Visitors and a Reminder

It was still midmorning.

Yue Shuo preferred to follow his own habit of keeping time, so he marked it as around nine thirty.

He had already completed four rounds of cultivation, with 36 Divine Sense remaining.

After a brief calculation,

he decided that from now on, he would maintain ten cultivation sessions a day, totaling roughly ten hours. Changing techniques would probably have some effect.

He would first grind Talisman Crafting with his remaining Divine Sense.

After all, one point of Divine Sense meant one proficiency point.

It was quite easy to grind in the early stages.

Based on his current cultivation and recovery, Yue Shuo estimated that he had around 160 to 170 points of Divine Sense available each day.

Of those, 50 points would be fixed for cultivation.

That left 110 to 120 points.

He decided to pile whole numbers into Talisman Crafting proficiency, then use whatever remained to improve the Qi-Replenishing Technique and Lesser Cloud-Rain Technique.

He had already cultivated four times today.

He still needed six more sessions.

After taking a Grain-Repelling Pill, he did not need to eat, saving a little more time.

Yue Shuo planned to begin putting this into practice afterward.

Starting from nine thirty in the morning, he selected one technique from the remaining four cultivation methods and began cultivating it.

After some thought, he chose the Thousand Waves Formula.

Before cultivation:

[Thousand Waves Formula (First Tier): 1/100 (Beginner)]

It took seven hours for him to complete six cultivation sessions, with each round taking an average of one hour and ten minutes.

[Cultivation: 38.8/1000 (+2.4)]

[Thousand Waves Formula (First Tier): 7/100 (Beginner)]

"Slower than the Wood Essence Art, but it's only at the beginner stage right now... Still, the cultivation time is shortening faster than before..."

Yue Shuo compared the two techniques.

After completing his scheduled ten cultivation sessions for the day,

Yue Shuo once again threw himself into recovering, casting techniques, and crafting talismans.

An entire day passed.

On the second day, the twenty-third, Gu Jiu still had not returned. Yue Shuo stood in the Spirit Field and looked toward the little wooden house, deep in thought.

Had something happened again?

Or had Gu Jiu done as he said—bought pills outside, taken them, and entered seclusion to break through?

The latter would be fine.

If it was the former, Yue Shuo felt a faint sense of urgency.

He glanced at his Talisman Crafting level.

Having ground out a hundred proficiency points last night, he was now halfway through.

[Skill: Talisman Crafting (First-Tier Low-Grade) 100/200]

[Water Condensation Talisman (Basic): 10/100 (Great Mastery)]

[Fire-Starting Talisman (Basic): 0/100 (Great Mastery)]

[Dust-Cleaning Talisman (Basic): 0/50 (Minor Mastery)]

Yue Shuo did not make any First-Grade Runes.

He only had ten sets of Talisman Crafting materials, and it had been less than ten days since he had last exchanged Gathering Spirit Grass for Spirit Carp.

Only eight days had passed!

Nor could he use Gathering Spirit Grass again to trade for First-Tier Talisman Crafting materials.

Cultivating ten stalks of Gathering Spirit Grass in a month and a half,

using the extreme cultivation method,

combined with his wood-element Spiritual Root, talent in the Three Planting Arts, high comprehension, and innate compatibility with the Wood Essence Art,

was still barely understandable.

Moreover, Yue Shuo had discovered that Shopkeeper Qin Yan had not revealed his purchase of Spirit Carp to Chong Ying or Tian Wan.

Gu Jiu had also kept the matter secret from others.

While this increased Yue Shuo's favorable impression of Shopkeeper Qin Yan,

he repeatedly reminded himself

that this meant

both Shopkeeper Qin Yan and Gu Jiu considered the matter rather eye-catching, and that he needed to keep a low profile and conceal it.

It had only been a few days.

And he was sending over Gathering Spirit Grass again?

That did not fit Yue Shuo's low-key and steady way of doing things.

After all, things had not reached the point where there was no other choice.

