Chen Xiaoming waved his hand, and the holographic panel scattered.
'Time to head out.'
It'd already been a month since he'd left the house.
Now that his realm was stabilized and his stored food had run out, it was time to go.
'Come to think of it, Fang Yi, the owner of Spirit Elixir Pavilion, told me to visit once I became a Qi Refining cultivator.'
Thanks to Fang Yi, he'd gotten spirit stones and could step onto the path of cultivation.
Sure, it was just a fair trade, but he was still grateful.
In the violence-stained, dog-eat-dog cultivation world, even a 'fair' deal like that wasn't easy to come by.
He made up his mind to repay Fang Yi's kindness someday and left the house.
"Mm."
Standing under the bright sun after so long felt refreshing. Walking the streets in broad daylight, he noticed tons of changes.
The street stalls lining the road looked different today.
'That's... Tricolor Herb?'
It was definitely a plant he'd seen often, but it felt unfamiliar. His senses had completely changed after becoming a Qi Refining cultivator.
Before, he'd just thought of Tricolor Herb as some colorful medicinal plant, but now he truly understood why it was called a spirit herb.
The spirit qi condensed in the Tricolor Herb was so dense, it almost felt like a plant-shaped spirit stone.
'I see. That's why it's used as a pill ingredient—because it's so rich in spirit qi.'
He was pleased with the changes to his vision. With his spiritual sense more sensitive, he could now distinguish between mystical materials and ordinary items.
Plus, he could tell the difference between ordinary people and cultivators.
Cultivators who'd entered Qi Refining all had this aura-like energy radiating from them.
Naturally, he could figure out the ratio of ordinary people to cultivators—about 4 out of 10 were cultivators.
'Only 40% are cultivators?'
It was lower than expected and hard to believe.
Crimson Sun Market was a cultivators' town, yet the ratio of ordinary people was high.
'...No. I just can't detect them with my abilities. Almost everyone here is a cultivator.'
He quietly looked away before he could get into trouble.
Many cultivators were eccentric and violent. You could start a fight just by staring at someone.
Finishing his observations, he hurried along.
When he arrived at Spirit Elixir Pavilion.
A young Qi Refining girl on the first floor widened her eyes and said.
"Huh? You were definitely an ordinary person before. When did you become a Qi Refining cultivator?"
"I got lucky and broke through recently."
The girl pursed her lips and let out a small snort.
"You're only at Qi Refining Level 1 anyway. I'm already at Level 2. So, are you here to sell dew again?"
"No. Senior Fang Yi called for me."
"What? Wait right there!"
The girl furrowed her cute brow and blocked his path.
Just as his steps naturally stopped, blue heat waves rippled in her pupils.
'Spirit Eye Technique!'
Chen Xiaoming flinched but acted like he didn't know anything and stayed still.
Spirit Eye Technique was an eye technique that enhanced vision to see through illusions and examine a cultivator's spirit root aptitude.
Of course, examining someone without permission was obviously rude, but he just sighed.
Being young and weak was a crime.
'Still, her talent's impressive. She's only Qi Refining Level 2 but can use spells.'
Spirit Eye Technique was a basic eye technique, but it wasn't easy for early-stage Qi Refining cultivators to handle. Since it was a spell related to the optic nerves, messing up could damage your eyesight.
For a girl at Qi Refining Level 2 to use an eye technique—that meant she had exceptional talent.
"What, you've got a trash spirit root. Compared to me, you're nothing, so what's worth seeing that he keeps calling you? He's not taking you as a disciple, is he?"
"Who knows."
"...Hmph. Hurry up and go upstairs. Don't keep Master waiting."
Passing by her, he went up to the second floor of Spirit Elixir Pavilion.
He didn't wait long before someone came down from the third floor. It was Fang Yi, the owner of Spirit Elixir Pavilion, wearing a smile like a friendly merchant.
"The little guy's here... oh wait. Now that you've entered Qi Refining, I should call you fellow daoist."
"No need. Senior Fang Yi, you can just call me kid."
"Hmm? Really?"
"Yes."
Fang Yi examined Chen Xiaoming with an observant look and nodded with a satisfied expression. He seemed pleased with the respectful attitude.
"Good. With that kind of attitude, you won't suffer major losses anywhere you go. There's nothing wrong with acting humble."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Chen Xiaoming nodded without further comment, but his true feelings were different.
He'd had a rebellious streak since his past life. He was absolutely not the obedient type.
Acting docile like this was a kind of survival strategy, and also because Fang Yi had helped him.
Anyway, he had no intention of arguing with Fang Yi by spilling his true feelings.
While it was true that Fang Yi had helped him, he didn't consider him someone he could truly trust.
"Mm-hmm! Good. I didn't misjudge you."
Fang Yi, satisfied like a caring elder, said.
"By the way, I thought you'd died since you didn't come for a month. I thought you'd ignored my advice and gone to Crimson Sun Mountain. Hehe."
"Sorry for being late. It took me a whole month to stabilize my realm and adapt."
"Ah... usually, the less talented you are, the harder it is to stabilize your realm... ahem! Never mind. As long as you stabilized it. Anyway, congratulations on entering Qi Refining."
"Thank you. But..."
There was something odd in Fang Yi's words.
After hesitating slightly, he carefully opened his mouth. One of a child's privileges was asking questions.
"Senior. Is there a problem with climbing Crimson Sun Mountain? Actually, after seeing you, I was thinking of going to the mountain to gather spirit herbs."
Crimson Sun Mountain was a mountain he'd climbed countless times over three years. It was somewhat dangerous, but he'd managed fine even as an ordinary person.
Now that he'd become a Qi Refining cultivator, it should be safer, so why was Fang Yi talking like climbing Crimson Sun Mountain was a death sentence?
"Tsk tsk! I knew it. You need to know how lucky you are. You met a kind senior like me."
Fang Yi, acting all high and mighty, grinned and said.
"An ordinary person climbing Crimson Sun Mountain and a Qi Refining cultivator going are completely different. Very different!"
"Huh?"
"Kid. You probably never encountered a 1st-rank demon beast in the past three years, right? Well, if you had, you'd already be dead, so there's no need to ask. At most, you probably met ordinary beasts that weren't demon beasts."
"Uh... that's right. I never met a 1st-rank demon beast. I was lucky."
"Lucky? Well, that's not entirely wrong. But luck isn't everything. What's more important is that you were an ordinary person without spirit qi."
"An ordinary person?"
"Right. To a 1st-rank demon beast, ordinary people are tasteless and have no nutritional value. They're no different from pebbles or weeds on the roadside."
"If you were a tiger, would you go out of your way to eat weeds? You'd only force yourself to eat them when you're truly starving. Hehe! But now the situation's different."
"...You're saying that because I became a Qi Refining cultivator, I've become tasty food to demon beasts?"
"Exactly! You catch on quick. Now you're not just a pebble but fragrant food. Starving demon beasts will come swarming from all directions. If you climb Crimson Sun Mountain, it'll be your death day. Hehehe."
Chen Xiaoming's lips moved several times. He didn't know what to say.