Golden Pearl Spirit Rice

Shen Long took the somewhat worn Blue Storage Bag from his waist, a look of reminiscence on his face. His father, Shen Guang, had bought it for him when he advanced to the first layer of Qi Refining.

"Alive, I must see them; dead, I must see their bodies. Father, Mother, I will definitely find you."

Shen Long muttered to himself, his gaze resolute.

He turned the Storage Bag upside down and gave it a gentle shake. After a streak of blue glow swept past, several items appeared on the ground: a green cloth bag, a clay jar, a blue Flying Dagger, a Black Shield, a Golden Armor Talisman, thirty-two Spirit Stones, and a bottle of Qi Nourishing Pills.

This was his entire fortune. He possessed Three Spirit Roots of water, wood, and fire, and cultivated the Mystic Water Art, which could only be cultivated to the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining. It was the primary cultivation art of his mother, Liu Yun, and had been passed down for seven generations.

He had cultivated the Fireball Technique and Mystic Water Shield to Great Perfection. The former was an offensive spell, while the latter was a defensive spell. However, he had never used the Mystic Water Shield before others; one must never harbor the intention of harming others, yet one must always guard against them.

Monster Hunting Teams faced great danger when hunting Monster Beasts. The most dangerous threat was not the Monster Beasts, but other cultivators. It was far from uncommon for monster hunters to turn against one another over wealth and come to blows.

Shen Guang and Liu Yun had followed friends in search of treasure. Most likely, they had discovered some great treasure, and their friends had been tempted by greed, killing them and seizing their treasure.

This was the worst possibility Shen Long could imagine. During his five years working at Craftsman Hall, he had encountered many Rogue Cultivators. Many Rogue Cultivators had gone out and never returned; no one knew what they had encountered.

Shen Long opened the green cloth bag. Inside were grains of golden rice, plump and fragrant.

This was Golden Pearl Spirit Rice. It ripened once a year, with a typical yield of over three hundred jin per mu. Golden Pearl Spirit Rice contained spiritual qi and was suitable for Qi Refining Cultivators. It was somewhat beneficial to cultivation, though its flavor was ordinary.

Golden Pearl Spirit Rice's greatest advantage was its low price: one Spirit Stone for ten jin.

Higher-quality spirit rice took longer to grow, contained more spiritual qi, and tasted better, but it was not cheap. Rogue Cultivators like Shen Long could not bear to buy it.

For him, it was enough if it filled his stomach and provided some help with cultivation. He had heard that the Chen, Han, and Li Clans grew a great deal of Silver Marrow Spirit Rice.

Silver Marrow Spirit Rice ripened once every three years and yielded two hundred jin per mu. It contained abundant spiritual qi, had a soft yet springy texture, and its grains were slender.

The younger generation of the Chen, Han, and Li Clans had grown up eating Silver Marrow Spirit Rice. It was distributed monthly and could be collected free of charge until they turned eighteen.

Shen Long had reached the fifth layer of Qi Refining at seventeen. With the same Three Spirit Roots and at the same age, most of the younger generation of the Chen, Han, and Li Clans were already at the sixth layer of Qi Refining, while a few had reached the seventh layer.

Besides cultivating faster, the younger generation of the Chen, Han, and Li Clans lived and cultivated in spiritual lands rich in spiritual qi. Some had auxiliary Dharma Artifacts or Spirit Gathering Arrays to assist their cultivation, while those with ample wealth even kept Spirit Beasts.

Spirit Beasts required more resources than cultivators, which was their drawback. However, their lifespans were generally longer than cultivators of the same rank, which was their advantage.

Cultivators born into cultivation lineages or sects might inherit Spirit Beasts, Spirit Birds, or Spirit Insects from birth, placing them far ahead of Rogue Cultivators at the starting line.

There were many Rogue Cultivators in Thousand Bamboo Valley who hunted Monster Beasts, but those who owned Spirit Beasts could be counted on one's fingers. Most of them were combat Spirit Beasts.

As for Spirit Beasts meant more for display, only cultivators with substantial wealth would raise them.

Shen Long had heard that the Li Clan kept many Ice-Whiskered Spirit Fish. Their flesh was delicious and could be cooked into Spirit Meals for sale. They were expensive and beneficial to cultivation as well, but ordinary Qi Refining Cultivators simply could not afford them.

