Successive Sprouting (Please Bookmark, Please Vote)

The Ling Clan's Third Elder, Ling Yunfeng, was a dharma cultivator who specialized in fire-element spells. His combat strength was formidable; with Qi Training Completion cultivation, he could rival three cultivators of the same rank. In his youth, he had carved out a resounding reputation.

He was also Ling Pengyun's current goal.

Comprehending spells placed an enormous strain on a cultivator's mind. After studying the Water Arrow Technique for merely two hours, Ling Pengyun was already exhausted and had no choice but to stop.

With a wave of his hand, he patted the Storage Bag at his waist and summoned one of the three bottles of Qi Refining Pills Ling Ruda had given him when he left home. He poured out a Qi Refining Pill, swallowed it, circulated his cultivation technique, refined its medicinal power, and improved his cultivation.

During this process, Ling Pengyun's fatigue was also washed away, and his spirits gradually recovered.

When night fell, Ling Pengyun also absorbed Moonlight Power for a while.

Not until the following morning, when the sun had just risen, did Ling Pengyun stop refining the pill's medicinal power in order to absorb First Sun Power. He left his cave dwelling and absorbed it for a while, then went up the mountain peak and cast Spirit Rain over the six mu of Spirit Fields in three rounds before returning to the cave dwelling to continue refining the remaining medicinal power of that Qi Refining Pill.

He cultivated, comprehended spells, and cast rain in this manner for three days. Only when the Qi Refining Pill's medicinal power had been completely refined did Ling Pengyun finally stop.

"This First Rank Low Grade Qi Refining Pill is still of rather limited help at my current realm! Still, something is better than nothing. It's much faster than cultivating by absorbing spirit stones!" Ling Pengyun muttered to himself as he sensed the increase in cultivation gained from refining the Qi Refining Pill over the past three days.

"When I left the clan, Eleventh Great Grandfather gave me enough Qi Refining Pills for half a year, six pills in total. I've used one now, leaving five. At one pill every three days, they'll be enough for the next fifteen days of cultivation!"

Ling Pengyun took another Qi Refining Pill from his Storage Bag, swallowed it, and closed his eyes.

Seven days later, the Yellow Jade Spirit Rice seeds in two of the six mu of Spirit Fields atop Azure Stone Mountain were the first to sprout golden-yellow shoots.

Inside the cave halfway up the mountain, the cultivating Ling Pengyun was alerted by the disturbance caused when the Yellow Jade Spirit Rice broke through the soil and sprouted, drawing in the spiritual energy of Azure Stone Mountain. He hastily stopped cultivating and went up to the peak.

Seeing that the Yellow Jade Spirit Rice had indeed sprouted, Ling Pengyun felt quite delighted, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Now that the Yellow Jade Spirit Rice in these two mu has sprouted, it can withstand the Lingxiao Ripening Technique I cast to speed up its growth!"

The Lingxiao Ripening Technique had been improved from the common Spirit Plant Secret Method known as the Ripening Technique by dozens of Spirit Plant Farmers of the Ling Clan over more than two hundred years since the clan's founding. Thus, it was named the Lingxiao Ripening Technique. This Spirit Plant secret art was also the most important part of the Ling Clan's legacy.

This technique concerned the advancement of Spirit Plant Farmers, and using it could also increase the growth rate of spirit plants.

After mastering the first layer of the Lingxiao Ripening Technique, one could at the limit increase the growth speed of First Rank Low Grade spirit plants by thirty percent.

The second layer of the Lingxiao Ripening Technique could at the limit increase the growth speed of First Rank Middle Grade spirit plants by sixty percent.

The third layer... by ninety percent.

Although the Ling Clan's Spirit Plant legacy extended all the way to the Second Rank, no Second Rank Spirit Plant Farmer had ever appeared in the clan before, so only the first three layers of the Ripening Technique had been improved.

Ling Pengyun was merely a First Rank Low Grade Spirit Plant Farmer, so naturally, he could only grasp the first layer of the Lingxiao Ripening Technique. However, he had already cultivated this first layer to perfection and could increase the growth speed of First Rank Low Grade spirit plants by thirty percent.

Ling Pengyun's expression turned solemn, and his smile faded. Following the method of the Ripening Technique, he formed hand seals and condensed a special green dharma seal.

"Scatter!"

The spiritual glow of the green dharma seal flashed, and it suddenly dispersed into a dense green mist. Under Ling Pengyun's control, it merged into the two mu of Yellow Jade Spirit Rice that had sprouted first among the six mu of Spirit Fields.

As the dense green mist poured in, the tender shoots of the Yellow Jade Spirit Rice deepened in color, truly resembling yellow jade, just as their name suggested.

After maintaining this for nearly the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Ling Pengyun sensed that the pure Wood Spiritual Energy injected into the Yellow Jade Spirit Rice shoots had reached the limit of what they could endure, and only then did he stop.

If he continued injecting it, it would damage their foundations and cause the same harm as pulling up seedlings to help them grow.

