"What... what on earth is this?"
When Shi Lei saw the scene outside the house, he still couldn't be certain what it was.
Everything outside was pitch black, and he could only vaguely make out something writhing around the outer walls of the house...
The sight was utterly bizarre.
"Let's try another spot."
Shi Lei began touching the walls in other parts of the vine house with his hands...
Sure enough, the other walls also changed when touched by his palms, gradually turning transparent.
Yet the scene outside remained just as pitch black, with only the faint outline of objects writhing not far away...
"The light out here is a bit dim, but where is this light coming from? How strange."
"Could it be that the outside of this vine hut can emit light? Does that mean the entire vine house can glow? It seems this vine hut might just be a treasure!" Shi Lei thought, unable to keep a sense of shock from welling up in his heart.
Although it was merely a very faint glimmer of ghostly light, it was enough for Shi Lei to slowly make out the surrounding scenery.
After Shi Lei felt his way all around the vine walls on the inside of the entire house, he finally arrived at a conclusion that left him completely incredulous:
The writhing objects faintly visible outside the house ought to be the intestines and stomach of that demon python!
In other words, he was still actually alive inside the belly of that demon python!
As for why his own body had ended up in this bizarre space, he had no idea!
It was just that the original owner had been shallow and ignorant, while Shi Lei was a new-human soul from technological Blue Star, so for the moment he was completely unable to understand what on earth was going on.
"What am I supposed to do?" Upon learning that he was still inside the belly of the demon python, Shi Lei was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. He paced back and forth incessantly, scratching his head with a look of utter despair, his brows knitted into hard knots, yet he could not seem to find any feasible way to escape with his life...
After a long while, Shi Lei slowly calmed down. He gradually realized:
There appeared to be no immediate danger inside this vine house, and the entire vine house looked exceptionally sturdy.
He had experienced the python's internal crushing and corrosive forces firsthand, yet they seemed to have had no effect whatsoever on this vine house; the demonic snake apparently had been unable to refine it.
This meant the demon python shouldn't be able to enter this vine house, which allowed Shi Lei to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Just how on earth did I end up inside this house? And how am I supposed to get out now?"
"...It seems the only reason I survived is because of this house! This house really is a treasure..."
"Logically speaking, a treasure like this should have a method to refine and control it, right?!"
At this thought, Shi Lei slapped his thigh, his eyes brightening. He immediately stood up and began searching and feeling around the area all over...
Yet after a flurry of effort, Shi Lei still came away with nothing.
The vine house didn't even have a door or a window, let alone the slightest crack.
Shi Lei was now, at the very least, a cultivator at the Qi Refinement 4th Layer, and his raw physical strength was far beyond that of an ordinary mortal, yet he was completely unable to leave even the tiniest scratch on the vine walls! The vine walls felt as though they were forged from adamantine and iron! Hard to the extreme!
At last, Shi Lei's spirit finally deflated. He sat down heavily with a thump, patted his hollow stomach, and sorrow welled up from deep within...
Fortunately, there was no danger here for the time being, but in this place, his cries to heaven went unanswered and his calls to earth went unheeded...
Even if he could hold on, he would eventually end up trapped and starve to death in this vine house...
Try as he might, Shi Lei could not think of any good method. In the end, whether from exhaustion or extreme hunger, he collapsed onto the floor of the vine house and fell into a deep sleep...
Who knows how much time passed...
When Shi Lei slowly drifted back to consciousness, he found that everything around him had once again turned hazy and misty.
The lower space of the vine house was once again enveloped in dense, mist-like Spiritual Energy...
At that moment, Shi Lei's stomach felt incomparably empty, yet he discovered that as he inhaled this mist-like Spiritual Energy, his mind grew increasingly clear and lucid!
This left Shi Lei immensely astonished, as he had never expected this stream of mist-like Spiritual Energy to reappear.
"It looks like I really am going to become a starved ghost who crossed souls into another world..." Shi Lei smiled bitterly to himself.
