Reversing the Milky Way

As soon as he emerged from the pool, Yu Qing'an spotted Bai Cheng lying on the ground in the distance. "Hmm? Is this kid slacking off? How can he possibly defeat Zhao Bo within a month like this?"

Thinking this, he slowly approached Bai Cheng, who was lying on the ground. As he got closer to Bai Cheng, he instantly overturned his previous thoughts. He saw that Bai Cheng was covered in blood and was only wearing his underwear, looking extremely disheveled.

Upon seeing that the visitor was Yu Qing'an, Bai Cheng slowly sat up and said, "Uncle Yu, you've arrived. Is it time to go back now?"

Yu Qing'an stepped forward and carefully examined Bai Cheng's body before asking, "Bai Cheng, are you alright?"

Bai Cheng slowly replied, "I'm fine. I'm only able to recover from my injuries by cultivating thanks to the countless Candlelight Grasses here."

After seeing that Bai Cheng was alright, Yu Qing'an said, "It's good that you're okay. Let's go back."

Bai Cheng casually agreed, then jumped into the pool to wash away the bloodstains on his body. After that, he dressed and left the cave with Yu Qing'an.

When he returned, Bai Cheng stared at the Spirit Storage Pearl in Yu Qing'an's hand, and suddenly a question popped into his head. He then asked, "Uncle Yu, I've always had a question."

Upon hearing this, Yu Qing'an was also puzzled as to what the young man wanted to ask: "Hmm? What question?"

At this moment, Bai Cheng raised his question: "I remember that rare quality spirit storage beads need to be injected with spiritual power to operate, right?"

Upon hearing Bai Cheng's question, Yu Qing'an understood his meaning. He then took out a stack of talismans from his bag and said, "These are called Spirit-Attracting Talismans. These talismans contain a certain amount of spiritual power. This spiritual power is created by cultivators at the Qi Condensation Realm or above, who infuse their own spiritual power into them. These talismans do not have any spiritual power attributes; they can only preserve the purest spiritual power. This is the lowest-grade talisman and also the cheapest."

Bai Cheng stared at the talisman in front of him and asked, "Then what's the use of this?"

Yu Qing'an replied, "Of course it's useful. Think about it, some people can't use spiritual power in their entire lives. What about those things that need spiritual power to operate? From small spirit storage beads to large flying magic artifacts, even some stone gates need spiritual power to operate. If ordinary people want to use them, how can they operate them without spiritual power? So some cultivators invented spirit-guiding talismans, which store one-time spiritual power to facilitate the activation of items that need to be operated by spiritual power."

After listening, Bai Cheng pondered and said, "I see. So the Spirit Storage Pearl doesn't require any consumption? Does it continuously release energy after activation, without needing to be replenished?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Qing'an immediately replied, "Of course it's necessary. In fact, the functions of a Spirit Storage Pearl and a Spirit Guiding Talisman are similar. The difference is that a Spirit Guiding Talisman can be activated automatically by simply sticking it on an item that requires spiritual power, while a rare-grade Spirit Storage Pearl requires external stimulation to activate. Moreover, the more powerful its function is, the faster the spiritual power stored inside will be consumed. Once the spiritual power inside the Spirit Storage Pearl is exhausted, a cultivator with the corresponding physique needs to inject spiritual power into it. Other types of spiritual energy cannot be injected. Of course, a fee will also be charged based on the amount of spiritual power injected."

After listening to Yu Qing'an's explanation, Bai Cheng finally understood the function of the Spirit Storage Pearl. To put it simply, it works on the same principle as a rechargeable battery, delivering different power outputs depending on the amount of energy consumed.

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng suddenly remembered what the shop owner had said when he was at the talisman shop: even the lowest-grade Lightness Talisman cost three hundred coins. Could this Spirit Summoning Talisman be even more expensive? With that thought, Bai Cheng hurriedly asked, "Then this Spirit Summoning Talisman must be very expensive, right?"

Yu Qing'an couldn't help but laugh after hearing Bai Cheng's words. "Ha...ha...ha... Expensive, indeed expensive, five hundred coins for ten sheets."

Bai Cheng was also slightly surprised: "Huh? So cheap? But I clearly remember the talisman shop owner saying that the cheapest lightness talisman costs three hundred coins, how come this is so cheap?"

Yu Qing'an explained, "Strictly speaking, the Spirit-Attracting Talisman is not even the lowest-level talisman. After all, its function is only to attract things that require spiritual power to drive, and it has no other function. It cannot even hurt people. The lowest-level talismans on the market all have functions, so the Spirit-Attracting Talisman cannot compare to it."

