Chapter 7

The crowd was overjoyed, and when they looked at Bai Xiaochun, they liked him to the extreme. They found Bai Xiaochun not only adorable but also quite mischievous. Zhang Dapang took the lead and rewarded Bai Xiaochun with a grain of spirit rice, which he placed in Bai Xiaochun's hand.

Bai Xiaochun smiled happily and stumbled back to his room. Before he could climb into bed, the accumulated spiritual energy from the countless heavenly and earthly treasures in his body burst forth, making his head spin. He fell directly to the ground and fell into a deep sleep.

This sleep was exceptionally sweet. The next morning, when Bai Xiaochun opened his eyes, he felt refreshed and invigorated. Looking down, he noticed he had gained a bit of weight, and his body was sticky, covered in a layer of black grime. He quickly went out to clean himself. Zhang Dapang and the others were busy preparing breakfast for the disciples. Seeing Bai Xiaochun's appearance, they all laughed.

"Ninth Junior Brother, that grime is the impurities from your body. Removing it will make your cultivation much smoother. You don't need to help for a few days, and we'll have you work again in a few days."

"That grain of spirit rice is a good thing. Remember to eat it quickly; it won't be good if you keep it for too long."

Bai Xiaochun felt refreshed and nodded in response. He returned to his room and looked at the turtle-shaped pot. He decided to carry it out and clean it thoroughly, then brought it back to his room and placed it on the stove. He took the grain of spirit rice in his hand and examined it. The grain was the size of a pinky finger, crystal clear and smooth, emitting a fragrant aroma.

"Indeed, the things immortals eat are extraordinary," Bai Xiaochun mused. He lit a few pieces of wood in the stove. As soon as they ignited, a wave of heat hit him, making his eyes water. He quickly stepped back, marveling at the fire.

"This fire is also extraordinary. It burns quickly and is much hotter than the fire in the village." Bai Xiaochun looked at the wood in the stove, thinking it must be special.

Just then, as the flames rose, Bai Xiaochun was surprised to see the first pattern on the turtle-shaped pot begin to glow from bottom to top. Soon, the entire pattern was brightly lit.

Bai Xiaochun was stunned for a moment, then suddenly slapped his thigh.

"I knew it, this is a treasure, definitely better than Senior Brother's pot." Bai Xiaochun felt even more convinced of the pot's extraordinary nature and quickly threw the spirit rice into the pot.

Sitting beside it, he waited while holding the bamboo scroll of the Purple Qi Cauldron Technique. He began to practice according to the first diagram's posture and breathing method. Almost as soon as he started, Bai Xiaochun's eyes widened. He found that the posture, which had been difficult to maintain the previous day, was now very smooth and comfortable. The breathing method no longer caused him to feel suffocated; instead, it felt very comfortable.

Especially the duration he could maintain it. He clearly remembered that before, he could only hold it for three or four breaths, but now, he had already passed seven or eight breaths without any discomfort.

Excited, Bai Xiaochun tried to stay calm. He persisted until he reached thirty breaths. Just as he felt a slight soreness in his body, a thread of qi suddenly appeared within him. The qi was cool and rapidly circulated through his body. Although it did not complete a full cycle before dissipating, it still made Bai Xiaochun jump up in excitement.

"There's qi, ha ha, there's qi!" Bai Xiaochun was overjoyed, walking around the room. He realized that the reason must be the heavenly and earthly treasures he had consumed the previous night, and he felt he had not eaten enough.

"No wonder Senior Brother Zhang said it's better to starve by the stove than to compete in the outer sect. Such good things would never happen to outer sect disciples." Bai Xiaochun quickly sat down and practiced again.

This time, he followed the first layer's breathing method and the first diagram's posture from the Purple Qi Cauldron Technique, persisting for sixty breaths. At the moment he reached sixty breaths, a much larger stream of qi suddenly emerged in his body, flowing rapidly like a trickle.

Bai Xiaochun, with experience, quickly followed the routes indicated in the first diagram, mentally guiding the qi stream. Soon, the qi stream in his body followed the route he had imagined, and as he continued to maintain the posture from the first diagram, he even felt a cool sensation spreading from various parts of his body, like droplets of water merging into the qi stream, making it grow larger.

In the end, it transformed into a small stream. When it completed a full cycle, Bai Xiaochun's body trembled, and his mind felt as if a fog had been lifted, with a loud boom.

An unprecedented sense of lightness immediately enveloped his body, and clumps of grime began to seep out through his pores. The small stream within him did not dissipate as it usually did but remained, slowly circulating through his body. Bai Xiaochun opened his eyes, his gaze clearer and more lively.

Even his body felt much lighter.

"Having a constant qi stream is the sign of completing the first layer of the Purple Qi Cauldron Technique, and it also means reaching the first layer of Qi Condensation!" Bai Xiaochun, unable to contain his joy, went out to clean himself again.

Zhang Dapang and the others saw him and exchanged knowing smiles. They were surprised that Bai Xiaochun had achieved the first layer so quickly but understood the reason.

