The stars turned and the seasons passed.
Ten zhang outside the Quiet Chamber, insects crawled on the ground and a butterfly flapped its wings, landing upon a pistil.
This entire scene was reflected in Bai Zichen's mind, every detail perfectly distinct, just as if he were witnessing it with his own eyes.
It wasn't until a trace of fatigue crept in that he withdrew his Divine Sense.
'Divine Sense is truly wondrous. My three years of painstaking effort weren't wasted after all. It was worth pouring most of my energy into the Divine Casting Technique.'
Over the past three years, through countless cycles of entering meditation and falling into a deep slumber, Bai Zichen had finally managed to fully form the image of the Heaven and Earth Furnace in his Sea of Consciousness.
The moment the Heaven and Earth Furnace was formed, it was as if an acupoint in his Sea of Consciousness had opened, spontaneously giving rise to his Divine Sense.
A photographic memory and the ability to inspect his own body were merely its most basic functions.
He could detect any disturbance, even a blade of grass stirring in the wind, within a ten-zhang radius. With a single sweep of his Divine Sense, he could instantly know the realm of any cultivator below Qi Refining Great Perfection.
Most importantly, among the Foundation Establishment, Essence, Qi, and Spirit Three Gates, he had already overcome the Divine Sense gate—the very one that stumped the most cultivators.
The difficulty of achieving Foundation Establishment had just been cut in half.
'Next, I'll use the image of the Heaven and Earth Furnace in my Sea of Consciousness as a foundation to continuously temper and strengthen my Divine Sense.'
Bai Zichen deactivated the protective Forbidden spell and pushed open the door of the Quiet Chamber.
'The Divine Casting Technique is great, but I can't keep investing so much time in it. At my current Qi Refining Cultivation, it would take years to strengthen my Divine Sense even a little. The return on investment for this cultivation is simply too low.'
'I've spent the last few years sleeping all the time, and my own cultivation has fallen behind. I'll go trade for a batch of elixirs in the next day or two and catch up.'
In three years, Bai Zichen had only consumed the four remaining Qi Replenishing Pills he had, advancing to a Fifth-Layer Qi Refining Cultivation.
As it turned out, his supposedly special constitution was only useful when breaking through bottlenecks.
Without the boost from elixirs, his cultivation speed reverted to the average level for someone with Three Spiritual Roots Talent.
However, this was an easy problem to solve. Bai Zichen's current clan contribution points were more than enough to provide all the resources he needed to cultivate straight to Qi Refining Great Perfection.
'Chubby went off with his father to join a merchant caravan, and Chongwu was assigned a clan mission last month to collect flower nectar. I doubt he's back yet.'
'Since I'm free, I might as well take a trip to the clan's treasury.'
Bai Zichen was beginning to understand why people said cultivators were by nature cold and detached.
Even for Qi Refining Cultivators, as long as they were still set on the Longevity Path, it was normal not to see friends from their own clan for half a year or more. Once their cultivation grew more profound, a single separation could last for years, even decades.
Aside from one's closest relatives, it was indeed difficult for cultivators to develop deep emotional bonds with anyone else.
The Bai Family treasury was situated in the deepest part of Hanxiu Peak. The last time Bai Zichen had come here was six years ago, during the Ghost Spirit Sect invasion, when the clan members had hidden in the treasury and narrowly escaped with their lives.
Looking at the unadorned stone building, Bai Zichen's thoughts drifted back to that day of brutal slaughter, when corpses had littered the landscape.
It was on that very day that the Cultivation Realm of his imagination had its mask of hypocrisy ripped away, revealing the cruelty and bloodshed hidden beneath.
Without the means to protect one's own path, how could one ever walk the Longevity Path?
An old man with a rosy complexion was lounging on a bamboo chair in front of the treasury, a book in his hand. He was so engrossed in his reading that his head swayed from side to side.
"Greetings, senior. This junior, Bai Zichen, has come to exchange for cultivation supplies."
Bai Zichen's Divine Sense swept over him, discovering that the old man was actually at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, a cultivation level comparable to several of the Elders.
However, the flow of Magical Power in his body was stagnant and slow. He probably suffered some irreversible, severe damage to his meridians, which was affecting the normal operation of his cultivation technique.
"So you're Bai Zichen? I've heard your name so often these past few years my ears have practically grown calluses. This is the first time we've actually met, though."
The old man tossed his book aside, sizing him up with great interest.
