Dao Comprehension Chamber lv1

Although his spiritual root was only a Four-Spirit Root, Ji Yuan felt that his comprehension was still fairly good.

But if he could raise it further, that would be even better—just like the novels he had read in his previous life, with things like "heaven-defying comprehension" and "ten-thousandfold comprehension."

So after returning home, Ji Yuan immediately found some paper and a brush, then wrote the three words "Dao Comprehension Chamber" once again.

After looking around, he finally pasted the sheet of white paper with its black characters onto the door of his storage room.

The instant he pasted it up, the panel refreshed.

It worked!

[Dao Comprehension Chamber lv0]

[lv1: Spiritual Effect: Calms the mind and gathers qi, increasing the user's comprehension by 10%.]

[Upgrade Requirements: Low-Grade Spirit Stone ×10, Clear-Heart Grass ×3, Mysterious Crystal Sand 1 jin (Not fulfilled)]

Ji Yuan glanced over it. The spiritual effect was exceedingly simple: it increased comprehension by 10%.

Excellent, excellent.

This [Dao Comprehension Chamber] should be this simple and direct.

It was just that compared to the others, this 10% seemed a little low... Comprehension must have been too precious and too difficult to improve. In other words, being able to increase it by 10% was already extraordinarily powerful.

As for the upgrade requirements, they were not difficult either.

Clear-Heart Grass was sold in Zengtou City. It was no heavenly treasure, merely a medicinal herb used to refine cultivation pills, and it seemed to cost only 1 Spirit Stone per stalk.

Mysterious Crystal Sand was a material for refining artifacts and was also available for purchase. It seemed a little pricier, costing 5 Spirit Stones per jin.

Still, it was nothing much to the current Ji Yuan.

So, having only just returned home, he pushed open the door and headed back out.

Outside the courtyard, the three members of the neighboring Wen household were fishing by their door. Calling it fishing was really just Wen Lin and his wife looking after their child.

Seeing Ji Yuan come out, Wen Lin handed the fishing rod in his hand to Zhao Yuechan, rose to his feet, and smiled. "Brother Ji just got back, and you're heading out again?"

"Mm. I didn't buy enough things, so I need to make another trip to the market."

Ji Yuan smiled. He had quite a favorable impression of the Wen household, especially since they had helped him before.

"Big Brother Ji, are you going to buy New Year goods? Remember to bring me something tasty!"

Wen Ling'er said, swaying her head from side to side while holding her little fishing rod.

"New Year goods?"

Ji Yuan, who had been about to take out his Spirit Vessel, froze. Then he remembered that this world also had the custom of celebrating the New Year. And now... it was already the thirteenth day of the twelfth month. The year-end was indeed approaching.

In previous years, the original owner had always celebrated the New Year with his parents. But this year, it seemed he would have to spend it alone.

Across both lifetimes, this seemed to be his first time spending the New Year alone... He smiled and answered.

"Alright. I'll definitely bring something back for Ling'er."

Wen Lin and Zhao Yuechan naturally exchanged another round of pleasantries, then watched Ji Yuan summon his Spirit Vessel and depart.

Once the vessel entered the water, there was no longer any need to fish. Wen Lin simply set down his rod. Beside him, Zhao Yuechan watched Ji Yuan's departing figure and softly asked, "Husband, was that a Mid-Grade Spirit Vessel just now?"

"Mm. And one of the better ones among Mid-Grade Spirit Vessels. If not for some lacking materials, it might have even reached high grade."

Wen Lin was knowledgeable and well-traveled.

"Then during the past few days he was gone..."

Wen Lin tucked his hands into his sleeves and smiled. "Where else could he have gone? He definitely went off to make a fortune."

But after smiling, Wen Lin sighed with some emotion. "Who would have thought that we would run into such a neighbor after casually finding a place to live? It seems we truly should build a friendship with him."

"We were fated to meet in the first place."

Zhao Yuechan agreed wholeheartedly.

After a while, Ji Yuan returned by vessel. After handing Wen Ling'er several sugar figurines he had picked up along the way, he hurried into his house.

Arriving in the main hall, he looked at the clutter before him... the Dao Comprehension Chamber, and immediately chose to upgrade it.

As the three items in his Storage Bag vanished, the panel refreshed once more.

The effect of the Level 2 [Dao Comprehension Chamber] appeared.

[Dao Comprehension Chamber lv2]

[Spiritual Effect: Comprehension increase raised to 20%. When encountering a bottleneck, an additional 10% comprehension bonus is gained.]

[Upgrade Requirements: Middle-Grade Spirit Stone ×20, Illusion-Heart Flower ×3, Earth Vein Spirit Marrow ×1 pot, mastery of one intermediate spell (Not fulfilled)]

The upgrade requirements were still more or less the same, requiring Spirit Stones along with some immortal resources.

