During this period, Zhang Wan taught the two of them basic knowledge of spirit plants bit by bit.
When he had purchased the Extreme Spirit Planter inheritance, he had sworn never to pass it on.
However, the restriction only forbade him from teaching the cultivation techniques contained in the inheritance. Knowledge of spirit plants was not covered by the ban on passing it on.
Since his younger sister and younger brother were interested, Zhang Wan naturally did not begrudge them the knowledge.
Besides, they already possessed some knowledge of spirit plants. If they wanted to become Spirit Planters in the future, things would be easier for them.
Even if they wanted to practice other cultivation arts later, knowing a certain amount about spirit plants would do them no harm.
Time passed day by day like this.
Before long, the second half of seventh grade came to an end.
Something rather interesting happened during this period.
Zhang Wan had originally planned to wait until Xu Hui reached the late stage of the First Level Postnatal realm before raising his own cultivation to that level.
But thanks to the large amount of pseudo-spirit items he had harvested, even after temporarily stopping his investment of experience points into cultivation, Zhang Wan's cultivation speed remained quite fast.
In the end, he broke through to the late stage of the First Level Postnatal realm ahead of Xu Hui.
Stimulated by this, Xu Hui also broke through to the late stage of the First Level Postnatal realm a few days later.
Although the process had been somewhat different, Zhang Wan could accept this result.
He still remained hidden behind everyone else, appearing thoroughly ordinary.
Once the first half of eighth grade arrived, Zhao Qixin and Yu Shui truly broke through to the Second Level Postnatal realm!
The two of them became famous throughout the entire Beginner Martial Arts Academy at once!
They had already stood head and shoulders above their classmates, but among the higher grades, they had not been especially famous before—only somewhat known.
And that was mainly because of their backgrounds, which had made the higher-grade students remember them.
This time, however, it was because of their cultivation and strength!
They had just become eighth-grade students, yet had already broken through to the Second Level Postnatal realm. In two years, when they became tenth-grade students, they would have at least the cultivation of the Third Level Postnatal realm!
And among the students graduating from the Beginner Martial Arts Academy each year, those with the cultivation of the Third Level Postnatal realm could be counted on one hand! After graduating from the academy and entering the Jade Bone Sect, they would receive far better treatment than the others!
Not to mention the future—even now, among the eighth-, ninth-, and tenth-grade students, there were already few whose cultivation surpassed theirs.
Their solid strength and potential made it impossible for the Postnatal students and even the instructors at the academy to ignore their existence.
The two of them were basking in boundless glory at the academy.
Of course, Xu Hui and Zhang Wan were not bad either.
Although their late-stage First Level Postnatal cultivation could not compare with Zhao Qixin and Yu Shui's,
it was still quite good. Among all the Postnatal students at the academy, they ranked in the middle. In two years, after advancing to tenth grade, they would firmly rank among the top ten.
Zhang Wan was very satisfied with this position.
He could receive a certain amount of attention without worrying about attracting too many eyes and being examined under a magnifying glass. It was very safe.
As for Xu Hui, he was becoming more and more diligent, seemingly harboring thoughts of fighting for first place.
At first, Zhang Wan had thought Xu Hui would use some underhanded tactic to surpass those two.
But this fellow simply buried himself in bitter cultivation, working harder and harder.
Combined with Xu Hui's talent, he really did have a sliver of a chance to surpass Zhao Qixin and Yu Shui.
However, that would be impossible while they were still at the academy.
Zhao Qixin and Yu Shui's talents were no inferior to Xu Hui's. On top of that, their elders provided them with cultivation resources. If Xu Hui wanted to surpass them, he would probably have to wait until the peak of the Ninth Level Postnatal realm, when they faced the bottleneck before the Innate realm.
Likewise, during the first half of eighth grade, the Postnatal low-grade spirit plants Zhang Wan had planted in earthen pots on a wooden rack matured one after another.
Small Jade Bamboo Rice, Dwarf Apricots, Water Green Cucumbers, Fire Blood Grass, and Spider Silk Grass—five kinds of spirit plants, five plants of each kind, all grew lush and full of life in the earthen pots.
