"Ah Qing, is this the spirit field you just opened up?"
In the small courtyard halfway up the mountain, the old doctor looked at the spirit field that Lu Qing had newly cultivated a couple of days ago with some amazement.
The nearly two acres of spiritual fields were rich in spiritual energy, a far cry from when he left.
The medicinal herb fields next to it have also changed significantly.
The medicinal herbs inside have all grown much taller.
These past two days, the old doctor finally finished his free clinic and returned to his small courtyard halfway up the mountain. He was immediately drawn to the spiritual field that Lu Qing had recently cultivated behind the courtyard.
"Yes, Master, you've come at just the right time. I was just about to sow these spirit grain seeds today," Lu Qing said with a smile.
"Alright, I'll help you."
The old doctor was extremely skilled in farming.
He immediately rolled up his sleeves and trouser legs, ready to plant the enlightened rice seeds with Lu Qing.
Xiao Yan, who was doing her homework in the yard, saw something so fun and immediately ran out to help.
Even Xiao Li, out of curiosity, used her paws to grab some rice seeds and threw them into the field little by little.
Of course, since it has never liked water, it will only play on the ridges of the paddy fields and will absolutely not want to go into the fields.
Lu Qing ignored the two mischievous little ones. Anyway, he had consecrated quite a few rice seeds this time, which was more than enough to plant two acres of spiritual fields.
Even if they waste some, it will still be enough.
Besides, sowing seeds isn't a technical task; even a child can do it well.
Two acres of spirit fields weren't much, but with the three people and one beast working hard, they were all planted in no time.
Lu Qing then made a hand seal, and clouds immediately gathered above the spiritual field.
After more than ten breaths, raindrops imbued with spiritual energy began to fall sparsely, nourishing the newly sown rice seeds.
“Master, after this spirit grain is planted, it needs to be watered with the spirit rain technique from time to time.”
The same applies to the cultivation of spiritual herbs; this art of spiritual rain is also easy to learn.
"Would you like me to carve these planting techniques into jade slips for you later?"
"That's good. I've been wanting to cultivate some medicinal herbs with better effects recently, so I can learn this art of cultivating spiritual herbs."
The old doctor did not refuse, but nodded.
"Master, have you encountered any difficult or complicated cases during your recent free clinics?"
Lu Qing could tell from his master's expression that something must have happened.
"Indeed, during my trip out, I discovered that the illnesses suffered by villagers from outside the area are generally much more difficult to treat than before."
The patients often have accumulated pathogenic qi in their bodies, which is something that has never happened before.
The herbs we commonly use today are ineffective at eliminating these pathogenic factors.
Unless the dosage is increased, but all medicines have side effects, and if the dosage is increased, it is easy for the patient to be unable to tolerate it if not handled carefully.
Therefore, during this round of free clinics, I almost exclusively used acupuncture supplemented with medication, and sometimes I even had to use my spiritual energy to cure the patients.
The old doctor, with a solemn expression, slowly recounted what he had learned from the free clinic over the past few days.
"So, Master, that's why you want to cultivate spiritual herbs to deal with this situation?" Lu Qingming understood.
The old doctor nodded and said, "Yes, even if we can't cultivate spiritual herbs, as long as we can enhance the efficacy of the herbs we currently use, that would be excellent."
"Then this disciple will immediately inscribe a jade slip for you when I return."
Lu Qing and the old doctor checked the spirit field again, and after confirming that there were no problems, they returned to the courtyard.
Now that the rice seeds have been planted, the rest is much simpler.
Lu Qing only needs to use the Spirit Rain Technique to water the plants regularly, remove weeds, and take precautions against insects.
If everything goes smoothly, we should be able to harvest the first batch of spirit grains in about two or three months.
In fact, when planting rice, you usually need to start by cultivating seedlings.
After all, if the rice seeds are sown directly in the field, they are easy to sow unevenly, resulting in patches of sparse and dense growth later on.
Furthermore, it may suffer from problems such as shallow roots, making it easy to be blown over by the wind.
However, this was obviously not a problem for Lu Qing, since he wasn't growing ordinary rice, so he skipped this step.
Upon returning to the courtyard, Lu Qing immediately inscribed the Li Huo Sect's key techniques for cultivating and planting spiritual herbs into a jade slip and handed it to his master.
Upon receiving the jade slip, the old doctor immediately returned to his quiet room and began to ponder it carefully.
With nothing to do, Lu Qing told Xiao Yan not to run around and then simply started cultivating.
