Chapter 3: Qi Gathering Pill

As the sun set, the four members of the Song family sat together on the open ground. Looking at the carcasses of the beast monsters lying helter-skelter before them, they all let out long sighs. The four of them looked at each other’s disheveled appearances and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Haha! Our coordination is getting better and better. We were even able to take down two mid-tier monsters at once. It seems our days ahead are only going to get better," Song Changxiong said with a chuckle as he looked at the other three.

"Thirteenth Uncle, have you forgotten that last time we were almost chased by monsters all the way to Funiu Mountain? You really think too highly of us to lure so many monsters here this time," Song Qingrui replied, complaining with a helpless expression.

"You brat, you really don't appreciate the effort. The Second Elder is always telling me to train you all more; I’d say this counts as me having your best interests at heart."

"If you call this training us, then we really have to thank you!" Facing this stubborn Thirteenth Uncle, Song Qingming and the others could only look on with helpless expressions.

After resting for a while, the group gradually recovered some of their spiritual energy. Song Qingshi, who had the lightest injuries among the four, stood up and said, "Fourth, take care of Qingming. Thirteenth Uncle, let’s hurry and process the monster carcasses. It will be troublesome if those mid-tier monsters with sensitive noses catch the scent of blood later. We need to leave here quickly."

As the eldest of the "Qing" generation, Song Qingshi had always been steady in his actions. Even Song Changxiong, who had higher seniority and cultivation, never had any objections to Song Qingshi’s arrangements.

To cultivators, the monsters of the cultivation world were treasures from head to toe. The blood of the Green Bamboo Python could be used to make spirit talismans, its gall was an auxiliary medicinal ingredient for alchemy, and its skin and fangs were excellent materials for artifact refining. Although the snake meat wasn't particularly valuable, it was a favorite dish among cultivators and could fetch a few spirit stones at the restaurants in the market.

After a bout of skilled butchery, the four packed up their rich spoils and quickly left the area.

——

Three days later, in a small pavilion named Moon-Gazing Pavilion behind Funiu Mountain, Song Qingming sat upright at a stone table, sipping a pot of spirit wine alone under the beautiful moonlight and cool breeze.

This spirit wine was something he had exchanged for from his Fourth Uncle at Qinghe Market a few months ago. Drinking alone in the quiet moonlight was one of the few moments of comfort he had outside of his cultivation.

Just as Song Qingming had finished a few cups, a broad-shouldered man suddenly leaped into the pavilion and sat on the other side of the table. The visitor was none other than Thirteenth Uncle Song Changxiong, who had been hunting monsters with him at Green Bamboo Mountain a few days prior.

Seeing who it was, Song Qingming hurriedly put down his wine cup in a slight panic.

"Thirteenth Uncle, I’m so sorry. I was in such a rush when I left that I forgot to bring extra cups. Should we go somewhere else?"

Song Changxiong didn't answer, but a slight smile played on his lips. He brushed his right hand across his waist, and a white jade wine cup appeared out of thin air in his hand, which he slowly placed on the stone table.

Seeing this, Song Qingming looked at the storage bag at Song Changxiong’s waist with a hint of envy, then picked up the wine pot and hurriedly poured him a cup.

After downing a cup, Song Changxiong smiled and said to him, "You don't need to be so anxious. A storage bag isn't some rare treasure. It’s just that you haven't reached the mid-stage of Qi Refining yet, so you can't project your spiritual power to use one. Once you break through to the mid-stage, you’ll have one soon enough."

"Mm! No rush, no rush. It’s just that it seems so convenient for you all to have storage bags, being able to carry anything with you at any time. I don't know when I’ll be able to use one like you," Song Qingming said, laughing along.

"I came to find you today because I have a great piece of news, but you have to let me drink to my satisfaction first," Song Changxiong said, raising his cup again.

"That goes without saying. It’s rare for you to come and drink with me tonight, Thirteenth Uncle. Even if I can't get up tomorrow, I’d still be happy."

