Initial-Grade Spirit Gathering Formation
For now, he could only speed up his cultivation by studying the Cultivation Method and improving his comprehension.
At first, Lin Xiao's head was full of thoughts of advancing as quickly as possible, and he could not calm down at all.
Sun Yigao, who had spent years studying, took one look at his restless state and knew he could not settle down to read.
So Sun Yigao simply lifted the hem of his robe, sat down on the ground beside him, and began softly reciting The Analects from memory.
Watching them, Jiang Youfu figured he had nothing else to do anyway. He sat down beside Lin Xiao and continued practicing Drawing Qi into the Body.
And so, accompanied by Sun Yigao's recitation and Jiang Youfu's rhythmic breathing, Lin Xiao's heart gradually grew calm.
The system silently turned off all the [Comprehension improvement +1] notifications.
A little over two hours passed.
Lin Xiao felt the power within him grow, gushing forth like springwater.
A system notification also sounded in his mind: [Ding-congratulations to the host on advancing to the Third Layer of Qi Refining.]
I did it!
Lin Xiao's eyes snapped open, and he leaped to his feet.
The commotion startled the two men beside him.
Seeing Lin Xiao's expression, Sun Yigao asked in delighted surprise:
"Did you succeed?"
Lin Xiao smiled and nodded.
Jiang Youfu stared, dumbfounded.
Good grief, I haven't even achieved Drawing Qi into the Body yet, and Brother Xiao is already at the Third Layer of Qi Refining!
That's my Brother Xiao for you.
Without wasting another moment, Lin Xiao began using the Qi Purification Technique on Auntie Sun, who lay on the bed.
Since Lin Xiao's cultivation was still very low, the Qi Purification Technique did not purify all the Yao Qi at once, but rather bit by bit.
Because it was his first time using the Qi Purification Technique, Lin Xiao held a Spirit Stone ready in his hand, just to be safe.
But whether it was because the demon that had used Yao Qi on Auntie Sun did not have much Demon Power itself, Lin Xiao's purification went very smoothly.
All the Yao Qi was cleared away before the Spiritual Power in his body ran out and he had to use the Spirit Stone.
Sun Yigao and Jiang Youfu watched as color visibly returned to Auntie Sun's ashen face, and her dark purple lips gradually turned pale.
When Lin Xiao stopped, Sun Yigao hurried forward and asked:
"How is my mother?"
Lin Xiao took a moment to get used to the feeling of having nearly exhausted the Spiritual Power in his body. It was all right, just a little like being hungry.
Then he smiled at him and said:
"The Yao Qi has been completely cleared away. Auntie Sun is fine now, but too much of her vital Qi was depleted. She'll be rather weak for a while, so she needs plenty of nourishing food and more time in the sun."
Sun Yigao nodded repeatedly.
Seeing this, Jiang Youfu silently made up his mind that he had to work even harder at cultivation from now on!
That way, if I meet someone who needs saving in the future, I can help them too!
"Water... water..."
Auntie Sun suddenly spoke from the bed, her eyes tightly shut as though she were having a nightmare.
Sun Yigao hurriedly turned and fetched the kettle from the outer room, then poured a cup of water and brought it in.
Auntie Sun opened her eyes just then.
Sun Yigao sat down at the head of the bed, helped his mother up against him, and brought the cup to her lips:
"Here, Mother, have some water."
Seeing this, Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu quietly slipped out of the room, leaving mother and son alone.
Jiang Youfu asked Lin Xiao in a hoarse voice:
"Brother Xiao, are we leaving?"
Looking refreshed after doing a good deed, Lin Xiao said softly:
"Of course we are. What, did you think we'd really stay here and wait for Sun Yigao to shower us with gratitude? Well, you've seen the benefits of cultivation now, haven't you?"
Jiang Youfu scratched his head and chuckled foolishly:
"Cultivating immortality is wonderful! Are we going back to the sect? I want to cultivate some more! I think I might be close to successfully achieving Drawing Qi into the Body~"
Lin Xiao was delighted to hear that:
"Oh? Really? Then let's go back to the sect!"
