Innate 'Seed of Farming'

The experiment to add length to mana was successful, or perhaps a little too successful.

Li Xiuchang hadn't expected that adding an inch of length to the mana in his Dantian would directly propel him to the Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation!

He had only just broken through to the Third Layer of Qi Condensation. This meant that an inch of length had directly increased his cultivation by a minor realm.

Furthermore, it had allowed him to directly break through the minor bottleneck of Mid Qi Condensation.

However, such a drastic increase came with considerable side effects.

When others cultivate, they do so step by step, gradually improving their strength over time. During this process, their meridians and Dantian are nourished by spiritual qi, and their overall physical strength slowly increases as well.

But Li Xiuchang had simply and crudely increased his total mana, forcefully breaking through realms.

Especially the transition from Early Qi Condensation to Mid Qi Condensation, where his mana had been compressed once, improving its quality. This placed an even greater burden on his body.

Essentially, Li Xiuchang was using the physical body of someone at the Third Layer of Qi Condensation to forcibly accommodate the mana of the Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation, causing immense pressure on his Dantian and meridians.

His Dantian and meridians ached, feeling as though they might explode at any moment.

"I was careless!"

Li Xiuchang quickly stuffed a handful of healing pills into his mouth.

Upon internal inspection, he saw that his meridians were showing signs of cracking. Fortunately, the healing pills he had taken were working, and their medicinal power was rapidly repairing his meridians.

"Too reckless."

While reflecting on his actions, Li Xiuchang slowly circulated his cultivation technique, allowing his meridians to gradually adapt to his mana.

He didn't regret trying "Length Cultivation." With his aptitude, if he didn't find some shortcuts, his achievements in this life would be limited.

He just wished he had made more preparations to be safer.

"Still not stable enough. I need to be more cautious in the future."

Li Xiuchang remained calm. While circulating his cultivation technique, he also consumed mana to reduce the load on his Dantian and meridians.

Half an hour later, Li Xiuchang let out a long sigh of relief. The condition within his body had finally stabilized.

The crisis was averted, but only temporarily. His body still needed time to adapt.

Until then, he couldn't continue cultivating or increase his mana further.

"It seems I need to find a way to increase my physical strength before I can safely use length to boost my cultivation."

Li Xiuchang had a clear plan. Since he could directly increase his cultivation using length, there was no need to spend time on cultivation, especially since his cultivation speed was pitifully slow anyway.

He just needed to focus on increasing his physical strength and enhancing his body's resilience. Then, his cultivation would naturally improve.

"To improve the physical body, one either relies on rare treasures and pills, or cultivates Body Refining Techniques."

"Relying on external factors is ultimately unstable and has a low ceiling. It looks like I'll need to choose a Body Refining Technique to cultivate."

"But it's inconvenient for me to go out right now..."

Li Xiuchang had only been a disciple for a little over two months. Reaching the Third Layer of Qi Condensation was explainable; after all, he had achieved it purely through spending money, which had a traceable reason.

However, reaching the Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation in just over two months was astonishing. He couldn't explain how he had broken through from the Second Layer to the Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation in just a few days of seclusion.

Therefore, he planned to stay in his residence for the next few months and only go out after several months had passed, by which time his cultivation level would be easier to explain.

For the next few months, he would simply stay put and focus on improving his skills and accumulating length.

Now that he had found a method to increase his cultivation using length, Li Xiuchang was full of motivation.

With Li Xiuchang resolving his own crisis, both Zhang Wanzhi and Mo Tu breathed a sigh of relief.

"He has some quick wit," Mo Tu commented, praising him uncharacteristically.

"I was just about to intervene," Zhang Wanzhi said with a hint of seriousness. "Old Mo, did you notice anything?"

Mo Tu shook his head.

They both recognized that Li Xiuchang's cultivation had surged, placing excessive pressure on his physical body. However, neither of them could figure out the reason for this sudden surge in cultivation.

There was no longer any doubt that Li Xiuchang was abnormal, yet they couldn't pinpoint what made him special.

"Could it be a reincarnated old monster?" Zhang Wanzhi speculated.

Mo Tu shook his head again, dismissing the guess.

Zhang Wanzhi trusted Mo Tu's expertise in matters of the soul and didn't question his judgment. He sighed, "Forget it. If we can't figure it out, let's just let it be. We shouldn't act rashly for now, or we might make things worse. If it were truly detrimental to us, Old Gui would have foreseen it and warned us by now."

"We'll have a good talk with Old Gui when he gets back. He should know something."

As he said this, Zhang Wanzhi kicked Gui Wuyan, who was lying on the ground, into a "branch" shape.

Mo Tu sat back down and beckoned, and the chessboard and pieces on the ground rearranged themselves.

Zhang Wanzhi looked up, avoiding the chessboard, and said with a hint of teasing, "That kid probably won't dare to go out for a long time... In the end, he's still not as steady as Chen the Turtle. If it were Chen the Turtle, he would have probably run away by now."

Mo Tu didn't reply. He pointed to the fully reset chessboard in front of him and said, "Let's play chess!"

Since he couldn't leave the courtyard and no longer had to worry about the production of smoked spirit meat, Li Xiuchang could finally focus on improving his cultivation techniques.

He hung a "Closed Door Cultivation" sign outside his courtyard gate to prevent anyone from disturbing him.

Inside the courtyard, there were also a pair of malevolent spirits helping him tend to the Netherfrost Grass. However, these two malevolent spirits had low cultivation, likely only at the First Layer of Qi Condensation, not even as strong as Li Xiuchang. Moreover, they were controlled by Li Xiuchang, so he didn't need to worry about them seeing through his cultivation.

To be safe, Li Xiuchang planned to buy this pair of malevolent spirits from Senior Brother Mo Tu in the future.

Li Xiuchang prioritized practicing Spirit Planting techniques, which was the skill he had the most talent in so far.

Practicing this skill could be approached in two ways: first, planting spirit plants, and second, accelerating their growth.

The former had too many limitations, requiring land, seeds, and a large amount of materials. He couldn't leave the courtyard now, and the area he could use for planting was only half of the courtyard.

Li Xiuchang could only focus on the latter.

Before going into seclusion, he had bought some seeds for Tier 1 spirit plants in the market, as well as various fertilizers for accelerating growth. Although not much, it was enough for him to practice.

Li Xiuchang made full use of the remaining half of his courtyard, planting Tier 1 spirit plants. None of these Tier 1 spirit plants were the same, but they shared one common trait: they grew quickly.

Even though these were the first spirit plant seeds Li Xiuchang had ever tried to plant, they all succeeded on the first attempt and sprouted smoothly.

A hundred percent success rate!

Li Xiuchang was astonished. Even though he wasn't very knowledgeable about spirit plants, he knew that this success rate would definitely pass the assessment for a Tier 1 Spirit Planter.

The key was that this was only his second time practicing planting...

Now, Li Xiuchang could confirm it: he was truly an unparalleled genius in farming!

A natural 'Seed of Farming'!

"Heaven did not give birth to me, Li Xiuchang, and the Way of Farming... Forget it, I can't really say it out loud."

The courtyard was already full, and as things stood, there wasn't much to practice regarding his planting success rate.

As long as he mastered the "accelerating growth" aspect, Li Xiuchang would be able to register for the Tier 1 Spirit Planter assessment.