***
'Did he learn some special cultivation method?'
This thought flashed through their minds simultaneously.
At that moment, Na Un-yeon, the senior disciple who was overseeing the water fetching, also sparkled his eyes.
'I can't feel any Spiritual Qi, but looking at his power, he easily surpasses the Middle Stage of 1-seong Qi Condensation. They clearly said he was a lowest-grade Mixed Spiritual Root and a wandering beggar. How did such a fellow achieve this in a single day? Hehe. Right! He must have learned a special method or possesses a rare spiritual treasure! What if I take it for myself?'
Na Un-yeon thought this and then sent a greedy gaze toward Lee An-jeong.
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Cloud Mist Valley was about ten li away from the labor disciples' cultivation caves.
Although several streams flowed right next to the caves, the water of Cloud Mist Valley was the clearest and cleanest, so they had been made to fetch water from there for generations.
As soon as they left the caves, a hundred children took out Hundred-Li Talismans from their storage bags, attached them to their legs, and ran like arrows.
"Cha-at! Hundred-Li Talisman!"
They were children who had reached 1-seong or higher. With a *shik-shik* sound, the other children who had attached Hundred-Li Talismans to their legs also disappeared into the distance in an instant.
It was a movement where they barely touched the ground, as if their feet were skimming the floor.
Lee An-jeong watched this intently and was impressed.
'So that's how you move with a Hundred-Li Talisman! It feels like using the Art of Ground Shrinking.'
Among them was Hwang-cheon, who had regained consciousness.
Hwang-cheon glared slightly at Lee An-jeong before vanishing in an instant.
'That son of a bitch! He hasn't been hit enough! Next time, I'll trample him even more properly so he can never even look at me again!'
Lee An-jeong glared at Hwang-cheon's back and ran forward, putting strength into his legs.
He had no choice since he hadn't made a Hundred-Li Talisman.
However, even without the talisman, Lee An-jeong's body pushed forward several jang with each step.
The children who hadn't departed yet were amazed.
"What's with that guy? How can he run like that with a body that has no Spiritual Qi?"
Since no Spiritual Qi was felt from Lee An-jeong's body, everyone was even more surprised.
Lee An-jeong covered hundreds of steps in an instant and soon arrived at Cloud Mist Valley.
The children at 1-seong or higher who arrived first and were fetching water could not hide their shock at Lee An-jeong's appearance, as he arrived at a speed not much slower than theirs.
"How can he get here already without Spiritual Qi?"
"Just like how he beat Hwang-cheon's group earlier. Did he learn a special cultivation method?"
They clicked their tongues like that.
None of them knew accurately that Lee An-jeong had already reached the Late Stage of 1-seong Qi Condensation.
Even the supervising senior disciple, Na Un-yeon, only grasped that he was at least at a level surpassing Middle Stage 1-seong.
This was because Lee An-jeong's Spiritual Qi had disappeared into his body without a trace.
Na Un-yeon sent a greedy gaze toward Lee An-jeong once more.
'I will definitely make the special method or treasure he possesses mine!'
Lee An-jeong suddenly felt a stinging sensation on the back of his head.
'What?'
Startled, he turned around and saw the senior disciple looking at him from a distance.
By then, the greedy gaze had been withdrawn, and nothing special was felt from him.
'That's strange? I definitely felt a chilling sensation as if someone was glaring at me.'
Lee An-jeong tilted his head and then watched the 1-seong children who arrived first fetching water.
They were using Attraction Talismans to fetch the water.
'Oh! So that's how you use an Attraction Talisman?'
Lee An-jeong stood still for a moment and observed what they were doing.
They pulled the water with the talisman to fill the buckets and then attached one to each bucket.
Then, they carried the buckets lightly with the power of the talisman and returned.
Utilizing the power of talismans in daily life. Although the power wasn't great, the utility seemed quite high.
'It will take some practice to pull the water! Well, I don't really need to use an Attraction Talisman to lift this much weight!'
After observing enough, Lee An-jeong toyed with the Attraction Talismans in his bag for a moment and then put them down.
Then he went to the valley, tilted his shoulders, and filled two buckets in turn.
A heavy weight was felt from his arms and shoulders, but he stood up abruptly.
He didn't feel it was particularly difficult even without the talisman.
'Look! I don't even need to use an Attraction Talisman, do I?'
Lee An-jeong started running back the way he came.
The total weight of the two buckets filled with water was equivalent to the weight of an average adult.
Most of the children, who knew this well, could not help but be shocked at Lee An-jeong running while carrying those buckets lightly.
Regardless, Lee An-jeong ran quickly back the way he came. The amazing thing was that the more he ran, the more strength he gained and the lighter his body became.
'That's really strange. I don't know if it's because of the drug kick or if this child's body is special.'
ConXX and InXX. He had been taking those two drugs for over several months, but such effects had never appeared.
It seemed the cause was likely the latter.
'I thought it was the lowest-grade Mixed Spiritual Root, but is there something special about it?'
Somehow, the fact that the Spiritual Qi had all disappeared and hidden inside his body seemed to be related to this as well.
After ten trips without rest, Lee An-jeong was the first among the labor disciples who didn't use Hundred-Li or Attraction Talismans to finish the labor training.
From that day on, he was given the nickname "**Gwae-che-ja**" (Strange Body Possessor) for having an unnervingly strong and fast body.
After that, Hwang-cheon's group, who had tried to attack him once more, realized the terror of Lee An-jeong who had made up his mind to trample them, and never came near him again.
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Ten days passed by quickly.
During that time, Lee An-jeong practiced the Qi Condensation Method using the Spiritual Qi in the air without Spirit Stones and practiced his Qi Techniques and Talisman Arts.
