2: Chapter 2 The First Manifestation of Power Within the Body

The dining hall was located on the west side of the Servant Quarters.

It was a building with three grey-tiled rooms, wreathed in smoke, with the scent of steamed grain drifting through the air.

Ye Qing stood at the end of the line, with over a dozen other equally disheveled Utility Disciples in front of him.

Behind the wooden counter, a burly cook wearing a greasy apron was tapping the edge of a bucket with a large ladle.

"Hurry up, hurry up! What are you dawdling for? This is all that's left of today's Spirit Grain porridge!"

Spirit Grain porridge sounded nice, but in reality, it was just a thin gruel made from the lowest-grade Spirit Grain mixed with a large amount of brown rice.

Consuming it long-term could slightly nourish one's Qi and blood, but its effect on Cultivation was negligible.

However, it was the only proper food source for the Utility Disciples.

When it was Ye Qing's turn, only a shallow layer remained at the bottom of the bucket.

The cook scooped out a large ladleful and poured it into the coarse pottery bowl Ye Qing held out; it was so thin it could reflect a person's shadow, and the grains could be counted.

"That's all there is. Take it or leave it."

Ye Qing carried the bowl and found an empty table in the corner.

The table was covered in a thick layer of grease, but he ignored it and lowered his head to drink the porridge.

It tasted bland, with a hint of the mustiness of old rice.

Yet he ate carefully, chewing every mouthful thoroughly, feeling the insignificant, almost imperceptible sliver of Spiritual Qi dissolve as it went down his esophagus.

Most of the Spiritual Qi dissipated naturally before it could be absorbed.

After all, with a Five Elements Pseudo-Spiritual Root, his affinity for Spiritual Qi and his conversion efficiency were appallingly low.

However, Ye Qing's heart stirred.

While drinking the porridge slowly, he submerged his consciousness into that two-foot square space within his body.

The space remained silent, and the black soil in the center exuded a warm luster.

He attempted to guide the thin, almost non-existent Spiritual Qi from the food that was about to dissipate within his body toward the space.

It was very faint, weaker even than the vitality of weed roots.

But the space sent back a clear, joyful ripple.

That wisp of Spiritual Qi was quickly absorbed by the black soil, and then, a purer, gentler energy was fed back, merging into Ye Qing's limbs and bones.

The energy fed back this time was even purer than when he absorbed the weeds; although the quantity was smaller, the quality was higher.

His previously stagnant Qi and blood seemed to liven up a bit.

"So, it's not just tangible objects... it can even 're-purify' the Spiritual Qi I couldn't utilize after absorption and give it back to me?"

Ye Qing's heart accelerated uncontrollably again.

What did this mean?

It meant that his body, this Five Elements Spiritual Root Aptitude that was trash to the extreme, now had a super filter and energy converter!

The impure Spiritual Qi from the outside world, the meager Spiritual Qi in food, and perhaps even the medicinal power of Medicinal Pills that hadn't been fully absorbed... could all be "purified" through this space and converted into pure energy that was easier for him to absorb!

Although the space was still small and the efficiency low, this represented a path to the heavens!

A path that would allow even someone with his trash Spiritual Root the opportunity to glimpse the Dao!

Ye Qing suppressed the excitement in his heart and calmly finished the last mouthful of porridge.

Waste was shameful, especially for him right now.

Placing the pottery bowl into the designated wooden basin, Ye Qing walked out of the dining hall.

The sky had completely darkened, and sporadic oil lamps were lit in the Servant Quarters, casting a dim yellow light.

Most of the Utility Disciples were exhausted from the day and had already returned to the dormitory to lie down, while a few were still washing up by the well.

Ye Qing did not return to his living quarters.

Relying on his memory, he walked toward the back of the Servant Quarters, where there was a corner piled with trash.

No matter how small the Qingyun Sect was, it was still a Sect, and it produced quite a bit of waste every day.