Back in his room, Bai Xiaochun took a few deep breaths, then picked up the bamboo scroll and examined it carefully.

"After completing the first layer of the Purple Qi Cauldron Technique, one can control objects. This is an immortal's technique, allowing one to move objects through the air." Bai Xiaochun's eyes sparkled. He made a simple hand seal and pointed at the table. Immediately, he felt the small stream of qi in his body rush to his right index finger and extend beyond it.

It seemed to form an invisible thread connecting to the table, but the thread quickly became unstable and snapped with a crack.

Bai Xiaochun's face turned slightly pale, and it took him a while to recover. After careful thought, he gave up on the table and instead took out the wooden sword from his pocket. The sword, made of an unknown wood, was not as heavy as the table but still had some weight. He raised his right hand and pointed.

The wooden sword trembled and slowly floated up, but it only rose an inch before falling back down.

Bai Xiaochun was not discouraged. He tried multiple times, and the wooden sword gradually rose higher, from one inch to ten inches, twenty inches, thirty inches... By dusk, the wooden sword in his room could float in a straight line, though it was slow and could not turn, it no longer fell as easily as before.

"From now on, I, Bai Xiaochun, am an immortal!" Bai Xiaochun stood there, looking proud, with his left hand behind his back and his right hand raised, waving the wooden sword back and forth.

When his internal qi became unstable, Bai Xiaochun retracted the wooden sword and was about to continue practicing when he suddenly smelled a fragrant aroma coming from the pot. He lifted his head and took a deep breath, immediately feeling hungry. He had been so busy practicing that he had forgotten about the spirit rice in the pot. He went over and opened the lid.

The moment he opened the lid, a rich aroma wafted from the spirit rice in the pot. On the rice, however, there was a striking silver pattern!

The silver pattern was very clear, and upon closer inspection, it seemed to have a mesmerizing effect. As time passed, it gradually turned dark silver. Bai Xiaochun squinted his eyes, thought for a moment, and took out the grain of spirit rice to examine it.

"This pattern looks familiar..." Bai Xiaochun's eyes showed contemplation. He looked down at the stove and saw that the fire had long since gone out, and the wood had turned to ashes. The bright pattern on the pot had also dimmed.

He immediately recognized that the silver pattern on the spirit rice was identical to the pattern on the pot.

Suppressing his doubts, and for safety, Bai Xiaochun did not eat the rice but placed it in a cloth bag. After some thought, he left his room and went to work with Zhang Dapang and the others.

Time passed, and half a month went by. During this time, Bai Xiaochun's cultivation progress slowed, but he also learned that others did not see any silver patterns when they cooked spirit rice.

Curious, he became even more convinced that his grain of rice was unusual, especially regarding the pot, which he found even more peculiar. A few days later, when He Sanpang went out to purchase supplies, Bai Xiaochun visited the Four Seas Hall, a place where miscellaneous disciples could learn about cultivation basics.

After returning from the Four Seas Hall, Bai Xiaochun's heart raced. He tried to contain his excitement until he returned to his room. He immediately took out the grain of spirit rice and examined the silver pattern closely, his eyes gradually showing disbelief.

"Immortal cultivation has three essential practices: alchemy, artifact refinement, and... spirit refinement!" Bai Xiaochun recalled the images of spirit refinement he had seen in the Four Seas Hall's texts, comparing them to the silver pattern on the spirit rice, finding them increasingly similar.

"Spirit refinement!" After a long while, he exhaled deeply.

Spirit refinement is a method of forcibly infusing items with the power of heaven and earth, akin to performing the act of creation on behalf of the heavens. It involves harnessing and enhancing the power of heaven and earth, whether for elixirs, incense, or magical artifacts. This practice is forbidden by the heavens, so there is a certain probability of success. If successful, the item's power greatly increases, but if it fails, the item becomes a useless piece of junk.

Moreover, spirit refinement can be layered, and if successfully refined ten times, an item can undergo a transformative change.

The more precious the item, the more terrifying it becomes after layered spirit refinement.

However, the success rate decreases with each layer, and even some spirit refinement masters dare not attempt it lightly, as the cost of failure is too high.

"The texts say that the supreme treasure of our Lingxi Sect, the Heavenly Horn Sword, was refined ten times under great fortune!" Bai Xiaochun felt his mouth go dry, swallowing hard. His eyes showed shock and confusion as he subconsciously looked at the dozens of dim patterns on the turtle-shaped pot. His heart raced as if it would leap out of his chest.

He was now certain that the reason the spirit rice had the spirit refinement pattern was because of this pot!

After some hesitation, Bai Xiaochun gritted his teeth. If he didn't solve this mystery, he wouldn't be able to sleep. However, he also knew that if the pot was truly extraordinary, this secret must not be revealed to anyone else.

So, he waited until deep into the night, then carefully approached the pot. Taking a deep breath, he hesitantly took out the wooden sword he had been controlling and, as he had done with the spirit rice, threw it into the pot.

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