Banshee Family Training Record

Page 6

At this moment, her phoenix eyes were fixed on him. Yun Chu'an dared not be negligent and cupped his hands, saying, "Greetings, Fourth Sister."

Zhu Yunqing asked softly, "Where are you going?"

Yun Chu'an explained the situation to Zhu Yunqing, who then understood: "I see. I forgot that you haven't started fasting yet, and I haven't arranged any food for you. This is my fault."

She paused for a moment, then reached into her wide sleeve, took out a white pill, and handed it to him: "Eat this first to fill your stomach for now. Starting tomorrow, someone will come up the mountain to deliver meals to you."

As she spoke, she flicked her finger, and the pill formed a parabola, landing steadily in Yun Chu'an's hand.

Yun Chu'an was filled with doubt and apprehension, thinking that since she was a spider, this pill probably wasn't anything good. But Zhu Yunqing was just looking at him like that, and knowing he couldn't refuse, he immediately beamed with joy, said "Thank you, Fourth Sister," steeled his heart, and then swallowed the pill whole.

Then he saw Zhu Yunqing roll her eyes: "Eat slowly, you don't even chew properly."

She spoke with a hint of disdain, but didn't dwell on the matter. Seeing that he had eaten, she continued, "Our mountain temple is small and doesn't support idlers. You got up quite early, which is quite diligent. In the path of cultivation, it's not the lack of talent or a low starting point that's to be feared, but laziness, complacency, and self-righteousness."

With that, she turned and walked ahead, saying, "Come with me."

Yun Chu'an responded and walked behind. He swallowed the pill and initially didn't feel anything, but soon, a feeling of fullness appeared out of nowhere. At the same time, his body warmed up, and his limbs and bones gradually heated up, giving him strength. The effect was almost as good as eating two pounds of cooked beef.

Curious, he hesitated for a moment before asking, "Fourth Sister, what kind of divine food did you just eat with me?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunqing's lips curled up slightly: "It is the Five Grains Pill, which is made by extracting the essence of five grains. Swallowing one pill is like eating a hundred pounds of grain, which can meet the food needs of a week."

“After you eat this one, you will no longer need to go up the mountain to search for wild fruits. Later, someone will come to deliver food to you. So unless necessary, do not leave this town. There are many poisonous insects and ferocious beasts in this mountain, and they have strange methods. Your magic power is weak and your methods are limited. If you are tricked by them, you will have a lot of trouble.”

Her earnest advice was truly like that of a caring elder sister imparting her experience to a younger member of the family. Yun Chu'an was half-convinced, but that didn't stop him from putting on a grateful expression and nodding repeatedly to show that he had taken it to heart.

Zhu Yunqing nodded slightly, quite satisfied with his attitude. She led the way, heading towards the side of the town, and soon they arrived at a poplar grove.

In the middle of the woods was a circular clearing with many pebbles arranged neatly on the ground. They seemed random, but after a closer look, Yun Chuan discovered that the pebbles were all specially carved and had a lot of meaning behind them.

In the center of this open space is a circular stone platform, on which sits a perfectly square white stone, which looks quite out of place and out of place with its surroundings.

Upon seeing this place, Yun Chu'an blinked, and then the system's voice rang in his mind: "Ding, family property 'Spirit Gathering Stone Array' has been discovered."

Chapter 9 Spiritual Stone

Spirit Gathering Stone Array?

What is this place?

Yun Chu'an's expression shifted slightly, but he remained calm as he watched Zhu Yunqing walk into the open space. At the same time, he instructed him, "Follow my footsteps and don't move around. If you damage the formation here, the losses will be immeasurable."

Yun Chu'an responded and carefully followed behind her, not daring to make a single wrong step.

Fortunately, now that he has become a cultivator, his agility and balance are even better than the best gymnasts, so he naturally made his way to the end without any surprises, to the round table.

"Do you know what this is?" Zhu Yunqing reached out, her slender white fingers pinching the white square stone.

Yun Chu'an lowered his head: "I'm ashamed, I didn't know."

“This is called a spirit stone. It contains a massive amount of spiritual energy that can help you cultivate.” Zhu Yunqing placed the stone in front of him. “Especially for cultivators whose spiritual roots are of low quality and who cannot gather a high density of spiritual energy at the same time to break through to a higher realm, the high density of spiritual energy naturally contained in this thing can help you break through at crucial moments.”

