Adding Mana Points, Fire Filling the Sky

"Senior, that night, amid raging wind and torrential rain, I went through untold hardships to pick this Spirit Medicine from atop a cliff."

Chen Xun was on the verge of breaking down again, tears glistening in his eyes. "To preserve its medicinal properties, I suffered grievous injuries, all so I could deliver it to you as quickly as possible."

After such a performance, the sect elder was at a loss again. After hesitating for a moment, he added another ten Spirit Stones to Chen Xun's payment.

"Senior, you truly have discerning eyes! Truly discerning eyes!"

Chen Xun cried out excitedly, as though he had never seen Spirit Stones in his life.

The sect elder examined Chen Xun, and his heart jolted. He was actually a Seventh Layer of Qi Refinement cultivator—and so young!

Under his astonished gaze, Chen Xun bought another thirty medicine boxes and left, still carrying them in that snakeskin sack...

"Is he really a Seventh Layer of Qi Refinement cultivator?"

The sect elder stood there in a daze for a long while. Nothing about this man's manner or speech suggested it; he seemed more like an ordinary Mortal Realm commoner.

Hunched over, Chen Xun slowly wandered through the valley, haggling for ages at Rogue Cultivator stalls before buying three sacks of Spirit Medicine seeds. This time, though, he inspected everything carefully before paying with Spirit Stones.

He was utterly inconspicuous. Especially with the holes in his snakeskin sack and the empty medicine boxes that occasionally showed through, the seasoned Rogue Cultivators all found him terribly unlucky.

Chen Xun wandered around some more, then entered another sect pavilion and told a different version of the story.

Not a word spoke of hardship, yet hardship seeped from every line. It seemed that the snakeskin sack had bent Chen Xun's back even lower.

Chen Xun's mournful face looked as if his family's ox had died, never changing as he argued at stalls until his face turned red over a single Spirit Stone's price difference.

At the Alchemy Pavilion, he bought a better Alchemy Furnace for fifty Low-Grade Spirit Stones and also asked about furnace explosions.

"So that's how it is." As Chen Xun walked along the road, realization flashed through his mind. An Alchemy Furnace also needed to be nurtured with mana; he had always simply set it aside after using it.

Every hour, he went to a different sect pavilion to sell hundred-year Spirit Medicine. Before long, all four stalks of hundred-year Spirit Medicine had been sold.

There were already more than a dozen sacks of Spirit Medicine seeds in the snakeskin sack, but they were all ingredients for pills used in the Qi Refining Realm. He could not buy anything better.

He "raked in" goods everywhere without haste. Seeing his Seventh Layer of Qi Refinement cultivation, many Rogue Cultivators treated him quite politely and dared not cheat him.

Chen Xun then quickened his pace, a faint smile curling his lips as he vanished from Nine-Star Valley and returned safely to the cave.

"Old Bull, I'm back!"

With one hand, Chen Xun moved aside the giant boulder. A black shadow shot out, and Black Bull instantly pounced toward him, mooing nonstop.

"Haha, come on, let's go inside and talk."

Chen Xun hugged the bull's head and looked around before sealing the cave with the boulder and walking inside.

"Moo moo~~" Black Bull kept circling Chen Xun, its eyes brimming with delight as it repeatedly tugged at him with its mouth.

"Alright, just this once. I'll never leave you behind again."

Chen Xun said happily, looking at the snakeskin sack. "Hurry and see the treasures inside!"

"Moo!"

Black Bull's eyes lit up. It seemed to smell the scent of many Spirit Medicine seeds and hurriedly checked the sack, only to be dumbfounded!

"Moo~~" Black Bull stared at Chen Xun in shock. There were more than twenty sacks—absolutely incredible.

"Haha, Old Bull, I'll leave them to you. There's also plenty of Spirit Medicine for Qi-Boosting Pills inside."

Chen Xun examined the Alchemy Furnace instead, treasuring it in his hands. This time, he would take proper care of it.

"Moo moo!" Excitement flashed in Black Bull's eyes. It stood up and carried the sacks into another cave chamber. It loved planting Spirit Medicine.

Their Essence of All Things had now reached a combined total of 40. In one month, they could cultivate three Spirit Medicines over thirty years old.

"Old Bull, get to work!"

"Moo!"

Man and bull were filled with passion for the future as they began busily working, their feet never stopping.

