Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Fourth Level of Qi Refining
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"Spirit stones are spent so fast, just like flowing water."
Before going to the market fair, he had ten spirit stones, plus one hundred and twelve grains of spirit sand.
Now, he was left with only three spirit stones and seventy-one grains of spirit sand.
One Spirit Accumulating Pill cost five spirit stones, one "Fairy's Hand" talisman brush cost one spirit stone, the spirit ink was another spirit stone, and the high-quality yellow paper was forty grains of spirit sand.
He also exchanged for one hundred taels of silver to buy some daily necessities.
"I hope I have some talent for the path of talismans."
Chen Jianghe prayed silently, steering his boat away from Port One. With the Spirit Accumulating Pill in hand, he was going into seclusion to cultivate.
Back in the inner waters, Chen Jianghe calculated the time. There was still half a month until the Yun Clan delivered the young Azurefish fry.
That was enough time for him to take the Spirit Accumulating Pill and break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining.
He sat cross-legged and focused his mind.
Chen Jianghe absorbed the water-attribute spiritual energy drifting over the lake's surface, circulating the Guiyuan True Water Art to restore his essence, qi, and spirit to their peak condition.
He had five-element miscellaneous spiritual roots, so he would face a minor bottleneck when breaking through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining.
Although it was only a minor realm's bottleneck, he didn't dare to be the least bit careless.
Two days passed.
Chen Jianghe felt that his essence, qi, and spirit had been adjusted to their optimal state, and the spiritual power in his dantian was full and abundant.
At this moment, he took out the sandalwood box, removed the Spirit Accumulating Pill from within, and a rich medicinal fragrance instantly filled the entire cabin.
"Master, what is that? It smells so good, I want to eat it too."
Xiao Hei's voice transmitted from the spiritual platform seal.
"What a dog's nose, he can smell the spirit pill's fragrance even from the bottom of the lake," Chen Jianghe grumbled inwardly before sending a mental message to Xiao Hei.
"This is a Spirit Accumulating Pill, a better spirit pill than the Spirit Nurturing Pill. As long as you work hard, once we're well-off, I'll buy you a few to try."
"Alright, I need to cultivate now. Don't disturb me, and take good care of the fish."
"Ooh... ooh... Spirit Accumulating Pill, a good pill, I'll remember it. I'll definitely work hard so we can be rich soon."
After dealing with Xiao Hei, Chen Jianghe spent another hour clearing his mind of distracting thoughts before finally placing the Spirit Accumulating Pill into his mouth.
Chen Jianghe's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed the Spirit Accumulating Pill. In an instant, a vast medicinal power erupted in his abdomen and surged up his Conception Vessel towards his crown. He immediately circulated the Guiyuan True Water Art, guiding the medicinal power to travel throughout his body for gradual refinement.
His originally full sea of qi in his dantian instantly transformed into a vortex, becoming the primary center for absorbing and refining the medicinal power.
Threads of spiritual energy, as fine as silk, carried the medicinal power of the Spirit Accumulating Pill, rampaging through the twelve main meridians.
"The medicinal power of the Spirit Accumulating Pill is too potent. The Guiyuan True Water Art is actually having trouble guiding it into a full cycle."
The Spirit Accumulating Pill was a spirit pill used by mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators to enhance their cultivation.
A single Spirit Accumulating Pill was equivalent to a year and a half of arduous cultivation; it was simply not something a third-level Qi Refining cultivator could withstand.
This was also why the Spirit Accumulating Pill could be used by early-stage Qi Refining cultivators as a breakthrough pill.
What Chen Jianghe needed to do now wasn't to absorb all the pill's medicinal power, but to use a portion of it to break through his realm.
He circulated the Guiyuan True Water Art, striving to guide a portion of the Spirit Accumulating Pill's medicinal power through a full cycle before gathering it in his sea of qi dantian.
As long as he could wear down the bottleneck, the breakthrough to the fourth level of Qi Refining would be a natural success.
Whoosh~
Guided by the cultivation art, the medicinal power swept through his meridians like a hurricane, finally reaching the Shenque acupoint above his sea of qi.
Under the assault of the medicinal power, the blocked Shenque acupoint gradually loosened.
The center of his sea of qi suddenly flared with a dazzling silver light. The spiritual power within his dantian surged upward toward the Shenque acupoint, merging with the medicinal power to clear the blockage and wear away the bottleneck.
In an instant, the circulation speed of the Guiyuan True Water Art increased severalfold, absorbing the remaining medicinal power of the Spirit Accumulating Pill in his body and drawing it into his sea of qi dantian.
