After a wave of darkness, which seemed to last an eternity and an instant all at once, his vision cleared.
Before him was a boundless, dark void. The surroundings were shrouded in such thick darkness that visibility was extremely low; he couldn't see clearly more than twenty or thirty yards away and had no idea how vast this world was.
Fang Qingyuan came to his senses and found that his body was ethereal and indistinct, thin and faint. It felt so light that a gust of wind could blow him away, causing him to vanish from the world completely.
'Has my Primordial Spirit left my body? Or have I become a Ghost Cultivator?'
Fang Qingyuan already had some suspicions. He turned his Primordial Spirit body and carefully examined his surroundings.
It was dark and deathly still, with no signs of life, no wind, rain, thunder, or lightning, and no sun, moon, or stars. This was a desolate Land Realm.
As far as he could see, he was standing on a patch of black land. This plot was about one mu in size and was utterly barren, without a single weed.
Surrounding the plot of land was that boundless darkness, exuding an unsettling aura.
There was no familiar sun or stars above, yet an unknown light source kept the land from being completely pitch-black.
Looking at the scene before him, Fang Qingyuan was a little speechless. 'This is it? This is my innate advantage, the one I spent so long saving up for?'
There were no Miracle Elixirs to let him ascend in a single step, no Magical Artifacts or Divine Artifacts. At the very least, a Cultivation Technique or a legacy would have been nice. All he got was this barren patch of black land. 'Am I supposed to grow vegetables?'
'Right, land is for planting things.' At this thought, Fang Qingyuan no longer hesitated. He focused his mind and willed himself to leave.
A slight dizziness washed over him. Fang Qingyuan shook his head to clear it and quickly got up.
The room was exactly as it was before, completely unchanged. Fang Qingyuan went out to the courtyard, pulled up a few vegetables by the roots, and returned to his room. He extended his Divine Sense to the mark and, through the "doorway," entered the space once again.
The familiar scene reappeared. Fang Qingyuan was once again in his faint, soul-like form, but this time, he was holding a few vegetables, their roots still caked with dirt.
Tilling the black soil, Fang Qingyuan planted the vegetables. He waited for a moment, but nothing happened.
'That can't be right. Doesn't this black soil have the ability to accelerate plant growth?'
Fang Qingyuan studied it a while longer but was finally forced to admit that this patch of black soil possessed no such heaven-defying function.
It was all for nothing. Fang Qingyuan felt a bit deflated. 'This place is so big, but I can't even grow vegetables. What good is it?'
'Big?'
Suddenly, as Fang Qingyuan looked at the one-mu plot, an idea surfaced in his mind.
Although he was a disciple of the Beast Taming Sect, he was only an outer sect disciple. It wasn't easy to obtain a storage pouch.
The storage pouch Fang Qingyuan currently carried was only one 'fang' in size, and even that had cost him fifty Spirit Stones.
A one-'fang' storage pouch, according to the conversions of his past life, could hold only one cubic meter. Besides one-'fang' pouches, there were also five-'fang' and ten-'fang' versions.
But even the largest storage pouch could only hold fifty 'fang'. For a larger storage space, one would need special Magical Artifacts and magic treasures, as a mere storage pouch wouldn't suffice.
And these specialized storage Magical Artifacts and magic treasures were extremely rare, unobtainable by anyone below the level of a Golden Core or Nascent Soul Great Cultivator.
'My Immortal Mansion Space is a full mu in area. If I converted that into storage pouches, how many would it be?'
'Easily tens of thousands.' At this thought, Fang Qingyuan started to get excited. Although the Immortal Mansion Space couldn't accelerate the growth of Spiritual Medicine and had no other miraculous functions, its sheer size was a remarkable Divine Technique in itself.
Even for just hauling goods, it could carry far more than a Flying Boat. And the price of a Flying Boat started at a minimum of one hundred thousand Spirit Stones, not to mention the costs of daily maintenance and the fees for hiring Cultivators to operate it. Only a regional powerhouse could even dream of owning one.
