Chapter 4 Nine Levels of Perfection (1/2)

Zhou Donghuang left in the morning after finishing his breakfast which was prepared by the servant girls.

In his previous life, when he had returned to Ziyun and Qingshan Town after leaving Earth, he had found that the place had not changed, but the people he knew were gone.

Because the seal within his body was still there, he could not practice for now. Since he was bored with nothing to do, he decided to go out for a stroll.

What I am seeing is really familiar… Yet it seems like a distant memory.

Strolling along the streets and alleys of Qingshan Town, the shops lining on both sides of the street as well as the small stalls in front of the shops gradually jogged his memories from a thousand years before.

More than nine-tenths of the herbs sold in this medicine shop were collected from the Magnolia Guild… I remember having come here twice for deliveries.

The iron ore used in this weapons shop was also provided by the Magnolia Guild.

And this shop… and that shop...

As he strolled on, Zhou Donghuang saw many shops that had business dealings with the Magnolia Guild. He had even personally delivered stock to some of these shops before.

”Young Master Donghuang.”

”Young Master Donghuang.”

…

There were many people whom he had a vague impression of but could not recall, and they came forward one by one to greet him. Even though he could not recall who each person was, Zhou Donghuang smiled back at them all to avoid any awkwardness.

Although Qingshan Town was considered a small town, it was still bustling with people.

On the main road, horse carriages went past in a constant stream, and the shouts of street vendors hawking their wares and haggling with customers could be heard everywhere.

Hmm?

Zhou Donghuang was just casually glancing at the roadside stalls, but one of the stalls was displaying something that caught his eye and stopped him in the middle of his walk.

That's…

Zhou Donghuang stooped down and narrowed his eyes. His heart skipped a beat. Spirit… A spirit stone?!

What caught Zhou Donghuang's eye was a lamp, which, from the wear and tear on it, looked as though it had a story to tell.

More accurately, what had attracted Zhou Donghuang was the white jade stone set into the lamp.

It was no ordinary jade stone, but a ”spirit stone.”

Although it was only a spirit stone of inferior quality, it surprised Zhou Donghuang just by its presence. Spirit stones were special stones formed from ordinary stones that stored large quantities of the Spirit from the heavens and earth.

Upon attaining a certain level of manifestation, further progress by absorbing the Spirit from the surroundings alone was slow; however, with the help of a spirit stone, the rate of progress could be greatly raised.

Usually, on a small planet like Ziyun, only the extremely powerful adepts would have the ability to obtain a spirit stone and use it to aid them in practice. Zhou Donghuang had never imagined that he would be able to find a spirit stone in Qingshang Town. This was something way beyond his expectations.

Never mind Qingshan Town, it would have been inconceivable if a spirit stone had appeared in the country of Yunyang.

If it contains enough of the Spirit, even though it is an inferior quality spirit stone… I could use it to advance to the Great Consummation level of Qi-gathering stage, and become an adept who possesses the strength of nine bulls and two tigers!

At this thought, Zhou Donghuang's eyes lit up.

Great Consummation of Qi-gathering was the highest level of achievement in Qi-gathering stage. The strength that a Great Consummation level practitioner could release would be unstoppable!

The stage of the Qi-gathering was divided into nine levels of perfection: level-one of Qi-gathering stage, level-two of Qi-gathering, level-three of the Qi-gathering… and so on up to level-nine of Qi-gathering.

After that came Petty Consummation level of Qi-gathering, and then Great Consummation level of Qi-gathering.

Respectively, each level corresponded to the strength of one bull, two bulls, three bulls… nine bulls, nine bulls and one tiger, and nine bulls and two tigers. The strength of one bull was approximately eight hundred jin of force, and the strength of one tiger was approximately two thousand jin of strength!

It was impossible to compare them both.

”Sir, how much for this lamp?”

Zhou Donghuang strode over to the stall, picked up the lamp with the inferior quality spirit stone set into it and began stroking it in an attempt to induce the inferior quality spirit while questioning the stallholder.

The stall was an antique stall.

The stallholder was a shrewd looking old fellow. Seeing Zhou Donghuang take an interest to that lamp, he chuckled and said, ”Young Master, no doubt you are the son of Guild Master Lin. You have a pair of discerning eyes… you have identified the most valuable antique in my stall with just one look.”

As the son of Lin Lan, the guild master of the Magnolia Guild, Zhou Donghuang was pretty known among the store owners and stallholders in Qingshan Town.

However, Zhou Donghuang put down the lamp he was holding just as the stallholder finished speaking, leaving him a look of disappointment. The stallholder's heart had suddenly skipped a beat, and a sense of doubt came over him.

I was overthinking things after all… if there was still any Spirit left in this inferior quality spirit stone, anyone who had manifested his Qi, even though he or she may not have attained level-one of Qi-gathering—they would only need to brush his or her hand against it to realize that it was something extraordinary. How could I have been the only one to spot it?Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

When Zhou Donghuang had brushed his hand against the inferior quality spirit stone, he had realized that though this inferior quality spirit stone had retained its appearance, the Spirit within it had already been completely expended.

Usually, once all the Spirit within a spirit stone had been expended, it would revert to its original appearance as an ordinary stone.

However, a clear coating of some kind had been applied to the inferior quality spirit stone that was set into the lamp, and this prevented its appearance from changing accordingly as the Spirit within the stone had been expended.

If I had my divine will, I would not have even needed to feel it to know that it was just a used-up spirit stone.