White clouds drifted leisurely as time flew by. Another year passed through spring and autumn. Life was short; how many past events and memories had settled into its depths?

"Old Bull, store the medicine boxes properly. Nurture them with mana, and don't let the insects gnaw on them."

"Moo moo!"

"Old Bull, remember to sort the Spirit Medicine into categories. Don't be so careless in your work. If you don't build good habits now, what will you do later?"

"Moo~~ Moo!!"

At a cave somewhere along the outskirts of the Ningyun Mountain Range, even two Longevity Beings worked tirelessly, seizing every moment to do meaningful things, with far fewer idle sighs and lamentations.

Yet Gan Kingdom seemed even more turbulent this year. There were even cultivators causing trouble in the Mortal Realm.

The Ten Great Immortal Sects dispatched large numbers of disciples, vowing to stabilize order in the Mortal Realm. This was where countless disciples came from—did they want to leave them with no successors?!

Cultivators revealed their divine might in the Mortal Realm, stirring countless commoners to excitement as they burned incense and worshipped Buddha for protection.

With the Ten Great Immortal Sects personally entering the fray, Gan Kingdom seemed to grow even more chaotic. Demons, devils, ghosts, and monsters even began to appear.

More mortals came to the Ningyun Mountain Range seeking immortality. The demonic beasts deep within the mountains grew excited, adding countless more corpses to the land. Even the Immortal Ascension Assembly became somewhat chaotic.

Inside the cave.

[ Ding, the host may now add points. ]

The Longevity System's voice rang out in Chen Xun's mind, and excitement gradually filled his eyes.

"Old Bull, this year we can try adding to our mana."

Chen Xun called to Black Bull. "Maybe our mana will surge, and we'll break through in one stroke!"

"Moo."

Black Bull opened its large eyes and hurried over, its whole body black as coal. If not for its pair of horns, no one would have recognized it as a bull.

"Come on, this venerable one is ready to ascend!"

"Moo moo~~!"

Chen Xun and Black Bull sat cross-legged on the ground, excitement in their eyes, and began adding points.

Their current Longevity Points: Mana 1, Strength 21, Speed 21, Essence of All Things 20.

A warm current surged through their bodies. Chen Xun and Black Bull grew increasingly nervous, their eyes half-closed as they hurriedly sensed the mana within themselves.

Half an hour passed...

"Huh? That's it?!"

"Moo?"

Chen Xun was dumbfounded. Black Bull was dumbfounded. They felt nothing at all; they were still at the Seventh Layer of Qi Refinement.

The cave remained as dark as ever, lit by candlelight. The breeze that slipped through the crack in the giant boulder was still as gentle as ever.

"Did we add too few points?"

"Moo."

Black Bull looked at Chen Xun and nodded. That had to be it—the more points they added, the better the effect.

"Then we'll see next year. Go work first; we're busy."

Chen Xun said indifferently. Black Bull nodded along, then ran off toward the medicine field, utterly unconcerned.

Two months later.

Chen Xun and Black Bull were drying their clothes with the Fireball Technique when flames suddenly filled the cave and thick smoke billowed everywhere.

"Fuck... put it away, quick!!"

"Moo!!"

Chen Xun and Black Bull roared in alarm. They did withdraw the Fireball Technique, but their clothes had already burned to ashes.

Black Bull hurriedly pushed open the giant boulder. Chen Xun ran out wearing only a pair of shorts, his eyes devoid of all hope...

"What... what happened?"

Chen Xun muttered numbly, slowly turning to Black Bull. "I used the Fireball Technique."

"Moo moo?"

Black Bull shook its head, its eyes wide as it looked at Chen Xun suspiciously. You didn't secretly learn some other spell, did you? This was a Fireball Technique?

"Moo."

Black Bull nudged Chen Xun aside and stood up, ready to show him what a Fireball Technique really was. Stop putting on airs before this old bull.

Chen Xun stared blankly at Black Bull, still unable to figure it out.

"Moo!"

Black Bull bellowed, facing into the distance with a serious gaze. Mana surged from its bull hoof, and an enormous fireball rose into the air.

Boom—crackle, crackle! Flame-light burst in waves, fire filled the sky, countless dead branches and leaves burned away, and thick smoke rose.

"Old Bull, put it away, quick! Go put out the fire!"

Chen Xun was horrified. They had not even learned water-element spells yet—this was setting the mountain ablaze!