As the sun rose, purple qi came from the east.
Su Yu sat cross-legged by the window, holding a low-grade spirit stone in his hand, absorbing spiritual energy for cultivation. The mystical power of the Phoenix Tree Azure Wood Art within him was as steady as the water in an ancient well, flowing through his body without any ripples.
At a certain moment, a green light flashed on Su Yu's body, and the dormant mystical power in his dantian finally stirred.
In an instant, the spiritual energy from all directions converged, forming a small wave.
Su Yu's aura quietly rose to the third level of the Qi Refining Realm.
Half an hour later.
The low-grade spirit stone in Su Yu's hand crumbled into dust, falling through the gaps between his fingers. The spiritual energy that had gathered around him during his breakthrough also returned to calm.
He slowly opened his eyes and murmured, "I've broken through."
Focusing his mind, lines of text appeared before his eyes.
[Name: Su Yu.]
[Cultivation: Third Level of Qi Refining Realm.]
[Lifespan: 18/100.]
[Techniques: Phoenix Tree Azure Wood Art (Third Level, Proficiency 0.01%), Alligator Demon One Hundred and Eight Style Body Refinement Art (Fourth Level, Proficiency 69.1%).]
[Mystical Arts: Wood Vine Art (Mastered), Nurturing Spirit Art (Mastered), Spirit Spear Art (Mastered), Spirit Gathering Art (Proficiency 36.8%).]
It had been nearly two and a half years since he returned from the Cloud Sword Sect, and his cultivation had now broken through to the third level of the Qi Refining Realm.
His talent couldn't compare to Su Zhi or Su Qingyi.
However, Su Yu wasn't in a hurry. Although his current progress in cultivation was slower than Su Zhi and the others, the path of immortality was long. In the later stages, his advantage of having a proficiency panel without bottlenecks would surpass everyone else.
Breaking through to the third level of the Qi Refining Realm, Su Yu felt pleased.
Looking at the proficiency panel, Su Yu's gaze fell on the Body Refinement Art as he pondered, "Over the past year, my progress in the Body Refinement Art has slowed down quite a bit."
After much thought, Su Yu opened his Qiankun Bag and looked at the more than 130 low-grade spirit stones he had accumulated, making a decision.
"I'll find an opportunity to visit Yunshan Market."
Every month, the herb garden organized a merchant caravan to Yunshan Market, which was of high standard, with strong clan members leading and guarding it.
If he went with the caravan, it would be much safer.
Over the past year.
The spiritual energy in the herb garden had become nearly 10% denser, and it was almost certain that a first-grade spiritual vein had appeared beneath the garden.
Now, the clan was waiting to find a geomancer to locate the dragon vein and set up a formation, which would turn it into a cultivation paradise.
Even if it was just the lowest-grade first-grade spiritual vein paradise, it would be a treasure land for the Su family for generations.
Unfortunately, geomancers were hard to find, and the clan was still gathering information.
'If it becomes a paradise, my cultivation speed should improve somewhat,' Su Yu looked forward to it.
Even if it was just a half-percent improvement, the time saved in the long run would be significant.
The next morning.
Su Yu woke up from his cultivation, holding a low-grade spirit stone, and looked at the proficiency panel. Now, his daily cultivation of the Phoenix Tree Azure Wood Art was faster, taking only a little over two hours to complete.
"Proficiency has increased by 0.12%," Su Yu thought. "Even if I cultivate with low-grade spirit stones every day, it will take nearly three years to break through from the third level to the fourth level of the Qi Refining Realm."
"Well, to be precise, a little over two years, around two years and two or three months."
As the end of the month approached, Su Yu set up ten beast-attracting powder traps in the herb garden that night, and luck was on his side.
Six Earth Rock Rats were caught, including two mid-tier first-level demon beasts.
The next day.
Su Yu carried these demon beasts to the medicine building, where the Third Elder Su Chang and several other senior family members were calculating accounts, preparing for the end-of-month Spirit Herb shipment.
