Spirit Hoe (Please Bookmark, Please Vote)

"Beasts were beasts after all. Did they foolishly think they would be safe once they returned home?" Ling Pengyun sneered.

He released his divine sense into the deep cave hidden within the thicket. Sensing five life auras within, the corners of his lips rose slightly.

With a pat of his Storage Bag, he summoned a Black Longsword and poured spiritual power into it.

The Black Longsword turned into a streak of black light and shot into the cave. Hisses and roars from snakes rang out, but within a few breaths, the cave fell silent. The Black Longsword then emerged, carrying five headless Snake Demon corpses.

"The Innate Realm is ultimately only a mortal realm. Even a Qi Refining cultivator can slaughter them at will."

"These five Snake Demons must have been fish that slipped through the net when the Lineage exterminated the Snake Demon horde on Azure Stone Mountain. If I had not encountered that Snake Demon hunting outside earlier, discovering this hidden place would have been somewhat difficult!"

"I wonder how many Snake Demons still remain in the Azure Stone Mountain area!"

Ling Pengyun's brows immediately knitted together.

The divine sense of the Qi Training Fourth Layer was not strong enough to remain extended for long. If he wanted to rely on it to search three feet underground across half a li of Azure Stone Mountain, it would likely take more than ten days, perhaps even nearly a month.

Ling Pengyun could not afford that time.

Yet Snake Demon nests were all well concealed and more than ten zhang underground. It was simply impossible to find any trace of them with the naked eye alone.

"It seems this search can only be entrusted to the mortal Innate Martial Artists among the mortal clansmen who will soon move to the vicinity of Azure Stone Mountain!"

Having made up his mind, Ling Pengyun stored the five headless Snake Demon bodies on the ground in his Storage Bag and left. He circled Azure Stone Mountain several times, and only after finding no further movement did he return to its base.

He lightly patted the Storage Bag hanging at his waist and took out a Formation Plate the size of a rice bowl.

As soon as he took out the Formation Plate, Ling Pengyun tossed it into the air, where it hovered.

He then took out a Meditation Mat and sat cross-legged. His divine sense flowed into the hovering Formation Plate as he refined it.

By the time he had refined the Formation Plate, the blazing sun had already set and night had fallen.

Seeing that it was late and the moon had just risen, Ling Pengyun hurriedly absorbed the power of the new moon for a while.

Then, following the method Ling Ruda had taught him to control the Wu Earth Two Elements Formation Plate, he formed hand seals and silently recited one obscure incantation after another. A special yellow seal condensed before him and entered the Formation Plate.

The Formation Plate flashed with spiritual light. The defensive light screen enveloping Azure Stone Mountain seemed to receive a response and trembled slightly as well.

"Retract!" Seeing that the Formation Plate had connected with Azure Stone Mountain's Mountain Protection Formation, the "Wu Earth Two Elements Formation," Ling Pengyun changed his hand seals.

At his command, the formation retracted.

The enormous light screen covering Azure Stone Mountain immediately dissipated.

Ling Pengyun formed hand seals with both hands and cast a Light Body Technique upon himself. His feet lightly tapped against the various cliff faces of Azure Stone Mountain, and like the "qinggong" of martial arts novels from his previous life, he floated lightly up to the mountain's summit.

The summit of Azure Stone Mountain spanned roughly a dozen zhang. Aside from six mu of Spirit Fields and bare stone ground, there was nothing else.

The stone ground atop the mountain was exceptionally level, even smooth enough to be described as polished, as though it had been sliced flat by a sharp sword.

This summit was also the place with the densest spiritual energy on all of Azure Stone Mountain, as well as where the Ling Clan had opened up its Spirit Fields.

The six mu of Spirit Fields here were all Grade D Rank 1 Low-Grade Spirit Fields. No spirit plants had been planted in them; the fields had merely been opened up.

The reason for this was that no one would be stationed here for a short time. If spirit seeds were planted without anyone to tend them, it might harm their future growth, so no seeds had been sown.

The night had deepened, and darkness blanketed the surroundings. Visibility was extremely poor.

