Chapter 50: Returning Again

Li Zhen opened his eyes in the log cabin and cautiously scanned the room, relieved to find nothing out of place.

The Small Inverted Five Elements Array remained active, with the door still bolted shut. He breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed his teleportation within the array had not been detected by the market.

Night lingered outside. Li Zhen sat cross-legged and resumed cultivating the Seventeenth Edition of the Foundation Qi Refining Technique. When fatigue set in, he switched to studying the Spirit Enhancement Art and Golden Edge Technique, until the world outside brightened with dawn.

Early that morning, after purchasing some essential supplies for his extended stay—including ten catties of first-rank mid-grade spirit rice, given the high price—and noting the stark difference between first-rank inferior and mid-grade spirit rice, he prepared a meal with the latter.

Although there wasn’t a tenfold difference in the effects of consuming the two types of spirit rice, the ability of mid-grade spirit rice to enhance the physical condition of cultivators below the sixth level of Qi Refining was reason enough.

Li Zhen now had spirit stones and felt somewhat wealthy.

Through his observations of the spirit rice prices, he discovered a potential business opportunity.

However, he still needed more information to determine if the spirit rice trade was viable.

After delivering his purchases home, he finally set out with farming tools for his spirit fields.

His two acres of spirit fields were protected by warning arrays.

The land had been turned over the previous day. He cast the Spirit Nourishing Art, directing strands of green light onto the spirit fields. This awakened the spiritual energy within, making it more conducive to the growth of spirit plants.

Although he had only learned the Spirit Nourishing Art the day before, his innate talent for wood elemental spiritual roots—being of mid-grade calibre—combined with the influence of the dragon heart, allowed him to employ the technique effortlessly. He quickly achieved the ‘Technique Mastery’ level.

Mastery of the Spirit Nourishing Art marked him as a competent spirit farmer.

Drawing upon the spiritual essence of two acres of spirit fields, Li Zhen circulated the ‘Foundation Qi Refining Technique, Version 17’ twice midway through to replenish his spiritual energy before finally completing the infusion process.

Next, he used the ‘Spirit Nourishing Spell’ to imbue the spirit rice seeds. This not only enriched the seeds but also prepared them for germination.

With the proper farm tools, he planted the exact quantity of spirit rice seeds in the spirit fields. Two types of spirit rice seeds were involved: one variety allowed him to select the fullest grains with the strongest spiritual energy as seeds for the next planting, while the other had to be purchased from the market.

Li Zhen recalled the spirit rice grown back home in the Xian Nation. The resulting spirit rice could not germinate further, necessitating the purchase of new seeds from the seed station each time.

Once all the spirit rice seeds were sown, it was time to cast the ‘Small Cloud Rain Spell.’

Gusts of wind summoned clouds, which released a refreshing rain upon the spirit fields. Almost instantly, tender sprouts emerged from the soil, rapidly growing to a height of twenty centimeters within moments.

This initial application of the ‘Small Cloud Rain Spell’ spurred such rapid growth; subsequent development would proceed at a slower, more gradual pace.

Due to the spirit field being of inferior first-tier quality, the spirit rice cultivated here would also be of inferior first-tier quality.

Cultivating mid-grade first-tier spirit rice was not something that could be achieved in a short span of time.

To upgrade the spirit field to produce mid-grade first-tier spirit rice, two conditions had to be met. First, it needed a supply of spiritual energy from a mid-grade first-tier spirit vein. In this case, the two acres of spirit field already met this criterion.

Second, the quality of the spirit field’s soil had to be continually enhanced using the ‘Spirit Nourishing Art.’ This process was not something that could be accomplished in just one or two months.

The time required to improve the soil quality depended on the practitioner’s mastery of the Spirit Nourishing Art. At the Technique Mastery level, it would take five years for the spirit field to reach mid-grade first-tier quality.

Even if the spirit field were upgraded to mid-grade first-tier, it wouldn’t be a care-free situation. Without regularly using the Spirit Nourishing Art to maintain the soil’s state, the spirit field’s quality would gradually decline.

The market collected 300 catties of spirit rice per acre, although it didn’t specify the quality of the spirit rice. However, don’t imagine there’s a loophole to exploit; the market adjusts the required spirit rice quality based on the spirit field’s quality.

