Farming Was Qi Refining, the Foundation of the Dao

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The third quarter was about to begin.

Xu Changqing lined up with everyone else to collect spirit seedlings, only to see that familiar face again.

Zhang Er asked with a half-smile, "Junior Brother Xu, this is your last chance. Have you thought it through?"

"Thank you for your kind intentions, Senior Brother." Xu Changqing suppressed the disgust in his heart and answered expressionlessly.

"Hm?" The smile on Zhang Er's face vanished in an instant, his gaze turning incomparably sharp.

He had been merciful enough to give this man a chance to become an official disciple.

Not only did he fail to cherish it, he had rejected him again and again.

Once the third-quarter assessment was over, he would make this bastard pay a painful price.

Xu Changqing did not want to waste time, so he reminded him, "The spirit seedlings."

"Hmph." Zhang Er casually tossed over a small storage pouch containing the spirit seedlings.

After catching it, Xu Changqing did not leave immediately.

Instead, he opened the small storage pouch and sent in his spiritual power to inspect its contents.

Only after confirming that there was nothing wrong with the spirit seedlings did he turn and leave.

Before long, he arrived at the Grade-One Spirit Field under his care.

To his surprise, someone was standing there.

Who was it?

The Earth Spirit Root disciple who had helped Lin An loosen the soil!

He had originally planned to seek the man out, but he had not expected him to come knocking of his own accord.

The moment he saw Xu Changqing, the man asked with a smile, "Fellow Daoist, is this the Spirit Field you manage?"

"Yes." Xu Changqing nodded.

"My name is Han Su, an Earth Spirit Root disciple," Han Su introduced himself.

"Xu Changqing," Xu Changqing replied.

Han Su hurriedly said, "Fellow Daoist Xu, there's something wrong with this mu of Spirit Field."

Xu Changqing asked, "What did you see?"

"If I'm not mistaken, is the yield low? Are the spirit plants growing poorly?" Han Su asked instead.

"Yes. Why is that?" Xu Changqing pressed urgently.

Han Su said playfully, "I awakened an Earth Spirit Root, so my perception of Earth Qi is extremely keen.

"The Earth Qi in this mu of Spirit Field seems to have... been siphoned away in part?"

"As expected." Xu Changqing drew a deep breath.

Why had Zhang Er kept hounding him?

Why was he even certain Xu Changqing would fail the third assessment?

Clearly, Zhang Er knew the true condition of this Spirit Field.

Perhaps...

"Fellow Daoist Xu, I can help you replenish the Earth Qi." A hint of cunning flashed through Han Su's eyes. He had not expected this unexpected windfall; perhaps he could make a fortune.

"What's the price?" Xu Changqing knew full well that pies did not fall from the sky.

Han Su blurted out, "Ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones, or one-tenth of every harvest."

"I have no spirit stones, and one-tenth of the harvest is impossible." Xu Changqing needed the man's help, but he was no fool.

Once he became an official disciple, he would receive a mu of Grade-Two Spirit Field.

By then, the yield would at least double.

That meant two thousand jin.

This man had opened his mouth and demanded one-tenth.

That was a full two hundred jin of Second-Grade Spirit Rice.

If it had been a one-time deal, he could have held his nose and agreed.

But Han Su wanted a share of every harvest. He had clearly set his sights on Xu Changqing's desperation to become an official disciple.

Han Su blinked. "Fellow Daoist Xu, once you become an official disciple, what does such a small loss amount to?"

Xu Changqing said sternly, "Precisely because of that, it's impossible."

"This is how Lin An and I work together." Han Su spread his hands, as though it were only natural.

"He is he, and I am me." Xu Changqing still refused to yield, holding firmly to his bottom line.

"This... then what do you suggest?" Seeing how unyielding Xu Changqing was, Han Su was unwilling to leave just like that.

Xu Changqing said seriously, "For this cooperation, you can take one-tenth. We can discuss anything after that later."

If he had spirit stones, he would have paid them long ago.

This was the only way.

"Huh?" Han Su's eyes widened at those words.

Xu Changqing reminded him, "Don't forget, you aren't the only one who has awakened an Earth Spirit Root."

Han Su's eyes darted wildly. After weighing it over and over, he nodded. "Fine."

He knew it too.

Not everyone could be as willing to throw caution to the wind as Lin An.

But as long as there was profit to be made, even a mosquito's leg was still meat.

"Begin your performance." Xu Changqing gestured for him to proceed.

"Just watch." Han Su grinned.

He immediately took off his shoes and stepped barefoot into the Spirit Field.

Since Xu Changqing had already dealt with the weeds and loosened the soil,

Han Su skipped that step and directly used the [Earthdraw Formula].

The entire process was essentially about pouring the scattered earth spiritual energy between heaven and earth into the ground.

He replenished the portion that had originally been siphoned away.

That way, the soil of the Spirit Field would have sufficient nourishment.

Watching from the side, Xu Changqing could not help but sigh in relief.

Once the Earth Qi was restored, the yield would rise.

That way, no one would suspect that he had a cheat.

"Done." Before long, the sallow-faced Han Su returned to the ridge between the fields.

Seeing his strange complexion, Xu Changqing could not help asking, "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I absorbed too much earth spiritual energy, that's all." Han Su waved a hand dismissively.

