The Qingyuan Mountains stretched for a thousand li, with strange peaks, steep ridges, and layers of emerald green, nurturing many places of exquisite spiritual beauty.

Amidst the vast mountains and deep valleys, a green mirror of water reflected the sky. Drifting clouds and the ancient trees of the surrounding peaks were captured within, giving it the feel of an otherworldly paradise.

Yet, even this spiritual land was not completely peaceful. From time to time, the rumbling of explosions startled the birds in the forest.

"Damn it, why is the Rock Armor Talisman so much harder than the Water Shield Talisman? Did I buy this Earth-Horn Paper for nothing?" Standing before the wooden table, Gu An tossed the volatile Talisman Paper out the window with quick hands. Hearing a loud boom, he felt deeply frustrated.

He had been at Bluewave Pool for half a month. After using up two dozen sheets of White Wave paper, he had successfully drawn six Water Shield Talismans. His confidence surged. Feeling capable, he decided to draw the Rock Armor Talisman.

But over the past three days, after wasting half a dozen sheets of Earth-Horn Paper, he hadn't managed to draw a single one. This left him puzzled. The difficulty of the two talismans was roughly the same. Even if his primary cultivation relied on a water spiritual root, he should have grasped some of the underlying principles by now. Why did it keep exploding halfway through?

That wasn't right. Something must have gone wrong! Gu An recalled the process of drawing the talisman, his brows furrowing little by little. He went over it again and again, but still couldn't make heads or tails of it.

After a long while, unable to find an answer despite his hard thinking, Gu An sighed.

Forget it. If he couldn't figure it out, he would think about it tomorrow! After all, drawing two Middle Grade spirit talismans a day already left his Divine Sense somewhat fatigued. Continuing to draw in a poor state would only waste Talisman Paper.

Gu An strolled out of the house. The sky was clear, the air fresh, and a gentle breeze blew, making one involuntarily relax.

"Splash, splash!"

The Black Spirit Fish slapped the surface of the water with their tails, trying to catch his attention. Their fish eyes stared fixedly at the Storage Bag at Gu An's waist, unblinking.

In their eyes, Gu An's Storage Bag was a magical thing. It always spit out food when they were hungry, though its quality varied. Most of the time it was bad, spitting out only hard shells; only rarely was it good, spitting out delicious rice.

Gu An couldn't care less about their thoughts. Did they even know their own worth? His precious Clear Spirit Clams hadn't even eaten yet! Why were these Black Spirit Fish crowding over so eagerly?

He took out a handful of Golden Cloud Rice and placed it on the green stone platform. Watching the Clear Spirit Clams stick out their tender pink little tongues to roll up the rice grains one by one, his mood brightened.

The Black Spirit Fish followed Gu An's figure, gathering around the green stone platform, staring at him with empty eyes.

Once the Clear Spirit Clams had eaten most of the Golden Cloud Rice, Gu An got up and walked to the base of the small waterfall. Finding the Blood Moon Eels tangled into a tight ball, the corner of his mouth twitched. He flicked a burst of spiritual power to separate the shameless spirit beasts.

He took out two large handfuls of fish feed-a mix of Golden Cloud Rice and Spirit Bran-and scattered it down. Despite still being somewhat dazed, the several Blood Moon Eels instinctively began to inhale the food like a storm.

A smile spread across Gu An's face. "It's good that you can eat! Eat more and grow more, grow big and breed more-how wonderful!"

This was a win-win situation. The Blood Moon Eels got food, while Gu An got spiritual power, Spirit Stones, and Blood Moon Eel fry. Everyone had a beautiful future.

Meanwhile, the Black Spirit Fish had followed Gu An to the Blood Moon Eels' area, their mouths opening and closing as they swallowed air, trying to remind a certain someone of their existence.

"What's the hurry? Have you never eaten before? You're truly the worst batch I've ever raised," Gu An scolded in annoyance, looking at the dull expressions of the Black Spirit Fish.

It wasn't that he didn't care about the Black Spirit Fish. The bulk of his [Spirit Source Feedback] still came from them; how could he not care?

The main issue was that Black Spirit Fish were just too easy to keep alive. They could survive on spirit rice and Spirit Bran, but they could also survive by gnawing on moss and mud. So wasn't it fine to feed them a bit more casually?

