Chapter 67: Breakthrough, Brand New Spiritual Land

Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Breakthrough, Brand New Spiritual Land

He soon finished the entire pot of Yellow Seed Spirit Rice. A comfortable warmth spread through his stomach, leaving him completely full.

Li Changsheng patted his stomach in satisfaction, tidied up the kitchen, and headed upstairs to the second floor.

He sat cross-legged on the soft couch. With a flick of his thoughts, Xiaobai appeared on the table.

Li Changsheng took out a stalk of Jade Grass, tossed it onto the table, and paid it no more mind. He then began circulating his Cultivation Technique to refine the Spirit Rice in his stomach.

「A Cup of Tea’s Time later.」

Li Changsheng opened his eyes and, with a flip of his hand, produced the bronze bottle containing the golden energy. He channeled his Spiritual Power into it, activating the runes on the bottle’s mouth to draw out a strand of golden energy. He then took out and swallowed a Spirit Gathering Pill, circulating the Golden Turtle Spirit Technique to begin refining it.

He repeated this process several times.

「In the blink of an eye, three days passed.」

「On the second floor of the wooden house.」

Li Changsheng slowly let out a long breath. Opening his eyes, he focused his gaze inward, examining himself.

[Cultivation: Qi Cultivation Third Layer "1%"]

[Cultivation Technique: "Golden Turtle Spirit Technique (3/9)" Attributes: "Resilience, Spirit Recovery"]

Several days of diligent cultivation, supplemented by pills, had allowed him to successfully break through to the Qi Cultivation Third Layer.

His main Spirit Vein and its branches had widened by over thirty percent, and the Spiritual Power within his body had more than doubled.

At the same time, he felt as if a weight had been lifted from his chest, and his control over his Spiritual Power had become far more precise.

After carefully assessing the changes within his body, Li Changsheng produced the jade slip containing the "Ice Condensation Magic" with a flip of his hand, pressing it to his forehead to study its contents.

「A Cup of Tea’s Time later.」

CRACK...

With a sharp cracking sound, a fissure split the jade slip down the middle, rendering it useless.

Li Changsheng casually set it on the table, closed his eyes, and silently recited the core principles of the "Ice Condensation Magic."

Once he had committed it all to memory, he began his practice.

As a First-rank Lower Grade Magic, the pathways for the Ice Condensation Magic were not complex. However, they remained unconnected to the pathways of his Cultivation Technique and needed to be opened one by one.

Li Changsheng sat cross-legged, meditating and focusing his mind.

After an unknown amount of time, the pathways of the "Ice Condensation Magic" appeared one by one in his mind’s eye.

With a flicker of his thoughts, Li Changsheng directed a sliver of Spiritual Power to slowly flow into one of the tiny pathways.

Having practiced a few types of Magic before, he had gained some experience in how to open these tiny pathways easily and effectively.

As he gently suffused the pathway with trace amounts of Spiritual Power, it wasn’t long before it was successfully opened.

Li Changsheng steadied his mind, leaving a trace of Spiritual Power behind to nourish the newly opened pathway before moving on to the next.

Time passed slowly.

When the final pathway for the Ice Condensation Magic was opened, the intricate channels formed a complex network map.

HUM...

As his Spiritual Power slowly permeated it, the entire network map began to suffuse with a spiritual glow.

Li Changsheng opened his eyes, formed a hand seal, and said softly, "Ice Condensation Magic."

The Spiritual Power in his body drained away rapidly. In just a few breaths, a ball of biting cold air the size of a grown man’s fist took form.

A cool aura immediately spread out, dispelling the stuffy heat in the room.

Li Changsheng looked at the wooden table and, with a slight nudge of his will...

The cold air slowly descended onto the wooden table. Within a few breaths, the surface was coated in a layer of shimmering white ice crystals.

Li Changsheng released the Technique, ran his hand over the ice crystals on the tabletop, and nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad..."

He then stood up, walked down from the second floor, and went out into the yard.

「It was now Noon.」

The scorching weather made everything wilt. Only the insects continued their shrill chirping.

Li Changsheng glanced around, grabbed a shovel and a wooden bucket from the corner, and circulated his Spiritual Power to block the stench before entering the animal pens.

First up was the Red Fox pen, which was also the smelliest.

