Let's Go All Out

After finishing his cultivation, Ji An felt clear-headed and sharp-eared, his whole body relaxed and at ease.

After entering Late Qi Condensation, the Spiritual Energy he could refine from Yellow Bud Rice had decreased greatly. Even after eating three jin of spirit rice a day, the increase in cultivation from refining it was negligible.

Before cultivating, he had taken a Shengyuan Pill. The spiritual power he refined from it was equivalent to a month of his usual efforts, making him sigh once more at the allure of spirit stones.

If he could regularly take medicinal pills to increase his spiritual power, would the Ninth Layer of Qi Condensation still be far away?

Cultivation emphasized Law, Companions, Wealth, and Place. Having entered the sect, he currently lacked neither Law nor Companions. Once he broke through to Foundation Establishment, he would have a place to cultivate as well. Wealth, however, had never been plentiful for him.

He possessed two Farming Spells at the perfected level. Among the many spirit farmers, his spirit grain harvest should have been second to none.

Even so, he lived on a tight budget. Ordinary spirit farmers had it even harder, while the Rogue Cultivators outside the sect were the most miserable of all, lacking wealth, companions, law, and place alike.

Ji An stepped out of the bamboo lodge. The sunlight had yet to reach the valley, and the morning mist had not dispersed. The little building lay steeped in a dreamlike haze, as soft as gauze.

The air was fresh, carrying a faint dampness.

He first went nearby to chop down some branches as thick as an arm and as tall as a man, then drove a ring of wooden stakes around the courtyard.

Before he knew it, the sun had climbed over the mountaintop and shone into the valley.

Ji An cut down several bundles of bamboo as thick as two fingers and wove another dense fence around the outside of the wooden stakes.

There were no large beasts in this valley, but there were plenty of wild rabbits, field mice, and badgers.

The Spirit Fruit Tree saplings had cost three spirit stones. They were delicate things.

He had no formation here for protection. If some beast sneaked in and rooted them up, his heart would probably ache to pieces.

Since all the spells he had learned were Farming Spells and he had no handy weapon, he could only rely on an old axe. It took him most of the day to finish the work.

The sun had begun to sink westward. It was already afternoon.

Ji An harvested half the greens in the courtyard, leaving only those growing beside the fence.

Then he cast the Minor Cloud and Rain Art, using the Spirit Rain to wash the greens clean, before casting the Blazing Fire Spell.

These greens contained quite a bit of Spiritual Energy and could already be considered spirit vegetables.

As long as he controlled the output of his spiritual power, he could dehydrate the vegetables without letting them be burned to ashes by fire spiritual power like ordinary weeds.

He had begun making dehydrated vegetables this way long ago. The courtyard was so large that he simply could not finish all the vegetables it produced.

Beneath the lingering glow of the setting sun, two seeds were planted in the courtyard, one to the left and one to the right. Ji An cast the Minor Cloud and Rain Art once more.

The human body possessed all five elements, but unlike humans, most spirit plants displayed a single elemental attribute.

Yellow Bud Rice and Azure Corn, for instance, were both wood-element plants, though it was not especially obvious.

The spirit peach and Spiritual Apricot he had just planted, however, were fire-element plants. Once the saplings slowly grew larger, he would need to regularly cast the Blazing Fire Spell to nurture them and replenish them with more Wood Element Spiritual Energy.

When the spirit grain reached the heading stage, Ji An returned to his busy life.

Now that the sect knew of his talent for spells, he no longer bothered to hide anything.

At dawn, he went to the spirit fields to bring rain and sort out the Earth Qi. During the day, he roamed the mountains in search of lucky trees to condense Wood Origin Pearls. In the evening, he returned to the spirit fields to release wood-element spiritual energy.

After cultivating at night, he would cast the Thick Earth Art and Minor Cloud and Rain Art in his small courtyard.

If he still had spiritual power left, he would unfailingly practice the Sharp Metal Art.

Mastery comes through diligence and is ruined by idleness; only by accumulating tiny steps could one travel a thousand miles.

The sun rose and the moon set, and time hurried by.

Only after all the spirit grain had been harvested and sold, and the talisman grass turned into talisman paper, did Ji An finally have time to catch his breath.

