The journey back seemed somewhat lighter than the trip there.

Chen Ping’s heartbeat remained steady, but the fourteen Spirit Stones nestled against his chest felt like a warm fire, driving away the winter’s bitter cold.

He gingerly avoided routes where people might be present, trudging through the thick snow, each step planted firmly and deliberately.

Only when he saw the familiar outline of the Hundred Herb Garden in the distance did he finally allow himself a slight sigh of relief.

He didn’t head directly back to his stone hut area. Instead, he detoured to a secluded corner at the Back Mountain of the garden.

After ensuring all his Spirit Stones were safely placed within the Black Earth space of his Jade Pendant, he straightened his clothes and hat, brushed off the snow clinging to him, and then, as calm as ever, walked toward the medicinal field area under his care to begin his routine inspection.

His steps were steady, his gaze focused as it swept over each row of medicinal herbs, as if that fifty-li trek through the snow and that transaction had never happened at all.

Only he knew that those fourteen slightly cool stones were his stepping stones to another world.

The cost of five Spirit Stones for testing his Spirit Root was now covered. He could finally go and get tested!

Finding a spare moment, he returned to the Black Earth space within the Jade Pendant.

Chen Ping’s attention shifted to the eighty-one Cold Star Grass plants growing on the periphery of the space.

In another day or two, they would be ready for their third round of Division Propagation.

When that time came…

They would become his confidence.

Late at night, all was quiet.

Inside the stone hut, only the dim, yellowish halo of an oil lamp provided light.

Chen Ping could finally restrain himself no longer. He gently closed the door and slid the bolt into place.

From within the Jade Pendant space, he took out a single crystal-clear Spirit Stone.

The Spirit Stone was about the size of a baby’s fist, semi-transparent, with a gentle, warm aura contained within its depths.

This was what Cultivators treasured as precious—a Spirit Stone!

He held the Spirit Stone in his palm and attempted to circulate the breathing method from the Vitality Technique.

His blood and Qi surged, flowing through his body.

But the Spirit Stone in his palm showed no reaction whatsoever. That gentle aura seemed locked away, utterly motionless.

He tried pressing the stone against his forehead, his abdomen, and even attempted to “guide” it with his intent based on fragments of information he’d heard.

All efforts proved futile.

The Spirit Stone lay quietly in his hand, nothing more than an ordinary, pretty stone.

To him, it was completely useless.

“After all, it’s an object of Immortals. Mundane methods can hardly move it,” Chen Ping sighed inwardly, preparing to put the Spirit Stone away.

Just as he was placing it into an inner pocket of his clothes, his finger inadvertently brushed against the warm Jade Pendant resting against his chest.

A faint white light flashed—so fast it could have been an illusion.

Chen Ping only felt a sudden emptiness in his palm.

The Spirit Stone was gone?!

He looked down sharply at his now-empty hand, then immediately looked up at the Jade Pendant.

The pendant still lay quietly against his chest, as warm and unremarkable as ever.

“Did the Jade Pendant take the Spirit Stone back into the Black Earth?” Chen Ping murmured softly.

Communicating with his intent, he immediately entered the Black Earth space.

The familiar scene greeted him.

The lush Dew Condensing Grass in the central area, the Cold Star Grass on the periphery emitting faint traces of cold air, the dark brown fertile soil, and that expanse of chaotic mist at the edges.

He concentrated his spirit, searching every corner of the space—underneath the Dew Condensing Grass, beside the Cold Star Grass… he even tried turning over some soil.

Nothing.

That vanished Spirit Stone did not appear anywhere within the space.

It had truly disappeared into thin air right before his very eyes.

Chen Ping withdrew from the space, a slight frown creasing his brow.

If it wasn’t taken inside… then perhaps…

Was it absorbed by the Jade Pendant?

His gaze fell upon the pendant. A vague sensation surfaced in his heart.

He entered the space once more. This time, he focused not on the spirit herbs but carefully observed the space’s boundaries instead.

He slowly moved along its outermost edge where chaotic mist swirled. He paid particular attention to those few Cold Star Grass plants planted right up against that chaotic border.

“It seems… it’s a bit wider?” Chen Ping felt uncertain.

The change in space was extremely minute. If not for having every inch of this land and every spirit herb’s position memorized perfectly well already, he would never have noticed anything amiss.

He clearly remembered one specific Cold Star Grass plant whose roots had almost touched that seemingly impassable chaotic barrier already; its leaves were also slightly curled inward by some invisible boundary pressing upon them too tightly.

But now… that curling seemed just slightly relaxed.

There appeared now between that grass plant and the surrounding chaotic mist an extremely tiny sliver more room than before.

Withdrawing from the space again left Chen Ping with sharpened eyesight.

Quickly walking over toward where he had hidden away the remaining thirteen Spirit Stones, he took them all out immediately.

Upon arrival back inside the stone hut, he held one stone carefully close up against his chest where the Jade Pendant rested, taking a deep breath beforehand just in case something happened unexpectedly.

When the edge lightly touched the surface of the pendant…

As expected!

Another extremely faint white light flashed—gone in an instant again, just like last time. The Spirit Stone vanished from his hand without a trace left behind, as if it had never existed there at all.

Greatly shocked by this turn of events, Chen Ping immediately re-entered the space once more without delay!

This time around, he walked straight over toward the most borderline-located Cold Star Grass plant, observing its position closely.

Change truly had occurred here after all!

That leaf originally pressed tight against the chaotic mist now visibly had distance—increased by a width roughly equal to one finger’s breadth between itself and the surrounding fog. The outermost chaotic mist barrier surrounding the entire space seemed truly pushed back a tiny bit overall.

“It really is the Spirit Stones!” Chen Ping’s mind suddenly became clear like dawn breaking through clouds, finally understanding everything. “The Jade Pendant absorbs Spirit Stones—it can expand this space!”

To thoroughly verify this hypothesis, he picked up the second, then the third stones without hesitation, touching the pendant each time consecutively.

White lights flashed successively each time, and the stones disappeared accordingly.

Every time a stone vanished, Chen Ping would immediately enter the space, confirming the changes clearly visible: each absorption caused the outermost chaotic barrier to push outward a minutely bit further. Accumulated together, it resulted in the borderline Cold Star Grass plant gaining roughly a one-inch gap separating itself from the surrounding mist already.

After the eighth stone was absorbed by the pendant, the space’s outward expansion reached slightly over one inch total.

Chen Ping stopped experimenting then.

He had brought back fourteen stones, and only six were left remaining now.

Five were needed for paying the fee for testing his Spirit Root later on. That meant the freely usable stones in his hand amounted to only one left remaining currently.

To prevent unexpected occurrences, Chen Ping halted the further expansion of the Black Earth temporarily.

He would leave one stone aside, just in case. After the testing was completed, expanding later wouldn’t be too late.

Sitting on the bed, looking at the six stones in his hand, he considered the implications deeply.

This Jade Pendant space being capable of expanding through absorbing Spirit Stones meant he could plant more spirit herbs, produce more stones, and potentially create a virtuous cycle eventually.

Although currently the expansion was minuscule compared to the cost—the stones consumed were significantly high, and the short-term returns far lower than the investment required—it undoubtedly opened a new world of possibilities.

What good news could possibly surpass the Black Earth space within the Jade Pendant being capable of expanding after all?

He placed the remaining six stones outside in the courtyard, hiding them carefully, no longer attempting further experiments for now.