In the days that followed.
Chen Yang barely left his room, immersing himself entirely in cultivating the Yimu Immortality Art.
Yet his progress was nowhere near as explosive as it had been on that first day.
After the initial mad dash — where he had used duplicated Yimu Essence Qi to power through thirteen Grand Circulation Cycles in one breath — the pace of his cultivation dropped sharply in the days that followed.
The reason was simple: spirit stones.
His Storage Bag, once reasonably well-stocked, had been emptied by that frenzied duplication session. Now only a pitiful handful of scattered low-grade spirit stones lay forgotten in the corner.
Without spirit stones, he could not duplicate Yimu Essence Qi in any meaningful quantity.
He had to make do with a lesser approach — each day he would first use the clay bowl to convert plain water into spirit liquid imbued with Spiritual Energy, then attempt to use that spirit liquid as a catalyst to duplicate Yimu Essence Qi.
Unfortunately, the efficiency was drastically reduced.
Spirit liquid did contain Spiritual Energy, but it was simply no match for the purity and speed of burning spirit stones directly.
All the spirit liquid he painstakingly accumulated each day could only produce enough Yimu Essence Qi to sustain three or four Circulation Cycles at most.
If he relied on no Yimu Essence Qi at all…
Depending solely on absorbing the world's ambient Spiritual Energy to drive this profound cultivation technique, the pace was maddeningly slow.
He could barely complete even a single full Circulation Cycle.
This left him feeling quite frustrated.
The cultivation technique's general principles clearly stated:
After a cultivator gains entry by drawing on three strands of Yimu Essence Qi, the body gradually adapts to the technique's nature. Thereafter, even without relying on external aids, completing two or three Circulation Cycles per day on one's own should pose no difficulty.
Yet in his case, that simply didn't seem to apply.
"It seems my affinity with the Yimu Immortality Art really isn't all that high…"
Chen Yang let out a helpless sigh.
But he didn't let himself sink into despair.
Low affinity simply meant slower cultivation and greater resource consumption.
In any case, he had the clay bowl — mass-producing Yimu Essence Qi was just a matter of having enough spirit stones!
Moreover, he could clearly sense that with each day of persistent cultivation, especially under the nourishment of abundant Yimu Essence Qi, his body was undergoing subtle yet continuous changes.
His meridians seemed more supple and resilient.
His organs brimmed with ever-greater vitality.
Even his skin had taken on a faint, healthy, luminous glow.
He was being slowly reshaped by this powerful life force, gradually evolving toward a constitution more attuned to the Yimu Immortality Art.
The only problem was the fuel this evolution required — spirit stones — which had become an urgent and pressing concern.
"Truly… when I was a laborer, I'd work myself to the bone for a whole month just to earn a single low-grade spirit stone, and I always thought spirit stones were the scarcest thing in the world. Now that I'm an inner disciple receiving two hundred a month for free, it's still not enough…"
Chen Yang shook his head with a self-deprecating smile:
"Looks like I'll need to find some sect missions to take on."
He recalled hearing that the sect had a dedicated place where missions were posted, allowing disciples to earn spirit stones and contribution points.
Just as he was planning how to earn more spirit stones in the future, there came a soft knock at his door.
Chen Yang composed himself and rose to open it.
Standing outside were Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua.
Liu Yiyi was holding an elegant food box, as she always did.
"Big Brother Chen."
"Senior Brother Chen."
Both girls spoke at the same time.
One voice was gentle.
The other was bright and eager.
Chen Yang smiled and invited them inside.
He had been in closed-door seclusion these past few days, and his daily needs had been almost entirely taken care of by the two of them — saving him a great deal of trouble.
Liu Yiyi opened the food box to reveal several pieces of pastry — translucent, a delicate pinkish-white, giving off a light, sweet fragrance.
"Big Brother Chen, try some freshly made Water Chestnut Cake. It's steamed from flour ground from freshly dug water chestnuts — cooling and thirst-quenching." Liu Yiyi said softly, holding the pastry out to Chen Yang.
Chen Yang picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. It was refreshingly crisp and springy, sweet without being cloying — genuinely delicious.
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"It's very good."