Jiang Youfu asked:
"Aren't we going to show off to Tietou and the others?"
As he looked at the sect reputation +2 in the system, a system notification sounded in his mind.
[Ding-congratulations to the host on successfully raising the sect's reputation to 5. The mission reward has been issued. Please check and claim it.]
That increase should have come from Sun Yigao and Sun Changfu.
Lin Xiao waved a hand.
"Not for now. How could showing off be more important than cultivation?"
As they spoke, the two walked out of the Sun Household.
By the time Sun Yigao had finished tending to his mother and came out to look for them, the two were already nowhere to be found.
Inside the Lingxian Sect's thatched shelter halfway up the mountain, Jiang Youfu sat peacefully in meditation.
Lin Xiao, meanwhile, was looking over the sect's data and checking the reward for the reputation mission.
[Reward for raising sect reputation: Initial-Grade Spirit Gathering Formation ×1, Spirit Stones ×10]
Lin Xiao's eyes lit up at the sight of the reward.
A Spirit Gathering Formation!
Wasn't this a powerful tool for cultivation?!
And the number of Spirit Stones this time had doubled!
Glancing at Fuzi, who was still struggling to achieve Drawing Qi into the Body, Lin Xiao promptly took out the Spirit Gathering Formation.
It was a formation disc with no physical substance, emitting a faint white glow.
Lin Xiao placed it in the very center of the thatched shelter.
As soon as the insubstantial Spirit Gathering Formation touched the ground, it vanished beneath the earth.
But as long as Lin Xiao thought of putting it away, it would immediately return to his hand.
Lin Xiao immediately set the formation disc in the center of the shelter.
Jiang Youfu, who was still struggling to cultivate, suddenly felt that the spiritual inspiration around him had grown much more abundant.
Sensing Spiritual Qi was suddenly not as difficult as before.
So he immersed himself even more deeply in cultivation.
The effect of the Initial-Grade Spirit Gathering Formation was quite obvious.
In less than two hours, Jiang Youfu finally achieved Drawing Qi into the Body and successfully entered the First Layer of Qi Refining!
[Ding-congratulations to this sect's elder, Jiang Youfu, on successfully advancing to the First Layer of Qi Refining.]
Lin Xiao was very gratified.
He silently took three Spirit Stones from his private store and topped up his idle cultivation.
Looking at the ten Spirit Stones left in his private store, Lin Xiao opened the shop, feeling thoroughly pleased with himself.
He promptly spent three Spirit Stones on the two synthesizers and the planting manual in the shop's recommended section.
With the items in hand, Lin Xiao left the thatched shelter without disturbing Jiang Youfu's cultivation.
He took a straw mat, placed it beneath the Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree, and sat down to study the items.
First was spirit herb soil synthesis.
Lin Xiao opened the [Spirit Herb Soil Synthesizer], and the familiar three slots appeared before him.
[Soil] + [Water] + [Spirit fertilizer / Spirit Stone]
The first two slots were easy enough, but the third required spirit fertilizer or a Spirit Stone.
He still had seven Spirit Stones. Judging by how many Spirit Stones the various synthesizers had required before, Lin Xiao estimated that this one would probably need only about one as well.
But he did not have many Spirit Stones at the moment, and idle cultivation alone cost him one every day.
So for now, he should save Spirit Stones wherever he could.
I'll try to find a way to get some spirit fertilizer first...
Ordinary farm fertilizer was made from excrement, but Lin Xiao knew that plants could also be composted for fertilizer.
But this fertilizer has "spirit" in its name...
A gentle breeze blew past, and a few petals drifted lightly onto Lin Xiao.
He lowered his eyes to the peach blossom petals that had fallen on him.
I wonder if the petals of this Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree count as Spirit Plants. If I use peach blossom petals, I should be able to compost them into fertilizer, right?