Time flowed like jewels through jade, days flashing by like the sun and moon trading places — in the blink of an eye, seven days had passed.
During that week, Gu An had more or less figured out how [Spirit Source Feedback] worked. In short, when a spirit beast he raised died, it would—out of gratitude for his care—return a wisp of spiritual energy to him.
There might be other rewards tied to it, but for now, none had shown up. The concentration of this feedback energy depended on the creature's cultivation level at the time of death. Who killed it, or how far away it died—his golden finger didn't care.
To test this, he even slaughtered the two Goldscale Carp he'd been raising in his small courtyard pond. Since they were only half-spirit beasts, they returned two small wisps of energy—barely equivalent to two or three days' worth of cultivation.
Four other spirit wisps came in later, and the prompt indicated they were from the Rainbow-Feather Chicken that had "passed away peacefully."Gu An guessed that Steward Wang must've taken it to Qingyun Tower to make Ginseng Stewed Spirit Chicken.
But hey—he still got feedback from it!Now that was a chicken that truly knew gratitude!
The spiritual energy he received completely stabilized his fourth layer of Qi Refining and even advanced it a bit. His spiritual power flowed steadily through his meridians—no trace of instability.
With his foundation solidified, Gu An decided it was time to learn some spells—something for self-defense.
At the entrance to the Qingyuan Sect Scripture Pavilion, Gu An counted the spirit stones in his pouch.
He had just finished the final handover for the Spirit Chicken Farm task and received two more stones as payment. Combined with the twelve he'd saved through miserly living, he now had fourteen spirit stones in total.
Each Qi Refining spell cost three stones to copy.After learning three, he'd be nearly broke.
The thought alone made his heart ache.
In his previous life, he'd been constantly short on money, always working odd jobs to survive. Now, even in the cultivation world, he was still counting his coins one by one. Every stone in his bag was one he could recognize by touch.
His blood, sweat, and tears, quite literally.
"Hey kid, what're you standing there for? If you're not going in, don't block the door!"
Gu An looked up to see Elder Gu Yan sitting cross-legged just inside the gate, wrapped in a faint aura of spiritual pressure. He wore a blue cloud-patterned robe and appeared to be cultivating, but his eyes had cracked open in mild irritation.
"Uncle Gu, this disciple is here to select some spells," Gu An said respectfully.
That elder was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, known for his foul temper—rumor was that the sect ancestor stationed him here to "temper his disposition." Definitely not someone to annoy.
Without even looking up, Gu Yan said lazily, "Qi Refining spells are three spirit stones each. Copy them here. Any damage to the jade slips, you pay double. Clear?"
"Understood, Uncle." Gu An bowed again and walked inside.
The Scripture Pavilion had seven floors:
1st floor – miscellaneous records and strange tales
2nd & 3rd floors – Qi Refining spells and techniques
4th & 5th – Foundation Establishment manuals
6th & 7th – Golden Core level arts
Gu An headed straight for the second floor.
There were rows of bookshelves lined up neatly—but instead of books, each shelf held glowing jade slips radiating soft spiritual light.
These weren't ordinary manuals; they contained true spell essence, preserved far better than any scroll could manage.
Gu An strolled to the Water Attribute section. A few senior disciples were already browsing there. He nodded politely and began examining the spells one by one.
Water Spear Technique – long casting time but great power. At higher mastery, one could summon up to three spears at once.
Water Arrow Technique – fast and subtle, good for sneak attacks, though weak in force.
Water Shield – strong frontal defense but only covers one direction; must be used flexibly.
Water Barrier – forms a thin water aura around the body; weaker defense than the Water Shield.
After some thought, Gu An decided:
"Water Spear and Water Shield—offense and defense balanced.Then add Vine Bind from the Wood section to hold enemies still while I charge the spear. That should patch up the slow cast time."
He picked the three jade slips and went back down to Gu Yan.
"Finished picking?" the elder asked, taking the slips. He glanced over them briefly. "Hmm. Water Spear with Vine Bind—smart combo. Water Shield's decent too. You'll figure it out."
Gu Yan held out three blank jade slips, placed them together, and his fingers flashed with spiritual light. Blue luminescence rippled through the air as the spells were copied flawlessly onto the blanks.
Three transfers later, he tossed them back to Gu An."Nine spirit stones. Take them. Your copies are sent back to the shelf automatically."
These weren't rare spells, so the rules were loose—no need to return or destroy them afterward, as long as you didn't spread them around.
Gu An handed over the stones, bowed again, and left.
Back at his courtyard, Gu An sat under the apricot tree and pulled out the first jade slip.
Water Spear Technique: Draw upon internal spirit power, circulate it along a precise route to resonate with ambient water energy, condensing it into a three-foot spear.
Sharp and penetrating; especially effective against energy-based shields.
Gu An focused his breath and tried channeling his spiritual power accordingly.A soft rushing sound echoed faintly in the air, and the humidity rose slightly—
—failure.
He wasn't surprised. If he'd succeeded on the first try, that would've been alarming.So he tried again. And again.
As dusk fell, blue light flickered through the courtyard—sometimes sharp, sometimes faint.
"Gu An! Open up! Guess what I brought!"
It was Zhang Song's voice outside. A few days ago, Gu An had invited him over to share the Goldscale Carp after they died.
When he opened the door, Zhang Song was grinning ear to ear—one hand holding a bamboo jug of wine, the other carrying a trussed-up Rainbow-Feather Chicken.
"This here's dragon fruit wine from my grandpa's stash! The chicken's from Steward Liu—said we've been working hard, so he gave it as a treat.Man's got taste, I'll give him that."
Gu An's expression twitched. Zhang Song was constantly getting chewed out by that steward, yet now he was singing his praises.
While Zhang Song went to kill the chicken, Gu An cleaned the Goldscale Carp—descaled, gutted, rinsed clean—and cast a quick Cleansing Spell to make it spotless.
He placed them into a stone pot, conjured a splash of water, and added salt, ginger, and purple perilla before sealing it with a lid and letting it simmer over a clay stove.
Then—
[One of your Rainbow-Feather Chickens has died peacefully, returning a wisp of spiritual energy!]
The notification popped up, and Gu An nearly dropped the ladle.
He looked toward the kitchen where Zhang Song was plucking feathers.
Wait… that was MY chicken?
He couldn't help but grin."Nice. The sect gives me dinner and XP at the same time."
The added spiritual energy swirled inside his dantian—tiny, but tangible.Every little bit pushed him closer to longevity and immortality.
Zhang Song came back with the cleaned chicken, and Gu An split open a bamboo tube to stuff it with herbs. No bamboo charcoal around, so they used dry branches instead.
Zhang Song snapped his fingers, sparking a flame to life. The smell of roasting meat soon filled the courtyard as the two chatted idly beside the fire.
The sun dipped below the mountains. Crickets sang.The air was peaceful and warm—just the crackle of firewood and quiet laughter echoing under the apricot tree.