The Legend of Fangren

After leaving the courtyard, Fang Shi went down to the outer sect to buy some utensils, and then entered the back mountain path.

Put away the clothes you bought and change back into your woodcutter's clothes, so that it will be easier to move around in the forest.

Night fell once again, plunging the forest into darkness.

While it doesn't rain naturally above the clouds on Azure Dragon Peak, the sect's grand formation causes the clouds to drift up the mountain at night, eventually turning into rain.

Tonight happens to be a rainy night, and it's the first time Fang Shi has encountered heavy rain at this altitude in the past ten days.

The familiar mountain forest instantly turned into a black curtain.

He returned to the cave in time, used the flint he had bought to start a fire, and dried his clothes.

But then he turned his head and remembered the fire-heart grass outside. By the light of the fire, he saw that the raindrops had indeed beaten the fire-heart grass so badly that it was about to fall, and several of the more mature fruits had fallen to the ground.

"Oh no! My fruit!"

They rushed out and, braving the rain, picked up the fallen fruit, then gathered the rest of the fruit that hadn't yet fallen and carried them back to the cave to place by the fire.

The body, which had finally managed to dry, was soaked again. Several ripe fire heart fruits had been crushed by the rain, and the others were softened by the water, no longer as plump and firm as before.

Forced into a corner, he had no choice but to immediately turn the fruit into jam.

Take out the earthenware pot from the bag, use a flame to roast it to remove the moisture, and then smoke and roast the fruit until it is hard and crisp, evaporating any excess moisture.

This earthenware pot belongs to the earth element among utensils and has the function of holding and storing, making it perfect for storing jam.

A single Fireheart Grass plant produces only a few fruits. After peeling the fruits, all of them are thrown into the container, enough to fill just one square jar. Then, the jar is sealed and placed in a secluded spot to react naturally.

In addition, he left behind a few ripe fruits that had been damaged by the rain—these fruits had broken skins and could have contaminated the clean fruits if mixed in.

After rinsing himself with water, Fang Shi ate dinner with some dried fruit stored in the cave, then lay down on his side by the fire, preparing to go to sleep.

Looking back on the busy day, it seemed no easier than working in the outer sect. Despite not slacking off in cultivation, his progress seemed to have sunk to the bottom.

"Mysterious Qi... what exactly is it?"

Gazing at the campfire, Fang Shi, who was still awake, began to ponder the questions he had been thinking about for the past few nights.

To say that there was no extraordinary energy in a past life? Not entirely. Aren't those forces that science constantly explains extraordinary powers? It's just that science's application has integrated them into daily life.

As an electrician, he had thought a lot about energy, though not as profoundly as those scientists, but he had thought about it a lot.

He wondered if his inability to sense the profound energy was because he had never truly grasped or accepted it.

He was a transmigrator, which gave him a significant advantage in terms of thinking. So, is it possible that this very mindset he brought from his previous life caused his soul... or what this world calls a mixed spirit, to become somewhat closed off?

This may seem like an absurd idea that subjective perception influences objective facts, but who can say for sure? Human consciousness and thinking are all based on objective matter, and they are mutually causal, so how could they really be completely unrelated?

With the idea of ​​trying anything as a last resort, Fang Shi began to try to change the old energy system that was deeply rooted in his mind, and instead use a familiar energy form to build a cognitive framework for Xuan Qi.

But as the saying goes, you get sleepy when you use your brain, and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.

Again, it was all in the dark...

The primordial chaos encompasses Yin and Yang, Yin and Yang are divided into the Five Elements, the Five Elements generate and restrain each other, and all things possess a spirit.

……

As dawn broke, the light slanted into the cave, piercing Fang Shi's eyes and waking him up with bloodshot eyes.

"It's morning... let's do some morning exercises first."

Now he has incorporated the Five Elements Technique into his daily routine, and practicing it feels incredibly natural.

However, he was somewhat different this morning.

My body feels different than before; I don't need to do morning exercises to feel comfortable anymore. The imbalance caused by the spiritual fruit has completely dissipated, and the morning exercises seem superfluous now.

He was delighted by this change, thinking that he had finally succeeded in his cultivation, but Xuan Qi... sigh, he still couldn't get around this thing.

According to the manual, only by perceiving one's own profound energy can one introspect, cultivate the inner circulation, and observe the yin aspect.

