"Hoo!…"

 

Almost in an instant when he activated breathing technique, a breeze blew into the courtyard, and strands of spiritual energy from heaven and earth entered his body through his opened meridians.

 

The meridians that Xu Taiping had never been able to sense before were now easily sensed, and the process of guiding and refining the spiritual energy into the meridians went smoothly.

 

In the end, after half an incense stick's worth of effort, Xu Taiping successfully sent the refined true qi into his dantian.

 

"It took only half an incense stick's worth of effort to refine this bit of true qi. Compared to the geniuses mentioned by Purple Yang True Lord, it's nothing worth mentioning. But for me, I can finally truly embark on the path of cultivation."

 

Xu Taiping wasn't too discouraged by his incredibly slow refining speed.

 

"Grandfather said that diligence can make up for clumsiness. They practice for two hours every day, so I'll practice for four hours. If they practice for four hours, then I'll practice for eight hours. One day, I will catch up!"

 

Xu Taiping secretly made up his mind.

 

"Oh right, I still have this soybean spirit crystal. Fairy Lingyue said that holding it while practicing can double the effect."

 

He suddenly remembered the soybean spirit crystals formed inside the Earth-Hiding Fruit, so he took one out on the spot and began cultivating again.

 

With the help of the soybean spirit crystal, his speed of refining the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was more than three times faster than before.

 

"Fairy Lingyue didn't lie to me. This spirit crystal is very beneficial to me. With this, I might really be able to break through the Opening Realm within half a year!"

 

Feeling the increase in cultivation speed, Xu Taiping's face was filled with joy.

 

With the help of this soybean spirit crystal, his current cultivation speed was at least comparable to that of an ordinary cultivator.

 

In the following days, Xu Taiping spent all his time cultivating, not daring to waste a single moment, except for spending two hours each day taking care of the medicinal field.

 

***

 

Time flew by, and three months had already passed.

 

During these three months, Xu Taiping could clearly feel that the true qi in his dantian was becoming more abundant, and he vaguely sensed that he was about to break through the Condensing Dew stage.

 

The so-called Condensing Dew stage was actually a term from the "Fading Sunset Scripture" and described the depth of a cultivator's true qi before breaking through the Opening Realm.

 

In the Fading Sunset Scripture, before breaking through the Opening Realm, the depth of a cultivator's true qi was divided into three levels: Condensing Dew, Frost Transformation, and Ice Formation.

 

Only when the depth of true qi broke through the "Ice Formation" stage could a cultivator attempt to break through the Opening Realm.

 

However, during the breakthrough from the Condensing Dew stage to the Frost Transformation stage, when practicing the Residual Glow Technique, a layer of icy true qi would form around the cultivator's body, equivalent to wearing a top-grade iron armor.

 

Even though he hadn't broken through the Condensing Dew stage yet, with the abundant true qi in his dantian, Xu Taiping's physical changes were also very obvious.

 

For example, his vision and hearing had become much stronger than three months ago.

 

In terms of vision, he could now clearly see a sparrow standing on a tree five hundred meters away. In terms of hearing, he could distinguish what kind of wild beasts were in the surrounding mountains within a mile just by relying on his ears.

 

In addition, his physical strength and speed had greatly improved.

 

Now, even though Xu Taiping looked thin and weak, he had no problem lifting a grinding stone weighing two hundred catties with one hand. As for his speed, he had once chased a deer in the nearby mountains and was not left behind at all.

 

Furthermore, when he was still in Green Bull Village, he often went hunting with his grandfather in the mountains, using bows and arrows and setting traps. So in the past month, he had been able to eat wild game every day.

 

With perilla leaves paired with roasted deer meat and roasted rabbit meat, no matter how many times he ate, he never got tired of it.

 

"Speaking of which, it's time to check the traps I set up in the mountains a few days ago. Maybe I can catch a yellow goat to eat."