Yun Chu'an's eyes lit up as he stared at the spirit stone in front of him, but his mind was elsewhere.

Oh, so the thing the system mentioned for building family property buildings is actually just this little thing?

Seeing his reaction, Zhu Yunqing smiled slightly and continued, "Of course, even if it's not a crucial point for breaking through a realm, this thing can be used to accelerate cultivation or assist in refining pills and magic weapons. However, only aristocratic families can afford to spend so extravagantly. Small families like ours can't afford such luxuries."

"However, for this reason, cultivators generally do not use worldly things such as gold, silver, and copper coins, but instead use spirit stones as currency to exchange for what they need."

She explained, then suddenly handed him the spirit stone. Yun Chu'an, looking incredulous, took the stone and asked, "This... you're giving it to me?"

“Of course,” Zhu Yunqing said. “Circulate your cultivation technique, just like you absorb spiritual energy from the surroundings, and absorb the spiritual energy in this stone.”

Yun Chu'an's face lit up with joy: "Thank you, Fourth Sister."

As he spoke, he silently recited the mantra of the Pure Yang Technique, inhaling the surrounding energy. Soon, he felt a pure, powerful, and unparalleled spiritual force flowing into his body, instantly making his entire body excited and hot. His skin even broke out in a slight sweat, and his spirit became more and more excited.

He could feel the vortex in his dantian gradually growing stronger, even faster than when he and Qi Qiao were cultivating together.

Zhu Yunqing didn't care about his actions and continued, "No need to thank me. You'll be busy from now on. I'll teach you a mantra, and your job here will be to preside over the magic array and produce spirit stones for the family."

"Considering this is your first time doing this, if you can successfully make ten spirit stones today, you will pass the test."

As she spoke, she flicked her sleeve and took out a pile of standard cube-shaped white stones from under the table. However, these stones were noticeably duller in color, unlike the one Zhu Yunqing had just placed in Yun Chuan's hand, which was crystal clear and pure white, and one could tell at a glance that it was full of spiritual energy.

Just then, the spiritual energy in the spirit stone in Yun Chu'an's hand was also drained, and the color of the entire stone's surface returned to its dull and lackluster state. His rapid progress in cultivation was interrupted, and he couldn't help but click his tongue in regret.

This thing can indeed make him stronger quickly, but unfortunately, one spirit stone is still too little.

Zhu Yunqing took back the empty stone that had been drained from his hand and placed it together with the one in her own hand.

“If you are truly gifted enough to fill all of these, then the rest will be yours,” she said. “Now, I will pass on the incantation to you, so listen carefully.”

Yun Chu'an dared not be negligent, holding his breath and listening attentively. Although Zhu Yunqing was a Foundation Establishment cultivator whose cultivation level far exceeded his, she was very patient in teaching him, almost meticulously instructing him, without the slightest disdain for him being a cultivator with a low cultivation level, wasting her precious Foundation Establishment stage time.

Fortunately, Yun Chu'an did not disappoint her. As someone who was good at taking exams in his previous life, he was undoubtedly a master at memorizing things. He memorized the material according to her instructions and quickly learned it completely.

Everything went very smoothly. An hour later, with Zhu Yunqing's assistance, he filled an empty spirit stone with spiritual power, and sealed it well so that it would not leak or deteriorate.

Looking at the pure white stone in his hand, which was as clear as jade, Zhu Yunqing showed a slightly surprised expression and looked at him with disbelief: "You did a good job, even a little too well. It seems that ten spirit stones are not a problem for you. How about we increase today's task to fifteen?"

Yun Chu'an cursed the heartless slave owner in his heart, then said modestly, "It was just luck. I owe it to Fourth Sister's help. If I had to do it myself, I don't know how many mistakes would have occurred."

Zhu Yunqing said, "You don't need to be modest. If you know how to do this, you know how. The rest is just a matter of speeding up."

"Alright, this spirit stone is yours. You still need fourteen more to reach your goal for today."

As she spoke, she reached out and gently patted his shoulder: "Keep it up, I'll come and check it out tonight."

After saying this, Zhu Yunqing turned and left. She moved very quickly, her body turning into a green afterimage, disappearing in an instant.

Yun Chu'an secretly grumbled to himself, thinking that he should have just taken a defensive stance and slacked off, lest this guy realize his strong productivity and then try to squeeze every last drop of value out of him.