Next, out of a certain caution, Yue Shuo adjusted his morning cultivation plans and began with Talisman Crafting.

He ground Talisman Crafting proficiency, rested to recover Divine Sense, then continued!

By noon, he had completed the upgrade in Talisman Crafting.

[Skill: First-Tier Mid-Grade Talisman Crafting (0/500)]

[Water Condensation Talisman (Basic): 10/200 (Perfect)]

(First-Tier Low-Grade: You have some understanding of First-Grade Runes.)

(First-Tier Mid-Grade: Your understanding of First-Grade Runes has improved.)

The two descriptions were very vague.

Yet Yue Shuo seemed to gain a dim insight.

So, before that insight completely faded, he immediately took out First-Grade Blank Talisman Paper and Talisman Ink.

Qi-Concealing Talisman!

Scratch, scratch!

It was completed in one smooth stroke!

Continue!

Invisibility Talisman!

Scratch, scratch!

It was completed in one smooth stroke!

Continue again!

Qi-Concealing Talisman!

Success!

Continue again! Failure!

Yue Shuo stopped the talisman brush in his hand amid a wave of dizziness and mental exhaustion.

His entire body swayed for an instant.

Fortunately, he was inside the Spirit Field, where noticeably dense spiritual energy had been slowly and automatically flowing into his body.

He only needed to close his eyes for a few seconds before recovering.

After resting for another few minutes,

he looked inward.

And smiled bitterly.

[Divine Sense: 0-1/75]

Only under his watchful gaze

did his Divine Sense slowly recover to 1 point.

While he still had the tiniest shred of focus left, he immediately stored the completed spirit talismans close to his body in three separate places.

Especially the three successfully drawn First-Grade Runes.

Afterward, he collapsed in the Spirit Field and went to sleep. He truly could not hold on any longer.

After sleeping for three hours, he woke naturally.

After waking,

before he even had time to stretch and move around,

the people waiting outside the Spirit Field gave him a tremendous fright.

Yue Shuo's expression froze completely.

Someone was there!

Two strangers... no, two familiar figures!

They were the middle-aged man

who had tested his Spiritual Root nearly two months ago, along with the young man who had accompanied him.

Yue Shuo instinctively activated one of the two newly made First-Tier Qi-Concealing Talismans he had hidden close to his body.

The Spirit Field was covered by an array.

Yue Shuo did not know whether the two outside had seen anything clearly.

But the auras inside and outside were isolated.

At least, he had tested it outside before.

He could not sense the spiritual energy fluctuations or vitality of the Gathering Spirit Grass inside the Spirit Field. Only after entering the Spirit Field could he sense them.

Yue Shuo noticed that the two seemed to have realized he was awake.

Their gazes turned toward him.

His heart tightened slightly.

After pausing, he left the Spirit Field and bowed to the two. Unsure how to address them, he could only use the general term, senior.

"Greetings, Seniors! May I ask...?"

Neither man moved, nor did they surround him from front and back. Their gazes were calm.

There was a trace of surprise in them.

For the moment, he detected no hostility.

Yue Shuo tried his best to read their expressions, without completely concealing his own nervousness.

"You are Yue Shuo, the Five-Element Spirit Root cultivation disciple who arrived two months ago?" The middle-aged man studied him with a trace of surprise.

Yue Shuo nodded and answered honestly,

"Yes, Senior. You were the one who tested my Spiritual Root."

As he spoke, Yue Shuo adjusted his expression, revealing the relaxed air of someone who had met an acquaintance, and asked curiously,

"Senior, you came here to... Ah, right, please come to the little courtyard for tea!"

With youthful fluster, he awkwardly pointed toward the courtyard atop the small slope.

The middle-aged man gave him a faint smile.

Then shook his head.

"No need. This old man is merely making an inspection, seeing how you are all doing. By the way, where is your martial servant?"

Seeing that the other party did not agree, Yue Shuo did not insist.

