Cultivation

Seeing his uncle's surprise, delight, and disbelief, Xu Qingtong nodded and said, "Yesterday, I read the Five Elixirs Origin Refinement Art left by our ancestor and studied it carefully. I followed the book's instructions and spent the night meditating and regulating my breathing. To my surprise, I really did form a dantian within my body and cultivate magic power. I just don't know how to use it yet."

Chen Jialiang looked rather excited. "I also studied the Five Elixirs Origin Refinement Art left by our Fifth Ancestor carefully, but even when I followed its instructions, I couldn't sense spiritual qi. I thought I had no affinity with immortality. I never imagined you would be able to cultivate. It seems another immortal will emerge from our Chen family line!"

Xu Qingtong knew his uncle must lack a spirit root and therefore could not sense the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, but he found it difficult to explain this to him. He could only say, "Perhaps the cultivation art our ancestor left behind isn't suited to you, Uncle. Once I enter the Immortal Sect and make some progress in cultivation, I'll find some suitable arts for you to try."

Chen Jialiang also felt that his nephew's words made sense, so he thought no more of it. "Qingtong, cultivate according to the art our ancestor passed down for now. If you need anything, just tell me." With that, Chen Jialiang headed straight to the Front Hall.

When Chen Ruoling returned, Xu Qingtong asked her not to disturb him unless something needed his attention, then went back to the West Wing.

Chen Ruoling was a little puzzled. Why hadn't her younger cousin gone to the study today? Remembering his request not to disturb him, she said nothing more.

Xu Qingtong returned to his room, sat cross-legged on the bed, and began meditating and regulating his breathing. Remembering that he could divide his attention between two tasks, he tried sweeping his divine sense toward the Front Hall while meditating.

The Front Hall was only about thirty or forty feet from the West Wing where Xu Qingtong stayed, just within the range of his divine sense. He saw his uncle, Chen Jialiang, consulting with a young boy about his own age, then swept his divine sense toward the medicine cabinet on the right.

With that look, he discovered something new. Several medicinal ingredients in the cabinet gave off distinct fluctuations of spiritual qi, which struck Xu Qingtong as rather intriguing.

After circulating his energy through one complete cycle, Xu Qingtong stopped cultivating. Once he finished, he went to the Front Hall. A sweep of his divine sense located the medicinal ingredients he had noticed earlier: amethyst, ginseng, dragon bone... (The dragon bone mentioned here is a traditional Chinese medicinal ingredient, not an actual dragon's bone.)

Seeing Xu Qingtong rummaging through the medicinal ingredients, Chen Jialiang asked, "Qingtong, why are you looking for herbs instead of studying in your room?"

"Uncle, these ingredients are a little unusual. I'd like to take them back and examine them." As he spoke, Xu Qingtong took out a ginseng root about thirty years old, a piece of amethyst the size of a baby's fist, and a piece of dragon bone weighing over two catties.

Chen Jialiang looked at what Xu Qingtong had selected. They were among the most valuable medicinal ingredients in the shop. Worried that he might damage them, he said, "Be careful. Don't get them dirty or damage them, and bring them back when you're done."

Xu Qingtong agreed and returned to his room with the ingredients. He picked up the old ginseng root and examined it closely. Apart from its age, he found nothing unusual about it.

He swept his divine sense over the ginseng and discovered faint fluctuations of green spiritual qi within it. Though there was not much, it was clearly far denser than the spiritual qi in the surrounding air.

Putting down the ginseng, Xu Qingtong picked up the piece of amethyst. A sweep of his divine sense revealed some spiritual qi fluctuations inside it as well, but unlike the ginseng, the spiritual qi within the amethyst was yellow.

He then picked up the dragon bone and examined it with his divine sense in the same way. He discovered that its spiritual qi was an earthy yellow, just like that in the amethyst.

