As they were speaking, the boat suddenly moved. Everyone felt the vessel begin to rise into the sky, and they couldn’t help but walk to the window to look outside.
They saw the great ship gradually ascending into the clouds, with layers of milky white mist swirling around the hull.
The disciples of the Xuantian Sect standing on the deck had their robes fluttering, as if they might soar away with the wind at any moment.
As the ship flew faster and faster, though there was no turbulence, everyone could clearly see the red sun drawing ever closer.
The snow-white sails billowed under the strong wind, and the golden sunlight made the ebony hull shine even more brilliantly.
Atop the twelve masts, pitch-black banners of the Xuantian Sect whipped in the wind, with wild white calligraphy dancing like dragons and snakes.
The clouds ahead were rudely split open by the ship’s prow, forming rolling waves of mist on either side of the hull. The howling wind sounded like the mighty roar of the enormous dragon’s head at the bow.
Everyone was entranced by the sight. Even Yun Miao, who had flown on airplanes before, was stunned by the spectacle, lingering by the window for a long time.
Unfortunately, the wind was just too fierce. Not only did it blow their hair into a frenzy, it also made their faces sting.
Tan Xiaobai quickly rubbed his face and returned to his seat. Yun Miao, who felt no pain, saw the others leaving one after another, so she closed the window and sat back down, reaching for the lacquer tray of pastries.
When she took the Osmanthus Cake at the very top of the pyramid-shaped stack, the Osmanthus Cake directly beneath it was finally revealed.
There was nothing special about this—except that the newly exposed Osmanthus Cake was faintly glowing. This was exactly the collectible marker she had been searching for!
Yun Miao paused, then picked up the glowing Osmanthus Cake with her free left hand, staring at it intently for three seconds.
[Osmanthus Cake]: Contains a small amount of Spirit Qi, effects unknown.
She looked at the non-glowing Osmanthus Cake in her right hand.
[Osmanthus Cake]: Ordinary Osmanthus Cake, can provide a little satiety.
Yun Miao had a guess in her heart. “Wen Dao Three Thousand” is a cultivation game—could it be that all items containing Spirit Qi are considered collectibles here?
She first ate the ordinary Osmanthus Cake in one bite, and as expected, it only increased her satiety.
Then she ate the Osmanthus Cake containing a small amount of Spirit Qi in a single bite. The next second, a system prompt appeared before her eyes.
[Constitution +1]
Wow, it’s a rare, permanent attribute-boosting food!
Yun Miao immediately began rummaging through the lacquer tray, trying to find another one.
Huaxin saw her making a mess of the pastries, crumbs all over her hands, and immediately went to grab her unruly, dirty hands in exasperation.
“Yun Miao, why can’t you just sit still? What are you up to now?”
“I just found something good—strange… why aren’t there any more?”
Yun Miao deftly dodged Huaxin’s grasp, then reached out and dragged Tan Xiaobai’s lacquer tray over to rummage through it as well.
Finally, she triumphantly held up a piece of Plum Blossom Cake and showed it to everyone.
“This is it! Look!”
Tan Xiaobai was puzzled. “It looks no different from the other Plum Blossom Cakes.” Huaxin warned, “Yun Miao, food is for eating, not for playing.”
Yun Miao stuffed the Plum Blossom Cake into her mouth and, cheeks bulging, said, “Of course it’s different. This one contains Spirit Qi.”
[Constitution +1]
“Huh?”
On the lookout platform, the limping Sage Granny glanced over, her wide sleeves billowing in the wild wind.
Her Spiritual Sense had been covering the entire immortal vessel, so she was aware of everyone’s movements on board.
She immediately recognized the little girl who had discovered the secret of the pastries as the same Qingyi Maiden who had embarrassed Tian Laokou not long ago.
Inside the cabin, Yun Miao had already ransacked all the pastries in the room. There were a total of twelve tables, each with three trays of pastries, and in every tray, only one piece contained Spirit Qi.
Excluding the two she had already eaten, there were thirty-four left. Yun Miao piled them all onto one lacquer tray and generously shared them with Huaxin and the others.
“One for Huaxin, one for me, one for Old Guan, one for me, one for Gao Zhu, one for me, one for Tan Xiaobai, one for me, one for me, one for me…”
“Alright, everyone eat up! If it’s not enough, I’ll go grab more from another room later.”
Yun Miao clapped her hands, and the pastry crumbs fell like snow all over Huaxin’s hair and lap as she sat beside her.
Huaxin’s brow twitched, her hand tightening around her teacup, but before she could say anything, an aged, smiling voice suddenly echoed through the room.
“Among those here to become disciples, there are many with deep family backgrounds, already Qi Refining Cultivators who have long since absorbed Qi into their bodies.”
