Half a day later,
in the Spirit Spring Secret Chamber,
Shen Changchuan sat cross-legged on a boulder, weighing the White Jade Token engraved with the character for "elephant" in his hand. His brows furrowed.
Elephant.
What did it mean?
Could it be some sort of token of recognition?
And who had hidden it in that underground cavern?
As he carefully recalled the details of how he had discovered it,
Shen Changchuan sank into thought.
He had noticed a few traces worth paying attention to.
That Green Origin Water Grass didn't seem to have grown there naturally. It looked as though someone had transplanted it.
Someone had moved it deep into the underground cavern.
What was more, a small concealment array had been set up outside to hide everything within.
But perhaps because it had gone unrepaired for too long,
the array outside the cavern had failed, eventually attracting the Crocodile Demon.
Shen Changchuan had already pieced together the sequence of events in his mind.
Though he had never witnessed what had happened,
his perfected Spirit Eye Technique let him make out far more details from the traces around him.
By deducing and connecting those details,
he suspected the real story was more or less as he had imagined.
"Those traces were probably left around twenty years ago. Could the underground cavern at the bottom of the river have been made by the previous ruler of Dawan Village, twenty years back?"
Shen Changchuan wondered to himself.
He couldn't help but think so.
Twenty years ago, the previous ruler of Dawan Village had secretly murdered a member of a collateral branch of the Shen Clan. After someone reported the crime, the Shen Clan sent people all the way there to execute him on the spot.
From then on, Dawan Village had a new ruler.
The signs of age in that underground cavern,
matched the time when Dawan Village had changed hands.
"So that Green Origin Water Grass was the legacy of the previous small cultivation clan?"
"But what is this token?"
Shen Changchuan looked at the White Jade Token in his hand again, his confusion deepening.
He had a vague feeling
that, to the person who had hidden the treasures in the cavern back then, this token had been even more precious than the Green Origin Water Grass.
In fact,
the Green Origin Water Grass might have been nothing more than cover for the White Jade Token itself.
Shen Changchuan pondered for a moment.
He fixed his gaze on the token in his hand
and activated the Spirit Eye Technique.
He immediately noticed more unusual details.
This token
seemed to have been forged from some unknown material, rather than actual white jade.
And what was more,
the wisps of spiritual energy in the air seemed to gather under the token's influence!
It seemed to have a subtle spirit-gathering effect of its own!
Quite wondrous!
However,
after studying it for a long while,
he couldn't discover anything else.
"Forget it. There's no point in wild guesses while I'm here."
"Unless I can question the people involved, I won't learn anything from a token alone."
A moment later,
Shen Changchuan shook his head
and put the matter out of his mind.
"Perhaps I can ask around the village later about the small cultivation clan that once ruled Dawan Village. I might find some clues."
"But not now."
"I should refine the Green Origin Water Grass first. There's no point wasting time."
With that,
Shen Changchuan put the token away.
Then he sat cross-legged on the boulder
and began to meditate, calming his mind and adjusting his condition.
Half a day later,
Shen Changchuan felt that he had fully recovered.
It was time to consume the Green Origin Water Grass!
He didn't delay any longer.
He took out the jade box containing the Green Origin Water Grass
and opened it.
The grass, its entire body like green crystal, shimmered with a hazy blue light.
As the jade box opened,
a vitality-filled spiritual aura spilled out.
At once, the whole Spirit Spring Secret Chamber seemed to grow clearer and more vibrant.
Spiritual charm lingered all around,
and even the air felt fresh!
But at that moment,
a pang of regret flashed through Shen Changchuan's heart.
To be honest,
whether he sold the Green Origin Water Grass to a great cultivation clan or refined it into pills,
he would gain more than by swallowing and refining it himself.
But he had no choice.
Without the strength to match it, wealth beyond what he could protect would only invite disaster.
Better to keep what he had safely in hand.
Without the slightest hesitation,
Shen Changchuan swallowed the Green Origin Water Grass.
As soon as it entered his mouth,
it seemed to melt into a cool liquid.
It felt as though vitality had burst through his mouth, while a cold spring trembled within it!
Shen Changchuan swallowed it in one gulp.
In that instant,
as the liquid, rich with vitality and spiritual charm, entered his dantian, an enormous surge of life force spread from within, flowing along his meridians in every direction.
A strange sensation welled up within him.
Shen Changchuan felt as though he were immersed in warm liquid, returned to the moment of his birth, enveloped by the source energy of his mother's womb!
A cool force washed over his body and mind, little by little.
His body gradually grew clear and limpid.
His soul, too, was nourished and strengthened bit by bit.
Shen Changchuan lost himself in the process of refining the Green Origin Water Grass's medicinal power.
Time slipped by.
In the blink of an eye, another half-month had passed.
During those two weeks,
little had changed in the outside world.
The rainy season hadn't ended.
The sky remained overcast,
and the torrential rain that had poured without pause for over a month still hadn't let up. Curtains of rain cloaked the horizon, and the whole world was soaked in dampness.
In Dawan Village,
with the help of the roots of several Spirit Ginseng plants, Han Qinhu and Han Dayong quickly recovered from their injuries, and their strength seemed to have improved further.
The funeral rites for those who had died fighting the Crocodile Demon had all been completed.
The houses destroyed in the battle
had also been rebuilt one by one.
Aside from that,
nothing else of importance had happened.
Once the village's affairs had been settled,
life soon returned to normal amid the rainy season.
No more mishaps occurred.