The only difference was that he now needed to gain entry-level mastery of an intermediate spell.

As for this spiritual effect... it was a perfect tool for secluded cultivation! An extra comprehension bonus at bottlenecks—this understood the suffering of cultivators far too well!

Once he encountered a bottleneck, his comprehension would rise by 30%. What more could he possibly ask for?

Cultivate. He had to cultivate!

Ji Yuan did not dare waste such excellent conditions. Thus, during the following period, aside from going to Zengtou City to replenish some supplies for survival and cultivation, he went nowhere else.

Previously, he might have needed to draw Talismans from time to time to make a living.

But now, there was no need. Half a liang of Blood Essence every day was worth 10 Spirit Stones.

There were also 30 Spirit Eggs, along with the comb blood of the Red-Crowned Chickens, and Ji Yuan had even raised another Spirit Pig.

After raising that Spirit Pig, he barely ate the Spirit Egg shells anymore. Most of the time, he fed them to the pig.

On top of that, the Half-Spirit Fish occasionally evolved.

Ji Yuan could only say: he could not spend it all. He simply could not spend it all.

With more Spirit Stones, Ji Yuan's cultivation became lavish as well. He began... taking pills.

The cultivation pill most suitable for Qi Refining cultivators was called the Spirit-Gathering Pill. It could increase a cultivator's absorption speed of heaven and earth spiritual qi and shorten the time needed for a circulation cycle.

Its price was not cheap either. A single pill cost 10 Spirit Stones.

But it was still within Ji Yuan's means. So during the day, he comprehended spells in the Dao Comprehension Chamber or went to the Talisman Room to draw Talismans.

At night, he began taking pills and cultivating.

Under this cultivation routine, the first thing he comprehended was the second layer of Water Drop Finger.

He guessed that the first layer had laid the foundation, so on the third day of secluded cultivation, he comprehended Stone-Piercing.

For that, he deliberately went out to find a Reed Marsh. With a lift of his hand, he watched three strands of spiritual light as thin as hairs gather at his fingertips.

Compared to the first layer, the second-layer Stone-Piercing was even more concealed.

It was just that getting three consecutive streaks of spiritual light to strike the exact same spot was somewhat difficult.

He had to use it together with the Surging Waves Sword Art for the effect to be better.

After some experimentation, Ji Yuan returned home to continue cultivating bitterly.

He had thought that the second breakthrough would either be gaining entry-level mastery of the first layer of the Surging Waves Sword Art, or, failing that, his cultivation, which had faintly reached its boundary, breaking through.

Yet unexpectedly, the sword art simply refused to let him gain entry, while the path of Talismans achieved a breakthrough instead.

That day, Ji Yuan had even forgotten that he was in the [Dao Comprehension Chamber] rather than the [Talisman Room]. He took out his talisman brush and began drawing Talismans, only to accidentally step over the threshold of Middle-Grade Talismans that had troubled him for so long.

He started with a Golden Body Talisman, the very talisman that had once saved his life. After successfully drawing the first one, Ji Yuan immediately moved to the [Talisman Room].

With the success-rate bonus, a single Middle-Grade Talisman sold for around 10 Spirit Stones...

Ji Yuan, who had never been particularly short of Spirit Stones, was even less short of them now.

That evening.

Ji Yuan, still unable to gain entry into the Surging Waves Sword Art, ended his daytime comprehension and was preparing to begin his nighttime pill-taking cultivation.

Yet just before that, he suddenly heard that the courtyards on both sides seemed livelier than usual.

In just that brief moment, the sound of fireworks exploding rose from distant Zengtou City.

After cultivating bitterly for many days, Ji Yuan thought for a moment before realizing... today was New Year's Eve.

"Fine, then. I'll take it as giving myself a day off."

Ji Yuan rose and came to the front courtyard. Fireworks constantly blossomed above distant Zengtou City, like silver flowers blooming across the sky.

Laughter and cheerful voices also drifted over from the neighboring courtyards.

Wu Qin was unusually loud, arguing with Lin Hu over whose fireworks were the prettiest.

From the courtyard on the other side came Wen Ling'er's childish voice again and again, along with Zhao Yuechan calling for her to slow down.

At this moment, Ji Yuan rarely felt a trace of loneliness.

The liveliness belongs to them. It seems I have nothing at all... Coupled with his inability to gain entry into the sword art these past days, it only deepened Ji Yuan's sense of desolation.

He unconsciously summoned the flying sword Whitewater.

The Whitewater Flying Sword curled softly around his fingers.

Boom—

A firework suddenly exploded overhead. Ji Yuan raised his head, and the sky seemed to bloom into a blazing tree of fire.

In a daze, he seemed to feel something. In his heart, he said, Go.

The Whitewater Flying Sword left his hand, the sword shooting forth like Entangling Waves.

New Year's Eve.

Ji Yuan gained entry into the Surging Waves Sword Art.