Having pushed his Spirit Breath absorption to its absolute limit for the day, Han Yu felt the familiar wave of weakness wash over his body—the toll of tempering his physique. He immediately began circulating the Blood Refining Technique.

As the technique activated, he sensed his Blood Essence slowly consuming itself to replenish his depleted vitality.

With a single cycle of the Blood Refining Technique, a drop of Blood Essence dissolved directly into his body. The sickly feelings of frailty faded, replaced by a warm, comforting sensation akin to bathing in sunlight.

The overt damage caused by the Spirit Root Refining Art had been repaired. However, Han Yu sensed that he still needed a few days to determine the optimal balance between cultivation and recovery before attempting the art again.

Refining his Spirit Root to improve his aptitude was crucial, but preserving his foundation and future cultivation path was equally vital.

While calculating the cost of the Spirit Root Refining Art, Han Yu suddenly sensed movement. He stood up and walked to the window, peering out.

He saw Wei Kunyi heading toward Steward Wang’s residence. Nothing particularly noteworthy.

Something had happened in the spirit fields earlier that day. Han Yu’s crow, having developed a degree of spiritual intelligence, knew to seek advantage and avoid danger. Unlike usual, it did not come by for a moment of intimacy with its master.

Early the next morning, Han Yu was inspecting the spirit fields.

He saw Outer Disciple Hua escorting a man who had clearly been whipped. They paraded through the entire Spirit Field Department.

Hua shouted as they walked, “From now on, anyone who fails to tend the spirit fields diligently or focus on their cultivation will share this man’s fate!”

Wherever they passed, groups of Laborer Disciples burst into laughter.

Since no Deacons or Inner Disciples were present, Outer Disciple Hua was not as severe or terrifying as Steward Wang. Some disciples even dared to crack jokes.

“Junior Brother Lu, you’ve really made a name for yourself this time!”

“To think that when the sect issued a summons, you were busy pleasuring yourself! Junior Brother Lu truly doesn’t waste a single moment!”

The man being whipped and paraded as a warning was the eccentric Laborer Disciple from the day before—the one surnamed Lu. He was small and skinny, looking as if he hadn’t quite finished growing up.

Facing the crowd’s ridicule, Disciple Lu displayed skin as thick as a city wall. He grinned shamelessly. “Thanks to Steward Wang’s teachings, I have deeply recognized my errors. I used to go four times a day, but from now on, I’ll limit it to twice a day. I wouldn’t dare delay a major sect summons again!”

The Laborer Disciples who had been mocking him were struck dumb.

Outer Disciple Hua’s face turned black. He lashed out with a kick, sending the scoundrel sprawling face-first into the dirt. “You worthless trash! You refuse to strive for better, yet you dare to be so shameless in public?”

He turned to the crowd, shouting a warning. “Anyone who dares to imitate him will be severely punished without leniency!”

The Laborer Disciples nodded in unison. Only after Hua had dragged Lu away did the whispers and snickers resume.

“Junior Brother Lu is truly no ordinary person…”

“Exactly. We couldn’t learn Senior Brother Lu’s… ‘talents’ even if we wanted to. Best to focus on cultivation and try to enter the Outer Sect. That’s the proper path!”

“I wonder how he manages it? How much does he have to eat to replenish that kind of loss?”

Han Yu, being young and uninterested in such crude topics, simply observed quietly before returning to his hut to cultivate.

That day, he circulated the Green Grain Qi Cultivation Method. After confirming that his daily absorption limit had indeed increased by a tiny sliver, Han Yu felt a strong urge to practice the Spirit Root Refining Art again to further boost his aptitude.

However, after running the Blood Refining Technique, he discovered that his Blood Essence was still actively circulating to repair his body. He forced himself to calm down.

The damage inflicted by the Spirit Root Refining Art was significant. Gaining that single sliver of aptitude required two full days of Blood Essence replenishment. Even though he appeared fine on the surface, his body’s continued hunger for Blood Essence proved that deep recovery was still ongoing.

It took another full day before Han Yu felt his body return to a state of perfect fullness, no longer absorbing extra Blood Essence.

The cost of this single session of the Spirit Root Refining Art was high: he had consumed the equivalent of three drops of Blood Essence just to repair himself without leaving hidden injuries.

The effects of the Spirit Root Refining Art were miraculously good, but the price was miraculously high.

