Time flowed by day by day.
Li Mu began a three-point-one-line life: every day, he went to Xiao Liang Mountain to water the Wind Spirit Grass with spiritual rain, then to Qingshui Town to handle the affairs of the Spirit Plant Division, and finally, returned to Green Dragon Valley to inspect the hundred acres of spiritual fields.
In his leisure time, Li Mu carved Puppet cores, drew Spiritual Charms, or played with Crimson Wolf, fished in the Green Pond… His days were very joyful and fulfilling.
In Qingshui Town, the day for collecting rent from the Sect’s fields began.
Utility Disciples pushed carts laden with grain, lining up to pay their spiritual rice.
At the Qingshui Town outpost, the Qingxuan Sect’s Outer Sect Disciples and Utility Disciples assisted the Spirit Plant Division, everyone was busy, maintaining order, patrolling and guarding… The entire Qingshui Town was bustling with this task.
Li Mu was extremely busy; his task was the heaviest, having to oversee every rent payment entering the treasury, record accounts, and ensure that the submitted spiritual plants were without issue… Fortunately, with the assistance of his Heavenly Talent - Identifying Myriad Spirits, no one could fool him.
“Open this bag of spiritual rice!” Li Mu pointed at a spiritual rice bag submitted by a Utility Disciple, signaling.
“Ah! Senior Brother, I must have grabbed the wrong spiritual rice bag, I’ll go back and exchange it right away.” The Utility Disciple paying the rent panicked, clutching the spiritual rice bag and refusing to let go.
“You ignorant fool, get lost immediately! How dare you adulterate the spiritual plants!” Chu Shuyuan slapped the spiritual rice farmer Utility Disciple’s face, scolding him bitterly.
“No, I didn’t, I really just grabbed the wrong spiritual rice bag!” The spiritual rice farmer Utility Disciple desperately clutched the spiritual rice bag, shouting in panic.
He absolutely refused to admit it. If it were confirmed that he had adulterated the rent payment, the Sect’s punishment for such an offense was extremely severe: reclaiming the Sect land, abolishing cultivation, and expelling him from the Sect were considered light; if things went badly, he might even lose half his life.
“Forget it, let him go!” Li Mu sighed, stopping Chu Shuyuan.
Li Mu had just been promoted from a spiritual rice farmer Utility Disciple, and he couldn’t bear to see this scene.
“Senior Brother!” Chu Shuyuan looked at Li Mu with some reluctance. There was a reward from the Sect for catching an adulterating Utility Disciple, and he really didn't want to give up this merit.
Li Mu gave Chu Shuyuan a cold look.
Chu Shuyuan was startled and quickly released the spiritual rice farmer Utility Disciple. During this period, they had certainly experienced Li Mu’s formidable nature and dared not disobey his orders.
“Thank you, Senior Brother, thank you, Senior Brother!” The spiritual rice farmer Utility Disciple thanked Li Mu repeatedly, pushing his cart away in a hurry.
The other spiritual rice farmer Utility Disciples around them continued to queue up to pay their rent, looking at Li Mu with respect. Knowing his power, no one dared to test him again.
...
A month and a half passed, and the work of collecting rent from the Sect’s fields was nearing its end. The two spiritual plant warehouses of the Spirit Plant Division were filled with bags of spiritual rice and spiritual medicine.
It was now August.
“Junior Brother Zhao, have all the rents been collected? When are we departing for Gangyang City?” Nangong Hong once again came to the Spirit Plant Division to urge Li Mu, preparing to escort him to deliver the collected rent spiritual plants to Gangyang City for handover.
“Almost, Senior Brother Nangong. Just two more days, and we can depart in two days!” Li Mu replied apologetically.
In fact, the rent collection work had been fully completed ten days ago, including counting and warehousing. However, Li Mu couldn’t leave Qingshui Town for Gangyang City these past few days.
During the period of collecting rent from the Sect’s fields, Li Mu left early and returned late every day. Every morning, he would rush to Xiao Liang Mountain to water the Wind Spirit Grass with spiritual rain, and then hurry back to Qingshui Town to form the rent collection task.
