Add Points to Mana, Blazing Fire Filled the Sky

"Senior, that night, amid howling winds and torrential rain, I went through untold hardships to pick this spirit herb from the top of a cliff."

Chen Xun was on the verge of breaking down again, tears glistening in his eyes. "To preserve its medicinal properties, I was severely wounded, all so I could deliver it to you as quickly as possible."

Faced with this performance, the Sect Elder was at a loss again. After hesitating for a moment, he added ten spirit stones to Chen Xun's payment.

"Senior has discerning eyes! Truly discerning eyes!"

Chen Xun cried out excitedly, as though he had never seen spirit stones in his life.

The Sect Elder inspected Chen Xun, making his heart jolt. He was actually a Qi Condensation Stage 7 cultivator, and so young at that!

Under the Sect Elder's astonished gaze, Chen Xun bought another thirty medicine boxes and carried them away in a snakeskin sack...

"Is he really a Qi Condensation Stage 7 cultivator?"

The Sect Elder stood there in a daze for a long while. Nothing about this man's conduct or speech suggested it. He seemed more like a common mortal from the streets.

Hunched over, Chen Xun slowly wandered through the valley, haggling for ages at the loose cultivators' stalls before buying three bags of spirit herb seeds. This time, though, he carefully inspected everything before handing over the spirit stones.

He was utterly inconspicuous. Especially the holes in his snakeskin sack and the empty shell medicine boxes that occasionally showed through them—they made the seasoned loose cultivators feel terribly unlucky.

Chen Xun wandered around some more, then entered another sect pavilion and told a different version of the story.

There was not a trace of embarrassment in his words, yet every line brimmed with embarrassment. The snakeskin sack seemed to weigh his waist down even further.

Chen Xun's mournful face looked as though the family ox had died, never changing as he argued until his face turned red over a one-spirit-stone difference at the stalls.

At the Pill Refining Pavilion, he bought a better pill refining furnace for fifty Low-Grade Spirit Stones and asked about furnace explosions.

"So that was it." As Chen Xun walked along, realization flashed through his mind. The pill refining furnace also needed to be nourished with mana. He had always simply left it sitting around after using it.

Every hour, he went to different sect pavilions to sell hundred-year spirit herbs. The four hundred-year spirit herbs quickly sold out.

There were already more than ten bags of spirit herb seeds in the snakeskin sack, but they were all ingredients for pills used in the Qi Condensation Stage. Better ones could not be bought.

He "scoured" the place at an unhurried pace. Seeing his Qi Condensation Stage 7 cultivation, quite a few loose cultivators treated him with great courtesy and were even less willing to cheat him.

Then Chen Xun quickened his pace, a slight smile curling at his lips. He disappeared from Nine Stars Valley and returned to the Mountain Cave without incident.

"Old Ox, I'm back!"

Chen Xun moved the huge boulder aside with one hand. A black figure shot out, and Big Black Ox instantly pounced on him, repeatedly letting out mooing cries.

"Haha, come on, let's go inside and talk."

Chen Xun hugged the ox's head and looked around before sealing the Mountain Cave with the boulder and walking in.

"Moo moo~~" Big Black Ox kept circling Chen Xun, its eyes Filled With joy as it tugged at him with its mouth.

"All right, just this once. I'll never leave you behind again."

Chen Xun said happily, turning towards the snakeskin sack. "Hurry and look at the treasures inside!"

"Moo!"

Big Black Ox's eyes lit up. It seemed to smell quite a few spirit herb seeds and hurriedly went to inspect them, only to be utterly dumbfounded!

"Moo~~" Big Black Ox looked at Chen Xun in shock. There were more than twenty bags! That was incredible.

"Haha, Old Ox, I'll leave them to you. There are also plenty of spirit herbs for Qi Boosting Pills inside."

Chen Xun examined the pill refining furnace instead, cherishing it in his hands. This time, he would take good care of it.

"Moo moo!" Excitement flashed through Big Black Ox's eyes. It stood up and carried the bags into another cave. It loved planting spirit herbs.

Their Essence of All Things had now reached 40 in total. In one month, they could cultivate three spirit herbs over thirty years old.

"Old Ox, get to work!"

"Moo!"

One man and one ox were filled with passion for the future as they each got busy, their footsteps never stopping.

White clouds drifted leisurely, and time flew by. Another year passed through spring and autumn. Life was short; how many past events and memories had settled into its depths?

