Chapter 37

When Yang Junshan offered to give him the ox gallbladder spirit essence, Su Baozhang couldn’t believe his ears for a moment. He had originally thought that if he could get the lower-grade spirit essence from the two spirit essences Yang Junshan obtained in Bai Que Mountain, he would be content. The middle-grade spirit essence was something he didn’t even dare to dream about.

Regaining his composure, Su Baozhang was about to decline, but he saw Yang Junshan pat the little tiger cub under his feet and then pry open its mouth. Ignoring the cub’s “growling” protests, he forcibly dug out a cloth bag from the tiger’s mouth.

A ferocious beast that had begun to transform could instinctively use demonic energy to conceal the spirit essence it had conceived, even fooling cultivators at the Martial Human Realm. Yang Junshan had used the demonic energy he absorbed while inheriting the Eight Peaks Mountain Lord’s Body Cultivation Technique to hide his cultivation, which had already advanced to the second level of Spirit Essence Summoning. Now, using the same method, he wrapped a pair of middle-grade spirit essences and the elm heart he obtained from Hao Zhuang in a cloth bag and hid it in the little tiger cub’s mouth.

Although Su Baozhang wasn’t entirely clear about the wonders of a pair of middle-grade spirit essences, the three middle-grade spirit essences, including the ox gallbladder spirit essence, were enough to make this country boy from a poor family feel dizzy and disoriented.

Yang Tian, although a Martial Human Realm expert, was also staring intently at the pair of bear paw spirit essences in Yang Junshan’s hand, his face full of disbelief.

He took two deep puffs of his pipe, the thick smoke obscuring his face, allowing him to think more calmly behind the smoke.

"These spirit essences you can’t use!"

Yang Tian knocked the ashes out of his pipe and said, "Do you want to use this pair of spirit essences to exchange for a high-grade spirit essence? The value of this pair is enough, but some things can’t be exchanged just because they are valuable enough."

High, high-grade spirit essence?

Su Baozhang felt a bit silly. Previously, when he and Yang Junshan secretly watched Zhang Yueming and others hunt the purple-striped boar in Bai Que Mountain, the high-grade spirit essence, the purple cloud skin, was a backdoor opened by the Heaven-Shaking Sect for their future talented cultivators. It was like a full moon high in the sky; he could admire it from below without feeling anything, but when it was within reach, Su Baozhang found it hard to believe the reality.

Yang Junshan smiled and said, "After all, this pair of spirit essences is better than the ox gallbladder spirit essence, isn’t it?"

Yang Tian looked at Su Baozhang, who was still somewhat dazed, and after a moment of thought, said, "Since the things were obtained by you, you can decide how to divide them!"

"No, no, absolutely not!"

Finally coming to his senses, Su Baozhang hurriedly refused, "I just need a lower-grade spirit essence. The middle-grade spirit essence is too precious. Brother Junshan, you should keep it for yourself. Besides, I didn’t help you much in Bai Que Mountain."

Yang Junshan directly threw the ox gallbladder spirit essence into Su Baozhang’s arms and said with a smile, "Brother Baozhang, just take it. If it weren’t for you attracting the mountain bull’s attention, it wouldn’t have been easy for me to shoot it. Later, it was also thanks to you distracting Zhang Yueming and the others, otherwise, this pair of middle-grade bear paw spirit essences wouldn’t have ended up in my hands."

Seeing Su Baozhang still trying to refuse, Yang Junshan said directly, "Don’t worry, Brother Baozhang. The pair of spirit essences in my hand is much better than your ox gallbladder spirit essence."

Su Baozhang didn’t know what to say for a moment, just kept refusing. Yang Tian smiled and said, "Alright, don’t refuse anymore. We are brothers. If you keep refusing, it will seem like you are being too formal. Take this ox gallbladder spirit essence, Brother Baozhang. Don’t be embarrassed; it’s what you deserve."

Su Baozhang felt the weight of the spirit essence in his hand, a middle-grade spirit essence. A poor family’s child like him actually had the chance to use a middle-grade spirit essence to summon a spirit. He felt even more grateful to the Yang family.

Looking at his son, Yang Tian then whispered, "After we return to the village, don’t publicize the matter of the spirit essence. Focus on your cultivation and strive to advance your cultivation to the second level as soon as possible. This way, no one will notice the spirit essence in your hand."

Su Baozhang tightly held the spirit essence and nodded forcefully, saying, "Uncle Yang, rest assured. I know the importance of this. If others ask, I’ll just say I got a lower-grade spirit essence by luck and successfully summoned a spirit. No one else will know about the ox gallbladder spirit essence."

Yang Tian nodded and said, "Not only this matter, but also don’t mention Hao Zhuang’s matter. Once Xu Jing opens her earworm spirit essence acupoint, there is a high chance she will have a natural talent. This child has already caught the attention of the Heaven-Shaking Sect. If this matter gets out, it will not only harm the Hao family but also harm us."

Thinking of the ruthless and decisive Xu Jing that Yang Junshan described in Bai Que Mountain, Su Baozhang felt a chill and hurriedly nodded in agreement.

Yang Tian thought for a moment and then said, "In the future, come to me every five days to practice with Junshan by the spirit well in the backyard!"

