Chapter Four: Shopkeeper Liao

The matter of the spiritual rice tax had finally come to an end.

For the time being, Qin Ming no longer needed to fret about being sent to the front lines.

“This time I must strive to break through to the third layer of the Qi Refining stage!”

In his quiet little hut, Qin Ming sat cross-legged atop a mat woven from straw, his eyes half-closed as he gathered his spirit and focused his mind. In his hand, he gripped a low-grade spirit stone, the radiance of which was rapidly dimming.

Before long, the spiritual energy within the stone was entirely absorbed by him. Qin Ming opened his eyes, his expression somewhat grim. With a slight squeeze, the spirit stone in his palm crumbled into dust.

“Sigh, cultivating with spirit stones is a complete waste for me... It feels like such a squandering.”

In the world of cultivation, the ambient spiritual energy of heaven and earth, as well as the energy within spirit stones, was like untamed wild essence—chaotic and impure, beyond the direct control of low-level cultivators. To convert it into one's own magic power, the energy had to be drawn in through one's spiritual roots and then refined through ceaseless effort, gradually taming it into personal mana.

The quality of one’s spiritual roots directly determined the efficiency of this absorption and transformation.

Qin Ming shook his head.

“Nothing compares to the power of my entries.”

The “Minor Mana” entries within his system required no absorption or refinement through spiritual roots; he could use the power directly.

This time, he intended to use two leaves of the “Minor Mana” entry in an attempt to break through.

“Two ‘Minor Mana’ entries are equivalent to half a year of hard cultivation for me.”

He steadied his spirit, cleared his mind of extraneous thoughts, and willed the first “Minor Mana” entry into use.

Even though Qin Ming was accustomed to this process, the sudden surge of power that swept over him like a tidal wave still caught him off guard.

Under the guidance of the Evergreen Art, the surging mana began to circulate through his body, endlessly cycling and ultimately gathering in his dantian.

The Evergreen Art, passed down from his family of cultivators, was not a profound technique, but rather a common one. Its main focus was on nurturing longevity—the flow of energy was gentle and long-lasting, the power unremarkable, and progress slow as a tortoise. Yet it had its virtues; once cultivated to a high level, it could extend one’s lifespan to some degree. As a primary cultivation method, it granted slightly more years and mana than others at the same stage. However, switching to another technique midway rendered these benefits void.

This suited Qin Ming’s temperament perfectly.

“To farm a little, tend to some herbs, nourish the spirit and cultivate one’s energy, returning to the embrace of nature—what could be better?”

“Why must one be obsessed with fighting and scheming, contending for empty gains in the end...”

Yet, for all his philosophy, years of experience had taught Qin Ming another truth.

The resources of the cultivation world were limited—techniques, artifacts, spiritual materials, elixirs—all were controlled by the great sects. The major sects and powerful cultivators feasted while the itinerant cultivators could barely taste the broth, struggling to survive in the cracks.

Unless one was a peerless genius, advancement on the path of immortality was all but impossible without striving upward.

Even a sect like the Feathered Spirit Sect would mobilize its entire strength, traversing unimaginable distances across the land to pioneer new territory for resources.

It was all for the sake of cultivation resources, was it not?

...

Qin Ming used one “Minor Mana” entry, yet the faintly loosened bottleneck within him remained unmoved.

He furrowed his brow, his expression grave.

With a determined heart, he used the remaining “Minor Mana” entry.

Time passed.

After expending both entries, the breakthrough still eluded him.

“Sigh, this is the difference that talent and aptitude make!”

“The peak of the second layer of the Qi Refining stage...”

He was still a step away from the third layer.

“If it were someone else, with the amount of mana I’ve received from these entries, they’d have broken through long ago.”

Still, Qin Ming was not discouraged. In the past, following the ordinary path of cultivation, he would not have seen any progress for who knows how long. Now, compared to before, his situation had improved greatly. Even though his level had not advanced, his sea of energy and dantian had been greatly expanded, and his internal mana had increased by a third. He was only a step away; he simply needed more time.

“I can’t continue like this; I need to change my approach.”

“Once I’ve grown and cultivated Beast Fang Rice, perhaps I can attempt some body refinement techniques first.”

