Seventh Qi-Nourishing Layer

Seeing Chen Changshan agree, Liu Yuanchen finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After pretending to be sick for so long, it had not been for nothing.

"Manager Chen, the Spirit-Concentrating Pill you compensate me with must at least be of ordinary grade.

"And not a single medicinal herb seed can be missing. There must be no fewer than twenty seeds of every kind of medicinal herb, and you must guarantee that they can germinate.

"If you dare play tricks with this, bear the consequences yourself."

It was not that Liu Yuanchen was being overly particular. He had simply been tormented by the Chen Household using similar methods before.

Chen Changshan said irritably, "What do you take me for? But let me make this clear first: if you lack the ability to grow those medicinal herbs, do not blame me for it."

Although pills such as the Meridian-Fixing Pill and their ingredients were strategic resources, major factions did not strictly control the seeds.

The primary herbs for these pills were extraordinarily difficult to cultivate.

Growing those primary herbs required extremely high-grade Spirit Fields and profound Divine Farmer Art inheritances.

Even if the seeds were given away, minor factions had no ability to cultivate all those medicinal herbs.

"Rest assured, whether I can grow them is my business.

"As long as the items are fine, we will be even."

Ye Lingshuang and Chen Changshan took their leave. Liu Yuanchen dragged his "injured body" to see them out the door.

Chen Changshan had only walked a few steps when Liu Yuanchen deliberately coughed a few times, making him shudder in fright.

After returning to the cave abode, Liu Qingyuan asked anxiously, "Yuan Chen, how are your injuries really?"

Liu Yuanchen circulated his Astral Force. A flash of bloody light passed over him, and the strips of cloth around his body instantly snapped apart.

"I was never seriously hurt. If I had not made it look worse, it would have been difficult to demand compensation."

Only after seeing that his blood and qi were abundant did Liu Qingyuan relax. "Earlier, you had restrained your blood and qi and looked like you could barely breathe. I truly thought your injuries were severe."

Liu Yuanchen asked, "How is Second Brother doing?"

Liu Qingyuan let out a long sigh. "There is nothing we can do. He has set his heart on going to Golden Ao Mountain, and even the Family Head cannot persuade him otherwise.

"He has already followed the Hall Master of the Guard Hall to Golden Ao Mountain.

"The family's Supreme Elder is also among those summoned. Once he reaches Golden Ao Mountain, the Supreme Elder will look after him, so there should not be much of a problem."

"This time, our Liu Family fell for the Chen Household's scheme.

"I heard from Elder Mo that when the sect decided to issue the summons, several elders friendly with the Chen Household proposed using auxiliary pills for breaking through the Sea of Qi Realm as rewards.

"At the time, no one thought anything was wrong. Now it seems they were targeting Yuan Si from the start.

"Yesterday at Spring Breeze Tower, Chen Zongming and several other Chen Household disciples provoking Yuan Si was also part of the plan."

Liu Yuanchen's expression turned cold upon hearing this.

Put together, these two incidents were clearly a trap the Chen Household had carefully designed around Liu Yuansi's character flaws.

Liu Yuansi's willingness to go to Golden Ao Mountain served the sect's greater cause. Outsiders did not even have the standing to persuade him otherwise.

Among the Liu Family elders in the sect, there was only Liu Qingyuan.

If Liu Yuansi truly threatened to die, Liu Qingyuan would not dare forcibly stop him.

If he really drove the family's hope to death, he would never be able to face the Liu Family again.

The people capable of keeping Liu Yuansi in check were all at the Liu Family Ancestral Land.

But it was wartime now. Those who were not Azure Elixir Sect disciples could not enter the mountain gate at all.

No one in the sect could stop him. Unless he suddenly grew a brain, he would inevitably step into the trap.

"The Chen Household's methods are truly airtight. Even knowing their goal, we have no way to stop them.

"And throughout the whole process, there is not a single place where the Chen Household violated sect rules.

"Among the older generation of Chen Household cultivators, who possesses such strategic skill?"

