With her breakthrough to the middle stage of Qi Condensation, Lin Xue was keenly aware of the importance of cultivation resources. Yet, her path remained blocked by scarcity. Pills, spiritual herbs, and tools essential for progress were hoarded by wealthier and more influential disciples. Lin Xue, with no family backing and fragmented roots, had to forge her own way.
She stared longingly at a vial of Spirit Nurturing Pills at the sect marketplace, their price far exceeding her savings. "One of these could stabilize my Qi for weeks," she muttered, clutching the meager pouch of spirit stones she'd earned from odd tasks. The sound of bustling commerce around her only deepened her frustration as wealthier disciples exchanged goods effortlessly.
Her solution was to work tirelessly. She took on every labor-intensive job the sect offered, from tending the spirit herb fields to repairing damaged formation arrays. These tasks were shunned by other disciples, who saw them as beneath their station, but they allowed Lin Xue to earn just enough to scrape by. After weeks of grueling work, she had enough to purchase a single low-grade herb.
"It's not much," she whispered, grinding the herb into a crude paste to ingest during meditation. "But it will have to do."
Her routine became a cycle of relentless labor and cultivation. She rose before dawn to carry water from the Spirit Well, her shoulders aching under the weight of the heavy buckets. The mornings were spent planting and harvesting spirit herbs, her fingers blistered from the work. By afternoon, she was tasked with cleaning the training grounds or scrubbing the floors of the sect's great hall. Only at night, under the faint glow of the moon, could she focus on her cultivation.
Lin Xue's efforts were unrelenting. She rose at dawn, working in the fields under the scorching sun until her back ached and her hands were raw. At night, she practiced her cultivation in the small hut she had been assigned, channeling the meager energy she could muster into stabilizing her Qi. Her peers, however, mocked her approach.
"You'll break your back before you make any real progress," one sneered, laughing as they passed her hauling water to the Spirit Well.
Their ridicule stung, but Lin Xue refused to falter. Her fragmented roots left her no other choice. She learned to stretch every resource to its limit, making even the smallest gain count. Over time, her persistence began to yield results. Her control over her Qi improved, and her techniques became sharper and more precise.
Despite the grueling nature of her efforts, Lin Xue found moments of solace. One evening, while tending the spirit herb fields, she watched the sunset paint the sky in hues of orange and gold.
"Even the heavens change slowly," she murmured. "Perhaps I can, too."
Though progress was slow and hard-won, Lin Xue's determination burned brighter than ever. Every task she completed, every stone she earned, brought her one step closer to the elusive resources she needed to ascend further.