022: Luo Family's bounty, Qi Cultivation Level One (Read On)_1

Time seemed nonexistent within the secluded, uninhabited Old Lin Forest.

Three months passed in a blink.

The conflicts in the gathering place for loose cultivators have never ceased within these three months.

Unlike those families' disciples who quietly cultivated in the cities, most of these solitary cultivators were orphans left to fend for themselves. They had to vie for all their resources.

Even a "safe environment" had become a luxury resource, competition was intense and fights would frequently take place. This very much supported the theory of the survival of the fittest.

But something happened which was beyond Chen Dengming's expectations.

Ever since he had killed someone and left, it seemed like the Gold Word Workshop and Hutong Street had suddenly made peace. On the surface, it was "you killed someone from my family, I killed someone from yours" and everyone was square.

Apart from the fact that Qian Yuan, the leader of Hutong Street, was still offering a bounty for Chen Dengming, wanting to punish the mortal that had caused him to lose face.

The struggle between the two powers had unexpectedly come to a halt, turning Chen Dengming and the few corpses into the biggest casualties.

The perceptive loose cultivators gathered there were not surprised by this.

The elderly ones had long experienced the craftiness of these influential figures.

The moment before, these big shots were threatening to ruin each other. After having their underlings fight until they were bruised and battered, the two sides would agree to a truce due to some vested interests. In the end, it was the underlings who died in vain as the big shots reap the actual rewards.

Clearly, someone as insignificant as Chen Dengming, a mere mortal, was not enough for the Gold Word Workshop and Hutong Street to continue their feud.

The Gold Word Workshop had once instigated a fight due to the death of the cultivator Old Lin.

They had seized the opportunity to pick a fight and compete for some resources but after Chen Dengming had murdered one of Hutong Street's cultivators, they knew when to stop, beat a hasty retreat and didn't chase the fallen foe.

Hutong Street had no choice but to endure the loss in silence.

All the anger was ultimately unleashed onto Chen Dengming, the mere mortal.

Occasionally, when Chen Dengming stealthily approached the gathering place, he laughed it off upon finding out about this situation and secretly congratulated himself on making the right decision to flee immediately after the murder.

Otherwise, had he chosen to trust the Gold Word Workshop and hoped to find solace under their protection, he may have been callously betrayed without his knowledge.

However, it wasn't that the Gold Word Workshop couldn't be used as a support.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have deliberately written the name of Gold Word Workshop on the wall in a high-profile manner, effectively choosing sides, using the Gold Word Workshop to draw some fire while testing the attitude of its boss, Xu Ning.

As it seemed now, if he remained a mortal and did not become a cultivator, there was a high probability he would be deemed expendable, let alone exploiting the Gold Word Workshop.

Aside from the matter of the Gold Word Workshop and Hutong Street, one other thing that caught Chen Dengming's attention was a bounty issued by Miss Luo of the Luo Family.

This bounty was related to collecting materials for refining the Golden Silkworm Gu.

The bounty vaguely suggested that anyone knowing the use of these materials could head to Luo Family Mountain City to meet Miss Luo.

Seeing the bounty, Chen Dengming's first thought was that Miss Luo Bing of the Luo family seemed to be looking for him and hoping that he would go to Luo Family City to meet her.

After all, the art of Gu refining was a minor Dao in the world of cultivation, and those who excelled were few.

Miss Luo of the Luo family suddenly issuing such a bounty to the gathering place of loose cultivators, no matter how you looked at it, seemed like she was fishing.

The fish was most likely him, Chen Dengming.

If it was indeed as he had guessed, then Qian Yuan's bounty was nothing to worry about.

Which is more important, the warrant from a fallen family leader, or the bounty from Miss Luo Family?

Qian Yuan himself would understand the pros and cons. Even if he didn't, someone would twist his head around to help him understand.

Though he had made such assumptions, Chen Dengming did not rush to the Luo family.

Assumptions are assumptions, and reality is reality.

Just like in the script, relying on selling fish could lead to marrying a wealthy woman and counterattacking life. However, relying on Gu refining to get close to a young lady from a rich family might not necessarily work.

After all, the bounty did not explicitly state what the treatment would be after going to the Luo family. Even knowing that he was being hunted, they did not directly mention that he was Chen Dengming or that they were going to protect him, showing an attitude of indifference towards his predicament.

Once it turned out not to be a good thing like paying a hefty price for children but rather, being taken advantage of… then it would be merely asking for trouble.

"Even if this is a way to solve the problem, I'll have to wait a while longer. At least not until I become a cultivator will I have the right to be respected... This cultivation world is so complicated."

Chen Dengming made up his mind to bury his head in cultivation and to fully commit to progressing in the "Three Elements Gathering Spirit Skill".

Over these past three months, apart from refining Gu to protect against demonic beasts, he has spent all his time on cultivation. Like a steady monk immersed in meditation, he forgot about food and sleep and was completely engrossed in cultivation, only looking forward to the day when he will stand out from the rest.

Today marks the 98th day since he left the gathering place of the loose cultivators.

The progress of his cultivation in the first level of the "Three Elements Gathering Spirit Skill" was nearing a breakthrough.

...

At this moment, outside the crevice of the mountain, more than a dozen snake Gus controlled by Chen Dengming are patrolling and keeping a watchful eye.

Inside the mountain's crevice.

Chen Dengming used his fingertips to support his body from the ground, where he sat cross-legged. Every muscle in his body was taut, his Innate True Qi highly condensed within him. Under his will, it rapidly flowed through the secret apertures of his internal meridians.

In this state, his body, spirit, and True Qi, the three elements of Essence, Qi, and spirit, were highly converged, promoting a rapid transition of True Qi into Spiritual Energy.