After listening to Yu Qing'an's explanation, Bai Cheng understood that this spirit-summoning talisman was not even the lowest-level talisman. It seemed that there was still a lot to learn.

After a while, the two came ashore from the woods on the north side of Mirror Moon Lake. By then, the sun was about to set. Bai Cheng looked around and found that this place was the confluence of Mirror Moon Lake and Cloudfall Forest. The terrain was relatively secluded, and they could see many strange animals drinking water by the lake. When these animals saw Bai Cheng and Yu Qing'an come out of the water, they immediately ran away.

Seeing this, Bai Cheng also complained, "Sigh, I thought I could catch some wild game to take back, but it seems it's not that simple."

After hearing Bai Cheng say this, Yu Qing'an couldn't help but say, "Alright, aren't the spiritual plants there much better than wild game?"

Bai Cheng, his face darkening, said, "It is strong, but I dare not eat it. I can only eat a candlelight grass to recover from my injuries. What if I eat something else and my body explodes due to too much spiritual energy?"

After listening, Yu Qing'an knew that Bai Cheng hadn't eaten anything recklessly, so he smiled and said, "It's good that you know." As he spoke, Yu Qing'an noticed that blood was slowly seeping from Bai Cheng's skin. Bai Cheng saw this and hurriedly asked, "Uncle Yu, this has been happening to me before. Every time I finish eating grass, my skin will inexplicably develop blood streaks, but I don't feel anything unusual in my body."

Yu Qing'an stared at Bai Cheng for a moment, then said, "Based on my years of experience, you've probably eaten too much Candlelight Grass. After all, this grass is a major ingredient in Rejuvenation Pills. The ingredients from one mature Candlelight Grass can be refined into several Rejuvenation Pills."

Bai Cheng then asked, "Then why not harvest some to sell and supplement the family income? After all, there's so much there; even if you hauled a cartload a day, you couldn't haul it all away."

“You’re dreaming. Do you know that while Candlelight Grass is a key ingredient in first-grade pills, it’s not easy to find? You should know that before I discovered this place, I found Candlelight Grass in other places, and the most I found in one place was only five or six plants. Moreover, that place had not only Candlelight Grass but also other spiritual herbs.” After saying this, Yu Qing’an put on a solemn expression and said to Bai Cheng, “If this place is discovered by others, we will all be in trouble, and even everyone who knows about it will die. Do you know how important this matter is?”

Bai Cheng naturally understood this principle, but he didn't expect that the ingredients of one Candlelight Grass could be used to refine several Rejuvenation Pills. It seems that he had oversimplified things.

"So you're really comfortable telling me this secret? What if I tell someone else...?" Bai Cheng said this with a nervous expression. He hadn't expected Yu Qing'an to tell him about this secret place.

Upon seeing Bai Cheng's expression, Yu Qing'an smiled slightly: "Heh... don't let my appearance fool you, I'm very good at judging people. Alright, it's getting late, let's hurry back. Ling'er is still waiting at home."

After hearing Yu Qing'an's answer, Bai Cheng's tense expression relaxed, and he replied, "Okay!"

After they finished speaking, the two walked around the forest and came out. When they came out, Yu Qing'an even shot a deer. However, Bai Cheng didn't think much of it. After all, Yu Qing'an was a hunter, so shooting a wild animal was no problem for him.

When Bai Cheng returned, he looked towards Mirror Moon Lake and realized that the road he was on led to the Cloudfall Forest in the north, while the road to Mirror Moon Lake was in the northwest. Considering the importance Yu Qingan had mentioned earlier, he understood that this was all intentional.

When the two arrived at the west gate of Yu Family Village, the guards at the gate greeted Yu Qing with smiles and inquiries. Uncle Yu also responded with a kind smile. Yu Qing knew that these people were Zhao Haiming's spies. The village guards had seen his daily gains and were likely to report on his affairs every day.

If Yu Qing'an were to suddenly discover that he had found a lot of good things, bringing them all back would definitely cause him trouble. So even with the spiritual plants in the cave, Yu Qing'an would only bring out five or six at a time. As for those high-grade spiritual herbs, he generally wouldn't touch them, and would occasionally bring out one or two second-grade spiritual herbs.

After all, even the herb gatherers in the village would occasionally bring back a second-grade spiritual herb, let alone a hunter who spent all his time in the Cloudfall Forest. It was not surprising that he could find some first-grade spiritual herbs.

