Purple Gourd

After finding no further functions in the space, Xiao Yu turned his attention to the cultivation arts displayed on the book. He wanted to know how these two newly appeared arts differed from the original, so he settled into position and began meditating.

First, he recalled the glowing instructions on the left side of the book. For now, he would call it the Number One Fire Cloud Art.

Four double-hours passed as Xiao Yu followed the energy circulation route of the Number One Fire Cloud Art through nine complete major cycles. With his eyes closed, he looked inward at his dantian, quietly assessing the results of that day's cultivation.

After a long while, Xiao Yu opened his eyes and murmured to himself, "It feels a little harder to circulate than the original art, and the meridians the spiritual energy passes through are slightly more complicated. Hmm, I'll count the magical power refined today as ten units. Tomorrow, I'll see how the other art performs."

The next day, Xiao Yu practiced the Number Two Fire Cloud Art displayed on the right side of the book. He found that this version was a little simpler than the original, but it refined only six units of magical power.

On the third day, Xiao Yu practiced the original Fire Cloud Art. Its difficulty fell between the other two, as did the spiritual energy it produced: eight units of magical power.

Through this comparison, Xiao Yu reached a conclusion that sent him wild with joy-the mysterious book could extrapolate cultivation arts, either strengthening or weakening them. Moreover, practicing the extrapolated arts caused no physical discomfort whatsoever.

Since it can extrapolate an art better than the original, why would it also produce a weakened version? Xiao Yu could not help wondering. Perhaps it was meant for arts with severe side effects? He ventured that guess.

Never mind that for now. From now on, I'll use the enhanced version as my main cultivation art.

Xiao Yu beamed. With the same cultivation art, practicing the extrapolated, enhanced version would give him more magical power than others. In many situations, more magical power meant greater strength. What a delightful discovery!

After reveling in his joy for a while, Xiao Yu reined in his excitement. With a flip of his hand, a small, exquisitely crafted purple gourd appeared in his palm-the very one he had picked up in the mysterious space.

The mouth of the gourd clearly appeared to have a lid, with a tiny seam running around it, but no matter how much strength Xiao Yu used, he could not open it.

Over the past three days, Xiao Yu had tried all sorts of methods. He had attempted to channel spiritual energy into it, but the energy could only flow over the gourd's surface and could not enter at all. His spiritual sense fared no better, unable to penetrate even a fraction of an inch. He had also tried claiming ownership with a drop of blood, biting his finger open, but even after his blood had formed a puddle, the gourd still showed no response.

Holding the gourd before his eyes, Xiao Yu studied the lifelike flowers, grasses, and trees on its surface. Could it have something to do with plants? Is it similar to the Heaven-Controlling Bottle?

At this thought, Xiao Yu used a magical artifact to bore a small hole above the doorway of his stone chamber, allowing moonlight to shine inside. Then he quietly waited for nightfall.

That evening, Xiao Yu placed the gourd where the moonlight could reach it inside the cave and stared at it without blinking.

Time trickled past. The long night of waiting ended, and the light of dawn washed away the moonlight.

Xiao Yu rubbed his aching eyes and looked at the utterly unchanged gourd, unable to keep himself from cursing inwardly. He kept doing such stupid things. Perhaps this gourd was nothing more than an ordinary ornament, not a treasure at all, and he had gone to all this trouble for nothing.

Just as Xiao Yu was about to pick up the wretched gourd, a ray of sunlight shone through the hole above the doorway.

An astonishing sight unfolded. As the sunlight fell on the gourd, the flowers, grasses, and trees on its surface seemed to come alive, slowly writhing.

Countless purple motes appeared in the sunlight striking the gourd's surface. The instant they emerged, they swarmed inside the gourd. As the motes entered, vast quantities of spiritual energy gathered around it, then surged inside along with them.

These strange phenomena continued for the time it took an incense stick to burn before stopping. Xiao Yu watched with his mouth hanging open, his heart pounding. I've struck it rich! This gourd is definitely a treasure!

With trembling hands, Xiao Yu picked up the gourd, gripped the lid, and twisted and pulled. "Hmm?" It still would not budge! Xiao Yu scratched his head and thought it over. Perhaps it had not absorbed enough energy?

