Back from the Dead

September.

A trace of chill had entered the air of the Cloud Marsh Great Wilderness.

Cloudmarsh City, jointly built by the Spirit Feather Sect and Goldcloud Valley, was under construction in full swing.

With the arrival of reinforcements composed of elite cultivators from the two sects,

the Spirit Feather Sect's War Camp on the frontier of the wilderness had also stabilized its footing.

There were no longer any large-scale casualties.

Batch after batch of rogue cultivators also arrived at Qingyang Market aboard dharma boats.

All of them longed to render great service to the sects and obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Then make a comeback on the immortal path.

The Shantytown remained as it had always been.

Public order grew more chaotic by the day, and people would occasionally vanish without explanation.

Qin Ming had also cut down on unnecessary trips outside.

This day,

in Su Yuqing's courtyard,

when Qin Ming saw Su Yuqing again, the latter had already broken through to the seventh layer of the Qi Refining Stage.

He had entered the ranks of Late Qi Refining cultivators.

The speed of his cultivation truly made Qin Ming endlessly envious.

Qin Ming had originally thought that, after painstakingly breaking through to the Qi Refining Stage Fourth Layer some days ago,

he had gradually begun narrowing the gap between them. Yet the gap had only grown wider.

Comparisons really can drive a man mad!

Not only was Su Yuqing peerless in alchemy talent, his cultivation was also like walking on level ground and soaring straight into the clouds.

But envy was envy.

Qin Ming was in no hurry. So long as he worked hard at farming, the day would eventually come when he surpassed Su Yuqing.

However, just moments ago,

Qin Ming had borrowed Su Yuqing's Alchemy Room and attempted to refine several batches of first-tier low-grade pills.

Every single attempt had failed.

He was feeling rather depressed.

"Brother Qin, I heard you're moving into the market to live?" Su Yuqing asked Qin Ming as he leisurely sipped tea.

Qin Ming rubbed his face hard with both hands.

Then he picked up the tea Su Yuqing had poured for him and took a sip, refreshing himself.

He seemed not to have recovered from the blow of his failed pill refinement.

"Yes. Who told you? It couldn't have been Fellow Daoist Gu, could it?"

The moment Qin Ming heard his tone, he knew Gu Qingzhao had secretly done Su Yuqing another favor.

Su Yuqing nodded without either confirming or denying it.

"It's good that you're moving in. The situation really has been growing increasingly chaotic lately."

Qin Ming pondered for a moment before asking, "Then, Brother Su, don't you plan to move into the market as well?"

"The earth-vein fire can remain here for now."

Su Yuqing smiled calmly and said with pride, "I consider myself to have some ability to protect myself. Besides, I'll only be staying one final year before leaving next year. I don't want to keep moving back and forth."

"After I leave, you can continue renting this house, and you can keep using the Alchemy Room."

Qin Ming's eyes lit up at once. "Really?!"

"Mm. Beyond high-grade alchemy lies the second tier. I won't need this earth-fire anymore," Su Yuqing said casually.

Qin Ming had never expected

that he would actually inherit Su Yuqing's Alchemy Room.

He was instantly overjoyed.

His earlier gloom was swept away in an instant.

"Come, Brother Su. Let me use tea in place of wine to toast you."

Time passed slowly.

It was year's end again.

The third crop of Golden Spirit Rice in the Spirit Fields had ripened.

In addition, the Frostsmoke Herb and Spirit Candle Fruit in the two mu of spirit herb fields had ripened as well.

It was another bountiful harvest.

What Qin Ming looked forward to most, however, was the Affix harvest.

Even the several dozen first-tier mid-grade Spirit Plants he had planted latest, the Raven Tongue Orchids, had ripened together and produced an Affix.

