My Portable Spirit Farm: Rise of the Humble Servant

Early the next morning.

Chen Ping awoke.

He stretched, his entire body relaxing.

Since the pill refinement had already succeeded, it was time to proceed to the next step.

The Spirit Nourishing Pill was even more helpful for a Cultivator’s training than the Marrow Cleansing Pill, so Chen Ping was filled with confidence about breaking through to the 1st Level of Qi Condensation.

He took a cold bath.

He changed into clean clothes and lit an incense stick.

He took out one Spirit Nourishing Pill and placed it in his mouth.

The pill melted upon entering his mouth, a gentle yet vast medicinal potency—like a thawing stream in early spring—instantly spreading within. The medicinal liquid slid down his throat.

Wherever the medicinal power passed, his parched Meridians, like a long drought meeting sweet rain, greedily absorbed this pure medicinal energy.

A warm, comfortable feeling rose from his Dantian, rapidly spreading to all the Meridians throughout his body.

The Qi visibly grew stronger and more abundant.

Chen Ping sat with his five centers facing the sky, fully operating the Evergreen Art.

The circulation of the Circulation Cycle not only guided the medicinal Qi to be absorbed by his body but also absorbed the Qi gathering from the outside world.

The pure medicinal power provided by the Spirit Nourishing Pill surged and flowed within his Meridians, scouring and nourishing them over and over again.

Cultivation had never been this smooth.

The speed of Qi growth was at least ten times faster than simply absorbing Heaven and Earth Qi!

With each Circulation Cycle movement, he could clearly feel the vortex of Qi in his Dantian becoming more solid, its volume imperceptibly growing a tiny bit.

The sun rose and the moon set. Time flowed by.

The Spirit Nourishing Pills in the jade bottle decreased One After Another.

Each time he took a pill, Chen Ping would meticulously use it—operating the technique’s Circulation Cycle until he completely dissolved the medicinal power, allowing his body to fully absorb it, feeling the subtle changes in the Qi within his body caused by the increase in medicinal power.

Only then would he take the next pill.

At some unknown point…

Even though Chen Ping had done his utmost to eliminate Pill Toxin, he still began to feel an extremely faint sense of sluggishness.

This sluggishness was truly very slight, as if somewhere deep within his Meridians, a hair-thin blockage had appeared. When Qi passed through, it would stutter slightly.

It was just this stutter, but once it appeared within his body, it felt exceptionally clear.

As he took more pills, the accumulation of Pill Toxin truly began to settle deep within his Meridians.

Pill Toxin…

Chen Ping sighed softly.

It seemed he didn’t have a good solution for dealing with Pill Toxin. Could it be that he could only wait for the circulation of Qi to flush it out?

Chen Ping’s head hurt from thinking about it.

So he simply stopped thinking about it.

Two months passed.

The medicinal power of nine Spirit Nourishing Pills was completely absorbed and refined by him, transformed into his own pure Qi.

When he solemnly took out and placed the final Spirit Nourishing Pill into his mouth, that swirling mass of Qi within his Dantian’s Sea of Qi had grown to an unprecedented size.

It was no longer that faint, thin wisp from when he first performed Drawing Qi into the Body, only as thick as a strand of hair.

Now it had solidified considerably; the Qi mass in his Dantian was about the size of a toothpick.

It slowly rotated within his Dantian, emitting a steady spiritual light, filled with a sense of firm power.

Chen Ping’s eyes flickered.

The gate to the 1st Level of Qi Condensation was right before him.

The Qi Condensation primer chapter of the Evergreen Art clearly recorded:

[Drawing Qi into the Body, connecting through the Sea of Qi, breaking open the three Spirit Nodes ‘Yongquan’, ‘Guanyuan’, and ‘Mingmen’, then the Sea of Qi is initially formed, and the 1st Level of Qi Condensation can be achieved]

The first two nodes, “Yongquan” and “Guanyuan”, had been easily broken through by him as naturally as water flowing downhill when he condensed his Qi earlier.

