Chapter 8 (continued)

Shen Duheng said, "I don't know. If you're interested, you can look for the Spirit Sect's books on research into alternate spaces sometime. They've studied the question fairly thoroughly."

Shan Heyuan silently made a note of it.

The Spirit Sect was one of the six top sects, and it was far away from them. He had only read news of it in the gazettes and had never encountered it in person.

The Dantian was a fascinating thing, and Shan Heyuan spent the next several days studying it.

That morning, after finishing his cultivation, he weeded around the spirit herbs in his courtyard.

His courtyard was quite large. He hadn't had time before, so he had only dug two plots in the middle of it to grow spirit herbs.

Spirit herbs were hard to come by. He had been trying to dig them up in the wild and bring them back to plant, but he had only found a little over forty. Even with generous spaces between them, they filled only one and a half plots.

Sunlight poured down as Shan Heyuan, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, crouched in the field and carefully pulled out every weed around the spirit herbs.

The spirit soil was dark and soft, giving off the distinctive scent of earth.

Shan Heyuan rubbed some soil between his fingers. It had barely rained these past few days, and he hadn't watered it, so the moisture in the soil had dropped considerably. He would need to water it again that evening.

Shan Heyuan rolled the weeds he had pulled into a ball and tossed it outside the spirit field.

The weeds had absorbed Spiritual Qi and specially made spirit fertilizer, so they contained a certain amount of Spiritual Qi. They were perfect for piling up and burning to make fertilizer, and he couldn't let them go to waste.

Shan Heyuan moved bit by bit through the sunlight and soon cleared the weeds from half a plot.

As he started weeding around another spirit herb, he had just put his hand on a newly emerged weed when he sensed the spiritual power it contained.

He took a closer look and realized that the newly sprouted spirit herb was Indeterminate Grass.

Quite a few cultivators in Jingzhishan Town grew Indeterminate Grass, and he had planted a few in his own courtyard. This one might have been brought over by the wind or a bird. It was growing quite well and could be transplanted into a new spirit field.

With that thought, he casually tucked the Indeterminate Grass into his Dantian and went back to weeding.

Shen Duheng was practicing swordsmanship in another corner of the courtyard. Seeing what he had done, he walked over and narrowed his eyes at him. "What are you doing?"

Shan Heyuan looked up and held up the spirit herb in his hand. "Pulling weeds. What's wrong?"

Shen Duheng stared at his lower abdomen. "What did you just put in your Dantian?"

Shan Heyuan hunched his shoulders guiltily. He had grown used to treating his Dantian like a storage Spirit Artifact, and since he couldn't be bothered to walk over, he had casually tucked it inside. He hadn't expected Shen Duheng to see him.

He said quietly, "Just a newly sprouted spirit herb. It's fine."

Shen Duheng frowned. "Didn't I warn you not to put anything in there? Did you feel any discomfort when you put it in?"

Shan Heyuan hastily waved his hand. "None at all! I didn't feel a thing. A little spirit herb like that barely makes its presence felt, and there was only one."

Shen Duheng tapped his hand with the wooden sword. "Take it out."

Shan Heyuan didn't dare argue and hurriedly took the spirit herb out.

Shen Duheng held out his hand.

Shan Heyuan handed him the spirit herb, only for Shen Duheng's frown to deepen instead of easing.

Had something gone wrong?

Shan Heyuan looked at Shen Duheng uneasily, but didn't quite dare ask.

Shen Duheng examined the Indeterminate Grass, which was as delicate as a bean sprout, then handed it back to Shan Heyuan. "Put it back in."

Shan Heyuan was puzzled, but Shen Duheng showed no intention of explaining, so he had no choice but to put the Indeterminate Grass back into his Dantian.

The two stared at each other.

Shan Heyuan couldn't help asking, "Now what?"

Shen Duheng said, "Wait."

Shan Heyuan said, "You mean the spirit herb should change inside my Dantian?"

Shen Duheng asked, "What does it feel like to have the spirit herb in your Dantian?"

Shan Heyuan pressed a hand over his Dantian and carefully felt for a moment. "I don't feel anything?"

Shen Duheng asked, "No discomfort?"

Shan Heyuan shook his head. "No. The spirit herb is too weak. It has Spiritual Qi, so if I had to say I felt anything, it's actually quite comfortable."

