Song Tan’s Chronicle - Chapter 145.1

The night was quiet and deep.

The sky was like a piece of dark, dull silk, with the moon hidden in a hazy yellow, covered by thick clouds.

The entire night sky was devoid of stars, and in this pitch-black darkness, even the distant mountains were mere vague shadows. Underfoot, it was hard to tell if the ground was mud or leaves…

Song Tan quietly pushed open her door.

Using her spiritual energy, she wrapped it around the old wooden door, trying her best not to let it make any creaking noises.

Back in the cultivation world, she had imagined countless times what it would be like to live in the modern world, but it certainly never included using spiritual energy for something like this.

But at this moment… necessity knows no law.

It took her some effort to get out of the main house’s door. Facing the locked iron gate, she had no choice but to use her limited spiritual energy to leap over the two-meter-high gate before successfully jumping out of the yard.

There was no other way—her father had reinforced the surrounding walls, embedding nails and broken glass in the cement to prevent thieves.

Although she was in the Qi Refining stage, the spiritual energy in this village was so thin that after more than a month, she still hadn’t achieved an invulnerable body!

If this were a martial arts novel, she’d only just started developing her internal strength.

It was truly pitiful. Song Tan didn’t like to think about it often; every time she did, it pained her.

If she had enough spiritual energy, she wouldn’t be sneaking out to the back mountain in the middle of the night like a thief!

Back then, a flick of her finger could spread spiritual energy across the entire Moonlit Peak. Now, the same flick only scattered a few beans’ worth of spiritual energy.

For this reason, to ensure the growth quality of these fruit trees worth over a hundred thousand yuan, she had to change her place for cultivation at night.

With the lack of spiritual energy, she had to rely on nighttime cultivation to gather it.

That was why the weeds in front and behind her house were growing so lush and tender, and why squirrels scampered across the wall every morning; it was all because she was cultivating in her room.

Her footsteps were silent as she circled outside the yard to the back mountain. Near the beehives, everything was still and quiet. But as she moved forward and pushed aside a thicket of shrubs, a shadow darker than the night itself suddenly raised its head.

“Shh!”

She whispered, “King, be good. Go back to sleep.”

The big dog let out a low growl from deep in its throat.

The goose, Big White, sensing some movement, opened its mouth with a “ga” sound but was quickly silenced by Song Tan, who grabbed its flat beak and tucked its head back under its wing.

“Go back to sleep,” she said.

Big White went still again.

King lay back down, but his eyes remained firmly fixed in Song Tan’s direction.

Song Tan continued forward until she reached the peach tree plantation on the back mountain. Choosing a central spot, she sat cross-legged.

She focused, guiding her breath and gathering her energy.

The heavens were clear, and the earth was serene, and all things were alive.

She gradually calmed her mind, and soon, a faint white mist began to appear around her, blending perfectly with the dark night in the peach grove, until it seemed to vanish completely.

Only the sudden increase in the sounds of insects could be heard around her, and heavy dewdrops gathered on the leaves, falling with a “plop” into the ground, making the leaves look visibly greener and more upright.

The roots of the peach trees, just planted that day, quietly sprouted in the soil, breaking through the small soil layer bit by bit, firmly anchoring themselves in the new ground.

Finer root hairs slowly began to emerge.

The nutrients in the soil moved through the branches, accompanied by threads of spiritual energy. Suddenly, there was a crisp “snap” as a tree opened its bud, revealing its first tender, light green leaf.

In the silence of the back mountain, it seemed there was a lively commotion without a sound.