Spirit Sand

Inside the room, the lamplight was warm as Jiang Chen carefully leafed through the books.

"Martial arts manuals, medical texts, and books related to cultivation... Zhao Meng really did leave me a treasure trove."

Setting down what he was reading, Jiang Chen could not help but sigh.

Zhao Meng had made many efforts to stay alive. He had collected martial arts manuals and medical texts to find himself a way out, resorting to robbery or trade without scruple. Yet with seven wounds afflicting him, injuries within and without, none of those things could help him.

So in the end, he had turned his gaze toward the most mysterious path of immortality. Using his identity as one of the Quicksand Bandits, he had truly come into contact with a corner of the immortal path and found a possibility of extending his life. He only needed to ask a cultivator to refine an Origin-Replenishing Pill for him.

Yet while this path appeared simple, it was in fact exceedingly difficult. Without the Quicksand Bandits as a platform, he could not even have come into contact with cultivators, much less ask one to refine pills for him. In the end, it was only after receiving someone's guidance that he found a cultivator willing to make the pill, but the price the other party demanded was exorbitant.

For this, he had no choice but to plunder from all sides, eventually setting his sights on Golden Sand Valley.

"Since ancient times, death has been the hardest trial. Even a vicious bandit who slaughtered people like flies in his youth turns into a pitiful worm when faced with life and death."

Thinking of Zhao Meng's life, Jiang Chen shook his head.

"Though the grades of these manuals Zhao Meng collected are not high, there are quite a few of them. They can fill in many gaps in my knowledge. The most valuable is this incomplete Qi Induction Technique, the beginning of the immortal path. Unfortunately, it is of little use to me."

"As for Clear Source Commandery City, there seems to be an immortal cultivator market there. I can make a trip there when I have the chance. For now, cultivation remains the most important thing."

Murmuring softly, Jiang Chen took a cloth pouch from the chest. The pouch was small, only palm-sized, gray and unremarkable in appearance, but it felt heavy in his hand.

Opening it, Jiang Chen saw grain after grain of earth-yellow sand glittering with spiritual light.

"Spirit Sand—spiritual material similar to spirit stones and spirit pearls. It contains pure spiritual energy of heaven and earth, which cultivators can use in their cultivation. It is an excellent aid for tempering the spiritual body and accumulating mana."

"This was an unexpected gain Zhao Meng found while seeking immortality. He once encountered danger and, after falling into the water, was swept away by an undercurrent into a hidden cave. There, he discovered Spirit Sand. But the place was perilous, and he could only bring out this handful. Once he escaped and returned to look for it, he could never find that place again."

Turning the Spirit Sand over in his hand, Jiang Chen recalled Zhao Meng's memories. Zhao Meng truly had some measure of fortune. It was only a pity that he had no spiritual aperture. Otherwise, he might really have stepped onto the path of cultivation. Once he had cultivated, the spiritual energy's nourishment would naturally have resolved the problems plaguing his body.

"Come to think of it, I've never cultivated with Spirit Sand before. I wonder how it differs from ordinary cultivation."

As the thought arose, Jiang Chen immediately wanted to cultivate.

A short while later, after sorting everything away, Jiang Chen entered the meditation chamber. Holding Spirit Sand in his hand, he sat cross-legged upon the cushion and entered cultivation.

As his mind grew ever more clear and empty, threads of spiritual charm traced themselves over his body like strands of silk, forming a tall, upright green pine. The instant the pine took shape, Jiang Chen's absorption of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth suddenly accelerated.

In that instant, he seemed to have truly transformed into a spiritual pine, his affinity with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth increasing greatly. Under its influence, the spiritual energy contained within the Spirit Sand began to drain at a terrifying rate, pouring into his body like weary birds returning to their nest.

Feeling this change, Jiang Chen's expression grew even calmer, and his entire body seemed to be suffused with a jade-like radiance.

Thus, time passed soundlessly. When the sun rose ever higher above the horizon and the first ray of sunlight fell upon Golden Sand Valley, the Spirit Sand in Jiang Chen's hand completely lost its spiritual charm and became the most ordinary sand.

"Cultivating with Spirit Sand truly is different. If ordinary spiritual energy of heaven and earth is like a mischievous cat that might scratch you if pressed too hard, requiring careful guidance to absorb, then the spiritual energy within Spirit Sand is like a docile sheep, effortless to absorb."

Opening his eyes and looking at the Spirit Sand in his hand, now completely returned to the mundane, Jiang Chen could not help revealing a trace of regret. Cultivating with Spirit Sand was indeed excellent, and the efficiency increased greatly, but there was simply too little of it. Soon, however, he put away that trace of regret.

"Breaking through the bottleneck in a single night at the cost of one pouch of Spirit Sand, and truly beginning to temper my head—this is still cause for celebration."

Feeling the changes within himself, Jiang Chen knew that the Inspiration Realm no longer held any bottleneck for him. He had now formally begun tempering his head. He only needed to spend a little more time to complete it; the rest was merely grinding work with water and stone.

"I wonder what bearing Qi Refining cultivators possess!"

With that thought, Jiang Chen left the meditation chamber and entered the courtyard.

Whoosh. His body was like willow floss, moving with the wind as Jiang Chen naturally began practicing the Willow-Floss Body-Nourishing Method.

The Lingsong Breathing Method, whose true essence he had grasped, had played an enormous role in allowing him to break through so easily last night. Without it, even with the aid of Spirit Sand, he could not have broken through in a single night. In truth, ordinary cultivators spent far more time and resources on this step; one pouch of Spirit Sand would not have been enough.

Since the Lingsong Breathing Method, a still practice, possessed such miraculous effects, what of the Willow-Catkin Body-Nourishing Art, a moving practice? Jiang Chen was deeply curious.

"The previous owner's teacher, White Crane Daoist, was likely a Qi Refining cultivator. He naturally possessed Qi Refining methods. Since he had Jiang Wang focus solely on cultivating this Qi Induction Technique, perhaps the opportunity for Qi Refining lies hidden within it."

As the thought arose, Jiang Chen's mind continuously settled into stillness. Every stray thought quietly drifted away. At that moment, he seemed to catch the paths along which the spiritual energy of heaven and earth moved. His body followed their motion, becoming ever more ethereal.

Nearby, Rat Prodigy quietly opened his eyes as he sensed the disturbance. He had guarded outside Jiang Chen's room all night.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak..."

Watching Jiang Chen's movements, Rat Prodigy's rat face was full of confusion. It seemed to see something within them, yet everything remained hazy, never fully clear. For a time, its heart and liver felt as though they were being seared, and it longed to leap and scurry about.

But it knew that it could not make any noise now and disturb Jiang Chen's cultivation, so it forced itself to remain where it was.

During this time, it tried not to look at Jiang Chen, but could not resist. It grew increasingly miserable. Thus, it wanted to watch but could not understand; it did not want to watch, yet could not help itself. Rat Prodigy swung back and forth between the two.

Fortunately, as time passed, its heart gradually calmed. It no longer tried to take in everything, looking only at the one point it had managed to grasp. At once, it gained something. Its tail swayed, light as willow floss, lifting heavy things as though they were light, and a mysterious profundity suddenly emerged.

At this very moment, Jiang Chen had already finished his cultivation. Watching this scene, he fell into thought, his mind stirred.