Bai Cheng naturally noticed what had just happened, but he didn't see much goodwill in the expressions of those people. Instead, there was a professional, fake smile in them. After all, Bai Cheng had seen this kind of expression many times on Blue Star.

Yu Qing'an then went to Huang Hansheng's butcher shop and sold the deer, keeping only a small portion for himself.

Back home, Yueling was sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard. When she saw her father leading Bai Cheng back, she went up to greet him. Then she noticed the faint bloodstains on Bai Cheng's clothes and hurriedly asked, "Brother Bai Cheng, what happened to you? You were just going to cultivate, how did you get injured all over your body?"

Bai Cheng subconsciously looked down and then said, "Hey, I'm not injured, I just have too much blood, it's like my health bar has burst."

"Huh?" Yue Ling looked puzzled when she heard Bai Cheng say that.

When Bai Cheng saw Yue Ling's questioning expression, he said, "Hey, you just need to know that this wasn't caused by an injury."

After hearing Bai Cheng's words, Yue Ling understood: "Oh, I understand now."

At this moment, Yu Qing'an, who was standing to the side, stared at the two of them and said, "Alright, hurry up and go wash up and cook. There's nothing seriously wrong with him."

After hearing Yu Qing'an's words, Bai Cheng thought to himself that he couldn't eat so much Candlelight Grass anymore; it was simply wasteful. One Candlelight Grass could produce several Rejuvenation Pills; even if you were rich, you couldn't afford to squander it like that.

......

After dinner, Bai Cheng saw Yueling practicing her calisthenics routine in the yard. She stood in the center of the yard, fists clenched, body slightly leaning forward, poised to strike. Her movements were fluid and powerful, each punch and kick revealing precision and rigor.

Her breathing was synchronized with her movements, as if each breath was gathering strength for the next action. As her movements quickened, the air in the courtyard seemed to tremble slightly, stirred by the force of her punches.

At this moment, Bai Cheng was standing in the courtyard staring blankly when Yu Qing'an came to his side and said, "This is a body-refining technique specifically for those in the Body Refining Realm. It is mainly practiced in conjunction with the realm of cultivation. The technique has three levels, each corresponding to the early, middle, and late stages of the Body Refining Realm."

After listening to Yu Qing'an's explanation, Bai Cheng asked, "Can I cultivate now?"

"You?" After saying this, Yu Qing'an glanced at Bai Cheng and saw that his eyes were full of disdain.

He then said, "I'm not bragging, but you can't even do half a set of moves right now."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng's competitive spirit was instantly ignited. He refused to believe that there was anything he couldn't do. He then went to Yue Ling's side and began to imitate her with great seriousness.

Upon noticing Bai Cheng beside her, Yue Ling stopped what she was doing and said, "Brother Bai Cheng, practicing like this won't be effective."

Then she took out a body-refining manual from her pocket. When Bai Cheng saw this, he couldn't help but think to himself, "Don't be fooled by Ling'er's tight and shapely figure. I couldn't find any place on her body where she could put things, but she always manages to take things out from unexpected places. Could it be that Ling'er really has something like a four-dimensional pocket on her body?"

Then, Bai Cheng took the Body Refining Manual from Yue Ling and began to read it. On each page of the book, a person was drawn in hasty strokes, and the key points of each movement were marked. These key points did not mean how standard your movements were, but rather that each movement required the power to be concentrated at a certain point. As the movements changed, the parts of the body required to concentrate the power became more and more tricky.

As he turned the pages of the book, he quickly discovered the sets of movements Yue Ling had just performed, marked with six or seven points. After closing the book, he mentally rehearsed the entire sequence of movements.

He then began practicing the first few moves, but before he had even finished a few, Bai Cheng was already covered in sweat. He felt as if these moves were designed to torture one's body, requiring him to use two or even three times the strength of his body for each move.

Finally, after completing the fifth movement, sweat poured down his forehead like a waterfall, dripping onto the ground. His clothes were completely soaked, and the sweat continued to flow, forming small streaks on his body.

At this moment, Yu Qing'an slowly walked over and said, "See? I told you so."

"This... is even more uncomfortable than being under a waterfall, but I'm still going to practice."

After hearing what Bai Cheng said, Yu Qing'an showed a knowing expression and then said, "I knew you would say that."

After saying that, Yu Qing'an tossed a body-refining manual to Bai Cheng, who immediately thanked him.

...........

Meanwhile, in a magnificent courtyard, several village guards were reporting the situation to Zhao Haiming.