This kind of Spirit Rice was easy to grow and didn't require much from its environment. Under ordinary conditions, it ripened once a year, and the market purchase price was one Spirit Stone per jin.

In two days, this batch of Spirit Rice would be ready to harvest.

Shi Yue closed the courtyard gate and began chanting. A great deal of blue light appeared around him.

After a while, Shi Yue stopped chanting and pointed toward the sky above the Spirit Field.

The blue light seemed to have received a summons. It swirled toward the sky above the field, gathering into a huge white cloud that covered the entire Spirit Field.

"Fall." Shi Yue gave a low shout and sent a Hand Seal into the white cloud.

The cloud churned and rolled. Fine, misty raindrops, cool to the touch, poured down in a vast sheet, covering the Spirit Field.

After a little over a quarter of an hour, Shi Yue formed a Hand Seal. The white cloud dispersed, and the raindrops vanished with it.

Satisfied, Shi Yue nodded and stepped into the stone hut.

The furnishings inside were very simple: a grayish-white stone bed about one zhang long, with a thin cotton quilt spread over it, and beside the bed, a stone table just over a meter high, with a small earthenware jar on top.

"Grrr..." Shi Yue's stomach suddenly rumbled.

He frowned, walked over to the stone table, and lifted the jar's lid. His lips moved a few times. Before long, a great deal of blue light appeared out of thin air around him, swiftly gathering into a watermelon-sized ball of blue water.

Shi Yue withdrew his Hand Seal, and the ball of blue water dropped into the jar.

Then Shi Yue took a yellow grain of rice from his Storage Bag. He gently rubbed it between his hands, and its shell crumbled like paper, revealing a translucent grain of rice that gave off a faint, sweet fragrance.

Shi Yue chopped the infant-fist-sized Spirit Rice into small pieces and tossed them into the jar, then put the lid back on.

He held the jar in his left hand while forming a Hand Seal with his right, chanting under his breath.

With a puff, a mass of scarlet flame surged from the palm of his left hand, wrapping around the little jar and burning fiercely.

Before long, a rich fragrance wafted from the jar, enough to make anyone's mouth water.

Shi Yue's expression shifted, and the flame shrank. A moment later, with another puff, it scattered and disappeared.

He quickly set the now-scalding jar on the stone table and lifted the lid.

A layer of rice, as white as snow, appeared before him.

Shi Yue took out a wooden spoon, scooped up some rice, and brought it to his lips for a taste.

This was the most common kind of Spirit Rice. It smelled fragrant, but tasted ordinary. Its main purpose was to fill the stomach, and it contained pitifully little spiritual energy. One jarful would keep Shi Yue fed for a day.

Qi Refining Stage disciples could claim a free bottle of Bigu Pills from Deacon Hall each month, provided they completed their regular assignments or reached Qi Refining Level 10.

Shi Yue had spent ten days in the Mysterious Space. By his reckoning, he was already overdue. Since he hadn't completed the task assigned by Steward Wang on time, he naturally couldn't claim any free Bigu Pills.

After eating his fill, Shi Yue sat cross-legged on the stone bed and took the Blue Pearl from his clothes, examining it closely.

Having learned his lesson last time, Shi Yue didn't dare infuse the Blue Pearl with magical power again, afraid he might get trapped inside.

The spiritual energy in the space inside the Blue Pearl was far richer than that of the outside world. If only I could come and go freely. That would be wonderful.

Shi Yue suddenly remembered that his parents had told him, before they died, that magical treasures had to be claimed through a blood-binding ritual. If he bound the Blue Pearl to himself with his blood, would he be able to enter and leave the Mysterious Space at will?

At the thought, Shi Yue's expression shifted. After a moment's consideration, he took out the Red Moon Sword and lightly cut his finger. A cut about an inch long appeared, and a blood droplet the size of a bean fell onto the Blue Pearl.

The droplet quickly sank into the Blue Pearl and disappeared. It seemed the pearl had absorbed it.

Strangely, though, the Blue Pearl showed no reaction after absorbing the blood.

"Could there have been too little Essence Blood?" Shi Yue muttered. After a moment's hesitation, he pinched the wound and squeezed out several more drops, letting them fall onto the Blue Pearl.

The Blue Pearl quickly absorbed them, but it still showed no change.

Seeing this, Shi Yue frowned. After thinking it over, he squeezed out several more drops and let them fall onto the Blue Pearl. The pearl still showed no unusual reaction.

"Did I remember wrong?" Shi Yue knitted his brows, his eyes full of confusion.

After turning it over in his mind, Shi Yue tucked the Blue Pearl safely against his body. He would investigate its secrets when he had time.

Several days had already passed. He had to get to Deacon Hall and take on a task as soon as possible, or he wouldn't have a single Spirit Stone next month.

With that thought, Shi Yue left the courtyard and flew into the sky on his magical artifact.