To cultivate these Postnatal low-grade spirit plants properly, Zhang Wan had put in far more effort than he had with the spirit field.
Fertilizing, exterminating pests, pulling weeds, treating diseases, shielding them from wind, protecting them from rain, blocking the sun, and so on had cost Zhang Wan a tremendous amount of effort.
Fortunately, the results were gratifying.
All twenty-five spirit plants grew successfully and matured one after another, reaching the stage where they could be picked and used.
The Water Green Cucumbers could simply be picked from their vines. The stalks of Small Jade Bamboo Rice had to be split open to take out the Small Jade Bamboo Rice inside, while the Dwarf Apricots could also simply be picked.
As long as they were cultivated properly, all three could be eaten with ease.
Fire Blood Grass and Spider Silk Grass were different.
Spider Silk Grass was not suitable for swallowing. It was better suited for making talisman paper. Most of the Postnatal talismans here at the Jade Bone Sect were drawn on talisman paper made from Spider Silk Grass.
The Jade Bone Sect would buy as many spirit items of this type as were available.
As long as they were grown, there was no need to worry about being unable to sell them.
Zhang Wan planted Spider Silk Grass partly to earn some spirit stones and partly to practice. Once he wanted to learn talisman drawing in the future, he could directly grow Spider Silk Grass himself to make talisman paper.
By first figuring out all the habits and cultivation difficulties of Spider Silk Grass, he would be able to plant it on a large scale in the future.
Fire Blood Grass was also a common spirit item on the market. It was one of the primary ingredients for healing medicines and pills that invigorated the blood, dissolved stasis, and restored bodily damage.
It was another valuable thing that would never have trouble finding a buyer.
However, Zhang Wan did not grow Fire Blood Grass to sell. He had prepared it for his younger sister and younger brother.
Even without being refined into pills, Fire Blood Grass could invigorate the blood, dissolve stasis, restore bodily damage, and strengthen the vital energy and blood.
Although it was not as effective as pills, it could still be used directly.
With this Fire Blood Grass, Zhang Wan could devise an even more devilish and hellish training plan for his younger sister and younger brother without worrying about training their bodies into collapse.
"At the very least, before I graduate, I have to help my younger sister break through to the Postnatal realm."
"Otherwise, if my younger sister still hasn't become a Postnatal martial artist by the time I graduate from the academy, she and my younger brother will have to go back to sleeping in a shared dormitory."
The concentration of spiritual energy in the shared dormitory could not compare with that in the private courtyard.
Breaking through to the Postnatal realm would be even harder there.
The method of using Fire Blood Grass was also simple. After squeezing out its juice, one only needed to apply it directly to the body, where it could dissolve internal blood stasis and restore bodily damage.
The juice could also be dripped into water for a bath, with equally good effects.
Zhang Lingshu and Zhang Yan were still mortals, however. If the Fire Blood Grass juice were applied directly, they would be unable to absorb it completely, resulting in some waste. Having them bathe in water infused with the juice was more suitable for the two of them.
After harvesting seeds from the five kinds of spirit plants, Zhang Wan sold the Water Green Cucumber plants and the Spider Silk Grass, while the Small Jade Bamboo Rice and Dwarf Apricots could continue to be cultivated. After some time, they would bear fruit again.
Once these two kinds of spirit plants matured, they could be harvested continuously for more than a decade.
Of course, various spirit fertilizers and spirit water could not be lacking during that time, and pests, weeds, and diseases still had to be dealt with constantly.
Even so, they were still more cost-effective than spirit plants that could only be harvested once before having to be replanted.
But for that very reason, the higher yield of these two spirit items caused their prices to be much lower than Fire Blood Grass.
As for the Fire Blood Grass, Zhang Wan packed it all into jade boxes. When it was needed, he could take it out and squeeze out the juice.
It was different from pseudo-spirit items.
To preserve a spirit item and prevent its medicinal efficacy from dissipating, even the most basic container had to be a jade box.
The jade boxes in Zhang Wan's possession had all been purchased by him at Yunmeng Market.
He bought more than three hundred jade boxes at once and also purchased a Storage Talisman. Altogether, it cost him two low-grade spirit stones.
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