He brought over the pinewood rocking chair he had made himself, played with the spirit mouse wood carving, and lay back comfortably.

Under the setting sun, rosy light crossed the green wall and fell upon the two fruit saplings, each a little over a foot tall.

Perhaps because they had often been nourished by Spirit Rain and the Thick Earth Art, the wooden stakes and bamboo used as fencing had actually all taken root and lived.

Now his little courtyard was embraced by a ring of lush greenery. From outside, it was impossible to see what lay within.

As the chair rocked, Ji An thought contentedly:

"If I raised a yellow dog and brewed a pot of spirit tea, that would be true immortal cultivation life!"

His consciousness sank into his dantian. He saw the stone turtle bobbing up and down amid the mist of spiritual power in his Qi Sea Acupoint.

Master: Ji An

Dao Resonance: 0

Spiritual Essence: Kan Essence 415.2, Kun Essence 189.6, Xun Essence 144.8

Spells: Minor Cloud and Rain Art (Perfected 37%)

Thick Earth Art (Perfected 27%)

Wither and Flourish Art (Major Mastery 76%)

Blazing Fire Spell (Major Mastery 23%)

Sharp Metal Art (Major Mastery 85%)

The rocking chair gradually stopped swaying, and the person in it let out a faint snore.

The next day, Ji An called Huang Feihu over to help. Together, they hauled six hundred jin of Yellow Bud Rice to the General Affairs Hall and paid the other man ten spirit crystals for his trouble.

Huang Feihu stubbornly refused, hurriedly waving his hands.

"Senior Brother, I was passing by anyway. I can't take your crystals."

His Grandfather reminded him every day to learn more from the other man, and he often sought his advice on Farming Spells. How could he accept payment?

With that, he waved and ran off.

Ji An watched his retreating figure and shook his head with a smile.

Ever since Huang Feihu had entered the sect, Ji An had often received dried rabbit meat from him, and his meals had gained a bit of oil and fat as well.

Many cultivators avoided eating ordinary meat and mortal grains, because such food contained little spiritual energy and produced turbid qi after consumption, which took time to cleanse away.

Ji An did not care much about that. He felt that only by eating meat every now and then could one truly savor the flavor of cultivation.

He entered the main hall to pay his field rent and taxes, then exchanged for Spiritual Grain seeds for ten mu of land, talisman grass seeds for five mu, and fifty Fire Cloud Ginseng seeds.

A single Fire Cloud Ginseng seed cost two Contribution Points. He had spent one hundred and sixty Contribution Points in one go today.

With Ji An's current total mana, fifteen mu of spirit fields was already his limit.

He planned to plant the Fire Cloud Ginseng in his small courtyard. It was also a fire-attribute spirit plant, and planting it together with the spiritual peach and Spiritual Apricot trees would make it easier to manage.

He was still far too short on spirit crystals. Next season, he would make a grand push!

Thus, he planned to sacrifice some opportunities to practice spells and first bring his cultivation efficiency to the fullest.

The Shengyuan Pill required spirit crystals to purchase, the Spirit Absorption Array required spirit crystals to activate, and purchasing Jade Slips for Spells and magical artifacts all required large amounts of spirit crystals. He was now dreaming of earning spirit crystals even in his sleep.

Carefully wrapping up the Fire Cloud Ginseng seeds and tucking them into his robe, Ji An slung the cloth sack of Spiritual Grain seeds over his back and rode a talisman bird to Azure Water Market.

He found Wei Songnian at the market square where he had set up his stall and said with a smile, "Senior Brother, later, let's go eat spiritual fish. My treat."

Old Wei had helped him so much; he ought to treat him to a meal and deepen their friendship.

Seeing him arrive, Wei Songnian revealed a sincere smile.

"Junior Brother Liang saved enough spirit crystals to rent ten mu of fishponds from the sect, so he no longer has time to run the restaurant.

"Still, if we go bother him at his residence, we can still get some spiritual fish to eat."

Every three months, Junior Brother Liang would come to him for a bout of wild spending. At present, he was his third-largest customer.

"Come, help me pack up the stall. Let's buy a few bottles of spiritual wine and pay Junior Brother Liang a visit to congratulate him."

"Alright!" Ji An agreed with a smile.