Liu Qingyuan shook his head. "I truly do not know. Chen Changshan is skilled at social maneuvering, but I have never heard that he possesses any great strategy."

Liu Yuanchen sighed softly. "It seems our Liu Family's understanding of the Chen Household is still lacking."

Liu Qingyuan also wore a helpless expression. "Within the sect, our family has always been suppressed by the Chen Household.

"Outside the sect, we are far inferior to them as well. We truly cannot spare many resources to expand our network.

"If not for that, when the Chen Household attacked both you and Yuan Si almost simultaneously this time, we would not have been completely unaware."

"Still, the Chen Household's attempt to harm you failed this time, and all of Shennong Hall lost face along with them.

"To settle the matter, the Chen Household will have to lose quite a few resources and connections.

"For a long time to come, the Chen Household can only lie low."

After this incident, Liu Yuanchen gained a clearer understanding of the Chen Household's influence.

They could affect the decisions of the sect's upper echelons.

Even the slightest influence could not be underestimated.

Having operated within the sect's lower and middle ranks for over a thousand years, the Chen Household's influence there would only be greater.

Their scheme against Liu Yuansi controlled every aspect, making Liu Yuansi jump into the trap himself.

There had to be someone in the Chen Household with exceptional strategic skill.

He was currently only an inner sect disciple. Although he had gained the appreciation of the Elixir Hall's upper ranks, he did not have a master-disciple relationship with anyone.

Relying solely on his status as an inner sect disciple was not enough to contend with the Chen Household.

However, the Chen Household would not have an easy time dealing with him either.

Otherwise, they would not have resorted to surrounding and killing him with Azure Spirit Bees.

That move had been vicious and had nearly succeeded.

But the cost had been far too great. It was nowhere near as easy as dealing with Liu Yuansi.

In other words, as long as he was more cautious and had more means of preserving his life, protecting himself would not be a problem.

The next day, accompanied by Liu Qingyuan, Chen Changshan came to Liu Yuanchen's cave abode once more.

At that moment, Liu Yuanchen was shoveling earth outside the cave abode, preparing to open up a Spirit Field.

The moment Chen Changshan saw him, his face turned ashen.

Yesterday, in front of Ye Lingshuang, he had struggled even to speak and looked as though he would soon be unable to catch his breath.

Without resting in bed for three to five months, he should have been incapable of getting out of bed at all.

Yet today, his blood and qi were as powerful as a wild ox.

Seeing Chen Changshan arrive, Liu Yuanchen smiled. "Manager Chen truly keeps his word. We only reached an agreement yesterday, yet you already prepared the compensation today.

"It seems these little things are merely a drop in the bucket to the Chen Household.

"What a pity. I should have demanded more benefits yesterday."

Chen Changshan did not respond to that. Instead, he took out a storage bag. "Everything agreed upon yesterday is inside. One thousand Spirit Stones and one Spirit-Concentrating Pill.

"In addition, there are the medicinal herb seeds you requested."

Liu Yuanchen accepted the storage bag and inspected it carefully.

The number of Spirit Stones was correct, and the Spirit-Concentrating Pill was of fairly good quality.

Then, he sensed the vitality within those seeds.

Chen Changshan had not played any tricks. Every seed was brimming with vitality and could certainly germinate.

Liu Yuanchen waved his hand. "The items are fine."

Without waiting for Chen Changshan to speak, he took out a Jade Talisman and sent a message to Zhao Hong.

A moment later, a fiery red cloud drifted out from the summit of Azure Pill Peak and flew toward Songyun Peak.

Liu Qingyuan and Chen Changshan both sucked in a cold breath, too shocked to speak.

Liu Yuanchen could only see a cloud and could not make out anything else.

Before long, the Firecloud reached the summit of Songyun Peak and slowly descended.

"Eighth Uncle, what is inside that Firecloud?"

Liu Qingyuan came back to his senses. "Deputy Hall Master Zhao's strength is truly unfathomable.

"I do not know what method he used, but he actually suppressed over a thousand Azure Spirit Bees at once and made them obediently fly back to Songyun Peak."

