Chapter 7: Liao Shopkeeper

The issue of spiritual rice taxes has finally been resolved.

Qin Ming no longer needs to worry about being sent to the front lines for now.

“This time, I must break through to Qi Refining Stage Three!”

In the quiet little room.

Qin Ming sat on a straw mat on the bed, eyes half-closed, holding a low-grade spirit stone, its spiritual aura rapidly dimming.

Moments later.

The spiritual energy within the stone was gradually absorbed by him.

Qin Ming opened his eyes, his expression grim.

He merely squeezed lightly, and the spirit stone turned to dust in his hand.

“Sigh, using spirit stones to cultivate is pure waste for me.”

“A bit extravagant.”

In the cultivation world, external spiritual energy from nature and that within spirit stones are both essentially wild.

Chaotic and impure, low-level cultivators cannot directly control them.

To transform them into one’s own magic power, one must absorb them through one’s spiritual root and continuously refine them with cultivation techniques.

Taming external spiritual energy into one’s own magic power.

The quality of one’s spiritual root directly affects the efficiency of this absorption and transformation.

Qin Ming shook his head.

Still, the entries are better.

The “Weak Magic Power” entry does not require absorption or refinement through the spiritual root—he can use it directly.

This time, he planned to expend two “Weak Magic Power” entries to attempt a breakthrough.

“Two ‘Weak Magic Power’ entries are equivalent to half a year of hard cultivation.”

He calmed his mind, cleared away distractions.

Qin Ming focused his intent, and the first “Weak Magic Power” entry was consumed.

Even though Qin Ming was accustomed to it, the sudden flood of magic power still caught him off guard.

Under the guidance of his “Evergreen Art,” the surging magic power began circulating through his meridians.

Flowing endlessly, continuously returning to his dantian.

The “Evergreen Art” was passed down from Qin Ming’s cultivation family, not a profound technique—just an ordinary one.

Its main strength was longevity, steady qi flow, weak power, and excruciatingly slow cultivation.

But it had one advantage: when cultivated to a high level, it granted a degree of life extension.

As a primary cultivation art, it provided slightly more lifespan and magic power than other cultivators at the same stage.

If one switched to another art midway, the effect vanished.

It suited Qin Ming’s nature well.

“Growing crops, tending plants, soothing the spirit, returning to nature’s embrace— isn’t that fine?”

“Why rush into fighting and competing, only to end up with nothing in the end? Sigh…”

But words were one thing.

Over the years, Qin Ming had come to understand it differently.

Resources in the cultivation world were extremely limited.

Techniques, artifacts, spirit materials, elixirs—all were controlled by famous sects.

Major sects and powerful cultivators feasted; “solitary cultivators” struggled even for scraps, surviving only in the cracks.

Unless one was a prodigy.

Otherwise, without advancing, one made no progress on the Immortal Path.

Even a sect like Lingyu Sect had expended all its strength, crossing unimaginable distances, traveling ten thousand li to this land for reclamation.

Wasn’t it all for cultivation resources?…

Qin Ming consumed one “Weak Magic Power” entry.

Yet his faintly loosening bottleneck showed no reaction.

He furrowed his brow, expression serious.

With a grim resolve, he consumed the remaining “Weak Magic Power” entry.

Long silence.

Both “Weak Magic Power” entries were fully spent.

Still, no breakthrough.

“Sigh, this is the gap of innate talent!”

“Qi Refining Stage Two peak.”

Qin Ming still fell short of Qi Refining Stage Three.

“Anyone else, with the magic power from previous ‘Weak Magic Power’ entries, would’ve broken through long ago.”

Yet Qin Ming did not lose heart.

In the past, if he had cultivated conventionally, he wouldn’t have seen any progress for years.

Compared to before, his current situation was already much better.

Though his cultivation had not broken through, his qi sea and dantian had expanded considerably.

His internal magic power had increased by a third.

And now he was only one step away—he just needed to wait a little longer.

“I can’t keep going like this. I need to adjust my approach.”

“Once I cultivate Beast Tooth Rice, perhaps I should try Body Strengthening techniques? At least it would improve my self-defense.”

