Ergouzi had been back at Snake Mouth Mountain for two months now.
During this time, he was full of drive, working like a tireless ox. Aside from practicing martial arts, he spent every day clearing wasteland.
He had already worn out several hoes and woodchopping knives.
Naturally, his harvest was excellent. He had successfully opened up another two mu of wasteland.
On these two new mu of land, he planted Solomon’s Seal.
Since only the Solomon’s Seal had bloomed and produced seeds, it was the only seed he had on hand.
On this day, he prepared to turn the soil in the patch where he had planted Cistanche to sow some Solomon’s Seal.
With one swing of his hoe, he struck something. Beneath the dirt, there was an object as pure white as jade.
“What is this?”
He squatted down for a closer look. The thing was cylindrical and slightly indecent in shape, easily making one think of blush-inducing things.
Could this be the Cistanche?
With this thought, he picked up the hoe and began to dig, unearthing the entire cylindrical object. It was over two chi long.
He then dug through the rest of the Cistanche patch, and sure enough, he unearthed many more of these cylindrical objects.
Each one was pure white and crystalline, thick and long, covered in scales.
He picked one up and took a light bite. It tasted sweet at first, followed by a bitter undertone. It was edible, though not particularly delicious.
After digging out more than a dozen, he was almost certain that these were the Cistanche he had planted two months ago.
There was no need to dig out the rest; he decided to leave them in the ground to continue growing.
Last time, he had heard that unreliable old doctor say this thing was highly nourishing, though he didn’t know exactly how it nourished a person.
He wanted to test it himself.
However, afraid its medicinal properties might not be potent enough, he stored the Cistanche inside the gourd, intending to keep it there for a few days before eating it.
In addition, the first batch of Solomon’s Seal was growing quite well. He dug up a few stalks and placed them into the gourd too, deciding to try them together.
Three days later, he took the two medicinal herbs out, scrubbed them clean, and stewed a large pot.
Once fully cooked, the herbs retained only a slight bitterness with a sweet aftertaste. The texture was quite pleasant.
Ergouzi ate it like a regular meal, taking a bite of Solomon’s Seal and then chewing a mouthful of Cistanche, eating with great relish.
After finishing, he lay on his bed. His belly felt warm, and a heat spread through his body.
Tossing and turning, he simply could not fall asleep. Instead, the longer he lay there, the more energetic he felt, as if a boundless strength was trapped inside him.
In the middle of the night, he simply got out of bed, shouldered his hoe, and went to the fields to clear land. Only after clearing a large patch of ground did he return to sleep.
He still didn’t feel completely drained. As he lay in bed, all sorts of strange and peculiar thoughts surfaced in his mind.
“I’m fourteen this year, not too young anymore. Should I spend some money and ask a matchmaker to find me a wife?”
“There are twelve girls in the village around my age. Which one would be the most suitable? Xinghua, Hehua, Cuihua…”
“Cuihua, who used to dig wild vegetables and pull pigweed with me when we were little, is already married. I still remember when we were kids, catching crabs bare-chested in Snake Creek…”
“Old Moneybags Huang’s family eats so well. I’ve never seen any girl grow so plump, swaying and jiggling with every step…”
“Sigh! What a pity…”
Amidst his wandering thoughts, he finally fell asleep. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
He had a dream. In the dream, he married Second Daughter.
On their wedding night, Second Daughter’s cheeks were flushed red, and she wore a bright red embroidered dress.
He started taking off Second Daughter’s clothes. However, he removed one layer after another, yet her clothes seemed endless.
He spent the entire night undressing her, scratching his head in anxious frustration and sweating profusely, but he didn’t even catch a fingernail’s worth of pale flesh.
When he woke up in the morning, he found a large patch of his clothes was wet.
He touched it and realized it wasn’t sweat—it was entirely a nosebleed.
Was this from eating too many tonic herbs, or from being too anxious in last night’s dream?
Wait, that wasn’t it!
The moment he climbed out of bed, he felt something was different.
He felt completely unlike he did on an ordinary day.
Examining himself closely, his hearing and eyesight were much sharper, his limbs felt lighter, and his strength had increased.
When he sat cross-legged and began his morning cultivation, he discovered an even greater change.
He could sense tiny, multicolored motes of light scattered throughout the surrounding air.
These specks of light were exceptionally active, drifting and swimming through the air.
As he breathed and circulated Qi according to his method, some of these motes of light entered his body along with the air.
Then, the vast majority of them escaped his body through his breath or his pores.
Only a rare few remained inside, absorbed and refined into a part of his body.
“Could this be the Spiritual Qi mentioned in the book?”
“I can sense Spiritual Qi!”
Over the past half a year, Li Banxian had used that tattered manual as an introductory text, making Ergouzi copy it from start to finish.
