By the banks of a pond at the outskirts of Yunlan Mountain.
Zhou Chun, after counter-killing two Loose Cultivators who had attempted to ambush him, sped away for dozens of miles until his "Red-Beaked Sparrow" confirmed there were no traces of human presence nearby; only then did he stop by this pond to rest and recover.
First, he meditated for over four hours, restoring his mana to its peak condition, and then as usual, he used Purification Spirit Water from his stone jar to cleanse the Evil Qi from his body.
Only after that did he begin to examine his gains from the encounter.
The two Loose Cultivators didn't have much of value on them; aside from a total of thirty-four Spirit Coins, there were only two low-grade first-order Magic Artifacts that were somewhat worth some Spirit Coins.
The rest of their belongings, put together, weren't worth ten Spirit Coins.
With such meager fortunes, no wonder the pair, upon speculating that Zhou Chun was a solitary member of the Zhou Family Cultivators migrating over, became greedy and harbored thoughts of killing for treasure.
Even without counting the priceless stone jar, Zhou Chun himself had one hundred and thirty-five Spirit Coins, two mid-grade first-order Magic Artifacts, and two low-grade first-order Magic Artifacts.
Even his other miscellaneous possessions were worth forty to fifty Spirit Coins combined.
"This is the life of the lowest-ranked Loose Cultivator in the Cultivation World!"
"The Spirit Coins they earn are mostly spent on purchasing time to meditate and cultivate; how could they save any money?"
"It's like those burdened with mortgages and car loans; no matter how hard they work overtime, how much can they really save in their bank accounts?"
Zhou Chun couldn't help but voice his thoughts, filled with emotion.
It also further solidified his decision to return to the Zhou Family.
In this dangerous world of Cultivation, the situation for low-level Cultivators under the protection of an organization versus those without is completely different.
He quickly discerned his direction and headed toward the marketplace he had heard about.
...
At dawn, Zhou Chun sat cross-legged on a mountaintop, engaged in his daily meditation and cultivation.
And as he meditated, with the appearance of the first rays of sunlight from the east and the arrival of the purple qi, he absorbed it into his body and refined it.
A soft "pop" suddenly emanated from within him.
It was another acupoint within his body being forced open.
Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, Purple Mansion, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Divinity Transformation—these are the six known realms of cultivation within the Cultivation World.
During the Qi Refinement Realm, one refines essence to transform it into Qi, drawing the essence of nature from the outside and the vigor from within; merging the two to consolidate mana.
The strength of a Qi Refinement Realm Cultivator's mana is determined by the number of acupoints he has opened up.
The human body has a hundred and eight major acupoints, and with each additional acupoint opened, a Qi Refinement Realm Cultivator's mana becomes more profound.
Furthermore, as the quality and total amount of mana change slightly after every nine acupoints opened, Cultivators divided the Qi Refinement period into twelve levels.
They categorized levels one to four as early Qi Refinement period, five to eight as mid Qi Refinement period, and nine to twelve as late Qi Refinement period.
Zhou Chun was at the sixth level of the Qi Refinement Realm, which placed him among mid-level Qi Refinement Cultivators. Now with a new acupoint opened, he had forty-seven acupoints total.
At the age of twenty-one, having reached the sixth level of the Qi Refinement Realm, Zhou Chun's cultivation speed was quite remarkable.
However, his Spirit Root Aptitude was not outstanding; it was only a mid-grade Spiritual Root.
One could say that at his age, his Cultivation Level truly came from his own efforts, steadily achieved through diligent and hard practice.
Indeed, Zhou Chun was gradually adapting to his new identity.
In his subconscious, he had begun to see himself as Cultivator Zhou Chun, his daily habits and manner of speaking increasingly resembling that of Cultivator Zhou Chun.
At that moment, sensing progress in his Cultivation Level, Zhou Chun felt joy in his heart and immediately continued to operate his Cultivation Technique to absorb nature's spiritual energy from the surroundings, converting it into mana to fill up the newly opened acupoint.
The disciples of the Sanjue Sect predominantly practiced the Five Qi Chaoyang Scripture, a foundational Cultivation Technique suitable for almost all types of Spirit Root Aptitudes.
The mana cultivated from the Five Qi Chaoyang Scripture was moderate and peaceful, with a pure and righteous aura, making it very convenient to switch to any other cultivation technique after reaching Foundation Establishment.
This cultivation technique was not exclusive to the Sanjue Sect, many Cultivation World families and sects would impart this technique as a foundational practice for their disciples.
