Spirit Herb Cultivation

"Master, are you inside? This disciple has some questions about cultivation and wishes to seek your guidance."

As Song Wen called out, he also used the higher vantage point of the second floor to survey the surroundings.

The small building was built against the mountain. To the west stood a sheer cliff several zhang high, bare of any vegetation and extremely difficult to climb.

Above the cliff rose a mountain hundreds of zhang tall, thick with vegetation and steep enough to make travel difficult.

The other three sides were enclosed by walls over a zhang high, guarded by sentries. Even beyond those walls lay the territory of the Heavenly Baleful Gang, with countless gang disciples coming and going. Escaping through any of those three sides would be no easy task.

At present, the only route of escape was to cross the mountain and flee the Heavenly Baleful Gang.

Extreme Yin's low voice suddenly sounded, interrupting Song Wen's observations. "Come in."

Song Wen pushed open the door and saw Extreme Yin sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion, holding a book and reading it.

Song Wen did not dare let his gaze wander. He went straight to Extreme Yin, bowed, and said, "Greetings, Master."

Extreme Yin nodded. "Mm. Sit."

After Song Wen sat down cross-legged, Extreme Yin continued, "If you have any questions about cultivation, ask them directly."

"Master, this disciple has recently noticed that his cultivation progress has been slow. May I ask if there is any way to resolve this?"

"When you circulate your cultivation technique, where does it feel obstructed?"

"After spiritual qi enters the meridians and returns to the dantian, only a small portion can be successfully refined. Most of it cannot be retained."

This was not something Song Wen had made up on the spot. It was his genuine experience while cultivating.

Extreme Yin did not answer directly. Instead, he asked, "How do you understand the phrase, 'enter the mud pellet, descend to the qi aperture'?"

"This disciple believes..."

A quarter of an hour later, after Extreme Yin's explanation, Song Wen understood the errors in his cultivation.

He was about to rise and take his leave when his gaze began to examine the book in Extreme Yin's hand.

Since he was seated opposite Extreme Yin, he could clearly see the book's title.

Detailed Guide to Cultivating Low-Grade Spirit Herbs!

The book appeared somewhat incomplete. It did not contain much, only a few dozen pages or so.

Extreme Yin noticed Song Wen's gaze as well. He said,

"What? Are you interested in this book?"

Song Wen's heart immediately clenched with fear. He was afraid Extreme Yin would see that he had been deliberately probing for information.

However, Extreme Yin did not think in that direction at all. He said indifferently,

"If you want to read it, then take a look."

As he spoke, Extreme Yin handed the book over.

Song Wen took the book. The first thing he saw was an introduction to a spirit herb called Red Blood Vine, along with its planting requirements. There was even an illustration of Red Blood Vine.

Red Blood Vine was a climbing plant. It preferred warmth and sunlight, tolerated drought, disliked water, and feared cold...

A moment later, Extreme Yin asked, "What do you think about planting Red Blood Vine?"

In his previous life, Song Wen had worked in sales for a traditional Chinese medicine company, so he knew a thing or two about medicinal herb cultivation. Drawing on his past knowledge, he answered,

"This disciple believes that Red Blood Vine should be planted on sunny slopes, far from water sources. The soil must be loose, preferably sandy, to allow drainage after rainfall. Salt City is cold in winter, so it must be insulated during that season..."

Song Wen tried his best to make his answer worthwhile. If he displayed some special value, perhaps Extreme Yin would not make him test medicine.

After hearing Song Wen's answer, delight flashed through Extreme Yin's eyes. He nodded slightly.

"Who would have thought that while your cultivation aptitude is poor, you have some talent for growing spirit herbs?"

Extreme Yin was also deep in thought. He had been stuck at the third level of Qi Refining for several years, unable to find a way to break through.

The first three levels of Qi Refining were considered the early stage. Cultivators at this stage differed little from mortals. The fourth level, however, was part of the middle stage, where the difference between immortals and mortals gradually began to show.

Extreme Yin possessed two spells that could only be cultivated after reaching the middle stage of Qi Refining.

More importantly,

according to the information Extreme Yin had acquired, the spiritual power cultivated through the Longevity Art was upright and pure, but lacked any elemental enhancement and was poorly suited for combat. Still, many cultivators practiced the Longevity Art, especially those with poor aptitude and Rogue Cultivators.

First, the Longevity Art was widely circulated and easy to obtain. Second, it possessed one tempting trait: extending one's lifespan.

It was said that a Rogue Cultivator who had cultivated the Longevity Art to the ninth level of Qi Refining had once lived to be one hundred and eighty years old.

One had to know that mortals lived no more than a hundred years. During the Qi Refining Realm, a cultivator's body had not yet escaped the limits of mortality, and their lifespan generally did not exceed one hundred and twenty years.

Yet that person had lived to one hundred and eighty, extending his lifespan by a third. That was only sixty years short of the two hundred and forty to two hundred and fifty years enjoyed by Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.

This was enough to make countless cultivators who believed Foundation Establishment was beyond their reach flock to it.

According to the experience of those before him, the first three levels of the Longevity Art did not extend one's lifespan. Its life-extending effects only gradually emerged from the fourth level onward.

This made Extreme Yin even more eager to break through the bottleneck of early-stage Qi Refining. He believed that as long as he reached the fourth level of Qi Refining, he should be able to advance to the sixth level within his lifetime. By then, even the late stage of Qi Refining would not be beyond his aspirations.

The Blood Qi Pill was a type of medicinal pill that stimulated the body's potential and helped cultivators break through bottlenecks. It was commonly used by Qi Refining Realm Rogue Cultivators with poor aptitude.

After spending two years experimenting, Extreme Yin had finally managed to barely refine the Blood Qi Pill on his own.

Yet he did not dare consume it lightly. Originally just a minor herbalist, he had entered the cave abode of a dead Rogue Cultivator by mistake while gathering herbs in the mountains one day. There, he obtained inheritances in cultivation techniques, basic talisman crafting, the Blood Qi Pill formula, spirit herb cultivation, and more. By a lucky accident, he began his path of cultivation.

Throughout his entire cultivation journey, he had never encountered another cultivator and had relied entirely on his own exploration.

The Blood Qi Pill he refined looked vastly different from the description in the formula. Being cautious, Extreme Yin did not dare consume it rashly.

Thus, he came up with the idea of finding someone to test the medicine.

As expected, after a year of testing, he had already caused the deaths of seven disciples. All of these young men suffered severe depletion of their blood and qi after consuming the Blood Qi Pill. Their organs aged to varying degrees, and they died within days.

After his continual improvements, Second Ox was the first person who had not died after taking the Blood Qi Pill.

This let him see hope of success.

Previously, the work of cultivating spirit herbs and refining medicinal pills had basically been completed by Extreme Yin alone, leaving him quite busy every day.

Song Wen's performance just now gave him the thought of training Song Wen specifically to grow spirit herbs.

With Second Ox's success, Extreme Yin felt that the refinement of the Blood Qi Pill was close to succeeding. This was precisely when he needed to focus his efforts, and he did not wish to spend too much energy cultivating spirit herbs.