Ling Pengyun took out four Bright Pearls used for illumination and set them at the four directions of the summit. Under the light emitted by the Bright Pearls, the pitch-black mountaintop gained some brightness, and visibility improved somewhat.

"Today is the first day of February, just after the first month of this year. There are only eleven months left before the Lineage sends people here at year's end to collect this year's harvested spirit plants! Time is running short! I'll have to work harder tonight and plant those spirit seeds first, lest they fail to mature by the time the Lineage sends people to collect them eleven months from now!"

"If they mature a few days late and no clansmen come to collect them, I fear I will have no choice but to deliver the mature spirit plants back to the Clan Mountain myself," Ling Pengyun silently planned.

Azure Stone Mountain was simply too far from Lingxiao Mountain. A round trip would take at least five days. He did not want to keep running back and forth later, as it would not only affect his cultivation but also interfere with tending the spirit plants here.

Ling Pengyun raised his hand and patted the Storage Bag at his waist. He took out three small cloth bags containing different spirit plant seeds, which Ling Ruda had given him before he left the Clan Mountain, along with a Spirit Hoe.

The spirit plant seeds in these three small bags were all First Rank Low Grade spirit plant seeds: Yellow Jade Spirit Rice, Talisman Crafting Grass, and Qi Training Grass. Each kind of spirit seed was just enough to plant two mu of Spirit Fields.

A Spirit Hoe was an indispensable item for a Spirit Plant Farmer. The soil within Spirit Fields contained spiritual energy and was somewhat harder than ordinary soil. Using an ordinary hoe to dig the soil and plant spirit seeds would be rather laborious.

At the same time, an ordinary hoe contained no spiritual power and possessed only sharpness. When digging small pits in Spirit Fields to plant spirit seeds, it would often damage the Spirit Soil. Once the Spirit Soil was damaged, the spiritual energy in the Spirit Field would diminish, which would also affect the growth of spirit plants.

With both inconveniences combined, this Spirit Hoe, a magic artifact, came into being.

The Spirit Hoe was also a magic artifact. When using it, a Spirit Plant Farmer only needed to inject spiritual power into it. As it dug the Spirit Soil, it would automatically release faint shockwaves that gently pushed aside the Spirit Soil touched by the hoe's blade, allowing small pits to be dug without damaging or losing any Spirit Soil.

Ling Pengyun's Spirit Hoe was a First Rank Low Grade magic artifact. The Lineage had bestowed it upon him when he became a Spirit Plant Farmer, which could be considered an investment in him. Ling Pengyun had been delighted when he received it years ago. A Spirit Hoe was incomparably important to a Spirit Plant Farmer; had the Lineage not rewarded him with one, he would have needed to buy it himself.

A First Rank Low Grade Spirit Hoe was quite expensive. Because of its wondrous uses, it cost roughly thirty percent more than an ordinary First Rank Low Grade flying sword magic artifact, with a market price of around forty Spirit Stones.

That amount of Spirit Stones was equivalent to roughly eight months of his salary, and also to the Spirit Stones his parents earned in half a year while working hard outside for the Lineage.

Ling Pengyun had now entered the Qi Training Fourth Layer. His monthly stipend was five Spirit Stones and ten jin of Azure Jade Spirit Rice.

Because he had gone out to guard a Spirit Vein, his stipend was doubled. He also received an additional Lineage subsidy of one Qi Refining Pill and two Yellow Sprout Pills.

Ling Pengyun channeled spiritual power into the Spirit Hoe in his hand and carefully dug small earthen pits throughout the six mu of Spirit Fields. Each time he dug one, Ling Pengyun buried a spirit seed within it.

There were simply too many Spirit Fields here. Although activating the Spirit Hoe to release tiny shockwaves and push aside the Spirit Soil during digging did not consume much spiritual power, his careful movements took quite a bit of time.

Only when the sun began to rise did Ling Pengyun finish planting the three small bags of spirit plant seeds Ling Ruda had given him across the six mu of Spirit Fields.