Li Zhen deduced that in this world, a one-acre spirit field should produce over three hundred catties of spirit rice per year, with a maximum of around four hundred catties. The market likely wouldn’t be so generous as to leave too much spirit rice for the spirit farmers.

This indicated that the spirit rice yield in this world was disappointingly low. In contrast, back home, a crop of spirit rice matured in just five months, allowing for two harvests per year, each yielding over a thousand catties per acre.

The difference in annual yield per acre was staggering: 800 catties here versus 2,000 catties back home.

While automated farming equipment might have played a part in this discrepancy, the most significant factor was likely the quality of the spirit rice seeds.

The Xian Nation’s spirit rice seeds were meticulously selected and genetically optimized using advanced biotechnology, ensuring the highest possible yields.

In this world, however, spirit rice seeds were chosen arbitrarily from the harvested spirit rice, with no guarantee of quality or yield.

Of course, there were aspects where the Xian Nation fell short compared to this world. For instance, the supply of spiritual energy in spirit fields. In the Xian Nation, the majority of fields relied on low-grade, first-order spiritual energy. In contrast, even just this single market here provided high-grade, first-order spiritual energy—a resource far more abundant and potent than what was available in the Xian Nation.

After sowing the spirit rice, Li Zhen’s mind felt lighter, as one of his burdens had been lifted.

With spirit rice now growing in the spirit field, he had officially taken root in the market.

From this point on, his routine would involve casting the Small Cloud Rain Spell periodically to water the plants, and using the Golden Edge Technique to ward off pests.

Li Zhen glanced at the time—unbeknownst to him, it was already afternoon. He returned to his log cabin, where he cooked a pot of spirit rice using his newly purchased wok.

The flame he used was conjured by the Fireball Spell, a technique he could now control with ease, having approached the Understanding Magic realm.

At this moment, he considered searching for high-quality talismans related to spirit farming. If he could find such talismans, he wouldn’t need to painstakingly practice the Nourishing Spirit Art and the Golden Edge Technique himself.

However, he quickly dismissed this as wishful thinking. He doubted any cultivators would create these specific talismans, given their lack of perceived value to the larger community.

As he sipped his mid-grade spirit rice, he could distinctly feel its spiritual essence being absorbed by his body, slowly and steadily enhancing him.

This effect was most pronounced during the early stages of his Qi Refining cultivation. Once he reached the intermediate stage, the benefits would significantly diminish.

By the Late Qi Refining Stage, even eating mid-grade first-rank spirit rice would merely satisfy hunger with little effect on cultivation.

Thus, ambitious cultivators at this stage consumed only high-grade first-rank spirit rice.

After finishing his meal, Li Zhen stepped out and made his way to the commercial district.

He noticed numerous cultivators entering and exiting the Treasure Pavilion, while two others blocked the entrance, preventing others from approaching.

Several cultivators stood at a distance, observing the scene. The Treasure Pavilion’s reputation in the marketplace was such that any incident there naturally drew heightened attention.

“I heard the old storekeeper went missing,” one observing cultivator said, shaking his head. “What a loss for such a good man!”

“Who could disagree?” another cultivator responded.

Li Zhen, hearing their assessment of the old storekeeper, couldn’t help but feel contempt inside.

These people had clearly never witnessed the old storekeeper’s methods. How could they think a good man could so skillfully use ‘Invisible Jade’ for stalking? They clearly didn’t understand that this was a tool typically reserved for the most underhanded of schemes.

He lingered briefly before departing; his primary purpose here was to gauge local prices. He aspired to learn a trade and had set his sights on talisman crafting.

Talisman makers were relatively common, with the demand for talismans being exceedingly high. As long as a maker’s skills met a basic threshold, they need not worry about finding buyers.

Of course, becoming a talisman maker required a significant initial investment of resources for practice. Introducing each new type of talisman would also necessitate extensive training over time.

Only by mastering a talisman to a certain success rate, achieving at least a break-even point, could one rightfully claim the title of Talisman Maker.

Li Zhen possessed an advantage over others in this field. By consuming pre-made talismans, he could essentially “download” the maker’s magical proficiency, giving him a solid foundation from which to craft that type of talisman.

Moreover, establishing himself as a talisman maker would afford him greater access to his peers. This would enable him to acquire higher-quality talismans for the Dragon Heart Space to devour, thereby learning even more spells and enhancing his own abilities.