"For now, I can only take things one step at a time. Since Spiritual Energy is so dense here, and consists entirely of Wood Spirit Qi, it suits my Cultivation Manual perfectly. I might as well treat this as a fortuitous opportunity and a trial."
Thinking thus, Shi Lei's state of mind finally calmed down gradually.
He sat cross-legged on the ground, composed his mind and regulated his breath, operating the Changchun Formula to resume breathing in and out. He directed the Spiritual Energy within his body to merge with the Wood Spirit Qi drawn in from the outside...
Soon, Shi Lei became immersed in his cultivation. His entire body felt exceptionally heavy, yet inwardly he felt incomparably comfortable...
If Shi Lei were awake right now, he would have been extremely shocked to see his current state of cultivation. He could see that the Wood Spirit Qi surrounding him was already close to liquefaction; he seemed to be enveloped in a ball of verdant "water," and who would have ever guessed that this so-called "water ball" was actually formed from Spiritual Energy.
This extreme concentration of Spiritual Energy was already equivalent to a Tier 3 Spirit Vein, though unfortunately Shi Lei was ignorant and knew nothing of Spirit Veins, having even less of a concept regarding Spirit Vein grades.
At that moment, he simply kept his eyes fixed on his nose and his nose on his heart, wholly immersed in his cultivation...
The Wood Spirit Qi, dense to the absolute extreme, made him feel quite oppressed; as time went on, there was even a sensation of impending suffocation...
Shi Lei had no choice but to quicken and intensify the circulation of his Cultivation Manual, which only then slightly alleviated this suffocating feeling... Even so, this inadvertently drove Shi Lei to operate his Cultivation Manual with even greater proficiency, causing his cultivation base to rise rapidly.
With such dense Wood Spirit Qi, Shi Lei could only absorb about one-tenth of it; the utilization rate was truly far too low.
Even so, it had already brought Shi Lei boundless benefits and astonishing growth, and he had already done everything in his power—he could currently think of no better method to absorb and utilize this concentrated Spiritual Energy.
Perhaps due to the special properties of the Wood Spirit Qi, Shi Lei's heart was like still water. He continuously inhaled and exhaled Spiritual Energy, accelerating and intensifying the speed and strength of his cultivation...
Time slipped away unawares...
Because Shi Lei was wholly absorbed in his cultivation, he momentarily forgot his hunger; it seemed that once that dense Wood Spirit Qi entered his body, it could also alleviate a portion of his hunger.
When Shi Lei felt the oppressive sensation around his body slowly fade away, the feeling of suffocation vanished entirely.
He slowly opened his eyes and was astonished to discover that, unawares, his cultivation base had broken through another layer, already reaching the Qi Refinement 5th Layer.
Meanwhile, the dense Spiritual Energy that had surrounded him was now nowhere to be seen.
"Could this Spiritual Energy be constantly regenerating? Is it constantly circulating?" Shi Lei was overjoyed at how fast his cultivation had grown, and his stomach no longer felt quite so empty.
Shi Lei got up and once again inspected the situation outside the vine house.
Just as expected, nothing had changed.
...
At this point, the dense, mist-like Wood Spirit Qi in the lower space of the vine house had completely dissipated, leaving the view clear...
However, the lingering, wispy Spiritual Energy now remaining in the lower space of the vine house was still far denser than that of the living quarters for Servant Disciples within the sect. Of course, just how much denser it was would only become clear after comparison.
Therefore, Shi Lei decided to cultivate diligently within the vine house space, striving to break through to a higher realm as soon as possible.
Although it was said that cultivators only achieved full penury of food—reaching total abstention from eating—once they entered the Foundation Establishment Stage, in reality, once a cultivator reached the Qi Refinement Late-stage, they could occasionally go without food and still survive for a very long time. It was simply not as miraculous as during Foundation Establishment, where one could dispense with eating altogether.
