Chapter 18: Sitting in Oblivion, Losing the Self

Over the next seven or eight days, Lin Donglai continued to chop wood in the Danmu Forest of Tengshe Peak, earning two to three spirit stones daily.

However, Lin Donglai's strength had increased significantly. If he continued to chop wood in this manner, the recoil from the Danmu wood would be difficult to feed back into the Marrow-Washing Stake Method. Furthermore, due to his excessive training, if his essence was consumed faster than it could be replenished, he feared he would become a mere walking skeleton. Thus, Lin Donglai exercised considerable restraint.

He maintained a scale of refining one marrow and condensing two to three drops of essence blood per day. Even so, he had to frantically consume free, unlimited spiritual foods like Bi-jeng Rice from the canteen to make up for the loss.

As for the spirit stones he earned, Lin Donglai was loath to spend them on spiritual meals; instead, he fed one to the Dao Seed every day and saved the rest.

The vitality gathered from felling the Danmu wood was abundant and possessed ample Yang energy, and the Earth Qi of Tengshe Peak was extremely rich. Currently, what the Spiritual Root Dao Seed craved most was actually water.

Ordinary water seemed to have little effect on the Dao Seed. Lin Donglai intended to wait until the fifteenth of this month to visit the small market at the foot of the mountain to see what kind of spiritual spring water he could buy, and perhaps look for something to nourish his Qi and blood.

It might be hard to believe, but Lin Donglai was currently anemic. After transforming into the Spirit Marrow Bone, the production of blood from the spirit marrow consisted of essence blood, which grew drop by drop. Much of his old blood had been expelled from his body as waste blood, and the remaining marrow bones were undergoing a slow transformation.

On this day, after finishing the Danmu branches, Lin Donglai brought them to Old Man Ma. Old Man Ma weighed them and found they totaled over five hundred and forty catties. Slightly surprised, he immediately gave Lin Donglai four spirit stones but advised him: "Kid, you've made great progress lately. You can chop dozens of catties of Danmu branches more every day. Your strength must be over a thousand catties. It seems you have some talent in body tempering, but training like this without nourishing yourself has already caused a serious deficit."

"With these spirit stones, you have the life to earn them but not the life to spend them. If you don't nourish yourself, your five viscera will lack Qi and blood and begin to fail. When that happens, you will surely drop dead!"

Lin Donglai had already gained an understanding of Old Man Ma over these past few days. A forty-year veteran of the Outer Sect, he was at the sixth level of Qi Refinement and the sixth level of Body Tempering, currently serving as an Outer Sect Deacon of Tengshe Peak, in charge of this Danmu Forest.

"The Hundred-Day Assessment is approaching, so I couldn't help but feel a bit anxious in practicing the Marrow-Washing Stake Method. I wonder if Deacon Ma has any guidance?"

"You've taken the wrong path. You are using your essence to increase strength and temper your physique; you are following the path of a Body Cultivator."

"However, without strength, you cannot chop the Danmu wood regardless."

"What you need now is to use spirit stones to buy a spiritual chicken, then stew it with a Primordial Nourishing Ginseng and eat it all in one go, digesting it slowly."

"You don't need the Tendon-Changing Marrow-Washing Stake Method. That method is actually a body-tempering technique that can temper your bones and tendons to withstand ten thousand catties of strength. Having ten thousand catties of strength is the first level of Body Tempering."

"Generally speaking, once you have refined two or three marrow bones, you must find ways to nourish the spirit marrow to stimulate the production of essence blood, then refine essence into Qi to cultivate Fetal Breathing. Fetal Breathing then guides the spiritual Qi into your body to serve as the seed for Qi Refinement."

"You shouldn't just keep your head down practicing the stakes, thinking that more spirit marrow is always better. You don't understand the principle of 'three parts training, seven parts nourishing.' It may seem like your strength is growing, but you are actually becoming hollow inside. If the spirit marrow is not nourished, it will plunder the essence of your organs, making the deficit even larger."

"Why are the Primordial Nourishing Breathing Technique and the Tendon-Changing Marrow-Washing Stake Method issued together? Do you not know that without resources, the limit is two hours of breathing and one hour of stake practice per day? You need dietary nourishment and sleep to recover!"

Lin Donglai thought to himself, *So that's how it is. I've been too diligent in my training!*

"Thank you for the guidance, Deacon Ma!"

"It's not quite guidance," Old Man Ma said. "The Danmu branches have been mostly cleared out for this period. I won't need extra hands for two months. Go back and rest well this time. The spirit stones you've earned these days are enough to buy a spiritual chicken and some Primordial Nourishing Ginseng."

Old Man Ma didn't need help, and the flowering period for Granny Qian's jujubes had also passed, so there was no need for anyone to catch insects.