It was mainly household waste, but there was also some construction debris and damaged utensils.

The smell here was naturally unpleasant, and mosquitoes were swarming.

Usually, apart from the Utility Disciples dumping trash, no one wanted to come near.

Borrowing the moonlight, Ye Qing carefully rummaged through the trash pile.

He was looking for things that had "residual Spiritual Qi" or "special Materials."

For example, damaged, discarded scraps of talisman paper where the Spiritual Qi had almost completely dissipated.

For example, the residue of Medicinal Pills that had failed in refining and were now worthless.

For example, shards worn off from some low-grade Magical Artifacts.

To others, these things were true trash, completely worthless.

But the space within Ye Qing's body didn't seem to be picky.

He first found a few scraps of failed Fire Talismans; the talisman ink had long since dried and dimmed, with less than ten percent of the Spiritual Qi remaining.

The moment his fingertips touched them, a faint suction force came from the space within his body.

The talisman paper fragments turned into finer powder, and the remaining Fire-elemental spiritual power and the special paper material that carried the spiritual power were absorbed by the space.

The gray mist at the edge of the space expanded outward evenly by an imperceptible sliver.

The feedback energy carried a trace of warmth, merging into his Meridians.

"Fire-elemental residue... although weak, it can indeed be absorbed and converted."

Ye Qing thought thoughtfully and continued rummaging.

Soon, he found a few black, burnt-smelling pill residues.

This was the residue from a failed Bigu Pill refining; it contained a small amount of Spirit Grain essence and medicinal power that hadn't been completely destroyed, but it was mixed with a large amount of pill toxins, which were harmful and useless to a Cultivator.

Ye Qing hesitated for a moment but still picked one up.

The suction force from the space was clearly stronger than when dealing with the discarded talisman paper.

The pill residue turned into fly ash at his fingertips; the useful essence within was extracted, while the burnt Impurities and trace amounts of pill toxins seemed to be "filtered" out by the space, not absorbed, but dissipated with the ash.

The energy fed back was slightly purer and more substantial than the talisman scraps.

"It can filter out Impurities and toxins... this function is practical."

Ye Qing's eyes brightened further.

This meant that in the future, if he obtained flawed or poisonous Medicinal Pills or Materials, he might be able to "purify" them through the space and turn waste into treasure.

Of course, the space was currently too small, and its processing capacity was limited; he could only think about it for now.

He rummaged for a while longer and found a few rusty iron pieces, which seemed to be fragments from a shattered low-grade Magical Artifact; they had no spirituality left, only ordinary iron remained.

The space had no reaction to this.

"It's only interested in substances containing energy or special spirituality? Purely mundane items don't work?"

Ye Qing noted this pattern.

Finally, at the edge of the trash pile, he discovered a small, withered black root segment about the thickness of a finger.

It looked like the root of some Spirit Medicine, but it had lost all its Spiritual Qi and was withered and decayed.

He picked up that root segment.

This time, the suction force from the space was more obvious than any previous time!

He could even feel a faint "craving."

The withered black root quickly turned into fly ash in his hand, and an energy several times richer than the vitality of weeds or the essence of pill residue was drawn into the space.

The space vibrated significantly.

The extent to which the gray mist at the edge retreated was almost equal to the sum of absorbing dozens of talisman scraps earlier!

The color of the black soil became deeper, and the surface even vaguely shimmered with an extremely faint, almost invisible fluorescence.

A considerable amount of pure energy was fed back, causing Ye Qing's Qi Refining Stage 1 cultivation to surge forward a bit!

He seemed to be only a step away from Qi Refining Stage 2.

"What kind of medicine root is this? The residual energy is so abundant?"

Ye Qing carefully recalled the original owner's meager knowledge of herbs and barely identified that this seemed to be the rootlet of a "Diyuan Ginseng"?

Diyuan Ginseng, a Grade 1 Spirit Medicine, was an auxiliary ingredient for refining several types of Qi Refinement Stage pills, and those with long ages were quite valuable.