“At the very least, it would enhance my ability to protect myself.”

“But with my current level of spiritual agriculture, growing Beast Fang Rice will surely require the ‘Accelerate Growth’ entry; otherwise, success is far from guaranteed.”

“If I fail, the loss of the Beast Fang Rice seed would not be worth it.”

After much deliberation, Qin Ming made up his mind.

He finished his cultivation, rose, and prepared breakfast.

After his morning meal, Qin Ming left his hut and again made his way to Qingyang Market.

Gathering Pavilion.

It was still that same shop in the heart of the market; above the restaurant on the first and second floors, many other businesses were conducted on the upper floors.

To operate in such a prime location, the owner’s connections must be considerable.

The shopkeeper, whose surname was Liao, greeted Qin Ming with a standard professional smile.

Qin Ming was direct, patting his storage pouch. With a flash, two large sacks of spiritual rice appeared on the floor before him.

Shopkeeper Liao was quite surprised that Qin Ming could produce so much spiritual rice at once—far more than last time.

By his knowledge, the Feathered Spirit Sect taxed seventy percent of the spiritual farmers’ yield; judging by this, the young farmer before him must have harvested over eight stones of rice this season—a testament to his skill.

Only veteran spiritual farmers could produce such a yield, unless the farmer possessed extraordinary talent in spiritual agriculture.

If it was the latter, perhaps this young man could become a first-rank spiritual planter in the future.

Once the shop assistants had inspected and weighed the rice, Shopkeeper Liao’s smile became even warmer, and his estimation of Qin Ming’s worth rose a notch.

“A total of two hundred and twenty jin of Golden Spirit Rice.”

“Fellow Daoist Qin, as per our usual arrangement, here are forty-four spirit stones.”

“Is there anything you’d like to purchase from our shop? We have everything you might need—just say the word.”

Qin Ming was prepared. He took out a blueprint from his robe, depicting a small bell, and handed it to Shopkeeper Liao. “I’d like to commission a small bell like this. Is it possible?”

“Certainly, Fellow Daoist Qin. You must be looking for a special bell for the Beast Command Technique, yes?”

“Our pavilion’s forging shop actually has some in stock. A lower-grade magic item, the Beast Calling Bell, is yours for just ten spirit stones.”

With a flourish, Shopkeeper Liao produced a palm-sized spiritual bell, smiling as he explained, “When used with the Beast Command Technique, it will automatically shrink or enlarge as needed.”

“So inexpensive?” Qin Ming was surprised; he had expected to pay much more.

“Heh, you may not know this, Fellow Daoist Qin, but the key to the Beast Command Technique lies in mastery of the spell itself. The bell is merely a supporting tool.”

“Let me remind you, this technique is extremely difficult to master. Many disciples from the Feathered Spirit Sect’s war camp have commissioned this bell, but only a handful have ever succeeded in completing the technique.”

Qin Ming understood—the truth was, few people bought it. If one failed to master the spell, the special bell would become a useless ornament, a waste of spirit stones.

But for Qin Ming, there was no such thing as a technique he couldn’t master...

He paid the ten spirit stones, took the bell, and asked another question.

“Do you have any pills to aid in advancing through the Qi Refining stage?”

He still felt reluctant to give up on his breakthrough.

“We do. Please come up to the third floor.”

A short while later, Qin Ming left the shop as composed as ever.

He still had forty spirit stones in his pouch, unspent.

Because the lowest-priced pill to aid cultivation on the third floor cost sixty spirit stones...

Shopkeeper Liao saw him off with enthusiastic courtesy.

...

On his way back, Qin Ming made a stop at Supervisor Du Haifu’s place, hoping to rent another mu of spiritual farmland.

Given his current cultivation and energy, five or six mu was already his limit.

“Oh, Little Qin, is that you?”

“You're a step too late. Just a short while ago, all the spiritual fields on the mountain were rented out!” Du Haifu sipped his tea and informed him unhurriedly.

!!!

Qin Ming thought to himself,

“This isn’t good! As I expected, it’s just as I feared.”

“Next year, everyone will likely be fighting tooth and nail for spiritual rice yields.”