6: Chapter 6: Making a fortune in silence, Qi Refining Level 4!

In the world of cultivation, time holds no meaning; one loses track of the passing years.

For those high and mighty cultivators, three years is nothing more than a nap during seclusion.

But for a bottom-tier cultivation family like the Qingmu Market, over a thousand days and nights are enough to smooth away the sharp edges and burning passion of countless youths.

It was deep in the night, the hour of the Rat, with a dark moon and high winds.

On the edge of the Qingmu Su Clan's outer spiritual fields, within a remote and dense bamboo forest.

Su Yu, dressed in the grey-black uniform of a family patrol guard, sat cross-legged on an inconspicuous bluestone.

This was one of the hidden nodes of the Spirit Gathering Array he had discovered three years ago.

"Hum—"

As the hour of the Rat arrived, the formation's operation reached its weakest point of transition.

Wisps of extremely pure, ownerless spiritual energy, far exceeding the concentration of the outside world, silently leaked out from the gaps in the node.

Su Yu kept his eyes tightly closed, controlling his breathing to perfectly synchronize with the rhythm of the formation.

Before those leaking wisps of spiritual energy could even dissipate into the air, they were swallowed into his abdomen, not a single drop wasted, as if a great whale were drinking water.

The spiritual energy traveled along his meridians, circulating through several major cycles before finally flowing into his Dantian.

Who knows how much time had passed.

A faint, muffled sound suddenly emanated from within Su Yu's body, and immediately after, the spiritual energy fluctuations around him surged upward by a level!

"Whoosh—"

An invisible gust of wind rippled outward from him, causing the surrounding spiritual bamboo to rustle.

Su Yu slowly opened his eyes, a glimmer of joy flashing in their depths.

"4th Layer of Qi Refining."

"Finally, I have stepped into the middle stage of Qi Refining."

He stood up and lightly clenched his fist, feeling the spiritual energy within him, which was now many times more vigorous than before, and a satisfied curve tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Three years!

Bearing the trash-tier 9th Grade Spiritual Root, he had broken through two minor realms in just three short years, forcibly raising his cultivation from the Second Level of Qi Refining to the 4th Layer of Qi Refining!

If this were to spread, it would absolutely drop the jaws of the high-level members of the Qingmu Su Clan.

After all, this speed was already no less than that of an average cultivator with a Mid-Grade Spiritual Root!

The reason Su Yu could create such a miracle, beyond his two lifetimes of experience and excellent Comprehension Ability, was something else.

The core reason was the accumulation of resources he had quietly amassed over these three years.

Three years ago, he had been willing to set aside his pride and put on a show of loyal remonstrance for Su Hao, successfully securing the job of patrolling the spiritual fields—a task that seemed both bitter and devoid of benefits.

In the eyes of outsiders, he was a lackey under Su Hao.

But only Su Yu knew how comfortable his life had been these past three years.

First, by acting under the banner of Su Hao, he had completely secured the five low-grade spirit stones issued monthly by the Internal Affairs Hall.

After all, Su Hao, that young master, was extremely concerned about his reputation.

As a dignified Young Clan Leader, if he were to rob the spirit stones of his own followers, how could he lead his group if word got out?

Others would only mock him for being petty and ungrateful.

In fact, regarding this point, Su Yu had initially played a game of playing hard to get.

After receiving his monthly stipend, he had feigned righteousness and proactively offered the spirit stones to Su Hao, claiming he was willing to give everything for the Young Clan Leader's cultivation career.

At that time, before Su Hao could respond, the two old lackeys following him turned green in the face, anxious and winking at each other; they were likely cursing Su Yu's ancestors down to the eighteenth generation in their hearts.

"Good kid, you're really trying to outdo us?"

"If you hand over all your spirit stones, are we supposed to hand ours over too?!"

"Isn't this trying to screw us to death!"

However, in order to maintain the generosity and dignity of a Young Clan Leader, Su Hao decisively waved his hand to refuse, even reprimanding Su Yu not to underestimate his magnanimity.

But it was precisely because of this act that Su Hao's impression of Su Yu soared, feeling that the kid not only knew how to talk but was also commendable in his loyalty.

Secondly, as a patrol guard, the family issued an additional three spirit stones every month as a job allowance.

This meant that other collateral disciples could only keep one or two spirit stones a month to barely survive.

But Su Yu, without fail, could get his hands on eight spirit stones every month!

It was several times more than the others!

Combined with the pure spiritual energy he "freeloaded" from this formation node every day at the hour of the Rat.