It was then converted into spiritual power by his spiritual roots, surging through his meridians and completing a grand heavenly cycle as the art circulated.
Impurities lurking deep within his bone marrow were crushed to dust by this potent spiritual power, and turbid qi was expelled from every pore.
"Hah~"
Chen Jianghe slowly opened his eyes, a look of joy on his face. "I did it!"
At that moment, he broke through to the fourth level of Qi Refining, becoming a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator.
His sea of qi dantian was now fully opened. The next step was to accumulate spiritual power, raise his cultivation to the sixth level of Qi Refining, and then gradually condense his spiritual power to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining.
A moment later, he caught a whiff of a pungent stench and realized his body was sticky, covered in a layer of black impurities.
He immediately went to the bow of the boat, cast a Cleansing Spell, and washed away the impurities expelled from his body.
He instantly felt refreshed and invigorated.
"I drew qi into my body at fourteen, stepping onto the path of cultivation. Fifteen years have passed, and I've finally broken through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining."
Chen Jianghe smiled, quite satisfied with this cultivation speed.
After all, he was just a low-level Fishery Farmer with a meager salary and five-element miscellaneous spiritual roots.
To reach this realm in fifteen years, what was there to be dissatisfied with?
It was just that nearly seventy percent of the Spirit Accumulating Pill's medicinal power was lost during the breakthrough, which made him feel it was a bit of a shame.
But there was nothing to be done about it.
The Spirit Accumulating Pill was never meant to be taken by early-stage Qi Refining cultivators in the first place.
If it were his current self, he could absorb and refine at least seventy to eighty percent of the pill's power, which would be equivalent to a year of arduous cultivation.
The pill toxins in the Spirit Accumulating Pill were milder than those in the Spirit Nurturing Pill, but it would still take over half a year to completely expel them from his body.
Of course, even after half a year, he wouldn't be able to afford a second Spirit Accumulating Pill for cultivation.
The moment he broke through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, Chen Jianghe understood why Gao Peiyao wanted to leave Mirror Moon Lake.
She was willing to face unforeseen dangers just to go to the Tiannan Sect and participate in their assessment.
The full medicinal power of one Spirit Accumulating Pill, completely absorbed and refined, was equivalent to a year and a half of arduous cultivation. Gao Peiyao's spiritual root talent was higher than his.
But to cultivate to the sixth level of Qi Refining, she would need at least ten Spirit Accumulating Pills.
Fifty spirit stones!
Old Gao had left her thirty-some spirit stones at most, which was barely enough to support her cultivation from the first to the fifth level of Qi Refining.
Even if Gao Peiyao scrimped and saved for decades and broke through to the sixth level of Qi Refining, what about the resources to buy a Calamity Dispelling Pill?
Those with four-element pseudo-spiritual roots needed the assistance of a Calamity Dispelling Pill to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining.
Could she rely on the support of allies?
"With my five-element miscellaneous spiritual roots, if I want to quickly cultivate to the sixth level of Qi Refining, I'm afraid I'll need twelve Spirit Accumulating Pills. That's sixty spirit stones!"
In reality, how could sixty spirit stones possibly be enough for him to reach the sixth level of Qi Refining?
He also had a spirit beast to raise. Splitting it half-and-half meant one hundred and twenty spirit stones.
It was a headache just thinking about it. Fortunately, his lifespan was long, so he wasn't in a rush.
But even so, he had to master a skill.
Having a trade would provide an additional source of income, especially one of the Four Supreme Arts.
Formations, artifact refining, alchemy, and talismans. Mastering any one of these meant he wouldn't have to worry too much about spirit stones in the future.
The path of talismans—this was the first cultivation skill Chen Jianghe was going to attempt.
It was also the skill he felt he had the most hope of succeeding in.
Chen Jianghe first stabilized his cultivation at the fourth level of Qi Refining. He would prepare to try drawing spirit talismans after the Yun Clan delivered the Azurefish fry.
A few days later, New Year's Eve arrived.
It was time again for the high-level Fishery Farmers and guest retainers in the inner waters to head to the central island of the lake.
Chen Jianghe did not go.
He wasn't lacking anything at the moment, and he didn't have many spirit stones left. Frugality was his main priority.
On the eighth day of the new year, someone from the Yun Clan came and delivered one hundred Azurefish fry.
Chen Jianghe handed the Azurefish fry over to Xiao Hei, then ducked into the cabin and began his attempt at drawing talismans.