Enlightenment in the Wheat Fields

The village's population was set to grow rapidly, and the food shortage would only become more urgent.

The Land of Grass was still in the throes of civil war. Food was a strategic resource, so relying on purchases alone was clearly unrealistic.

Lu Zeming could think of only one solution: produce it himself.

He remembered how, in the anime, Hashirama Senju could create vast forests from nothing with a single Deep Forest Emerence.

With his Wood Spiritual Root, Lu Zeming saw no reason he couldn't at least speed up the growth of crops.

The sun had just risen. The air was chilly, the grass yellowing, and dew hung from branches and leaf tips with a hint of cold.

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

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

The tender wheat shoots swayed without wind. The movement rippled outward like circles spreading from 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 surged.

As though time had been sped up a hundredfold, the winter wheat began growing at an incredible pace.

In just four or five minutes, the entire field had reached waist height, a lush green that was a joy to behold.

But to Lu Zeming's surprise, the wheat stopped there. It should have begun to joint, yet no matter how much Spiritual Power he poured in, it refused.

Without jointing, there would be no ears of grain!

Wheat that wouldn't joint was little more than grass. Aside from animal feed, it was useless.

Lu Zeming quickly realized the problem: vernalization!

During the cold winter, winter wheat stopped growing aboveground and sent nutrients down to its roots. Only after a period of low temperatures would it joint, produce ears, and flower.

Lu Zeming had a way to provide the cold. He sent for Ikeda Masato and Yuki Kamimai.

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

Wind and water would increase evaporation, which absorbed heat and naturally created a cold environment.

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

They tested it several times on open ground. Only after settling on the right strength did they begin working above the field.

A broad curtain of water fell from high overhead. Strong winds blew through it, causing evaporation that gradually lowered the temperature across the entire area.

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

At the same time, Lu Zeming fed Spiritual Power into the field again. The shoots did not grow, but he could clearly sense their roots and stems thickening.

This continued for more than ten minutes. At last, the wheat aboveground began to joint.

Lu Zeming quickly had Yuki Kamimai ease the wind so the temperature could rise gradually.

This time, nothing held the wheat back. It produced ears and flowered.

Ripening the grain required warmth, so Lu Zeming called Kumi Uzumaki over.

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

A warm breeze drifted through the field. The ears filled out, turned yellow, and finally became a golden sea.

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

"The village chief must be a god reborn! How else could he work such a miracle?"

"One day—no, half a day! He brought young wheat shoots to full ears of 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, stilling their cheers.

"You're the ones who did something remarkable. You cleared these fields one shovelful at a time and planted the wheat seed by seed. No matter what I can do, I can't conjure wheat out of thin air. You should be cheering for yourselves!"

"Village chief, you're so 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 it. He needed to restore his Spiritual Power as soon as possible.

For all the spectacle, he had ripened only five mu of wheat.

At best, the grain from those five mu would feed ten people for half a year.

It had also consumed nearly all his Spiritual Power, and the field's fertility had suffered badly. Lu Zeming estimated it would need to lie fallow for at least a year.

Fortunately, the village had no shortage of land. Beyond the mountain lay more mountains, a range stretching as far as the eye could see. Clearing hillsides for fields had become routine.

Lu Zeming needed to recover quickly so he could ripen the wheat elsewhere tomorrow.

Over the next few days, Lu Zeming took his hastily assembled Temperature-Control Squad 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, breathed, grew old and died, and passed life from one generation to the next.

At noon one day, Lu Zeming suddenly stopped working as understanding dawned. He sat down in the field, still as a monk in meditation. The waves of wheat swayed softly around him, as though whispering.

As one of Lu Zeming's trusted aides, Kumi Uzumaki knew he must have reached a crucial point in his breakthrough.

She immediately drew her weapon and stood guard before him. Keeping watch in every direction, she summoned Hearing Rain Yuka, Rofu, and the others to help ensure no one came close enough to disturb him.

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

Foundation Establishment has three great challenges. First, how do I compress Spiritual Power? Second, how do I filter the impurities and turbid energy from Spirit Energy? Third, how do I stabilize the compressed Spiritual Power so it neither flows back nor disperses?

In wheat, nutrients travel from root to stalk to grain, from outside inward, from scattered to gathered, compacted stage by stage. Could I follow the wheat's example and begin by compressing the Spiritual Power scattered throughout my body?

Wheat has nodes; I have points where my channels meet. Its nodes bear weight; my channel junctions can bear Spiritual Power.

The Dantian is like an ear of wheat, Spiritual Power like the substance filling its grains. Wheat follows the rhythm of day and night and the turning of the seasons. I, too, must proceed slowly. Forcing ripeness breeds weakness; what winter stores away will burst forth.

First gather from the limbs as though from fine roots,

Then secure the channel points like standing stalks.

Next draw it into the Dantian, where grains collect,

Proceed with the seasons; never force the way.

I have an approach to compression. Next comes filtration.

Lu Zeming pictured wheat being winnowed, milled, and mixed into dough.

People tossed wheat into the air so the wind could carry off the lighter chaff. Then they crushed and rubbed the grain between millstones to make flour. Water was added to make dough; left to settle, the clear portion rose and the turbid portion sank, removing more impurities.

Wind corresponds to the lungs. Pass Spiritual Power through Feishu and Shanzhong, expelling turbid energy through breathing. For milling, set the Spiritual Power spinning against itself and separate impurities by centrifugal force. Then pass it through water. Water corresponds to the lungs; guide Spiritual Power to Zhongfu and the Taiyuan Point, and the impurities will emerge on their own.

First let the autumn wind blow the chaff away.

Then turn the millstone, separating bran from flour.

Add water last; let the heavy and light divide.

Only after these three stages can it be called pure.

The last question is how to keep it stable.

Wheat has roots anchored in the earth, nodes supporting its stalk, and husks protecting its grains. For Spiritual Power, I must begin at the soles of my feet and Huiyin, support it within the hollow Dantian in distinct stages, and form a Spiritual Shell like a husk.

Hollow within, with firm joints that do not break,

The Spiritual Shell forms outside to guard the foundation.

Roots beneath the feet hold the anchor fast;

Nurture it day by day until the grain is ripe.

Lu Zeming sat in the wheat field for three days. Birds landed on his shoulders and insects crawled into his palms, but he never moved, as still as a stone statue.

If Kumi Uzumaki hadn't checked his condition with Chakra every day, she might have thought he had died sitting there.

Rin stayed in the wheat field each day, never leaving her brother's side. Worry filled her eyes.

On the fifth day, something finally changed. The wheat around Lu Zeming began growing wildly, surpassing its natural limits and rising over two meters tall.

Without any cold for vernalization, the wheat began to joint and produce ears. Each enormous ear was as long as an adult's forearm, weighing the stalks down until they drooped.

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