The days flew by. Before he knew it, a week had passed.
Over the past seven days, Gu An had worked out the basics of Spirit Source Feedback. In short, spirit beasts he had raised would repay his care by returning a Spiritual Qi Cluster to him after they died.
There might be other rewards, though he hadn’t discovered any yet. The strength of the spiritual qi returned depended on the beast’s cultivation realm when it died. Who killed it, and how far away it was, made no difference to his cheat.
For this reason, he had also killed the two Golden Spirit Carp he kept in his small courtyard. Since they were only half-spirit beasts, they had returned two very small Spiritual Qi Clusters, equivalent to only two or three days of hard work.
As for four other Spiritual Qi Clusters, the prompt indicated they came from Colorful-Feather Chickens that had died of natural causes. He presumed that Deacon Wang had sent the Colorful-Feather Chickens to Qingyun Tower to be made into Spirit Ginseng Stewed Chicken.
Even after being made into stew, they still sent him spiritual qi! Now that was gratitude!
The feedback spiritual Qi also allowed Gu An to completely stabilize his Qi Condensation fourth-layer realm, and even make some progress. Moreover, when his spiritual power circulated, there was not the slightest hint of instability.
After consolidating his realm, Gu An planned to learn some techniques as a means of self-protection.
At the entrance to the Qingyuan Sect’s Scripture Pavilion.
Gu An counted the spirit stones in his storage bag. He had finished handing over his duties at the Spirit Chicken Farm and received his final two stones. With the twelve he had painstakingly saved, he now had fourteen.
Qi Condensation realm techniques cost three spirit stones each. After learning three, he wouldn’t have much left.
Thinking of this, Gu An felt a faint ache in his heart.
In his previous life, he had been troubled by money all day long, often doing odd jobs to earn some. After transmigrating to the cultivation world, he counted every single one before spending. He recognized every single spirit stone in his storage bag!
They were all his hard-earned money!
“Hey, kid! What are you standing there for? If you’re not coming in, don’t block the door!”
Gu An followed the sound and saw Elder Gu Yan sitting cross-legged on a cushion inside the door. He wore a green Daoist robe with cloud patterns, and spiritual pressure radiated around him, as if he were cultivating some technique. At that moment, he was looking at Gu An with dissatisfaction.
“Martial Uncle Gu, I’m coming in. I’ve come to choose some spells,” Gu An replied respectfully as he stepped forward. Gu Yan was a Foundation Establishment cultivator. The Ancestor had supposedly stationed him at the Scripture Pavilion to curb his fiery temper. Gu An knew better than to offend him.
Gu Yan didn’t even lift his eyelids: “Qi Condensation realm techniques cost three spirit stones each. After you’ve chosen, come here for copying. Any damaged items will be compensated at double the price. Understood?”
“I understand.” Gu An answered respectfully. Seeing that Elder Gu Yan had no more to say, he bowed and entered the Scripture Pavilion.
The Scripture Pavilion had seven floors. The first held miscellaneous writings and accounts of unusual events. The second and third housed spells and cultivation arts for Qi Condensation cultivators, the fourth and fifth those for Foundation Establishment, and the sixth and seventh those for Golden Core. Gu An headed for the second floor.
On the second floor, a dozen or so bookshelves stood in rows. Instead of books, they held jade slips that glowed softly.
These were Spell Jade Slips. Compared to traditional records using books, jade slips could better preserve the true essence of a technique.
Walking slowly to the bookshelf for water-attributed techniques, he saw a Senior Brother already there selecting techniques. Gu An nodded slightly in greeting and began to browse the techniques carefully.
“Water Spear Spell: Slow casting time, but its strength lies in great power. When cultivated to a high level, it can summon three water spears to fight the enemy.”
“Water Arrow Spell: Fast and concealed, suitable for sneak attacks. Its weakness is low power.”
“Water Shield Spell: Strong defensive power, but only one shield. Requires flexible use.”
“Water Spirit Barrier: Forms a spiritual barrier to protect the whole body, but its defensive power is far inferior to the Water Shield Spell.”
……
“I’ll choose the Water Spear Spell and the Water Shield Spell. The Water Spear Spell has great power and can be used as a means to breach strong defenses. Combined with the Entangling Spell, the weakness of its long casting time can be compensated for somewhat.”
