Returning from the Tian family, the sky had already darkened. Stepping into the small courtyard under the moonlight, the bright moonlight illuminated the yard like daylight.

Bai Sui was small, dressed in plain white clothes, like a little elf in the dark night.

Her feet landed on the fine stone slabs in the yard. She first went to check on the simple greenhouse nearby. Seeing the lush, green spirit plants growing delightfully, she nodded in satisfaction.

Then she went back into the house, carefully lit the "illumination ball" hanging from the ceiling, and suddenly the whole room brightened up.

This illumination ball was a special household item in the cultivation world, bought by her earlier at a market. It was about the size of an egg, somewhat similar to the incandescent lamps of her past life, but the light was softer, like an energy-saving lamp. One illumination ball cost twenty wen and could be used for roughly a month. It was disposable after use, a very popular fast-moving consumer product.

After returning home, there wasn't much to do. Bai Sui thought for a moment, washed up briefly, changed into loose clothing, and then washed the clothes she had taken off. After finishing all that, she finally sat on the bed and began cultivating.

She had originally planned to take the Qi Condensing Pill in the afternoon, but that was interrupted halfway by Uncle Tian's visit.

Now, in the quiet of the night, no one would disturb her again, so she prepared to continue experiencing it.

Of course, before cultivating, she summoned the attribute panel:

[Character: Bai Sui / Bai Sui]

[Lifespan: 10/80 years]

[Cultivation: Qi Refining Second Layer: 6/100]

[Cultivation Art: Qi Drawing Art 'Initiation': 55/100]

[Skills: Wind Brushing Technique 'Ordinary', Fireball Technique 'Initiation', Planting Technique 'Ordinary']

[Talents: Pure Ice Jade Body 'Cultivation Talent, Calm Amidst Collapse']

Mm, the attribute values were pitiful. But it didn't matter, they would slowly improve.

Bai Sui cheered herself on, then sat cross-legged properly and entered cultivation mode. She took out the Qi Condensing Pill, gave it a simple glance, and found that the pill's medicinal coating was slightly rough, as if coated with a layer of starch paste. The weight was substantial, like a lead ball in her hand. Without much thought, she tilted her head and swallowed the pill.

The round Qi Condensing Pill slid down her esophagus into her stomach. Soon after entering her belly, the outer coating began to dissolve, and a surge of dense spiritual energy was released.

Bai Sui was startled. The effect came that quickly? She had only just swallowed it, and a wave of heat surged up from her stomach!

She clearly felt a torrent of spiritual energy brewing inside her body. It surged and roared, as if trying to burst out...

"Ugh..." She gave a slight burp.

Just that gentle burp allowed a puff of dense spiritual energy to escape from her mouth.

Bai Sui was so frightened that she didn't dare delay. She hurriedly mobilized her cultivation art and began to fully digest the spiritual energy released by the Qi Condensing Pill within her body.

At this moment, in Bai Sui's dantian, two strands of thin, incandescent white spiritual energy clusters were spiraling, entangled with each other, rapidly rotating.

These two clusters of spiritual energy were the ones she had refined earlier. Two clusters entangled and rotating was characteristic of a cultivator at the second layer of Qi Refining. By analogy, a cultivator at the third layer of Qi Refining would have three clusters of spiritual energy rotating around the center in the dantian.

And now, as Bai Sui desperately mobilized her art to absorb and refine the incoming spiritual energy, those energies, after being tamed, traveled along the meridians throughout her body, then poured into her dantian with a surging momentum.

Bai Sui's entire body broke out in fine sweat. The massive influx of spiritual energy caused her meridians to swell and ache.

This was because her body couldn't adapt to the impact of so much spiritual energy!

Enduring the intense pain, she gritted her teeth and continued operating the art, striving to use all this spiritual energy without wasting a single bit.

In her dantian, the two originally rotating clusters of spiritual energy, replenished with external energy, spun faster and grew visibly thicker.

After a long while, Bai Sui gradually adapted to the process, and the swelling pain all over her body slowly began to fade. The conversion of spiritual energy continued, but it had changed from a roaring river into a gentle trickle.

Finally, everything settled into calm. She exhaled a breath of turbid air, unable to help but think to herself, ‘This Qi Condensing Pill is really overbearing, nearly bursting me!’