 

At noon, Xu Taiping, who had already practiced for three hours, rubbed his stomach and got up from the bed, preparing to go to the mountains later to check the traps he had set up.

 

Because he needed to cultivate, he didn't have much time for hunting, so he had set up quite a few traps on several nearby mountains in the past three months. As long as he went to check them from time to time, he would be able to reap some rewards.

 

But before that, he had something more important to do—

 

Sell medicinal materials.

 

It had been three months since the first batch of Nine-Leaf White Perilla seeds were sown. Xu Taiping had harvested over three hundred catties of perilla roots and stems and over sixty catties of perilla seeds, which was exactly three times the amount harvested from an ordinary medicinal field.

 

"According to the weight, this patch of Nine-Leaf White Perilla can sell for at least ninety-six merit coins, exceeding the three times I originally expected."

 

After placing all the medicinal materials to be sold at the door, Xu Taiping took out the bone flute given by West Wind Pavilion and blew it forcefully.

 

"Ji!…"

 

After a while, a white-headed eagle with wings spread out to a width of one zhang arrived at the door of the courtyard.

 

"Uncle White Eagle, please help me deliver these medicinal materials to the Hundred Herbs Hall for sale. Afterward, you can take three merit coins from it."

 

Xu Taiping cupped his hands towards the white-headed eagle standing in front of him.

 

Letting the spirit bird sell the medicinal materials was also a method he learned from the Jade Scroll of Transmitting Techniques. It said that ordinary medicinal materials could be directly given to the spirit bird to sell, saving time and effort, but three merit coins had to be paid afterward.

 

"I will bring the money tomorrow."

 

The white-headed eagle didn't waste any words. After nodding slightly, it grabbed the batch of medicinal materials with its claws and flew into the air.

 

"When tomorrow comes, I will have money to buy martial arts techniques from the Myriad Scroll Tower."

 

Watching the departing figure of the white-headed eagle, Xu Taiping crossed his hands and stretched out, letting out a big yawn.

 

Although he still needed to save money to buy True Fire Talismans, it was still necessary to buy a martial arts technique for self-defense. Previously, when he was hunting in the mountains, he had almost been injured by several wild boars.

 

Currently, he had a full dantian of true qi, but he had no idea how to use it.

 

In fact, for cultivators, it would be better to buy a spell to cultivate. However, he was embarrassed by his empty pockets and couldn't afford it at all. He could only wait until he saved more money.

 

Moreover, even if he practiced the Fading Sunset Scripture before breaking through the Opening Realm, the amount of true qi in Xu Taiping's body was not enough to support him in casting spells."It's time to replace this bow and hunting knife."

 

At this moment, Xu Taiping had already taken the bow and hunting knife from the cabin, preparing to head to the back mountain.

 

Both the bow and hunting knife were left by the previous owner of the Green Bamboo Residence. The blade of the hunting knife was all nicked, and the bowstring of the bow had broken once, which Xu Taiping had managed to mend with great difficulty.

 

Living alone in the mountains, with many wild animals around the yard, such basic self-defense weapons were necessary.

 

***

 

Half an incense stick's time later.

 

The back mountain.

 

Although Xu Taiping called it the back mountain, according to the introduction on the Jade Scroll's map, this mountain should be called Sheep Deer Mountain, named for the many yellow sheep and deer in the mountain.

 

However, in his several trips into the mountain, Xu Taiping found that there were not many yellow sheep and deer, but rather many wild boars roaming in groups.

 

"If I could hunt a wild boar, that wouldn't be bad. At least I wouldn't have to worry about food for the next half month."

 

As Xu Taiping ran through the mountain, he vigilantly surveyed his surroundings while muttering to himself.

 

Although cultivators can practice Inedia, the prerequisite is to at least break through the Opening Realm. Currently, not only can Xu Taiping not practice Inedia, but he also needs to rely on a large amount of meat to replenish the physical strength lost during cultivation.