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As he spoke, the grower took a bag of fertilizer and Ge Xuan's Notes out of his storage Law Artifact and showed them to the other growers.

After examining them, everyone made a careful comparison and confirmed that this copy of Ge Xuan's Notes was the same as the one Shan Heyuan had brought out.

These texts were not Cultivation Method texts and contained none of a Cultivation Method's profound meaning. They were relatively simple to copy, so mistakes were unlikely.

Since the fertilizer was different, the issue had to be the technique.

One of the growers asked, "Young friend Shan, would you be able to give us a demonstration?"

Shan Heyuan hesitated. Firing fertilizer pills was simply too exhausting.

Seeing his reaction, Wen Chengyi asked, "Is there some difficulty?"

Shan Heyuan said, "I don't have any materials left. If I were to demonstrate, I'd have to wait half a month until I'd gathered new materials and they'd fermented before I could refine them."

Wen Chengyi cleared his throat. "We want to see it, so how could we make you gather the materials yourself? I have red jade wood and ice crystal soil here. Take them and use them."

The other growers generously opened their purses as well. They dug into their storage Law Artifacts and gathered all the materials Shan Heyuan needed, saying they were a gift.

They really ought to provide the materials, so Shan Heyuan accepted them without ceremony and put them away. He agreed with the growers to fire another batch in half a month.

Shan Heyuan had already fired one batch, so he had more experience for the second.

He simplified the steps, optimized the proportions, and reduced the amount of materials.

With a smaller batch, he could manage everything and refine his technique.

He did not stint on the finished fertilizer pills, either, putting them to use right away.

He had a full seven hundred and thirty-three Spirit Plants growing in his courtyard. Even in winter, they were thriving, lush and tender. The Spiritual Qi they released raised the concentration throughout the courtyard considerably, enough to rival a small Spirit Vein.

When Shen Duheng had nothing to do, he could sit in the courtyard from morning till night.

Shan Heyuan's growing skills had improved greatly by now. All the Spirit Plants in the courtyard were at Qi Refining Seventh Stage or above, and four were Foundation Establishment grade, including two Spirit Trees and two Spirit Herbs.

Most of these Spirit Plants had spent time in his Dantian and suffered some damage, so nourishing them with fertilizer pills was the best approach.

He took out the fertilizer pills and buried one beneath each Spirit Plant.

Senior Wen and the others had said that the pills released their fertility gradually rather than all at once, so there was no risk of burning the roots, and it was fine to bury them close by.

Shan Heyuan had some experience with growing plants and had come to the same conclusion.

Strangely enough, when he fired the fertilizer, he infused it with spiritual power according to the steps without using that power to shape the fertilizer pills' structure, yet they had a structure nonetheless.

Not only did they have a structure, but it was also tightly packed.

It was precisely this tight structure that made them pills and allowed them to release their fertility slowly.

After burying all the fertilizer pills, Shan Heyuan took out a recording Spirit Artifact and planted it in the spirit field, ready to monitor the Spirit Plants' growth after fertilization.

He had bought the recording Spirit Artifact at the Hidden Spirits General Store for a full seventeen thousand spirit pearls, nearly emptying his savings.

If the senior growers hadn't given him a batch of materials so they could watch his refining technique, he wouldn't even have been able to gather enough materials to fire a second batch of fertilizer pills.

On the thirteenth of November, Shan Heyuan confirmed that the materials for the fertilizer pills had finished fermenting. He sent communication talismans inviting the senior growers over, ready to demonstrate how to refine them.

Once again, he asked Zhong Shuran to set up the formation for him.

He was short on spirit pearls and would have to wait until he received next month's stipend to pay him back.

Zhong Shuran was on good terms with him and didn't mind.

The other growers, however, were astonished when they saw him ask Zhong Shuran to set up a talisman formation and prepare to fire the materials in a pile outdoors. "Young friend Shan, is this how you refined the fertilizer pills?"

Shan Heyuan didn't quite understand what surprised them. "Yes. Isn't this how you seniors refine them?"

"Of course not." With a clank, one grower took a Pill Furnace out of his storage Spirit Artifact. "Out in the open, how could you control the heat and spiritual power? We all use Pill Furnaces."