In the entire Earth Mound Village, and even the entire Wasteland Town, who didn’t know that the village chief of Earth Mound Village, Yang Tian, treated his third son with the spirit well in the backyard? The well not only contained spirit-infused water but also emitted a dense aura of spirit energy. For cultivators at the Mortal Realm, the backyard was truly a treasure.

Su Baozhang was so excited that he didn’t know what to say. Yang Tian then made another promise, "The three acres of spirit fields we are cultivating at the foot of West Mountain are about to mature. You need to quickly open your spirit acupoint and advance your cultivation to the third level. This way, you will have the qualifications to receive a share of the fields. I can try to get you three-tenths of an acre. This way, you will have a foothold in Earth Mound Village."

Yang Junshan, watching Su Baozhang, who was already overwhelmed with gratitude, couldn’t help but admire his father’s methods. If you want to bestow favors, don’t do it half-heartedly. A series of promises left even Yang Junshan feeling overwhelmed.

However, when he heard his father mention the spirit fields at the foot of West Mountain, Yang Junshan’s heart stirred, and he hurriedly asked, "Father, the spirit fields at the foot of West Mountain are mature?"

Yang Tian’s face also showed a hint of joy, "Yes, it’s not easy, three years. Although only three acres, it’s the first increase in the spirit fields of Earth Mound Village in over a decade."

The formation of spirit fields relies on natural formation, such as a sudden appearance of a spirit-gathering place where the spirit energy in the soil is higher than other fields. Once discovered, it will be immediately developed into a spirit field.

The second method is artificial cultivation, but this not only takes a long time but also requires a significant investment in the early stages. Most importantly, not everyone knows how to cultivate spirit fields.

Before Yang Tian came to Earth Mound Village, the village’s spirit fields had not increased by even an acre in ten years. With the continuous cultivation of existing spirit fields, even with the efforts of spirit farmers to maintain them, the spirit energy in the soil was continuously dissipating, and the quality of the spirit fields was declining year by year.

After Yang Tian was appointed as the village chief of Earth Mound Village, although he established sufficient prestige through the spirit well battle, what truly made the villagers accept him was his knowledge of spirit field cultivation techniques.

Over the past three years, Yang Tian led the villagers of Earth Mound Village to cultivate spirit fields at the foot of West Mountain, dedicating most of his energy to it. As the spirit fields matured step by step, Yang Tian’s position in Earth Mound Village became increasingly solid. Seeing the first increase in the spirit fields in over a decade, the respect for the village chief from the villagers of Earth Mound Village became even more heartfelt.

The three returned to Earth Mound Village. After bidding farewell to the Yang family, Su Baozhang hurriedly rushed home, eager to awaken the spirit essence in his hand and improve his cultivation.

Back home, the whole family cheered when they learned that Yang Junshan had returned from Bai Que Mountain with a full load. Yang Junxin, with great effort, held the little tiger cub, refusing to let go, while Yang Junping kept swallowing his saliva, looking at the two large bear paws his brother brought back.

Leaving aside the two excited children, after returning home, Yang Tian and Han Xiumei took Yang Junshan to the inner room. Yang Tian knocked on his pipe and said with a smile, "Speak, what other good things did you find in Bai Que Mountain, and how did you deceive the mountain guards?"

Yang Junshan chuckled and said in a low voice, "Father, Mother, I found a high-grade spirit essence in Bai Que Mountain!"

"What?" Yang Tian was shocked, his pipe in his mouth, his mouth agape.

"What?" Han Xiumei was pleasantly surprised, "Really? How did you deceive them?"

"It’s true!" Yang Junshan had long anticipated that the matter of the high-grade spirit essence was too significant. His parents were already so surprised, so he couldn’t tell others, let alone explain why he knew the "Blood Refinement Spirit Summoning Technique."

So, Yang Junshan told them about the bear and tiger battle he encountered in Bai Que Mountain and how he became the beneficiary. He said he found the Blood Refinement Spirit Summoning Technique on the stone wall in the mountain tiger’s den, left by some high-level cultivator, but he had destroyed the content on the stone wall before leaving.

However, seeing his parents’ stunned expressions, Yang Junshan felt it was better to tell them about the Eight Peaks Mountain Lord’s Body Cultivation Technique later. He also concealed the tiger tooth, only saying he obtained the bear gallbladder and dripped the bile into his wound to advance his spirit summoning. As for why he concealed his cultivation, he said it was because of the inheritance from the stone wall.

"Hmm, it should be the inheritance left by a great cultivator of the Heaven-Shaking Sect. I heard that the Heaven-Shaking Sect’s great cultivators would keep ferocious beasts as pets, but before their death, these beasts would be returned to the spirit essence enclosure. Perhaps this great cultivator left this secret technique out of a whim, and it ended up benefiting you."

Yang Tian’s guess saved Yang Junshan a lot of explanation.

"What’s the point of guessing?" Han Xiumei scolded, "Cutting a wound in your own belly, you’re willing to do it. Let me see how the wound is?"

Yang Tian said, "If he didn’t do that, would the mountain guards of the Heaven-Shaking Sect let him take the high-grade spirit essence out?"

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Today was very busy, and I only had time to write after lunch.

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