“Who would have thought that the one to come out on top would be you—a mere mortal girl with unopened Purple Mansion and no trace of cultivation? Truly interesting.”
“What you found are all pastries mixed with Jingti Pill powder. Eating them can indeed strengthen the body, but each person can eat at most three—no more. Remember, don’t overeat.”
Yun Miao recognized the voice as that of the limping Sage Granny. She looked around but saw no one, so she tested, “If I eat too many, will I be thrown off the ship?”
Ge Yan: “Not at all. The powder comes from failed batches of Jingti Pills made by the Dan Peak master.”
“Since Baiwei Hall uses only the finest spiritual ingredients, even the failed pills retain some medicinal properties, so they put them to use this way.”
“A small amount is beneficial for you, but eating too much will give you diarrhea. A little girl like you shouldn’t try it lightly.”
Yun Miao muttered, “Just diarrhea…”
As long as she could gain attributes, what was there to fear from a little diarrhea?
The elderly voice paused, then said blandly, “First your belly will rumble, then the floodgates will burst, torrents pouring down like a waterfall, the east wind weakens and all the flowers wither, the whole city covered in golden armor…”
Someone in the room gasped, and Tan Xiaobai and the others all leaned back, quietly distancing themselves from the pastries.
Huaxin pressed down on Yun Miao’s hand, frowning. “Elder, don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on her.”
Yun Miao: “I object! Why am I the only one being watched?”
Huaxin sneered, “Anyone who picks Poison Mushrooms to eat in the middle of the night has no right to object!”
***
[Osmanthus Cake]: Contains a small amount of Spirit Qi. Eating it strengthens the body, but the effect has a limit—up to three times, increasing Constitution by three points.
Yun Miao picked up another Osmanthus Cake.
She wasn’t surprised by the change in the prompt box; she had discovered last night that the information in the prompt seemed to change according to the player’s understanding.
For example, the [Unknown Spider Venom Gland] and [Unknown Spider Silk Gland] in her bundle had automatically updated to [Venom Gland of Ghostback Spider] and [Silk Gland of Ghostback Spider] after Granny Hua’s explanation.
Besides that, the system panel’s encyclopedia—a virtual book called the “Encyclopedia of the Cultivation World”—now had a newly lit-up Ghostback Spider icon.
Clicking it revealed everything Granny Hua had said about the Ghostback Spider.
[Ghostback Spider]: Juvenile… Adult… Adult Female Ghostback Spider…
Yun Miao ate the Osmanthus Cake, successfully raising her Constitution to 83, then reluctantly pushed her mountain of pastries to the others.
After eating, everyone else closed their eyes and tried hard to sense any changes, but only Tan Xiaobai noticed a faint trace of Spirit Qi in his body.
Guan Dahai couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed, but Huaxin calmly explained.
“The first major hurdle for mortals cultivating is Qi Absorption—drawing Spirit Qi into the body to break open the Dantian, thus starting a cycle within oneself.”
“Only then can you transform outside Spirit Qi into usable Qi, stored in the Dantian, which means you’ve broken through to the first level of the Qi Refining Stage.”
“Qi Refining Cultivators, after years of hard training, can break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage, and then, at the center of their brows—the Purple Mansion—condense their Spiritual Sense.”
“That elder just now was probably communicating with us through Transmission via Spiritual Sense.”
“Spiritual Sense is like a cultivator’s third eye. With it, you can see the Spirit Qi inside all things, and witness another layer of this world.”
“So it’s perfectly normal for us to be like this now. On the other hand, for someone like Yun Miao, who can sense changes in outside Spirit Qi before even beginning cultivation, that’s as rare as a phoenix feather or unicorn horn.”
Tan Xiaobai nodded repeatedly.
“Qi Absorption is really tough. Even with guidance from my elders, it took me a whole month just to draw in Qi successfully, and another two months to break open my Dantian and condense a trace of Qi, finally breaking through to the Qi Refining Stage.”
“Honestly, it’s kind of embarrassing. I reached the fourth layer of Qi Refining Stage at sixteen, and back home, everyone always praised my extraordinary talent.”
“Hearing it so much, I couldn’t help but get a bit smug. Now I see, there’s always a higher mountain, always someone better. It’s so true.”
As he spoke, he leaned forward, hands on the table, grinning at Yun Miao with a small tiger tooth showing.
“Even though you’re just a mortal now, Master Yun, I can already see the aura of a hidden expert about you! You’re just like those prodigies in the stories—destined to shock the world and soar to the heavens!”
“If nothing else, a young genius like you—a true favored child of the heavens—will surely be fought over by the Xuantian Sect, the number one sect in the world, to make you their disciple!”
“Master Yun, since fate has brought us together, may I ask if you still need a friend? A good friend—if I ever rise to greatness, I won’t forget you!”