Shan Heyuan looked at the Pill Furnace, which wasn't much taller than he was, and was surprised as well. "How many fertilizer pills can you refine in one batch that way?"

"A hundred or so, at least."

Shan Heyuan silently closed his mouth.

He could refine more than ten thousand pills in a single batch. Pill Furnaces were expensive and had such a small capacity, so he would pass.

He would buy one when he needed to refine higher-grade fertilizer pills.

The first time was unfamiliar, but the second came easier.

The talisman formation and materials were soon ready, and Shan Heyuan wasn't one for small talk.

In front of the growers, he took out the materials and refined them according to the steps.

This batch contained less than half as much fertilizer as the last one and was much easier to refine. He only had to take a few spirit pills near the end to replenish his spiritual power.

He was so focused on refining that he barely looked at the other growers' expressions.

When he finished firing the batch that afternoon and withdrew the fire, Shan Heyuan turned to see the other growers wearing solemn expressions. Startled, he asked, "Seniors, what's the matter?"

Wen Chengyi said, "Young friend Shan, your control over your technique is exceptionally precise."

Realizing what they meant, Shan Heyuan said, "I don't have much spiritual power, and even a little waste would leave me short. To keep that from happening, I have no choice but to be precise."

Wen Chengyi said, "I could see that. Your Divine Sense far surpasses that of ordinary people. It's reached the level of Foundation Establishment Middle Stage by now, hasn't it?"

Shan Heyuan had no master or elders and rarely discussed such matters with Shen Duheng, so he really didn't know the state of his Divine Sense.

Seeing the blank look on his face, Wen Chengyi sighed inwardly and said to his old friends, "One reason young friend Shan can refine such fine fertilizer pills must be his control. His technique is more precise, and almost every infusion of spiritual power strikes the exact point."

Another grower said, "That may be part of the reason, but it certainly isn't the whole of it. Young friend Shan, could you show us the fertilizer pills you just refined?"

Since Shan Heyuan had already accepted the materials, such a request was naturally no trouble.

He dug the fertilizer pills out of the pile of ashes and handed them to the Spirit Plant growers for inspection.

After examining them, the Spirit Plant growers gave Shan Heyuan even more complicated looks.

Wen Chengyi couldn't help showing his envy. "Young friend Shan, the fertilizer pills you refined on your second attempt are even more perfect than the first."

Another Spirit Plant grower said, "Geniuses have always been like this. What others must rack their brains to achieve, a genius can do the moment he tries."

Shan Heyuan had often been praised to his face and could handle it skillfully by now. He quickly offered a few modest words.

But the growers didn't wait for him to finish. Wen Chengyi waved a hand and assigned the tasks directly. "Let's try refining some too. I'll use young friend Shan's method of firing them in a pile outdoors. Which of you will use a Pill Furnace?"

Another grower stepped forward, planning to fire a batch in a Pill Furnace. "After watching young friend Shan's technique just now, I have a few ideas. I should be able to refine the fertilizer into pills."

Wen Chengyi said, "Then let's begin."

Wen Chengyi prepared to refine fertilizer pills using Shan Heyuan's remaining materials, while the other grower used materials he had brought himself.

The other growers stood guard for them.

Shan Heyuan had never seen other cultivators fire fertilizer, so he perked up and watched them, looking for anything he could learn from.

The steps Wen Chengyi and the other grower followed were clear, and their techniques were highly professional, bearing the unmistakable marks of formal training. Every step followed the proper procedure.

Shan Heyuan watched carefully and gained quite a bit from it.

Everyone kept at it until the middle of the night.

Zhong Shuran couldn't stay up any longer. Seeing that he wasn't needed, he yawned and headed home first.

Shan Heyuan stayed and fired the fertilizer with the seniors, his eyes growing bloodshot from lack of sleep.

Partway through, Shen Duheng came to keep him company, sitting quietly to one side and hardly making a sound.

In the latter half of the night, the second batch of fertilizer pills was finally ready.

The fertilizer pills fired by the three men were lined up before everyone.

Under the Spirit Artifact lamp, every minute detail of the three perfectly round, longan-sized fertilizer pills was illuminated.

Shan Heyuan's fertilizer pill was the blackest, with faint grayish-white patterns on its surface that looked quite mysterious.