A Keen Judge of Character

A month flew by in the blink of an eye.

Every morning after finishing his cultivation, Ji An would wander around the Spirit Fields and practice the Wither and Flourish Art.

Once half the spiritual power in his body had been used up, he would return to the bamboo building to study his spells.

He maintained a cultivation schedule of one shichen in the morning and two shichen at night, taking one Yellow Bud Pill every three days. His cultivation advanced rapidly.

The increase in his spiritual power limit from refining a single Yellow Bud Pill was equivalent to half a month of hard work under normal circumstances.

This only strengthened his resolve to do everything possible to raise his cultivation quickly. Once he reached Mid Qi Condensation, he could slowly repay his debts.

Once his credit recovered, he could crowdfund another year or so of cultivation.

The bright moon shone in silent solitude. Ji An lit a stick of incense and sat cross-legged on a cushion in the courtyard.

He discovered that during his morning cultivation, the upper limit of spiritual power in his Qi Sea Acupoint no longer increased. Clearly, he had reached a bottleneck.

Breaking through from the First Layer of Qi Condensation to the Second Layer was quite simple. The cultivation method contained detailed instructions; he only needed to follow the map to find the path.

He took out a jade bottle and poured out a Yellow Bud Pill. Shaking the bottle, he found that two pills remained inside.

Ten pills to advance to the Second Layer of Qi Condensation. My aptitude really is a long and miserable tale.

With a self-mocking smile, he swallowed the pill.

Aptitude affected cultivation even more than he had estimated. Not only was his rate of absorbing heaven and earth spiritual energy slow, but his rate of refining the spiritual power from pills was not fast either.

The longer the process dragged on, the more of the Yellow Bud Pill's medicinal power escaped through his pores before it could be refined, which troubled him greatly.

He swiftly dispelled the distracting thoughts in his heart. After calming his mind and steadying his breath, Ji An began his assault on the Second Layer of Qi Condensation.

Breaking through a realm involved reversing the flow of qi. The circulation of spiritual power through the Immortal Meridian was no longer as steady as it was during ordinary cultivation; he needed to control its rhythm, speeding it up and slowing it down at intervals.

Simply put, he had to slowly draw out a portion of the spiritual power from his dantian, then force it back in at high speed, striking the bottleneck again and again until the Qi Sea Acupoint's capacity expanded once more.

After his souls fused, Ji An's spiritual sense was far stronger than that of cultivators at the same level. Controlling his spiritual power came as easily as turning his hand over.

About half a quarter-hour later, he felt his dantian faintly swelling.

This was a sign that the bottleneck was loosening. The opportunity for a breakthrough was right before him!

He reversed the flow of qi, drawing even more spiritual power from his dantian and gathering it within his Immortal Meridian, accelerating it.

Then he set the qi flowing normally. Surging spiritual power swelled the Immortal Meridian like a rising stream, before pouring into his dantian in one tremendous rush.

The Qi Sea Acupoint suddenly expanded by several degrees, and the bottleneck shattered at the first charge.

Sensing that nearly half the pill's medicinal power remained, Ji An naturally altered the circulation of his cultivation method and used the second-level mental method of the Clear Origin Scripture, which he already knew by heart, to refine the spiritual power.

Half a shichen later, he ended his cultivation reluctantly.

After breaking through, one should not cultivate for too long. The cultivation method had written this with perfect clarity, and he obediently followed it.

"This is the benefit of joining a sect. It really is sweet!" Ji An let out a leisurely sigh.

The cultivation method contained detailed annotations left behind by predecessors. After being revised and refined through untold generations, one only needed to practice step by step for minor realm breakthroughs to become effortless.

Rogue Cultivators lacked cultivation methods, and they lacked even more these kinds of methods that could improve one's cultivation simply by following the instructions without needing to think.

He examined his body inwardly and found that his dantian could hold twice as much spiritual power as before the breakthrough. Several tiny branches had also appeared along his Immortal Meridian.

A more developed Immortal Meridian would improve the efficiency of both absorbing heaven and earth spiritual energy and refining medicinal pills.

The improvement might appear small, but accumulated day after day, it would become exceedingly considerable.

He understood very clearly just how enormous the gains brought by exponential growth would become when stretched across time.

Based on his current total spiritual power, he could cast the Minor Cloud and Rain Art at the Minor Accomplishment level three times a day and still have some spiritual power left over.

His eyes flickered as clear words surfaced in his mind.