Xu Changqing nodded slightly. "That's good."

"Come, let's sign a talisman contract." Han Su took out a yellow talisman.

Xu Changqing signed his name.

Then he squeezed a drop of blood from his index finger and pressed it onto the talisman.

Han Su did the same.

Once everything was settled, a layer of spiritual light surfaced over the originally dull yellow talisman.

This meant that their cooperation had taken effect.

If Xu Changqing breached the agreement, the [Sect Steward] would personally deal with him.

Even if he failed the assessment and did not become an official disciple,

as long as Han Su handed this talisman contract to the steward, he could still exchange it for a hundred jin of spirit rice.

Although it was only the most common First-Grade Spirit Rice, it was still spirit rice.

"Happy cooperation. Come find me again next time." Han Su beamed with delight.

Spirit rice was rich in nutrients and contained spiritual energy.

It could be eaten over the long term without any harm.

It could even increase the spiritual power within one's body at an extremely slow rate.

Though this was only a temporary cooperation, it was not a loss for him.

After all, all he had lost was a little spiritual power.

Then Han Su headed off in another direction.

Watching his departing back, Xu Changqing narrowed his eyes.

Zhang Er was the cruelest, wanting everything.

Han Su was somewhat better, asking for only one-tenth.

Without the [Golden Finger], Xu Changqing would probably have had no choice but to compromise.

Next, Xu Changqing, like the many outer disciples who had awakened Wood Spirit Roots,

began planting spirit seedlings around the Spirit Fields.

But they did not simply plant them.

They first wrapped the spirit seedlings in their own meager spiritual power before planting them.

It seemed like merely one extra step, and it consumed a great deal of spiritual power.

But in truth, it was one of the methods of Qi Refining.

As the saying went, farming itself was Qi Refining.

In the Early Qi Refining stage, there was only a single wisp of spiritual power within the body.

After repeated training, it would steadily increase.

Until it reached nine wisps.

After that, a breakthrough required a massive amount of wood spiritual energy to force through.

And so, the days passed one by one.

The once-empty fields gradually filled with spirit seedlings.

The spiritual power within Xu Changqing's body also rose from "three wisps" to "six wisps."

Just as he wrapped the final spirit seedling in spiritual power and planted it into the soil,

all the spirit seedlings suddenly resonated.

Not only did they grow at a speed visible to the naked eye,

even the concentration of wood spiritual energy in the air soared.

The other Spirit Fields were exactly the same.

At first, the scale was not large.

There was one patch in the east, another in the west.

Later, they connected into one continuous expanse.

In the end, the spirit seedlings in every Spirit Field grew while releasing dense wood spiritual energy.

"The wood spiritual energy is incredibly dense this time!"

"With luck, we might break through our realms!"

"If the Evergreen Formula hasn't reached the second level, breaking through is impossible!"

At that moment, every outer disciple in the Spirit Fields sat cross-legged on the field ridges.

One after another, they circulated the [Evergreen Formula] to absorb the dense wood spiritual energy around them.

Farming was divided into three periods, corresponding to three stages.

The rising period.

The stable period.

The declining period.

The rising period corresponded to the seedling-planting stage.

The stable period corresponded to the growth stage.

The declining period corresponded to the harvesting stage.

Among them, the rising and stable periods benefited Wood Spirit Root disciples the most.

Because they could absorb dense wood spiritual energy every day.

Their strength would therefore grow during these two stages.

During the harvesting stage, however, wood spiritual energy would gradually decline, slowing cultivation.

Xu Changqing was cultivating as well, and it felt... incredible.

The Evergreen Formula's advancement to the second level

gave him a cultivation speed bonus of +20%.

It was like drinking water.

While everyone else was taking tiny sip after tiny sip,

Xu Changqing was gulping down mouthful after mouthful like a whale swallowing the sea.

Not only was his cultivation speed the fastest,

he even seized all the wood spiritual energy around him.

Although Xu Changqing had failed two assessments in a row, that had also allowed the spiritual power in his body to accumulate to a certain degree.

When the vast amount of wood spiritual energy surged into his body, there came a sharp "hiss."

His spiritual power began to split.

At astonishing speed, it split from "six wisps" into "nine wisps."

Normally, he should have stopped at this stage.

And it had been stuck there for some time.

But bolstered by the 20% increase in cultivation speed.

Gradually, nine strands of spiritual power gathered together.

At first, they coiled around one another like slender snakes.

But as the wood spiritual energy continued to batter them, they grew ever more solid.

In the end, the faint "threads" fused into a sturdy "strand."

Nine threads became one strand.

The quantity seemed to have changed.

But the concentration of spiritual power had at least doubled.

"I... broke through?" Xu Changqing stared in astonishment.

He hurriedly checked his status panel.

[Xu Changqing]

[Male]

[18 years old]

[Wood Spirit Root]

(Effect One: Affinity with Plants)

[Middle Qi Refining]

(Effect One: Enhanced Stamina)

(Effect Two: Enhanced Vitality)

[Remaining Lifespan: 4414 days]

"An extra ten years of lifespan?" Xu Changqing's eyes widened.

[Evergreen Formula (Level 2) ↑]

[Consume 2600 days of lifespan to raise Evergreen Formula from Level 2 to Level 3?]