New Uses for Charcoal Attribute Mana

Cultivating Spirit Plants doesn't just require skill; it also needs various supporting materials and fertilizers.

If the fertilizer is too high-grade, the Spirit Plants might not be able to handle it. Fertilizers with incompatible attributes could even have the opposite effect.

Furthermore, one must consider the cost. If too much fertilizer is used to hasten the growth of a first-tier Spirit Grass, can the cost be recouped?

In short, it's all a matter of knowledge.

After a period of practice, Li Xiuchang found that in the way of Spirit Plants, it was as if heaven was forcefully shoving food into his mouth.

He grasped the technique of hastening Spirit Plant growth with exceptional ease, becoming completely proficient in a short amount of practice.

Now, he could hasten the growth of first-tier Spirit Plants with great skill.

"I'll stop practicing Spirit Plant techniques for now. There isn't much fertilizer left, and I'm running out of space."

"Once I leave, I'll sign up for the first-tier Spirit Planter assessment."

Li Xiuchang felt that his current Spirit Plant technique level should make passing the first-tier Spirit Planter assessment no difficult task.

During this time, he noticed that whenever he practiced Spirit Plant techniques, his Length stat grew astonishingly fast, much quicker than when he practiced Spirit Chef or Alchemy techniques.

Of course, compared to when Senior Brother Mo Tu taught him, where he gained over an inch in just a few hours, the difference was still quite significant.

Indeed, there's a huge gap between having a master and not having one... Li Xiuchang looked forward even more to Zhao Yuansi teaching him Alchemy in the future.

He handed the remaining fertilizer to the malevolent spirit couple, entrusting them with the care of the Spirit Plants in the courtyard, and decided to practice Alchemy.

But as his gaze swept over a bag of dark, powdery fertilizer, a thought suddenly struck him—could he make his own fertilizer?

The main ingredients for Spirit Plant fertilizer were typically Demonic Beast dung or plant ash. He recalled that charcoal could also be used as fertilizer, similar to plant ash.

Could his Charcoal Attribute Mana be used for fertilizing?

The more Li Xiuchang pondered, the more he felt it was a viable idea.

So, he took the first-tier Spirit Grass and Spirit Medicine he had recently planted as test subjects, and began injecting his Charcoal Attribute Mana into the soil around their roots.

In this first attempt, Li Xiuchang misjudged the amount of Mana to inject, and ended up killing three Spirit Grasses.

However, it also showed him the feasibility of his idea.

At the very least, the Spirit Grass could absorb his Charcoal Attribute Mana!

Finally, on the fourth Spirit Grass, Li Xiuchang succeeded, visibly increasing the plant's growth rate.

Li Xiuchang was incredibly excited. His Charcoal Attribute Mana had not only proven useful in his Spirit Chef endeavors, helping him earn thousands of Spirit Stones, but it now seemed it would also shine brightly in the realm of Spirit Plants!

Being able to fertilize Spirit Plants with Mana, did he know what that meant?

It meant Mana could be used as fertilizer!

Judging by the results of his recent fertilization, his Charcoal Attribute Mana was more effective than ordinary first-tier fertilizer in a single application.

And this effect might even improve as Li Xiuchang's cultivation increased.

This meant he could disregard fertilizer costs when growing Spirit Grass and Spirit Medicine in the future, allowing them to mature faster.

Simply put, it had one effect: to make him more money!

Li Xiuchang fertilized all the first-tier Spirit Plants in his courtyard. With the success he'd just had, he didn't fail again.

All the first-tier Spirit Plants in the courtyard were successfully fertilized!

"It seems my Charcoal Attribute Mana is a universal fertilizer, applicable to any Spirit Plant. It's amazing!"

After skillfully mastering the technique, Li Xiuchang then attempted to fertilize the ten Netherfrost Grasses in his courtyard.

Although the fertilization was successful, the effect was greatly diminished.

It was equivalent to using first-tier fertilizer on a second-tier Spirit Plant, so the reduced effect was normal. He estimated it would only improve once his cultivation reached a higher level.

But it didn't matter. Mana didn't cost Spirit Stones, so he decided to fertilize the Netherfrost Grass with his Charcoal Attribute Mana whenever he had free time. It would at least accelerate their growth somewhat.

In the following days, Li Xiuchang fertilized the Spirit Plants in his courtyard every few days, spending the rest of his time practicing his Spirit Chef skills and studying Alchemy.

Both of these skills required starting a fire. When Li Xiuchang used his Charcoal Attribute Mana to start a fire, it produced thick smoke. Furthermore, as his cultivation advanced to the middle stage of Qi Condensation, the potency and toxicity of the smoke also increased accordingly.

Fortunately, Li Xiuchang only used one stove, so the smoke output wasn't excessive. He had the malevolent spirit couple help collect the smoke, which they could even sell for some Spirit Stones.

Shamefully, despite becoming a disciple of the Alchemy master Zhao Yuansi, Li Xiuchang's Alchemy practice was still theoretical. He hadn't actually refined a single pill yet.

After thoroughly reading the book "Introduction to Alchemy," Li Xiuchang finally began to start his alchemy furnace.

As an Alchemy apprentice, he thought he would start by refining non-grade pills like Grain-Aversion Pills. However, in reality, he couldn't handle pill-shaped medicines like Grain-Aversion Pills yet.

He could only refine things like "Overlord Liquid" for hair loss, "Moonwarm Powder" for menstrual cramps, "Essence Gathering Powder" for yang deficiency and kidney deficiency, and "Skyward Oil" for prolonging pleasure...

After entering the middle stage of Qi Condensation, Li Xiuchang required less sleep and could essentially stay up all night practicing.

He refined pills during the day and cooked at night, balancing both Alchemy and Spirit Chef skills.

As for Soul Manipulation, he had to put it aside for now due to a lack of suitable conditions.

Li Xiuchang could only practice his ghost-catching and ghost-controlling techniques on the malevolent spirit couple when he had nothing else to do, but his progress was minimal.

Time flew by as he "grinded," and in the blink of an eye, Li Xiuchang had been in seclusion for over two months.

Over the past two months, Li Xiuchang had ranked his talent in various skills based on the growth rate of his Length stat.

His talent in Spirit Planting was undoubtedly number one, leading by a landslide.

Alchemy came in second, though his talent in it wasn't much stronger than his Spirit Chef talent, which ranked third. His Soul Manipulation talent was the weakest of the four skills.

Two months of diligent study and practice had pushed Li Xiuchang's Length stat past the five-inch mark!

Length stat: 5.03.

Li Xiuchang had originally planned to continue cultivating like this for another year or so before emerging from seclusion, but two consecutive events disrupted his plans.

In the past few days, two people had visited. Seeing that Li Xiuchang was in seclusion, they left messages on the Courtyard Protection Array instead of disturbing him.

The Courtyard Protection Array had a built-in messaging function that would transfer the messages to his Identity Token.

Li Xiuchang read the messages. The first one was from the Outer Sect's General Affairs Hall, asking him to visit them soon.

The reason was that Li Xiuchang would turn eighteen in a few days. According to custom, Outer Sect disciples had to visit the General Affairs Hall when they turned eighteen for a routine inspection, to report on their cultivation and skill progress, and to receive a "coming-of-age gift" from the sect.

The second message was from Li Xiuchang's master, Zhao Yuansi.

Zhao Yuansi was summoning all his disciples to the Zhao Manor in half a month to attend a lecture.

Li Xiuchang was immediately in a bind. He couldn't easily refuse either of these matters, but he couldn't leave seclusion either. What should he do?