Upgrade the Spirit Field!

Zhang Yuntao frowned as he looked over the list Zhang Chen had handed him, his face showing difficulty. "Young Master, the rest is manageable. We don't have many Spirit Stones, but we can scrape some together if we tighten our belts."

"But these Pills... that's a big problem."

Zhang Yuntao sighed. "According to your plan, to raise the cultivation of these ten Foundation Establishment disciples by one minor realm within a year, the amount of Gathering Yuan Pills and Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pills needed is enormous."

"We have the pill formulas, and we don't lack alchemists, but the raw materials... especially that main ingredient, Purple Nether Grass, must be at least five hundred years old to have any medicinal effect."

"Although we've planted some in our Spirit Medicine Garden, most are only two or three hundred years old—completely unusable."

"If we try to buy from outside, the Wang Family will have already anticipated this and monopolized all the Purple Nether Grass on the market."

"Without the spirit herbs, we can't refine the Pills. With only magical tools and no improvement in cultivation, this Arena Competition... is still hanging by a thread."

As soon as the Third Elder said this, the previously lively atmosphere cooled by several degrees.

Even the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice.

This was a hard flaw.

Everyone's gaze turned back to Zhang Chen, a hint of worry in their eyes.

However, there was not a trace of panic on Zhang Chen's face.

He tapped lightly on the table, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

Revealing a mysterious, unfathomable smile.

"Purple Nether Grass, is it?"

Zhang Chen stood up, his gaze fixed on the pitch-black night outside the window. "Don't worry. Not only should we not slow down the Pill business, we should actually ramp it up."

"As for the spirit herbs..."

He pulled an unremarkable little cloth pouch from his bosom—it was the "Tier 3 Spirit Field Upgrade Card" rewarded by the system.

"Since we can't buy them, we'll grow them ourselves."

"And the herbs I grow will definitely shock the Wang Family."

Seeing Zhang Chen's confident demeanor, everyone was puzzled, wondering where his confidence came from!

But out of trust in the string of miracles he had already performed, no one asked further.

"Dismissed."

Zhang Yunshan made the final call. "Rest well tonight. Starting tomorrow, our Zhang Family will show the entire East Mountain Islands what a true... Nascent Soul family looks like."

The moon hung high in the sky, the night as cool as water.

The Zhang Family Courtyard, bustling all day, finally fell silent.

Only the footsteps of patrolling disciples occasionally broke the stillness.

At this moment, Zhang Chen was not resting in his room as others assumed. Instead, draped in a black cloak, he headed toward the Back Mountain of Dao Seeking Peak.

That was the Zhang Family's Spirit Medicine Garden, the foundation of the entire family's Pill production.

Guarding the entrance to the garden was an old man over sixty named Zhang Tong.

He had tended the Zhang Family's medicine garden his entire life.

Although his cultivation was only at Qi Refining Sixth Layer, even the family's Second-Order Alchemists had to call him master craftsman when it came to understanding the habits of plants.

"Who's there?"

Hearing footsteps, Zhang Tong alertly raised his lantern.

"Uncle Liu, it's me."

Zhang Chen pulled back his hood, revealing a warm, smiling face.

Recognizing the Young Master in the dim yellow lamplight, Zhang Tong hurriedly bowed. "Young Master? So late, what brings you here?"

Zhang Chen stepped forward to steady the old man and pressed a bottle of Spirit Wine for nourishing the body into his hand, smiling. "I drank quite a bit during the day and can't sleep. I thought I'd take a walk in the garden to clear the alcohol."

"Don't worry about me, old sir. Go rest in your hut. I want some quiet time alone."

Zhang Tong sniffed the rich aroma wafting from the wine bottle, swallowed, and showed a simple grin. "Alright then, Young Master, do as you please. I've activated all the garden's formations—it's perfectly safe."

"I'll be right at the door. Call me if you need anything."

Watching Zhang Tong happily carry the wine bottle into the small wooden hut nearby, Zhang Chen turned and walked deep into the medicine garden.

The Zhang Family's medicine garden was not small in scale, built along the mountain and irrigated by a branch of a Spirit Spring from Dao Seeking Peak.

But due to the limitations of the Spiritual Vein's grade and soil fertility, most of what was planted here were first-tier spirit herbs. Only in the few acres at the very core of the spiritual eye were some second- and third-tier medicinal herbs sparsely planted.

Zhang Chen walked to that central area of the garden.

Here was planted the "Purple Nether Grass" so urgently needed.

But the sight before him was somewhat dismal.

Although the Purple Nether Grass was growing passably, most of it was only two or three hundred years old.

The leaves were yellowing, clearly lacking in fertility.

As for the Heavenly Spirit Fruit Tree, it only bore a few small, green fruits, still far from ripening.

"Even the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice."

Zhang Chen sighed. If he followed the normal growth rate, gathering enough pill ingredients for ten people would take at least another fifty years.

But he couldn't afford to wait, and neither could the Zhang family.

Zhang Chen took a deep breath, scanned West Zhou, and, confident that no one was around and the formation was sealed, pulled out a card from his chest that emitted a faint golden glow—the [Tier 3 Spirit Field Upgrade Card].

Ever since he obtained this item, he had treasured it like a gem.

Today, it had finally come time to put it to use.

"System, use the Spirit Field Upgrade Card. Target: the ten-acre core medicinal garden centered here."