Chapter 19

Today is the third update, finally getting the recommendation from Qidian, what a pleasant surprise!

Thinking about those gourds, he felt a surge of anger. He had studied those gourds for a long time, examining them from all angles, and they were clearly just ordinary. He even deliberately removed the seeds and filled them with spring water. When a few senior disciples saw this, they all mocked him.

Wang Lin inwardly sneered, but on the surface, he meekly said, "I don't know what you mean by 'spiritual energy.' I heard you say that as long as I find a gourd, you'll give me spirit stones. Why don't you tell me what spiritual energy is?"

Sun Dazhu felt a sense of dizziness. He looked at Wang Lin seriously for a long time, and for the first time, he began to doubt whether the gourds were as numerous as he had guessed, or if there was only one, which this foolish boy had accidentally found.

After a moment of contemplation, he acknowledged that Wang Lin's words were indeed reasonable. Only those who had reached the first level of Qi Condensation could perceive the spiritual energy in the world. Thinking about this, he regretted adding the drugs that hindered cultivation to the food. This foolish boy already had poor aptitude, and reaching the first level of Qi Condensation was extremely difficult. Now, with those drugs, it would likely take him several decades to achieve it.

Sighing inwardly, Sun Dazhu felt disheartened, but he was not willing to give up. After hesitating, he took out a low-grade spirit stone from his storage bag and threw it to Wang Lin, saying, "This is the spirit stone I promised you. Take it and cultivate. Try to reach the first level of Qi Condensation as soon as possible."

Wang Lin quickly caught it, thanked him, and returned to his room.

Sun Dazhu stood there in a daze for a long time, then sighed deeply and muttered to himself, "You can't catch a wolf without risking your child. The only way to test if he is lying is to use the final method. I must get him to reach the first level as soon as possible. Once he reaches the first level, he will have entered the realm of cultivation. I am willing to risk a regression in my cultivation to use the soul-searching technique on him, so as not to violate the cosmic law that prohibits the use of soul-searching on ordinary people before the Formation of the Golden Core stage."

The soul-searching technique is a simple immortal technique, but it is extremely vicious. After being soul-searched, the victim will most likely die and their soul will dissipate. The best outcome is lifelong dementia.

However, due to its nature, the soul-searching technique is restricted by cosmic law and cannot be used on ordinary people before the Formation of the Golden Core stage, or the user will suffer the same fate.

If both are cultivators, there is no such restriction, but it can only be used three times in a lifetime, and each use will result in a regression in cultivation.

Wang Lin sat cross-legged in his room, examining the spirit stone in his hand. He couldn't see anything extraordinary about it, but when he held it, his mind became very clear. He closed his eyes and began to meditate.

After a night, Wang Lin sighed. There was still no sign of spiritual energy entering his body. He smiled bitterly. At that moment, the door was pushed open, and Sun Dazhu, with a dark face, entered, holding a bowl of black liquid.

"Drink it!"

Wang Lin was taken aback, looked at it cautiously, and did not take it, asking, "Master, what is this?"

Seeing Wang Lin's expression, Sun Dazhu's anger flared up, and he shouted, "Do you think I would harm you? Drink it if I tell you to. If I didn't want to help you reach the first level of Qi Condensation as soon as possible, do you think I would spend the whole night and use a large amount of precious herbs to make this medicine?"

Wang Lin hesitated, saw Sun Dazhu's unfriendly expression, picked up the stone bowl, and held his breath, drinking it in one gulp.

As soon as he drank it, a burning sensation rose from his stomach and spread throughout his body. He immediately felt his mouth dry and his body as if it were on fire. His vision went dark, and the stone bowl fell to the ground as he felt drowsy.

"Quick, meditate, I will help you absorb it." Sun Dazhu reluctantly placed his hand on Wang Lin's chest.

A cool sensation spread from his chest, and Wang Lin's mind became clear. Without hesitation, he began to meditate. Sun Dazhu looked at the stone bowl on the ground with a pained expression, muttered a few words, gritted his teeth, and took out a few more low-grade spirit stones from his storage bag, placing them around Wang Lin. He thought to himself, "Boy, I've invested a lot this time, you better pay me back in the future!"

After a short while, a sensation like ants crawling slowly appeared. Sun Dazhu could clearly feel the spiritual energy from the herbs gradually condensing in Wang Lin's body, and his face lit up with joy.

However, at that moment, a turbid energy quickly spread from Wang Lin's body, easily dispelling the condensing spiritual energy, and all was lost.

Sun Dazhu's face turned bitter. He recognized the source of the turbid energy as the Spirit-Transforming Herb he had given Wang Lin the previous day. After multiple attempts, the spiritual energy from the herbs in Wang Lin's body was completely dissipated, and no spiritual energy was condensed.

Sun Dazhu sighed deeply, released his hand, and stared at Wang Lin, feeling a mix of emotions.

Wang Lin opened his eyes, feeling light and extremely comfortable. He was about to say some words of gratitude, but Sun Dazhu, with a bitter expression, waved his sleeve and left the room without a word.

Wang Lin was taken aback, unsure of what Sun Dazhu was thinking. He moved his body, walked out of the room, and called out to Sun Dazhu's room, "Master, I'm going to the spring to see if I have any luck today."

Sun Dazhu didn't speak, but the gate of the garden opened silently. Wang Lin quickly left, and as soon as he was gone, Sun Dazhu secretly followed, not giving up.

A month passed quickly. During this month, Wang Lin went to the spring every day to meditate, and Sun Dazhu secretly monitored him each time. Day after day of disappointment made Sun Dazhu gradually lose hope.

During this month, he had to prepare herbs for Wang Lin every day, but the spiritual energy never condensed. Sun Dazhu's temper became increasingly irritable each day.

Most importantly, Sun Dazhu noticed that the spiritual energy in the gourd he had obtained was gradually dissipating. In just one month, the gourd had lost all its spiritual energy. The spring water inside was the same as when it was poured out, with no trace of spiritual energy.

In the end, the gourd became no different from an ordinary wild gourd, and Sun Dazhu was greatly disappointed. After careful analysis, he came up with a hypothesis. The gourd was not inherently extraordinary but had undergone some special changes, which made it rich in spiritual energy. He believed that Wang Lin had found it by chance and that it was unlikely he had any other gourds.

The more he thought about this hypothesis, the more he believed it was correct, and he felt a great deal of pain. For the past month, he had done almost nothing but monitor and prepare herbs. Now, all his efforts were in vain. In a fit of anger, he called Wang Lin, scolded him, and finally waved his sleeve, expelling him from the main courtyard.

Whenever he saw Wang Lin, he felt angry. Soon, he forgot about this disciple completely.

In his mind, even though Wang Lin had been taking herbs for a month, it would take at least ten to twenty years for him to reach the first level of Qi Condensation. The only way to speed up the process would be to continue giving him the herbs, regardless of the cost.