Just as Lin Mo had expected, no further trouble arose at the Ghost-Crying Field over the next three months and more.
Lin Mo followed the same three-point routine every day. Apart from going to the Dining Hall for meals and occasionally making a round of the Ghost-Crying Field, he spent almost all his time cultivating diligently in his bedroom.
Notably, Qin Sang Sang had already cultivated spiritual qi. Although she had not formally entered the Qi Refining stage, she could now open a Storage Bag and take out its contents.
Lin Mo handed almost all the Golden-Light Wheat and spirit rice he harvested to Qin Sang Sang. She boiled water and cooked in their courtyard, steaming tray after tray of large, fragrant buns that were countless times better than the food at the Dining Hall.
Liu Xianzong occasionally came over too, joining Lin Mo and the others for secret extra meals.
He clearly had some inkling of what was going on, but kept playing deaf and dumb. If Lin Mo said nothing, he asked nothing. He ate even more than Lin Mo and cultivated even harder.
His cultivation progressed somewhat more slowly than Lin Mo's, however.
Because besides spirit stones, Lin Mo also had spirit spring water!
It was not that Lin Mo was stingy. Rather, the spirit spring water was simply too consequential a secret. At most, he gave Liu Xianzong, Qin Sang Sang, and the others some diluted spirit spring water to drink, while he drank the genuine, undiluted version. Naturally, Liu Xianzong could not compare with his rate of advancement.
Over those three months, Lin Mo took another step forward, successfully reaching the third layer of Qi Refining.
"They're ripe! The spirit wheat in the Ghost-Crying Field is ripe!"
That day.
Lin Mo was sitting in meditation in his bedroom when delighted shouts suddenly rang out beyond the door. "Congratulations, Senior Brother Lin! You've managed the Ghost-Crying Field so well that spirit plants can now grow there normally!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
In the courtyard, Liu Xianzong, Qin Sang Sang, and Lin Xiaohe rushed outside, their faces beaming with joy.
The outer sect disciple from the Spirit Plant Courtyard who had brought the news held several heavy Wheat Ears, his face alight with excitement. "Ordinary spirit wheat ripens twice a year, but the spirit rice plants Senior Brother Lin cultivated matured in just three months."
"I'll report this to Steward Wang right away. He'll definitely reward you generously!"
Although they had long known that the spirit wheat in the Ghost-Crying Field was about to ripen, Liu Xianzong and the others still could not contain their delight at seeing those plump Wheat Ears.
Gou Fengying's scheme had gone up in smoke. Lin Mo had passed the test flawlessly.
Next, the Spirit Plant Courtyard would surely bestow another round of rewards... the three elders and Steward Wang had already given him plenty over these past days!
"Let me see."
Behind them, Lin Mo walked out into the courtyard with a smile.
Compared with three months ago, his bearing had clearly changed. Every movement carried a steady composure, and the aura he exuded put others at ease.
He approached the messenger disciple, casually glanced at the Wheat Ears in his hands, then smiled. "They look good. Go tell Steward Wang. She must be getting impatient by now."
The messenger disciple was just about to nod and leave when he suddenly stared into Lin Mo's eyes and exclaimed in surprise, "Senior Brother Lin, you... you've advanced to the third layer of Qi Refining?!"
The fourth and seventh layers were the two most pronounced dividing lines in the Qi Refining realm.
Before advancing to the fourth layer of Qi Refining, the spiritual qi vortex in the dantian would gradually begin to transform, revealing the initial signs of one's spiritual root attributes.
At this stage, cultivators usually began selecting suitable combat spells that matched their spiritual root attributes, allowing them to unleash those spells' greatest power.
Once their spiritual root attributes manifested, the easiest place to discern them was in their eyes.
Now, Lin Mo's eyes were warm and lustrous, faintly emitting the five-colored spiritual radiance unique to a five-spirit root. With even a little observation, anyone could immediately tell that he had clearly reached the third layer of Qi Refining!