The two drank and chatted cup after cup until the pot of spirit wine was nearly empty. Only then did Song Changxiong toss a bag to Song Qingming and say, "The materials from the monsters we hunted last time have already been processed at the market. This is your share."

Song Qingming took the bag, feeling puzzled. Was this the "great news" the Thirteenth Uncle was talking about? This pot of spirit wine was hardly worth it.

However, when Song Qingming opened the bag, the expression on his face shifted—from the joy of drinking to the calmness of receiving the bag, and finally to utter confusion upon opening it.

Inside the small cloth bag lay bright, gleaming spirit stones—over thirty of them. This truly left Song Qingming bewildered.

The monster materials the four of them had hunted a few days ago—two mid-tier Green Bamboo Pythons and seven low-tier ones—would have fetched at most twenty-something spirit stones even if sold entirely at the market.

Furthermore, after deducting the two low-tier spirit talismans and the spirit-replenishing pill that Thirteenth Uncle had used to lure the enemies, how could he possibly be receiving so much?

There were strict rules for distributing profits when family members went out to hunt monsters together. Usually, the losses incurred during the battle were deducted first, and then the remainder was distributed based on cultivation level and contribution.

This time, Song Qingming had the lowest cultivation, and Thirteenth Uncle Song Changxiong had contributed the most. Even if the others were looking out for him, he shouldn't have received more than twenty percent under normal circumstances.

Seeing Song Qingming staring at him in confusion, Song Changxiong explained calmly, "Knowing you’re anxious about your cultivation, the three of us discussed it. You’ve been at the third level of Qi Refining for nearly five years, and your cultivation is already well-polished. We decided that all the spirit stones from selling the monster materials should go to you."

"I even added a little bit more myself. It should be enough for you to break through. I hope you can reach the mid-stage of Qi Refining soon so you can contribute more when we go out hunting next time."

"Don't overthink it. Your eldest brother, the fourth, and even I—when we were breaking through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, we all received help from our elders and brothers in the clan to varying degrees. This is an old tradition of our Song family."

Looking at the heavy spirit stones in his hand, Song Qingming couldn't help but feel moved. Although he had almost saved enough spirit stones for his breakthrough, this sudden, heavy show of affection from his elders and brothers left him at a loss. Words of gratitude reached his lips but he didn't know how to express them, so he could only nod, put away the spirit stones, and pick up the cup on the table to drain it in one gulp.

"Qingming, Thirteenth Uncle’s aptitude is average, and I’m not as obsessed with cultivation as I used to be. Like other brothers, I might find it very difficult to reach the late stage of Qi Refining in this lifetime. I may have to rely on you all to look after me in the future."

"Thirteenth Uncle, don't joke. With your current cultivation, breaking through to the late stage of Qi Refining is only a matter of time. We’ll still have to rely on you to look after us."

"Then I’ll take your word for it."

The two smiled at each other and continued to drink and chat about past hunting experiences until the sun rose in the east, at which point they left the Moon-Gazing Pavilion, reeking of alcohol.

After parting ways with Song Changxiong, Song Qingming returned to his cave dwelling. He meditated for a while to dispel the alcohol from his body, then cast a low-tier "Rainfall Spell" to wash up and changed into clean clothes.

After sniffing to confirm there was no scent of alcohol left on him, Song Qingming took out the spirit stones he had treasured for years and walked quickly out of the cave toward the summit of Funiu Mountain.

On the east side of the Funiu Mountain summit, there was an area shrouded in clouds and mist all year round—a rather mysterious place for the Song family.

Song Qingming walked into the center of the mist and formed a hand seal with one hand. A beam of white light flew from his hand and struck an empty space ahead. Soon, the mist around him fluctuated and gradually dissipated, revealing an exquisite three-story building not far away. Song Qingming walked to the door and pushed it open.

The space inside the building wasn't very large. On the first floor, several rows of black shelves were placed against the walls, simply holding some cyan jade slips, with a long table in the middle.

