Although Li Xingkong's family was from the countryside, he had been away at school since he was a child and had very little experience with farm work. This first time farming led to quite a few funny incidents.
Thankfully, my mom gave me a lot of key tips, which helped these seeds sprout successfully.
All I can say is that each line looks simple, but once you really get the hang of it, you'll discover many unexpected problems.
For the past few days, Li Xingkong has simply set up a simple shed in the yard and settled down next to his vegetable garden.
The shed was very simple, barely enough to keep out the wind and rain. I found a broken mattress, spread it out as a bed, and it was actually quite comfortable to sleep on.
There's no water or electricity; if we want water or electricity, we have to go home.
It sounds complicated and rudimentary, but Li Xingkong doesn't care about such things.
For him, none of this mattered. Even without a shed, given his physical condition, he could sleep shirtless on the ground without any problems.
As for running back and forth between his home and the yard, that's a piece of cake for him; this distance is nothing.
Some people pursue a life of enjoyment, and they believe that the amount of money they have determines the level of service they can enjoy. If they have 100,000 yuan, they want to rent a whole house to live in; if they have 1 million yuan, they want to own a car and a house; and if they have even more money, they will upgrade all aspects of their lives, including clothing, food, housing, and transportation.
In short, they want to prove they are rich through their spending.
Having money but not spending it is like wearing fine clothes in the dark—it's unsatisfying.
However, Li Xingkong was basically indifferent to this aspect; to him, whether or not he enjoyed these things was a trivial matter in life.
If it truly benefits his cultivation, he will definitely do it; but if it's just to make others think he's rich and satisfy his vanity, then there's no need for it.
Is vanity useful? Is it useful for others to envy you?
This stuff can't be eaten as a meal, pshaw.
Therefore, Li Xingkong was never too particular about his personal life.
I might have had some preferences when it came to food, but now I can basically fast. Eating is optional and would be a waste of time.
Having lived in this courtyard for almost a week, Li Xingkong's life remained very regular. He was like an ascetic, with an extremely regular daily routine.
Cultivating in a different environment brings slightly different feelings and speeds.
Here, the environment is closer to nature and more pristine. After all, just a few steps away, you're out of the village and into the mountains, which is naturally different from the towns where we lived before.
In recent years, there has been a focus on returning farmland to forest. In Li Xingkong's childhood memories, this mountain was barren and covered with weeds, without even a rabbit. But after staying here for the past few days, Li Xingkong was surprised to find that there are even weasels here now.
While I was cultivating at night, I could clearly see several long, yellow figures wandering around nearby, catching mice.
When cultivating in a natural environment, perhaps because there are fewer people around and the environment is quieter, I feel that my cultivation speed is a little faster when I enter the Qi Refining cultivation stage. I don't know if it's just my imagination.
Moreover, for Li Xingkong, besides cultivation, staying here also allows him to closely observe the growth of the seeds he modified.
He's like a full-time stay-at-home dad, constantly monitoring the seed's physiological indicators. He can immediately sense what the seed is lacking and then use his Spiritual Qi to draw in the corresponding elements from the surrounding environment to absorb it.
Ordinary seeds have to take root and find nutrients on their own, Li Xingkong fed it directly into his mouth.
This treatment is unparalleled.
Two days later, the first generation of seeds finally sprouted into tender shoots.
It looks very similar to ordinary lettuce, but its color is more golden than that of ordinary lettuce. Li Xingkong also pinched the leaves, and the tender leaves that had grown were already quite flexible.
If a regular lettuce leaf can be easily torn, then the leaves grown from a single seed now require scissors to cut.
This is a normal phenomenon. The higher the strength of the material you ultimately want, the stronger the plant that grows from that material must also be.
However, this first generation was only used to verify the theory. Li Xingkong didn't make many changes. Once the effect of the tender leaves appeared, he could confirm that the desired effect of the first generation of seeds had been achieved.
In two more days, the lettuce will be ready to be harvested, and Li Xingkong is still quite curious about its taste.
I don't know what it tastes like, but it's definitely chewy.
Just as he remembered food, Li Xingkong's mind suddenly went blank.
He seemed to have forgotten something important.
Li Xingkong squatted down in front of the plant, feeling around the leaves as he thought about what he had forgotten.
Finally, after touching it twice more, Li Xingkong had an idea.
This thing is so powerful now that it needs to be cut with scissors. So how am I supposed to consume the second, third, and even the final versions of the spirit plants that come out?
Even though his physical abilities are better than average, he still can't ingest gold or iron.
Let alone the rest, just this one leaf alone would take me ages to chew if I wanted to eat it. For most people, this thing would only be good for fanning themselves.
No one's teeth can bite through this thing.
Am I supposed to swallow it whole? That would be too painful; can my stomach acid even digest this stuff?
Having thought of this, Li Xingkong had no choice but to consult the system.
Whether you grow spiritual plants or purchase materials yourself, you ultimately have to consume those materials to use them. This step is essential; it's just that you haven't reached this point yet.
"It's about time."
The system has timely emerged; in fact, for the entire cultivation civilization, the processing of materials is a universal problem.
Why are herbs categorized into grades? Why must cultivation materials correspond to the corresponding cultivation level? The Qi Refining stage can only use Grade 1 materials, Foundation Establishment can use Grade 2 materials.
The real reason is that it can't be handled.
Just like now, although he can produce spiritual plants, if his cultivation level is not high enough, then it is just a useless material.
While modern technology may have mature processing techniques to transform it into materials applicable to various industries, necessary auxiliary spells are indispensable if one wishes to use it to accelerate their own cultivation.
Li Xingkong couldn't help but recall that in ancient times, some Daoist priests were obsessed with swallowing gold and ingesting mercury, calling it the Dragon and Tiger Elixir. Normal people could tell at a glance that it was poisonous, so how could they eat it?
Now I'm in the same boat. This generation of lettuce, even if it were grown, no one would eat it.
If someone told others that they needed to eat this stuff for cultivation, the listener would probably send them straight to a mental hospital.