"Chenghui, that will be seven taels and three qian of silver."
Carrying the purchased herbs and disguised as a short, plump man with bangs cut straight across his forehead, Qi Xiu wobbled his way out of the South Market.
He had learned from his last experience.
This time, in purchasing herbs, he had visited three different markets, six drugstores, and changed his appearance twelve times. He completely scrambled the order and dosage of the herbs and bought them separately. Even the route home was intentionally extended by more than two miles.
With the newly improved prescription, the cultivation progress of the Sun Observing Strengthening Skill can at least speed up by another ten percent.
Sniffing the herbs in his hand, Qi Xiu smiled.
In recent times, he had been refining secret medicines, and he had specifically sought out some pharmaceutical medical texts. His Alchemy Skill proficiency had rapidly increased. In just a few days, it had risen to over fifty percent.
The massive amount of insights that followed made him catch on to the flaws and insufficiencies within the secret medicine of the Sun Observing Strengthening Skill.
After some careful consideration and research, he actually developed a new prescription. With the new secret medicine, he could quickly heal the minor injuries caused by his cultivation and prolong his training time. It would allow the Sun Observing Strengthening Skill to break through to the First Realm as soon as possible.
The time had just passed Mao Time, and the morning market on South Street was bustling.
Qi Xiu found a shop selling sugar cakes and soy milk and sat down, ordering half a sugar cake and a bowl of soy milk.
"Dear guest, your soy milk and sugar cake."
The shop owner, all smiles, brought over the steaming soy milk and sugar cake. "There's chili sauce and soy sauce on the table, feel free to add some," he said.
Nodding, Qi Xiu took out a few copper coins and handed them to the owner.
Looking at the scallion oil floating on top of the soy milk and taking a big bite of the sugar cake, he couldn't help but think to himself. Ah… Is salty the only way people in this world drink soy milk?
After swallowing the sugar cakes with hot soy milk and feeling his stomach much more comfortable, Qi Xiu got ready to leave for home. But he saw the customers, who had been quietly eating their breakfast in the shop, suddenly get up and head out as if by prior arrangement, looking for all the world as if someone were handing out free silver.
"Hey, boss, what are they rushing off to do?" Curious about the direction the crowd was heading, Qi Xiu asked the owner, who was busy making sugar cakes.
"What else could it be? Mr. Qian's funeral is being held today, and the Qian Family is hosting a large funeral feast, inviting the whole town to dine. I went there yesterday. TSK TSK, the food was really good—chicken, fish, meat, eggs, river delicacies, wild game, everything you could think of. If you have time, you should hurry over there; go too late and you might not get a seat."
"A funeral feast?"
Qi Xiu hadn't paid attention to the Qian Family for a while, and his expression shifted.
Forget it; better to avoid the unnecessary than to stir up trouble. The Qian Family is at odds with me; it's best I don't get involved.
Qi Xiu, intent on not joining the commotion and carrying his herbs, left leisurely.
「...」
「Meanwhile, at the Qian Residence.」
In the spacious front courtyard, hundreds of large round tables were set up. Endless streams of commoners rushed into the Qian Residence, finding a spot to sit down and then refusing to budge.
Behind the screen in the front hall, Wu, expressionless, watched thousands of people filling up the courtyard, quietly fondling a jade short flute in his hand.
"Has everything been distributed?"
"Reporting to Master, there are two more jars. In another month or so, everything should be out," a young Daoist, who bore a resemblance to the deceased Xuan Tong, replied.
"Good. Tell the kitchen to be extra careful not to let anyone discover anything."
After giving a few instructions, Wu turned and walked toward the back courtyard.
The jade Bodhisattva, which was still sealed, remained in Qian Yuhan's room.
Standing outside the room's door and looking at the petrified Bodhisattva, Wu's gaze was ice cold.
The brutes from the Taibao Sect will surely come again sooner or later. But as long as my Ten Thousand Insects Return to the Origin Skill succeeds, I will be able to break this damn sealing spell. Once I have the Magic Artifact in hand, even if Jin Siji himself shows up, I won't be afraid!
「...」
「As the twelfth lunar month passed, spring came, and winter hid away.」
The weather gradually warmed up.
Qi Xiu, who had been cooped up at home, could hardly remember the date anymore. The comfortable and undisturbed days passed exceedingly well.
He would practice martial arts in the morning, study medical texts at noon, and practice calligraphy in the afternoon. This regular and tight schedule took up most of Qi Xiu's day, leaving him with only the evening to rest for a while. However, Qi Xiu himself didn't feel tired at all.
