“Senior Sister Foster, this cave dwelling, this gift... is too much.” After a long while, Ethan Brooks finally recovered, staring blankly at the center of the stone chamber, where there was something like a spring, with waves of spiritual energy gushing out, swirling with dazzling halos, creating a mesmerizing effect. Who knows how long this energy had accumulated in the stone chamber, so that when the stone door opened, it immediately surged out, entering his nose and mouth and turning into a sweet sensation, invigorating anyone who inhaled it.

“It’s actually a spiritual spring...” Ethan Brooks murmured. Even though he had never seen such a thing before, he had read descriptions of it in the Qi Condensation manual. There are spiritual springs in the world, and these springs are not water, but natural eruption points of spiritual energy. They are rare, mostly occupied by cultivators, and their value is determined by the amount of spiritual energy they emit.

The spiritual spring here was very small, already showing signs of drying up. The spiritual energy it released was only a bit denser than outside, and was not very useful for those above the third or fourth level of Qi Condensation, since after the third level, the amount of spiritual energy required is too great, making its effect minimal.

But even so, Ethan Brooks knew that for him, the value of this place was beyond words, far surpassing a single Drought Spirit Pill. With this discovery, Ethan Brooks was overjoyed.

Without further thought, Ethan Brooks immediately sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to absorb the energy. After several hours, most of the accumulated spiritual energy in the chamber had dissipated, and Ethan Brooks opened his eyes, which now shone brightly.

“Meditating here for just a few hours is equivalent to about a month of regular cultivation. Although this is due to the long-term accumulation of spiritual energy in the stone chamber and won’t be the case in the future, for me, cultivating here is much faster than outside.” Ethan Brooks took a deep breath, his gaze falling on the surrounding walls, where he gradually noticed some markings he couldn’t understand carved all around.

“The reason the spiritual energy here can accumulate without dispersing must be because of these markings. Senior Sister Foster must have used this method to gather spiritual energy for easier absorption all at once.” Ethan Brooks pondered for a moment and made a guess, his expression excited, and he sat down again to continue meditating and absorbing energy.

Soon, the night passed. By the next morning, Ethan Brooks opened his eyes. The spiritual energy in the stone chamber was already thin, but with the spiritual spring present, it would likely become dense again after some time.

Ethan Brooks checked his cultivation and found it was equivalent to nearly two months of practice.

“If I can cultivate like this a few more times, I’ll be able to break through the first level of Qi Condensation and reach the second!” Ethan Brooks took a deep breath, excitement in his heart. He longed to break through to the second level, because only then could he begin to practice the first immortal technique in the Qi Condensation manual.

Thinking of the immortal technique, Ethan Brooks left the stone chamber and carefully closed the stone door as if it were a treasure, waiting for the spiritual energy inside to accumulate again. He had decided to use Senior Sister Foster’s method—not guarding the spiritual spring at all times, but waiting until enough energy had gathered.

Sitting in the cave dwelling, Ethan Brooks rubbed his stomach, thinking that he hadn’t seen Little George for some days, and it had been more than half a month since he’d eaten any wild game, surviving mostly on wild fruits. He thought to himself that after becoming an outer sect disciple, he actually ate less than when he was a servant, unless he had enough spirit stones to exchange for Fasting Pills or Food Pills at the sect’s alchemy hall—pills that were said to keep one full for days with a single dose. Otherwise, he’d have to find his own way to fill his stomach.

After a moment’s thought, Ethan Brooks simply left the cave dwelling. As the breeze brushed past, his figure disappeared into the mountain forest. As he walked, Ethan Brooks habitually took out the bronze mirror from his storage pouch.

By now, he was sure that he had been tricked by that senior brother from the Treasure Pavilion. The mirror was completely useless. He had studied it often over the past half month, but had found nothing special about it.

He played with it in his hand, glancing at it from time to time, but it remained utterly unremarkable.

“It’s a pity about that half piece of spirit stone in my storage pouch. If I’d gone to the Treasure Pavilion to exchange for something else, I’d probably have had to bribe them anyway.” Ethan Brooks reached into his storage pouch, and with a flash of light, took out the half piece of spirit stone, feeling a pang of regret.

As he was walking, Ethan Brooks suddenly stopped, sharply raising his head to look at the forest not far away. A flash of color darted by—not fast. Ethan Brooks’s eyes lit up. With his months of experience catching wild chickens, he recognized it as a wild chicken.

There was no time to carefully put the bronze mirror and spirit stone back into the storage pouch, so Ethan Brooks simply tossed them into his clothes pocket and leapt forward. Ever since spiritual energy had appeared in his body, Ethan Brooks had found himself much more agile than before. Though still thin, he seemed to have gained some explosive strength.

Especially now that his cultivation had reached the first level of Qi Condensation, his speed was even faster. In just a few dozen breaths, Ethan Brooks caught the panicked wild chicken. Once caught by both wings, the chicken would stop flapping.

“I wonder how Little George is doing these days.” Carrying the wild chicken, Ethan Brooks thought of Little George, considering finding him to share some wild game. Just as he turned around, Ethan Brooks suddenly felt something in his clothes pocket heat up.

Immediately after, the wild chicken, which had quieted down after being caught by the wings, suddenly let out a shrill scream and began to struggle violently, with such strength that Ethan Brooks almost couldn’t hold on.

The wild chicken struggled fiercely, its screams piercing. In the midst of its struggle, with a loud pop, its rear end suddenly exploded, blood splattering everywhere.