"Just a lucky break."
Lin Mo did not deny it. Smiling, he said, "Sorry for the trouble, Junior Brother, but please tell Steward Wang about this as well. I still have something to attend to. Ask him to wait a little while. Once I'm finished, I'll go find him at the Spirit Plant Courtyard."
The messenger disciple dared not delay. After congratulating Lin Mo again, he turned and headed toward the Spirit Plant Courtyard.
Lin Mo closed the courtyard gate, then turned to Liu Xianzong and the others, his expression growing more serious. "From now on, no one is allowed inside without my permission."
"Even if Steward Wang comes, don't open the gate for him. If anyone asks, say my secluded cultivation has reached a critical point and I absolutely cannot be disturbed."
Liu Xianzong hurriedly nodded. Qin Sang Sang and Lin Xiaohe also looked solemn, and all three took up guard at the courtyard entrance.
Seeing this, Lin Mo said no more and quickly returned to his bedroom.
In the bedroom, a pile of spirit stones drained of spiritual qi had been neatly arranged at the foot of the bed. There was also a large wooden bathing tub, its spring water long since gone cold.
Ignoring these, Lin Mo set up a small Concealment Formation, then glanced out into the courtyard a few more times. Only after confirming that Liu Xianzong and the others remained vigilant did he carefully take the Treasure Gourd out of his Storage Bag.
When I advanced to the third layer of Qi Refining, the Treasure Gourd seemed to change somehow. I wonder if I imagined it...
Holding the gourd, Lin Mo stood there hesitating for a moment. Then he removed its stopper and poured out ten drops of spirit spring water, letting them all fall into the large wooden tub beside him.
The sensation was exceedingly subtle.
When he had drunk the spirit spring water earlier, he had felt an inexplicable urge to bathe his body in it.
The moment that thought arose, it became impossible to rein in.
Had the spirit wheat in the Ghost-Crying Field not happened to ripen, causing that messenger disciple to delay him, Lin Mo would probably have already jumped into the wooden tub and started enjoying a thoroughly satisfying bath!
"Hiss!"
After stripping off his clothes and climbing into the tub, Lin Mo shuddered all over and could not help sucking in a sharp breath.
Within the mountain spring water in the tub, there seemed to be exceptionally nimble fire serpents swimming about. They slipped into Lin Mo's body through his pores and instantly spread throughout his limbs and every part of his body.
The heat of these fire serpents was astonishing. Even with Lin Mo's current physical strength, which rivaled that of someone at the fourth layer of Qi Refining, he found it somewhat difficult to endure.
Stranger still, although Lin Mo felt as if he were being roasted by flames, the mountain spring water in the large wooden tub remained icy cold, without so much as a wisp of steam rising from it.
Am I imagining it... no, I'm not!
The heat made Lin Mo bare his teeth in a grimace. He stared intently at the surface of his body, and his eyes suddenly lit up.
The changes were beginning at the surface of his body.
Streaks of gray-black discoloration gradually appeared in the mountain spring water pressed against his skin, then dispersed and mingled with the surrounding water.
Where those gray-black streaks appeared, his skin grew firmer. The contours of his muscles seemed to change as well, looking smoother and more powerfully defined.
At the same time.
A warm current slowly emerged from his chest, instantly circulated through his internal organs, then spread throughout his body, as though completing an utterly inconceivable greater celestial circuit!
Cultivators can improve their cultivation by circulating spiritual qi through a celestial circuit. This warm current can actually circulate through one too?
Lin Mo was stunned.
He distinctly sensed that the celestial circuit followed by this warm current ran in precisely the opposite direction to that of spiritual qi.
Spiritual qi circulated from the outside inward, absorbing spiritual qi from the surroundings before finally gathering in the vortex within his dantian.
But the warm current moved from the inside outward, starting at his chest and reaching all the way to the tips of his limbs-and his physical strength was increasing along with it!
Before you continue