The benefit was that, aside from learning how to read and write, Ergouzi had also memorized its contents flawlessly.
The book stated that Spiritual Qi existed between heaven and earth. Any living being capable of drawing Spiritual Qi into their body could strengthen their physique, prolong their lifespan, and even achieve immortality.
But even though ordinary mortals lived surrounded by Spiritual Qi, they could not sense it. They needed to cultivate for a period of time and reach a certain threshold before they could perceive it.
Once a person successfully sensed the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, they reached the stage of Qi Sensing.
Ergouzi walked outside and carefully extended his senses toward everything.
He discovered that everything contained Spiritual Qi, merely differing in thinness and density.
Within ordinary dirt and rocks, he could only find one or two motes of Spiritual Qi spaced a chi or two apart—barely better than nothing.
Out in the fields, within the soil he had watered with the gourd, the specks of Spiritual Qi were noticeably denser.
He could see a mote of Spiritual Qi roughly every cun or two, slowly drifting and dissipating into the air.
Next, he compared ordinary items with those that had been stored inside the gourd for more than three days.
The items stored in the gourd clearly held several times more Spiritual Qi.
He guessed that the miraculous effects of the things placed in the gourd were likely due to this richer Spiritual Qi.
This breakthrough in his cultivation allowed him to sense the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, as if a completely new world had suddenly opened before him.
Starting from Qi Sensing, one could practice the first layer of the Nameless Cultivation Method.
At any rate, that tattered book lacked both a beginning and an end, and his master acted profoundly mysterious most of the time, disliking any mention of such trivial matters.
However, with this recent breakthrough, it would be best to consult his master.
Ever since being hunted by that dark shadow last time, he still had lingering fears. He had nearly died. He wanted to see if he could beg his master for a saber or sword art.
Furthermore, having dug up so much Cistanche, he could bring a root to his master for inspection. He didn’t fully understand how to prepare or use it.
Last night, he had likely eaten too many tonic herbs and overheated his body.
But if he hadn’t eaten so much all at once, he might not have broken through this morning.
Ergouzi strapped a hemp sack to his back and climbed down the mountain. Winter was approaching once again, and everyone was making preparations.
In the fields, many children carried baskets, wandering about to dig for wild vegetables, pick wild fruits, and collect grass seeds…
They spared nothing that was edible.
Even a handful of wild grass seeds could save a life when rations ran out in the dead of winter.
Among a group of children digging for wild vegetables, he spotted two familiar figures.
“Xiao Ezi!”
It was none other than Xiao Ezi and Zhang Youxin. The two of them were also at the edge of the fields, digging for wild vegetables.
“Brother Gouzi!”
Xiao Ezi tightly grasped a large handful of foxtail grass and ran toward him happily.
Zhang Youxin followed behind her, carrying a hoe and glaring at Ergouzi, ready to fight him at any moment.
His uncle’s family had taken over Ergouzi’s parents’ estate and owned dozens of mu of land, so naturally they had no need to eat foxtail grass.
But because funding Zhang Youliang’s martial arts training was a massive expense, their days were still tight. Gathering grass seeds and wild vegetables to feed the chickens and pigs saved them a bit of grain.
In the past, Ergouzi had often eaten foxtail grass seeds mixed into his pig slop. They were incredibly coarse and scraped painfully down his throat, but they kept the hunger at bay.
By comparison, barnyard grass seeds were much tastier.
“Brother Gouzi, are you here to dig wild vegetables too?”
“I’ll tell you a secret. Behind Creek Bend Field, there are still a lot of really tender wild vegetables.”
Xiao Ezi leaned in close and whispered to him.
“Oh, alright. Thank you. I’m heading to town first, but I’ll take a look over there when I get back.”
Ergouzi didn’t need to eat wild vegetables anymore, and likely never would again, but he still thanked Xiao Ezi with genuine happiness.
“I’m going to town. Is there anything you want? I’ll buy it for you.”
“I don’t want anything. Don’t spend your money recklessly, or you’ll just go hungry again later.”
Xiao Ezi shook her head like a rattle drum, terrified that Ergouzi would waste his coins.
“Alright! I won’t spend recklessly!”
Ergouzi lightly flicked Xiao Ezi’s forehead.
In this entire world, Xiao Ezi was probably his only remaining kin.
As for Zhang Youxin, standing behind Xiao Ezi and glaring at him furiously—today, for Xiao Ezi’s sake, he wouldn’t beat him up.
Bidding Xiao Ezi farewell, Ergouzi looked at the ragged tenant children scattered across the fields. A few years ago, he had lived the exact same way.
Now he had a mountain of his own and a mysterious gourd. From now on, he shouldn’t ever have to go hungry again, right?
Patting his warm, cotton-padded jacket, he set off in the direction of Sanchazi Town.