Luo Family Bounty, Qi Refining First Layer (Read On)

In the mountains, time passes without the Jiazi cycle. Staying in the desolate, uninhabited old forest, it truly felt as if one could not sense the passage of time.

Three months had passed in a flash.

During those three months, conflicts continued unabated within the Rogue Cultivator Gathering Place.

Many rogue cultivators were not like the clan disciples who sat quietly cultivating within cities. They were filthy, down-and-out outcasts, unloved by anyone, and had to fight for every resource themselves.

Even a "safe living environment" had become a luxury resource, naturally leading to fierce competition and frequent battles. This proved the adage: the strong support each other, the weak tear each other apart.

But one thing caught Chen Dengming off guard.

Since the day he killed someone and fled, the Golden Character Workshop and Hutong Street seemed to have suddenly made peace on the surface. It was as if "you killed one of mine, I killed one of yours"—they were even.

Apart from Hutong Street's boss, Qian Yuan, who was still hunting for Chen Dengming, wanting to flay this mortal who had made him lose face, the conflict between the two factions had abruptly ceased. Instead, Chen Dengming and a few dead men had become the biggest victims.

Some perceptive rogue cultivators in the Gathering Place were not surprised by this.

Some old-timers had long seen through the tactics of these "powerful bosses."

One moment, these bosses were hurling threats at each other, vowing to kill one another. After their underlings had fought until their brains were spilled, the bosses would reach a settlement and consensus based on some mutual interest. In the end, it was the underlings who died unjustly, while the bosses' tangible benefits remained unchanged.

Clearly, a mere mortal like Chen Dengming was not worth the Golden Character Workshop and Hutong Street continuing to rub against each other and start a war.

The Golden Character Workshop had initiated the provocation in the first place because of the death of the cultivator Old Lin.

They had used it as an excuse to compete for some resources and stir up trouble. Once Chen Dengming also killed a cultivator from Hutong Street, they knew when to stop and did not press a fleeing enemy.

Hutong Street had no choice but to swallow this bitter loss and accept it through gritted teeth.

All their fury could only be vented on Chen Dengming, this mortal.

When Chen Dengming occasionally sneaked close to the scattered cultivator Gathering Place and learned of this situation, he could only smile wryly and secretly thank his lucky stars that he had decided to leave quickly after the killing.

Otherwise, if he had chosen to trust the Golden Character Workshop and hoped to hide within their protection without worry, he might have ended up being sold out without even realizing it.

However, the Golden Character Workshop was not entirely useless as a potential backup.

Otherwise, he would not have deliberately and conspicuously written the Golden Character Workshop's name and title on the wall. In truth, this was also a way to choose a side, use the Workshop to draw some fire, and test the attitude of Workshop Master Xu Ning.

For now, as a mere mortal, if he did not become a cultivator, he would most likely be treated as a discarded pawn, let alone be able to use the Golden Character Workshop.

Aside from the matter of the Golden Character Workshop and Hutong Street, another thing that caught Chen Dengming's attention was a bounty posted by the Eldest Miss of the Lüo family.

This bounty was related to collecting materials for refining the Golden Silkworm Gu.

The bounty also vaguely hinted that anyone who knew the uses of such materials could go to Lüo Family Mountain City to receive an audience with the Eldest Miss.

Seeing this bounty, Chen Dengming's first thought was that the Eldest Miss, Lüo Bing, seemed to be looking for him, hoping he would report to Lüo Family Mountain City.

After all, the art of Gu refining was a minor path among the immortal cultivation methods, and those skilled in it were few and far between.

The Eldest Miss suddenly posting such a bounty in the Rogue Cultivator Gathering Place, which she usually looked down on, seemed like fishing.

And the fish was most likely him, Chen Dengming.

If his guess was correct, then the bounty from Hutong Street's boss, Qian Yuan, was nothing at all.

Which was more important: the bounty of a down-and-out boss, or the bounty of the Lüo family's Eldest Miss?

Qian Yuan himself would understand the stakes. If he didn't, someone would help him think it through by twisting his head.

However, despite this speculation, Chen Dengming did not rush headlong to the Lüo family.

Speculation was speculation; reality was reality.

In a script, selling fish could lead to latching onto a wealthy woman and turning one's life around. But relying on Gu refining to latch onto a wealthy young lady might not necessarily work.

After all, the bounty did not directly state what treatment he would receive upon reporting to the Lüo family. It did not even explicitly name him, Chen Dengming, to protect him, even though it was well known he was being hunted. It had an air of "your misfortune is none of my concern."

If it turned out not to be a good thing like "generous reward for a child," but rather a trap... then he would be asking for trouble.

"Even if this is a way to solve the problem, I need to wait. Only after breaking through to become a cultivator will I have the right to be respected. This immortal cultivation world is cutthroat."

Chen Dengming made up his mind to bury himself in cultivation, grinding away at the progress bar of the Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique all day long.

Over these three months, aside from refining Gu to guard against Demon Beasts, he had devoted all his time to cultivation. It was like sitting quietly on a southern mountain with a stick of incense, all worries forgotten in deep concentration, forgetting to eat and sleep in his pursuit of cultivation, only hoping for the day he would emerge.

Today was the ninety-eighth day since he had left the Rogue Cultivator Gathering Place.

The cultivation progress of the first layer of the Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique was already on the verge of a breakthrough.

At this moment, outside the mountain crevice, over a dozen Snake Gu under Chen Dengming's command were slithering around on guard.

Inside the mountain crevice.

