Qi Refining Fifth Layer

The cultivation room stood less than four meters tall, and unlike the sect hall, it had no faintly visible, shimmering colors. From the outside, it was an utterly ordinary house of earth and timber.

Even its roof was covered in dull gray tiles.

But after Lin Xiao opened the door to the cultivation room and took his first step inside, he knew the Initial-Grade Spirit Gathering Formation and the few Spirit Stones he had put in it were well worth the price.

The moment he entered, he felt dense Spiritual Qi surging toward him from every direction!

Drawing Qi into the Body in an environment like this had to be a hundred times faster than outside!

Lin Xiao was in a wonderful mood. Without waiting a moment or even looking at the mission reward, he raced straight to the thatched shelter.

He made a little noise, interrupting everyone's cultivation.

Lin Xiao smiled at everyone.

"Come on, come on! I'll take you to a great place to cultivate!"

With that, he lifted the shelter's curtain and beckoned them to follow.

Everyone followed him, unsure what was going on.

When they spotted another house up ahead from a distance, they were surprised for a moment. Then they suddenly remembered the sect hall from before and immediately calmed down.

It wasn't as if they hadn't seen this before. What was there to be surprised about?

Looking at the newly appeared house from afar, they saw that it seemed different from the sect hall. It looked like an utterly ordinary house.

Still, it definitely looked a little more finely made than their houses back home.

The mud bricks had been packed tightly, and the walls had been laid very neatly.

When everyone reached the house, they took a closer look.

It really did seem to be an ordinary house?

But before they could puzzle over it, Lin Xiao had pushed the door open and was urging them inside, looking eager to get started.

They were baffled, but all obediently stepped inside.

Good heavens!

This concentration of Spiritual Qi!

Then they saw the rows of straw mats on either side of the room, and what was there left to wonder about?

Without needing Lin Xiao to say another word, they hurried in, each found a place to sit, and began cultivating.

Seeing this, Lin Xiao nodded in satisfaction, just like an old father.

Cultivation room, done!

Ah, he had opened up a large plot of spirit field and built the cultivation room in a single morning. He felt a great sense of accomplishment.

Basking in the spring sunshine, the thoroughly contented Lin Xiao leisurely drifted off to sleep.

At noon, Lin Xiao caught the aroma of food and woke up hungry.

He turned his head and saw Fuzi and the others warming up lunch beside him.

Lin Xiao looked around but didn't see his elder brother, Lin Yun. He had probably already gone down the mountain.

He walked over to the fire everyone had built, found an empty spot, and plopped down.

"You were eating lunch without even waking me."

Jiang Youfu said:

"Brother Xiao, we saw you were sleeping soundly and figured you must have worn yourself out this morning. So we didn't wake you. We wanted to let you rest a little longer."

The others beside him all chimed in agreement.

Seeing everyone warming their dry rations by the fire, Lin Xiao pulled out a sweet potato and a steamed bun from inside his robe.

Sun Yigao took the food box out of his Storage Bag and opened the lid.

Inside were three dishes and a soup, packed to the brim. Even though they had gone cold, their fragrance swept into everyone's nostrils.

Sun Yigao took the only bowl of white rice out of the box, then set the box down in the middle of the group and called to everyone:

"Let's eat together."

Seeing how generous he was, they didn't stand on ceremony. Grinning, they thanked him, snapped off a couple of nearby twigs to use as chopsticks, and now and then picked up some food from the box and tucked it into their own dry rations, eating in great mouthfuls.

Five days passed in a flash as they spent their days cultivating in such a leisurely, pleasant way.

In Xiushui Village, there was much speculation about Lin Xiao and the others going up the mountain every day.

But the only people who knew what they were actually doing were those close to them, along with the old village chief, Clan Leader Hu, and a few other village elders who had their suspicions.

They knew because they had personally seen an immortal taking disciples thirty years ago.

But for some reason, apart from their closest younger relatives, they had told no one that Lin Xiao and the others might be cultivating immortality.

And almost everyone who knew kept their lips sealed, mentioning it to no one else.

Thus, most villagers merely guessed that the youths went up the mountain every day to practice martial arts.

And the Lin Household's second boy was surely the best at it.

Otherwise, how could he have crippled Boss Liu's hands and feet so easily back then?

That was how gossip worked: people added oil and vinegar, mixing half-true facts with guesses.

For Xiushui Village, today was a perfectly ordinary, quiet day.

But for Lin Xiao, it was a day well worth celebrating.

Early that morning, not long after he went up the mountain, two things happened.

The first.

As usual, he went to check the Mo Mulberry field early in the morning, and to his delight, he discovered that the spirit silkworms on it had actually started spinning silk!

Some had clearly already formed cocoons!

Lin Xiao, who had given up hope of making sect uniforms anytime soon, was reinvigorated!

The other thing happened not long after he discovered the spirit silkworms spinning silk, when a system notification suddenly sounded in his mind.

[Ding-Congratulations, sect member Sun Yigao has advanced to Qi Refining Second Layer. The host can check the sect member panel.]

!

Sun Yigao had actually reached Qi Refining Second Layer!

Lin Xiao immediately opened the sect member panel to check.

Sure enough!

[Name: Sun Yigao]

[Sex: Male]

[Bone age: 15]

[Aptitude: As rare as a phoenix feather or qilin horn]

[Cultivation: Qi Refining Second Layer]

[Sect status: Personal disciple (changeable)]

[Sect position: Teaching elder (changeable)]

As expected of an aptitude as rare as a phoenix feather or qilin horn!

Although he hadn't been the earliest to join, he was the first of all the sect members to reach Qi Refining Second Layer.

And just yesterday and the day before, Qin Jianghe and Hu Liang, who had found cultivation more difficult, had also advanced to Qi Refining First Layer, one after the other.

Now, everyone in the Lingxian Sect had reached Qi Refining!

Lin Xiao felt that everyone's efforts accounted for half the reason they were cultivating so quickly, while the other half was thanks to the cultivation room.

If a craftsman wished to do his work well, he must first sharpen his tools. There really was truth to that saying.

These days, whether he had anything to do or not, Lin Xiao would also spend his time in the cultivation room, cultivating alongside everyone else.

The results were plain to see.

Since he had begun cultivating personally, his understanding of the cultivation method had risen rapidly, and his cultivation had continued to climb.

Now he was just one last push away from Qi Refining Fifth Layer.

Lin Xiao had just come out of the mulberry silkworm field and was preparing to go to the cultivation room for that final push when he saw Qin Jianghe arrive. Qin Jianghe had said he was going to visit the family of the girl he had previously met as a prospective bride and present formal gifts today.

Somewhat distracted, he walked up to the cultivation room and was about to go inside without even noticing Lin Xiao beside him.

Seeing him like this, Lin Xiao was afraid he might suffer Qi Deviation when he cultivated, so he hurriedly pulled him back and asked:

"Jianghe, what's wrong? Why do you look so listless?"