The villagers stayed in their homes,
waiting for the long rainy season to pass,
just as they always had.
Yet during those quiet two weeks,
no one knew that Shen Changchuan, inside the Spirit Spring Secret Chamber, had undergone a subtle transformation.
"The Green Origin Water Grass was worth it!"
Inside the chamber,
Shen Changchuan opened his eyes.
In the darkness, a flash of lightning-like brilliance shone in his pupils, sharp as needles and enough to unsettle the mind!
Feeling that his mana had surged by more than thirty percent, and that it now flowed through his meridians with far greater ease,
Shen Changchuan couldn't hide his delight.
He had reached the middle stage of the fourth level of Qi Induction!
That was right.
After consuming the Green Origin Water Grass
and spending half a month refining it, he had grown stronger and reached the middle stage of the fourth level!
But that wasn't the most important part.
Most importantly, as he refined the Green Origin Water Grass, its exceptionally pure Water Vein Essence and spiritual energy worked together to cleanse his entire body!
The cleansing had expanded and strengthened Shen Changchuan's meridians.
It had also helped expel various impurities from his body, making him feel more "clear and limpid."
And that
meant he would be able to absorb spiritual energy more efficiently as he cultivated in the future, and convert it into mana more efficiently as well!
In other words,
his aptitude had improved to some degree!
How did Shen Changchuan know this so clearly?
Because after refining the Green Origin Water Grass, not only had his cultivation aptitude improved, but his spirit and soul had also been nourished and strengthened to a certain extent!
Shen Changchuan could now use his enhanced spiritual sense to look within himself.
Through introspection,
he had sensed the changes taking place inside his body!
This was something one could only do once one's spiritual power reached a certain level.
Normally,
only cultivators in the late stage of Qi Induction could gain the ability to look within.
But Shen Changchuan had achieved it ahead of time.
He had also clearly witnessed the cleansing of his body and the improvement of his aptitude.
"No wonder the Green Origin Water Grass is worth so much, with the great cultivation clans offering hefty sums to buy it. Its effects are astonishing!"
"Forget the way it strengthens the spirit and spiritual sense, which will help with breaking through to the Out of Body Realm later."
"Even the improvement to one's cultivation aptitude alone is enough to make people scramble for it!"
Feeling the smooth flow of qi through his body, Shen Changchuan couldn't help but exclaim.
He could feel that,...
His cultivation efficiency had increased by at least one-fifth!
Though a one-fifth increase in efficiency might not seem like much,
it looked as if it could only save him a day from what would originally have been five days of cultivation.
But over time,
that would add up to a great deal!
For example, the progress that would originally have required a year of hard cultivation,
could now be achieved in just about nine and a half months.
This was undoubtedly wonderful news for Shen Changchuan!
"I never expected to gain so much. I just wonder where this Green Origin Water Grass came from, and whether it has anything to do with that White Jade Token."
Thinking back to the other White Jade Token he had obtained alongside the Green Origin Water Grass,
Shen Changchuan couldn't help falling into deep thought.
"Looks like I'll have to investigate the small cultivation family that used to own Dawan Village as much as I can."
"I hope I can find some clues."
A natural treasure like Green Origin Water Grass clearly couldn't have been born from a minor waterway like Dawan River.
It must have come from somewhere else.
And that token bearing the character "Xiang" might have something to do with its origins.
Perhaps another great fortune lay hidden in all this!
But after pondering for only a moment,
Shen Changchuan put the thought aside.
Investigating what had happened twenty years ago could wait,
for now, the most important thing for him was to stabilize his cultivation realm first.
Shen Changchuan closed his eyes once more,
and continued meditating and cultivating, circulating the Elephant Mountain Qi-Gathering Art,
to stabilize his newly advanced mid-stage fourth level of the Qi Induction Realm.
At the same time,
considering that it had only been two or three months since he had last advanced to the fourth level of the Qi Induction Realm,
Shen Changchuan, worried that his cultivation wasn't stable enough, took out two Spirit Stones to cultivate with.
They were two of the five Spirit Stones Shen Shiying had given him as compensation.
Although cultivating with Spirit Stones was far too extravagant for Shen Changchuan, who was still dirt-poor,
there was no other way.
Spirit Stones were, after all, external objects.
By comparison,
it was better to stabilize his own cultivation realm as much as possible.
Time flew by,
in the blink of an eye,
several more days passed,
and Shen Changchuan's mid-stage fourth-level cultivation in the Qi Induction Realm had completely stabilized.
Shen Changchuan then ended his seclusion, which had lasted for over half a month.
Although the feeling of growing stronger was wonderful,
the prolonged cultivation in seclusion
had left him feeling somewhat weary inside.
Shen Changchuan decided to end his seclusion,
and walked out of the Spirit Spring Secret Chamber,
ready to get some fresh air.
When Shen Changchuan emerged from the passage,
he looked up and saw the sun shining brightly outside.
The dark clouds that had shrouded the entire sky for over a month, along with the wind and rain that had swept across the land,
had vanished completely.
The rainy season was over,
and the skies had cleared!
Shen Changchuan looked up,
as golden sunlight bathed the land,
the Spirit Grain seedlings in the Spirit Fields scattered across the mountains began to send up ears.
A gentle breeze swept by,
stirring up wave after wave of green,
while the occasional melodious bird call echoed through the mountains.
Life flourished, and all things vied to grow,
and Shen Changchuan's spirits lifted as well.
Before you continue