Chapter 7
Shan Heyuan hurriedly said, "The seedlings aren't for sale, but the rest are."
The price offered for the seedlings was too low. Shan Heyuan would rather take them home and try growing them.
The cultivator said, "All right, that comes to 2,626 spirit beads. How about we round it up to 2,630?"
Shan Heyuan looked at Shen Duheng. This time, Shen Duheng had no objections, so Shan Heyuan asked the cultivator to settle the payment in spirit beads.
The cultivator agreed with a smile and even gave Shan Heyuan a little booklet called Spirit Herb Identification.
He had carried the spirit herb seedlings there in his baskets and was carrying them back just as they were, but Shan Heyuan was in an excellent mood.
It was not just because he had earned spirit beads by selling the spirit herbs, but also because this was the first time he had gathered wild spirit herbs outdoors.
This was a business that cost him nothing. If he gathered a few more batches, he might soon be able to pay off what he owed Shen Duheng.
After leaving Hidden Spirits, Shan Heyuan carried the baskets on his shoulder, the weight of the spirit beads heavy in his robe. He said to Shen Duheng, "Brother Shen, are you hungry? There's a noodle shop two streets over that's especially good. Let me treat you to noodles!"
Shen Duheng glanced at him and nodded in agreement.
Shan Heyuan happily carried the baskets on his shoulder, ready to walk with Shen Duheng to the noodle shop two streets away.
Shen Duheng followed behind him, a smile on his face as well.
Chapter 7
After cultivating for some time, Shan Heyuan's meridians had widened slightly. He now cultivated twice a day, mainly in the early morning and at dusk.
Early morning and dusk were both times when day and night gave way to each other. Spiritual Qi was most active then, and also easiest to draw in.
Shan Heyuan sat cross-legged beneath the large tree in the courtyard, his breathing steady and long.
Formless, colorless Spiritual Qi lingered around him. He drew it in, circulated it through a Greater Celestial Circuit, and let it disperse again.
Over and over.
Shen Duheng lay on a reclining chair outside the porch, reading a book.
He preferred paper books to reading directly with his Divine Sense.
He was halfway through this book and completely absorbed in it.
Suddenly, Shen Duheng looked up from the book toward Shan Heyuan.
Shan Heyuan sat very straight in the fading light, his closed eyes lending his face a serene look.
Compared with his expression, the Spiritual Qi around his body was much more chaotic.
A small vortex of Spiritual Qi was circling constantly around his body.
Shen Duheng rose from the reclining chair and walked over to Shan Heyuan. He raised his hand and held it just in front of Shan Heyuan's brow, about to help him set the Spiritual Qi in order, but then stopped.
Shen Duheng looked down at Shan Heyuan.
Shan Heyuan was unaware, still cultivating—the chaotic Spiritual Qi was causing him no trouble.
More and more Spiritual Qi surged toward him, becoming a whirlwind.
The large tree beside him rustled and swayed from the Spiritual Qi spilling out of him, and its falling leaves whirled around Shan Heyuan.
Shan Heyuan seemed to finally sense something unusual about the Spiritual Qi and shifted uneasily.
"Focus," Shen Duheng reminded him quietly. He did nothing more, however, and instead took a step back, leaving the range of the Spiritual Qi vortex and watching him in silence.
Hearing the familiar voice, Shan Heyuan steadied his meditative state and continued drawing Qi into his body.
Wave after wave of Spiritual Qi was pulled over, rushing violently into Shan Heyuan's body before making a circuit and squeezing back out.
Shan Heyuan absorbed Spiritual Qi faster and faster, with growing urgency.
After this repeated several times, Shan Heyuan felt something inside his body burst under the pressure with a soft pop, though it might have been his imagination.
He trembled, emerged from his meditative state, and opened his eyes.
The instant he opened them, he felt that something about the world had changed.
It was like the difference after a torrential downpour had washed the dust from the world. Everything had become bright and gentle, the colors exceptionally distinct, and his five senses extraordinarily clear.
A joy he could not put into words welled up deep inside him, giving him the urge to throw back his head and cry out at the sky.
Shan Heyuan looked up at Shen Duheng.
