The Mysterious Space
A quarter of an hour later, Shi Yue landed near a green palace that stood over ten zhang tall.
Above the palace's main entrance hung a plaque bearing three golden characters, "Deacon Hall," written with bold, flowing strokes. Spiritual light shimmered across its surface; it was clearly a magical artifact.
The Deacon Hall had three floors. The first handled the sect's various odd jobs and assigned tasks to Qi Refining Stage disciples. The second was where disciples accepted and posted bounty missions to earn Contribution Points and Spirit Stones. The third was where they could exchange Contribution Points for Cultivation Resources. Magical artifacts, pills, talismans, and all manner of cultivation items were available. As long as you had enough Contribution Points, you could exchange them for anything, including a Foundation Establishment Pill.
The hall was about half a mu in size. Behind a long bluestone counter stood a gaunt, middle-aged man. Two Qi Refining Stage disciples stood before him, respectfully listening as he said something.
"Fine, I'll count this mission as barely completed. But the few Spirit Herbs you turned in are mediocre quality, so I'll have to deduct five Spirit Stones. Any objections?" the middle-aged man said coolly.
"No objections, no objections." Though the two Qi Refining Stage disciples were furious inside, they forced smiles onto their faces.
"Good. Here are thirty Spirit Stones." The middle-aged man nodded, took out thirty Spirit Stones, and placed them on the counter.
The two disciples pocketed the Spirit Stones and hurried away.
Seeing this, Shi Yue quickly stepped forward and forced a smile. "Steward Wang."
"Hmph. Don't try to cozy up to me. Hand it over," the middle-aged man said coldly with a snort.
"Hand what over? You haven't assigned me this month's task yet, Steward Wang!" Shi Yue replied, momentarily stunned.
"Who says I haven't assigned you a task? I told you to gather five ten-year-old Purple Sandalwood Flowers. Have you gathered them?" the middle-aged man asked, displeased.
"Gather five ten-year-old Purple Sandalwood Flowers? Wasn't that last month's task?" Shi Yue murmured.
His voice was quiet, but the middle-aged man still heard him. He raised an eyebrow, shot Shi Yue a disdainful look, and said coldly,
"Are you still half-asleep? Last month, I told you to gather ten ten-year-old Moonwatch Grass plants. The month ends in two days. If you still haven't gathered five ten-year-old Purple Sandalwood Flowers by then, don't expect to get even a single Spirit Stone."
Hearing this, Shi Yue knitted his brows. He had clearly spent ten days in the Mysterious Space. How had only one day passed outside? Could time in the Mysterious Space move ten times faster than in the outside world?
At the thought, Shi Yue's breathing quickened. If he could freely enter and leave the Mysterious Space and cultivate there, wouldn't his cultivation improve at astonishing speed?
After pondering for a moment, Shi Yue turned and left the Deacon Hall, flying back to his residence on his magical artifact.
Shi Yue sat cross-legged on his stone bed, holding the Blue Pearl and studying it intently.
Since he could spend ten days inside the Blue Pearl's inner space while only one day passed outside, Shi Yue no longer feared getting trapped inside.
He put the earthenware jar into his Storage Bag, then poured his magical power into the Blue Pearl.
A dazzling blue light flashed, forcing Shi Yue to close his eyes.
When he opened them, Shi Yue found himself standing before a crude stone hut. Three mu of empty Spirit Fields stretched out in front of it. He had entered the Mysterious Space once more.
Seeing this, Shi Yue was delighted. With this treasure, perhaps he could reach the Foundation Establishment Realm in his lifetime.
Shi Yue was about to sit down and cultivate when a bold idea came to him as his gaze swept across the empty Spirit Fields before him.
Since time in this space passed ten times faster than in the outside world, would Spirit Grain grown here also grow ten times faster?
Shi Yue thought it over carefully and decided to give it a try.
With a flip of his hand, a person-high Silver Hoe appeared in his grasp. Spiritual light shimmered across its surface; it was clearly a magical artifact.
The soil in the Spirit Field wasn't ordinary earth. It was so hard that an ordinary hoe couldn't break it; only a magical artifact could dig into it.
Shi Yue stepped into the field, raised the hoe with both hands, and brought it down with a mighty swing.
Thud!
The Silver Hoe struck the ground with a dull thump, turning over a layer of purplish-red soil.
Shi Yue took a deep breath, raised the hoe, and brought it down again...
Two hours later, he sat before the stone hut, panting heavily, his face slick with sweat.
He looked at the mu of freshly turned Spirit Field, and a smile spread across his exhausted face.
After resting for a while, when Shi Yue felt he had recovered most of his strength, he took a Blue Leather Pouch from his Storage Bag.
He opened the pouch and scooped out a handful of tiny yellow grains, scattering them evenly across the field. Once he had sown the entire mu with Spirit Rice Seeds, the pouch was empty.
Shi Yue began chanting, and a great many points of blue light appeared out of nowhere around him.
After a while, he stopped chanting and pointed toward the sky above the Spirit Field.
The blue lights seemed to respond to a summons, rushing toward the field and gathering into a huge white cloud that covered the mu where he had sown the seeds.
"Fall." Shi Yue gave a low shout and cast a Hand Seal at the white cloud.
The white cloud churned and roiled. Then raindrops poured down from it in a vast sheet, covering the entire mu of Spirit Field.
An astonishing sight unfolded. As the rain continued to fall, one green Spirit Rice seedling after another pushed up through the soil below. The seedlings grew to a little over a foot tall, then stopped.
Seeing this, Shi Yue nodded, withdrew the Hand Seal, and stopped the rain. The white cloud also dissipated.
Growing Spirit Grain and Spirit Herbs in the sect's Spirit Fields required paying rent, and he also had to guard against theft. Here, not only did he pay no rent, he didn't even need to worry about thieves.
Shi Yue gazed at the lush green Spirit Rice seedlings in the field, pride welling up inside him.
Spirit Fields didn't lie: you reaped what you sowed. As long as he watered the crop on schedule, one mu of Spirit Rice should yield over a hundred jin of Spirit Rice.
At the thought of mountains of Spirit Rice, a smile spread across Shi Yue's face.
"If only I could get out. Then I could go to the Deacon Hall and buy seeds for other Spirit Grain to grow." Shi Yue gazed at the two empty mu of Spirit Field and thought to himself.
The instant that thought crossed his mind, his vision blurred, and he found himself inside the stone hut.
Looking around at the familiar interior, Shi Yue was overwhelmed with joy.
"Could it be that I can enter and leave the Pearl's inner space freely?" Shi Yue murmured after calming himself.
After hesitating briefly, he poured magical power into the Blue Pearl. A flash of blue light later, Shi Yue appeared in the Mysterious Space.
Shi Yue's expression shifted. The moment he thought of leaving, he was back inside the stone hut.
Shi Yue was overjoyed. It seemed his earlier method had worked: after acknowledging the Blue Pearl as his master with his blood, he could freely enter and leave its inner space.
Shi Yue noticed that night had fallen. The Deacon Hall was already closed, so he would have to go tomorrow.
He sat cross-legged on the stone bed and silently recited the second-layer cultivation formula of the Great Void Art, absorbing spiritual energy.
He was only at the second layer of Qi Refining, so he had no reason to slack off. "What innate talent lacks, diligence can make up for"—that was Shi Yue's motto.
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