Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Lin Zhao walked to the bamboo grove. The bamboo shadows were sparse, and a white jade stump about a foot high stood there. He took out three fragments of spirit, each shimmering with a different color of light, and placed them on top of the stump.

The jade stake instantly lit up with a soft white light.

The light, as if alive, coiled around the shattered spirit, rapidly draining its spiritual energy. Three breaths later, the light dissipated. The shattered spirit turned into gray-black pebbles, devoid of any remaining supernatural power.

The white jade stake and the green bamboo form a small, low-grade spirit-gathering array, originally used to maintain the activity of captured spirit fish, but Lin Zhao modified it to maintain the vitality of the pseudo-spirit field.

"Father."

Through the bamboo shadows, Lin Zhao noticed that Lin Tianhui was already standing quietly to one side. She didn't know when he had arrived.

Lin Tianhui's gaze swept over the spiritual plants. They weren't growing very vigorously, but each leaf was fully extended, and the spiritual energy hadn't dissipated.

"How many spirit stones can these spiritual plants ultimately be exchanged for through family channels?"

Lin Zhao pondered for a moment before replying, "I only choose first-grade low-quality items. Either they are plentiful and cheap on the market, or they are troublesome to process and shops won't accept them."

He explained clearly, "Only these kinds of plants will the stall owner accept fragments of spirit energy. Normally, a first-tier spirit plant must be paid for with spirit stones. I'm taking a shortcut."

He paused, then continued:

"This batch this month consumed seven hundred spirit fragments. After they are sent to the family, they can be cultivated more quickly in the spirit fields by a specialist. Once they have been cultivated for a sufficient number of years, an alchemist will be invited to refine them. It is estimated that they will be worth twelve to fifteen spirit stones."

"According to clan rules, I should receive about six coins. After deducting costs, I'll make a net profit of three coins."

He looked up and said, "This method is complicated, but it is extremely difficult for an individual to accomplish without relying on a family system."

Lin Tianhui nodded slowly, a barely perceptible hint of approval flashing across his face.

"Clear thinking, knows how to leverage existing resources."

The tone shifted abruptly, becoming serious:

"Your uncle is coming back tomorrow. I'll ask him for the right to use that top-grade first-level cultivation room." He looked at Lin Zhao, "How are your preparations going?"

Lin Zhao took a deep breath.

A resolute expression appeared on her delicate face.

"I reached the third level of Qi Refining perfection two months ago. Recently, my Qi is abundant and my Dantian is swollen, so I can try to break through at any time."

He paused for a moment, then added, "With the aid of high-grade spiritual energy from a cultivation chamber, I'm ninety percent certain."

Each room in the Lin family's shop is equipped with a cultivation room, but all of them are of the first-order mid-grade level.

Only that superior room, located directly below the core of the formation, has the densest and purest spiritual energy.

The access permissions were always in the hands of Uncle Lin Tianze.

Moreover, the spiritual energy gathered in that cultivation room is not limitless.

It needs to be stopped after a period of use, allowing the formation to draw replenishment from the spiritual veins of the market.

If you wish to use it year-round, you must pay spirit stones to maintain it.

My uncle is away from home most of the year, so he wouldn't waste spirit stones for nothing.

My uncle, Lin Tianze, is at the peak of the seventh level of Qi Refining. He is the person in charge of the Lin family's talisman shop, but his more important identity is the captain of a demon-hunting team, who is constantly fighting outside.

The shop's daily affairs were actually managed by Lin's father, whose cultivation had stagnated at the sixth level of Qi Refining for many years.

Lin Zhao’s mother and elder brother Lin Tai stayed in the family’s ancestral land to take care of the sacred fields.

Lin Zhao started running a shop here with her father when she was ten years old.

Lin's father remained silent for a moment.

He looked at Lin Zhao with a complicated expression, his voice lowered:

"How's your training in that auxiliary cultivation technique going?"

"I reached the third level of the Taihe Yangyuan Gong a year ago," Lin Zhao said truthfully. "But progress has been extremely slow over the past year, as if I have encountered an invisible bottleneck."

A complex emotion flashed in Lin's father's eyes. There was expectation, there was worry, and it ultimately turned into a soft sigh.

"No rush, take your time," he said. "Your path of cultivation is destined to go further than mine. Prepare well for your breakthrough."

As if suddenly remembering, she added, "The body-strengthening herbs have been placed in your room."

After saying that, he turned around, his back view slightly desolate, and left the courtyard.

-----

That night, the moonlight was as clear as water.

In the center of Lin Zhao's room stood a dark wooden barrel, about half a person's height. The liquid inside was as thick as ink, reflecting no light under the dim light, but emitting a mixture of bitterness and strange medicinal fragrance.

He took off his clothes.

His body was slightly thin, but his lines were well-proportioned and his muscles were firm. A resolute look flashed across his delicate face.

Take a deep breath and step into the liquid medicine.

"hiss--"

The moment the body came into contact with the black liquid, excruciating pain exploded.

Thousands of fine needles pierced through simultaneously, penetrating to the bone. His body instinctively wanted to circulate his internal energy to resist, but Lin Zhao used immense willpower to suppress the surging magical power back into his dantian.

This medicinal liquid is a secret body-tempering medicine passed down by the Lin family. If one practices the main cultivation method, one can indeed quickly absorb the medicinal power to increase spiritual power, but in that case, the medicinal power will deviate from its original purpose of tempering the body, and the body-tempering effect will be almost non-existent.

He gritted his teeth.

Bleeding streaks are seeping from the gums.

Slowly sink your entire body into the medicinal liquid.

Instantly, the powerful and domineering medicinal force surged forth like an out-of-control torrent, violently assaulting and tearing apart flesh and meridians. The intense pain caused the body to tremble uncontrollably, and fine ripples spread across the surface of the wooden tub.

This process, once it begins, will last at least one hour. During this time, one cannot use magic to resist it.

Lin Zhao held fast to the last vestige of clarity in her mind.

His mind sank completely into the depths of his consciousness, and he began to slowly circulate the seemingly defenseless "Taihe Yangyuan Gong".

This technique does not involve the use of spiritual power. The first and second levels focus on calming distracting thoughts and purifying the mind.

After breaking through to the third level, Lin Zhao discovered that it had the miraculous effect of harmonizing the yin and yang in the body, guiding the life force back to balance, and even nourishing the source of life.

Time was stretched out amidst boundless suffering.

As Lin Zhao circulated his internal energy, his consciousness seemed to transcend the constraints of his physical body. The excruciating pain remained vivid, yet it could no longer shake his spirit.

The secret medicine's violent potency was subtly guided and differentiated by the cultivation technique.

The force that had been charging headlong into the body became smooth, permeating every tiny corner evenly. Muscle fibers were torn, but then rapidly reorganized and strengthened under the harmonizing effects of the exercise and the nourishment of the medicine.

For the first time, my mind entered a state of unfathomable meditation.

The circulation of Qi within the body reached an unprecedented level of harmony and balance. The efficiency of bodily repair and nourishment of the life essence suddenly reached its peak.

This state of subtle harmony between body and mind and the rhythm of heaven and earth is known in ancient traditions as "the unity of heaven and man".

The black liquid in the wooden barrel gradually faded in color.

In less than an hour, it had turned into light gray.

The medicine has been completely absorbed.