However, even though he said that, he wouldn't neglect his duties. After all, Zhu Yunqing had said that he could use the extra spirit stones, and if he worked hard, he might actually be able to save quite a few for himself.

So he began, standing beside the stone table, chanting incantations and making hand seals, drawing upon the rich spiritual energy around him to create spirit stones.

As he himself said, without Zhu Yunqing's assistance, his speed in creating spirit stones was significantly slower. Another hour passed before he finally filled the second spirit stone with spiritual energy, making it full and crystalline.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, he felt a surge of confidence. Although the process had taken quite a while, it was due to his inexperience and numerous basic mistakes. If he could avoid those mistakes in the future, he would surely save a significant amount of time.

Thinking this, he picked up the third ethereal stone, preparing to infuse it with spiritual power. However, just as his hand touched the stone, the system's voice suddenly rang out in his mind: "Ding, the host has fully mastered the cultivation technique: low-grade spirit stone manufacturing."

Crafting with low-grade spirit stones?

Are there also high-grade spirit stones?

The moment the system notification sounded, he couldn't help but feel his mind wander. But before he could indulge in his fantasies for long, another system notification sounded: "Detected that the host has entered the family's 'Spirit Gathering Stone Array' and has mastered the relevant cultivation techniques. Activate the automatic production function?"

Automated production?

Curious, he whispered, "Activate."

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding spiritual energy began to stir. Yun Chu'an's hands also started to move automatically, chanting incantations and hand seals towards the spirit stone in front of him, guiding spiritual power and injecting it into it.

However, he soon realized with embarrassment that his hands were replicating his previous actions, including his mistakes, one-to-one. Clearly, the system's intelligence was limited; it could only replicate his previous actions and could not optimize his skills.

At this rate, he can only fill one spirit stone per hour, and by nightfall he won't be able to complete the task his fourth sister gave him!

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" he hurriedly called for a halt, and the crafting process was interrupted. The ethereal stone fell onto the stone table, but Yun Chu'an was not discouraged at all; instead, he was filled with excitement.

If that's the case, if I concentrate fully and shorten the time to the minimum, wouldn't I be able to perfectly replicate the most efficient movements every time in the future?

Okay, let's do it!

Although he had already worked for two hours, he was now filled with excitement and enthusiasm upon discovering the new function of the system, his greatest cheat. He picked up another spirit stone, focused intently, and silently chanted incantations, determined not to overlook any detail in order to optimize this process.

He avoided many mistakes this time, and the third spirit stone only took him forty minutes to fully charge. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he felt that the time could be reduced even further!

Time passed slowly, and the fourth and fifth spirit stones were gradually produced. As the sun climbed to its zenith, by noon, his movements were perfect, and the sixth spirit stone was successfully filled in just twenty minutes!

The efficiency is more than three times that of before!

"what……"

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Yun Chu'an was exhausted, but his mood was quite excited. He had almost reached his limit, and there was not much room for improvement in this routine.

Even if I could, given my current state of physical and mental exhaustion, I probably wouldn't be able to do it. If I forced myself to continue, I probably wouldn't be able to achieve the same level of efficiency.

Then, you can leave everything to the system!

"System!" he whispered, "Activate automatic production!"

The author says:

Author's Note: I made a small change to the fourth sister's name because everyone said the previous name was too corny o(╥﹏╥)o

Chapter 10 Automated Production

As soon as these words were spoken, the system began to work.

Yun Chu'an's body moved on its own, mobilizing the surrounding spiritual energy to infuse the ethereal stone in front of him with it. Every movement he made was so perfect, as if he were not a novice who had just learned this technique, but rather a master who had been immersed in this art for decades!

If this were his previous life, he would definitely have been given the title of "Spirit Stone Manufacturing Immortal"!

Yun Chuan squinted his eyes. With the help of the system's functions, he could be freed from heavy, mechanical repetitive work, take a break, and put his energy into something more useful!

But for now, let's rest!

At that moment, he emptied his mind, stopped thinking, and let his fingers move on their own. The spiritual energy circulated automatically, filling the ethereal stone in his hand.

Time passed second by second, maintaining an efficiency of producing one stone every twenty minutes, and the spirit stones full of spiritual energy beside him piled up rapidly.