He guessed inwardly that they had come because of Gu Jiu or the earlier incident.

Gu Jiu was more likely.

After all, the previous matter had already passed several days ago. They would not wait until now to seek him out over it, while Gu Jiu had been absent for nearly two days.

With some mental preparation, Yue Shuo "told the truth."

"His strength was too weak, and he was injured in a previous fight. So I gave him the Spirit Stones I had exchanged and sent him to buy pills to increase his strength."

The moment those words came out, not only did the middle-aged man's expression become somewhat strange,

the young cultivator who had come with him

looked at Yue Shuo as though he were looking at something indescribable.

That gaze was too complicated for Yue Shuo to make out, so he could only pretend not to notice.

"Senior, did something happen to Gu Jiu?"

Yue Shuo was not simply playing dumb. After all, the impression he intended to leave was not that of some foolish rich boy.

"He is fine. He has already advanced to a First-Class Martial Artist."

The middle-aged man answered with great kindness.

The young man beside him spoke up.

"Since the source of his Spirit Stones and pills was legitimate, and you confirm that you sent him out, he will be released after registering this afternoon!"

Released?

Yue Shuo guessed some of what had happened. On the surface, he nodded firmly.

"I sent him out. He didn't fight anyone, did he? He didn't lose, did he? Don't tell me he got hurt again..."

The middle-aged man could not help but laugh.

He glanced once more at Yue Shuo's Spirit Field.

Then reminded him, "You have mastered the Three Planting Arts. Go to the External Affairs Pavilion in time to register and verify it. There will be a reward!"

Yue Shuo muttered without thinking,

"But there's never anyone at the External Affairs Pavilion."

The middle-aged man paused as well, then helplessly reminded Yue Shuo again, "There are generally people there during the first two days of each ten-day period."

Yue Shuo nodded obediently.

"Then I'll go next month!"

The middle-aged man smiled and nodded. Then he prepared to leave, though before departing, he could not help taking another two looks at the Spirit Field.

"Your talent for planting is excellent—don't let it go to waste!"

With that, he and the young man, who also turned back and smiled as he nodded to Yue Shuo, flew away and vanished from sight.

Yue Shuo watched the two depart.

He turned back to look at the Spirit Field, his face thoughtful. "What exactly did those two seniors come here for? To remind me to register?"

He circulated spiritual power into his eyes and looked toward the Spirit Field.

Inside, a thin mist shrouded each stalk of Gathering Spirit Grass. Apart from the thirty newly replanted stalks, which had only tiny shoots poking through—

the rest of the Gathering Spirit Grass had grown to at least three inches tall.

Their leaves had unfurled, lush and emerald-green.

They carried an oily sheen brimming with vigorous life.

So, they had discovered his astonishing talent for planting?

Yue Shuo felt a little fortunate that he had harvested the ten stalks of Gathering Spirit Grass he had focused on cultivating earlier and stored them in a wooden box.

He had already stockpiled twenty mature stalks of Gathering Spirit Grass.

The Gathering Spirit Grass in the Spirit Field—

looked as though it had only been growing for three or four years. Cultivating it for two months into three or four years' worth of growth, combined with how diligently he lived in the Spirit Field—

should... be explainable, right?

After thinking it over, Yue Shuo did not feel it was all that astonishing.

Moreover, he could tell—

the two people who had left were extremely friendly toward him, far warmer than their indifferent attitude after testing his spiritual roots back then.

Yue Shuo returned to the Spirit Field and sat cross-legged, recalling the conversation they had just had.

After reviewing it, he confirmed there had been nothing unusual.

Only then did he glance over his character panel once more.

Everything else was normal.

Only under the skill "Talisman Crafting" had two new First-Grade Rune proficiency entries appeared.

[Skill: First-Tier Mid-Grade Talisman Crafting (6/500)]

[First-Tier Invisibility Talisman: 1/100 (Beginner)]

[First-Tier Qi-Concealing Talisman: 2/100 (Beginner)]