A Mortal’s Immortal Gourd
Chapter 24: Crushed Stone

Another New Year’s Eve arrived. Ergouzi sat alone by the earthen stove, feeding the fire. In the pot, a large batch of pork was bubbling, releasing a delicious aroma.

This same day last year, he had been on the brink of death, roasting a handful of rice in the freezing cold just to survive.

Now, he could finally feast on meat.

Normally stingy and calculating about everything, Ergouzi had surprisingly splurged this year—he bought half a pig for the holiday.

After tonight, he would be fifteen.

At fifteen, he now owned Shekou Mountain and fifty mu of prime farmland at the mountain’s base.

Huang Laocai had sold him all fifty mu of top-grade farmland at the foot of Shekou Mountain.

This kind of good land near a water source usually went for no less than thirty taels per mu, but Huang Laocai sold it to him for twenty-eight taels per mu.

Fifty mu totaled 1,400 taels of silver, also on a twenty-year payment plan—seventy taels per year, with no early repayment allowed.

Including the earlier forty taels per year, Ergouzi now owed Huang Laocai 110 taels of silver annually for the next twenty years.

Huang Laocai had used this year’s seventy taels to grease the wheels at the yamen, but it was all in vain. He still couldn't get his son released.

It was said that in the end, Huang Laocai had to swallow his pride and beg Zhang Youliang for help.

Zhang Youliang, who had good connections with the constables at the yamen, was indeed able to get Huang Fugui out of jail.

But getting Zhang Youliang’s help came at a steep price.

Huang Laocai had to sell the rest of the Huang family’s farmland to Zhang Youliang at a low price, all in one go.

From that point on, most of Shexi Village’s farmland belonged to Zhang Youliang.

Now, all the tenant farmers flocked to the uncle’s house, offering sweet words and gifts non-stop—the threshold was worn down from all the foot traffic—just to rent better land.

After witnessing Huang Laocai’s downfall, Ergouzi felt a constant sense of unease.

Without enough strength to protect it, no amount of wealth could be held onto.

He decided to focus his efforts and funds on martial arts training, with the goal of earning the title of Martial Xiucai.

Only with that title could he stand equal to the county’s constables. Even if the county magistrate wanted to punish or execute him, he’d have to report to the prefecture first.

But to become truly skilled in martial arts, one not only had to train hard every day but also pour in a lot of money.

Earlier this year, he sold another batch of Strength Pills and earned over two hundred taels of silver. For now, he wasn’t short on funds.

Because eating meat helped with martial training, he had decided to eat meat every day from now on.

If he ate a jin of fatty meat per day, it would cost him two to three taels of silver per month—affordable, but still quite a luxury.

So, to compromise, he decided not to buy fatty meat.

Lean meat and bones had much less fat, and were therefore much cheaper.

He could buy leftover ribs or marrow bones and still save a bit of silver each month.

He thought ribs were actually pretty good—no need to insist on fatty cuts.

This winter, another dozen people had died in Shexi Village. The fact that he could still eat meat was already something.

At this moment, Ergouzi lifted the pot lid and poked with chopsticks—seemed done.

He fished out a rib, blew on it, and took a bite.

The meat had long been stewed to the point where it fell off the bone—just a light bite and a large chunk came off.

Though ribs weren’t very fatty, the texture was soft and tender, with an amazing aroma.

Before stewing, he had stored the meat in the gourd for a few days. That had enhanced the flavor beyond ordinary pork.

Usually pork had a slight gamey smell, but now that was gone, replaced by a mix of meaty and medicinal fragrance.

After finishing the meat, he crunched down and ground up the remaining bone before swallowing it with the broth.

The bones had cost money too—no way he was throwing them out.

After the ribs, only a ginseng root and some bits of meat and bone were left in the pot.

He scooped all of it out and ate it.

The ginseng he grew on the mountain wasn’t very old—maybe five or six years—but after being infused with spiritual energy in the gourd, cooking it with pork still offered some cultivation benefits.

Once he was full, he began his meditation training using the first-layer cultivation technique.

The food he had eaten earlier was gradually refined, producing threads of true qi.

This qi circulated through his twelve meridians for forty-nine cycles before flowing into the Ren meridian.

The Ren and Du meridians, known as the sea of yin and yang, could store the true qi he cultivated.

These two major meridians were located along the front and back midlines and were much wider than the twelve regular meridians, capable of holding more qi.

Since sensing qi, Ergouzi had eaten only gourd-infused grain every day for months, progressing steadily in his training.

So far, the Du meridian remained unopened, and only about one-third of his Ren meridian was filled.

According to the books, he needed to fill the Ren meridian completely with true qi and then open both Ren and Du to move to the second layer of his technique.

The third layer would require both meridians to be fully opened and filled, plus developing the lower dantian.

After two hours of meditation, the food was fully refined into true qi, now filling more of the Ren meridian.

Only then did he rise, pick up his sword, and begin practicing the basic sword forms.

With his cultivation level increasing, his body had grown stronger. The eleven-jin sword he bought now felt a bit too light.

Next time he went to the county, he’d need to get a heavier one.

The next morning was the first day of the new year, when friends and family paid New Year’s visits.

