A Mortal’s Immortal Gourd
Chapter 18: Spiritual Energy

Ergouzi had been back at Shekou Mountain for two months now.

During this time, he was fired up with passion every single day, like an ox that never knew fatigue—spending his days either cultivating martial arts or clearing land.

He’d already worn out several hoes and machetes.

Of course, the results were impressive too—he’d successfully cleared another two mu of wasteland.

On the newly opened two mu, he planted all Polygonatum.

Because only Polygonatum had bloomed and produced seeds so far, it was the only one he had seeds for.

One day, he planned to re-till the plot where he'd planted Cistanche and sow some Polygonatum there instead.

But when his hoe struck the soil, it hit something. In the earth was something white as jade.

“What’s this?”

He crouched down for a closer look. The thing was column-shaped—not exactly elegant in shape, and somewhat... suggestive.

Could this be Cistanche?

Thinking that, he picked up the hoe and dug carefully, eventually pulling out an entire column that was over two feet long.

Then he started turning the soil across the whole plot, and sure enough, he unearthed more of these columnar things.

Each one was white and glossy, thick and long, covered in scales.

He took a light bite—sweet at first, then a little bitter. Edible, but not particularly tasty.

He dug up more than a dozen of them and was now pretty certain—these were the Cistanche he’d planted two months ago.

There was no need to dig up the rest; he planned to leave them in the ground to keep growing.

That old Langzhong had said it was a powerful tonic, though he didn’t explain how.

Ergouzi wanted to try it himself.

Still, worried that the effects might be too mild, he first stored the Cistanche in the gourd for a few days before eating.

Also, the first batch of Polygonatum had grown well—he dug up a few and stored them in the gourd too, planning to try them together.

Three days later, he took the herbs out, cleaned them, and stewed a big pot.

Once cooked, both herbs were slightly bitter with a lingering sweetness—overall, quite palatable.

He ate them just like a regular meal—biting a chunk of Polygonatum, then chewing some Cistanche. It was quite tasty.

After finishing, he lay on the bed. His belly was warm, and his whole body felt a bit hot.

He couldn’t sleep no matter how he lay. In fact, he felt more energized the longer he lay there—as if a surge of power was trapped inside.

In the middle of the night, he got up, grabbed his hoe, and went out to clear more land—carving out a large empty space before going back to bed.

Even then, he still didn’t feel worn out.

Lying in bed, strange and random thoughts began flooding his mind.

“I’m already 14—not too young. Should I use some money to hire a matchmaker and find a wife?”

“There are twelve girls in the village around my age. Which one’s the best? Xinghua, Hehua, Cuihua…”

“Cuihua’s already married. We used to dig wild veggies together and pull pigweed… even bathed in Shexi River bare-chested to catch crabs…”

“Huang Laocai’s daughter really eats well. Never seen a girl that round—every step she takes, she sways side to side…”

“Sigh… what a shame…”

In the midst of all this nonsense, he finally drifted off.

He had a dream—he dreamt he married the second daughter.

On the wedding night, her cheeks were flushed, and she wore a bright red embroidered dress.

He started undressing her, but no matter how many layers he took off, she still wasn’t undressed.

He spent the whole night peeling layer after layer, scratching his head and sweating buckets, yet never saw even a sliver of skin.

When he woke up in the morning, he found a big wet patch on his clothes.

He touched it—it wasn’t sweat. It was all nosebleed.

Was it from overdoing the tonics? Or just getting too worked up in the dream?

No!

The moment he got up from the bed, he felt something was different.

Today’s feeling was unlike any other day.

He was sharper, lighter on his feet, and stronger too.

When he sat cross-legged and began his morning cultivation, he noticed something even more incredible.

He could sense little multicolored specks of light floating through the air around him.

These light specks were unusually active, drifting and swirling.

When he breathed according to the cultivation method, some of the specks entered his body with the air.

But most would escape through his breath or even through his skin.

Only a tiny portion stayed inside, being refined into part of his body.