The visible improvement in proficiency, the daily sense of continuous skill enhancement, the transformation of his body, the accumulation of knowledge—this feeling is simply irresistible, utterly intoxicating.
If it weren't for the limitations of his body, Qi Xiu would gladly keep at his practice 24 hours a day without a break.
「...」
「Early in the morning, dewdrops gently fell from the leaves in the yard, seeping into the soil.」
Standing in the courtyard, Qi Xiu squatted with his knees bent, his palms held out in a hollow press, sinking his energy to his energy center, and gazing up at the resplendent sun hanging high in the sky, illuminating all things.
The morning sun was splendid, though not as dazzling as at noon, but it was still something ordinary people could not look at for long.
Yet at this moment, Qi Xiu, staring unblinkingly at the sun, had strands of golden essence invisible to the naked eye slowly seeping into his pupils. He practiced like this, gazing at the sun for a full quarter of an hour.
Only when his eyes became sore, swollen, and slightly stinging did Qi Xiu close them. He then took out a gourd filled with a secret medicine, dropping two drops into his eyes.
Under the effect of the secret medicine, the discomfort in his eyes gradually faded. Slowly opening his eyes, a faint trace of golden light flashed and vanished in the depths of Qi Xiu's pupils.
He called up the proficiency panel.
[Calligraphy (Second Realm): 29.3%]
[Black Sand Palm (First Realm): 59.2%]
[Swallow Soar (First Realm): 33%]
[Sun Observing Strengthening Skill (First Realm): 9.6%]
[Culinary Arts: 57.2%]
[Alchemy: 88.5%]
[Air-Piercing Point Strike: 73%]
「...」
「Five days ago at noontime, the Sun Observing Strengthening Skill officially broke through to the First Realm.」
Compared to Black Sand Palm's unparalleled power and Swallow Soar's swift and agile movements that could seemingly pause in mid-air, the enhancement brought by the Sun Observing Strengthening Skill breaking through to the First Realm was much more ethereal and mystical.
First and foremost, the First Realm of the Sun Observing Strengthening Skill had significantly strengthened Qi Xiu's eyesight. Not only could he clearly see the flight paths of flies and mosquitoes, but he could also achieve night vision in the deep of night, even with extremely low visibility.
What truly puzzled Qi Xiu after this enhancement was a blank and mysterious phrase: "Eyes ascend to the sun, to witness ghosts and gods!"
When this sentence emerged in his mind, Qi Xiu's first reaction was, What the heck? Did my martial arts training just give me the ability to see ghosts and spirits?
Over the next few days, he felt uneasily tense, fearing his newfound ability might reveal some indescribable and terrifying things to him.
However, the reality was that over the days that passed, aside from cats in heat on the rooftop, he saw nothing else.
To see ghosts and spirits, there must be ghosts and spirits in this world for me to see.
As usual, he completed his day of training.
In the evening, having just bathed, Qi Xiu lay on a newly purchased rocking chair, engrossed in the book "Pu Ji Hui Fang Ji Zhu (Comprehensive Collection of Beneficial Prescriptions with Annotations)" in his hand.
The Sun Observing Strengthening Skill not only improved eyesight but also greatly replenished Qi Xiu's spirit.
The most direct effect was that he now needed only four to five hours of sleep each night to maintain his vigorous energy for the next day. Hence, Qi Xiu dedicated the extra time at night to reading medical books and pharmacopoeias.
He truly cared about the skill of Alchemy—a practical one that he got for free—and applied himself to it.
The sound of pages turning continued late into the night. Noting that the lantern oil was running low, Qi Xiu, about to rise and retire to his room for rest, happened to glance into the courtyard. A nebulous, ghostly figure stood there, its face unclear, but somehow, Qi Xiu felt distinctly that "it" was smiling at him.
What is that thing?
With three martial arts skills under his belt and the "Suppress" Character for protection, Qi Xiu was no longer as frightened as he had been before when facing strange occurrences.
Opening the main hall door, just as Qi Xiu frowned, trying to make out what the obscure figure was, the eerie figure suddenly let out a GIGGLE and drifted away.
A sense of unease creeping in, Qi Xiu quickly turned back to fetch the Hundred Faces Mask, transformed into a burly man in black, and, with a tap of his foot, sprinted after the bizarre shadow.
「On the other side,」
Wu, meditating in the backyard of the Qian Residence, and Taibao Sect Jin Tai, resting with his eyes closed in the Spring Arrival Inn, both opened their eyes at the same moment, their expressions solemn.
Demon energy? A servant ghost?