The sun was at its zenith, then rapidly shifted westward. By the time the sun's color turned orange-yellow, it had already filled thirty spirit stones.

It is twice the amount Zhu Yunqing requested.

By this time, Yun Chu'an's energy had almost fully recovered. He interrupted the system's automatic production, fiddled with the spirit stone in his hand, and pondered silently.

No, being too outstanding is probably a sin. If Zhu Yunqing knew I had such abilities, she would definitely exploit me even more.

Therefore, I should spend some of my spirit stones here, and then pretend that I have done my best, so that I can win more freedom and breathing room for my future.

Thinking this, he sat down on the spot, crossed his legs and meditated. At the same time, he picked up the spirit stone, circulated his cultivation technique, and absorbed the spiritual energy within it into his body to aid his cultivation.

The pure spiritual energy entered his body through his palms, gathered into the spiritual energy circulation within his body, and finally converged in his dantian, making the vortex there even stronger.

After resting for an afternoon, Yun Chuan was full of energy and began sucking on the pearls one after another, unable to stop.

He only stopped cultivating when there were only thirteen spirit stones left on the table, suppressing his desires.

After weighing the options, he felt that leaving these spirit stones here would both impress Zhu Yunqing and make her think he was a promising talent, without satisfying her excessive second-step demands, and also leave him room to maneuver.

So he stopped moving, fiddling with the ethereal stone whose spiritual energy had just been depleted, pretending to be working hard, waiting for her to come over.

Time ticked by, the sun gradually set, and the sky grew darker. He waited another half hour, and in the distance, a green figure appeared, silently landing behind him: "Finished?"

Yun Chu'an, who had been quite relaxed, was startled upon hearing this. He quickly turned around, bowed his head, and murmured, "I'm sorry, Fourth Sister, my skills are lacking. Even after working hard all day, I only managed to accumulate thirteen spirit stones..."

Zhu Yunqing glanced at it, then chuckled and said, "It's already quite good. After all, you're only at the first level of Qi Refining and a beginner. Your energy and proficiency are limited. To be honest, at first, I thought you wouldn't even be able to fill ten spirit stones."

As she spoke, she took out a palm-sized burlap sack from her sleeve and put the thirteen low-grade spirit stones into it. Yun Chu'an looked at it carefully and found that the sack easily contained all the spirit stones, and the sack itself only bulged slightly, as if the space inside was much larger than he had thought.

"This is called a spirit stone bag. It's a type of storage bag specifically used to hold spirit stones." Seeing his curious expression, Zhu Yunqing explained, "Anyone who injects a strand of spiritual energy into it will know exactly how many spirit stones are inside."

After saying that, she stretched out her hand and handed the bag to Yun Chu'an: "Take it."

Upon seeing this, Yun Chu'an was slightly taken aback: "This, for me?"

“That’s right,” Zhu Yunqing said frankly. “You can’t exactly carry those thirteen spirit stones home with your bare hands, can you?”

"No..." Yun Chu'an was at a loss, "The spirit stones inside... are they for me too?"

Zhu Yunqing shook his head: "It's not just for you. Your cultivation level is too low right now. Even if I gave it all to you, you wouldn't be able to absorb it."

“You can use half of it, and give the rest to Qi Qiao. You can use it for her. She has difficulty moving around and faces many difficulties in her cultivation. We and her mother-in-law can't take care of her all day long. Whether she can gradually recover her normal mind in the future depends on you.”

After saying this, she stuffed the spirit stone bag into Yun Chuan's hand, then patted his shoulder: "It's getting late, she should be awake by now. She only has this much time to move around each day, so spend more time with her."

After saying this, she turned and left. Yun Chu'an lowered his head, looking at the spirit stone bag in his hand. For some reason, a feeling of emotion suddenly welled up in his heart.

Zhu Yunqing, the fourth sister in the family...

Can I trust you?

No, no, it's too early to talk about that now.

He didn't say much, lowered his eyes, and simply gripped the spirit stone bag in his hand, pondering his future plans.

After Zhu Yunqing left, Yun Chuan also departed. The Five Grains Pill he had eaten that morning had indeed been effective; he had not felt any hunger yet and therefore did not need to eat. So he did not go anywhere else but returned directly to his residence to find Qi Qiao.

He had a premonition that for a long time to come, he would be living this kind of monotonous life, without the slightest setback.