After watering the spirit fields, night quietly fell.
Li Mu packed up his farm tools and returned to the wooden house by the fields, walking to a stove made of bluestone bricks in the corner of the yard to start cooking spirit rice.
Soon, the roaring fire in the stove illuminated Li Mu's young face.
The Sect's rented spirit field was located halfway up the mountain, and the wooden house and small courtyard were built against the mountain.
It had one large and two small rooms, three in total, and a courtyard large enough for sword practice.
Li Mu had seen the lease; this wooden house and small courtyard were 6 zhang long and 2.33 zhang wide, which, converted to square meters, meant a total area of about 150 square meters.
Not far from the courtyard gate was a pond, and next to it were the Sect's spirit fields, nestled against the mountain and by the water, filled with the natural Spiritual Qi.
With tall, dense trees and beautiful scenery, free from any industrial pollution, it was extremely suitable for a pastoral life, far from the city's clamor, without 996 work hours or mortgage pressure.
Such a simple, pastoral life was simply too comfortable.
If it weren't for the arduous farming, the occasional Vicious Beast or Yao Beast running down from the mountains, and the occasional appearance of evil spirits or malevolent spirits at night, Li Mu would have no complaints about this pastoral life.
However, there were no 'ifs'; this world was fraught with dangers everywhere.
Powerful Yao Beasts, vengeful ghosts, evil spirits, and demonic Cultivators devoured flesh and blood, plundered souls, and refined human corpses.
Humans were no longer the supreme beings of all creation but existed like pigs and sheep.
Likewise, this world also contained powerful Cultivators who could live for hundreds, even thousands of years, flying through the sky and burrowing into the earth, moving mountains and overturning seas, capable of anything.
For even a small gain, they would clash with swords, kill for treasures, destroy corpses, and slaughter people like flies.
The original owner died mysteriously, perhaps due to evil spirits or malevolent spirits.
As Li Mu watched the stove fire, various thoughts ran through his mind.
In this world, personal strength was a matter of life and death, of utmost importance, and he had to quickly raise his Cultivation.
Having been tired all day from farming and pest control, Li Mu did not relax upon returning to the courtyard.
Once the spirit rice and Yao Beast meat were cooked, and the steaming aroma wafted out, he eagerly began to eat.
Li Mu scooped a large spoonful of steaming white rice from the large iron pot.
The translucent rice grains, emitting steam and a hint of spiritual essence, were fragrant and captivating.
Li Mu couldn't wait another moment; he filled his ceramic bowl and began to eat impatiently, exclaiming in discomfort from the heat.
As soon as the hot spirit rice entered his mouth, it was fragrant, sticky, sweet, and delicious.
The clear spirit rice aroma transformed into warm currents that circulated through his Meridians, making his whole body feel warm, like a dry river receiving long-awaited rain, as Spiritual Qi flushed and cleansed his entire being.
Paired with a large bite of Yao Beast meat, it was full of flavor and brought a sense of complete satisfaction.
Li Mu devoured his meal, finishing the entire pot of spirit rice and half a catty of Yao Beast meat in less than a quarter of an hour, still licking his lips with lingering desire.
His whole body felt warm and incredibly comfortable.
Li Mu quickly put down his bowl and chopsticks, immediately sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes slightly, and began to Cultivate the Qingmu Spell.
The Qingmu Spell was a wood-element Cultivation Technique, only of the Yellow Rank, Lower Grade, which condensed wood-element Spiritual Qi.
Its offensive capabilities were slightly weaker, but it was very suitable for assisting the growth of spirit plants.
The original owner's ambition was to become a spirit rice farmer, so Li Mu had no choice but to continue Cultivating this Cultivation Technique.
Eating spirit rice and Yao Beast meat produced a large amount of warm Spiritual Qi currents within his body, which would nourish his body and gradually dissipate over time.
Li Mu took this opportunity to Cultivate the Qingmu Spell, and the spiritual energy and true essence in his Meridians flowed rapidly, collecting the warm Spiritual Qi currents that were scattered throughout his body.
