Youth Must Be Seized Early, For Who Can Remain Young Forever — Chapter One Hundred Three: Experiencing the Breath Circulation Array

Seeing Zhang Zhiyan secure a place on the Top Ten Beauties of Lizhou list, Bai Qingzhou felt complicated—half pleased, half irritated.

"Who painted that portrait? It doesn't do her justice at all!" Bai Qingzhou grumbled.

Both the Prodigy List and the Beauty List came with accompanying portraits.

In Zhang Zhiyan's portrait, she held a long sword, breathtakingly beautiful, her eyes clear as mountain springs, radiating dashing heroism. The background appeared to be the scene of the great battle at Dragon-Tiger Mountain.

Heaven knew who had secretly painted it.

The thought that countless others would be able to gaze upon that portrait made Bai Qingzhou restless. He snapped the booklet shut and rose to his feet.

Out of sight, out of mind.

He walked slowly to the Intermediate Breath-Refining Formation set up in the room.

"Stop thinking about it. Cultivation matters more."

Bai Qingzhou sat cross-legged at the center of the formation. With a thought, a pill appeared in his hand.

[Qi-Refining Pill]

He tossed it into his mouth, then sank his qi to his dantian, formed hand seals, and began to circulate his technique.

Ever since the war ended, Bai Qingzhou's fortunes had improved considerably. His storage pouch was always stocked with various pills.

Qi-Refining Pills, priced at two low-grade spirit stones on the market, were now something he popped casually into his mouth without a hint of reluctance.

Once ingested, the pill quickly dissolved into pure spiritual qi, merging with the qi already in his body and forming a mighty river of qi that surged toward his mind.

Cultivation at the late Qi-Refining stage—beginning from the seventh level—required opening new spaces within the mind.

Expanding the sea of consciousness.

Once every part of the mind had been fully developed, one would reach the peak of the late Qi-Refining stage.

Each day, one injected spiritual qi to slowly develop it.

It was a difficult and tedious process.

"Hmm..." Feeling a cultivation speed twice as fast as usual, Bai Qingzhou nodded inwardly.

He understood that this double speed was due to the Intermediate Breath-Refining Formation, which allowed one to absorb spiritual qi more quickly.

"This way, my cultivation speed can be three times faster than normal!"

"Too bad... it's too expensive!"

As his cultivation advanced, the Qi-Refining Pill's effectiveness continued to diminish. In the early Qi-Refining stage, taking one pill could replace a dozen sessions of meditation, but now it only counted for two.

With the Qi-Refining Pill combined with the Intermediate Breath-Refining Formation, his cultivation speed could triple, but the cost was nearly three low-grade spirit stones.

Too expensive.

That was a whole day's profit from the beast meat shop...

Truly, the four essentials of cultivation were wealth, companions, methods, and grounds.

"Wealth" ranked first.

Bai Qingzhou sighed with feeling.

His body continuously absorbed the surrounding spiritual qi, which—after passing through the filtration of his skin and dantian—flowed slowly into his mind.

Ceaselessly opening new regions in his brain.

With the formation's help, Bai Qingzhou's cultivation speed gradually increased.

Time flowed swiftly.

Soon, he ended his meditation.

He slowly opened his eyes, and a wave of soreness spread through his body.

The price of accelerated cultivation speed was greater physical exhaustion, as if he had just engaged in strenuous exercise. It was unavoidable.

Rolling his shoulders, Bai Qingzhou stood up and walked toward the bucket of clean water in the room.

He removed his long robe and clothes, then slowly stepped into the medicinal tub.

The moment he entered, he couldn't help but let out a moan—it was simply too comfortable.

Immersed in the tub, it felt as if countless tiny fish were gently nibbling at his skin, sending a tingling, numbing sensation through him as the fatigue quickly faded away.

The medicinal water continuously repaired the sore body caused by meditation.

"So this is a medicinal bath. The rich really know how to enjoy themselves..." Bai Qingzhou sighed.

Once his body had returned to normal, Bai Qingzhou rose again, dressed, and walked back to the formation to continue cultivating...

Back and forth, not wanting to waste a single spirit stone of the room's nightly fee.

The next day.

Bai Qingzhou, full of energy, left the inn and headed toward the beast meat shop.

There were noticeably fewer pedestrians on the road, no longer as crowded as before.

As he walked, some acquainted cultivators greeted him.

Bai Qingzhou responded to each in turn.

Before long—

He reached the entrance of the beast meat shop.

"Oh, Manager Bai! Long time no see!" A greeting suddenly rang out.

Bai Qingzhou followed the voice and saw two people standing ahead—a man and a woman.

"Daoist Zhang, Daoist Peng, greetings." Bai Qingzhou cupped his hands and bowed.

The two were none other than the "Black Ape Twin Fiends," the married couple Zhang Yao and Peng Peng.