He said sincerely, then grew a little curious:
"At this time of year, are there still fresh water chestnuts in the mountains?"
Before Liu Yiyi could answer, Xiaochunhua jumped in:
"Of course! Sister Liu went all the way to the streamside in the back mountains to dig them up herself! She walked quite a long way!"
Hearing this, Chen Yang felt a quiet warmth in his heart. He looked toward Liu Yiyi:
"That must have been a lot of trouble. You don't need to go to such lengths in the future."
Liu Yiyi gave a small shake of her head, indicating it was no trouble at all.
She hesitated for a moment, then drew from her sleeve a small cloth pouch — slightly worn but washed spotlessly clean. She held it out with both hands, her cheeks faintly flushed, her voice dropping lower:
"Big Brother Chen, this… there are some things in here. I don't know if… they might be of any help to you…"
Chen Yang instinctively took it, and immediately felt its weight.
He opened the pouch in puzzlement — and froze.
Inside was a small bag packed full of low-grade spirit stones!
Most were no bigger than a fingernail, and their quality wasn't exceptional, but at a rough count there were seventy or eighty of them!
"This… where did so many spirit stones come from?"
Chen Yang looked up at Liu Yiyi in astonishment.
This was no small sum — especially for the two of them.
Xiaochunhua couldn't help but chime in again, with a hint of pride in her voice:
"Of course Sister Liu saved them up little by little! Back when we were in Butterfly Valley, Sister Liu didn't just work in the medicine garden — whenever she had a free moment, she'd run out into the hills to gather herbs. The good ones she'd hand over to the sect in exchange for spirit stones, and the lesser ones she'd quietly save up to sell to passing disciples! She worked so hard!"
Liu Yiyi grew embarrassed at being described this way and gently tugged at Xiaochunhua's sleeve, murmuring:
"Xiaochun, that's enough…"
But Xiaochunhua didn't stop, continuing:
"And it's not just Sister Liu's! There are a few I saved up too! Senior Brother Chen, you'd better remember my kindness!"
Chen Yang looked at the heavy little pouch in his hands — filled with spirit stones that represented a young woman's painstaking effort — and felt a wave of emotion rise in his chest, both touched and strangely aching.
He quickly pushed the pouch back:
"Yiyi, this is far too precious. These are what you and Xiaochunhua earned through your own hard work — how could I accept them? Please take them back!"
But Liu Yiyi stubbornly refused to take it. Instead she stepped back, lowered her eyes, and said softly:
"Big Brother Chen, please keep them. Being able to live here, sheltered from wind and rain, and to cultivate in a place with such abundant Spiritual Energy — that is already an immense blessing. This… this is just a small token of my feelings. And besides…"
She paused, her voice growing even quieter:
"I've occasionally heard Big Brother Chen mention being short on spirit stones… Being able to help even a little, I… I'm glad."
"But…"
Chen Yang still wanted to decline.
Liu Yiyi suddenly raised her head, a rare look of quiet resolve in her eyes, and lightly tugged at Chen Yang's sleeve:
"Big Brother Chen, come with me."
She led Chen Yang and Xiaochunhua out of the small room and around to the back of the courtyard.
Only then did Chen Yang realize that these past few days, he had either been shut inside cultivating or coming and going through the front door — he had never once paid attention to the back courtyard.
Now, looking at it.
He was startled once again.
Where the corner of the yard had once been barren and overgrown, a small, neatly squared-off plot of medicinal land had been cultivated — tidy furrows, moist and fertile soil.
The rows were straight and even.
The earth was damp and rich.
A scattering of common spirit herb seedlings had been planted within.
Though they were still young, every single one of them was bursting with vitality — lush, vivid green, growing with remarkable vigor.
"This…"
Chen Yang was taken aback.
Liu Yiyi gazed at the little plot, warmth and a touch of quiet pride in her eyes, and said softly:
"I thought it was a shame to leave the empty space in the back courtyard unused. The Spiritual Energy here is so much richer than in Butterfly Valley, so I tried clearing a small patch and planted some spirit herbs that are easy to grow. They aren't worth much yet, but once they grow a little larger, perhaps they can be traded for spirit stones at the market over at Crimson Glow Peak. So… Big Brother Chen, you really don't need to worry too much about spirit stones. Things will… things will gradually get better."
