Inside his cave-dwelling, Ji An finished cultivating and pulled out the storage pouch he had taken from the slain rogue cultivator. Dumping out all the odds and ends, he murmured to himself:
"Time to open the loot box."
Back when he first seized it, he had only glanced through briefly.
First, he picked out the spirit stones, nine in total.
Next, two jade slips. Ji An eagerly pressed them to his forehead one by one, only to set them down in disappointment.
They contained records of a few spells and insights, all of which he already had.
There were also three jade bottles filled with unidentified monster blood. Hard to gauge their worth at best, maybe a single spirit stone apiece.
Then, a fairly ordinary low-grade flying sword. The main material seemed to be black iron, with two simple enchantments layered on: Sharpness and Acceleration.
Even as an amateur, Ji An could tell the refinement was crude. Still, the sword had been well-maintained and could probably sell for a dozen spirit stones.
For now, he decided to keep it as a stopgap, to make up for the short range of his Geng Metal Finger.
Later, when he obtained a stronger weapon or a suitable replacement spell, he could sell it off.
Next, three fist-sized black ores were surprisingly heavy, with a faint warmth in his palm. Their mottled, reddish-brown surface looked like iron rust… or dried blood.
"Hmm… a refining material. Not sure what it is. Value unknown."
Muttering to himself, he kept sorting.
He picked up a slender spiritual herb, no thicker than a finger, with a single lonely leaf sprouting from its stalk.
"Xuanleaf Ginseng! …Pity, only twenty years old. At most worth a dozen spirit stones."
Xuanleaf Ginseng was one of the primary ingredients in a Foundation Establishment Pill. Every additional twenty years of growth added one more leaf; only when nine leaves grew did it reach maturity, at which point the root would be the size of a carrot.
This specimen couldn't be transplanted successfully, so its potential was wasted.
As for a few bits of clothing and other trivial junk, he tossed them aside.
"Tsk, tsk. No wonder he risked everything to rob others. That cultivator was clearly poor, but if he sold everything here, he could still make sixty or seventy stones."
Ji An shook his head. For him, just a few seconds of work had yielded this much; it was enough to stir anyone's greed. His five mu of Jadegrain Rice required half a year of labor and still brought in less than this.
But killing invited death in return. If one relied on robbery to get rich, it was only a matter of time before they slipped up. Ji An would never kill without cause unless there was a real benefit.
In any world, order was the foundation of greater potential. That was why every faction despised rogue cultivators who preyed on others; once discovered, they were hunted down without mercy.
Putting everything back into the pouch, Ji An allowed himself a satisfied smile.
"From today on, I can count myself a 'two-pouch disciple.'"
Hunting beasts in the wild, then returning to the market city to cultivate life, was tense and exhilarating.
In the blink of an eye, two months passed.
The squad went out three more times, but the gains were much slimmer. On average, each member brought back only thirty-some stones per trip.
Ji An, however, fared better than the others.
Deep in the Ten-Thousand Mountains, with ancient trees everywhere, he condensed over a hundred Wood Essence Pearls, filling three sealed jade bottles he had prepared.
Still worried about the spiritual fields back at the sect, Ji An bid farewell to his companions and stopped by the Law Enforcement Hall.
There, he claimed the sect's promised reward of 100 contribution points, and then boarded a flying boat.
On deck, his hand brushed the pouch holding 525 spirit stones. His heart grew calm and deeply satisfied.
At Bihai Lake, the sect bustled as lively as ever.
Watching the peace and harmony of the sect grounds, Ji An finally let the taut string inside him relax completely.
Back at the spiritual fields, he found Huang Feihu casting a rainfall spell over the crops.
The spirit bird landed smoothly. Ji An looked over the rolling waves of green spiritual grain and the slowly yellowing talisman grass, smiling with relief.
"Junior brother, you've worked hard. Tomorrow, let's go drink at Hundred Flavors Pavilion."
He could tell the younger man had been conscientious.
"Senior brother, you're finally back! The Jadegrain Rice will be tasseling in a few days. If you hadn't returned soon, I wouldn't have been able to keep up!"
Huang Feihu responded that once the Jadegrain Rice began tasseling, its demand for spiritual rain would increase greatly. The soil would also need spell nourishment and infusions of Wood Essence Pearls to replenish its wood-elemental energy, or else the yield would inevitably decline.
Sensing the increasingly harmonious flow of his junior's qi, Ji An nodded.
"It seems you're very close to a breakthrough."
Huang Feihu scratched the back of his head with a simple, honest smile.
"I can already feel the bottleneck loosening. The breakthrough should come within the next few days."
"In that case, once you've broken through, we'll go to the Hundred Flavors Pavilion. I'll treat and host a banquet in your honor."
"Many thanks, Senior Brother." Huang Feihu cupped his hands. He couldn't help noticing that Ji An's aura felt quite different from before.
In the past, Ji An had always been gentle and clear-eyed. But now, there seemed to be sharper lines to his face, and a hint of fierceness flickered in his gaze.
Returning the control talisman for the protective wards, Huang Feihu hurriedly excused himself and departed.
Once his figure completely vanished from sight, Ji An drew out a Wood Essence Pearl and released the spiritual energy within. Thousands of wisps of green light streamed forth like swallows returning to the forest, sinking into the Jadegrain Rice stalks.
The spirit grain unfurled its leaves gently, rustling in the breeze.
Ji An followed up with the Thick Earth Formula and the Minor Rain Technique. Earthen-yellow light shimmered, followed by a faint mist that spread over the fields.
When he returned to his bamboo loft, he found his two spiritual fruit trees had grown another half-foot taller. Still, they lacked the vitality they had before his departure. The beds of Firecloud Ginseng in the courtyard looked the same.
Without the nourishment of steady fire-elemental qi, fire-aspected plants inevitably weaken.
Forming the hand seal for the Flamefire Incantation, Ji An cast scarlet light across the courtyard. It gleamed like furnace fire against the window frames, and the veins of the Firecloud Ginseng leaves quickly grew a healthy crimson glow.
...
Three days later, at the Bihai Market.
Inside the Hundred Flavors Pavilion, in the finest private room, Wei Songnian raised his cup with a smile.
"First of all, congratulations to Junior Brother Huang on breaking through to the late stage of Qi Refining."
Old Huang would surely weep with joy upon learning of his grandson's progress. His lifelong wish had been to see his grandson achieve Foundation Establishment, so that their line could flourish and establish a family.
Now, that possibility seemed within reach.
In less than three years, Feihu had advanced to the seventh level of Qi Refining. Though his talent was considered mid-grade, it was now clear he might be very close to high-grade.
"Thank you, senior brothers. I'll need to learn much from you in the days to come."
"Haha, together we'll strive forward, hand in hand."
Ji An and Liang Qiu likewise raised their cups, the four of them downing the wine in one go before refilling.
Wei Songnian lifted his cup again.
"And congratulations to Junior Brother Ji for returning safely."
They all drank another round.
Glancing around the table, Ji An thought to himself that, unknowingly, all of his closest companions had now stepped into the late Qi Refining stage.
After some more casual talk, their conversation shifted to sharing cultivation insights.
Without teachers at their sides to guide them constantly, mutual discussion was the most effective way to resolve doubts.
Each person's perspective was different, and the clash of ideas often revealed fresh solutions.
Huang Feihu, whose cultivation was the weakest, felt he gained the most. Nearly every difficulty he faced had already been encountered and solved by his senior brothers, and he received answers with ease.
In that moment, his gratitude toward his grandfather deepened. Without his grandfather's aid and legacy, how could he possibly have the right to sit here today?
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