The Cyan Wood Evergreen Technique circulated, and Chu Ning immediately felt a surge of abundant Spiritual Power coming from the Spirit Stone.
The abundance of that Spiritual Power was even greater than that of the Cyan Wood Spring Blossom Skill.
"Truly, the Spirit Stone is extraordinary."
Feeling a sense of amazement, Chu Ning immediately focused his Heart Spirit and fully engaged in the cultivation technique.
The Spiritual Qi within the Spirit Stone quickly poured into Chu Ning's body, and its Spirit Charm rapidly faded.
At a certain moment, Chu Ning felt that the Spiritual Qi inside the Spirit Stone had been completely absorbed.
Well-prepared, he began to absorb Spiritual Qi from the Spirit Stone held in his left hand.
When the Spiritual Qi in this piece of Spirit Stone was about to be completely depleted, the fourth layer of Magical Power in Chu Ning's Dantian reached perfection, and the fifth layer's Magical Power Ring slowly emerged.
Continue cultivating to stabilize the Realm.
After a while, Chu Ning slowly opened his eyes, and the Spirit Stones in his hands had turned into powder.
"Qi Refining Fifth Layer!"
At this moment, Chu Ning was sensing the changes in proficiency deep in his mind and smiling softly.
[Cyan Wood Evergreen Technique (Yellow Tier Lower Grade), Second Layer (201/900)]
As he had expected, the proficiency levels corresponding to the three realms of the Middle Stage of Qi Refining for the Cyan Wood Evergreen Technique's second layer were not evenly distributed.
His proficiency in the Cyan Wood Evergreen Technique had improved to break through 200.
His own cultivation had successfully surpassed the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, reaching the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.
"If I estimate like this, to surpass the Qi Refining Fifth Layer, the proficiency in the second layer of the Cyan Wood Evergreen Technique needs to increase by 300 to reach 500.
And if I want to surpass the Qi Refining Sixth Layer to reach the Late Stage of Qi Refining, I would need to increase proficiency by 400.
Indeed, it gets harder with each layer."
Chu Ning understood this point and also grasped the effects of using the Spirit Stone for cultivation.
Three Spirit Stones increased proficiency by 3 points, equivalent to the result of 2 to 3 days of cultivation.
However, this cultivation relied on the Cyan Wood Spring Blossom Skill.
If it were normal cultivation, it would take more than ten days.
"While using Spirit Stones does speed up the process, the cost indeed can't be easily borne."
Thinking of this, Chu Ning shook his head slightly.
Even though he had mastered the technique of making Talisman Paper, relying continuously on Spirit Stones would be unsustainable, not to mention other ordinary Servant Disciples.
"If I want more Spirit Stones, I need to sell Talisman Paper since they are currently the most valuable things I have."
Chu Ning mused on how to handle the Talisman Paper.
There are two routes: one is to hand it over to the Sect for retrieval in exchange for Spirit Stones, the other is to take it to the Market to sell.
Chu Ning planned to take both routes.
After all, the Sect offers a higher price than outside, where roughly 55 pieces of Talisman Paper could be exchanged for one Spirit Stone.
While in the Market, usually 60 pieces are required for one Spirit Stone.
But he couldn't hand them all to the Sect for retrieval; otherwise, everyone would know he had concealed his harvest earlier, so he had to take a portion to the Market to sell.
Recently, he would even subtly inquire with Zhuang Yunde and Qiu Shunyi about incidents concerning Tribulation Cultivators in the Market.
From the explanations provided by these few people, no such situation had occurred.
Thus, Chu Ning had a basic judgment that the previous encounter with that bearded man was just a coincidence.
During that time, he had coincidentally become a target.
However, Chu Ning also decided that if he were to go out, he must be cautious and ensure to travel in a group.
Before going out, he felt that he should first complete the task of submitting Talisman Paper to the Sect.
After all, keeping so much Talisman Paper here was not ideal.
There's uncertainty about when Zhuang Yunde might come.
Recalling that as a recommended Servant Disciple, he had some opportunity to go to the Outer Sect, Chu Ning decided to proactively seek him out.
Dividing the Talisman Paper he had on hand, Chu Ning first packed 3,500 pieces that needed to be handed over to the Sect in a cloth bag.
Then he packed 2,050 pieces in another smaller cloth bag.
Of these Talisman Papers, 550 pieces were meant for a share to be given to Zhuang Yunde, while the remaining was for possible Sect retrieval.
With 5,050 pieces separated out, Chu Ning then packed the remaining 5,250 pieces in a cloth bag and stored it secretly in a cabinet in his room.
After doing all this, Chu Ning also decided he needed to prepare a Storage Bag.
After all, with more belongings accumulating, leaving them in the room without carrying them always felt unsafe.
Carrying a large and a small cloth bag, Chu Ning left the courtyard, heading towards the Outer Sect in the mountain.
In fact, this was the first time Chu Ning had proactively gone to the Outer Sect to find Zhuang Yunde.
From the Spirit Plant Area, he walked for quite a while into the mountain until he arrived at the Cyan Creek Sect's Outer Sect, where he stopped.
Even though Chu Ning and others were disciples of the Cyan Creek Sect, living within its Mountain Gate, they did not have the Qualifications to reside within the Outer Sect's range.
Zhuang Yunde, as an Outer Disciple, could live within the Sect's area.
Chu Ning's presence immediately attracted the attention of the disciples on duty at the Outer Sect's entrance. Seeing Chu Ning dressed like a Servant Disciple, a middle-sized disciple with a hint of arrogance on his face shouted:
"Who are you? Why are you coming to the Outer Sect?"
Chu Ning noticed the contempt in the other party's eyes, but he didn't show much expression, only slightly clasping his fists.
"Replying to Senior Brother, I am Chu Ning from Spirit Plant Room D, here to find Service Disciple Zhuang Yunde to submit my harvest."
"Submit harvest? Isn't it usually collected at your place?" The disciple who had spoken earlier slightly lifted his eyebrows, seemingly somewhat skeptical of Chu Ning's words.
Chu Ning didn't want to go into details, so he vaguely said: "I was recommended to the Hundred Arts Hall to learn skills, and the harvest was submitted a bit late."
Saying this, Chu Ning handed over his Identity Token.
On hearing Chu Ning's explanation, this disciple took Chu Ning's Identity Token, half believing it.
Only after verifying the token did he wave his hand, allowing Chu Ning to enter the Outer Sect.
Chu Ning, for the first time, stepped into the range of the Cyan Creek Sect's Outer Sect.
"It truly is the residency of the Outer Disciples; the resources for cultivation are better!"
As soon as he entered the Outer Sect's range, he immediately felt the denser Spiritual Qi, and sighed inwardly.
However, Chu Ning could also feel that this abundance of Spiritual Qi was still not comparable to the effect of the Cyan Wood Spring Blossom Skill with the assistance of Ink Spirit Bamboo, so he wasn't overly envious.
After a brief sensing, Chu Ning lowered his head slightly and quickly walked towards the direction Zhuang Yunde had previously indicated.
As a Servant Disciple in the Sect, he was a minor character, but appearing within the Outer Sect, he was somewhat conspicuous.
Chu Ning didn't want an accidental collision with any Outer Sect disciple that might cause trouble for him.
However, his low profile did not seem to have the desired effect.
After walking for a while, nearing Zhuang Yunde's residence, he was suddenly stopped by a delicate voice.
"Hey, that Junior Brother, stop for a moment."