Xiaochunhua bounced on her heels beside them, grinning as she asked:
"Senior Brother Chen, isn't Sister Liu amazing? She's kept this little courtyard so well! She's gentle and good at managing a home! Do you have any… thoughts about that?"
Liu Yiyi's face instantly turned scarlet. Mortified, she moved to clap a hand over Xiaochunhua's mouth:
"You little troublemaker! Say another word and see what happens!"
Xiaochunhua nimbly dodged behind Chen Yang, poking her head out to keep stirring the pot:
"Sister Liu, you clearly want to say it yourself but don't dare! Watch me!"
With that, she suddenly rose up on her tiptoes and, quick as a flash, planted a smack of a kiss on Chen Yang's left cheek. Then she looked at Liu Yiyi triumphantly:
"Sister Liu, I just took the left side. Now you go hold his hand and take the right side — who knows, maybe Senior Brother Chen will be so pleased he'll just take us both… ow!"
She didn't get to finish her sentence before a thoroughly red-faced Liu Yiyi yanked her out from behind Chen Yang and gave her a light swat on the arm:
"Big Brother Chen is devoted to the path of cultivation — he would never have such… such ridiculous thoughts! If you keep making trouble, no dinner for you tonight!"
Chen Yang's attention, however, was mostly elsewhere — not on the two girls' playful bickering.
He stood staring at the patch of spirit herbs, whose growth was unnaturally vigorous.
His mind was churning with questions.
Even accounting for the fact that this was at the foot of Qingyun Peak, where the Spiritual Energy was denser than in the laborer quarters — this growth was still excessive…
The vitality radiating from those spirit herb seedlings was absurdly strong…
Suddenly.
A thought struck him like a bolt of lightning.
Yimu Essence Qi!
It was the Yimu Essence Qi that had leaked out during his cultivation!
In those early days of practicing the Yimu Immortality Art, his technique had been rough and unrefined. As he absorbed and circulated the energy, large amounts of pure Yimu Essence Qi had inevitably dispersed into the surrounding air.
This energy, brimming with tremendous life force, had silently nourished the soil and the spirit herbs planted within it.
The moment this clicked into place, Chen Yang felt a chill run through him.
It was fortunate this had happened within his own courtyard. If he were to cultivate outside and let this happen, that pure and distinctive aura of Yimu life force would be extremely easy for a sharp-sensed expert to detect!
If that happened.
Possessing a treasure invites trouble — and the consequences could be severe.
"From now on, I must be far more careful during cultivation. I absolutely cannot allow Yimu Essence Qi to leak outward freely!"
He silently warned himself.
Only then did he belatedly notice Liu Yiyi's expression — flushed with embarrassment and tinged with a flicker of dejection — and Xiaochunhua's look of exasperated disappointment.
Chen Yang blinked.
It was as if he had only just fully surfaced from his own thoughts.
He gave a light cough.
Rather than picking up the thread of what the two girls had been saying, he walked over to the herb plot, picked up the hoe leaning against the wall, and began loosening the soil around a few of the spirit herb plants with practiced ease. As he worked, he said:
"These spirit herbs are growing well, but the soil around the roots still needs to be loosened — it'll help the root systems spread. Hmm… it would also be good to water them with the Water Condensation Art afterward."
With that, he bent his head and got to work in earnest.
As if the delicate atmosphere from moments before had never existed.
Xiaochunhua watched him, let out a helpless sigh, and leaned close to Liu Yiyi's ear, muttering in the lowest of voices:
"Sister Liu, what are you still holding back for? I was putting on a one-woman show just now — it was so awkward… If you'd joined in with me, maybe things would have worked out…"
Liu Yiyi's cheeks grew even redder. Mortified, she gave her a small pinch and whispered:
"Will you please be quiet! What kind of girl behaves like you do…"
Xiaochunhua just pursed her lips and kept muttering under her breath:
"I kissed the left side just now — if you'd seized the moment to take his hand and kiss the right side, Senior Brother Chen might have just gone ahead and taken us both… then wouldn't everything have fallen into place naturally! Honestly…"