Bai Qingzhou asked, "Are the two of you here today to trade beast meat?"

"Yes, we just got back. We were lucky—we hunted a black ape beast weighing nearly four hundred catties." Zhang Yao laughed.

"The two of you work together with perfect harmony—truly a match made in heaven." Bai Qingzhou teased.

"Ah! You flatter us, Daoist." Zhang Yao waved his hands hurriedly, looking embarrassed.

"By the way, Daoist Bai," Peng Peng suddenly spoke up from the side. "I heard you were ambushed by someone in the wild last time and badly injured. Are you all right?"

"Don't worry, it wasn't too serious. Aren't I back now?" Bai Qingzhou spread his hands.

"So you're taking over the beast meat shop again?"

"No," Bai Qingzhou shook his head and smiled. "I'm leaving this shop in the care of my fellow disciple. I'm going to open another one in Shuiying Market."

"Opening another one?!" Zhang Yao gave a thumbs up and praised, "Daoist, you're truly a prodigy!"

"Not at all, not at all..."

"I still remember clearly how brilliantly you performed in the arena match last time." Peng Peng chuckled.

"Haha, you're too kind. If you two ever pass by Shuiying Market, feel free to come find me."

"Great! That's all we needed to hear, Manager Bai."

The three stood there exchanging pleasantries, chatting for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense before they parted ways.

Bai Qingzhou stepped into the beast meat shop and found Ruan Xiuqi and Old Luo busily working, with Luo Xiaoyin assisting on the side—a lively scene.

"Xiuqi." Bai Qingzhou called softly.

"Brother Bai, you're here." Ruan Xiuqi stood up, wiped his hands, and looked at Bai Qingzhou.

"Come on, I'll take you to meet Manager Zheng."

"Great!" Ruan Xiuqi responded eagerly, but then looked at his rumpled clothes and said, "Maybe... I should change first?"

Bai Qingzhou waved his hand and laughed. "No need. Manager Zheng isn't one to stand on ceremony."

"Alright then."

After greeting Old Luo, the two left the shop, and Bai Qingzhou led him toward the Shennong Association.

"By the way, I plan to head to Shuiying Market today, so I wanted to say goodbye to you too." On the way, Bai Qingzhou said softly.

"Ah? So soon?" Ruan Xiuqi said in surprise.

"Yes," Bai Qingzhou nodded slightly and continued, "Luogu Market's business is already on the right track, not much need for me to interfere. Besides, with you here, I'm at ease."

"Heh heh!" Ruan Xiuqi rubbed his head, a little shy. "But I don't know if I can do it well."

"There's nothing difficult about it. It's mainly about the herbs and the meat shop. The herbs are delivered twice a year, so all you need to do is run the beast meat shop well."

Ruan Xiuqi nodded earnestly. "I understand..."

"As for what to watch out for, there are just a few points about running the meat shop. Nothing hard. Let me explain it to you in detail..."

"..."

Before long, they arrived at the Shennong Association and met Zheng Sizhong.

Bai Qingzhou introduced the two to each other and explained to Zheng Sizhong that from now on, Ruan Xiuqi would be in charge of the Luogu Market affairs.

"Your sect truly produces talented people in abundance. In just a few years, you've changed several managers." Zheng Sizhong teased.

At that, Bai Qingzhou and Ruan Xiuqi could only force awkward smiles before turning the conversation back to business.

"Manager Zheng, this time our Senior Sister Yao has cultivated quite a number of herbs..." Bai Qingzhou waved his right hand, and many dark shadows flew out of his storage pouch—one after another, stalks of herbs.

"Three hundred and sixty stalks of Cassia Needle Grass and Summer Grain Grass, seven hundred and ten in total. Please check them, Manager Zheng." Bai Qingzhou said to Zheng Sizhong with a smile, gesturing at the herbs.

Zheng Sizhong was overjoyed. "Even more than last time!" He immediately began to inspect them.

There was naturally no problem with the quantity. Soon, the transaction was concluded. Bai Qingzhou successfully received thirty-eight low-grade spirit stones, then walked out of the shop with Ruan Xiuqi.

They headed out of the market.

"Let me go over the points to note with you..." Bai Qingzhou stopped at the entrance of the market and continued talking with Ruan Xiuqi.

After half an hour of conversation, Bai Qingzhou laid out everything: the matters to note regarding the beast meat shop, the prices of various beast meats, the temperament of rogue cultivators, the market's factions, and so on.

Only when he was sure Ruan Xiuqi had understood everything did Bai Qingzhou breathe a sigh of relief and nod.

"Then please say goodbye to Old Luo and Xiaoyin for me. Once I've settled matters in the two markets, I'll come back here." Bai Qingzhou smiled.

"Brother Bai, don't worry!" Ruan Xiuqi answered readily.

"Good! I'm off!"

With that, Bai Qingzhou activated his artifact and flew off in the direction of Luogu Ferry.