Fang Qingyuan lived in the Beast Taming Sect's Tianshan Villa. This villa was an outpost for the sect on Celestial Gate Mountain, primarily responsible for raising demonic beast Spirit Pets unique to the Black River and managing the Beast Taming Sect's interests in the Southern Border.
The Dean of the villa was a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator. There were also three Stewards, who were Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators. In addition, the villa housed thirteen Core Disciples, forty-six Inner Sect Disciples, and eighty-nine Outer Disciples.
Tianshan Villa was built atop a mountain peak with a Tier Two Spirit Vein. This Spirit Vein was a branch of the main one on Celestial Gate Mountain and had been purchased by the Beast Taming Sect at a great cost over a hundred years ago.
As an Outer Disciple, Fang Qingyuan's residence was situated at the foot of the mountain, where the Spiritual Qi was far less dense than at the summit.
However, the foot of the mountain had its advantages. The area was open and spacious, unlike the Inner Sect Disciples who were assigned cramped quarters higher up.
Living down below was comfortable. The closest residence belonging to another disciple was a hundred meters away, making it perfectly tranquil.
Fang Qingyuan entered his courtyard and settled the Humpbacked Skate in the Beast Cage. He then scooped three Pig Fish from a nearby pond to give it as a treat before finally heading into his bedroom.
Once inside, Fang Qingyuan checked several marks he had left behind. Seeing no signs of tampering, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Although Tianshan Villa was quite safe, he still took precautions out of habit. 'I can't just entrust my life to others. If I don't care about my own safety, who else will?'
'It's a shame I don't have any spare Spirit Stones, or I'd set up a Five Elements Illusion Array to cover my entire residence.'
As he was lamenting, his stomach rumbled. Fang Qingyuan got up, went to the kitchen to rinse a bowl of Spirit Rice, and set it in a pot to steam. Then, he went out into his yard to pick some fresh vegetables.
Fang Qingyuan's yard was quite large, spanning nearly a sixth of an acre. Aside from the Beast Cage, he had planted vegetables in all the remaining space.
Originally, these empty plots were meant for growing medicinal herbs. But Fang Qingyuan hadn't been in the mood to manage them, which led to harvests smaller than the amount of seed he'd sown. Eventually, he simply uprooted everything and replaced it all with various vegetables and fruits.
He ate whatever ripened, and it had to be said, this saved him a lot more money than buying food outside.
After picking the vegetables, Fang Qingyuan headed back to the house. His gaze swept over the pond where he kept the Pig Fish, and after a moment's thought, he lifted a hand. A current of water immediately enveloped one of the fish and lifted it into the air.
'Something good is about to happen today,' he thought. 'Might as well be a little extravagant and eat a Pig Fish.'
Having convinced himself, Fang Qingyuan went to the kitchen. He gutted the three-pound Pig Fish, scaled it, removed the gills, and then pan-fried it before boiling it down into a pot of savory fish soup.
By then, the Spirit Rice was cooked. The grains were translucent and perfectly distinct. The moment he took a bite, a rich fragrance exploded on his taste buds, and Fang Qingyuan felt utterly content.
He alternated between mouthfuls of rice and fish, occasionally adding a bite of vegetables. In just a few moments, his plate was clean.
Fang Qingyuan rubbed his stomach and let out a satisfied sigh. 'Good food should never be taken for granted.'
'Even without the wide array of spices from my past life, the natural flavors of the Spirit Rice and Pig Fish are more than enough.'
After enjoying his meal and washing the dishes, Fang Qingyuan returned to his bedroom and began to meditate.
'Daily practice is a must. There's no room for slacking. My talent is already nothing special; if I get lazy on top of that, when will I ever become a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator?'
Fang Qingyuan's aptitude was far from outstanding. His best attribute, the Wood Spirit Root, was merely Middle-grade. His Water, Fire, and Earth Spirit Roots were all Lower-grade, while his Metal Spirit Root was so poor it was beneath classification.
In this world, everyone possessed Spirit Roots—all five elements, in fact—but their quality varied immensely.
The vast majority of people had poor Spirit Roots, unable to sense the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. Not a single one of their Spirit Roots could perceive its corresponding element's Spiritual Qi. This group accounted for ninety-nine percent of the population.
Being unable to perceive Spiritual Qi meant one could not cultivate and was doomed to live their entire life as a mortal. A step above them were those with 'Inferior-grade Spirit Roots'.
An Inferior-grade Spirit Root meant that among the five, one had a sensitivity to the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth greater than one, making it possible to capture and absorb Spiritual Qi.
However, it was barely better than nothing. Without some great stroke of luck, a person with an Inferior-grade Spirit Root could never hope to reach the Mid-stage Qi Cultivation realm in their entire life.
If one's sensitivity exceeded ten, they possessed a Lower-grade Spirit Root and could cultivate normally. If it exceeded twenty, it was a Middle-grade Spirit Root.
Above the Middle-grade were Top-grade Spirit Roots, Earth Spirit Roots, and Celestial Spirit Roots. Furthermore, if the sensitivity values of the Five Elements Spirit Roots combined in a particular way, one could even possess one of the various Dao Bodies.