Shen Duheng nodded slightly. "Congratulations. You've entered the Qi Refining Third Stage."
Shan Heyuan said, "I broke through?!"
Disbelief spread across his face. He checked the state of his body again and again, then looked at the scenery around him. Only after looking for a long while did he confirm that he really had broken through.
Although the Qi Refining Third Stage was only one minor stage above the Qi Refining Second Stage, after entering it, everything was completely different from before: the Spiritual Qi in his body, the condition of his meridians, and even the speed at which he circulated Spiritual Qi.
No wonder the shops in town required their employees to be at the Qi Refining Third Stage or above. There really was a difference!
His face full of joy, Shan Heyuan stood and paced back and forth, feeling the state of his body. "There's so much more Spiritual Qi at the third stage! If I were to inscribe talismans, I could inscribe a medium-grade Spirit Gathering Talisman in one go."
Shen Duheng said, "Now that you've entered the Qi Refining Third Stage, you can just about be considered a lower-middle-level cultivator of the Qi Refining Stage. You can start practicing the techniques in the Spring Transformation Art."
Shan Heyuan nodded repeatedly and said with delight, "I'll practice them in a little while! It's all thanks to the Spring Transformation Art you bought me. Otherwise, with my aptitude, it would have taken me at least another half a year to reach the third stage! Thank you, Brother Shen!"
Shen Duheng said, "Everyone has their own karmic opportunities. You have an affinity with the path of a planter, so naturally you cultivate a little faster."
Shan Heyuan said, "If it weren't for you, I might have missed this opportunity. When all is said and done, meeting you is what brought it to me."
Shan Heyuan looked him straight in the eyes and said earnestly, "Brother Shen, you're my benefactor."
Shen Duheng's fingers moved involuntarily, and the roots of his ears, hidden beneath his hair, reddened slightly. In an indifferent tone, he said, "Keep cultivating."
Reluctantly, Shan Heyuan examined his body over and over. Then he nodded and decided to try practicing the techniques in the Spring Transformation Art.
His cultivation had improved further, so he would surely be able to grow better spirit herbs in the future!
Once Shen Duheng was certain he was all right, he turned to go back to the reclining chair and lie down again.
Just as Shen Duheng turned, Shan Heyuan checked his body and reached his Dantian.
He distinctly felt the broken sword fragment in his Dantian move. It seemed that, as long as he wished it, he could take the fragment out.
Shan Heyuan's expression changed slightly, and he instinctively looked toward Shen Duheng, who had already reached the reclining chair.
Shen Duheng had his back to him and seemed to have noticed nothing.
Shan Heyuan could not quite say what he was feeling at that moment. He instinctively pressed a hand to his lower abdomen, trying to calm the restless broken sword fragment, and said nothing to Shen Duheng about it.
The broken sword fragment really did fall still the next moment. Shan Heyuan breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately afterward, he could not help frowning.
Shen Duheng seemed to have noticed nothing. He had already lain down on the reclining chair and resumed reading.
After that little incident, the joy of his cultivation breakthrough vanished completely, and Shan Heyuan was distracted all evening.
Shen Duheng glanced at him several times but ultimately said nothing.
After dinner, Shan Heyuan hurriedly washed up, slipped back into his room, and shut the door before trying to take the spirit sword out of his Dantian.
The moonlight outside was just right, spilling in with a pearly glow. He had no need to light a lamp, nor did he dare to.
He sat by the window with a piece of wood three fingers wide resting in his palm—the very broken sword fragment that had spent so long in his Dantian.
The broken sword fragment was reddish brown overall. On closer inspection, a faint layer of pale red light could be seen around it, like the gleam of a ruby.
Looking closely, the broken sword fragment seemed to have come from the middle of the sword. Two of its four edges were relatively thin and seemed to be where the blade had been.
For some reason, though, the broken sword fragment had no cutting edge at all. It was not sharp to the touch in the slightest, and even had a warm, understated quality to it. There was no trace of a spirit sword about it, so it was no wonder he had mistaken it for a talisman slip back then.
Shan Heyuan held the broken sword fragment in his hand and carefully turned it over for a long time.
The broken sword fragment was so beautiful.
The sword spirit attached to the broken sword fragment was very good too.