An elderly man with a glowing, ruddy complexion stood by the table, squinting and smiling at Song Qingming as he entered. This man was the Fourth Elder of the Song family, Song Gucai, who guarded the family’s Treasury Building.

"Greetings, Fourth Elder." Seeing him, Song Qingming quickly bowed with his hands forward.

"Oh, it’s Qingming. Are you here to take on a family mission, or are you looking for some cultivation techniques again?" Song Gucai stroked his beard and asked with a smile.

"Hehe, you know me best, Elder. But this time I’m here to exchange for a Qi Gathering Pill. Could you see if these spirit stones are enough?" Song Qingming replied with a smile, carefully taking a bag from his robe and handing it over.

Song Gucai slowly took the bag, opened it, and saw nearly a hundred spirit stones neatly arranged inside. A moment later, his half-squinted eyes opened wide, and he looked at Song Qingming with surprise.

"Eh? Didn't you say last month that you were still short twenty spirit stones? How did you manage to gather them so quickly? Tell me honestly, where did you get these spirit stones?" After carefully confirming the number of stones in the bag, Song Gucai asked.

"Thirteenth Uncle, my eldest brother, and the others lent me some, so I was able to gather enough," Song Qingming, who was watching him nervously, said truthfully.

Hearing this, Song Gucai nodded with satisfaction. He signaled for Song Qingming to wait on the first floor, then turned and retrieved a small, antique yellow box from the second floor.

"You still have fifteen merit points in the merit book. Plus the eighty-five spirit stones you brought, it’s just enough. Are you sure you want to exchange for the Qi Gathering Pill? I’ll have to deduct your merit points."

"Yes, please, thank you."

Hearing Song Qingming’s confirmation, Song Gucai picked up a brush and made a few marks in the merit book before handing the small box on the table to Song Qingming.

Although the Song family was only a small Qi Refining clan, they had a strict merit system. Family members could earn merit points by completing various tasks issued by the family or by handing over materials the family needed.

They could then use these merit points or equivalent spirit stones to exchange for various cultivation techniques, pills, artifacts, and other items in the Treasury Building. One merit point was equivalent to one spirit stone.

Although the variety and quantity of items in the Song family’s Treasury Building were not as complete as those in the market, they generally had the commonly used first-tier spirit talismans and pills.

Some of these items were made by family members themselves, while others were purchased from Qinghe Market. The Song family arranged for personnel to go to Qinghe Market every month to uniformly purchase cultivation supplies needed by the family members.

Song Qingming took the box and opened it to see a golden, round pill inside—the "Qi Gathering Pill" he had dreamed of. Overwhelmed with excitement, he quickly bowed to Song Gucai to express his gratitude.

"Qingming, the fact that people in the family stepped up to help you today is because we share the same bloodline. In the future, you must also be united with your family members and support one another," Song Gucai instructed the younger family member with a serious expression.

"Thank you for your teachings, Fourth Elder. Qingming understands."

"The path of cultivation is not just about talent and diligence; it also depends on the opportunities we encounter in our lives. I have spent my whole life holed up in this small Qinghe County. By being cautious, I have managed to survive, but I have never found a shred of opportunity, and I can only waste my life in this Qi Refining stage."

"If you ever have the chance, you must go out and see the vast sky outside. Perhaps you will find the opportunity that belongs to you."

Song Qingming nodded thoughtfully. When he was young, he often heard this Eighth Great-Uncle say these encouraging words in the family school. Now, it seemed he had heard them so often that he no longer felt the excitement of his youth. He had long since deeply realized how difficult the path of cultivation was.

With mediocre aptitude, even a bottleneck at the fourth level of Qi Refining had left him helpless for nearly two years. If opportunities in the cultivation world were so easy to come by, there wouldn't be so many cultivators ending their lives in the Qi Refining stage.

In over two hundred years, the entire Song family had produced only fifty or sixty cultivators. Apart from the founding ancestor who was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, there were only a handful of people in the last two hundred years who had successfully reached the ninth level of Qi Refining.