Master: Ji An

Dao Rhyme: 0

Spiritual Inspiration: Kan Spirit 18.5, Kun Spirit 11.7, Xun Spirit 3.7

Spells: Minor Cloud and Rain Art (Minor Accomplishment 1%)

Thick Earth Art (Minor Accomplishment 1%)

Wither and Flourish Art (Minor Accomplishment 1%)

The corners of Ji An's mouth rose. With such a large sum of resources, all he needed was a trip to the General Affairs Hall to exchange for the jade slip containing the third-level art. It was the perfect time to soar by leaps and bounds.

Going all in was a kind of wisdom.

The next day.

Ji An finished cultivating, his eyes gleaming and his entire body feeling refreshed.

After yesterday's breakthrough, cultivation could once again raise his spiritual power limit. It was truly marvelous beyond words.

He strolled out of the bamboo building, casually closed the wicker gate behind him, and strode toward the Spirit Fields.

In a few more days, the Spirit Grain would begin to head one after another, and he would become busy as well.

The moment he reached the field ridge, he cast the Thick Earth Art.

Earthen-yellow spiritual light sank into the field. The Spirit Grain swayed despite the lack of wind, as though saluting him.

The third level of the Thick Earth Art could improve the soil's fertility and increase the rice yield.

Afterward, Ji An calmly cast the Minor Cloud and Rain Art. A mysterious rhythm emerged around him.

His brows rose slightly as his mind connected with the Stone Turtle.

Spell: Minor Cloud and Rain Art (Minor Accomplishment 1→2%)

A smile appeared on his lips. After casting rain several times over the past few days, it had finally improved.

White clouds and mist blanketed half a mu of Spirit Fields. Raindrops fell like pearls and jade, striking the Spirit Grain with crisp pattering sounds.

With his hands clasped behind his back, he watched the rain pour down in sheets, quietly reveling in himself.

"Junior Brother, your Minor Cloud and Rain Art has actually reached Minor Accomplishment. Congratulations."

A gentle voice came from behind him. Ji An turned his head and saw Liu Yu approaching along the small path.

Sunlight spilled across Liu Yu's skin, fairer even than a woman's, where a crystalline sheen faintly glimmered.

For no reason at all, a line came to Ji An's mind: a gentleman like jade upon the road, unparalleled beneath heaven.

A smile appeared on his face by reflex. Ji An said with a grin,

"Congratulations to you as well. Senior Brother Liu, I almost never see you come out for a walk. What brought on this elegant mood today?"

"My cultivation improved somewhat last night. I had to relax a little."

Ji An's smile broadened as he clasped his hands in greeting.

"I can feel the spiritual pressure radiating from you, Senior Brother. You must have broken through several realms in succession this past month, right?"

On the night they arrived at the Spirit Fields by Azure Water Lake, Liu Yu had mentioned that he had just entered the Third Layer of Qi Condensation. Now, he had most likely reached Qi Condensation Layer 5.

"Yes, Qi Condensation Layer 6."

Ji An felt his smile stiffen somewhat and raised a hand to rub his face.

"Senior Brother is truly gifted."

His words carried a trace of sourness beneath the envy.

"I have my Lineage to rely on. I need not work for a living or practice spells, and I spend half of every day cultivating. Only then have I barely achieved what I have today.

Compared with those cultivation seeds born with all their Immortal Meridians open, I am far, far behind.

Yet you, Junior Brother, have only entered the sect for barely a month, and your spell has already reached Minor Accomplishment.

You may be trapped in hardship now, but you are like a dragon stranded in a shallow well. One day, you may yet soar into the heavens."

Liu Yu sighed inwardly. Every family had scriptures too difficult to recite, and he too had to compete with the other descendants.

If he failed to meet his Lineage's expectations, having his treatment reduced would be inevitable.

What a fine-looking senior brother—and he spoke so pleasantly too. Most importantly, he truly was a keen judge of character!

Ji An quickly adjusted his slightly disappointed mood. His good days still lay ahead.

"Senior Brother says you do not practice spells, yet you could tell at a glance that my Minor Cloud and Rain Art had advanced. Could it be that you have studied Farming Spells as well?"

"My Lineage rose to prominence through Spirit Farming. Having been influenced by it since childhood, I have gained some insights into tending Spirit Fields."

As Liu Yu spoke, he pointed at the Spirit Field and said,

"The Spirit Grain in this strip of field has aphids. Junior Brother, you should deal with them as soon as possible."