Liu Yuanchen did not think much of it upon hearing that.

When Zhao Hong had saved him before, he had merely let out a simple roar, and every Azure Spirit Bee had been knocked unconscious.

With the compensation settled and the Azure Spirit Bees returned to Songyun Peak, Chen Changshan turned and left.

Liu Qingyuan did not stay long either. After saying a few words, he too took his leave.

Liu Yuanchen carefully put away the storage bag and continued reclaiming land outside his cave abode.

Bluestone Mountain Spirit Realm bordered the battlefield, so he would not be able to return there anytime soon.

He would first open up a small Spirit Field within the sect and grow several Meridian-Fixing Pill herbs, preparing for large-scale cultivation in the Spirit Realm later.

After opening up a three-zhang-square patch of wasteland, he cast the Sweet Rain Art.

This place was close to Reflecting Moon Creek and rich in moisture.

A stream of blue mist flowed from Liu Yuanchen's hand and quickly gathered into a dark cloud spanning ten zhang in the sky.

Before long, raindrops faintly gleaming with emerald light fell from the dark cloud, nourishing the newly opened wasteland.

Half an hour later, the rain gradually stopped.

Liu Yuanchen took out some Golden-Thread Rice and planted it in the field.

This was also an important step in opening a Spirit Field. Even if freshly opened wasteland contained some spiritual power in its soil, it could not be considered a Spirit Field.

That was because the spiritual power in the soil was unstable and easily dissipated.

It was necessary to plant spirit plants such as spirit grain, then bury their stalks in the soil after harvest.

Only by repeating this process many times could the spiritual power in the soil be stabilized.

Only soil capable of steadily retaining spiritual power could be called Spirit Field Soil.

The Divine Farmer Art had specialized methods for stabilizing spiritual power in soil.

However, they were difficult to perform, and Liu Yuanchen's current cultivation was not sufficient to practice them.

He could only first use Golden-Thread Rice Plant stalks to slowly stabilize the spiritual power in the soil.

Half a year passed in the blink of an eye. The Elixir Hall's alchemy assignments had ended as early as the third month after the war began.

During the following three months, there were only a few batches of alchemy assignments each month.

Liu Yuanchen's gains were naturally considerable. His pill formation rate for refining Spirit-Awakening Pills had reached seventy percent.

That was a pill formation rate only a second-rank Alchemy Master could achieve, and Zhang Yi valued him increasingly highly.

Alchemy was the fastest way to earn money in the cultivation world. Alchemy Masters with high pill formation rates naturally earned many Spirit Stones.

The sect occupied the Spirit Stone mine at Golden Ao Mountain and did not care about Spirit Stone expenditure at all, nor did it delay payment.

In just three months, he earned over three thousand Spirit Stones from alchemy assignments. That was despite frequently taking leave and slacking off.

At that moment, Liu Yuanchen sat cross-legged on the stone bed in his cave abode's bedroom.

Streams of spiritual energy continuously gathered around him, forming a small vortex of spiritual energy.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, the Immortal Seed had already transformed into the form of the Ginseng Fruit Mother Tree, continuously refining spiritual energy into mana before pouring it into his Middle Dantian.

An hour passed, and a fierce gust surged from his body, scattering the vortex of spiritual energy.

Liu Yuanchen's entire aura rose sharply, and he secretly rejoiced. Now that I have broken through to the Seventh Qi-Nourishing Layer, no one should suspect anything.

He continued sitting cross-legged in meditation, ceaselessly circulating his cultivation technique.

A breakthrough in realm brought all-around improvements.

He had only completed the breakthrough in mana so far. His physical body and Divine Sense still needed to improve.

Half a day later, both his blood and qi and his Divine Sense had improved considerably.

Only then could he be considered a true Late Qi-Nourishing Stage cultivator.

"With my Seventh Qi-Nourishing Layer cultivation, I should be able to practice the Thick-Earth Spirit-Fortifying Art.

"I can make a trip to the Technique Transmission Hall and learn an offensive spell while I am there."