“But with my current cultivation level in spirit planting, growing Beast Tooth Rice will require the ‘Ripen’ entry—otherwise, success is uncertain.”

“If I fail, I’ll waste the mother seeds of Beast Tooth Rice, and that would be a terrible loss.”

Qin Ming pondered deeply.

He had made up his mind.

He ended his cultivation, rose, and went to cook.

After breakfast.

Qin Ming stepped outside and returned to Qingyang Marketplace.

Juxuan Pavilion.

Still the same shop at the marketplace’s center—besides the tavern on the first two floors, it ran many other businesses on upper levels.

Whoever operated here must have strong connections.

The shopkeeper, surnamed Liao, greeted Qin Ming with a standard professional smile.

Qin Ming was direct—he slapped his storage bag, and two large sacks of spiritual rice appeared on the ground.

Liao the shopkeeper was surprised Qin Ming could produce so much spiritual rice at once.

It was one sack more than last time.

He knew Lingyu Sect levied a 70% tax on spirit farmers; by that calculation, this young spirit farmer must have harvested at least eight shi of spiritual rice this season.

This proved his spirit planting skill.

Only experienced spirit farmers could achieve such yields.

Or else, he possessed exceptional talent in spirit planting.

If the latter, he might one day advance to become a Tier-One Spirit Planter.

The shop assistants completed inspection and weighing.

Liao the shopkeeper smiled warmly, subtly raising his assessment of Qin Ming’s status as a low-tier spirit farmer.

“Two hundred and twenty jin of Jin Ling rice.”

“Comrade Qin, as usual, here are forty-four spirit stones.”

“Is there anything you’d like to purchase from our shop?”

“We carry everything—if you need it, we can provide.”

Qin Ming had prepared in advance.

He pulled out a sketch from his robe—a small bell design—and handed it to Liao the shopkeeper: “I’d like to commission a bell like this. Is it possible?”

“Of course, Comrade Qin. This is clearly a special spirit bell for the Beast-Driving Spell, isn’t it?”

“Our pavilion has a dedicated artifact forge—we have one in stock.”

“Low-grade magic treasure, Beast Cry Bell. Price: ten spirit stones.”

Liao the shopkeeper summoned a palm-sized spirit bell, smiling as he handed it to Qin Ming: “It automatically shrinks or expands when used with the Beast-Driving Spell.”

“So cheap?”

The price surprised him—he’d expected to pay dearly.

“Hehe, Comrade Qin, you don’t know—the key to the Beast-Driving Spell lies in mastering the technique itself; this bell is merely an auxiliary tool.”

“Let me warn you, Comrade Qin—the Beast-Driving Spell is extremely difficult to master.”

“Many cultivators from Lingyu Sect’s war camp once commissioned this item, but only a handful ever fully mastered it.”

Qin Ming understood his meaning.

In short—no one buys it.

If the spell can’t be mastered, the specially made spirit bell becomes useless, wasting spirit stones and causing a financial loss.

But for Qin Ming, there was no such thing as being unable to master it. He paid ten spirit stones, took the bell, and then asked one more question.

“Do you have any elixirs to enhance Qi Refining realm cultivation?”

Qin Ming still couldn’t accept that he hadn’t broken through to the third layer of Qi Refining.

“We do. Please proceed to the third floor.”

A moment later.

Qin Ming walked out of the shop with a calm expression.

He carried forty spirit stones but couldn’t spend them.

Because the elixirs on the third floor that enhanced cultivation started at sixty spirit stones minimum. Shopkeeper Liao treated him warmly and saw him out of the shop.

…

On the way back.

Qin Ming stopped by Supervisor Du Haifu’s place, intending to rent another mu of spirit field.

With his current cultivation, his energy was limited—five or six mu was already his limit.

“Oh, little Qin is here?”

“You’re a bit late.”

“Just a moment ago, all the spirit fields on the mountain were rented out—none left!” Du Haifu sipped his tea, calmly delivering the news.

!!!

Qin Ming thought to himself.

“This isn’t good. Just as I suspected.”

“Next year, everyone will probably be fighting over rice yields.”

(End of Chapter)