Chapter 3: Qi Gathering Pill

As the sun set, the four members of the Song Clan sat together on the open ground, looking at the demonic beast corpses lying in disarray before them. They were all exhaling long breaths, and as the four looked at each other's disheveled appearances, they couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Haha! Our coordination is getting better and better. We were able to take down two mid-tier demonic beasts at once. It seems our days ahead will only get better." Song Zhangxiong looked at the other three and joked with a smile.

"Thirteenth Uncle, have you forgotten that last time we were almost chased by demonic beasts all the way to Mount Funiu? This time you lured so many demonic beasts at once; you really think too highly of us." Song Qingrui took over the conversation and complained helplessly.

"You brat, you really don't understand. The Second Elder is always telling me to train you more. I'm just doing this with good intentions."

"You call this training us? We really thank you for that!" Facing this stubborn Thirteenth Uncle, Song Qingming and the other two could only look helpless.

After resting on the spot for a while, they all slowly recovered part of their magic power. Song Qingshi, who had the lightest injuries among the four, stood up and said, "Old Four, take care of Qingming. Thirteenth Uncle, let's hurry and process the demonic beast corpses. It will be troublesome if those mid-tier demonic beasts with sensitive noses smell the blood and come later. We must hurry and leave here."

As the eldest of the "Qing" generation, Song Qingshi had always been relatively steady in his actions. Even Song Zhangxiong, whose seniority and cultivation base were higher than his, never had any objections to Song Qingshi's arrangements.

Demonic beasts in the cultivation world are treasures to cultivators. The snake blood of these Green Bamboo Pythons can be used to make spirit talismans, the snake gall is an auxiliary medicinal herb for alchemy, and the snake skin and snake teeth are also good materials for refining magic tools. Although the value of snake meat is not high, it is also one of the dishes loved by cultivators, and it can be sold for some spirit stones at the restaurants in the market.

After a bout of skillful dissection, the four carried their rich spoils and quickly left the place.

——

Three days later, in a small pavilion named Wangyue Pavilion behind Mount Funiu, Song Qingming sat at a stone table in the pavilion, drinking a pot of spirit wine alone by the beautiful moonlight and cool breeze.

This spirit wine was exchanged from Fourth Uncle at the Qinghe Market a few months ago. Quietly drinking wine and watching the moon alone was one of the few moments of comfort he had outside of cultivation.

Just as Song Qingming had drunk a few cups, a broad-shouldered, sturdy man suddenly jumped into the pavilion and sat on the other side of the table. The person who came was Song Zhangxiong, the Thirteenth Uncle who had hunted demons with him at Mount Qingzhu a few days ago.

Seeing who it was, Song Qingming hurriedly put down the wine cup in his hand in a fluster.

"Thirteenth Uncle, I'm really sorry. I was in such a hurry to come out this time that I forgot to bring a few more wine cups. Should we change to another place?"

Song Zhangxiong didn't answer after hearing this, just smiled slightly at the corner of his mouth. His right hand touched his waist, and a white jade wine cup appeared out of thin air in his hand, which he slowly placed on the stone table.

Seeing this scene, Song Qingming looked at the storage bag at Song Zhangxiong's waist with some envy, then picked up the wine pot and hurriedly filled a cup for him.

After a cup of wine went down, Song Zhangxiong smiled and said to him, "You brat, don't be too anxious. A storage bag isn't such a rare item. It's just that you haven't cultivated to the mid-stage of Qi Refining yet, so you can't release spiritual power to use it. Once you break through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, you'll have this thing immediately."

"Hmm! No rush, no rush. It's just that I feel it's really convenient for you to have a storage bag, being able to carry anything with you at any time. I don't know when I'll be able to use one like you." After Song Qingming finished speaking, he also smiled.

"I came to find you today for a great thing, but you have to let me drink to my satisfaction first." After Song Zhangxiong finished speaking, he raised the wine cup in his hand again.

"That's for sure. It's rare for you, Thirteenth Uncle, to come and drink with me tonight. Even if I can't get up tomorrow, I'm happy."