Lin Donglai decided not to look for more work. Once he reached the first level of Qi Refinement and went to Lingxi Peak to study the myriad arts of cultivation, he would choose the Path of Spiritual Plants, which would allow him to run back to Tengshe Peak every day regardless.

For now, it was better to listen to Old Man Ma, buy a spiritual chicken and Primordial Nourishing Ginseng to stew, and nourish himself. With his current amount of essence blood, he had actually gathered forty-nine drops, which was enough to sacrifice to the Dao Seed. However, Lin Donglai feared that losing too much essence blood at once would cause too great a deficit in his body. Therefore, by buying a chicken to nourish himself before performing the sacrifice, the damage should not be severe.

Moreover, only by sacrificing to the Dao Seed would it truly be "in the bag," ensuring this opportunity was entirely under his control.

After returning to Xianmiao Peak, Lin Donglai went to the canteen and found the Spiritual Chef Deacon, Peng Yue. He hoped Peng could help him prepare a dish of Primordial Nourishing Ginseng stewed with chicken, as his own cooking skills were likely insufficient.

Perhaps because he had refused a blind date with Peng's daughter, Peng Yue's attitude toward Lin Donglai was quite cold this time: "Aside from the ingredients, as a spiritual chef, my service fee is two spirit stones. Primordial Nourishing Ginseng is two spirit stones per root, and you need two. A spiritual chicken is eight spirit stones each. That makes fourteen spirit stones in total."

"Is a spiritual chicken that expensive?" Eight spirit stones was equivalent to a month's salary for a third-level Qi Refinement cultivator.

"Spiritual chickens are raised from a young age with specifically proportioned spiritual herbs. Their bodies accumulate medicinal properties and their spiritual Qi is gentle. They are generally only supplied to Inner Sect disciples to assist in late-stage Qi Refinement cultivation, so they are naturally more expensive."

"If it were demon beast meat, it wouldn't be as expensive, but the effect is worse and the spiritual Qi is more violent. It is only suitable for Body Cultivators."

Lin Donglai was somewhat stunned. He didn't have twelve spirit stones left at all. After all, the Dao Seed was a major drain on his resources; feeding it one spirit stone every day meant he had already spent seven or eight spirit stones on it over the past few days, leaving him with only ten.

Out of necessity, Lin Donglai had to find Ding Zhen to borrow two spirit stones to make up the difference. Once the Dao Seed was sacrificed, he would take on tasks to earn spirit stones to pay him back.

Seeing that Lin Donglai actually produced the spirit stones to eat such a spiritual meal, Peng Yue nodded: "My daughter raises spiritual pigs at Zhenling Peak; I have connections. I won't let you suffer a loss. Primordial Nourishing Ginseng is included in the supplies for cultivating spiritual seedlings."

"Then I thank Deacon Peng for your support."

"No need to thank me," Peng Yue said. "If you have such matters again, just come find me. The rule is two spirit stones per spiritual meal. This chicken soup requires a slow simmer over a gentle fire for a full day and night. Come find me again at this time tomorrow."

Returning to his courtyard from the canteen, Lin Donglai thought to himself, *This spiritual chef really earns a lot of spirit stones. Two stones for a single dish! Occupying the canteen of the Xianmiao Courtyard, I wonder how much profit he's skimming. When I go to Lingxi Peak to learn the arts, perhaps I can also study the Way of Spiritual Cuisine.*

Following Old Man Ma's advice, Lin Donglai stopped practicing the stake method. Instead, he focused on "Guarding the Origin and Embracing Oneness," coordinating with his Spiritual Root Dao Seed to practice the Primordial Nourishing Breathing Technique. With every breath, he absorbed the primordial Qi from the void to replenish himself.

This primordial Qi not only nourished his physical body but also made him feel refreshed, purging impurities and bringing in the new from the inside out.

For a moment, he actually fell into a state of profound emptiness, a state of "sitting in oblivion and losing the self."

In that moment, Lin Donglai entered a trance-like state of internal vision.

He saw his five viscera glowing, and his skeletal structure was clearly visible through his internal sight. Part of his skeleton was still white bone, while another part had a faint jade-like luster. Qi flowed through his meridians.

There were three places that were distinctly different from the rest, glowing with variegated light.

One was three inches below the navel, the Guanyuan point, belonging to the Lower Dantian; one was in the center of the chest, the Danzhong point, belonging to the Middle Dantian; and one was in the center of the eyes, an inch inside the brow, in a mysterious void where there was no physical substance, the Niwan Palace, belonging to the Upper Dantian.

And within the Niwan Palace, one could clearly see a Dao Seed. Beyond this Dao Seed, there was a faint, secondary space, shaped like a chicken egg.