Cultivating the Dao, Hoeing the Dao Field

After hearing the Undying Witch Demon's kind reminder and glancing at its face a few more times, Qin Haoxuan couldn't discern anything from its bloated, ugly features. This old demon had lived for who knows how many years; he was as cunning as an old fox. Qin Haoxuan couldn't even see through Gu Yunzi, let alone this demon. He immediately stopped thinking about it and prepared to continue exploring the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley, hoping to get lucky and find some heavenly treasures. It would be even better if he could find a Magic Treasure for self-defense. As the battlefield of the ancient Immortal-Demon War, the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley held countless lost Spirit Techniques and Magic Treasures, as well as various elixirs. Even picking up just one of these would be immensely useful to his shallow cultivation.

Last time, he had only managed to walk about a hundred paces in the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley. This time, he changed direction and walked about ten paces before suddenly sensing a faint spiritual power fluctuation in the distance!

In the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley, where poisonous gas raged, all spiritual power was suppressed to the extreme. Although the spiritual power fluctuation in the distance was weak, the fact that it could travel over a hundred paces under such potent poisonous gas suppression was already quite remarkable. He just didn't know if it was a Spirit Technique, a Magic Treasure, an elixir, or a rare heavenly treasure like the One-Leaf Golden Lotus.

Qin Haoxuan's heart pounded. He walked over a hundred paces in that direction, but found that under the immense pressure, he couldn't advance another step.

It seemed that not infusing his soul into the Little Snake's body for these past few days had yielded no progress in resisting the pressure of the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley. From now on, even if he risked sleeping through classes, he would still dedicate a fixed amount of time each day to enter the Little Snake's body. Otherwise, the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley was vast, and all the good things were in the depths. If he could barely move, how could he explore it?

After wandering around other parts of the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley for a while, Qin Haoxuan found nothing except for that faint spiritual power fluctuation. It seemed all the good things were deeper inside. Without further hesitation, he left the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley and returned to Spirit Field Valley to continue his cultivation.

Watching Qin Haoxuan's retreating back, a sinister smile flashed across the Undying Witch Demon's lips. It muttered to itself, "It seems many people are coveting this brat. Unfortunately, the so-called corpse refining techniques of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, a third-rate sect, can't compare to my Heaven-Stealing Great Dao, which integrates the Great Dao Heart Seed Demon Technique! This little snake must be suspicious of me, but it doesn't matter. He cultivates the authentic Great Dao Heart Seed Demon Technique, and after I integrated the Heaven-Stealing Great Dao, the higher his cultivation becomes, the easier it will be for me to possess his body! If he takes that corrosive pill every day, not only will he not be poisoned, but it will become nourishment for my demonic seed, causing him to grow even faster, and allowing me to obtain his body sooner!"

As it spoke, the Undying Witch Demon looked at the dark and desolate Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley, and a surge of hope arose in its heart. The faster Qin Haoxuan grew, the sooner it could leave this accursed place that had trapped it for thousands of years!

"When I emerge, the cultivation world will surely become lively!" the Undying Witch Demon let out a cackling laugh, but it agitated its old wounds, causing it to grimace in pain, its eyes flashing with sharp light. "Little snake, little snake, grow quickly! Grow quickly!"

After Qin Haoxuan returned, he went back to the bush where he had cultivated the previous night, but he couldn't calm his mind at all.

Gu Yunzi, a high-ranking member of the sect, who considered himself righteous, used such sinister means to harm him for his own selfish desires. This old demon didn't look like a righteous person at all, and what he said to him might not be entirely true.

Having stayed in that accursed Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley for so many years, was the old demon Undying Witch Demon content to be trapped in the valley and wait for death? Looking at his frail, dying appearance, he clearly couldn't last much longer. Had he never thought about leaving the valley? Or perhaps finding a way to use Qin Haoxuan to escape the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley?

Qin Haoxuan pondered and pondered but couldn't come to any conclusion. The only way now was to work hard to improve his strength. Only when his own strength was sufficient for self-preservation could he survive in this cultivation world filled with constant danger and hidden traps.

Leaving Taichu was now absolutely impossible. According to sect rules... if he left Taichu without permission, he would be captured by a pursuit team and turned into an imbecile. His cultivation was far too low to evade the detection of the mountain-guarding formation. Rumor had it that even the protectors of Taichu found it difficult to evade the mountain-guarding formation's detection.

Now, the only path was to live carefully, step by step, and cultivate diligently to improve his cultivation and protect himself.

The residual medicinal power of the One-Leaf Golden Lotus within Qin Haoxuan's body began to feel restless again, forcing him to stop his wild thoughts and enter a state of meditation and cultivation.

After absorbing spiritual power all night and neutralizing the medicinal power within his body to nourish the Immortal Seed, Qin Haoxuan opened his eyes at the first light of dawn. To his surprise, he found that the golden light in his mind, which was likely his Spiritual Sense, seemed to have become slightly thicker than yesterday.

What was going on?

While Qin Haoxuan was delighted, he was also somewhat puzzled. He had no idea how to cultivate Spiritual Sense. This kind of meditation cultivation was merely about absorbing spiritual power and channeling it into the Immortal Seed; it didn't cultivate Spiritual Sense at all.

Could it be the result of possessing the Little Snake last night?

