The mysterious old man Duan

Shen Fan carried water up the mountain, not forgetting to Cultivate along the way. Due to this multitasking, the planting season had already been delayed.

By the time he dragged his weary body back to his dwelling, night had already fallen deep, and silence permeated the surroundings. A few Utility Disciples had their lights on, but most were already asleep.

If he hadn't already reached the Qi Refining Stage Three, with physical qualities far surpassing ordinary people, he would have collapsed long ago.

At this moment, his desire to Cultivate grew stronger, and his pursuit of strength burned like a fierce fire in his heart.

The moment he locked the door behind him, Shen Fan's figure flickered, and he was already at the table.

His gaze fell upon the broken bowl on the table. Seeing it safe and sound, his taut nerves finally relaxed slightly, and he let out a long breath.

Indeed, the most dangerous place is the safest place.

Whether this broken bowl was truly a treasure or not, everything would be revealed after tonight.

Shen Fan scooped a handful of coarse rice from the rice bag and placed it into the broken bowl.

Then, he lay down exhausted on the bed, but his hands tightly held the broken bowl, his eyes fixed on it without blinking, as if he wanted to see through it.

Tonight, he had made up his mind not to sleep. He would just stare intently at the broken bowl to see if it could conjure something out of thin air.

...

Time passed silently, minute by minute, under Shen Fan's tense yet expectant gaze.

However, the broken bowl remained completely still.

Just as Shen Fan was growing a little impatient, suddenly, a muffled sound came from Old Duan's room next door.

"What in the world is Old Duan doing in the middle of the night?"

Shen Fan felt suspicious. He quickly and carefully hid the broken bowl under his quilt, then tiptoed out the door.

At this time, the moon was hidden in the clouds, and the surroundings were dim.

Shen Fan estimated that it was around the third quarter of the Hour of the Ox, which was about three in the morning.

At this hour, everyone should be in dreamland, so how could anyone still be staying up?

Are they not going to plant the fields tomorrow?

Filled with curiosity, Shen Fan tiptoed to Old Duan's window and peered inside through a crack.

The scene before him instantly made his eyes widen, and his breathing hitched.

Shen Fan subconsciously covered his mouth, hastily retreated two steps, and tried hard to control himself, not letting out a single sound.

After calming down slightly, he bravely crept closer again.

Inside the less than fifty-square-meter house, tables, chairs, beds, and stoves were all clearly visible.

At this moment, black smoke continuously emanated from Old Duan's body. The smoke curled upwards, appearing extremely eerie.

And on his bed, a cold corpse lay.

Old Duan formed mysterious hand seals with both hands, and the black smoke from his body, like strands of black thread, continuously seeped into the seven orifices of the corpse.

This was a Spell Shen Fan had never seen before, exuding an aura of evil Dao.

Perhaps it had reached its final stage. After Old Duan finished all this, he gently picked up the corpse from the bed and placed it into a large pit beneath the bed.

Shen Fan saw clearly that a coffin was buried under his bed, and the corpse lay quietly within it.

After all this was done, Old Duan extinguished the lamp, lay down on the bed where the dead person had just slept, and entered dreamland.

...

...

Shen Fan returned to his own room, feeling uneasy. The terrifying scene he had just witnessed kept replaying in his mind, leaving him unsettled for a long time.

When he cautiously lifted the quilt, the sight before him instantly cast all the fear in his mind to the back of beyond.

He saw that inside the broken bowl, the coarse rice was continuously increasing, grain by grain, at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if an invisible hand was controlling everything.

This magical scene made Shen Fan tremble with excitement, and he muttered, "It's a treasure! It's a treasure!"

Shen Fan held the broken bowl in his hands, his eyes fixed on the changing coarse rice, until the coarse rice piled up to a peak before stopping.

Then, Shen Fan carefully poured the coarse rice into the rice bag, while the broken bowl was casually placed on the stove, appearing extremely natural.

However, after a second thought, Shen Fan immediately took out some more coarse rice and put it in.

He pondered to himself, "It's already increased once. Will it continue to increase tomorrow morning?"

Lying on the bed, illuminated by the moonlight streaming through the window, he gazedfoolishly at the broken bowl, a dazed smile on his face, muttering:

"If coarse rice can multiply, how wonderful would it be if spirit rice could also multiply, or even transform into top-grade spirit rice! The former is merely a change in quantity, while the latter is a double change in both quantity and quality!"

Shen Fan pondered and researched the function and effect of the broken bowl.

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "This is simply a treasure basin! No, it should be a treasure bowl!"

After a brief moment of thought, Shen Fan named it "treasure gathering cosmos bowl."

However, another question arose in Shen Fan's mind: "Is its effect limited to this? Or does it have other miraculous effects?"

Shen Fan boldly speculated, "If I imagine it as a source with infinite energy, the replication of items and the enhancement of quality both require energy consumption. Does it also have other effects like repair or catalysis?"

"That's right!"

Shen Fan's eyes lit up as he suddenly remembered something, "I remember when Li Qingshan injured me, the day after I returned, Zhao Erhu seemed to have taken a Qi Induction Pill from the bowl, and that Qi Induction Pill was complete!"

Shen Fan clearly remembered that what he had brought back at the time were clearly fragments of Medicinal Pills, so how did they become complete?

Now it seems, it must be the work of this treasure gathering cosmos bowl!

"It truly turns waste into treasure! But here I am, still multiplying coarse rice. Isn't this a waste of a good thing!"

Shen Fan cursed himself, feeling like he was begging with a golden bowl, completely wasting such a good item.

On the Dao of Cultivation, which only seeks longevity, Medicinal Pills play an irreplaceable role.

They have a significant effect on improving the strength of a Cultivator.

The Spirit Field Department clearly could no longer be stayed in. With such a treasure, it must be utilized to its maximum potential.

After a brief thought, Shen Fan felt that Pill Refining Peak was the most suitable place.

However, only Outer Sect Disciples could enter there. As a Utility Disciple, he could only start from the Spiritual Medicine Area or the Waste Pill Room.

And these two places were also Shen Fan's best current choices.

The Spiritual Medicine Area cultivated various Spirit Medicine. If the treasure gathering cosmos bowl could catalyze Spirit Medicine and accelerate their growth, then consuming Spirit Medicine and Cultivating would also be a way to improve strength.

Secondly, the Waste Pill Room stored the discarded Medicinal Pills from all the Inner and Outer Sect Disciples, and Elders from Pill Refining Peak who had failed in Alchemy.

Since the treasure gathering cosmos bowl could turn waste into treasure, that place was undoubtedly even more suitable than the Spiritual Medicine Area.

However, the appointment of a Utility Disciple required a recommendation from the current supervisor.

Therefore, it would be necessary to get Zhao Erhu's approval for him to recommend Shen Fan to the Spiritual Medicine Area or the Waste Pill Room.

But this guy had already been bribed by Li Qingshan and was constantly targeting Shen Fan. Asking him for a recommendation would be harder than ascending to heaven.

Shen Fan racked his brains over this problem and unknowingly fell asleep.

...

The rooster's crow the next day woke up all the Utility Disciples in the Spirit Field Department.

Shen Fan opened his eyes, immediately sprang up, and went to the table to look intently.

However, the scene before him made him slightly disappointed.

The half-bowl of coarse rice he had poured in again after his experiment last night had not increased after fermenting through the latter half of the night.

"It seems this treasure gathering cosmos bowl can only be used once a night!"

Shen Fan sighed, secretly memorizing this characteristic.

After washing up and eating breakfast, Shen Fan took his hoe and water bucket and went to his Spirit Field to begin cultivating.