Of course, such things were beyond Fang Qingyuan's current understanding. He was focused on cultivating a Wood Element Technique: the Cyan Wood Evergreen Formula.
He had practiced it for nearly a decade, yet he had only just reached the threshold of the Mid-stage Qi Cultivation realm. Not long ago, in his eagerness for quick results, he had attempted to force a breakthrough, only to fail and suffer a severe backlash.
Fortunately, since it was a Wood Element Technique, the backlash wasn't too severe. Had it been a metal or fire element technique, the consequences would have been far worse.
Currently, Fang Qingyuan's sensitivity was twenty-three for wood, eighteen for earth, sixteen for water, thirteen for fire, and eight for metal. All told, he was just a mediocre Cultivator.
He had been accepted into Tianshan Villa on account of his Middle-grade Spirit Root, but unfortunately, his cultivation progress over the years had been disappointing.
Most of the disciples who had entered Tianshan Villa at the same time as him had already advanced to become Mid-stage Qi Cultivation Inner Sect Disciples, while he remained stagnant.
The reason for this wasn't his aptitude but something much deeper. The 'golden finger'—his unique advantage—that Fang Qingyuan possessed required Spiritual Qi to be activated. For all these years, it had been siphoning off the Spiritual Qi from his cultivation, causing his progress to be incredibly slow.
After awakening the memories of his past life, Fang Qingyuan's mind had become much sharper, and he immediately identified the problem.
Once he recovered from his injuries, he realized that relying on bitter cultivation alone wouldn't allow him to break through, not even in another ten years. He decided to find an alternative path, and tonight was the night to see the fruits of his labor.
Two hours later, Fang Qingyuan finished his daily cultivation. His last failed attempt to break through the bottleneck had actually caused his cultivation to regress significantly. He had only just now recovered his lost progress, but there was no telling how long he would have to wait for the next opportunity to advance.
By now, it was midnight. Fang Qingyuan rose, walked over to a brick wall, and opened a hidden compartment, from which he retrieved a wooden box.
He lifted the lid. Inside, Spirit Stones were stacked in neat piles. A single Low-grade Spirit Stone was about the size of a thumb and looked like the finest jadeite, a truly beautiful sight.
Fang Qingyuan took the eight Spirit Stones he had earned that day from his robes, casually tossed them into the box, and then began to slowly retrieve Spirit Stones from it.
Ten, twenty, thirty...
Fang Qingyuan continued counting, taking out ten stones at a time and arranging them in neat stacks on the table. Before long, thirty stacks sat upon the large square table.
After confirming the count was exactly three hundred Spirit Stones, the corners of Fang Qingyuan's mouth curled into a smile. 'This wasn't easy. Half a year of hard work on top of my previous savings... I finally managed to gather three hundred Spirit Stones.'
'To save up these Spirit Stones, I didn't dare use any to speed up my cultivation, and I only ate the cheapest Spirit Rice. All that daily toil will finally be rewarded today.'
With his reflections over, Fang Qingyuan reached out, grabbed a stack of Spirit Stones, and clutched it tightly in his palm. He then activated his Cultivation Technique and began absorbing the Spiritual Qi from within the stones.
If the density of Spiritual Qi between Heaven and Earth was a one, a Tier One Spirit Vein would be a five, and a Tier Two Spirit Vein a twenty. In that case, the Spiritual Qi density inside a Spirit Stone was a full one hundred.
Cultivating with Spirit Stones in hand was an auxiliary method as effective as consuming medicinal pills. Unfortunately, as good as it was, it was an expense that only the wealthiest of Cultivators could afford.
A single Low-grade Spirit Stone could support an Early-stage Qi Cultivation Cultivator for three days. For Fang Qingyuan to use ten at once wasn't a sign of madness, but rather a necessity, for he housed a massive consumer of Spiritual Qi within his body.
The surging Spiritual Qi from the ten Spirit Stones flooded into Fang Qingyuan's body like a tidal wave. Yet, the moment it entered, it was devoured by a mark located between his eyebrows.
This mark was situated above Fang Qingyuan's Niwan Palace, illuminating the space like a Bright Moon.
No matter how much Spiritual Qi surged forth, the mark accepted it all, its appetite seemingly endless.
However, Fang Qingyuan noticed a change. The mark had always been like a tightly sealed door, but now, under the assault of Spiritual Qi, a tiny crack was gradually prying open.
In just a few moments, the Spirit Stones, once as profound as jade, turned a dull gray. Finally, with a slight squeeze from Fang Qingyuan, the stones, now depleted of all Spiritual Power, crumbled into fine powder and scattered across the floor.
Fang Qingyuan paid it no mind and simply grabbed another stack of Spirit Stones, resuming the process of absorption.
As stack after stack of Spirit Stones was consumed, Fang Qingyuan felt the crack in the 'door' widen. Once all three hundred Spirit Stones had been completely devoured, a pulling force emanated from the mark, seemingly beckoning him to enter.
Feeling the summons, Fang Qingyuan didn't hesitate. He guided his Divine Sense to the mark and, following the pull, instantly plunged inside.