Bai Xiaochun was also dumbfounded. He looked at the astonished exclamations around him and saw Zhao Yiduo and Chen Zi'ang being swept away in the distance. Ignoring his whole-body pain, he quickly ran back over and sprawled himself on top of the bamboo, carefully examining it.
Especially Elder Zhou—he examined each and every stalk with an excited expression filled with disbelief and ecstasy.
Such a frenzied scene made Bai Xiaochun uneasy. He genuinely felt that everyone had gone mad. "Isn't it just a few bamboo stalks?" he thought. In his opinion, he had originally planned to grow them to ten zhang tall anyway.
"Elder…" Bai Xiaochun took a few steps back and cautiously called out.
"Good! Good! Good!" Elder Zhou laughed heartily, caressing the Lingdong bamboo, not leaving a single inch untouched, seemingly ignoring Bai Xiaochun's voice.
"This kind of Lingdong bamboo is extremely rare. Only when it grows to five zhang does it become completely dark green. At that point, it's not just a medicinal plant anymore—it becomes the main material for refining Spirit Bamboo Swords and can even trigger certain special techniques!"
"Take a whiff—can you smell that meaty bone aroma? That's a unique fragrance it gives off after reaching five zhang in height," Elder Zhou said excitedly, even taking a deep breath in appreciation.
Chen Zi'ang and Zhao Yiduo also leaned in seriously to sniff. Nearby disciples did the same.
Bai Xiaochun gave a dry cough. He had already smelled that scent on the way here while carrying the bamboo. That was clearly… the smell of chicken bones. After all, he had buried hundreds, even thousands, of spirit-tailed chicken bones in the spirit fields to grow this Lingdong bamboo. And every one of them… he had gnawed on himself.
"Elder…" Bai Xiaochun felt everyone had lost their minds and called out again.
Just then, Elder Zhou suddenly trembled. He stared at a section of a bamboo stalk, his eyes flaring with fury, and his expression twisted.
"Damn it! What happened here? Who bit into this? Lingdong bamboo is extremely bitter and must not be eaten raw. Which bastard took a bite and ruined this one's quality?!" Elder Zhou said painfully, as if a flawless piece of jade had suddenly been marred with a wormhole. He abruptly looked up—right at Bai Xiaochun.
"It wasn't me!" Bai Xiaochun stepped back in fright. Suddenly he remembered—during his first few days, starving, he had indeed taken a desperate bite. He had no idea the bamboo would turn out so extraordinary. He just thought, "It's my bamboo! What's wrong with taking one bite? These people are crazy!"
Upon hearing Elder Zhou's words, everyone turned to look and sure enough, on the last Lingdong bamboo, there was clearly a bite mark.
Elder Zhou stared at the mark for a long time before finally sighing. He was, after all, a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Though obsessed with medicine, he had a strong will. Still, the bamboo Bai Xiaochun brought was simply too astonishing—especially the mutation—which was unlike anything he had ever seen, causing his earlier moment of madness.
He gave Bai Xiaochun a deep look and flicked his sleeve.
"This bamboo… superb quality… no, ultimate grade! It shall be listed as top-grade! Reward: ten thousand contribution points!"
When he said this, the crowd around gasped again. After all, a typical planting task only earned about ten contribution points. Even at best, a hundred. But now—ten thousand at once?!
The nearby attendant boy was stunned too. Over the years, Spirit Creek Sect had rarely—if ever—classified a spirit plant as top-grade.
At the very least, this was the first time in several centuries.
Bai Xiaochun was overjoyed. He rushed over to the boy, took out his identity token, and urged him repeatedly. The boy hesitated but, seeing Elder Zhou back to studying the bamboo, gritted his teeth and granted Bai Xiaochun the ten thousand contribution points.
Clutching the token, Bai Xiaochun quickly left. He swore he'd never come back—everyone here was just too insane.
Before he got too far, Elder Zhou's voice called from behind.
"What's your name?"
"Bai Xiaochun! My name is Bai Xiaochun! My uncle is Li Qinghou!" Bai Xiaochun quickly answered. He hadn't known the bamboo would cause such a stir, and now, feeling uneasy, he pulled the name of Li Qinghou as a shield.
"Hmph, quite the schemer," Elder Zhou said with displeasure. "Spirit Creek Sect has stood for ten thousand years. Its disciples are many, each with their own secrets and fortunes. I'm not going to lower myself to investigate you. But if you ever have more bamboo like this, I'll take it all—and the contribution points will satisfy you!"
With a wave of his hand, Elder Zhou ignored Bai Xiaochun and continued studying the bamboo. Because of this incident, all other disciples' submissions that day were cut short.
Holding his identity token, Bai Xiaochun left the task hall, eyes shining with excitement. He headed straight for the Spirit Medicine Hall on Fragrant Cloud Mountain, where disciples could trade contribution points for medicinal pills.