So Xiao Yu placed the gourd in the sunlight again, shifting it as the light moved to keep it constantly illuminated. Later, when the sunlight could no longer reach it, he even went outside to a deserted spot and took out the gourd to let it continue basking in the sun. Unfortunately, despite all his efforts, it showed no further response. Xiao Yu had spent the entire day laboring in vain.

After resting for a night, Xiao Yu set the gourd in the same spot inside his stone chamber. As the first ray of sunlight shone in, the previous day's strange phenomena appeared again.

Watching this, Xiao Yu finally felt the weight lift from his heart.

Over the next few days, Xiao Yu continued letting the gourd absorb purple light and spiritual energy. Finally, on the fifth day, after the strange phenomena subsided, he picked it up and tried twisting the lid again. This time, it came off with ease.

Bringing it close to his eyes, he saw a purple droplet the size of a soybean inside. It gleamed, bathing the gourd's inner walls in a lustrous purple glow.

"These phenomena, this liquid... it's hard not to think of the Heaven-Controlling Bottle," Xiao Yu murmured. The Heaven-Controlling Bottle absorbed moonlight and then produced a drop of green liquid; this gourd absorbed sunlight and produced a drop of purple liquid. Could their effects be similar?

Next, Xiao Yu went into the mountains and caught two wild rabbits, then searched the Cangliang Mountains for several ginseng plants that were a few years old.

By the time he returned to the cave, night had fallen.

Xiao Yu filled a ladle with clean water, then added the purple droplet. The entire ladleful quickly turned purple. He brought the ladle to the two rabbits' mouths and forced some of the water down their throats, then poured the remaining liquid over the roots of one ginseng plant. He had dug it up with a large clump of soil and brought it back intact. Now all he had to do was watch for changes.

The rabbits soon reacted. Not long after drinking the purple liquid, they grew restless and violent, repeatedly slamming their bodies against their cage and letting out pained squeaks. Before long, bulges rose along their limbs and bodies. The bulges grew larger and larger, until their entire bodies began to swell.

Xiao Yu hurriedly covered the cage with a large piece of cotton cloth. He had barely finished when he heard two explosive bangs, and something struck the cloth from beneath, making it billow.

Once everything fell silent, Xiao Yu lifted the cloth and found it covered in fragments of rabbit flesh. Clearly, both rabbits inside the cage had exploded and died. Inwardly clicking his tongue at the sight, he turned to look expectantly at the ginseng plant.

Perhaps not enough time had passed; the ginseng showed no obvious changes yet.

Seeing that nothing was happening for the moment, Xiao Yu stopped watching, turned around, and sat cross-legged, immersing himself in cultivation again.

Early the next morning, Xiao Yu opened his eyes and immediately looked toward the ginseng inside the cave.

"Hahaha! Heaven truly favors me, Xiao Yu..." He abruptly burst into laughter.

The ginseng, which had been only a few years old the day before, with slender stems and leaves, had now grown several times larger. Its age appeared to have reached several decades, approaching a hundred years.

The two rabbits had drunk only a small portion of the ladleful of water mixed with purple liquid, while most of it had been poured over the ginseng's roots. If he had used a full drop of purple liquid, the ginseng should have reached a hundred years of age.

A ginseng plant's medicinal age could be determined from the small rings on its root. A hundred-year-old ginseng had only one small silver ring, while a two-hundred-year-old specimen would have two.

The pattern continued until, at a thousand years, the small silver rings would gradually turn golden.

Looking at the ginseng, Xiao Yu could not close his broadly grinning mouth. He stifled his voice, letting out an ugly series of chuckles and laughs.

Overwhelmed with excitement, Xiao Yu stroked the little gourd with trembling hands and kept grinning foolishly.

After reaching the tenth level, he had originally planned to find a time soon to visit the Seven Mysteries Sect and seize the little bottle. He had never expected heaven to let him obtain this purple gourd instead. It needed only five days to recharge, while the Heaven-Controlling Bottle required seven. Didn't that make this gourd an enhanced version of the Heaven-Controlling Bottle?

"Hahaha! My cheat may have come late, but it finally came! With this treasure in hand, I, Xiao Yu, have hope on the path to immortality!"