Shen Duheng gave him a long look. "I forgot to tell you: although you can put things containing Spiritual Qi in your Dantian, you can't put living things in it. Most cultivators can't put living things in there, either."

"Huh?" Shan Heyuan was dumbfounded. He took the Indeterminate Grass out of his Dantian and held it up for a careful inspection before showing it to Shen Duheng. "It's doing just fine. Look, Brother Shen."

Shen Duheng said, "Try pulling up another Indeterminate Grass and putting it in your Dantian."

Following his suggestion, Shan Heyuan pulled up the largest Indeterminate Grass in the spirit field and put it in his Dantian.

Shen Duheng asked, "How does it feel now?"

After carefully checking, Shan Heyuan looked up at Shen Duheng. "It feels quite comfortable. The Indeterminate Grass has Spiritual Qi."

Shen Duheng said, "I'll take you somewhere."

Shan Heyuan didn't understand, but Shen Duheng showed no intention of explaining.

Shan Heyuan had no choice but to replant the spirit herbs in the spirit field, hurriedly wash his hands, and follow Shen Duheng.

Shen Duheng took him to the mountain behind the town.

They walked through the mountains for over an hour before arriving at a small waterfall in a river valley.

The sun blazed overhead. Water rushed down the small waterfall and crashed into the pool below with a roar.

Standing on the bank and looking up at the waterfall, they could see a rainbow hanging right across its center.

Blue sky, green trees, a white waterfall, a rainbow... The surrounding scenery was beautiful, and it was pleasant standing beneath the waterfall.

Feeling the coolness of the mist, Shan Heyuan looked around. "Brother Shen, why did you bring me here?"

Shen Duheng beckoned to him, indicating where the waterfall came down.

Shan Heyuan looked for quite a while before noticing that, among the rocks scattered in the middle of the pool, a spirit herb was growing on one of them.

A long stalk rose from among the spirit herb's slender leaves, with a pale green flower bud at its tip. It looked as though it would bloom soon.

Shen Duheng sent out a stream of spiritual power, moving aside the jade talismans around the spirit herb.

With the concealment talismans no longer hiding it, the spirit herb's abundant spiritual power spilled out in an instant, mingling with the surrounding mist and washing over Shan Heyuan.

This spirit herb's grade was so high!

Shan Heyuan primarily cultivated the Spring Transformation Art, so he could see very clearly that this was a water-attribute spirit herb of the Qi Refining Great Perfection grade.

Shen Duheng brought Shan Heyuan onto the rock, gently pulled out the spirit herb, and held it up for him to see. "This spirit herb is called Remaining Tranquility Grass. It's often used to refine healing pills, and its medicinal effects are very gentle. Try putting it in your Dantian."

Shan Heyuan nodded solemnly and took the Remaining Tranquility Grass. He drew a deep breath, held it before his lower abdomen, and tried to draw it into his Dantian, but it was a little difficult.

Shen Duheng moved to stand in front of Shan Heyuan. "I'll stand guard for you."

Standing in front of Shen Duheng, Shan Heyuan quickly realized something was amiss.

Shen Duheng was standing too close.

A faint woody scent drifted from him, and when Shan Heyuan turned his head, he could see his long, thick eyelashes.

From this angle, Shen Duheng's bearing was less imposing, revealing his naturally handsome features instead.

Looking at his face, Shan Heyuan suddenly realized that, in both appearance and manner, he was a young man in his twenties.

He wondered what sort of background Shen Duheng had grown up in, to become so formidable at such a young age, only to turn into a sword spirit.

Shan Heyuan was now certain that Shen Duheng had been a human cultivator before becoming a sword spirit.

Shen Duheng reached out and pressed a hand to Shan Heyuan's shoulder. "Focus."

The warm, firm touch against his shoulder made Shan Heyuan draw a deep breath. He didn't dare let his attention wander again.

Shan Heyuan circulated his spiritual power, and the next moment, he successfully "swallowed" the Remaining Tranquility Grass into his Dantian.

Pure spiritual power erupted in his Dantian. His whole body trembled, but he quickly steadied himself and circulated his cultivation method, frantically absorbing the spiritual power in his Dantian.

Shen Duheng kept his strong hand on his shoulder, standing guard over him.

Shan Heyuan quickly found his cultivation rhythm, efficiently absorbing and converting the Remaining Tranquility Grass's spiritual power.