“The Water Shield Spell has strong defensive power, but when facing an enemy, I need to be careful not to be ambushed from other directions.”
After a little thought, Gu An selected the two spells. He then fetched the Entangling Spell from the wood-attribute section and went downstairs to find Martial Uncle Gu.
“Finished choosing? Let me see. The idea of combining the Water Spear Spell with the Entangling Spell isn’t bad. The Water Shield Spell and the Water Spirit Barrier each have their own strengths and weaknesses.”
“It’s up to you!”
Elder Gu Yan took the three jade slips and offered a few casual comments. He brought out three Blank Jade Slips, held one against an original, and let spiritual light flash between his hands. The white slip began to glow blue, just like the one it had been copied from.
He cast the technique twice more, and the three jade slips were completely copied.
“Here, three techniques, nine spirit stones.” Elder Gu Yan tossed the jade slips to him, waved his sleeve, and the three original jade slips flew back to the second floor.
These kinds of techniques were not considered precious and could be found outside, so the management was not strict.
Copies of some rare spells had to be returned for destruction after a set period. Others could only be studied in the Scripture Pavilion’s quiet rooms.
The ones Gu An had chosen did not have these requirements, as long as he did not pass them on privately.
Taking out nine spirit stones and handing them to Elder Gu Yan, Gu An made a bow, took his leave, and departed.
……
Arriving under the apricot tree in the courtyard, he sat down, took out a Spell Jade Slip from his storage bag, and began to comprehend it carefully.
The Water Spear Spell circulated the caster’s spiritual power along a particular route, drawing it into resonance with the water qi of heaven and earth to form a short spear three chi long.
Once formed, the spear was sharp and especially good at piercing through protective energy barriers…
Gu An held his breath and concentrated, recalling the route for circulating spiritual power. He carefully began to circulate his spiritual power. A sound like rushing water came from his body, but the air only became slightly moist.
Clearly, the technique casting had failed.
Gu An was not bothered. If he had succeeded on the first try, that would have surprised him. Spiritual power flowing, Gu An began to practice again.
Time passed. As the blue spiritual light flickered on and off in the small courtyard, dusk had already fallen.
“Gu An, open up! Look what I’ve brought.” Zhang Song called from outside. Two days earlier, Gu An had invited him over to share the Golden Spirit Carp he had killed.
After opening the door, he saw Zhang Song holding a tube of bamboo wine in his left hand and a tied-up Colorful-Feather Chicken in his right. Without putting them in his storage bag, he was about to walk in.
“This is the Bamboo Fruit Wine I got from my grandpa. The chicken was given by Steward Liu. He said it was because he saw we worked hard enough.”
“He knows I crave this stuff. Old Liu isn’t half bad at reading the room.”
Gu An’s expression was strange. Zhang Song was constantly getting the short end of the stick in front of Steward Liu, but behind his back, he never stopped running his mouth. Not a single retort he got was undeserved.
Gu An had Zhang Song kill the chicken. Gu An himself scaled, gutted, and removed the gills from the Golden Spirit Carp. With a Cleaning Spell, the two Golden Spirit Carp were cleaned up spotlessly.
He put them into a green stone pot, waved his hand to summon a stream of clear water into the pot, added salt, ginger, and perilla, closed the stone lid, and placed it on an earthen stove to simmer over a low flame.
[One of the Colorful-Feather Chickens you raised has died of natural causes, returning a Spiritual Qi Cluster to you!]
The notification made Gu An start. Judging by how long Zhang Song had been gone, he must just have killed the chicken.
“?”
So the chicken Steward Liu had given them was one he’d raised himself? Well, that worked out nicely!
Feeling the spiritual power in his Dantian increase by another fraction, Gu An grinned, his heart full of joy.
Longevity was in sight; the path of immortality had hope!
Zhang Song returned with the slaughtered chicken. Gu An came back to his senses, fetched a bamboo tube, and chopped the chicken into pieces to put inside. He prepared the bamboo chicken with practiced ease. There was no bamboo charcoal in the courtyard, though, so they would have to roast it over dry branches.
Zhang Song snapped his fingers, and a spark ignited the dead branches. He placed the bamboo tube over the fire to roast, chatting idly with Gu An.
The mountains merged with the dusk. Insects chirped in the dew-damp grass. The scenery was quiet and beautiful, with only the crackling sound of the fire and their conversation occasionally breaking the silence.