Under the accumulation of these resources, his progress was rapid.

"In the cultivation world, there are four essentials: wealth, companions, methods, and land. Wealth comes first. The ancients did not deceive me."

Su Yu brushed the dew off his robes and chuckled.

Thinking of this, Su Yu couldn't help but recall the peer youths in the Internal Affairs Hall courtyard three years ago who had accused him of having no backbone.

Over these three years, because those people had defied Su Hao, their monthly stipends were strictly withheld, leaving them with only one or two spirit stones to barely sustain their livelihood.

Without sufficient spiritual energy for support, combined with high-intensity labor in the spiritual fields every day.

Three years later, the vast majority of that group of youths were still struggling at the Second Level of Qi Refining, with their spiritual power making little to no progress.

Only a very few who forcibly squeezed their own essence and blood to cultivate had barely touched the threshold of the 3rd Layer of Qi Refining, yet they were depleted of vitality, sallow and emaciated.

Passion and dignity?

In the face of absolute resource monopoly, they had long been pressed into the mud of the spiritual fields by reality and crushed to pieces.

Nowadays, when those youths saw Su Yu, who wore the patrol uniform and leisurely collected eight spirit stones every month, although their gazes remained complicated, no one dared to openly curse him anymore.

Some who could no longer bear the poverty had even privately come to beg Su Yu, wanting him to put in a good word for them before the Young Clan Leader so they could also get a job.

This is the sorrow of a bottom-tier cultivator.

"4th Layer of Qi Refining. With my current cultivation, among the young generation of the clan, I should be considered to be among the best, right?"

Su Yu walked back along the forest path while calculating in his heart.

That Su Hao, who was supported by the entire clan's resources, used the best pills and Spirit Gathering Array in the clan.

Three years had passed, and he had only barely broken through from the 5th Layer of Qi Refining to the Qi Refining 7th Layer, just stepping into the threshold of the late stage of Qi Refining.

The transition from the middle stage to the late stage of Qi Refining is a major hurdle; the further one goes, the more massive the spiritual energy required. Breaking through two levels in three years, for a 6th Grade Spiritual Root, was already the limit achieved by piling up the entire clan's resources.

And apart from Su Hao, who had just broken through to the Qi Refining 7th Layer.

Among his peers in the clan, those who could reach the 4th Layer of Qi Refining could be counted on one hand.

And those people, without exception, were all the direct descendants of the powerful elders of the main branch, never lacking cultivation resources since childhood.

In other words, Su Yu now had started from scratch solely on his own strength.

He had forcibly, as a collateral orphan with a 9th Grade Spiritual Root, silently squeezed himself into the first tier of the clan's younger generation!

Of course, Su Yu had no intention of showing off at all.

A tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind.

If the cultivation speed of a 9th Grade Spiritual Root were to rival that of a Mid-Grade Spiritual Root, once exposed, what would follow would certainly not be the clan's focused cultivation, but the harsh interrogation of the Punishment Hall.

The power-holders of small families reject any uncontrollable variables.

Su Yu's thoughts stirred, bringing his micro-control over his physical meridians—honed at the peak of martial arts in his past life—to the extreme.

Using the Heavenly Dragon True Qi method of closing acupoints and locking meridians, he forcibly compressed the thick spiritual energy within his body to the limit, locking it tightly deep within his Dantian.

This breath-concealment technique, originating from mundane martial arts, was not actually perfect.

If he were to encounter a cultivator at Qi Refining Stage 8 or 9, they would be able to see through this forced energy-locking disguise at a glance.

But in the outer spiritual fields of Qingmu Market, those high-level members of the main branch simply disdained to set foot in such muddy places.

The people he could encounter on a daily basis were at most stewards at the 5th or 6th Layer of Qi Refining; he would never run into experts above Qi Refining Stage 8.

Therefore, this set of breath-concealment techniques was more than enough to handle the current situation.

As his energy signature receded, the spiritual energy fluctuations Su Yu emitted to the outside world quickly fell back, eventually stabilizing steadily at the level of the 3rd Layer of Qi Refining.

This disguise was just right.

Collecting eight spirit stones every month and spending three years breaking through from the 2nd Level of Qi Refining to the 3rd Layer seemed extremely reasonable to outsiders.

It both demonstrated a value slightly stronger than the average collateral disciple and would never arouse the vigilance of the main branch.

Su Yu looked up at the fish-belly white appearing on the horizon.

It was already bright; it was time to go back and have a bowl of spirit rice porridge cooked by Qing'er.