Patting the soil with the flat part of his hoe to ensure the seed was secured in place, Ah Ji wiped the sweat on his forehead. His body rose upright using his hoe as a support. Leaning on the tool, Ah Ji's gaze shifted towards the cloudy skies. "The sun's almost setting; it'll be night soon."

Lowering his head, Ah Ji instinctively peered over at his neighbor's field, observing the plowed empty expanses. “Done so fast?”

A quick scan of the other fields allowed him to pinpoint his pretentious neighbor, who was fervently plowing away as if time were running out.

Under his breath, Ah Ji couldn't help but curse, "Is this honest idiot crazy? He doesn’t do his job honestly as a chore boy but rushes here to snatch our field work. And to be greedy enough to occupy two fields... I can't believe Manager Qin actually agreed!"

While Ah Ji grumbled unhappily, his gaze remained fixed on the man hoeing like a machine down the field, his working pace on two plots even faster than his pace working on one. The young man’s dirty, frail body didn’t seem much stronger than his own, but… why is there such a difference?

The subtle envy in his eyes betrayed Ah Ji's true feelings. "To plow like that, even the two big, thick Tie San and Ba Fang can't match... Is he not tired?"

Meanwhile, the individual in question rushed down the line, eventually halting at the end of the field. Resting his hoe across his shoulder, Bubai turned around, brushing a fine layer of sweat off his forehead as he surveyed his hard work - a meticulously tilled field with perfectly aligned strips.

“Finally done. I can start planting soon.” A satisfied smile graced Bubai's face. For the neighboring farmers who stole occasional glances at him, it appeared to them that he took pride in his labor.

However, for Bubai, the true reason for his happiness emanated from his mysterious space. Now, the small sprout, hovering at the very core of the space,was partially obscured by the fog-like green wisps of Qi teeming within.

His 'dantian' had finally reached its 'full' capacity, and each wisp of Qi was gradually increasing the density within. With this progress, it was only a matter of time before the density reached a point where he could condense his first strand of Qi!

Of course, that was only the best case scenario.

Despite not being explicitly mentioned in the basic Qi refinement technique's description, Bubai had gleaned insights from the experiences of his senior brothers and sisters over the years.

Condensing the first strand of Qi wasn't as simple as accumulating more wisps of Qi.

In simpler terms, it involved adding more Qi to the already full dantian to increase the density. However, a significant problem presented itself.

The dantian was already at full capacity, and adding more Qi meant stressing and overloading it! For talented Qi-refiners with durable dantians, this wasn't an issue.

Yet, for those lacking sufficient 'talent,' the strain on their weak dantian during the density-raising process could be overwhelming.

The consequence of straining their weaker dantians too much includes the possibility of the dantian cracking, rendering them with a damaged, leaky cauldron and a mortal status for life.

In unfortunate cases, their dantian could collapse and even directly lead to death!

So, it was easy to say “breakthrough naturally”, but only the geniuses could traverse this path effortlessly. For the majority, the journey resembled a treacherous, rocky road fraught with risks and peril. Successfully surviving from this journey was akin to winning big on a gamble.

It was understandable why there was so much envy and flattery when the term "breakthrough" was casually thrown around.

However, for those less endowed with talent and unwilling to risk their lives, it wasn’t that there was no way out. An alternative avenue presented itself: drugs.

When one's dantian reached full capacity, individuals with less innate talent could still condense their first strand of Qi with the assistance of a Qi Condensation Pill concocted by pill refiners!

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The medicinal effects of this pill would ease the breakthrough process, providing a slight reinforcement to the dantian and aiding in condensing the wisps of Qi, even if the density fell short.

Naturally, this pill only alleviated the process. Condensing the wisps still hinged on talent and luck in the end.

But… if one pill proved ineffective, the solution was simple - take more! Keep popping pills until success was achieved! Even a pig can breakthrough if they popped enough!

And even after breaking through to the mid-stage of Qi-refining, the Qi Condensation pill remained useful, expediting the condensing process for the remaining wisps of Qi!

This explained the popularity of the Qi Condensation pill among Qi-refining cultivators.

Thus, there was a high demand for this pill, resulting in its inflated price, leaving many impoverished early stage Qi-refiners trapped at the so-called 'bottleneck', scraping and scrimping under the exploitation of others just to acquire a pill. Such were the woes of the poor and talentless.