Chen Dengming pressed his ten fingers to the ground, supporting his cross-legged body upright. As his entire body's muscles tensed, the highly condensed Xiantian True Qi within him, guided by his will, rapidly coursed through the secret acupoints and meridians in his body.

In this state, his body, spirit, and True Qi—the three elements of Essence, Qi, and Spirit—were highly condensed, prompting the True Qi to rapidly transition into spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy in the air was quickly absorbed by him, entering his body and filling his True Qi, gradually increasing its purity.

During this time, as he had consumed another eight years of his lifespan to cultivate the Life-Damaging Seedling Pulling Technique, his Medium-grade Spiritual Root's affinity had also increased to 4 points.

Now that he had become a Medium-grade Spiritual Root, and the Life-Damaging Seedling Pulling Technique had not broken through, consuming two years of lifespan could only increase his spiritual energy affinity by 1 point. Eight years of lifespan had only increased it by 4 points.

Additionally, the Pure Spirit Pill he had taken temporarily boosted his Spiritual Affinity by 10 points, so his current rate of absorbing spiritual energy was about ten to twenty percent faster than three months ago, when he had just acquired a Medium-grade Spiritual Root.

However, since the spiritual energy in the wilderness was much thinner than in the Rogue Cultivator Gathering Place, his cultivation speed hadn't actually increased.

In the Rogue Cultivator Gathering Place, taking a Pure Spirit Pill and practicing the Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique nine times a day would increase his technique proficiency by one point.

But in the wilderness, even with the pill and his improved talent, he still had to practice the Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique twelve times a day to gain a single point of proficiency.

This clearly showed the importance of a "cultivation treasure land" among the four essentials: wealth, companions, techniques, and location.

Deprived of such a land, Chen Dengming could only make up for it with diligence. However, each session of the Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique took half an hour.

Practicing twelve times a day was already his limit.

Beyond that, without proper rest, his Essence, Qi, and Spirit could no longer maintain balance and harmony. His muscles would cramp, his mind would grow weary, and he wouldn't even be able to condense the Three Yuan.

As time passed, sweat like oil dripped from Chen Dengming's bulging muscles, staining the ground beneath him.

Within his body, the eight extraordinary meridians were flooded with spiritual energy from the surroundings, flowing in like tidal mist, continuously urging his Xiantian True Qi to sublimate into spiritual energy.

This process was excruciating. His meridians felt as if they were being sliced by knives, on the verge of splitting apart. The sweat he shed was now tinged with blood, a sign of being baptized and cleansed by spiritual energy.

If he couldn't hold on for even a moment, the overwhelming, terrifying spiritual energy—unbearable for a mortal body—would shatter his meridians.

If that happened, not only would his breakthrough fail, but he would also suffer severe injuries. Damaged meridians would make future breakthroughs even harder. This was why, despite many reaching Xiantian, few became cultivators—it wasn't just a matter of Spiritual Root Potential.

The process of transforming from a mortal to a cultivator was like a fish leaping over the Dragon Gate, fraught with risk.

Fortunately, Chen Dengming had cultivated for many years, accumulated a deep foundation, and possessed an extremely resolute will.

After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, fortune turned from misery.

All the pain transformed into a soothing, refreshing stream that coursed through his entire body. Every trace of Xiantian True Qi had been converted into spiritual energy.

At that moment, he felt as light as a swallow. Spiritual energy swirled within him, a faint glow radiated from his body, and a subtle spiritual pressure filled his being.

The spiritual body was complete!

"Qi Refining First Layer... I've become a cultivator?"

Chen Dengming's eyes gleamed brightly, his expression unable to contain his surprise. He felt that the intensity of the spiritual energy surging within him far surpassed the power of Xiantian True Qi, and his body, tempered by the spiritual energy, had grown much stronger.

He felt his control over the surrounding spiritual energy instantly rise by over a dozen levels.

It was as if he could reach out and draw in the spiritual energy around him, commanding it at will.

This sense of control seemed to be the source of the spiritual pressure radiating from him.

In simple terms, it was like an ordinary person surrounded by a dozen underlings—raising a hand would send them charging forward, naturally imposing.

A cultivator was surrounded by invisible yet palpable spiritual energy, like an army of unseen underlings.

The higher a cultivator's Strength Realm, the greater the range of spiritual energy they could control, the stronger their spiritual pressure, and the more powerful the techniques they could unleash.

"This feeling... it's somewhat like the realm recorded in the Martial World annals of the Nanxun Kingdom..."

According to those annals, there was once a top expert in the Martial World who seemed to have broken through to a realm beyond Xiantian. He could manipulate some force within a one-zhang radius around him to suppress his enemies, defeating them without lifting a finger—resembling the legendary 'Unity of Heaven and Man,' borrowing the power of heaven and earth.

Now that Chen Dengming had reached this realm, he realized that the Nanxun Kingdom's Martial World had indeed once produced a cultivator.

However, the spiritual energy in the Nanxun Kingdom was so thin it was nearly nonexistent. That cultivator, like a clever woman without rice to cook, had only the presence of spiritual pressure but no spiritual energy to command.

"That man... truly had heaven-defying talent. What a pity."

Chen Dengming sighed, then suddenly stood up. He furrowed his brow in thought for a moment before abruptly curling his fingers, gathering power at his fingertips—Finger Flick Divine Art.

"Whoosh!"

A burst of Spiral Qi erupted, and with a bang, it blasted a deep hole into the rock wall opposite him.

(Ming-ge's day in the sun has just begun; this little book's day in the sun will come in the next few rounds of recommendations. Dear readers, keep following along.)