Entering a meditative state, Lu Qing "saw" that the Five Elements Gourd occupied the very center of his dantian, constantly absorbing and releasing the spiritual energy he had cultivated.
With each cycle, his spiritual power would become slightly purer.
Not many days had passed, but Lu Qing could already sense that his spiritual power was at least 10% purer than before.
Don't underestimate this mere 10%. You must know that the progress of a body cultivator's physical body is closely related to the purity of their spiritual power.
The purer the spiritual energy, the stronger the physical body will be.
Lu Qing's spiritual power has now become 10% pure, which means that his physical body can also be strengthened by another 10%.
Concentrating his mind and calming his breath, Lu Qing guided the five elements of spiritual energy in his dantian and began to temper his physical body according to the methods of the 【Five Elements Body Refining Technique】.
As spiritual energy was continuously refined and integrated, his physical body gradually strengthened.
"Yan" had been observing Lu Qing's cultivation.
It marveled at the gradually increasing aura emanating from Lu Qing.
The Five Elements Body Refining Technique was notoriously difficult to learn and slow to progress in the ancient era of cultivation.
However, neither of these two qualities can be seen in Lu Qing at all.
It has been watching all this time.
Lu Qing has a lot to do every day, either refining things or enlightening rice seeds.
They even had to run outside to rescue and pick up people.
The actual time spent on cultivation is not that much.
Despite this, Lu Qing's cultivation level continued to steadily improve.
According to Yan's calculations, if things continue like this, Lu Qing will probably be able to enter the middle stage of Qi Refining in no time.
His progress was so rapid that it would put many of the most talented individuals of the ancient cultivation era to shame.
Not to mention, given Lu Qing's foundation and background, although he is only at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, his true strength is probably not inferior to even Foundation Establishment cultivators.
It truly lives up to its reputation as a monstrous entity that triggered the calamity clouds at the very beginning of the world's transformation.
Spiritual practice truly cannot be measured by ordinary standards.
Yan couldn't help but feel grateful for her initial choice.
Given how quickly Lu Qing's cultivation had progressed, if it hadn't submitted back then...
When he reaches the Foundation Establishment stage, that will probably be the time when it is completely refined and annihilated.
Lu Qing was cultivating diligently on a high mountain more than ten miles away from Jiuli Village.
A strange figure was hiding in a giant tree, looking at Jiuli Village, which was shrouded in mist above.
“Spiritual energy is gathering here. This small mountain village is actually protected by an array. It must be that person’s place of seclusion.”
Elder You stared in the direction of Jiuli Village, a look of apprehension in his eyes.
To be able to set up such a protective formation at the very moment when the world is just beginning to recover.
The person who possesses this inheritance must be exceptionally talented.
It might just be the core legacy left behind by some powerful immortal sect ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) from ancient times.
Elder You stared at it for a while, but in the end he did not move any closer. Instead, he silently memorized the location of Jiuli Village and then quietly left.
When he first came out, he was quite confident.
They believed that with their cultivation levels, there were almost no places in the world that they couldn't go.
However, that night, the old doctor's flying sword technique completely shattered his confidence.
If it weren't for the treasure bestowed by the Lord, he probably would have died in the Wei residence that night, just like everyone else.
Elder You knew that the old man who made the move back then should be the master of the master-disciple pair mentioned in the intelligence.
If Master is this powerful, how terrifying must his disciple, who is rumored to have turned the entire Holy City upside down, be?
Therefore, Elder You had no desire to take any more risks.
What if we go any further and that person notices us?
Then their mission this time can be considered a complete failure.
Now that he knows where that person is cultivating in seclusion, he can go back and report.
The rest is up to the original poster and their team to decide.
Elder You glanced one last time in the direction of Jiuli Village, then used his movement technique to quickly leave.
The main objective of this trip has been achieved.
There are still some days until the agreed-upon opening time of the secret realm.
Having finally managed to get out of the city, he still had plenty of time to make other arrangements for the Wujianlou lineage.
Elder You left Cang County and began traveling to various places to investigate the current state of the world.
Several days later, he arrived in another large state, Jeju.
That night, Elder You was traveling when he suddenly sensed a presence ahead, and a shiver ran through him.
"Such a heavy aura of resentment, what happened ahead?"
Elder You's eyes showed horror.
He took note of the surrounding terrain and discovered that this area should be within the territory of a sect called Qingyun Sword Pavilion.
After a few glances, Elder You abruptly withdrew his aura.
It became so subtle that even those at the Innate Realm could hardly detect it.
Then, they silently crept forward.
As they continued forward, Elder You became increasingly alarmed.