The Spirit Fields were now filled with flickering golden radiance:

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

Name: Golden Spirit Rice
Affix: Quality Enhancement (Maturity 100%, Harvestable)

Name: Golden Spirit Rice
Affix: Quality Enhancement (Maturity 100%, Harvestable)

Name: Frostsmoke Herb
Affix: Faint Soul Force x5 (Maturity 100%, Harvestable)

Name: Frostsmoke Herb
Affix: Accelerated Growth x5 (Maturity 100%, Harvestable)

Name: Spirit Candle Fruit
Affix: Rebirth Spirit Seed x3 (Maturity 100%, Harvestable)

Name: Raven Tongue Orchid
Affix: Faint Soul Force x5 (Maturity 100%, Harvestable)

Name: Beast Fang Rice
Affix: Faint Vital Energy x5 (Maturity 56%)

Name: Beast Fang Rice
Affix: Accelerated Growth x5 (Maturity 58%)

The three mu of Beast Fang Rice would have to remain until next year before they could be harvested.

However, he could first use Accelerated Growth on the two stalks of Beast Fang Rice with Affixes and collect their Affixes.

Half a day later,

in Qin Ming's Sea of Consciousness, together with those he had stored before, multiple Affix Leaves floated into view:

Faint Mana x6

Faint Vital Energy x5

Faint Soul Force x10

Quality Enhancement x2

Accelerated Growth x10

Rebirth Spirit Seed x3

Qin Ming stared blankly at the many Affixes floating in his Sea of Consciousness, his spirits soaring.

With this wave of Affixes thrown in,

he feared he would soon be able to stack the Hundred Treasures Glazed Scripture up several more layers!

Besides that,

Qin Ming's Spirit Rice yield this year had also broken all previous records.

Barring any surprises, he had firmly taken first place.

As for this result,

the Spirit Farmers and the people of the Spirit Feather Sect had long expected it. After all, Qin Ming had mastered the Greater Spirit Rain Technique.

He possessed an advantage they did not.

After tidying up,

Qin Ming, just as he had last year, sent Su Yuqing a Message Talisman asking him to come harvest the spirit herbs.

When Su Yuqing arrived at the Spirit Fields, he still could not help being slightly stunned.

"Brother Qin, I truly don't understand."

"You used only one year to break through from a low-grade Spirit Planter to a mid-grade one."

"Instead of properly growing Spirit Plants,"

"why insist on learning alchemy?"

Qin Ming chuckled, then looked at the Faint Soul Force x10 in his Sea of Consciousness.

He smiled without saying a word.

Inside a house in the Shantytown,

the first thing Qin Ming did after returning home

was take out that piece of Black Vine.

"This cost me a full three hundred Spirit Stones at auction."

"I hope you won't disappoint me too badly."

Qin Ming held the piece of Black Vine in his hand and studied it for half the day.

Yet he still could make neither head nor tail of it.

He shook his head.

Walking to the flower bed in the courtyard, he casually found a corner and stuck it into the soil.

Then, with a thought, Qin Ming used a Rebirth Spirit Seed Affix on the piece of withered vine.

One blue leaf instantly vanished from his Sea of Consciousness.

The instant the Affix was used,

a massive purple spore suddenly grew from the flower bed and enveloped the piece of withered vine.

After a long while,

the purple spore gradually began to shrivel, as though all the energy within it had been completely absorbed by the Black Vine.

Thump! Thump!

The sound of a beating heart actually rang out in Qin Ming's mind.

Somehow, he seemed to have formed a certain connection with the Black Vine.

He carefully leaned closer to take a look.

A jet-black tender shoot had actually sprouted from the piece of Black Vine!

It had come back to life!

"Damn, that's incredible! It really can be revived?!"

"What kind of thing is this? It even seems to have a heartbeat?"

"Did I hear it wrong?"

Qin Ming mulled over it in puzzlement for a while, then shook his head.

"I'll plant it first and see."

He hesitated for a moment, then stopped in his tracks again.

"Or... should I try Accelerated Growth?"

After thinking it over again and again, Qin Ming decided to use an Accelerated Growth Affix.

With a thought, a Green Affix Leaf vanished from his Sea of Consciousness.

It descended upon the piece of Black Vine.