If one had their own spirit medicine, they could also sell it to the sect for contribution points.
Bai Xiaochun ran into the hall and browsed carefully. After a long while, he walked out, having bought a bottle of pills suitable for someone at the fifth level of Qi Condensation. These pills were expensive—Bai Xiaochun had thought ten thousand contribution points would be a lot, but it turned out the spirit medicine here was even pricier.
"Azure Spirit Nurturing Pill," Bai Xiaochun murmured, staring at the bottle in his hand. It contained three pills—and just these three had cost him over four thousand contribution points.
But these weren't ordinary pills for Qi Condensation disciples. Their effects were outstanding, offering not only stronger medicinal power but also extremely pure spiritual energy.
Bai Xiaochun figured that staying at the fifth level wasn't safe, so he planned to reach the *peak of the fifth level* in one go.
As for the sixth level, he had considered using it as a shield to avoid battles. But realistically, he knew that if he broke through, Li Qinghou would just find another way to punish him.
With the remaining contribution points, Bai Xiaochun didn't waste any. He bought disposable defensive talismans—only with those on hand did he feel more secure.
If he had more points, he would've gone to the Treasure Pavilion for Qi Condensation-grade magical tools. But lacking the means, he gave up and returned to his courtyard. With a serious expression, he sat cross-legged in his wooden hut and pulled out the pills, staring down at them.
"There are less than three months left. I'm going into seclusion!" He gritted his teeth, surveyed the surroundings, then formed a hand seal. The turtle-shell cauldron appeared. He pulled out spirit-tail chicken tails and waved them—the three-colored fire ignited.
One tail wasn't enough to power the turtle cauldron. It took ten tails for the three spirit lines to light up. Then Bai Xiaochun used the cauldron to *refine all three pills three times each.*
Picking up one of the *Azure Spirit Nurturing Pills* now imbued with three silver lines, he swallowed it whole.
The pill melted instantly. A surge of spiritual energy burst out inside him. Bai Xiaochun immediately began to follow the breathing patterns of his Violet Qi Cauldron Control Art, guiding the energy through his body with full concentration.
A few days later, Bai Xiaochun's wooden hut shook violently. Dust filled the air, and a shockwave burst outward. A moment later, his laughter echoed from inside.
"Qi Condensation, fifth level!" Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath, his eyes gleaming. He had already reached the peak of the fourth level from eating so many spirit-tail chickens. With one refined pill, he easily broke through to the fifth.
Grime appeared on his skin again, but clearly less than before. After cleaning up, he didn't immediately take another pill. Instead, he stabilized his cultivation for five days before swallowing the second triple-refined pill. Spiritual energy surged again, his spiritual meridian expanded like a rushing river, and his cultivation rose another large step.
After stabilizing again for a few days, he swallowed the third pill in one go, pushing his cultivation *to the peak of the fifth level of Qi Condensation.*
At this stage, his every movement had changed. His skin looked whiter, and he even had a certain unique aura about him.
Bai Xiaochun was delighted. He knew that if other disciples at the peak of the fourth level had taken the same pills, they would at most have reached the fifth. Only he could push straight to the peak of the fifth level—almost touching the sixth.
The key was the *refinement from the turtle-shell cauldron.*
Its effects were becoming more and more apparent. Bai Xiaochun was increasingly curious—what was the origin of this thing?
It looked like a turtle shell, but somehow… it didn't.
He had learned that on Violet Cauldron Peak, there was a special location for spirit refinement. By paying some contribution points, sect elders could help refine items. The master of Violet Cauldron Peak was said to be a grandmaster of refinement.
Bai Xiaochun caressed the pattern on the back of the turtle cauldron. After a moment's thought, he shook his head. Since he couldn't figure it out, he stopped dwelling on it. He raised his right hand, and a *green jade pendant and a wooden sword* appeared before him.
Looking at his only two magic tools, Bai Xiaochun gritted his teeth, pulled out some more spirit-tails, and prepared to refine them *both to three-time refinement level.*
"I wonder what changes will happen after the third refinement," he muttered.
He activated the turtle cauldron again, waited for all three lines to light up, and tossed in the jade pendant. A burst of silver light and thunderous noise erupted—but luckily, it wasn't too loud.
When the silver light faded, three *silver lines* were clearly visible on the pendant. Their glow slowly faded, but Bai Xiaochun could feel the energy in the jade had changed completely—like night and day.
Faintly, a trace of purple gleamed within the green, like it was inlaid inside. The shape of the jade pendant had even changed—from oval to a flatter shape, as if it were becoming a ring.
Bai Xiaochun picked it up. As soon as he infused it with spiritual energy—*buzz!—a **thick, three-foot-wide green barrier* surrounded him. It looked extremely formidable.