Although the Ripening Technique and the Cloud Mist Technique were both Spirit Plant Secret Methods, they differed somewhat.

The Ripening Technique employed a fierce medicine approach, injecting a great deal of Wood Spiritual Energy into the spirit plants all at once. Therefore, it was best to use it on spirit plants only once every three days.

The Cloud Rain Technique, on the other hand, worked like a gentle stream flowing on and on, nourishing the growth of spirit plants with Water Spiritual Energy. Therefore, it could be cast on spirit plants every day.

The former was more effective, while the latter could only increase a spirit plant's growth speed by ten percent.

After stopping the Lingxiao Ripening Technique, Ling Pengyun saw that the Yellow Jade Spirit Rice shoots in those two mu had grown considerably taller with the technique's aid, and delight appeared in his eyes.

"Based on my experience from when I was still at the clan mountain, following Eleventh Great Grandfather in tending the ten mu of Yellow Jade Spirit Rice behind Lingxiao Mountain, with me, a First Rank Low Grade Spirit Plant Farmer, using both the Cloud Rain Technique and the Lingxiao Ripening Technique, these two mu of Yellow Jade Spirit Rice should yield around eight or nine hundred jin per mu! They will also surely mature within eleven months!" Ling Pengyun said happily.

"According to what the Clan Head promised me, I can receive ten percent of the mature Yellow Jade Spirit Rice harvest. That means I can get at least one hundred and sixty jin of Yellow Jade Spirit Rice, which would sell for at least thirty-two spirit stones on the market!"

"By that calculation, being sent out to garrison a place isn't a bad thing for a Spirit Plant Farmer like me. On the contrary, it's an excellent opportunity to earn spirit stones and obtain additional cultivation resources! Converted out, that means earning three more spirit stones every month!"

"On top of that, now that I've left the clan mountain, my stipend has doubled to ten spirit stones. Calculated this way, each month I'll receive thirteen spirit stones, one Qi Refining Pill, two Yellow Sprout Pills, and another twenty jin of Yellow Jade Spirit Rice!"

"With resources like these to support me, my cultivation speed will probably be several times faster than when I was in the clan!"

"It's good to be skilled in one of the hundred arts, even if Spirit Plant Farming is merely the slowest of them when it comes to earning spirit stones!"

Under normal circumstances, one mu of Yellow Jade Spirit Rice yielded roughly seven hundred jin, and five jin could be sold for one spirit stone.

Ordinary First Rank Low Grade Water Spirit Rice could yield around one thousand jin per mu, but it contained little spiritual energy, and ten jin could only be sold for one spirit stone. Even among independent cultivators, only those whose circumstances were exceedingly strained would buy this type of spirit rice merely to fill their stomachs.

If one wanted to compare yields, it would be better to plant ordinary mortal rice. With the aid of the Cloud Mist Technique, its yield could reach at least over two thousand jin per mu.

As for the Qi Training Grass and Sword Star Grass in the other four mu, there was no share of the harvest. No matter how Ling Pengyun used Spirit Plant Secret Methods on them, he could only accelerate their growth. A single mu of Spirit Field could only grow one hundred Qi Training Grass or Sword Star Grass plants; unlike spirit rice, their harvest could not be increased.

This was why Ling Pengyun, as the Spirit Plant Farmer, received no share from these two types of spirit plants.

Ling Pengyun had no objections to this. Having a share of the spirit rice harvest was already good enough, and he was satisfied.

After calculating everything, the smile on Ling Pengyun's face grew even brighter, and he even threw back his head and laughed aloud.

Only after a long while did Ling Pengyun finally calm down.

He cast a probing secret technique to examine when the spirit plants in the other four mu of Spirit Fields would sprout. Learning that it would be soon, Ling Pengyun could not be bothered to return to the cave halfway up the mountain. Instead, he sat cross-legged beside the six mu of Spirit Fields and refined the remaining medicinal power of the Qi Refining Pill within his body.

Less than the time it took to drink half a cup of tea later, the Qi Training Grass and Sword Star Grass planted in the other four mu of Spirit Fields also sprouted one after another.

This put Ling Pengyun greatly at ease and gave him even more confidence that the three kinds of annual spirit plants in these six mu of Spirit Fields could mature ahead of schedule within eleven months.

For spirit plants such as Yellow Jade Spirit Rice, Qi Training Grass, and Sword Star Grass, it ordinarily took around twenty days for them to sprout. Now that they had done so five days early, Ling Pengyun was naturally overjoyed.

He also understood that this was thanks to the Spirit Rain brought down daily by the Cloud Mist Technique.

After casting the Lingxiao Ripening Technique on the Qi Training Grass and Sword Star Grass in each of the four mu of Spirit Fields, Ling Pengyun summoned the three Earth-Turning Earthworms that were swallowing Spirit Soil into their bodies in the fields and purifying it.

Seeing that they were safe and sound, obedient, and had indeed not been slacking off, he finally left the mountain peak and returned to the cave halfway up the mountain.