"Qi Refining Fifth Layer... That cultivation isn't bad. But considering how famous you were a few years ago, it's still a bit slow."
"But you're a patient one, aren't you? You were awarded so many clan contribution points, yet you've never come here once. That little lass, Bai Ling, has already traded all her points for Realm-Breaking Elixirs and Qi Replenishing Pills. I heard she reached the peak of Fifth-Layer Qi Refining a few months ago. There are already people in the clan making sarcastic comments, saying you were just a flash in the pan and that the innate gap in Spiritual Root talent can't be bridged by a bit of Acquired luck."
Bai Zichen gave a wry smile. 'It's not that I'm patient; I was just snared by the Divine Casting Technique.'
'I've been spending twenty days a month in a deep sleep just to recover my spiritual energy. Even if I wanted to use elixirs for refinement, when would I have had the time?'
"A temporary lead is meaningless. Let's just see who breaks through to Late-Stage Qi Refining first."
Bai Zichen was very confident about breaking through the late-stage bottleneck; he had complete faith in his suspected Spirit Body. Even the Naihe Sect's Inheritance Stele had given him a "Top Grade" evaluation.
"Good ambition! Take out your Clan Token and follow me inside."
The old man took out his own Clan Token and channeled a stream of Magical Power into it. The outer Forbidden layer of the treasury dissipated, revealing a man-sized passageway.
Bai Zichen followed suit, pulling his own identity-representing Clan Token from his storage bag. He activated it with Magical Power, and a faint layer of fluorescent light shone, allowing him to enter the treasury smoothly.
"The Patriarch has given the order. You and Bai Ling are to be unrestricted. As long as you have the clan contribution points to afford it, you can trade for anything in this treasury."
With a wave of his hands, the old man caused the cabinets in the treasury to open one by one, revealing their dazzling contents.
Bai Zichen had a clear goal and walked directly toward two rows of cabinets labeled "Elixirs."
'Qi Replenishing Pill, Purple Ginseng Pill, Barrier-Breaking Pill, Purifying Heart Pill, Blood Circulation Pill... The clan really doesn't have a wide variety of elixirs. We have to buy most of them from the Qingfeng Sect's Market, since we don't have our own refining capabilities.'
"Senior, I'll take ten bottles of Qi Replenishing Pills, five bottles of Purple Ginseng Pills, and two bottles of Blood Circulation Pills."
Bai Zichen quickly selected the elixirs he needed. The Qi Replenishing Pills and Purple Ginseng Pills were used to advance one's cultivation during the middle and Late-Stage Qi Refining, respectively. The Blood Circulation Pill was primarily for Body Cultivators, as it could bolster one's vital energy and blood, tempering the physical body.
As for the Barrier-Breaking Pill, he ignored it completely. 'Why would I need an elixir for a trifling Late-Stage Qi Refining bottleneck?'
"You're not getting a bottle of Barrier-Breaking Pills?"
The old man's brow furrowed in confusion.
"But suit yourself. The treasury always has a few bottles of Barrier-Breaking Pills in stock... After you finish ten bottles of Qi Replenishing Pills, you'll be close to the limit of their effectiveness; any more and the benefits will rapidly diminish. But these Purple Ginseng Pills... Are you sure you're not trading for them too early? Even stored in a Jade Bottle, their medicinal potency is only good for ten years at most."
"Please calculate the contribution points, senior," Bai Zichen said with a smile, not answering the question.
"Ai, suit yourself... If I'd had this many clan contribution points when I was young, I could have been willful for once, too! I wouldn't have been trading for one or two pills at a time... Who's like you, taking ten bottles at a time? You're about to clear out the treasury's inventory!"
"Qi Replenishing Pills are one hundred contribution points a bottle, Blood Circulation Pills are fifty, and Purple Ginseng Pills are two hundred. The total is two thousand one hundred contribution points. After the deduction, you have four hundred points remaining."
The old man took Bai Zichen's Clan Token and swiped a hand over it. The number displayed in the fluorescent light jumped, changing to four hundred.
At the same time, he recorded the transaction information into a Jade Scroll to keep the accounts synchronized.
Bai Zichen contentedly placed the huge pile of elixirs into his storage bag. Looking at the now much-emptier elixir shelves, he felt the same satisfying rush as clearing an online shopping cart.
"Senior, I was wondering, how many contribution points would it take to get an Ink Bamboo Sword?"