Ergouzi had no relatives, only a master.

He brought a piece of pork, a bag of preserved fruits, and a jar of wine to greet Li the Half-Immortal.

Li the Half-Immortal was a loner. In all these years, it was the first time anyone had paid him a New Year’s visit. He was very happy.

He even cooked pork to treat his disciple to a meal.

And once again, he performed his trick of crushing a stone into powder with his bare hands.

Ergouzi had seen it many times, but it still amazed him. He silently vowed to work even harder. If he could learn just a tenth of his master’s skills, he’d easily pass the Martial Xiucai exam.

Before leaving, Li the Half-Immortal gifted him a bag of red dates—fruits from the tree in his yard.

On the way home, Ergouzi stopped by Huang Laocai’s house to pay New Year’s respects.

In past years, all the village tenants would come to Huang Laocai for New Year’s, and Ergouzi couldn’t even squeeze through the door.

This year, the place was deserted. Not a single guest.

Huang Fugui’s leg was broken. Though a county doctor had reattached it and applied medicine, he still couldn’t walk.

Ergouzi gave him a packet of Strength Pills—should help his recovery.

As he left, Huang Laocai had his second daughter bring out a large bag of dried persimmons as a gift in return.

When she handed them to him, she opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but in the end said nothing.

Ergouzi also said nothing and left with the persimmons.

Back at Shekou Mountain, he removed the seeds from the dates and persimmons and planted them in rocky crevices that couldn’t be farmed.

After the New Year, everyone got busy with spring planting, preparing for the year ahead.

Ergouzi rented out all fifty mu of land at the foot of Shekou Mountain, collecting fifty percent of the harvest as rent.

Out of that fifty percent, thirty had to be paid to the county as tax. He could keep the remaining twenty.

But something else happened in the village around this time.

Now that most farmland in Shexi Village belonged to Zhang Youliang, villagers had to rent from him.

And in his very first year, he raised the rent from fifty to sixty percent.

The tenants grumbled in private but couldn’t do anything. If you didn’t want to farm, plenty of others would take your place.

Ergouzi never intended to get rich off his tenants. His focus was all on cultivation.

Lately, with a daily diet of pork and ginseng, his training was going well, and his strength was growing.

Now, he had even tied stones to his sword, increasing its weight to over twenty jin.

But he still couldn’t crush a stone barehanded.

Ergouzi felt his progress was still too slow.

So, after spring arrived, he made another trip to the county.

He sold another dan of Strength Pills and earned over two hundred taels of silver.

To his surprise, the enhanced versions of the pills were very popular.

Simayi from Huichun Hall offered eighty wen per pill and ordered a full dan.

With that silver in hand, Ergouzi went straight to Hong’an Hall.

Unfortunately, Hong’an Hall had only eight Peiyuan Gutben Pills left.

Ergouzi paid eighty taels of silver and bought all eight.

Then he went to the sword shop and custom-ordered a thirty-jin heavy sword.

He also ordered 140 long iron plates—each weighing five jin—to be strapped onto the sword to increase its weight.

Due to the heavy use of iron and the custom work, the cost was steep—one hundred taels.

By the time he finished shopping, he only had a few dozen taels left.

The path of martial arts truly wasn’t one ordinary people could afford.

And he had only managed to buy eight Peiyuan Gutben Pills. At one per day, they’d be gone in eight days.

Three days after returning to Shekou Mountain, he finally took out one Peiyuan Gutben Pill from the gourd to consume.

Holding the pill in his hand, he could clearly feel the rich spiritual energy—it was far beyond his Strength Pills and even stronger than his five-year ginseng.

The pill smelled sweet with a hint of honey—not bitter at all.

He swallowed it and began refining its essence.

After about four hours, all the pill’s energy had been refined.

His Ren meridian now held one more strand of true qi.

He compared it—this one pill produced as much true qi as eating pork and ginseng daily for half a month.

Of course, that was after the gourd enhanced the ingredients.

After that, he took one Peiyuan Gutben Pill each day. His cultivation soared—progressing visibly each day.

His Ren meridian grew fuller with each session.

Finally, after the seventh pill—

A stream of qi passed through Tiantu, then Lianquan, over the Magpie Bridge, through the Heavy Tower, to the crown of his head, then down the spine along the Du meridian, passing Mingmen, through Changqiang, and into Huiyin…

In that moment, his Ren and Du meridians were fully open—he had broken through to the second layer of the nameless technique.

True qi now flowed from Huiyin up the front and down the back in a continuous cycle.

With every loop, his qi grew stronger, and he felt his body strengthen too.

After a long session of cultivation, Ergouzi leapt to his feet—effortlessly jumping over ten feet high.

He felt like he had entered a whole new realm—unprecedented power coursing through him.

He picked up a stone from the ground and squeezed it with all his might…

Harder…

His face turned red, but the stone didn’t budge—it didn’t crack.

Still not enough?

A stubborn fire flared in him. He channeled all the true qi in his Ren and Du meridians into his fingers, releasing a sudden burst of power.

“Bang!”

The stone shattered in his hand.

He hadn’t crushed it into powder like his master, but for Ergouzi, it was a huge step forward.

“Hahaha…”

“I finally did it!”