Qi Refining Stage Fourth Layer

Qin Ming's gaze was resolute as he took out another Superior Spirit Gathering Pill and swallowed it.

The medicinal power circulated.

Again and again, it scoured and widened Qin Ming's dantian acupoints.

He swallowed the fourth Superior Spirit Gathering Pill.

Then came the fifth.

The sixth.

By the time he had taken the eighth,

the mana within his dantian had reached its limit.

At last, it could bear no more.

Like floodwaters bursting through a dike.

Boom!

The aura of mana around Qin Ming abruptly surged by more than double.

Everything fell into place as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

An unceasing stream of Evergreen Mana began to trickle through Qin Ming's meridians.

"My mana cultivation has finally broken through to the Qi Refining Stage Fourth Layer!" A flash of sharp light passed through Qin Ming's eyes.

He slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

His current total mana was more than twice that of others at the same level, already comparable to someone at around the Qi Refining Stage Fifth Layer.

"With this, I can increase both the duration and number of times I cast the Greater Spirit Rain Technique."

"The mana of the Qi Refining Mid Stage is finally just barely enough."

"I have Su Yuqing's pills to thank this time. Otherwise, if they had only been Common Spirit Gathering Pills, even taking all of them probably wouldn't have been enough for me to break through."

While he was delighted by his breakthrough,

he also realized a problem.

That was, merely breaking through to the fourth layer of Qi Refining had required him to consume so many Superior Spirit Gathering Pills.

These pills all built up drug resistance.

The more he took of the same kind of pill, the more greatly its absorbed medicinal power would weaken.

If he wanted to break through again later,

Superior Spirit Gathering Pills would clearly no longer be enough for him.

At this rate,

the spiritual pills Qin Ming would need for future cultivation, whether in quality or quantity,

would become an enormous number.

"Looks like I need to quickly make my pill production self-sufficient."

"My little nest egg can't quite withstand this kind of spending!"

In the days that followed,

Qin Ming also consumed his remaining two Superior Spirit Gathering Pills.

He consolidated his cultivation for a while.

After that, he continued eating Blood Locust Rice and cultivating the sixth layer of the Hundred Treasures Glazed Scripture.

Compared with his mana cultivation,

Qin Ming's body-refining progress soared beneath the massive stockpile of Blood Locust Rice, a body-refining spiritual material.

Calling it a thousand miles in a single day would not have been an exaggeration.

With every layer the Hundred Treasures Glazed Scripture broke through, the spiritual materials it required increased by multiples, even severalfold.

The remaining stores of Blood Locust Rice in Qin Ming's hands were nearly depleted.

But they could barely last until the next batch of Beast Fang Rice matured.

By then, once he obtained the Accelerated Growth Affix,

he had already set aside some Blood Locust Rice spirit seeds.

He could continue accelerating their growth.

Using Blood Locust Rice to cultivate the Hundred Treasures Glazed Scripture to completion should not be a problem.

By then,

his body-refining cultivation would reach the perfect ninth layer.

With the power of the Hundred Treasures Glazed Scripture,

his overall strength would far surpass that of ordinary cultivators at the same level.

To say nothing else, within the bounds of Qingyang Market, he would at least possess some ability to protect himself.

Time passed.

Early May.

Inside Su Yuqing's Alchemy Room.

Qin Ming was drenched in sweat, his eyes fixed tightly on the pill furnace.

After suffering through more than a dozen utterly miserable failures,

a strange fragrance finally wafted from within the pill furnace.

"It worked!"

Qin Ming made a beckoning gesture.

Three blue pills fell into his hand.

Basic Detoxification Pills were ungraded, basic practice pills for alchemy apprentices.

Holding the three pills, Qin Ming was beside himself with excitement.

Over the past month,

he had repeatedly observed and studied Su Yuqing's pill refining.

He had finally grasped some of its essentials.

Next,

Qin Ming could try refining first-grade low-quality spiritual pills.

Su Yuqing sat in the courtyard, drinking tea with a calm and leisurely expression.

Seeing Qin Ming so happy, he could not help but laugh. "They're only Detoxification Pills. Look how pleased you are."

"Brother Su, naturally I can't compare to you." Qin Ming observed Su Yuqing refining pills every day, and the two had grown increasingly familiar with one another.