Otherwise, one cannot break through the Self-Cultivation and Nourishing Breath realms, let alone the Qi Gathering realm.

"Oh well, it's not like I've been disappointed before."

Disappointment couldn't defeat Fang Shi, so he had to go out and do his work for the day, which was also a form of spiritual practice.

Yesterday, I visited Luohe and promised to help him find spiritual objects. He remembered the metal and water elemental objects, but they were far from the cave, so he had to make some preparations.

He bought a wood-chopping axe yesterday for self-defense, along with food and drink.

Metal generates water, so if you find a metal spirit, a water spirit is not far away, and if you want a metal spirit, you should naturally look for an earth spirit.

The Canglong Peak is towering and vast, with mountain peaks rising below the clouds on its waist, forming many valleys in the air.

Where there are high peaks, there are also deep valleys. Water and soil sink into the abyss and mix into mud, forming the earth element, which can sustain life and nurture spiritual creatures.

However, the valley was steep and difficult for ordinary people to descend. Fang Shi used his magical powers to carve out a series of hollows in the cliff face, which were then connected to form a path for him to slowly climb down.

He planted spirit creatures, not just Fireheart Grass. Some spirit creatures have very high environmental requirements and are difficult to replicate, so he had to plant them in the original location.

This place is at the bottom of a deep valley, where silt has accumulated, making it extremely dangerous. However, many round lotus leaves, pale yellow in color, are distributed in this filth, and there are also tiny lotus buds that have not yet bloomed.

According to the records of the cultivation method, this is a rare metal spiritual object: the Golden and Silver Lotus. It is called Golden and Silver Lotus only because its leaves are yellow and its flowers are white.

Both the lotus flower and the lotus seed of the Golden and Silver Lotus are metallic spiritual objects. The lotus flower can be used to make medicine pills, while the lotus seed can be consumed directly.

What's even more wonderful is that the rhizome of the golden lotus belongs to the water element, so it has everything.

Unfortunately, the number of golden lotuses in this deep valley is limited, and since they are formed from concentrated gold and not in a living state, they grow extremely slowly, and lotus seeds and roots can usually be obtained only once a year.

So Fang Shi then dissolved some mud mixed with withered lotus plants, obtained lotus seeds, and scattered them there.

It has only been a few days, so naturally no lotus seeds or lotus roots have grown yet. However, the muddy pool is long and narrow, and he has never been to the deepest part of it. He came here today to extract some lotus seeds and lotus roots to take back to Luohe.

He ventured deeper into the mud, where the silt was knee-deep. With each step, he used a straight wooden stick to probe the depth. He carried a simple wooden cage woven from branches around his waist to hold his harvest.

However, for some reason, I was unlucky today and failed to find anything even after trying to dissolve several clumps of mud.

The thought that our little He Bao would get an upset stomach from eating the stale spiritual food from Tiandi Pavilion filled Fang Shi with the anxiety of an old father.

Bang!

A powerful punch landed on the surface of the mud, and the cube-shaped shadow shrank—something was there!

However, this thing was not lotus seeds or lotus roots, but a strange frog with a brownish-grayish-yellow body!

Huh? Could it be a mystical beast!

Having been in this mountain forest for several days, he had not encountered any mystical beasts. Perhaps his spiritual energy was too dormant, so he could not find any mystical beasts, and the mystical beasts could not find him either.

Now, by chance, the giant frog, no bigger than a palm, leaped towards his face, startling Fang Shi so much that he drew his woodcutter's axe and chopped it down.

However, the strange frog was agile and dodged the axe blow. Fang Shi reacted quickly, loosening his grip on the axe handle and wielding the axe like a knife, slashing from a low angle and sending the strange frog flying against the stone wall, splattering blood.

呱…

The strange frog was actually extremely weak and died instantly.

Fang Shi thought it was over, but unexpectedly a cube-shaped phantom enveloped the strange frog's corpse. When he withdrew it, the strange frog's corpse was still there, but two glowing floating balls fell out of thin air, emitting multicolored light, and were attracted to him and merged into his body.

"???"

He opened his mouth wide, recalling his thoughts before falling asleep last night, and suddenly realized the truth.

So, the experience orb was his method of refining spiritual energy...

You should have said so earlier!