Enlightenment in the Wheat Field

The village's population was clearly about to grow rapidly, making the food shortage ever more urgent.

The Land of Grass was still embroiled in a Civil War. Food was a strategic resource, so relying on purchases was obviously unrealistic.

Lu Zeming could think of only one solution: rely on himself.

He recalled how, in the anime, Hashirama Senju could conjure a vast forest out of thin air with a single technique.

With his Wood Spiritual Root, Lu Zeming figured there was no reason he couldn't at least speed up the growth of grain.

The morning sun had just risen. The air was chilly, the grass tinged yellow, and cold dew clung to the tips of leaves.

Lu Zeming stood among the newly sprouted wheat seedlings, took a deep breath, formed a hand seal, and slammed his palms into the ground.

Spiritual Power surged out of him and spread in every direction.

The tender wheat shoots stirred without a breeze. The movement rippled outward in circles, like a stone dropped into a still lake.

Lu Zeming could clearly sense the wheat's roots and stems growing, while respiration in its young leaves intensified sharply.

As if the field had been set to play at a hundred times normal speed, the Winter Wheat began growing at an unbelievable rate.

In just four or five minutes, the whole field stood half as tall as a person, lush and green.

But to Lu Zeming's surprise, the wheat did not begin jointing as it should have. No matter how much Spiritual Power he poured into it, it refused to do so.

Without jointing, there would be no ears!

Wheat that never jointed was little different from chives. It was useless except as fodder.

Lu Zeming quickly realized what was missing: Vernalization!

Vernalization meant that Winter Wheat stopped growing aboveground during the cold months and sent its nutrients down to its roots. Only after a period of low temperatures would Winter Wheat begin jointing, form ears, and flower.

If it needed cold, Lu Zeming had a way to provide it. He sent for Ikeda Masato and Yuki Kamimai.

One excelled at Water Release, the other at Wind Release.

Wind and water would increase evaporation. Evaporation absorbed heat, creating the low temperatures they needed.

Both were Elite Jonin. Large-scale Water Release and Wind Release were easy enough for them; the hard part was controlling their strength so they wouldn't damage the wheat.

They tested their techniques several times on open ground. Only after settling on the right strength did they use them above the wheat field.

A broad curtain of water descended from high above. Strong winds blew through it, driving evaporation and gradually cooling the entire area.

By the time the wind reached the wheat, it felt no different from a winter gale.

At the same time, Lu Zeming sent Spiritual Power into the field again. This time the seedlings did not grow taller, but he could clearly sense their roots and stems thickening.

The process continued for more than ten minutes before the wheat aboveground finally began to joint.

Lu Zeming hurriedly told Yuki Kamimai to slow the wind and let the temperature rise gradually.

This time, nothing held the wheat back. It formed ears and flowered without a hitch.

Ripening the grain required higher temperatures, so Lu Zeming summoned Kumi Uzumaki.

Kumi Uzumaki's Chakra had a fire affinity. With her working alongside Yuki Kamimai, raising the temperature was much easier.

A warm breeze blew gently. The ears of wheat gradually filled out and turned yellow, until the field became a golden sea.

Kumi Uzumaki and the others were overjoyed at the sight. The villagers watching from the sidelines dropped to their knees, crying out that it was a miracle.

"The village chief must be a god reborn! How else could he perform a miracle like this?"

"One day—no, half a day! He turned young wheat shoots into ripe grain. I can hardly believe it. Am I dreaming?"

"You're not dreaming! It's real, it's real!"

"As long as the village chief is here, we'll never go hungry again!"

"That's right! We'll never go hungry again!"

"Long live the village chief! Long live the village chief!"

Lu Zeming raised a hand to quiet their cheers.

"You're the ones who deserve praise. You cleared these fields one shovelful at a time and planted this wheat one grain at a time. No matter how capable I am, I couldn't have made wheat appear from nothing. Give yourselves a cheer!"

"Village chief, you're too good to us!"

"Village chief, we'll work hard and make the village even better!"

"We'll do it together!"

The harvest brought joy, but Lu Zeming had no time to share in it. He needed to recover his Spiritual Power as soon as possible.

For all the spectacle, he had only ripened five acres.

At most, the grain harvested from those five acres would feed ten people for half a year.

It had also consumed a tremendous amount of Spiritual Power, leaving Lu Zeming nearly drained. The soil had lost much of its fertility too. He estimated it would need to lie fallow for at least a year.