"It wasn't easy for me to take this step. These three Basic Detoxification Pills can be considered my inaugural work." Qin Ming said with a smile.

"Let me have a look."

"The inaugural work of Alchemy Master Qin."

Su Yuqing took the pills from Qin Ming's hand and examined them.

After a long while,

"Barely passable."

Su Yuqing tossed the pills back to Qin Ming.

Hearing him say that,

Qin Ming felt reassured.

Late May.

This year's first harvest of Golden Spirit Rice ripened.

Name: Golden Spirit Rice
Affix: Faint Mana (Maturity 100%, harvestable)

Name: Golden Spirit Rice
Affix: Faint Mana (Maturity 100%, harvestable)

Qin Ming cut down the spirit rice ears, and two white affix leaves appeared in his Sea of Consciousness.

Under the rainfall and irrigation of his Greater Spirit Rain Technique,

the yield from these three mu of Golden Spirit Rice was astonishing!

He harvested a full twenty shi of Golden Spirit Rice.

After deducting the forty-five percent spirit rice tax levied by the Spirit Feather Sect,

he still had six hundred jin of spirit rice left.

His seasonal spirit rice yield ranked far ahead of all others.

He took first place.

The other Spirit Farmers could only look on in envy.

As Du Haifu weighed it, he stared at the figures on the Large Measuring Bucket artifact and remained speechless for a long time.

"The yield from only three mu is this enormous—something I've never seen in my life!"

"This is the power of mastering the Greater Spirit Rain Technique."

After this,

Qin Ming no longer needed to worry much about the three mu of Golden Spirit Rice fields.

He only needed to wait until the end of June, when spirit rice would sprout again from the roots.

Qin Ming devoted all his attention to the Beast Fang Rice fields and the other two mu of medicinal fields.

There were seventy-two Frostsmoke Herbs and eighteen Spirit Candle Fruits.

All had already grown to half their height.

Considering that he still needed to advance to a first-grade mid-quality Spirit Planter,

which required successfully growing three different first-grade mid-quality spirit plants,

Qin Ming went to Manager Liao and purchased several dozen first-grade mid-quality Raven Tongue Orchid spirit seeds, planting them together in a corner of the spirit field.

The reason he chose Raven Tongue Orchids

was that they could be used when he tried refining first-grade low-quality spiritual pills.

Through constant practice, combined with studying the notebook Su Yuqing had given him,

Qin Ming gradually began to gain some understanding

of refining first-grade low-quality spiritual pills.

Three months passed.

The second harvest of Golden Spirit Rice ripened.

The Golden Spirit Rice fields still had not produced the Accelerated Growth Affix.

Qin Ming harvested another twenty shi of Golden Spirit Rice, along with three Faint Mana Affixes.

"Ah, as expected, the higher a spirit plant's grade, the greater the chance of producing better Affixes."

But it would be soon.

The Frostsmoke Herbs, Spirit Candle Fruits, and Raven Tongue Orchids in the two mu of spirit fields had all blossomed.

Only the final few months remained before they matured.

Qin Ming released the Four-Winged Frost Bees from his Spirit Beast Pouch and had them pollinate the spirit plants in the fields.

Together with the rain effects of the Greater Spirit Rain Technique,

these few mu of spirit fields presented a flourishing and vibrant sight.

Even when Elder Gu of the Spirit Feather Sect came to collect the spirit rice tax and looked over the two or three mu of mid-quality spirit plants below,

a faint trace of change finally appeared on his eternally unchanging face.

Especially those three mu of Beast Fang Rice.

Even Qin Ming himself had not expected it.

With his constant irrigation using the Greater Spirit Rain Technique, coupled with his meticulous daily care,

judging from their current growth trend,

not only would their yield double when the time came, they were also developing toward Superior Beast Fang Rice.

After all, Qin Ming had eaten quite a lot of Superior Beast Fang Rice and had abundant experience in accelerated growth.

One day,

Qin Ming was directing the Bee Swarm to pollinate the spirit herbs in the medicinal fields.

His Message Talisman received a message.

It was from Manager Liao.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, there is definite news regarding the market housing rental slot you asked me about last time."

"But I can't make the decision on this matter. You can discuss it with our pavilion master."