Only this third “Mingmen” node remained, entrenched deep within his spine, stubbornly refusing to break.

He had attempted to break through the Mingmen node not just once or twice.

Gritting his teeth, he once again mobilized the Qi mass in his Dantian, sending it upstream along the Du Meridian.

As his Qi continued to strengthen, Chen Ping felt deeper confidence about breaking through the “Mingmen” node.

Qi surged violently, carrying with it the immense medicinal power of the Spirit Nourishing Pills, advancing irresistibly until it reached just before the “Mingmen” node.

Boom!

The flow of Qi slammed fiercely against that invisible barrier!

A powerful recoil force transmitted back, shaking Chen Ping’s entire body. His blood and Qi churned; a buzzing filled his ears.

That Bottleneck shook violently but remained firm and stable nonetheless.

Chen Ping grunted but did not retreat. Instead, he pressed forward harder.

A thought flashed through his mind; he immediately changed tactics. No more brute force.

To think that with his current amount of Qi, he still couldn’t forcefully break through this Bottleneck.

In that case… only this method remained!

Chen Ping followed the “Scouring Method” recorded in the Evergreen Art.

He abruptly pulled back that surging torrent of Qi, transforming it into a single fine thread of spiritual energy.

This thread was like both the sharpest drill bit and possessed water’s pliability. Aiming at what seemed like the weakest point on that barrier before him—the Mingmen Node—it began a relentless, high-speed rotating assault!

Though this method brought intense pain, it was indeed one of Cultivation’s best ways for breaking through Bottlenecks.

Ssssss—!

Subtle yet dense sounds of friction and impact seemed to echo inside him.

Each rotating strike brought agony akin to having one’s Meridians torn apart; sweat instantly soaked him from head to toe.

Under this continuous assault by pure spiritual energy, the Bottleneck trembled violently!

Tiny cracks appeared almost imperceptibly.

“Almost there!”

Chen Ping roared inwardly.

He operated his technique with all his might, squeezing out every last shred of spiritual power from within his Dantian’s Sea of Qi.

He even drew upon some residual medicinal power left behind by those nine Spirit Nourishing Pills, which had settled deep within his flesh and blood.

Spiritual energy continuously replenished that rotating thread.

Its glow grew brighter, its rotation faster, and its impact sound sharper.

The cracks on the Bottleneck spread like spiderwebs, rapidly expanding.

“For me—BREAK!”

Chen Ping let out a silent roar deep within, pouring all his willpower and spiritual energy into that single point!

Pop!

A soft sound, like a bubble bursting or spring ice cracking.

That sturdy Mingmen Bottleneck shattered accordingly.

The obstruction vanished instantly.

The rotating thread—now like floodwaters breaching a dyke—carried momentum past the barrier, completely connecting the entire Du Meridian.

The Dantian Sea shook violently, as if new territory had opened up; the space suddenly expanded.

The originally toothpick-thick mass rapidly spun, collapsed inward, and became denser and purer. Though its volume shrank somewhat, the sense of purity contained within brought immense satisfaction to his heart.

A far stronger aura than before rose from the depths of his body, instantly filling the entire room.

Spiritual energy coursed unimpeded along the newly opened Meridian path, smooth and seamless.

Even the hidden Pill Toxin within was quickly expelled outside his body.

An unprecedented sense of fullness and strength made Chen Ping unable to resist throwing his head back and roaring skyward!

He slowly opened his eyes; his deep pupils shone with a brighter light than ever before.

The small room was still dim; the stone walls were cold.

He rose and walked to the sole small window.

Outside the window, the moonlight was cool and clear, cast upon the silent courtyard.

Counting the days since he stood before the Spirit Measuring Stele and learned of his Five Elements Waste Spirit Root—exactly half a year, no more, no less.

Half a year. 1st Level of Qi Condensation.

He, Chen Ping, no longer needed to worry about being expelled from the Sect.

He, Chen Ping, finally stood firm with a foothold within the Sect!