8: Chapter 8 Qi Refining Level 3

At this moment, Li Qing was still completely unaware that he had been targeted by someone.

He was working steadily at the fish stall, moving goods, slaughtering fish, and cleaning the stall; he was quick and efficient, with an honest attitude, looking just like the most ordinary laborer.

After working for a whole half-day, the fishy smell from the stall still clung to his clothes and wouldn't go away. Li Qing handed the last processed fish to a customer, wiped the water off his hands, and walked up to the fish stall owner.

This fish stall owner was a middle-aged man in his forties with skin tanned dark by the sun and hands covered in thick calluses from years of slaughtering and moving fish. He was just an ordinary Mortal who had never touched the path of Cultivation in his entire life, and his greatest hope was his son, who was at Qi Refining Stage 4.

In this world where cultivators were everywhere, it was too difficult for a Mortal to get ahead. Therefore, the owner worked desperately, pouring every bit of Cultivation resources he earned into his son, hoping that his son could go further on the path of Cultivation and bring honor to the family in the future, so they wouldn't have to keep making a living at this tiring and dirty fish stall.

Li Qing had worked here for a month, getting up early and staying late every day to slaughter fish, scrape scales, gut them, and clean out their organs—he did all the dirty and tiring work—and today, he finally received his wages.

Holding the small amount of Spirit Stones, he didn't hesitate and spoke directly to the owner:

"Boss, I won't be coming tomorrow."

The owner was stunned for a moment, looked up at Li Qing, and didn't ask anything more. He just nodded, with no sign of reluctance on his face; after all, in this marketplace, it was very normal for odd-job workers to come and go.

After a simple farewell to the owner, he began to wander around the marketplace.

He visited several shops selling Spirit Beast cubs and finally chose Red-tailed Fish and Green-feathered Chicken.

These Red-tailed Fish were not ordinary freshwater fish, but semi-Spirit Beasts. Even as cubs, their bodies were nearly twenty centimeters long, and they were much stronger than ordinary fish. Their flesh contained a trace of Spiritual Qi. Only when they grew to a meter long would they be considered true adult semi-Spirit Beasts. Whether he ate them himself to improve his Cultivation or sold them in the marketplace, they were worth quite a few Spirit Stones.

The Green-feathered Chicken was the same; it was also a semi-Spirit Beast. The cubs were already about the size of an ordinary adult domestic chicken, and their feathers had a faint greenish luster. This was the characteristic of a semi-Spirit Beast; ordinary chickens could not grow like this.

Twenty Red-tailed Fish cubs, plus ten Green-feathered Chicken cubs, along with some fish feed and chicken feed—all told, it cost Li Qing a total of thirty-five Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

As for Spirit Rice seeds, Li Qing bought five catties, spending five Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Five catties of seeds were just enough to plant one mu. Li Qing carefully inspected every single seed to ensure there were no dead, shriveled, or inferior seeds mixed in.

The shops for the Red-tailed Fish and Green-feathered Chicken offered to deliver them to Li Qing's small courtyard; after all, Li Qing couldn't carry so many things back himself.

Returning to the small courtyard and sending off the delivery person, Li Qing flashed into his Immortal Cave.

Little did he know that every move Li Qing made this time had been clearly seen by someone.

...

He put the twenty Red-tailed Fish cubs directly into the fish pond.

Just after putting the fish in, Li Qing was a bit surprised, not knowing if it was an illusion.

These twenty Red-tailed Fish cubs had been listless and slow outside, but as soon as they entered the fish pond, they immediately acted as if they had been injected with adrenaline. They swam around happily in the water, their tails slapping the surface with loud splashes, full of energy; it was clear they were much more comfortable here than outside.

As Li Qing expected, the behavior of the Green-feathered Chicken was exactly the same as the Red-tailed Fish!

Looking at the happy Red-tailed Fish in the fish pond and the lively Green-feathered Chicken in the beast enclosure, Li Qing finally felt a bit more at ease.

These semi-Spirit Beasts grew quickly in the Immortal Cave. After raising them for a while, they would be able to lay eggs and grow up. By then, whether he sold them for Spirit Stones or ate them himself to supplement his Cultivation, it would be a stable income, and he would never have to go to the fish stall to do odd jobs for others and earn that meager, hard-earned money again.

Finally, there was the farmland. Li Qing planted all the seeds and watered them once with the water from the Spirit Well.

In this unique, disaster-free, and hazard-free space of the Immortal Cave, Li Qing was not worried at all about pests appearing in the farmland; as long as he watered them regularly, they would grow wildly.

After finishing everything, the sky outside had completely darkened, and night had shrouded the entire land, with even the lights of the marketplace appearing distant.

Li Qing returned to the stone room in the Immortal Cave, sat on the cold stone bed, adjusted his breathing, and prepared to start to Cultivate.

The Cultivation Technique he practiced was called the Thousand Mountain Thick Earth Art, which was a most basic low-grade earth-element technique. Previously, when he practiced, he could only rely on absorbing the thin Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, and his speed was as slow as a snail crawling.

Now Li Qing still had fifty Low-Grade Spirit Stones, and today, he intended to try practicing with Spirit Stones and experience the joy of absorbing Spirit Stones to improve his Cultivation.

Li Qing took a deep breath, closed his eyes, formed a hand seal with both hands, and silently operated the Thousand Mountain Thick Earth Art, while tightly clutching a Low-Grade Spirit Stone in his hand.

The Spirit Stone contained pure and gentle Spiritual Qi. As the technique operated, wisps of Spiritual Qi continuously surged out from the Spirit Stone, flowing along his Meridians and slowly into his Dantian.

In the past, when absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, he couldn't absorb even a little bit in half a day, but now with the Spirit Stone, the Spiritual Qi came quickly and steadily. That feeling of fullness made Li Qing feel comfortable all over.

He did not dare to be distracted and focused entirely on operating the technique. One Spirit Stone was quickly drained of its Spiritual Qi, turning into a pile of useless white powder.

He casually threw away the powder, picked up a new Low-Grade Spirit Stone, and continued to absorb it.

One, two, three... Spirit Stones turned into powder one after another, piling up beside the stone bed, and the Spiritual Qi in the Immortal Cave became increasingly dense.

He didn't know how long had passed, but when the sixth Spirit Stone completely turned into powder, Li Qing's long-dormant Dantian suddenly emitted a crisp "hum," like a taut piano string being gently plucked. The sound was not loud, but it clearly reached his ears.

Li Qing's heart tightened; he knew this was a sign of a Breakthrough!

He gritted his teeth and continued to operate the technique with all his might. A few breaths later, the Spiritual Qi in his body suddenly became violent, as if it had found a Breakthrough point, and it fiercely broke through the shackles that had been stuck there for a long time.

A slight, swelling pain came from his Dantian, and immediately after, the space actually expanded by a circle, becoming much larger than before!

With the change in his Dantian, Li Qing's aura also surged wildly. The Spiritual Qi flowing in his body was a full thirty percent more than before the Breakthrough, and his whole body was filled with strength; his Meridians had also become wider and tougher than before.

Li Qing slowly opened his eyes, a flash of surprise in them, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.

Qi Refining Stage 3, success!

He knew that his path of Cultivation was finally going to slowly get on the right track.