Seeing Su Yu enter, Su Chang looked up and smiled, "Oh, our demon beast nemesis from the medicine garden is here again?"
The other seniors laughed and nodded in greeting. Over the past year, Su Yu had occasionally hunted Earth Rock Rats, keeping their population in the medicine garden at a tolerable level.
Su Yu's reputation had spread throughout the medicine garden.
His ability to break through to the third level of the Qi Refining Realm within a year was largely due to the resources gained from hunting Earth Rock Rats.
Su Yu respectfully handed over the sack he was carrying, saying, "These are from last night's hunt, six Earth Rock Rats."
Su Chang was surprised, "Six?"
He glanced at Su Yu in astonishment. Previously, Su Yu had never brought more than five Earth Rock Rats at a time.
This was the first time he had exceeded that number.
Su Chang opened the sack, "Ah, there are even two mid-tier first-level Earth Rock Rat demon beasts."
The other seniors were not surprised.
Instead, they looked at Su Yu and smiled, "With him in our medicine garden, the threat of Earth Rock Rats as Spirit Herb pests won't increase."
Seeing Su Chang in a good mood, Su Yu quickly brought up his request to join the merchant caravan heading to the Cloud Mountain Market.
Su Chang thought for a moment and nodded in agreement, "Alright, but once you're in the caravan, you must follow orders and protect the caravan's safety."
Then, Su Chang gave Su Yu Low-Grade Spirit Stones for the six Earth Rock Rats.
As usual, there was no essence blood from the two mid-tier first-level demon beasts.
Including the value of the materials, it totaled seventy-eight Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
"Come here early the day after tomorrow," Su Chang instructed.
Transporting Spirit Herbs wasn't done using primitive methods like horse-drawn carriages. After all, Su Yu had been rewarded with a Qiankun Bag for killing a junior from the Lin Family. Couldn't they use Qiankun Bags or even Qiankun Rings for transporting Spirit Herbs?
Early the next morning, when Su Yu arrived at the medicine building, ten cultivators were already waiting.
The leader was a senior family member at the seventh level of the Qi Refining Realm.
He was of Su Yu's grandfather's generation, named Su Jingbang.
He had been responsible for the transport route from the medicine garden to the Cloud Mountain Market for over a decade.
"Here? Let's go then."
Seeing Su Yu arrive, Su Jingbang smiled and nodded, while the other nine looked at Su Yu with curiosity.
They had all heard of Su Yu, the 'Earth Rock Rat Nemesis' from the medicine garden.
Including Su Yu, there were eleven cultivators in total.
They didn't directly fly to the Cloud Mountain Market using their magical tools. Not only did they lack sufficient Mystical Power, but even if they had enough, they wouldn't dare to be so conspicuous.
If their Mystical Power was depleted midway and they encountered bandits, it would be disastrous. So, they rode Spirit Horses to the Cloud Mountain Market.
The journey was smooth, and even the rival Lin Family didn't ambush them.
Three days later, they successfully arrived at the Cloud Mountain Market outside the Cloud Sword Sect's mountain gate.
Upon entering the market, each person had to pay one Low-Grade Spirit Stone.
Unless you stayed in the market, you could only remain inside until nightfall and had to leave, not lingering on the streets.
After paying the entry fee for the group to enter the market, Su Jingbang said, "Let's head to the Alchemy Pavilion first. We'll stay in the market for the night and leave tomorrow afternoon to return. You'll have free time in between."
The market was vast, built within a mountain range, and the entire area was enveloped by multiple layers of protective formations. There were also many spirit fields in all directions.
It was rumored that beneath this market lay a branch of the Cloud Sword Sect's spirit vein.
Even though it was just a branch, it was still a second-grade spirit vein.
This was far superior to the first-grade spirit vein discovered beneath the Su family's medicinal garden.
Upon entering the market, Su Yu could immediately sense the difference in the concentration of spiritual energy. Staying here for just one day would allow his cultivation progress to be more than 10% faster than in the medicinal garden.