Shen Long grabbed a handful of Golden Pearl Spirit Rice and placed it into the clay jar. He cast the Water Ball Technique, and specks of blue vapor surged forth, condensing into a blue water ball the size of a bowl's mouth. It dropped into the clay jar as he rinsed the rice and changed the water.

A red glow lit up in his palm, and a ball of Crimson Flame emerged, enveloping the clay jar.

Before long, the clear water in the clay jar began to boil, releasing a rich aroma of rice. Yet Shen Long had little appetite; it even made him somewhat nauseated.

Ever since his parents had vanished, he had relied on Golden Pearl Spirit Rice to fill his stomach. He had long since grown sick of it. Yet this was the daily life of most Rogue Cultivators. Cultivators from the Chen, Li, and Han Clans at least had one or two side dishes, while wealthier cultivators ate Spirit Meals for all three meals of the day.

After a while, the flames in Shen Long's palm dispersed. He placed the clay jar on the stone bed, took out a wooden spoon, scooped up a spoonful, and began to eat.

Before long, he had finished an entire jar of spirit rice.

His abdomen grew faintly warm, and a weak stream of spiritual qi rose within it, spreading toward his limbs and bones.

He hurriedly sat down cross-legged and circulated his cultivation art to refine the spiritual qi.

In less than half a quarter-hour, he finished his cultivation.

At his fifth layer of Qi Refining cultivation, a jar of Golden Pearl Spirit Rice provided very little spiritual qi. Its greater use was filling his stomach. If he wanted spirit rice to provide more spiritual qi, he needed to eat more expensive spirit rice. For now, that was nothing but a dream beyond his reach.

He had only thirty-two Spirit Stones. He wished he could use one Spirit Stone as two, but the Spirit Stones in his Storage Bag could not support such beautiful dreams.

He cleaned the clay jar, put everything back into the Storage Bag, retrieved the five Spirit Stones from atop the formation, and pushed open the door to leave.

Shen Long headed toward the mountaintop. After a while, he arrived halfway up the mountain and stood before a sprawling manor. The plaque above its entrance bore the three words "Martial Practice Garden."

This was a place where cultivators practiced spells. Cultivators renting residences on Thousand Bamboo Peak could practice spells here for free. This was one of the tenants' benefits.

In addition, they could exchange cultivation insights with other cultivators.

Those who were not tenants had to pay if they wished to practice spells in the Martial Practice Garden.

A pale blue water curtain blocked the entrance. Shen Long took out a square green token, its front engraved with the two characters "Thousand Bamboo."

He infused the token with dharma power, and a streak of cyan light shot forth, sinking into the Blue Water Screen. Ripples spread across the Blue Water Screen before it collapsed and vanished.

Shen Long strode inside, where he could hear thunderous explosions and voices conversing.

He headed toward a side courtyard. Before long, he appeared in a Bluestone Corridor, with several Stone Chambers on either side. Their doors were tightly shut, and cultivators inside were practicing spells.

Shen Long was in no hurry. He stood outside one Stone Chamber whose door bore the character "earth." The terrain inside each Stone Chamber differed, making them suited to practicing different spells.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the door to one Stone Chamber opened. A spirited green-robed elder and a handsome boy in blue robes emerged.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, what a coincidence!"

Upon seeing the green-robed elder, Shen Long greeted him with a smile.

The green-robed elder was called Qin Qing. He belonged to the same Monster Hunting Team as Shen Long, while the boy in blue robes was his grandson, Qin Tianhe.

Qin Qing's aptitude was poor. Though already over seventy, he was still only at the sixth layer of Qi Refining. His son and daughter-in-law had died while hunting Monster Beasts, leaving behind his grandson, Qin Tianhe.

Grandfather and grandson depended on each other for survival. Qin Qing went out to hunt Monster Beasts and earned cultivation resources to support Qin Tianhe's cultivation. Shen Long's life was bitterly poor, but Qin Qing and his grandson lived even more miserably.

Hunting Monster Beasts required buying Talismans or repairing Dharma Artifacts, and all of that cost Spirit Stones.

"Fellow Daoist Shen, what a coincidence! Has Daoist Xu not emerged from seclusion yet?"

Qin Qing asked.

The Daoist Xu he spoke of was Xu Lei. He was at the seventh layer of Qi Refining and was the leader of the Monster Hunting Team.