“Could this be the spiritual energy mentioned in the book?”

“I can sense spiritual energy now!”

Over the past half-year, Li the Half-Immortal had made him copy that battered book cover to cover as his introductory textbook.

The upside was, Ergouzi had learned to read and write, and had memorized every word in the book.

The book said that between Heaven and Earth exists spiritual energy. Any living being who could draw it into their body would grow strong, live longer, and possibly even become immortal.

But normal people, even living in a world full of spiritual energy, couldn’t sense it. Only after cultivating to a certain level could one perceive it.

Once you could sense spiritual energy, it was called “sensing Qi.”

Ergouzi walked outside and tried to sense everything around him.

He discovered that everything had spiritual energy—just in varying density.

In ordinary soil and stone, he had to search every couple of feet to find a single speck—barely anything.

But in the farmland he had watered with the gourd, spiritual energy specks were much more concentrated.

On average, he could find one every couple of inches, slowly floating upward into the air.

Then he compared ordinary items with those stored in the gourd for over three days.

Clearly, items kept in the gourd had several times more spiritual energy.

He guessed the gourd’s miraculous effects were due to its high concentration of spiritual energy.

This breakthrough allowed him to sense the energy of Heaven and Earth. It felt like stepping into a brand-new world.

From sensing Qi onward, he could now cultivate the first tier of the nameless technique.

Ergouzi never understood—if this was just the first tier, what had he been practicing before?

Well, the book was incomplete anyway, and his master was always cryptic—rarely explaining trivial matters.

Still, this breakthrough was worth asking his master about.

He was still shaken from being hunted by the black-cloaked man last time. Maybe now he could get his master to teach him a sword or blade technique.

Also, with all this Cistanche he’d unearthed, he should ask how to process and use it—he really had no idea.

Last night’s tonic binge probably caused the nosebleed.

But without eating that much at once, he might not have broken through this morning.

Ergouzi slung a sack over his back and climbed down the mountain. It was now early winter, and everyone was preparing for the season.

In the fields, many children were out gathering wild vegetables, berries, and grass seeds.

Anything edible couldn’t be wasted.

Even a handful of wild grass seeds could save a life during a winter famine.

Among the children digging for wild greens, he spotted two familiar figures.

“Xiao’ezi!”

It was Little E and Zhang Youxin—they were also foraging.

“Brother Gouzi!”

Little E ran to him, clutching a bunch of foxtail grass, her voice cheerful.

Zhang Youxin followed behind, holding a hoe and glaring at Ergouzi, ready to fight at any moment.

Their uncle's family had inherited Ergouzi’s parents’ land—over a dozen mu—so they didn’t need to eat pigweed.

But since most of their money went to support Zhang Youliang’s martial arts training, they were still struggling. Grass seeds and wild greens could feed the livestock and save on food costs.

Ergouzi used to eat foxtail seeds in pig slop. It was coarse and scratched his throat, but it filled the belly.

Barnyard grass seeds tasted better by comparison.

“Brother Gouzi, you’re gathering wild veggies too?”

“Let me tell you a secret—behind Crescent Field, there’s still lots of tender greens.”

Little E came closer and whispered to him.

“Oh, got it. Thanks! I’m heading to town first, I’ll check it out later.”

Ergouzi didn’t need wild vegetables anymore, and probably never would again, but he was still happy to thank her.

“I’m going to town—want anything? I can buy it for you.”

“I don’t want anything. Don’t waste your money—you’ll end up starving again.”

Little E shook her head like a rattle drum, worried he’d spend recklessly.

“Alright! I won’t waste money!”

Ergouzi flicked her on the forehead.

In this world, she was probably his only family now.

As for Zhang Youxin behind her, glaring with hostility—he’d let it slide today, for Little E’s sake.

After saying goodbye, Ergouzi looked at the ragged tenant kids in the fields. He used to be just like them.

Now, he had a whole mountain and a magical gourd. Maybe he’d never go hungry again.

Patting his warm cotton clothes, he walked off toward Sanchazi Town.