But it was also her own greed. For an ordinary person, the burst of spiritual energy from the pill was certainly dramatic, but the bulk would overflow outside the body, and then the cultivator would reabsorb the high-concentration spiritual energy from outside.

There would inevitably be waste in that process, but it couldn't be helped.

But her, stingy as a miser, held her breath and pumped it all into her dantian regardless, wishing to use every bit of it.

The process was painful and dangerous, of course.

But the result was surprisingly good.

Summoning the attribute panel:

[Character: Bai Sui / Bai Sui]

[Lifespan: 10/80 years]

[Cultivation: Qi Refining Second Layer: 68/100]

[Cultivation Art: Qi Drawing Art 'Initiation': 85/100]

[Skills: Wind Brushing Technique 'Ordinary', Fireball Technique 'Initiation', Planting Technique 'Ordinary']

[Talents: Pure Ice Jade Body 'Cultivation Talent, Calm Amidst Collapse']

"Haah!"

Bai Sui let out a long breath, and a faint smile appeared on her face.

Her cultivation had shot up from 6 points to 68. This was the effect of the Qi Condensing Pill, so remarkably effective!

And this time, the proficiency of her "Qi Drawing Art" had also greatly increased; it seemed it would soon advance from 'Initiation' to 'Ordinary'.

‘The effect of the Qi Condensing Pill is indeed good, but the spiritual energy is released too quickly, and there's still a great deal of loss in the process. It seems I must take the remaining two pills with caution,’ she thought.

As the saying goes, haste makes waste. Looking back, the timing of taking the pill was still a bit too early. She blamed herself for her recklessness, taking it without fully understanding the properties of the Qi Condensing Pill!

It's true that good things should be saved for last! The effect of the 'Initiation' level "Qi Drawing Art" couldn't compare to the 'Ordinary' or even 'Proficient' levels!

Sharpening the axe does not delay the wood-chopping; from now on, she would first solidify her fundamentals to not waste the effect of the Qi Condensing Pill!

"Hmm?"

Suddenly she felt a wet, sticky sensation on her skin. Looking down, she vaguely saw a layer of grime. Bai Sui's brows furrowed at once.

She really hated the feeling of clothes sticking to her skin. It was as if she had fallen into a mud pit, dirty and uncomfortable all over.

She had essentially wasted tonight's bath. She couldn't help but sigh.

But thankfully, she still had several sets of clothes at home! With that thought, she didn't hesitate. She jumped off the bed, took out clothing from the cabinet, fetched some more water, then undressed and washed, scrubbing herself clean. Her thin frame held no hint of sensuality. As she washed, she marveled: a child's body was just that plain and unadorned, washing it caused no ripples in her heart.

After the bath, she felt comfortable all over.

Bai Sui dried and cleaned herself thoroughly, then lay comfortably in bed, pulling her little blanket up to her neck, and drifted off to sleep in a good mood.

* * *

The next day, sure enough, Uncle Tian came to find her early in the morning.

By then Bai Sui was already up and had just finished breakfast. After greeting the Tian father and son, the three of them boarded an ox cart and headed together towards Jade Pool Market.

This ox cart was the Tian family's property, pulled by an ox with a mutated bloodline. The cart carried the rare goods the Tians had hunted over the past days, just right to be taken to sell at Jade Pool Market.

Bai Sui sat at the back of the ox cart, watching the big yellow ox huffing and puffing as it pulled the heavy load, her eyes full of curiosity.

Oxen were not uncommon; she had seen plenty in both her past and present lives. But the Tian family's mutated-bloodline ox was somewhat imposing. It was two to three times the size of an ordinary ox, with skin that gleamed with a golden glow, looking so majestic.

Its hooves struck the ground with heavy thuds, and it needed only a few mouthfuls of grass to cover a hundred kilometers, all proclaiming its value.

This was Bai Sui's first trip to Jade Pool Market. The curiosity and anticipation in her eyes made everything seem novel.

"You two sit tight, we're about to get on the main road, the ox cart will speed up," Uncle Tian turned back with a smile to remind them. As soon as the words left his mouth, he raised the whip high and snapped it with a crack. The big ox, stung by the pain, bellowed loudly, stumbled forward abruptly, then its hooves pounded the ground as it took off like a wild horse...

"Whoa!" Bai Sui was thrown back, leaning against the cart as she yelped.

This feeling of racing along like the wind was so exciting.

Tian Dong also laughed heartily, gripping the railings tightly with both hands to keep from being flung off.