The more Qin Haoxuan thought about it, the more certain he became. Only cultivators at the Immortal Infant Dao Bone Realm could cultivate Spiritual Sense. Yet, he was just a mortal. He must have cultivated Spiritual Sense unintentionally. It should be that by entering the Little Snake's body, he could train his Spiritual Sense, something others couldn't do, which was why his Spiritual Sense was exceptionally strong!

Although he had figured out why his Spiritual Sense was so strong, sleepiness also attacked him in waves. Did it mean that every time he possessed the Little Snake, it consumed his Spiritual Sense, making him extremely tired the next day? Qin Haoxuan straightened his clothes, and without bothering to eat breakfast, he rushed to the lecture hall.

Today, Elder Chu was teaching about Feng Shui.

Feng Shui knowledge was also a relatively important auxiliary subject, dealing with mountains and rivers. As cultivators, they needed to learn to observe mountains and water to find true spiritual lands.

Many spiritual lands were hidden and not obvious. Some places that appeared barren and desolate might actually be prime spiritual lands. To find these spiritual lands, Feng Shui knowledge was essential.

Spiritual lands contained relatively rich spiritual energy underground. The quality of a spiritual land was determined by the concentration of underground spiritual energy. Planting Spirit Medicine on a spiritual land would yield better harvests than planting it on ordinary soil. Some cultivators even built sheds on prime spiritual lands and used them as their cultivation spots.

Of course, the Feng Shui knowledge Elder Chu taught in class was only the most basic stuff and couldn't be used to find spiritual lands for cultivation. However, it was more than enough to find a place to plant Spirit Medicine in Spirit Field Valley.

This was related to choosing a spiritual land and the harvest for the entire year. If the sect cut off food supplies, they would also have to pay sect contributions. A good spiritual land would make all this manageable. If the spiritual land was chosen poorly, not only would they endure hunger for the next year, but they might also face expulsion from the sect.

Therefore, including Qin Haoxuan, everyone listened attentively. However, under the onslaught of sleepiness, Qin Haoxuan still succumbed. After asking Xu Yu to take notes, he slumped onto the desk and fell fast asleep.

Fortunately, Xu Yu was used to taking notes for Qin Haoxuan, and Elder Chu was also accustomed to having such an eccentric student who either slept or meditated during class.

With Qin Haoxuan's snores, the morning passed by in a flash. Elder Chu didn't bother to wake him up. Instead, he looked at the soundly sleeping Qin Haoxuan with a sense of schadenfreude – Sleep, sleep, you'll find out this afternoon!

The afternoon class was not held in the lecture hall. Elder Chu led the new disciples to a large area of farmland. These farmlands were divided into neat, square plots of one mu each, all lying idle. Some plots were even overgrown with weeds.

Elder Chu pointed to these farmlands and said, "Now is the time for you to apply what you've learned. These farmlands have been specially reserved for you. Once the sect cuts off your food supply, your provisions and sect contributions will have to come from these lands. Of course, these farmlands vary in quality, and there are even a few decent spiritual lands among them. You will now choose them yourselves."

After speaking, Elder Chu specifically glanced at Qin Haoxuan with a look of schadenfreude. He thought to himself: Among these five hundred farmlands, there are only a handful of spiritual lands, and only about fifty plots of medium quality that can yield a slight surplus after paying sect contributions! If you don't attend class, let alone find excellent spiritual lands among these five hundred plots, even finding a few medium-quality plots will be difficult. The rest are all inferior lands. Planting Spirit Medicine on these inferior lands, after paying sect contributions, will require you to tighten your belts to make ends meet. With your gluttonous appetite, you'll starve to death after paying your sect contributions!

"Begin!"

At Elder Chu's command, the two hundred new disciples, including Zhang Kuang and Li Jing, rushed into the five hundred plots of land, putting the knowledge learned that morning into practice. Zhang Kuang and Li Jing, in particular, were determined to choose superior spiritual lands.

Qin Haoxuan, who had dozed off all morning, hadn't even had time to look at his notes. He hadn't expected to be dragged to choose farmland by Elder Chu in the afternoon. He cursed himself inwardly, This is bad. Having completely missed the morning's lecture, he faced this vast expanse of farmland and had no idea where to start. After all, this was related to his sect contributions and food supply for the entire year!

Looking at the somewhat dumbfounded Qin Haoxuan, not only did Elder Chu's face reveal an irrepressible expression of schadenfreude, but Zhang Kuang, Zhang Yang, and others even burst into mocking laughter, waiting to witness Qin Haoxuan's tragic fate. Even people from Li Jing's faction couldn't help but inwardly cheer.

Sensing Qin Haoxuan's predicament, the considerate Xu Yu walked up to him and said, "Brother Haoxuan, don't worry, I'll help you find one."

As soon as Xu Yu finished speaking, a wave of contemptuous eye-rolls immediately swept towards Qin Haoxuan.

"A freeloader is truly a freeloader, having a girl do everything for him. What a shameless thing."

A disciple of the Weak Seed faction muttered enviously and jealously. He was far from Qin Haoxuan and thought Qin Haoxuan couldn't hear him, so he dared to mutter like this. Little did he know that as soon as he finished speaking, he felt an angry figure approaching. Everyone who stood between him and the approaching figure dodged as if they had encountered a plague.