Breakthrough, Cultivating in Peace

Yet this new rule this year gave Li Jiao a massive headache.

When had anything in this world ever been so easy?

"Still need to keep recruiting people. Of these few, Li Jiuding is suspected of having backing in the Inner Academy. Even Senior Brother Bai Yunqing couldn't persuade him."

"This Liu Yuan is fated with me, and he already joined our side earlier."

"Who else arrived with them? Oh, there was someone called Lu Qing. What a pity—he's another bitter cultivator who doesn't understand how to curry favor. Senior Brother Bai Yunqing blocked quite a few people a while back, and this fellow hasn't even come down the mountain once in a month."

"Forget it, skip him. One look says he's a poor wretch."

Information on this batch of new disciples kept surfacing in his mind.

Lu Qing still did not know that the Calming Hexagram he had chosen back then had only truly reached its conclusion now.

Early on, he had chosen to come to the Spirit Plant Garden to take on tasks.

For one thing, his aptitude was quite good. It was not as though no one had wanted to find a way to contact him and come build connections.

But once they heard that he was currently earning Spirit Stones by doing tasks—and that he had gone to become a Spirit Planter, the traditional image of which was working underground fields—they ultimately abandoned that small thought.

Spirit Planter—this was the impression most disciples had.

Even tending spiritual herbs sounded better than being a Spirit Planter.

Lu Qing had neither expected nor known of this subtle mindset.

More than ten days passed, and the valley was pleasant and serene.

A disciple in a green robe stood beneath a gathering black cloud. Drizzling rain perfectly covered the pond, where crimson lotus flowers bloomed in shimmering splendor.

From his practiced movements, it was clear that he had wielded this technique with effortless mastery.

This green-robed disciple was Lu Qing. His days in this pond-filled valley had been both comfortable and tranquil.

There was ample spiritual energy here. After cultivating through one great cycle after another, Lu Qing would also watch the movements in the nearby pond, then begin casting his technique. After more than ten days of practice, he had become increasingly proficient.

He no longer needed such a long buildup. Instead, he directly condensed a raincloud without using mist to gather it. In the blink of two or three seconds, great droplets would fall into the pond, splashing up sheets of water.

He cultivated here in peace.

He had also successfully tempered his way into the Qi Nourishment Fifth Layer.

His speed at the beginning of cultivation had already been decent. Now that it had slowed, Lu Qing did not find it strange.

Though he was here, after occasionally finishing cultivation, he would sink his consciousness into the Jade Slip and observe the happenings of the Outer Academy.

This Jade Slip could be called a spiritual item for communication. Lu Qing guessed that the upper levels of the Dao Academy had intervened behind it.

Otherwise, where could so much detailed information have come from?

And what material could allow so many disciples to leave messages on it?

As he cultivated here seven days after seven days, he saw quite a few people in the Outer Academy searching everywhere for challengers to mount the arena.

Every main peak had its own arena.

Lu Qing studied it carefully. So they wanted to prove themselves—or what?

Probably venting their anger? Revealing their rankings... it seemed only the few at the very top had exposed theirs. They weren't afraid of challenges from others.

Heh, looks like there'll be another spectacle to watch.

[Outer Academy's Li Xuan challenged Su Xinyue and suffered a crushing defeat.]

[Outer Academy's Gu Xuantian and Cheng Du dueled on the arena, ending in a draw.]

Looks like their injuries have healed too.

That made sense. More than ten days had passed; any wounds that needed healing should have healed by now.

Lu Qing lightly shook his head, put away the Jade Slip, and returned it to his storage bag.

This wave of arena challenges in the Outer Academy had nothing to do with him.

One of my strengths is Calamity Avoidance, and another is lifespan.

What was the point of abandoning his strengths to compete against them?

He had no contest of pride to settle.

Moreover, because he had accepted a Spirit Plant Garden task, this was not a place just any disciple could enter. It concerned the Dao Academy's assets.

Only disciples assigned to tasks, or others with tokens, could enter.

That was why Lu Qing treated this turmoil as mere entertainment.

Will you continue accepting tasks?

Accept, accept.

During this time, he could conveniently bring this technique to complete mastery.

And if it were not inappropriate, Lu Qing even felt like building another cultivation residence nearby. Cultivating in the Spirit Plant Garden would be even more enjoyable.

Of course, that was highly unlikely.

Heh, I hope the disciple guarding this Spirit Plant Garden won't return too soon.

The Dao Academy had countless tasks. Tasks in the Spirit Plant Garden were originally given priority to Spirit Plant disciples.

But not every disciple wanted to be a Spirit Planter here, so having others come complete these tasks was something the Dao Academy tacitly permitted.

So long as the Spirit Plants successfully flowered and bore fruit, that was enough.

After completing one cultivation cycle, Lu Qing did not continue cultivating.

In his perception, someone was already approaching.

He glanced at the fist-sized fruits growing from the centers of the lotus flowers.

Today was the day someone would come to settle the accounts.

The newcomer was also an Outer Academy disciple in a green robe.

"Dao Companion, I'm here to collect the Water Lotus fruits."

The newcomer first explained his purpose.

"Mm, this patch of Water Lotus has borne fruit."

"Haha, that's good." Lu Qing was not talkative, and that disciple had tasks of his own to complete. Besides this place, he still had other locations to collect from.

The disciple glanced at the pond, and a trace of surprise flashed through his eyes. "Dao Companion, the fruits here grew very well."

He said readily, "Excellent completion. The reward and contribution points have been transferred to your Jade Token. Dao Companion, take a look."

"Alright, no problem."

The exchange was brief, without excess chatter.

Since they both wore green robes and belonged to the Outer Academy, while Lu Qing constantly kept his aura concealed, the disciple came and went in haste. After exchanging a sentence or two, he did not pay much attention to Lu Qing's cultivation.

Water Lotus fruit was truly an affordable dietary supplement.

Therefore, there was not the slightest possibility of conflict.

Lu Qing continued staying here.

It would be nice if I could keep doing this task long-term.

One step at a time. Tasks are as vast as mountains and seas; there's no need to worry about not finding tasks like this.

Lu Qing relaxed. After ending this stretch of peaceful cultivation, he also exchanged for a reward technique, choosing a spell called Cloud-Riding Water Arrow. It possessed formidable offensive and body-piercing power, transforming spiritual energy into water and water into arrows. Taking the sharpness of arrows and the speed of clouds and mist, its core principle was to shatter souls and pierce flesh at terrifying speed.

To sum it up in one word: fast.

But it was not suitable to truly unleash it in the Spirit Plant Garden.

His Minor Cloud Rain Technique and this technique had two points of similarity.

One created clouds and rain, while the other slaughtered and killed, yet both were connected to the swift speed of riding clouds.

Here, his Minor Cloud Rain Technique was only a final thread away from completion. He had spent more than ten days adapting to it, but had only cast the technique two or three times. To avoid too much rainwater, he had also cultivated for a time at Shallowwater Lake outside.

The lake was like a shallow sea. Usually, whether in the sky above or upon the water, there were no unnecessary people besides a few White Cranes that stopped here midway to frolic and sleep late.

Lu Qing had tested the Minor Cloud Rain Technique here several times, but the cloud's range could currently only spread wide enough to cover roughly three times the area of the pond.

"No wonder it's called the Minor Cloud Rain Technique." In an instant, a thread of enlightenment broke through his heart. As naturally as water flowed into a channel, Lu Qing successfully mastered the technique.