Naturally Born "Farming Seed"

The experiment to add length to his magical power had been a great success—or rather, it had succeeded a little too well.

Li Xiuchang had never expected that adding an inch of length to the magical power in his dantian would send him straight into the Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation!

He had only just broken through to the Third Layer of Qi Condensation. In other words, a single inch of length had directly increased his Cultivation Level by an entire minor realm.

It had even smashed straight through the small bottleneck of Mid Qi Condensation.

But such a fierce increase had also brought considerable side effects.

Other people cultivated step by step, painstakingly advancing bit by bit. During that process, their meridians and dantian were nourished by spiritual energy, while their overall physical strength gradually improved as well.

Li Xiuchang, however, had simply and brutally increased his total magical power, forcibly breaking through his realm.

In particular, when advancing from Early Qi Condensation to Mid Qi Condensation, his magical power had undergone another compression and improved in quality, placing an even heavier burden on his body.

Li Xiuchang was essentially using the body of someone at the Third Layer of Qi Condensation to forcibly contain the magical power of the Fourth Layer, causing enormous pressure on both his dantian and meridians.

His dantian and meridians throbbed faintly with pain, as though they might explode at any moment.

"I was careless!"

Li Xiuchang hurriedly stuffed all the healing pills in his hand into his mouth.

With his inner sight, he saw that his meridians were already showing signs of cracking. Fortunately, the healing pills he had swallowed took effect, and their medicinal power rapidly mended his meridians.

"That was too reckless."

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

He did not regret trying "Length Cultivation." With his aptitude, if he did not find a shortcut, his achievements in this life would be limited.

He should simply have made more preparations so that he could proceed more steadily.

"I'm still not steady enough. I'll have to be more cautious in the future."

Li Xiuchang did not panic. As he circulated his cultivation technique, he also expended his magical power, reducing the burden it placed on his dantian and meridians.

After half an hour, Li Xiuchang let out a long breath. The condition inside his body had finally stabilized.

The crisis had been resolved, but only temporarily. His body still needed some time to adapt.

Before then, he could not continue cultivating or increase his magical power any further.

"Looks like I'll have to find a way to improve my physical strength before I can safely use length to raise my Cultivation Level."

Li Xiuchang had already sorted out his thoughts. Since he could directly raise his Cultivation Level through length, there was no need to spend his time cultivating. After all, his cultivation speed was pitifully slow.

As long as he focused wholeheartedly on improving his physical strength and strengthening his body's ability to withstand pressure, his Cultivation Level would rise naturally when the time came.

"To improve my physical body, I can either rely on heavenly treasures, pills, and other external objects, or cultivate a Body Refining Technique."

"Relying on external objects is ultimately unstable, and their upper limit isn't high either. It looks like I'll still have to choose a Body Refining Technique to cultivate."

"It's just that leaving the place isn't convenient for me right now..."

Li Xiuchang had only joined the sect a little over two months ago. Reaching the Third Layer of Qi Condensation in that time could still be explained—after all, he had gotten there purely by throwing money at it, and there were traces to follow.

But reaching the Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation in a little over two months was rather astonishing. He had no way to explain why he had broken through from the Second Layer to the Fourth Layer after only a few days of secluded cultivation.

Therefore, he planned not to leave for the next several months. If he waited a few more months before going out, his Cultivation Level would be easier to explain.

Over the next few months, he could conveniently stay in his residence and focus on improving his skills while accumulating length.

Now that he had found a way to use length to improve his Cultivation Level, Li Xiuchang was brimming with motivation.

Li Xiuchang had resolved his own crisis, allowing Zhang Wanzhi and Mo Tu to breathe a sigh of relief.

"You showed some quick thinking." Mo Tu rarely offered praise.

"I was just about to step in." Zhang Wanzhi's expression was somewhat grave. "Old Mo, did you figure anything out?"

Mo Tu shook his head.

They had both seen that Li Xiuchang's sudden surge in Cultivation Level had placed too much pressure on his physical body, but neither of them had discovered why his Cultivation Level had suddenly skyrocketed.

What they could be certain of now was that Li Xiuchang was definitely abnormal, yet they truly could not see what made him special.

"Could he be some ancient monster reincarnated to cultivate anew?" Zhang Wanzhi guessed.

Mo Tu shook his head again, rejecting the speculation.

Zhang Wanzhi trusted Mo Tu's attainments in matters of the soul and had no doubts whatsoever about his judgment. He shook his head and said:

"Forget it. If we can't figure it out, let him be. For now, don't act rashly, lest we overreach and ruin everything. If he really meant us harm, Old Gui should have divined it and warned us long ago."

"When Old Gui returns, we'll give him a thorough interrogation. He should know something."

As he spoke, Zhang Wanzhi casually kicked Gui Wuyan on the ground, sending him into the shape of the character "支."

Mo Tu sat down again. With a wave of his hand, the chessboard and pieces on the ground returned to their proper places.

Zhang Wanzhi tilted his head up and refused to look at the chessboard. With a hint of teasing, he said, "That kid probably won't dare leave the house for quite some time now... He still isn't as steady as Chen the Turtle. If it had been Chen the Turtle, he probably would have already run for it."

Mo Tu did not respond. He pointed at the fully restored game before him and said, "Play chess!"

Because he could not leave the house, and because he no longer needed to worry about producing Smoked Spirit Meat, Li Xiuchang could finally settle down and properly improve his Cultivation Techniques.

He hung a sign reading "In Seclusion" outside the courtyard gate to prevent anyone from disturbing him.

There was also a pair of yin souls in the courtyard who helped him tend to the Netherfrost Grass. However, these two yin souls had low Cultivation Levels, probably equivalent to the First Layer of Qi Condensation, and were even weaker than Li Xiuchang. Moreover, they were under Li Xiuchang's control, so he did not need to worry about them seeing through his Cultivation Level.

To be safe, Li Xiuchang also planned to buy this pair of yin soul spouses from Senior Brother Mo in the future.

Li Xiuchang prioritized practicing his Spirit Plant Cultivation Arts, which was the skill in which he had shown the most talent so far.

There were two ways to practice this skill: planting spirit plants and forcing spirit plants to mature.

The former had too many restrictions. It required space, seeds, and large quantities of materials. Since he could not leave the courtyard now, he had only half a courtyard available for planting.

Li Xiuchang could only focus as much as possible on the latter.

Before entering seclusion, he had bought some First-grade Spirit Plant seeds in the market, along with various fertilizers used to force them to mature. There were not many, but they were enough for him to practice with.

Li Xiuchang made full use of the remaining half of his courtyard, filling it with First-grade Spirit Plants. Not a single one of these First-grade Spirit Plants was a duplicate, but they all shared one trait: fast growth cycles.

Although Li Xiuchang was planting all these spirit plant seeds for the first time, every single one succeeded on the first try and sprouted smoothly.

A hundred percent success rate!

Li Xiuchang was stunned. Even though he was not exceptionally knowledgeable about spirit plants, he knew that this success rate was absolutely enough to pass the First-grade Spirit Planter examination.

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

At that moment, Li Xiuchang could be certain: he truly was an unparalleled farming prodigy!

A natural-born farming seed!

"Heaven did not give birth to me, Li Xiuchang, and the Way of Farming... Forget it, that's not much of a battle cry."

The courtyard was already completely planted, and judging from the current results, there was not much left for him to practice regarding his planting success rate.

As long as he also mastered "forcing plants to mature," Li Xiuchang would be able to register for the First-grade Spirit Planter examination.