Perhaps, if Bubai attempted to break through using his actual dantian, he might encounter similar struggles. However, his mysterious space, currently serving as his 'dantian,' exhibited no such issues!

Even now, with all the Qi absorbed from the abundant spirit rice he ate, Bubai felt no strain! This could be said to be a unique advantage that could be considered a part of his cheat!

Additionally, unlike others, he also didn't need to concern himself with wasting the abundant Qi from the spirit rice he consumed.

For most low-level cultivators, eating as much spirit rice as Bubai did would result in a loss of efficacy, as the unabsorbed Qi would naturally dissipate if not gathered in the dantian. Unless one possessed extraordinary talent, there was typically a loss in the consumption process.

However, using his unknown Qi-gathering formation within his mysterious space, no Qi went to waste. This efficiency ensured that his cultivation speed only accelerated with the influx of resources, never slowing down even at this critical juncture!

In fact, many early-stage Qi-refiners would refrain from consuming spirit rice once they reached this critical stage, recognizing the challenge of digesting all the Qi the spirit rice contained. Absorbing too much Qi too rapidly could stress their full dantian, heightening the risk of it cracking.

Consequently, most would save their rice to trade for a pill.

Fortunately, thanks to the advantageous situation granted to him by his golden finger, he was now spared from these concerns.

With sufficient resources, Bubai was confident he could continue breaking through without encountering any so-called bottlenecks in the Qi refinement stage. His only concern lay in efficiently managing the time needed to digest the resources he consumed!

"It feels good to not have any of my hard work go to waste," Bubai exclaimed, patting his belly as he sensed the completion of his digestion.

Despite the benefits of consuming ample spirit rice for cultivating, Bubai, like most low-level cultivators, required time to fully digest his intake.

While he could quickly extract Qi from the rice with the assistance of his basic breathing technique and the inherent Qi-gathering formation within his mysterious space, the spirit rice itself still lingered in his stomach.

For others, this would be a positive thing, ensuring that hunger wasn't an issue. However, for Bubai, it posed a limitation to his growth.

Therefore, decisively, he put his body to work in the field, exercising to burn calories and hasten his digestion rate. He even took over duties on WeiWei's field, returning to the familiar routine of working multiple plots. After all, the faster he could digest, the more he could eat.

The results affirmed the wisdom of his choice.

"As expected, on a farm, the best workout is always plowing the field using the hoe," Bubai remarked with self-satisfaction.

However, his contentment was short-lived as his gaze happened to flick over to Manager Qin's residence.

There, the sunset glow bathed the beautiful visage of WeiWei leaning against the open entrance, wearing a soft smile as she seemingly observed the workers. Yet, Bubai could feel her gaze fixed on him, a clear invitation.

Noting the time, he inwardly sighed.

Indeed, even at nighttime, he couldn't escape the task of plowing the ‘field’ with his hoe. And this special field may take even more effort to plow than these spirit rice fields.

“What should we try today?” Hiding his dirty thoughts with an honest smile, Bubai carried his hoe and began to make his way toward the forest. Though he didn’t care too much about his hoe, he still ensured basic hygiene for the job.

While he must deliberately maintain a dirty face and upper body as part of his disguise, it wasn’t a problem to wash the dirt off his hands and lower half, enhancing the overall pleasurable experience for both parties involved.

But before washing... he should find a place in the forest to squat. He ate and digested so much, so naturally he needs to...

Just when Bubai took a couple of steps, a foreboding silhouette cast a shadow over the fields, advancing in his direction. Like many of the other workers, he shifted his gaze skyward, and it became impossible to ignore the majestic wooden ship soaring through the clouds above.

Through the misty veil that partially obscured it, Bubai barely discerned the ship's design with his sharp eyes.

Its hull, bathed in a red, golden hue reminiscent of the sun's vibrant glow, radiated an intimidating and majestic energy. Crimson flame patterns adorned its surface, resembling sunbeams interwoven with the flickering fire of a furnace.

The emblem on ship's sails similarly mirrored the fiery brilliance of a furnace's flames, with molten tongues of fire unfurling out from its red core. The foreground symbol resembled a sun, completed with a backdrop of what seems to be two white, jade legs extending outwards akin to wings.

As the ship ominously glided past their farm, Bubai's eyes followed the vessel's departing stern, sailing toward the direction of Ling City. In a soft, contemplative voice, he mumbled, "Sun Furnace Sect?"