With Spiritual Energy so dense here, Shi Lei vaguely felt he might have the ability to rapidly break through to the Qi Refinement Late-stage, so he resolved to continue practicing hard and strive to push his realm swiftly into the Qi Refinement Late-stage.
That way, he could hold on a little longer and perhaps genuinely find a sliver of a chance at survival. He would stake everything on it!
Shi Lei sat quietly in the room, calming his breath and regulating his channels. His aura grew steadily deeper and steadier; although his cultivation base did not experience another rapid surge, his Qi Refinement Mid-stage realm grew increasingly consolidated.
Time passed slowly...
...
One day?
Or perhaps two days?
Shi Lei sat quietly inside the vine chamber, completely losing track of time, only focusing his mind and cultivating diligently...
...
During this period, Shi Lei was astonished to discover that this Wood Spirit Qi truly did regenerate continuously and circulate in an endless loop. Every single day, the lower space of the vine house would once again fill up with dense, mist-like Wood Spirit Qi...
And when he circulated his Cultivation Manual for roughly four or five hours, this mist-like Wood Spirit Qi would naturally recede and disperse. Only the Spiritual Energy at the very top of the house remained dense and unyielding, completely unchanged.
...
Once he discovered this pattern, Shi Lei's cultivation routine fell entirely into a steady rhythm. Every day consisted of resting and cultivating; when he grew tired of practicing, he would sleep for a bit, and upon waking up, he would resume. When the Spiritual Energy was dense, he would accelerate his speed in absorbing and refining it. It was exceptionally regular.
...
Yet the next development left Shi Lei wild with joy...
Whether it was the second or third day, when he woke up from a sleep, he discovered that right around his body, amidst the soil of the vine house, several plants had actually sprouted...
He stepped forward to examine them closely and distinguish their types: there was ginseng, polygonatum, poria cocos, and kudzu vine—several medicinal plants. In the end, he was astounded to find that these medicinal plants had actually grown from some herb seeds that had fallen right off his own body!
That these seeds could sprout and mature in such a short time was undoubtedly inseparable from the extreme density of the Wood Spirit Qi inside the house.
However, what Shi Lei cared about most right now was not that. To Shi Lei, these medicinal plants were an absolute godsend in his hour of need, resolving his urgent crisis, and his stomach finally wouldn't have to rumble with emptiness anymore.
Granted, these were all medicinal herbs and didn't taste very good, but something was infinitely better than nothing!
Yet when Shi Lei actually put those herbal plants into his mouth and swallowed them, the corners of his eyes curved upward...
He praised inwardly with great relish:
"Delicious!"
...
It turned out that back when the original owner had some free time during patrol and hunting expeditions with his fellow sect brothers, he had gathered some herbs along with their seeds...
Because they were all unranked herbs and not graded spiritual plants, they didn't amount to much for the Outer Sect Disciples on the patrol team, so the team leader hadn't stopped Shi Lei from foraging and collecting seeds at the time.
Yet for the original owner, a mere Servant Disciple, these herbs were actually quite practical. Whether selling them in mortal towns or within the market, they could be exchanged for gold, silver, and a modest amount of resources.
Consequently, the original owner had actually kept those herbs and seeds close to his body. When he met his demise, all his other belongings had been lost—yet unexpectedly, the vast majority of these herbal seeds had survived.
After entering the vine house, because his clothes were in tatters, these herbal seeds had spilled out, inadvertently planting themselves in the soil inside the vine house. Who could have imagined that these seeds would all grow to maturity in such a brief span of time?
Without a doubt, this was monumental good news for Shi Lei...
Right at this moment, however, someone had gone slightly deranged...
He was seen grasping ginseng in his left hand, holding polygonatum in his right, and chewing on kudzu vine with his mouth...
"Haha, hahaha! Looks like I can live a few days longer and won't be dying anytime soon... Haha, hahahaha..."
The sound of Shi Lei's crazed laughter filled the tranquil vine house...