The two drank and chatted cup after cup until the pot of spirit wine was almost bottoming out. Only then did Song Zhangxiong throw a bag to Song Qingming and say, "The demonic beast materials we hunted together last time have already been processed at the market. This is your share."

Song Qingming took the bag with some confusion. Was this the "great thing" Thirteenth Uncle spoke of? This pot of spirit wine was too worthless.

However, when Song Qingming opened the bag, the expression on his face changed again—from the joy when drinking wine, to the calmness after receiving the bag, and now to full confusion after opening the bag.

Inside this small cloth bag were bright spirit stones, a full thirty or so, which really made Song Qingming unable to figure it out.

The demonic beast materials hunted by the four a few days ago, including two mid-tier Green Bamboo Pythons and seven low-tier ones, even if sold entirely at the market, would be worth at most twenty-something spirit stones.

Plus, the two low-tier spirit talismans and one elixir for recovering spiritual energy used by Thirteenth Uncle when luring the enemy had to be deducted. How could he alone get so much?

There are regulations for distributing the proceeds when clan members go out to hunt demonic beasts together. In the past, the losses caused during the battle had to be deducted, and then distributed according to the level of cultivation and the size of the contribution.

This time, among the four, Song Qingming had the lowest cultivation base, and Thirteenth Uncle Song Zhangxiong contributed the most. Even if others took care of him a bit, under normal distribution, he couldn't have exceeded twenty percent.

Seeing Song Qingming staring at him with confusion, Song Zhangxiong explained calmly, "Knowing you are anxious about cultivation, the three of us discussed it. You've been at the third layer of Qi Refining for nearly five years, and your cultivation base has already been polished solid. The spirit stones from selling the demonic beast materials this time will just all belong to you.

I added a little bit inside, which should be enough for you to break through your cultivation base. I hope you can cultivate to the mid-stage of Qi Refining soon so that you can contribute more next time we go out to hunt demonic beasts.

Don't think too much about it. Your Big Brother, Old Four, and even I, when we broke through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining back then, were more or less helped by clan elders and older brothers. This can be considered an old tradition of our Song Clan."

Looking at the heavy spirit stones in his hand, Song Qingming couldn't help but feel a wave of emotion. Although he had almost saved enough spirit stones for the breakthrough himself, this heavy affection suddenly coming from several elders and older brothers still made him feel at a loss. Words of gratitude were on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't know how to express them. He could only nod, put away the spirit stones, and pick up the wine cup on the table to drink it in one gulp.

"Qingming, Thirteenth Uncle's aptitude is average, and I'm not as obsessed with cultivation as I used to be. In this life, I might be like other brothers, finding it very difficult to even cultivate to the late stage of Qi Refining. I might have to rely on you guys to take care of me in the future."

"Thirteenth Uncle, don't joke. With your current cultivation base, breaking through to the late stage of Qi Refining should be a matter of time. We still have to rely on you to take care of us."

"Then I'll take your kind words."

After the two smiled at each other, they chatted in the pavilion about some past events of hunting demons until the sun rose in the east, and then they left Wangyue Pavilion with the smell of wine on them.

After bidding farewell to Song Zhangxiong, Song Qingming returned to his cave dwelling, first sat in meditation for a while to dissolve the spirit wine in his body, then performed a low-tier "Rainfall Technique" to wash up, and changed into a clean set of clothes.

After smelling to confirm that there was no smell of wine on him, Song Qingming took out the spirit stones he had treasured for many years and walked quickly out of the cave dwelling towards the summit of Mount Funiu.

A place on the east side of the summit of Mount Funiu, shrouded in clouds and mist all year round, is a relatively mysterious place of the Song Clan.

Song Qingming walked to the middle of the clouds and mist, formed a gesture with one hand, and a white light flew out from his hand, hitting an open space in front. After a while, the clouds and mist beside him fluctuated and then gradually dissipated, revealing an exquisite three-story small building not far in front. Song Qingming walked to the door of the small building and pushed it open to enter.

The space inside the small building is not very large. On the wall of the first floor, there are several rows of black shelves, simply holding some green jade slips, and there is a long table in the middle.