And the optimal time to cultivate the Five Qi Chaoyang Scripture was at dawn when the morning sun first rose.
At sunrise, as all things revived, nature's spiritual energy was at its most active and most suitable for absorption and refinement under the mingling of Yin and Yang.
From the hours of 5AM to 7AM, cultivating during these two hours was worth four to five hours of practice at any other time.
"This Evil Qi is indeed annoying. No wonder cultivators nowadays, without the protection of a Spirit Cleansing Formation, dare not practise in the wilderness!"
At this moment, Zhou Chun emerged from his meditation, slowly exhaling a breath of white air and couldn't help but frown and grumble.
It turned out that although he could rely on the Purification Spirit Water in the stone jar to expel and purify the Evil Qi within his body, the invasion of Evil Qi during cultivation still continuously caused pain in his meridians and acupoints, and made it difficult to meditate calmly.
He felt nothing like the ethereal pleasure of cultivation that he remembered.
Hence, it was clear that even with the stone jar in hand, Zhou Chun could only cultivate at ease in places protected by a Spirit Cleansing Formation.
After finishing his cultivation session, Zhou Chun stood up to stretch, took out some dry food from his storage pouch to swallow with some water, and also fed a handful of dried fruit, a favorite treat of the "Red-Beaked Sparrow," before continuing on his way to the cultivator marketplace in Lanzhou, Jingguo Country.
There was only one cultivator marketplace in Lanzhou, and that was the Hongya Marketplace.
This cultivator marketplace, located within the central part of the Hongyan Mountain Range in Lanzhou and managed by the major sect Green Lotus Temple from Jingguo Country, was the preferred place for cultivators in Lanzhou to buy and sell resources for cultivation.
At the same time, the entire Hongyan Mountain Range was an extremely dangerous area.
Because the marketplace attracted a congregation of cultivators, many bandit cultivators who made a living from killing and plundering would lurk in the wilderness outside the marketplace, ready to ambush cultivators entering and leaving the marketplace at any time.
Although the marketplace sometimes dispatched patrol teams to inspect the area and strike against these bandit cultivators, it was hard to completely eradicate this issue and ensure such incidents would not occur.
So when Zhou Chun arrived at the periphery of the Hongyan Mountain Range, he became highly vigilant.
No longer did he travel recklessly using the Wind Control Skill, but instead, he moved forward slowly while concealing his aura as much as possible.
The paths he trod were those that the "Red-Beaked Sparrow" had scouted and surveyed repeatedly beforehand.
Even so, he still clutched a "Wood Spirit Shroud" talisman in his hand, ready to activate it at any moment.
In truth, most Qi Refinement Realm cultivators, for the sake of safety, would travel to and from the marketplace in groups.
A Qi Refinement Realm cultivator traveling alone like Zhou Chun was either extremely confident in his own strength,
or as in his current situation, having suddenly arrived in an unfamiliar place, had no trustworthy friends to accompany him.
In this regard, the movement range of Qi Refinement Realm cultivators was restricted; they generally would not easily venture too far from a familiar marketplace, nor would they readily travel to unfamiliar ones.
For two consecutive days, Zhou Chun traveled through the Hongyan Mountain Range, covering a distance of less than a hundred miles.
During this journey of less than a hundred miles, he heard the sounds of cultivators engaging in battles and the booming of spells three times.
Each time the sound arose, it would end quickly, never lasting more than fifteen minutes.
During this period, the "Red-Beaked Sparrow" flying ahead to scout had alerted him seven times, each time causing him intense nervousness, leading him to choose to take detours and avoid any trouble.
With the help of the "Red-Beaked Sparrow's" scouting and his own caution, Zhou Chun finally arrived outside Hongya Marketplace without incident on the afternoon of the third day.
When he saw the marketplace area covered by a misty array ahead, his heart, which had been in his throat, finally settled back into his stomach.
He then recalled the "Red-Beaked Sparrow" that had been on guard in the sky and thanked the little creature with a full heart, saying, "Xiao Hong, Xiao Hong, these past few days you've truly performed a great service. Once we get to the Zhou Family, I'll make sure to take special care of you."
After feeding the little fellow to its fill, he carefully placed it back in his pocket.
Next, just as when he had previously entered Qingyun Valley in Yunlan Mountain, since Zhou Chun had never registered at Hongya Marketplace before, he had to undergo an origin inspection and pay a deposit of five Spirit Coins before he was allowed to enter the marketplace.