Xiao Fei spent five spirit stones and received a personal letter from his second sister from Lin Da Gou.
In the letter, his second sister told Xiao Fei that she was safe at the Lin family's residence, except that she couldn't go out. The Lin family was also providing her with cultivation resources for free.
Knowing his second sister was safe, Xiao Fei felt relieved. Since the Lin family was investing heavily in her cultivation, they likely wouldn't harm her casually.
However, Xiao Fei's pressure increased. The Lin family had spent a large amount of resources on her cultivation, so the price to redeem her would naturally be higher.
He needed to make money diligently.
The past few days had been a period of harvest for Xiao Fei.
The Qi Awakening Fruit tree he had transplanted into his space had borne fruit again, and it had matured.
Four bright red fruits looked very appealing.
The last time he ate three fruits consecutively, he successfully led Qi into his body, becoming a cultivator, and even broke through from the first level of Qi Refining to the second level.
In the market, such spirit fruits could sell for five spirit stones each, making these four fruits worth twenty spirit stones.
Unfortunately, he hadn't yet found a way to propagate the Qi Awakening Fruit tree. After the fruits were bitten, they turned into juice, and no seeds were found.
Otherwise, he could have planted a large area of Qi Awakening Fruit trees in his space and eaten two every day.
Additionally, the mutated spiritual grain in his space had finally matured.
This spiritual grain plant was twice as tall as ordinary seedlings, with a thick stalk and broad leaves. The ear of grain was nearly two feet long, and the grains were golden and plump, looking extremely desirable.
With only this single mutated spiritual grain plant, Xiao Fei was reluctant to cook it. He peeled a single grain of rice and chewed it slowly.
As the grain was chewed, it released the unique fragrance of rice, filling his mouth. Moreover, a rich spiritual energy emanated from the grain, which was easily absorbed and refined by his body.
What a treasure!
Xiao Fei was reluctant to eat the remaining spiritual grain and sowed it all as seeds.
Due to the tall stature and developed root system of this spiritual grain plant, Xiao Fei deliberately planted them sparsely. Hundreds of seeds were spread across more than half an acre of land.
After planting all the spiritual grain, Xiao Fei was almost exhausted.
The space only contained his divine sense manifested as a body. Having his divine sense perform these farming tasks daily was much more arduous than using a physical body.
However, there was a gain. His divine sense was trained through such labor every day, becoming stronger and more solidified.
At this moment, Xiao Fei sat on his bed, holding a red fruit. He took a gentle bite, and a sweet juice flowed into his mouth, followed by a warm current in his abdomen.
Xiao Fei immediately circulated the "Evergreen Merit" to refine the warm current in his body.
After the spiritual energy from this fruit was completely refined, the three strands of spiritual energy circulating in Xiao Fei's meridians grew much stronger.
Combined with the spirit stones he had absorbed in the previous months, he felt that he could break through again by eating one or two more fruits.
The higher the cultivation level, the more spiritual power was required, and the longer it took.
The total amount of magical power in his body now was at least several times that of his previous second level of Qi Refining.
In the following days, Xiao Fei ate a Qi Awakening Fruit every two days, and his cultivation soared.
Upon eating the third spirit fruit, he finally achieved his goal and broke through from the third level of Qi Refining to the fourth level.
With his cultivation reaching the fourth level of Qi Refining, the magical power in his meridians increased to four strands, and each strand was thicker than at the third level of Qi Refining.
His divine sense strength also more than doubled, allowing him to easily scan areas up to twenty feet away, but still unable to break through the thirty-foot range.
Xiao Fei took out the "Evergreen Merit" he had with him and flipped through it again.
His "Evergreen Merit" could only cultivate to the fourth level; the subsequent techniques were missing.
However, there were still three spells he hadn't successfully cultivated. With his greatly increased cultivation, it was a good time to try practicing them.
The remaining three spells were Giant Strength Technique, Fireball Technique, and Talisman Art.
The Talisman Art required having talismans in hand. They were sold in the market, and they were very expensive, with the cheapest costing five to six spirit stones, and some even costing over ten spirit stones.
When he was at the third level of Qi Refining, he had tried the Giant Strength Technique and the Fireball Technique, but unfortunately, he failed. Now, he could try practicing them again.
First was the Giant Strength Technique. Xiao Fei had long memorized the cultivation incantations. He took a deep breath, shouted, and circulated his magical power to the muscles and bones throughout his body.
Then, the muscles and bones of his body were stimulated by the magical power, rapidly expanding, growing larger, and becoming as hard as iron.
"Riiip!"
"Riiip!"
His muscles expanded and grew, his arms becoming thicker than his thighs, and his clothes were instantly torn apart.
Xiao Fei transformed into a muscular man, feeling filled with power, his blood surging. He had nowhere to vent his strength and wished he could smash his head against a wall.
This state lasted for about fifteen minutes, after which a sense of weakness washed over him. His body shrank again, returning to its original form.
The period of great strength was always fleeting. After the excitement, his body was a bit overdrawn, feeling drained, and everything became dull and tasteless.
Xiao Fei sat on the bed, feeling a great need for some tonic to replenish his body.
His consciousness entered the space. The ginseng he had planted earliest now had about ten years of medicinal age. Moreover, it had absorbed a large amount of spiritual energy in the space, greatly improving its quality.
Xiao Fei pulled out a ginseng plant, changed into new clothes, and walked out of the bedroom. He saw Huang Feifei preparing a meal.
"Feifei, please make a soup with this ginseng."
"Certainly! I just bought a hen."
Huang Feifei's cooking skills were improving. She stewed a pot of chicken soup with the hen and ginseng, which Xiao Fei praised highly.
The ten-year-old ginseng grown in the space contained spiritual energy and was almost like a spiritual medicine. After drinking several bowls of soup, Huang Feifei actually broke through from the first level of Qi Refining to the second level that very night.
The next day, Xiao Fei practiced the Fireball Technique and also succeeded.
However, the visual effect of the Fireball Technique greatly disappointed Xiao Fei.
He mustered all his magical power, and only a small flame was formed in his palm, about the size of a lighter's flame.
However, its power was truly astonishing. Once ignited, it was difficult to extinguish, and it almost burned down the inn run by Green Bean Eyes. Green Bean Eyes severely reprimanded Xiao Fei.
With his current cultivation, using the Fireball Technique also placed a great burden on his body. That night, he had to eat another pot of hen and ginseng soup to recover.
After these two attempts, Xiao Fei had a rough idea of his current limits.
With his fourth level of Qi Refining cultivation, he could only cast these two spells once before exhausting all the magical power in his body.
The magical power in his body was divided into two types: one was the original magical power, which was his cultivation developed through day and night practice, and it could not be used casually.
Once consumed, his cultivation realm would drop, and it would take a long time to cultivate it back.
The other type of magical power was derived magical power, which was derived from the original magical power.
This type of magical power was used for daily combat and casting spells.
Once the derived magical power was used up, it could be quickly restored by supplementing some spiritual energy or through meditation and cultivation.
After his magical power was exhausted twice, Xiao Fei drank some ginseng soup, and his magical power recovered quickly. Moreover, his original magical power even advanced.
However, his casting speed was too slow now. It often took a long time, involving hand seals and incantations, to produce a spell.
At this rate, he would be killed several times before he could even cast a spell.
Practice makes perfect; he needed to practice more in the future.