He sensed that the aura of resentment ahead was growing stronger.
It has almost reached the point of solidifying into a tangible form.
"What horrific tragedy must have occurred before, to warrant such a terrifying aura of resentment?"
After traveling for a while, Elder You hesitated.
The aura of resentment floating around us was simply too heavy.
It had reached a point where even he, an elder of the Wujian Tower, trembled at it.
It's important to understand that negative karma isn't something that can be formed easily.
In ordinary killings, even if dozens or hundreds of people die, it may not necessarily create a vengeful aura.
Usually, only those who have endured immense torment and died from great suffering will generate a sense of vengeance from endless resentment.
Given the density of the vengeful aura surrounding this place, Elder You could hardly imagine what kind of hell on earth lay ahead.
And what kind of terrifying demon is responsible for committing such a heinous crime?
"ah!!!"
Just as Elder You was hesitating about whether he should leave like this...
Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream pierced the night sky from ahead.
Upon hearing this inhuman scream, Elder You paused in his tracks.
He glanced at the surrounding night scene, then touched something in his arms, and finally decided to sneak ahead and investigate.
At worst, I can just use up the power of the rare treasure in my arms again.
He wanted to see what kind of formidable demon had emerged from the outside world.
Emboldened by the extraordinary treasure in his arms, Elder You moved forward stealthily with even greater caution.
Finally, guided by screams of agony, they...
Elder You spotted a mountain gate and quietly crept up to it.
As I continued reading, my eyes suddenly narrowed.
Behind the mountain gate, in the martial arts training ground, torches were burning.
Under the firelight, a scene resembling purgatory unfolded before him.
A figure exuding a terrifying aura, with disheveled hair, stretched out his arm and was pinching someone.
The person being held was letting out a series of extremely shrill screams.
The screams Elder You heard earlier came from here.
Around the two, human skins were scattered everywhere, looking extremely gruesome.
Not far from the two, there were seven or eight other people, bound by ropes, watching this scene with terrified expressions.
"Grandmaster Uncle, spare me! Spare me!"
The person being held screamed and begged for mercy.
However, the terrifying figure with disheveled hair remained completely unmoved.
The large hand was tightly gripping the man's head.
Driven by his thoughts, streaks of blood-red light emerged from the man's head and were then absorbed into his body.
As the blood continued to emanate, the screams of the person he was holding gradually subsided.
Its body gradually withered away, and when it was completely silent, it had turned into a human skin.
He casually tossed the human skin in his hand aside, and it floated to the ground.
Elder You's heart suddenly clenched.
Only then did I understand how those human skins on the ground were obtained.
It turned out to be the remnant left after that demon below had absorbed all the flesh, blood, and essence of the person.
I wonder what kind of evil magic that demon below is practicing.
It can actually absorb and refine the essence of human flesh and blood for its own use, making it many times more evil and bizarre than the Wujianlou!
Elder You was utterly shocked and instinctively concealed his aura even more deeply.
Such a bizarre and terrifying demon was something even he had never heard of.
If he's discovered, he'll likely face dire consequences.
Fortunately, the disheveled figure below did not seem to have noticed Elder You.
After throwing the human skin off his hand, his gaze began to fall on several people who were bound not far away.
"Little Jianwen, tell me, whose essence blood should I absorb next?"
The disheveled figure looked at the white-bearded old man with blood stained on his chest in the very center and spoke slowly and methodically.
"Demon, demon!" The white-bearded old man cried out in grief and indignation, "I shouldn't have listened to your slander and let you go!"
I never imagined you, you fiend, could be so ruthless and cruel, not even sparing members of your own sect!
Unfortunately, the white-bearded old man was barely breathing, clearly indicating that he was seriously injured.
Even if he was filled with grief and anger and wanted to kill the demon in front of him with a single sword strike, he was powerless to do so.
"You can't say that, Little Swordsman."
The disheveled figure showed no anger, but continued speaking slowly.
"Have you forgotten that you were the one who personally plotted against me and locked me up in that godforsaken place where there is no sunlight?"
Moreover, our transaction is fair.
Didn't I say that day that as long as you let me go, I would tell you the secret of the changes in heaven and earth?
Did I fail to keep my promise later?
"If I had known you had become such a demon, I should have killed you with a single sword strike back then!"
The white-bearded old man shouted sternly.
"Unfortunately, there's no going back in life; you've already missed your chance."
The disheveled figure chuckled lightly, then his expression gradually turned cold.
"Enough with the nonsense, are you going to tell me or not where you're hiding that thing?"