Back at White Mirror Lake, there was a batch of Black Spirit Fish that went unfed for half a month, and didn't they survive just fine?!

Couldn't they learn from their seniors?

If the Black Spirit Fish knew what he was thinking, they would probably spit enough water to drown him: Pah! Does our hard work deserve to be let down? Pah! Answer us!!!

Fortunately, Gu An still had a little bit of a conscience. He took out half a bag of Spirit Bran from his Storage Bag and scattered a portion of it into the water.

Clumps of Spirit Bran hit the water and floated on the surface, forming a brownish film. Beneath the film, small whirlpools formed as the fish sucked the food in. Occasionally, two whirlpools would collide, splashing up droplets of water.

After feeding the spirit fish, Gu An stretched lazily. He brought over a stone stool onto the green stone platform and sat down cross-legged.

It was the height of summer. Sitting next to the Cold-Scale Python egg brought a chill from head to toe, leaving him incredibly comfortable. Although circulating his spiritual power could achieve the exact same effect, he had a free source of cold air right here. Why waste the spiritual power?

Taking out a jade slip and pressing it against his glabella, Gu An carefully pondered the techniques within. Back at the Scripture Pavilion, he had selected three fine-grade techniques. Among them, the Spirit Contract Art needed no further explanation-its requirements were low, and simply knowing how to use it was enough.

The Withered Water Art required him to fuse a poison into it. He planned to wait until the Cold-Scale Python hatched and use its cold poison to practice. This cold poison was taken from the Cold-Scale Python's saliva; its yin-cold properties penetrated to the bone and could stagnate an opponent's spiritual power. Plus, it didn't cost any Spirit Stones.

All the Cold-Scale Python had to do was work a little harder and spit some saliva! It could just drink more water to make up for it!

As for what Gu An held in his hand now, it was the Spell Jade Slip for the Blood-Burning Escape-the technique he valued the most!

In the mundane world of Cultivation, what was the most important thing? Staying alive, of course! Therefore, a good escape technique was paramount!

"Blood as firewood, spiritual power as the spark."

"Vibrate the acupoints, raise the smoke signals."

"Keep the spirit platform clear, quietly guard the Divine Sea."

...

Stream after stream of information poured into Gu An's mind. It was incredibly complex, swelling his head until it felt like it would split open.

After a long while, Gu An slowly opened his eyes, his furrowed brow gradually relaxing. He shook his head, finally recovering his senses from the cultivation essentials of the Blood-Burning Escape.

"Phew, it really is complicated!"

"I need to find a Body Refinement technique to practice. Otherwise, if I flee for twenty or thirty li and my blood and qi burn completely dry, I'll be done for."

After pondering for a long time, Gu An felt he had sorted out the essentials of the Blood-Burning Escape. He slapped a Mind-Calming Talisman onto himself, held his breath in deep concentration, and cautiously began his first attempt.

He sensed the blood and qi within his body, hidden in strands and wisps within his flesh. Slowly, Gu An circulated his spiritual power, driving the blood and qi out of his flesh and forcing it into his Huiyin, Fengshi, and Yongquan acupoints...

But the blood and qi were subtle and agile. The moment he lost focus, they would burrow right back into his flesh and refuse to come out. In the end, less than a tenth of the blood and qi was successfully driven into the acupoints.

Gu An was drenched in sweat, but he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. At least there was some progress. For his very first attempt, managing to escape even half a li was acceptable!

The second step: ignite the blood and qi with spiritual power.

Gu An tentatively sent a strand of spiritual power probing into the acupoint. He teased the blood and qi for a long while, but there was absolutely no reaction.

He was filled with doubt. This is the right way, isn't it? Stimulate the spiritual power within the acupoint to ignite the blood and qi. Why isn't it working?

"I'm not sure. Let's increase the amount and try!"

Suddenly, a muffled bang echoed through his body. Strands of blood mist rose from all over him. The seeping blood evenly dyed his green robes red, making him look utterly miserable.

"Spiritual power... I used too much!!!"

Blood trickled from the corner of Gu An's mouth, his face pale as gold paper. The pain was so intense that the corners of his eyes twitched uncontrollably. Fortunately, he hadn't moved much blood and qi in the first place, or it would have resulted in far more than just bleeding from every pore!!

He had still underestimated the Blood-Burning Escape!