Xu Qingtong grew excited. Divine sense really was a wonderful thing: a sweep of it could reveal what the naked eye could not see. It seemed he should use his divine sense to examine things more often in the future. Perhaps he would make some pleasantly surprising discoveries.

Looking at the dragon bone in his hand, an idea struck him, and he began circulating the Five Elixirs Origin Refinement Art. Immediately, threads of spiritual qi flowed from the dragon bone along his arm and into his body.

Xu Qingtong guided this spiritual qi with his divine sense through the extraordinary meridians and the eight meridians, finally refining it into magic power and channeling it into his dantian.

About an hour later, Xu Qingtong had drained all the spiritual qi from the dragon bone. He checked his dantian and found that the cloud of energy within it had grown to the size of a peanut.

This was a considerable and delightful surprise. He had never expected the spiritual qi in a single medicinal ingredient to far exceed what he had gained from an entire night of meditation and cultivation. Yet a moment later, he was dumbfounded!

After he drained its spiritual qi, the piece of dragon bone weighing two or three catties had turned from lustrous white to gray. He set it on the table, only for it to crumble straight into gray powder.

Xu Qingtong thought for a moment, then understood. The spiritual qi within the dragon bone had been its essence. With that drawn out, only worthless residue remained. It would have been stranger if it had not crumbled!

Looking at the crumbled dragon bone, he turned his gaze toward the two remaining ingredients. Leading one sheep or a whole flock still means leading sheep! How much difference could there be between ruining one ingredient and ruining three? At worst, Uncle will give me a scolding!

With that thought, he picked up the ginseng root.

By nearly noon, Xu Qingtong had successfully turned the three medicinal ingredients into three piles of herbal dregs, while the magic power within his body had grown to the size of a pigeon's egg.

That thirty-year-old ginseng root was remarkable indeed. It had taken him nearly two hours just to absorb all the spiritual qi within it.

Xu Qingtong stared blankly at the three piles of herbal dregs. Cultivating this way was certainly faster, but the price was far too high! An ordinary family could never afford it.

Xu Qingtong had just finished clearing away the three piles of herbal dregs when he saw his uncle return from the front. It was time for lunch.

Like a child who had done something wrong, he hesitantly approached Chen Jialiang and said sheepishly, "Uncle, I noticed some spiritual qi in the three ingredients I took this morning, so I circulated my cultivation art to absorb it. They ended up turning into herbal dregs."

Chen Jialiang was taken aback. "There's actually spiritual qi in medicinal ingredients? How effective was absorbing the spiritual qi from those three ingredients?"

Xu Qingtong said, "It was much more effective than normal meditation and cultivation. I spent the morning absorbing the spiritual qi from those three ingredients, and it was probably equivalent to five days of cultivation."

Chen Jialiang nodded. "As long as it worked. If the ingredients are gone, we can buy more. What does spending a little money matter, so long as it helps you? Go to the Front Hall again this afternoon. Take anything useful!"

Hearing his uncle speak so casually, as though those medicinal ingredients meant nothing at all, Xu Qingtong was deeply moved. Still, he caught a trace of pain at the expense in Chen Jialiang's eyes.

Those three ingredients must have cost several dozen taels of silver at the very least. His uncle was kindhearted and often helped his neighbors, and the family was not particularly wealthy.

After lunch, Xu Qingtong returned to his room. He did not intend to search the Front Hall for more medicinal ingredients that could aid his cultivation. He lay on the bed, in no mood to cultivate, pondering his next step and how to obtain the resources he needed.

By chance, his hand touched something beneath the pillow. He took it out and saw that it was Lu Mo's Storage Bag.

An idea stirred in Xu Qingtong's mind. Before, he had been unable to open the bag because he lacked divine sense. Now that he had it, why not give it a try?

At that thought, he scrambled up and extended his divine sense into the Storage Bag. One look filled Xu Qingtong with delight.

The space inside the Storage Bag measured about ten feet across. It held a few pieces of clothing, dozens of translucent crystals, some bottles and jars, and several elongated jade slips.