"Whew! ..."
Almost the instant he began practicing the Setting Sun Glow Breathing Method, a gentle breeze swept into the courtyard, and wisps of spiritual energy from heaven and earth entered his body through his newly opened apertures.
The meridians and acupoints Xu Taiping had never been able to sense before were now easy to detect. Even the process of guiding spiritual energy into his meridians and refining it went smoothly.
In the end, after half an incense stick's worth of time, Xu Taiping successfully sent a strand of refined true qi into his dantian.
"It took half an incense stick to refine just one strand of true qi. Compared to the geniuses Purple Sun True Lord spoke of, that's hardly worth mentioning. But for me, it means I can finally set foot on the path of cultivation."
Xu Taiping was not particularly discouraged by his painfully slow refining speed.
"Grandpa said diligence can make up for a lack of talent. If they practice four hours a day, I'll practice eight. If they practice eight, I'll practice sixteen. One day, I'll catch up!"
Xu Taiping silently steeled his resolve.
"Oh, right, I still have those soybean spirit crystals. Fairy Lingyue said holding one while practicing would let me get twice the results with half the effort."
He suddenly remembered the few soybean spirit crystals that had formed inside the Earth Treasury Fruit, so he took one out on the spot and began practicing again.
With the soybean spirit crystal's help, he refined the spiritual energy of heaven and earth more than three times as quickly as before.
"Fairy Lingyue really wasn't lying. This spirit crystal is a huge help. At this rate, I might actually break through the Gate Opening Realm within six months!"
When he felt his cultivation speed increase, Xu Taiping's face immediately lit up with delight.
With the soybean spirit crystal's help, his cultivation speed was now at least comparable to that of an ordinary cultivator.
In the days that followed, apart from spending four hours tending his herb field each day, Xu Taiping devoted all his time to cultivation, not daring to waste a single moment.
Three months passed in the blink of an eye.
Over those three months, Xu Taiping could clearly feel the true qi in his dantian growing increasingly abundant. He had a vague sense that he was close to breaking through the dew condensation stage.
The so-called dew condensation stage was actually a term used in the Setting Sun Glow Art, describing the depth of a cultivator's true qi before they broke through the Gate Opening Realm.
In the Setting Sun Glow Art, the depth of a cultivator's true qi before breaking through the Gate Opening Realm was divided into three levels: dew condensation, frost transformation, and ice formation.
Only after their true qi surpassed the ice formation stage could cultivators attempt to break through the Gate Opening Realm.
However, once they broke through the dew condensation stage and entered the frost transformation stage, practicing the Setting Sun Glow Art would produce a layer of icy protective true qi around their bodies, effectively clothing them in a suit of superb refined-iron armor.
Even though he had yet to break through the dew condensation stage, the increasing abundance of true qi in his dantian had already brought clear changes to Xu Taiping's body.
For instance, his eyesight and hearing had grown much sharper than they had been three months earlier.
As for his eyesight, he could now clearly make out even a sparrow perched in a tree five hundred meters away. As for his hearing, he could identify the wild beasts in the mountain forests within a li of him by sound alone.
His stamina and running speed had also improved greatly.
Though Xu Taiping still looked thin and frail, he could now lift a two-hundred-jin millstone with one hand without any trouble. As for his running speed, he had once chased a wild deer through the nearby mountain forests and kept pace with it the whole way.
Moreover, back in Green Ox Village, he had often gone into the mountains with his grandfather to hunt game. He knew how to use a bow and make traps, so over the past month, he had been able to eat wild game every day.
Perilla leaves paired with roasted venison or rabbit-he never tired of it, no matter how often he ate it.
"Come to think of it, it's time to check the traps I set on Rear Mountain a few days ago. Maybe I'll catch another Yellow Sheep to eat."
Around noon that day, after cultivating for six hours, Xu Taiping rubbed his stomach and rose from his bed, planning to head to Rear Mountain shortly to check his traps.
Since cultivation left him little time to hunt, he had set quite a few traps on the nearby mountains over the past three months. Now, all he had to do was check them from time to time to bring back some game.
Before that, however, he had something more important to do-
Sell his medicinal herbs.
Three months had passed since he sowed his first batch of nine-leaf white perilla seeds. Xu Taiping had harvested over three hundred jin of perilla roots and stems and over sixty jin of perilla seeds-exactly three times the yield of an ordinary herb field, no more and no less.
"By weight, this patch of nine-leaf white perilla should fetch at least ninety-six Merit Coins. That's already more than three times what I originally expected."
After carrying all the herbs he intended to sell to the entrance and setting them down, Xu Taiping took out the Bone Flute the West Wind Pavilion had given him and blew hard into it.
"Kree! ..."
Before long, a White-Headed Eagle with a wingspan of a full zhang arrived at the courtyard entrance.
"Uncle White Eagle, please help me take these herbs to the Hundred Herbs Hall to sell. You can take three Merit Coins from the proceeds afterward."
Xu Taiping cupped his hands toward the White-Headed Eagle standing before him.
Sending a spirit bird to sell medicinal herbs was another method he had learned from the Cultivation Transmission Jade Slip. It said ordinary medicinal herbs could be sent directly to market with a spirit bird, saving time and effort, though a fee of three Merit Coins had to be paid afterward.
"I'll bring the money tomorrow."
The Spirit Bird, the White-Headed Eagle, wasted no words. After a slight nod, he grasped the bundle of herbs in his talons and soared into the air.
"Tomorrow, I'll have the money to buy cultivation methods and Martial Arts from the Ten Thousand Scrolls Tower."
Watching the White-Headed Eagle depart, Xu Taiping interlaced his fingers and stretched luxuriously.
Although he still needed to save money for a True Fire Talisman, buying a Martial Art for self-defense was necessary. On an earlier hunting trip in the mountains, several wild boars had nearly injured him.
At present, his dantian was full of true qi, but he had no idea how to put it to use.
For a cultivator, buying a spell to practice would actually have been better. Unfortunately, his purse was too thin, and he simply could not afford one. That would have to wait until he had saved more money.
Besides, before breaking through the Gate Opening Realm, even with the Setting Sun Glow Art, Xu Taiping would not have enough true qi in his body to cast spells.
"I ought to replace this bow and hunting knife, too."
By then, Xu Taiping had fetched his bow, arrows, and hunting knife from the cottage and was ready to set off for Rear Mountain.
The bow, arrows, and hunting knife had all been left behind by the previous owner of the Green Bamboo Abode. The knife's edge was riddled with nicks, and the bowstring had snapped once. Xu Taiping had only managed to mend it with considerable difficulty.
Living alone in the mountains, with plenty of wild beasts around his courtyard, he still needed these most basic weapons for self-defense.
Half an incense stick later.
Rear Mountain.
Although Xu Taiping called it Rear Mountain, according to the map in the jade slip, it was actually named Sheep Deer Mountain, after the many Yellow Sheep and deer found there.
Yet on his recent trips into the mountain, Xu Taiping had discovered that Yellow Sheep and deer were not actually very common. Instead, there were plenty of wild boars roaming in herds.
"Catching a wild boar would be good, too. At least I wouldn't have to worry about food for the next half month."
As Xu Taiping ran through the mountain, he surveyed his surroundings warily and muttered to himself.
Although cultivators could go without food, they had to break through the Gate Opening Realm first. At present, not only could Xu Taiping not forgo food, he also had to eat large quantities of meat to replenish the stamina he expended while cultivating.
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