A Flying Boat was like a destroyer from his past life—a symbol of a sect's foundation. In peacetime, it transported goods and guests, but in times of war, it became a mobile fortress, a great weapon for hiding troops and gathering power.
Tianshan Villa didn't have such an expensive Flying Boat Magical Artifact. According to the Dean, it wasn't that they couldn't afford it, but that it was unnecessary. "We're the Beast Taming Sect. We can just use Spirit Beasts for transportation. What do we need Flying Boats or Flying Shuttles for?"
But for all his talk, when the Dean went to Zongshan to report, he still chose to take a Flying Boat.
Pushing aside his stray thoughts, Fang Qingyuan began to ponder how to use this Immortal Mansion Space. How could he get rich quietly without attracting any attention?
'First and foremost, security and secrecy are paramount. I can't risk the big prize for a small gain. Absolutely no one else can ever know that I possess an Immortal Mansion.'
'An innocent man gets into trouble for carrying a treasure.' That saying was a cautionary tale. If word got out, not even the Beast Taming Sect could protect him. In fact, the Beast Taming Sect might be the first to make a move against him.
It wasn't that Fang Qingyuan was unwilling to trust his own sect; it was just that the stakes and temptation of an Immortal Mansion were simply too immense.
Forget Golden Core Cultivators—even Nascent Soul Cultivators wouldn't have a say. In a matter like this, only the highest-level experts in this realm, the Divinity Transformation Cultivators, could intervene and compete for it.
Qi Cultivation Cultivators fought to the death over a single Magical Artifact. Foundation Establishment Cultivators fought over territory. Golden Core Cultivators fought for their family's growth. Nascent Soul Cultivators fought for their legacies. And Divinity Transformation Cultivators? They would fight for an Immortal Mansion.
This wasn't Fang Qingyuan being paranoid; it was his common sense warning him. Never underestimate the malice of others, especially in this dog-eat-dog Cultivation World.
Therefore, it was better to develop slowly than to expose even a hint of his secret. This was the first principle Fang Qingyuan set for himself.
Following this guiding principle, Fang Qingyuan thought that using the Immortal Mansion to transport goods was a good start. He could buy low and sell high, moving specialties from Celestial Gate Mountain to Black River Square to earn a bit of profit. As long as he was careful when selling the goods and didn't get too greedy, there would be no risk of exposure.
Previously, Fang Qingyuan hadn't transported goods because he was carrying passengers. The space on the Flying Manta Ray's back was limited; if he took people, how could he also carry cargo?
'But things are different now. I'll take passengers *and* transport goods. Two streams of income from one route.' The thought was summed up in one word: satisfying.
After calculating for a moment, the more Fang Qingyuan thought about it, the more promising it seemed. His mood lifted, and he felt like laughing out loud.
'The future is full of possibilities! The future is bright!'
Waves of heartfelt joy washed over him, intoxicatingly.
Suddenly, Fang Qingyuan's expression froze. He quickly sat down cross-legged and began to circulate his Cultivation Technique.
After a long while, Fang Qingyuan opened his eyes, looking completely content. The bottleneck that had held him back for so long had unexpectedly loosened a moment ago. Seizing the opportunity, he broke through the barrier in one go.
'Qi Refining Fourth Level. I'm finally no longer a Cultivator at the very bottom of the Cultivation Realm.'
From the First-Layer to the Third-Layer of Qi Cultivation, one could break through step-by-step just by spending enough time. But to advance from the Third-Layer to the Fourth Layer of Qi Cultivation, one had to break through a bottleneck first.
This barrier was the first major trial on the path of cultivation. Countless Cultivators got stuck at the Third Layer, unable to advance another inch for their entire lives, eventually dying in frustration.
Fang Qingyuan's breakthrough meant that reaching the Sixth-Layer Qi Cultivation from the Qi Refining Fourth Level was now only a matter of time.
And even if he never broke through beyond the Sixth Layer of Qi Cultivation, he could still return to a small cultivation family and become a Guest Minister.
Just then, the sound of roosters crowing at dawn came from outside. Unbeknownst to him, the night was almost over.