An old man with a glowing red face stood by the table, squinting his eyes and smiling at Song Qingming who pushed the door and entered. This person is the Fourth Elder of the Song Clan who guards the clan's Treasury Pavilion, Song Gucai.

"Greetings, Fourth Elder." Seeing him, Song Qingming hurriedly moved his hands forward and bowed.

"Oh, it's Qingming. Are you here to take on a clan task, or are you looking for some cultivation techniques again?" Song Gucai stroked his beard and asked with a smile.

"Hehe, you really know me best, Elder. But I'm here this time to exchange for a Qi Gathering Pill. Could you see if these spirit stones are enough?" Song Qingming also replied with a smile, then carefully took out a bag from his bosom and handed it over.

Song Gucai slowly took the bag handed over by Song Qingming, opened it, and saw nearly a hundred spirit stones neatly arranged inside. After a while, he fully opened his half-squinted eyes and looked at Song Qingming before him with some surprise.

"Eh, didn't you say you were twenty spirit stones short last month? How did you manage to gather them so quickly? Honestly confess, where did you get these spirit stones?" After carefully confirming the number of spirit stones in the bag, Song Gucai asked a question.

"Thirteenth Uncle and Big Brother lent me some, that's how I managed to gather them." Song Qingming, who was watching him nervously from the side, said frankly.

After hearing Song Qingming's answer, Song Gucai nodded with satisfaction, signaled Song Qingming to wait on the first floor, and turned to take a yellow, ancient-looking small box from the second floor.

"You still have fifteen merit points in the merit book, plus the eighty-five spirit stones you brought, it's just right. Are you sure you want to exchange for a Qi Gathering Pill? I'm going to cross out the merit points on this."

"Alright, sorry to trouble you."

Hearing Song Qingming's confirmation, Song Gucai picked up a pen and crossed out a few lines in the merit book in his hand, and only then handed the small box on the table to Song Qingming.

Although the Song Clan is only a small Qi Refining family, it still has a strict merit system. Clan members can obtain merit points by completing various tasks issued by the clan or by handing over materials needed by the clan.

Then they use merit points or equivalent spirit stones to exchange for various cultivation techniques, elixirs, magic tools, and other items in the Treasury Pavilion. One merit point is equivalent to one spirit stone.

Although the variety and quantity of items in the Song Clan's Treasury Pavilion are not as complete as those in the market, common first-grade spirit talismans and elixirs are basically available.

Some of these items are made by people within the clan, and some are purchased from the Qinghe Market. The Song Clan arranges for personnel to go to the Qinghe Market every month to uniformly purchase some cultivation materials needed by people within the clan.

Song Qingming took the box and opened it to see a golden round elixir inside. It was the "Qi Gathering Pill" he had dreamed of. He was so excited that he hurriedly bowed to Song Gucai to express his gratitude.

"Qingming, today someone in the clan stood up to help you, all because we share the same bloodline. In the future, you must also be more united with people in the clan and support each other." Song Gucai looked at the clan descendant before him and exhorted him solemnly.

"Thank you for your teaching, Fourth Elder. Qingming understands."

"The path of cultivation is not only about talent and diligence, but also about the opportunities we each have in our lives. I have cultivated for a lifetime and have been holed up in this small Qinghe County, being cautious and careful, and although I have managed to survive, I have never been able to find a single opportunity, and I can only waste my life in this Qi Refining realm.

If you have the opportunity, you must go out and see the vast sky outside. Perhaps you can find the opportunity that belongs to you."

After hearing this, Song Qingming nodded thoughtfully. When he was young in the clan school, he often heard this Eighth Uncle say these words to encourage them. Now, it seems he has heard it too much, and he no longer has the excitement he had when he was young. How difficult is the path of cultivation? He has already deeply experienced it now.

With mediocre aptitude, even a bottleneck at the fourth layer of Qi Refining has left him helpless for nearly two years. If opportunities in the cultivation world were so easy to obtain, there wouldn't be so many cultivators ending their lives in the Qi Refining stage.

In the more than two hundred years of the entire Song Clan, fifty or sixty cultivators have emerged. Except for the founding ancestor who was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, in the last two hundred years, there have not been many who could successfully cultivate to the ninth layer of Qi Refining.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 4 =====