Fortunately, the village did not lack land. Beyond the mountains behind it lay more mountains, stretching as far as the eye could see. Clearing slopes for fields had become routine for the villagers.

Lu Zeming had to recover quickly so he could ripen the wheat elsewhere the next day.

Over the following days, Lu Zeming took the Temperature-Control Squad he had cobbled together from field to field, ripening the wheat.

With each field, he came to understand the wheat's growth more deeply.

The more he learned, the more wheat seemed like a person to him. It had channels and respiration, birth and growth, aging and death, and a cycle in which one generation gave way to the next.

At noon one day, while ripening another field, Lu Zeming seemed to have attained Gō. He suddenly stopped what he was doing and sat down where he stood, motionless as a monk in meditation. Around him, the wheat swayed softly, as though whispering.

As Lu Zeming's close confidante, Kumi Uzumaki knew he must be on the verge of a breakthrough.

She immediately drew her weapon and took up position before Lu Zeming. Keeping watch in every direction, she called Hearing Rain Yuka, Rofu, and the others over to guard him as well. No one was allowed near enough to disturb him.

Lu Zeming had already entered his Inner Landscape. He murmured to himself.

Foundation Establishment has three great hurdles. First, how do I compress Spiritual Power? Second, how do I filter the impurities and stale energy from Spirit Energy? Third, how do I keep the compressed Spiritual Power stable so it doesn't flow backward and disperse?

In wheat, nutrients travel from the roots through the stalk and into the kernels—from outside to inside, from scattered to concentrated, compressed node by node. Could I learn from it and begin by compressing the Spiritual Power scattered throughout my limbs and body?

Wheat has nodes where its stalk bears weight. I have junctions in my meridians where Spiritual Power can gather.

The Dantian is like an ear of wheat, and Spiritual Power like the fluid filling its kernels. Wheat follows the rhythm of day and night and the turning of the seasons. I must proceed slowly too. Forcing it to ripen will only cause it to rot; what is stored through winter will burst forth in time.

As the saying goes: first gather from the limbs like fine roots,

Then secure the junctions like upright stalks.

Next, gather the kernels in the Dantian, like filling an ear of wheat.

Move with the seasons; never force your way through.

I have an idea of how to compress it. Next comes filtering it.

Lu Zeming pictured wheat being winnowed, ground into flour, and mixed with water.

People tossed wheat into the air so the wind would carry away the lighter chaff. Then they ground the grain between millstones to make flour. Mixing it with water and letting the slurry settle separated what floated from what sank, removing more impurities.

Wind governs the lungs. I can guide Spiritual Power through Feishu and Shanzhong, using my breathing to expel stale energy. Grinding calls for Spiritual Power to rotate and rub against itself, casting off impurities by centrifugal force. Then comes water. Water governs the lungs; as Spiritual Power reaches Zhongfu and the Taiyuan Point, the impurities will emerge.

As the saying goes: first let the autumn wind winnow the chaff.

Then turn the millstone to part bran from flour.

Add water next; let the heavy sink and light rise.

Only after all three stages can it be called clean.

The last problem is keeping it stable.

Wheat roots anchor it firmly in the earth, nodes support its stalk, and husks protect its grains. For Spiritual Power, I must anchor it at the soles of my feet and Huiyin, support it within the hollow, segmented Dantian, and form a Spiritual Shell around it like a husk.

As the verse goes: hollow within, yet joined by nodes, the vessel holds.

Outside, a Spiritual Shell forms to guard the foundation.

Roots beneath the feet hold fast the anchor point.

Nurture it daily, and in time the grain will form.

Lu Zeming sat in the wheat field for three days. Birds landed on his shoulders and insects rested in his palms, but he never moved a muscle. He might have been carved from stone.

If Kumi Uzumaki had not checked Lu Zeming's condition with Chakra every day, she might have thought he had died sitting there.

Rin stayed in the wheat field each day too, keeping close beside her brother. Worry filled her eyes.

On the fifth day, something finally changed. The wheat around Lu Zeming began growing wildly, surpassing its natural limit to reach more than two meters tall.

Without any cold vernalization, the wheat jointed and formed ears. Each enormous ear was as long as an adult's forearm, its weight bending the stalk beneath it.

They looked like countless proud warriors in golden armor, bowing their heads before Lu Zeming.