"Old Ox, store the medicine boxes properly. Nourish them with mana, and don't let the bugs chew through them."

"Moo moo!"

"Old Ox, remember to sort the spirit herbs by category. Don't be so careless in your work. If you don't build good habits now, what will you do later?"

"Moo~~ Moo!!"

On the outskirts of the Ningyun Mountain Range, within a certain Mountain Cave, even two Eternal Life Beings worked tirelessly, making the most of their time to do meaningful things. There was much less room for sighing over life's fleeting sorrows.

Yet this year, the Qian Kingdom seemed even more turbulent. There were even cultivators causing trouble among mortals.

The Ten Great Immortal Sects dispatched large numbers of disciples, vowing to stabilize order in the mortal world. This was the source of countless disciples—did they want to leave us with no successors?!

Cultivators revealed their divine might before mortals, and countless commoners were stirred with excitement, burning incense and worshipping Buddha for protection.

With the Ten Great Immortal Sects personally entering the fray, the Qian Kingdom seemed to grow even more chaotic. Demons and Monsters even began to appear.

More mortals came to the Ningyun Mountain Range seeking immortality. The demon beasts in the depths of the mountains grew excited, adding countless more corpses and bones. Even the Ascension Convention became somewhat chaotic.

Inside the Mountain Cave.

Ding, the host can now add points.

The Immortality System's voice rang out in Chen Xun's mind, and excitement gradually filled his eyes.

"Old Ox, this year we can try adding points to mana."

Chen Xun shouted to Big Black Ox, "Maybe our mana will surge greatly, and we'll break through in one stroke!"

"Moo."

Big Black Ox opened its large eyes and hurried over, its entire body black as coal. If not for that pair of ox horns, no one would have recognized it as an ox.

"Come on, This Seat is ready to ascend!"

"Moo moo~~!"

Excitement gleamed in Chen Xun and Big Black Ox's eyes. They sat cross-legged on the ground and began adding points.

Their current Longevity Points: Mana 1, Strength 21, Speed 21, Essence of All Things 20.

A warm current surged through their bodies. Chen Xun and Big Black Ox grew increasingly nervous, their eyes half-closed as they hurriedly sensed the mana within themselves.

Half an Hour passed...

"Huh? That's it?!"

"Moo?"

Chen Xun was dumbfounded. Big Black Ox was dumbfounded. They did not feel much of anything—they were still at Qi Condensation Stage 7.

The Mountain Cave remained as dark as ever, lit by candlelight. The breeze flowing through the trace of a crack in the huge boulder was still as gentle as ever.

"Did we add too few points?"

"Moo."

Big Black Ox nodded at Chen Xun. That had to be it—the more points they added, the better the effect.

"Then we'll see next year. Go work first, we're busy."

Chen Xun said indifferently. Big Black Ox nodded as well and ran off to the Medicine Field, utterly unconcerned.

Two months later.

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox were using the Fireball Spell to dry their clothes when blazing fire suddenly filled the Mountain Cave and thick smoke billowed everywhere.

"Wocao... put it away, quick!!"

"Moo!!"

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox roared in alarm. They withdrew the Fireball Spell, but their clothes had already burned to ashes.

Big Black Ox hurriedly pushed open the huge boulder. Chen Xun ran outside wearing only a pair of underpants, his eyes utterly lifeless...

"What... what happened?"

Chen Xun murmured numbly, slowly turning towards Big Black Ox. "I used the Fireball Spell."

"Moo moo?"

Big Black Ox shook its head, its eyes wide as it looked at Chen Xun suspiciously. You didn't secretly learn some other spell, did you? This is a Fireball Spell?

"Moo."

Big Black Ox nudged Chen Xun aside and stood up. It would show him what a Fireball Spell was—was he really trying to show off before this old ox?

Chen Xun stared blankly at Big Black Ox, still unable to make sense of it.

"Moo!"

Big Black Ox bellowed. Facing into the distance with a serious gaze, mana surged from its ox hooves, and an enormous fireball rose into the air.

Boom—crackle, crackle! Flames burst forth in waves, blazing fire filled the sky, and countless withered branches and leaves were incinerated as thick smoke rose.

"Old Ox, put it away! Go put out the fire!"

Chen Xun was horrified beyond measure. They had not learned any water-element spells yet—this was setting the mountain ablaze!