Li Changsheng opened the gate and walked in.

The two Red Foxes were cuddled together, lying lazily in a shady spot.

"Shoo. Over to the side."

Li Changsheng shooed them aside and formed a hand seal. He channeled his Spiritual Power into the network map for the Ice Condensation Magic, and as it began to glow, he commanded under his breath, "Ice Condensation Magic. Gather."

Wisps of biting cold air continuously converged in front of him, stopping only when they formed a mass the size of a soccer ball.

Li Changsheng released the Technique. With a flick of his thoughts, the soccer-ball-sized mass of cold air descended upon the filth inside the pen.

The biting cold air burst apart, spreading in all directions.

In just a few breaths, most of the ground in the pen was coated in a layer of white ice crystals.

Li Changsheng nodded in satisfaction, walked over, and began to clean up with the shovel.

And just as he was cleaning the pen...

A young woman with an anxious expression came hurrying down the small path.

She ran toward Dong Xing’s small courtyard, drawing a confused look from Yun Wan.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, are you home?"

Dong Yao shouted anxiously before she even stepped through the door.

Hearing his granddaughter’s voice, Dong Xing, who had been cooling off inside, hastily climbed off the soft couch and came out of the room.

Seeing Dong Yao’s anxious expression, he grew worried as well and asked in a flurry, "What’s wrong, Yaoyao? Why are you back so soon? Did something happen?"

Dong Yao calmed herself a bit and said quickly, "Grandpa, I heard from a senior brother in the Demon Hunting Corps that your Spirit Field Hall has replaced two Stewards, and even the Steward himself has been replaced."

Hearing this, Dong Xing breathed a sigh of relief. He gestured for her to sit down and said with a smile, "If they’re replaced, they’re replaced. Those bigwigs have nothing to do with us."

Dong Yao shook her head frantically. "That senior brother told me the reason for the change in the Spirit Field Hall is that an exploration disciple found a vast, high-quality Spiritual Land in the Wanzhong Mountains Range. They’re clearing out the demons and beasts there right now."

"Once it’s cleared out, they’ll need a large number of disciples who can cultivate Spirit Fields to go."

"The Spirit Field Hall’s previous Steward and Stewards were sent by an Elder to the newly discovered Spiritual Land to measure its scale."

Dong Xing was surprised for a moment, then said with a hint of envy, "Whoever found it is going to make a fortune. To think, a whole new Spiritual Land."

"Geez, Grandpa, how can you be focused on that!"

Dong Yao stomped her foot in a fit of girlish pique. "Weren’t you listening? That Spiritual Land is going to desperately need Cultivators who know how to farm Spirit Fields!"

"I heard you, I heard you,"

Dong Xing asked with a chuckle, "Are you saying you want your grandpa to go there?"

"No! ...Grandpa, you absolutely can’t go."

Dong Yao shook her head without a moment’s hesitation.

She quickly explained, "That Spiritual Land is located in a hollow, completely surrounded by mountains."

"I asked a friend about it. The Spiritual Land is far from the Miscellaneous Peaks. Even if the Demon Hunting Corps cleans it out once, it won’t be long before more demons show up."

"There might even be small-scale beast tides that attack the Spiritual Land."

Dong Yao swallowed hard and said in a strained voice, "Grandpa, you have to remember: no matter how high the pay or how good the perks are, you can’t go. It’s just too dangerous."

"Mm-hm, I won’t go, I won’t go..."

Dong Xing chuckled and nodded, asking gently, "Yaoyao, are you hungry? I can make you something to eat."

Even if Dong Yao hadn’t said a word, he had no intention of going.

Any Cultivator who hadn’t experienced the pioneering of the Miscellaneous Peaks could never know how much blood had been shed, or how many of their peers had fallen.

"I still have things to do, so I can’t stay to eat."

Dong Yao shook her head, stood up, and started to leave. As she walked, she called back worriedly, "Remember, Grandpa! You’re not allowed to go!"

"At least stay for a meal before you go!"

Dong Xing followed her out, calling after her retreating figure.

Dong Yao just waved her hand and walked away with purpose.

"Sigh..."

Dong Xing stood and watched until her figure slowly disappeared. He let out a soft sigh and turned back toward the house.