Although this rootlet had lost all its Spiritual Qi, its inherent material seemed quite special, and the "medicinal base" it contained was still identified and absorbed by the space.

"It seems that the remains of long-aged, high-quality Spirit Medicine are top-tier 'food'."

Ye Qing patted the dust off his hands, his mind made up.

The herb garden!

There were large amounts of growing Spirit Medicine there, and also... the weeds that were weeded out.

Although he couldn't touch the seedlings, there were plenty of weeds.

Moreover, maybe he could find some naturally withered, discarded branches and leaves of medicinal herbs?

Thinking of this, Ye Qing had a plan.

He didn't waste any more time at the trash pile and turned back to the dormitory.

The sound of snoring echoed one after another in the room.

The five Utility Disciples in the same room were all asleep, each exhausted.

Ye Qing walked lightly to his bunk against the wall and lay down fully clothed.

He didn't go to sleep immediately but submerged his consciousness into the inner space.

The space had now expanded to about three feet square.

The black soil in the center occupied about half the area, deep in color, warm to the touch, and exuding a faint, reassuring aura.

The land was empty; there was nothing on it.

The surroundings were still filled with Chaotic gray mist, slowly churning, isolating the inside from the outside.

"It's still too small... it would be crowded even to plant a blade of grass."

Ye Qing "looked" at this tiny world, his heart full of anticipation.

"However, at least there's a start."

He attempted to connect his consciousness more deeply with this space.

Instantly, a wonderful feeling welled up in his heart.

It was as if he had become the "Dominator" of this tiny world.

Although this "world" was only three feet square and the land was only one and a half feet square.

But he could clearly perceive the "state" of every inch of the land.

He could perceive the different energies he had just absorbed slowly fusing and settling in the depths of the land, converting into the "nutrients" that supported the existence of this space.

He even had a vague premonition—when the space expanded to a certain extent, perhaps he really could "Cultivate" something on this land?

This thought made his heart race.

If he could really Cultivate, even if it were just the most ordinary herbs, by utilizing the characteristics the space might possess, such as accelerating growth or purifying quality...

Ye Qing forced himself to calm down.

The path had to be walked one step at a time.

Right now, the most important thing was to use the convenience of weeding the herb garden to absorb the energy of the weeds as quickly as possible, raise his cultivation to Qi Refining Stage 2, and expand the space.

Qi Refining Stage 2 was considered decent among Utility Disciples; he would be able to take slightly better tasks and access more resources.

Moreover, an increase in cultivation would also better conceal the subtle fluctuations that might occur when the space absorbed energy.

He planned his next actions: First, complete the weeding task earnestly every day without attracting attention, while maximizing the absorption of weed energy.

Second, keep an eye out for any naturally withered or discarded parts of medicinal herbs in the herb garden and collect them carefully.

Third, continue to "visit" the trash pile to look for valuable "trash."

Fourth, find ways to understand the channels within the Sect for obtaining basic Cultivation Techniques, knowledge, and Materials, to plan for the future.

"Don't be impatient, don't be greedy."

Ye Qing admonished himself in his heart.

"Develop stealthily, don't be reckless. This is an iron rule."

Countless experiences from games and novels in his past life told him that if you survive the early game, you'll have a late game.

His Golden Finger currently appeared to be of the growth type, and it was especially fragile in the early stages; it must never be exposed.

As he thought, the fatigue accumulated over the day surged, and Ye Qing's consciousness gradually blurred.

Before falling asleep, he took one last "look" at the tiny, slowly growing space within his body.

Moonlight spilled in through the broken window lattice, falling on his calm face.

A faint smile, full of anticipation for the future, seemed to hang at the corners of his mouth.

That night, he slept exceptionally soundly.

In his dreams, there were no demands from clients, no bugs that could never be fixed.

There was only a tiny world of his own that was constantly expanding.