The first cycle, the second cycle, the third cycle, ...
Time passed bit by bit, and Li Mu fully operated the Qingmu Spell.
Under the spiritual power of the spirit rice and Yao Beast meat, the Cultivation effect was three to four times that of his usual Cultivation.
In the blink of an hour, Li Mu, who had been Cultivating with his eyes closed, suddenly felt a faint pain in his Meridians, and he had no choice but to stop this Cultivation.
The Qingmu Spell was only a Yellow Rank Cultivation Technique, and the number of Meridians it expanded was limited, resulting in too short a duration for each cycle of operation.
After the tenth cycle, his Meridians could no longer bear the enhancement of the spiritual power.
If he had practiced a Black Rank Cultivation Technique, the Meridian pathways for its operation would be much more precise than those of a Yellow Rank Cultivation Technique.
Operating one cycle would last at least half an hour, and the condensed spiritual power and true essence would be even more abundant.
Over time, the accumulation of strength and the difference in Cultivation Techniques would ultimately lead to a vast disparity.
Li Mu sighed and silently looked at the character attribute panel on the virtual screen.
【Qingmu Spell operated for the first cycle, Qingmu Spell proficiency: +1, Spiritual Qi nourishment, Cultivation progress +3.】
【Qingmu Spell operated for the second cycle, Qingmu Spell proficiency: +1, Spiritual Qi nourishment, Cultivation progress +2.】
...
The log prompts below the character attribute panel showed the results of this Cultivation.
In this Cultivation session, his Qingmu Spell proficiency increased by 7 points, and his Cultivation progress increased by 16 points.
If he continued to Cultivate at this efficiency, it would take about two more months to Breakthrough to Qi Refining Third Rank.
However, this was under the condition of eating spirit rice and Yao Beast meat every day.
Where would he get so many Spirit Stones to eat such lavish meals daily?
"Sigh! This life is too difficult!" Li Mu sighed, quickly cleared the bowls and chopsticks from the table, and prepared to make talismans to earn Spirit Stones, as simply farming could not meet his Cultivation needs.
With a familiar panel, if he could raise his Symbol Making Art Rank, he would have a stable source of Cultivation resources in the future.
In the wooden house bedroom, the candlelight in the center of the wooden table flickered.
Li Mu sat at the wooden table, holding a wolf hair talisman brush in his right hand, concentrating on drawing talisman patterns on the talisman paper.
The faint spiritual power in his hand maintained a continuous and stable output, while at the same time, he had to ensure the smoothness of the drawn talisman patterns.
The blank talisman skin paper, made from low-grade Yao Beast skin, peeled in multiple layers and processed with secret techniques, was thin and light.
Li Mu carefully drew the talisman patterns, fearing that the talisman brush would puncture the talisman skin paper, while also ensuring that the spiritual ink on the brush tip was even and that the output spiritual power could be engraved into the talisman patterns.
Suddenly, with a "poof," the talisman skin paper spontaneously combusted, startling Li Mu.
Li Mu jumped and kicked, finally extinguishing the burning talisman skin paper with his foot, his heart pounding wildly.
Damn it, that was too scary!
How could an Exorcism Talisman catch fire? What happened just now?
It seems a talisman line was drawn crookedly?
Did this error cause a spiritual power conflict?
Hmm! The previous lines were all drawn correctly, so the spiritual power was successfully output!
After extinguishing the burning talisman skin paper, Li Mu compared it with the "Spiritual Talisman Drawing Strategy" and summarized the errors that occurred during the talisman making just now.
In his original world, Li Mu was a senior programmer, skilled at summarizing failures and logical reasoning.
From this failed talisman drawing experience, he quickly identified the key reason that led to the talisman paper's spontaneous combustion.
Summarizing the failed experience, Li Mu felt he had taken another big step closer to successfully making talismans.
Li Mu took out a new piece of talisman skin paper and tried again.