The Spiritual Energy in the air was rapidly absorbed by him, filling his True Qi, gradually improving its purity.

During this period, having consumed eight years of his lifespan, he practiced the "Life-Shortening Cultivation Enhancement Skill" and raised his affinity with the middle-grade Spiritual Root to a level of 4.

Now, as a cultivator with a middle-grade Spiritual Root, his "Life-Shortening Cultivation Enhancement Skill" has still not broken through. Consuming two years of his lifespan only increases his Spiritual Qi affinity by 1 point and eight years of lifespan can only increase his Spiritual Qi affinity by 4 points.

In addition, consuming Clear Spirit Pill temporarily raised his Spiritual Qi affinity by 10 points, so his current speed of absorbing Spiritual Energy is about 10–20% faster than three months ago when he first acquired a middle-grade Spiritual Root.

However, because the Spiritual Energy in the wild is much thinner than in the cultivation gathering area, his cultivation speed has not improved.

Inside the gathering area of the cultivators, he consumed Clear Spirit Pill and practiced the "Three Elements Gathering Spirit Skill" nine times a day, raising his cultivation technique proficiency by one point.

But in the wild, even with improved aptitude and regular consumption of Elixir Pills, he still needs to practice the "Three Elements Gathering Spirit Skill" twelve times a day in order to increase his proficiency by one point.

This fact reveals the importance of 'treasure places' within the doctrine of 'wealth, relationships, deductions, and places'.

Without a treasure place, Chen Dengming could only make up for his deficiencies through diligence. However, each practice of the "Three Elements Gathering Spirit Skill" requires half an hour.

Twelve times a day is the limit he can reach.

If he exceeds this limit without sufficient rest, his Essence, Qi, and Spirit cannot be harmoniously balanced. For example, his muscles may cramp, his spirit may fatigue, and no longer can the three elements be converged.

...

As time passed, sweat like grease flowed from the pulsing muscles of Chen Dengming's body. The puddles of sweat that had fallen to the ground had already dampened a portion of it.

Within the strange vessels of his body, the surrounding spiritual energy flowed like a tidal fog, continuously entering Chen Dengming's vessels, prompting his Innate True Qi to quickly sublimate into Spiritual Energy.

This process was very painful. Chen Dengming's whole body felt as though it was being cut by a knife, all his muscles convulsing. The sweat dripping from him was mixed with blood as it was his baptism of Spiritual Energy, a rebirth process.

If he couldn't withstand it for even a moment, the extraordinarily overwhelming Spiritual Energy, which his birth body could resist, could rupture his vessels.

At that time, not only would he fail to break through, but he would also suffer heavy losses, his vessels would be damaged, and it would be even harder to break through in the future. This is why there are many innate individuals, but few cultivators. It's not just because of the limitation of the Spiritual Root aptitude.

The process of transforming from a mortal to a cultivator is like a fish leaping through the dragon gate, it's not without its risks.

Fortunately, Chen Dengming has been cultivating for many years and has accumulated vast reserves. He also has an extremely steady nature.

After the time it takes for an incense to burn had passed, the extreme pain gave way to a peaceful clarity that surged throughout his body. All his Innate True Qi had transformed into Spiritual Energy.

At this moment, he felt as light as a swallow, with Spiritual Energy lingering all over his body. There was a faint glow around him, and a subtle Spiritual Might spread throughout his body.

He had formed his Spiritual Body!

"First Stage of Qi Cultivation... Have I become a cultivator?"

Chen Dengming's eyes sparkled, filled with uncontrollable joy, feeling the intensity of the Spiritual Energy surging in his body. It far exceeded the power of Innate True Qi, and his body seemed to be tempered by the Spiritual Energy, making it much more powerful.

He felt as if his control over the surrounding Spiritual Energy had shot up dozens of steps.

There was a sense that the Spiritual Energy could be absorbed and controlled with just a wave of his hand.

This sense of control seemed to be why there was Spiritual Might emanating from his body.

To put it in simple terms, it was as if a common man was surrounded by a dozen men ready to charge at a moment's notice. Naturally, this posed a formidable deterrence.

What surrounded a cultivator was an invisible but perceptible Spiritual Energy, similar to a group of invisible aides.

The higher a cultivator's power level, the greater the range of Spiritual Energy they can control; the stronger the spiritual power, the stronger the Daoism they can exert.

"This feeling... It's somewhat like the realm described in the records of the martial arts world of Nanxun Kingdom..."

In the records of the martial arts world of Nanxun Kingdom, there once was a top expert who seemed to have broken through to a realm above Innate. He could control some power in the air within a range of one foot around his body to suppress his enemy, defeating them without even making a move. It's like the rumored 'Unity of Heaven and Man', borrowing the power of heaven and earth.

Now that Chen Dengming has reached this realm, he realizes that there must have been a cultivator in the martial arts world of Nanxun Kingdom.

However, the spiritual energy in Nanxun Kingdom was so sparse it was nearly nonexistent, and that cultivator was like a skilled housewife who could not cook without rice. He merely had the aspect of Spiritual Might, but no spiritual energy to operate with.

"That person was truly gifted by the heavens. What a pity."

Chen Dengming sighed, suddenly rose to his feet, pondered for a moment, bent his fingers, focused on the technique, and performed the Finger Flicking Skill.

"Whoosh!——"

A surge of spiral energy suddenly burst out, making a loud bang as it pierced a deep hole into the rock wall opposite...

…

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(The day that Brother Ming takes the stage has just arrived, and the day this novel takes the stage is coming after a few rounds of recommendations, so please keep reading, folks!)