Thanks to his tireless efforts, he had become quite skilled in his Qi Techniques and various Talisman Arts.
However, the one regrettable thing was that he hadn't been able to absorb any Spiritual Qi because he lacked Spirit Stones.
For that reason, Lee An-jeong's stage was still stuck at the Late Stage of 1-seong Qi Condensation.
"There's still fifteen days left until the next supply day. Dammit! To think Spirit Stones would hold me back! Sigh!"
To obtain Spiritual Qi without Spirit Stones, one had to cultivate in a place where a spirit vein flowed.
There were many such places in the Buyeon Sect. Of course, the problem was that to cultivate in a place where even a little bit of a spirit vein flowed, one had to reach at least 3-seong of the Qi Condensation Stage and become a senior disciple.
"Ah, isn't there any place where a spirit vein flows? Or some other way to gather Spiritual Qi... sigh..."
Lee An-jeong let out a sigh and concentrated his mind to unfold the Qi Condensation Method.
As the effects of the two drugs circulated, a faint, minute Spiritual Qi in the air was felt in Lee An-jeong's sense of Qi.
"Look! This is all that's felt in the air! They say in places where a spirit vein flows, the air is full of Spiritual Qi... sigh..."
Just as he let out another sigh, it was then that Lee An-jeong felt a strange energy.
*Ji-i-i-ing—*
Suddenly, a vibration of Spiritual Qi that rang through his head was felt.
"Huh? What is this?"
As Lee An-jeong followed that vibration of Spiritual Qi with curiosity, surprisingly, it was coming from the floor of the cave where he was sitting in meditation.
*Ji-i-i-ing—*
A substantial vibration of Spiritual Qi was faintly flowing out from the cave floor.
However, because it was deep beneath the floor, it was not easy to feel unless one focused with all their might.
"It couldn't be that there's a spirit vein under the ground, right?"
Lee An-jeong concentrated his mind on the floor with an expectant expression.
Then, he felt the existence of a massive spirit vein clumped deep underground.
It was a gigantic Spiritual Qi, like a hot sun.
However, it felt as if it were in a place so distantly deep that it was amazing he could even feel it.
At a rough guess, it seemed to be at least several dozen jang deep.
Furthermore, perhaps because someone had hidden it with some kind of method, it was only felt through a very minute gap, making it almost impossible to find without extreme focus.
"Oh? It really is a spirit vein! And a massive one at that!"
Lee An-jeong was overjoyed, but at the same time, he realized it was a pie in the sky.
Even if he discovered the existence of a massive spirit vein, there was no way he could dig dozens of jang into the rocky floor.
He couldn't think of a way to utilize the Spiritual Qi of that massive spirit vein at all.
"Ha... is there really no way at all?"
Just as he was in despair, a method flashed through Lee An-jeong's brain.
Suddenly, he saw the Attraction Talismans before his eyes.
The Attraction Talisman that pulled and shot anything.
Since it could even pull a stream of water, perhaps it could also pull the Spiritual Qi of a spirit vein like a stream of water?
"Right! Who knows? Nothing to lose. Let's just try it once!"
Lee An-jeong immediately gathered Spiritual Qi at his fingertip while holding an Attraction Talisman.
Then he closed his eyes and concentrated his mind on the spirit vein deep below.
Soon, at the moment the existence of the spirit vein was caught by his sense of Qi, he extended the Attraction Talisman toward the spirit vein and pulled.
"Ha-at! Attraction Talisman!"
At that moment, a powerful suction force was emitted from the talisman toward the spirit vein.
Subsequently, the Spiritual Qi of the Attraction Talisman shot into the spirit vein deep underground.
Because it was in a deep place dozens of jang away, it took over half a shijin for it to reach.
Large drops of sweat formed on Lee An-jeong's forehead. However, Lee An-jeong waited patiently for the Spiritual Qi to reach.
Then, at a certain moment, he felt that the Spiritual Qi shot from the talisman had reached the massive spirit vein.
At that moment, a stream of Spiritual Qi was pulled upward like an arrow following the talisman. It took half a shijin to reach, but pulling it back took barely a few breaths.
A large amount of warm Spiritual Qi swirled through his dantian.
"Uh! It's a success! It's a success! Shall I try to get a proper taste of Spiritual Qi for the first time in a while?"
Lee An-jeong attached the Attraction Talisman to the floor, sat in a lotus position, and unfolded the Qi Condensation Method.
A substantial amount of Spiritual Qi stretched up from the spirit vein and flowed into Lee An-jeong's body.
Lee An-jeong felt ecstasy at the full Spiritual Qi he hadn't felt in a long time.
After one Dakyeong had passed, *peoseok—* the Attraction Talisman crumbled and scattered into the air as if it had exhausted its power.
Lee An-jeong, who opened his eyes, suddenly had a crazed look in his eyes and pulled out all the bundles of talismans.
"Good! Now that spirit vein is all mine! I'll pull it all with Attraction Talismans! Ehehe!"
Countless Attraction Talismans began to be made by Lee An-jeong's fingertips.
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Lee An-jeong sat in a lotus position on the narrow floor of the cultivation cave.
Forty-nine Attraction Talismans were attached to the floor where he sat.
They were the remaining ones from the fifty talismans in a month's worth of talisman bundles.
His forehead was soaked with sweat from squeezing out spiritual power to draw that many talismans.
However, Lee An-jeong's expression was smiling.
"Ehehe. I'll absorb every single bit!"
Lee An-jeong closed his eyes and concentrated with a sinister smile.
And after another half shijin had passed, at a certain moment, the Attraction Talismans simultaneously fluttered like crazy.
Accordingly, a massive amount of Spiritual Qi was pulled in a steady stream from the massive spirit vein deep in the ground.
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