A Mortal’s Immortal Gourd
Chapter 66: The White Crane Legacy

After Ergouzi’s cultivation level advanced, he sat down to meditate and cultivate for another full day.  

At this moment, he felt his power surge explosively, his upper and lower dantian expanding several more degrees.  

The true qi and spiritual consciousness in his dantian also soared dramatically.  

His current spiritual consciousness could now cover a radius of three meters around him.  

Within this three-meter range, any battle was under his absolute control.  

Under his spiritual consciousness observation, fast-moving objects appeared much slower, and he could track their movement trajectories.  

He drew his heavy door-plank sword and gave it a test swing.  

A sword aura shot out from the sword tip, precisely flying just over the head of a giant goose two meters away, causing feathers to fall like snowflakes.  

“Gaggle gaggle…”  

The goose hadn’t even figured out what happened before it was left bald-headed.  

Ergouzi sheathed his heavy sword feeling very satisfied. With his current true qi level, he could easily release four sword auras.  

If he encountered the Locust King again, he could unleash sword energy from two or three meters away and kill it with one strike.  

He then tried casting spells. Now, spellcasting was much easier and quicker than before.  

It only took a few breaths to complete a spell. With more practice, it should become even faster.  

As expected, casting spells required a solid cultivation foundation.  

With his current cultivation level, spellcasting was barely usable in battle and could pose a certain threat to nimble, fleeing enemies.  

However, in actual combat, using sword auras might still be more suitable.  

With his spiritual consciousness improved, the first thing Ergouzi thought of was the jade pendant left by his master.  

Last time, out of curiosity, he used his spiritual consciousness to peek at it by the roadside, which drained his spiritual energy. He was stripped naked by passersby and even nearly died.  

Just recalling that was unbearable.  

Today, on the mountaintop, there was a group of giant geese guarding him, making it relatively safe. He wanted to try again.  

His spiritual consciousness entered the gourd again, found the jade pendant, and probed inside.  

Then, once again, his spiritual consciousness was uncontrollably drawn into the pendant.  

Just as his spirit sea was about to be drained once more, finally, his consciousness saw the phantom of an old man with white beard.  

“I am an elder of the Qingdan Sect at the Golden Core stage, Daoist name White Crane Immortal. I have devoted my life to the art of alchemy.  

Now, with my sect annihilated by the Great Zhou court and myself unable to survive,  

I cannot bear to take my life’s work into the grave, so I leave this alchemical legacy…”  

From White Crane Immortal’s words, Ergouzi felt a wave of sorrow.  

After a brief introduction, the phantom began to explain some alchemy basics.  

Alchemy starts with recognizing various spiritual herbs.  

The phantom repeatedly conjured illusions of various spiritual herbs in his hands, letting Ergouzi see every detail clearly.  

At the same time, he explained each herb’s growing environment, appearance traits, medicinal properties, and compatibility.  

Ergouzi watched and listened, feeling extremely thrilled.  

Since starting cultivation, no one had ever taught him so patiently and thoroughly.  

Unfortunately, his spiritual consciousness was still insufficient. After the phantom explained dozens of herbs, his spiritual energy was depleted.  

With his consciousness drained, he once again collapsed on the ground, limbs limp, feeling completely hollowed out.  

His mind was still reviewing what he had just learned.  

Though weak all over, his heart couldn’t suppress the excitement.  

“Hahaha…”  

“I am going to become an alchemist.”  

“And a wild alchemist, independent of the Great Zhou court…”  

The jade pendant recorded White Crane Immortal’s lifetime alchemy experience, now teaching him step by step.  

He only needed to learn methodically and practice; one day, he would become an alchemist.  

But for now, this was just the beginning.  

First, he needed enough spiritual consciousness to learn more, which meant raising his cultivation level—there was no other way.  

Second, he needed spiritual herbs, an alchemy furnace, and spirit charcoal to provide flames.  

At present, he had none of these three.  

Centennial ginseng and polygonatum could be cultivated, but his oldest ginseng was only forty years old so far.  

It would still take several years to mature.  

As for an alchemy furnace, such items were controlled by the government; there was no way he could buy one.  

The world was vast—where could he possibly get an alchemy furnace?  

He could only inquire slowly.  

Spirit charcoal to provide flames, though currently unavailable, was somewhat easier to find than an alchemy furnace.  

For now, he could only master the basic knowledge of alchemy and search for a furnace gradually.  

After resting on the mountaintop for a day, his body slowly regained strength.  

He first watered the fields, then went down the mountain to check on things.  

Qiuyue and the others were still out hunting locusts for food.  

The locusts in Sanchazi Town had been almost eradicated, but locusts from other places often flew over to fill the gap.  

So every day, they had harvests.  

The extermination team was active in surrounding villages and towns. He left two giant geese with the team. As long as they didn’t encounter a Locust King, he didn’t have to worry much.  

With nothing major going on, Ergouzi spent most of his time around Shekou Mountain.  

Recently, because he had bought many people, news spread across several nearby villages that those who followed him had food to eat.  

Many people who could no longer survive in their own places came from far away to Shexi Village to sell their children and wives to Ergouzi.  

There were even many who sold themselves.  

Anyway, it didn’t cost much. Ergouzi accepted all without refusal and bought everyone.  

By now, he had accumulated over a thousand people under his control, mostly women and children.  

Buying them didn’t cost much; the hardest part was food—he needed to feed many every day.  

Fortunately, there were now abundant locusts to eat, which could temporarily sustain them.  

He could only hope it rained next year. He still had two barren mountains where these thousand people could start farming.  

In the past few days, Ergouzi took time to fuse a small piece of mysterious iron into his heavy sword.  

The mysterious iron’s quality improved after his gourd’s enhancement. It probably wouldn’t break so easily now.  

Ergouzi tried wielding the sword and felt it very handy.  

“Boss, try this and see if it’s useful.”  

Today, just as Ergouzi came down the mountain, Huang Fugui approached holding a bundle of knives.  

He wanted to make some throwing knives to conveniently ride on a goose’s back and throw down from the sky.  

But Huang Fugui had tried crafting several times, and the results were unsatisfactory.  

This batch of knives he made today was extremely simple—there were not even handles.  

Looking at them, they resembled large arrowheads more than knives.  

The tails even imitated arrows, with four simple tail fins.  

Ergouzi picked one up and weighed it in his hand—about ten pounds.  

Compared to his usual 150-pound heavy sword, it was naturally incomparable.  

But if they rained down densely from the sky, their power should not be lacking.  

“This thing might be better called flying arrows. I’ll try it!”  

Ergouzi said, summoned a giant white goose, and flew into the sky.  

Flying about dozens of meters high, he looked down at objects on the ground, which had become very small.  

He aimed a flying arrow at a large stone below and threw it down.  

“Whoosh!”  

“Boom!”  

A huge explosion shattered the stone into pieces.  

Ergouzi landed and inspected the shattered stone. This power was no weaker than wielding his 150-pound heavy sword.  

As for the flying arrow he threw, it was also twisted and deformed.  

“Good!”  

“Not bad! Good work.”  

Ergouzi said, then handed Huang Fugui a bottle of Peiyuan Gutben Pills.  

“Help me make more, the more the better.”