Han Yu calculated that he could only practice the art once every five days: three days to recover his body, and two days to practice the Blood Refining Technique to build up his Blood Essence. Only then could he afford to circulate the Spirit Root Refining Art once to increase his aptitude.

This cycle would continue until he completely refined his Fire Spirit Root, transforming his aptitude into Three Spirit Roots. Within the Qi Refining realm, that would be the limit of the Spirit Root Refining Art.

“Caw!”

That night, two crows—one large, one small—cut across the night sky and landed inside Han Yu’s stone hut.

Clutched in the large crow’s claws was a section of Spirit Blood Vine.

Han Yu smiled. “You found another Spirit Blood Vine?”

“Caw! Caw!”

The large crow nodded, its dark golden pupils shining with anticipation. It clearly wanted to consume the spiritual item.

The small crow hopped quietly onto Han Yu’s shoulder and gave a soft cry, obviously hoping for a taste as well.

The large crow immediately spread its wings and glared threateningly at the smaller one. The small crow hopped down, looking aggrieved, not daring to fight for the prime spot.

This time, Han Yu didn’t agree immediately. He pondered for a moment.

His cultivation of the Blood Refining Technique required Blood Essence, and healing the damage from the Spirit Root Refining Art also required Blood Essence. His consumption rate was becoming unsustainable. Using this Spirit Blood Vine to bolster his own Blood Essence seemed like a wise move.

Han Yu utilized his ability to replicate the section of Spirit Blood Vine. Only then did he give one portion to the crows to share.

The two crows, large and small, ate and drank their fill. Looking spirited and energized, they spread their wings and took to the night sky.

Han Yu watched them leave. Through the window, he noticed a flock of birds, resembling black ink dots, appearing over the spirit fields under the moonlight. They cawed as they flew into the distance.

Is the flock led by the large crow getting bigger? Han Yu wondered silently.

Early the next morning, Han Yu was patrolling the spirit fields again.

For some reason, the secrets regarding Zhang Shan, which had been hush-hush for a few days, suddenly spread like wildfire. Even Sun Kang and Liu Lan had learned the details after asking Wei Kunyi.

“So Zhang Shan was bribed by the Spirit Beast Sect!”

“He was secretly raising Spirit-Stealing Rats specifically to steal other people’s Green Grain Spirit Rice!”

Liu Lan was wiping away tears again, but this time she was crying from anger. It turned out that her poor harvest and Zhang Shan’s timely loan of resources were all part of a trap he had set from the very beginning.

To think she had held such goodwill toward him! She had been played for a fool from the start.

“That silver spindle was a Keepsake Token deliberately left behind by someone from the Little Sky Net Sect. It might be a declaration of identity, or perhaps a warning to our Wanchun Valley,” Sun Kang told Han Yu. “I’m afraid Wanchun Valley won’t see peace for a while!”

Han Yu looked confused, so Sun Kang explained further. “Think about it. In recent days, we’ve seen Demonic Cultivators from the Demon Blood Sect, disciples bribed by the Spirit Beast Sect, and now people from the Little Sky Net Sect. Wanchun Valley has never been famous for warfare; our specialty is cultivating spiritual herbs and fruits. These other sects… I fear they have ill intentions.”

“The person from the Little Sky Net Sect leaving their Keepsake Token was likely a warning. They are telling us that we are already being targeted.”

Surprised, Han Yu asked for more details. Between Sun Kang, Liu Lan, and Wei Kunyi, they sketched out the current situation facing Wanchun Valley.

A hundred years ago, the five great sects of the Southern Cultivation Realm—Wanchun Valley, the Spirit Beast Sect, the Little Sky Net Sect, the Spirit Sword Sect, and the Mystic One Sect—united to exterminate the Demon Blood Sect, which had been slaughtering cultivators to steal their power.

Since then, only these five great sects remained dominant in the Southern Realm. Whenever Demonic Cultivators from the Demon Blood Sect appeared, they were hunted down by the five sects, denounced by all.

Among the five, Wanchun Valley was the weakest in combat and spellcasting. Their foundation was the Ten-Thousand-Year Ancient Spirit Tree, and their primary income came from planting spiritual crops.

Now, with other sects sending agents to infiltrate the valley and bribe its disciples, it was clear that the wolves were circling.