The Thick-Earth Spirit-Fortifying Art was the spell needed to cultivate Spirit Field soil. As long as one had sufficient mana, anyone could cast it.

Of course, earth-attribute cultivators would achieve far greater results with it.

This spell consumed an extremely terrifying amount of mana. Using it at the Seventh Qi-Nourishing Layer was truly somewhat forced.

However, anyone wishing to maintain a Spirit Field had to use this spell.

Liu Yuanchen left his cave abode. The small patch of land before its entrance had yielded two harvests over the past half year.

Under his careful cultivation, the yield was acceptable, amounting to over a hundred jin per mu, and the Spirit Field Soil had basically taken shape.

This plot was now a first-rank low-grade Spirit Field.

He then headed directly to Azure Sun Peak. As the place where the sect's inheritances were stored, the Technique Transmission Hall was naturally of utmost importance.

Thus, the Technique Transmission Hall had been placed right under the watchful eyes of the sect's upper ranks.

When he reached the location of the Technique Transmission Hall, he saw a large courtyard spanning one hundred zhang square.

There were several small houses within the courtyard, serving as the residences of Technique Transmission Hall disciples.

At the center of the courtyard stood a tall stone tower.

The Azure Elixir Sect's inheritances were all stored within this stone tower.

Liu Yuanchen walked to the entrance on the first floor of the stone tower, where an old man sat upright before the door.

He took out his token and respectfully handed it to the old man. "Liu Yuanchen, inner sect disciple of the Elixir Hall, greets the manager."

The old man glanced at the token and gave a slight nod. "Inner sect disciples may select texts from the first two floors of the Technique Transmission Tower, but they may not take them outside this door.

"After memorizing the contents, return here to pay the Spirit Stones."

Liu Yuanchen bowed again, entered the Technique Transmission Tower, and went straight up to the second floor.

The second floor of the Technique Transmission Tower was quite spacious, spanning a full ten zhang square.

Stone bookshelves filled the space from end to end.

The bookshelves contained small compartments, each protected by a small formation.

These bookshelves were also divided into sections by category, with different types of inheritances having their own areas.

Liu Yuanchen went to the section containing Divine Farmer Arts and quickly found the jade slip recording the Thick-Earth Spirit-Fortifying Art.

He took out his disciple token and lightly touched the formation barrier. A stream of information entered the token.

Afterward, he sent his Divine Sense into the token, where the contents of the Thick-Earth Spirit-Fortifying Art were recorded.

After memorizing everything within, Liu Yuanchen wandered around the area containing the Divine Farmer Art inheritance.

Tending a Spirit Field could be divided into three parts: cultivating Spirit Field Soil, nurturing spirit plants, and cultivating spirit medicine seeds.

The Thick-Earth Spirit-Fortifying Art could cultivate Spirit Field Soil, while the Sweet Rain Art could be used to nurture spirit plants.

Cultivating spirit medicine seeds was also an extremely important step and naturally could not be taken lightly.

After searching for a while, he soon found a spell suitable for cultivating spirit plant seeds.

This spell was called the Yi Wood Origin-Nourishing Art. It used spiritual arts to enhance a seed's vitality, making its seedlings sturdier.

Both the growth rate of the seedlings and their future yield would improve slightly, while the chance of falling ill would be greatly reduced.

Moreover, seeds cultivated with the Yi Wood Origin-Nourishing Art would have a certain chance, after growing into spirit plants, to break through their inherent limitations and reach a higher grade.

When Spirit Apothecaries cultivated various wild spirit medicines to obtain varieties suitable for large-scale planting, they mostly used such secret arts to cultivate them generation after generation.

Take Golden-Thread Rice, for example. Its wild variety was merely a lower-grade first-rank spirit plant.

The yield from one mu of Spirit Field was at most fifty or sixty jin, and it could only be planted twice a year.

After many years of cultivation by Spirit Apothecaries, it became a middle-grade first-rank spirit grain.

With abundant spiritual energy, it required no special care to yield around two hundred jin per mu, and could be planted four times a year.