Chapter 24: Qingyu’s Breakthrough

Chapter 24: Chapter 24: Qingyu’s Breakthrough

Throughout the night, Qingyu absorbed the qi essence from every stalk of Spirit Nourishing Grass. The progress was clearly visible to Ye Xuan.

Ye Xuan knew the uses of Spirit Nourishing Grass. Besides providing spiritual qi for spiritual beasts, it was also effective for refining Tier 1 pills.

In fact, it was one of the basic ingredients used by disciples in the Pill Refining Hall when they first learned pill refinement.

The plant was easy to cultivate, unaffected by weather changes, and could be harvested reliably.

The Sky Cloud Sect had a vast garden filled with various spiritual herbs, including Spirit Nourishing Grass.

Even so, Ye Xuan only knew how the herb worked when consumed in certain quantities.

He certainly had no idea what effects it would produce if consumed in large amounts all at once.

The spiritual qi from each stalk of Spirit Nourishing Grass flowed into Qingyu’s body through the red rune on her forehead.

Gradually, the qi within each stalk dimmed until the herb faded into floating qi particles, indicating that all the qi essence inside had been absorbed.

What exactly is she doing with all those items?

A powerful burst of qi erupted, though its effects were confined to the room. Ye Xuan watched with his arms crossed over his chest, keeping his eyes on Qingyu.

His attention shifted as he watched the stalks of Spirit Nourishing Grass fade one by one, disappearing after their qi essence had been exhausted.

Not long afterward, Qingyu stopped absorbing qi from the herbs. The accumulated qi essence within her began to emit steady waves of qi.

The absorption finally ended, leaving the remaining herbs floating in the air.

Of the original one hundred stalks, only twenty-five remained. Ye Xuan extended his hand and placed them all back into the black bag.

After absorbing so much qi essence from Spirit Nourishing Grass, Qingyu seems to have gained the perfect momentum to break through to the next stage.

At the moment, Ye Xuan only knew that Qingyu was a White Snake from the Thunder Crimson Python Clan and that she had reached the Spirit Beast stage.

Even so, he didn’t know her exact stage within the Spirit Beast Realm.

If his guess was correct, tonight was the moment Qingyu would advance to the next stage of the Spirit Beast Realm.

That would mean an increase in her strength and cultivation, and perhaps it would also affect the seal suppressing her power.

Before long, the bursts of qi gradually subsided until Ye Xuan could no longer feel them. Everything finally returned to silence. His eyes remained fixed on Qingyu, his arms still crossed as he watched her.

Qingyu slowly opened her eyes and turned to look at Ye Xuan’s face. She began slithering across the bed, coiling around his hand before making her way back to his neck as usual.

Ye Xuan could sense the qi aura radiating from Qingyu.

"You’ve successfully advanced to the next stage, but it seems you’re still within the Spirit Beast Realm."

"You’re now at the Mid Spirit Beast Realm."

[Yes. I feel comfortable and relieved after breaking through, as though a burden has been lifted from my body.]

She also explained that consuming spiritual herbs containing qi essence was one of the fastest ways for a spiritual beast to break through.

However, Ye Xuan also told Qingyu that the higher a spiritual beast’s stage and realm became, the more qi essence it would need.

For example, when Qingyu attempted to break through to the Mid Spirit Beast Realm, she needed around seventy to eighty stalks of Spirit Nourishing Grass to succeed.

However, when she attempted to advance to the Late Spirit Beast Realm, her spiritual qi essence requirements would be different.

The Late stage was on another level compared to the Mid stage, and the amount required was usually twice as much.

That was if she continued using Spirit Nourishing Grass. If Qingyu consumed other items of higher quality, she would need fewer of them.

"We should get some rest. We need to continue our journey early tomorrow morning," Ye Xuan said.

Qingyu agreed and jumped from Ye Xuan’s neck onto the wooden bedside table. She curled up and went to sleep. Unlike her, the young man chose to sleep on the bed right beside the table.

Just as he was about to close his eyes, his attention was drawn to the system panel that appeared once again.

[Congratulations! You have given an item to your partner.]

[Item given: 75x Spirit Nourishing Grass]

[Item returned: 7500x Spirit Nourishing Grass]

[Multiplication Level: 1]

[Affection: 135/1000] [+20]

[Daily use of Infinite Return exhausted: 2/3]

[Warning! The seal has been damaged.]

[Seal remaining: 83%]

Ye Xuan was so shocked that he immediately sat up in bed. He stared at the system panel, which informed him that he had received a hundredfold return.

He had originally given Qingyu seventy-five stalks of Spirit Nourishing Grass, but now he had gained a whopping 7,500 stalks in return.

That was right! Ye Xuan hadn’t miscalculated. He had obtained approximately 7,500 stalks of Spirit Nourishing Grass.

Adding them to his previous supply, he now had a total of 8,425 stalks.

In an instant, seventy-five black bags appeared in front of Ye Xuan, scattered across the room until there was barely any space left.

He was startled and nearly gasped aloud, hurriedly storing every bag in his bag of holding.

Fortunately, the commotion wasn’t enough to wake Qingyu from her sleep, as Ye Xuan quickly put everything away.

I’ve obtained around eight thousand stalks of Spirit Nourishing Grass. What am I supposed to do with all these items now?

Ye Xuan turned his head while remaining on the bed, his eyes carefully studying Qingyu.

If he gave her all those herbs, they should be more than enough to help her advance through several stages and perhaps even reach a higher realm.

But would it be worth it? After all, he couldn’t force her to accept them.

If Qingyu wanted them, he would give them to her. If she didn’t and preferred to consume other items, he would have no choice but to store the herbs or sell them.

I’d better keep them for now. Time will tell me what I should do with these items.

***

The next morning.

Ye Xuan left the inn with Qingyu coiled around his neck. He still hadn’t told her about the items he had obtained the previous night.

He only glanced at her briefly. He would tell Qingyu about them if she expressed a desire for more herbs. For now, he preferred to keep them for later.

However, the most important thing was the progress in weakening the seal.

Indeed, thanks to Qingyu’s breakthrough the previous night, the seal’s power had weakened, even if the percentage had not decreased significantly.

Still, that alone was good news for her. Ye Xuan had no idea how much further the seal would weaken if Qingyu managed to advance to a considerably higher realm.

[Where are we going?]

"Our business in this city is finished. I plan to head straight to Shunxi City."

[All right. But don’t forget about the Minor Thundergrass. I need it to stabilize my lightning element.]

"Your lightning element? What if you used Heavenly Lightning Essence instead?"

[Huh? Isn’t that yours? I can’t ask you for it, although I have to admit that essence would help me a lot.]

Ye Xuan smiled briefly. "I don’t mind. Besides, I’ve also been thinking about using that lightning essence again."

"We’ll use it together later."

[All right, Ye Xuan.]