Seeing that the Wind Spirit Grass was entering its mature phase and would soon be ready for harvest, Li Mu decided to delay for a while. He would go to Gangyang City after harvesting the Wind Spirit Grass.
This trip to Gangyang City, Li Mu had to submit the collected rent, clarify the accounts, and with other Outer Sect Disciples escorting him along the way, the round trip would take at least four or five days. By then, if he returned to harvest, the Wind Spirit Grass would probably have withered and died.
“Alright! Two more days then! But no more delays! To be honest, with so many spiritual plants in the warehouse, I’m constantly on edge, deeply afraid of something going wrong. You really are calm, Junior Brother!” Nangong Hong looked at Li Mu with a wry smile, reiterating solemnly.
“Senior Brother Nangong, you worry too much. Qingshui Town is the Qingxuan Sect’s territory, who would dare to cause trouble here!” Li Mu reassured him with a smile.
“Alas! You don’t understand. Wealth moves hearts. Better safe than sorry. If something were to happen, it would be our responsibility.” Nangong Hong was full of worries, indicating.
“Even if something were to happen, it wouldn’t be in town. It’s more likely to be on the road, right? Senior Brother, please give me two more days to prepare!” Li Mu’s expression turned serious, and he spoke earnestly.
Upon hearing this, Nangong Hong fell silent for a moment, agreeing with Li Mu’s point of view, and no longer urged him.
Just as Li Mu said, transporting a large batch of spiritual plant rent would require the large Storage Pouches provided by the Sect. At that time, robbing them would be much simpler than breaking into the Sect’s outpost.
“Junior Brother, you go ahead and be busy! I’ll come find you in two days!” Nangong Hong bid farewell to Li Mu.
Li Mu quickly got up and saw Nangong Hong off.
Two days passed in a flash.
In the early morning, Li Mu flew on his sword, eagerly plunging into the Illusionary Town and landing on Xiao Liang Mountain.
Li Mu formed a hand seal, waved his hand, and released the Metal-element spell - Harvesting Technique. The next second, a golden spiritual light was released from Li Mu’s hand, sweeping over the roots of a large patch of verdant Wind Spirit Grass.
With a “swish,” a large area of Wind Spirit Grass fell, revealing pale green light clusters.
Seeing these pale green light clusters, Li Mu’s expression brightened. His Divine Sense spread forward, and in the next moment, the pale green light clusters transformed into streaks of green light, like moths to a flame, converging onto Li Mu’s body.
【Heavenly Talent - Plant Spirit Absorption takes effect. You have absorbed a cluster of plant spirits. Free Proficiency Points +3】
...
In an instant, dense Plant Spirit Absorption notifications appeared in the log bar of the character’s virtual frame. Li Mu was overjoyed. One Harvesting Technique harvested a small half-acre of Wind Spirit Grass. This efficiency was incredibly fast. In the past, manually harvesting with a sickle was truly foolish.
Li Mu immediately spent his free proficiency points, first raising the level of his Harvesting Technique.
【Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point, Harvesting Technique proficiency +1.】
...
【Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point, Harvesting Technique proficiency +1. Harvesting Technique level has been raised to: Level Five. Harvesting Technique has reached Minor Achievement. You have comprehended Gold Blade Technique.】
Li Mu consciously manipulated the proficiency panel, frantically adding points to the Harvesting Technique. He consumed 19,600 free proficiency points, raising the Harvesting Technique to Level Five, and gaining a derivative spell reward at the Minor Achievement Realm. Only then did he reluctantly stop.
Li Mu closed his eyes slightly, feeling the experience memories of using Harvesting Technique tens of thousands of times, as well as the usage of the derivative advanced spell - Gold Blade Technique.
The principle of using Harvesting Technique is very simple: it condenses Metal-element spiritual power, transforms spirit into a scythe, and precisely harvests spiritual plants. The derivative advanced spell, Gold Blade Technique, builds upon Harvesting Technique by adding the special ability of locking-on and guidance.
The original Harvesting Technique required Divine Sense control and coverage, but now it only needs Divine Sense ‘point-and-guide’. Gold Blade Technique is more efficient and precise. The condensed Gold Blade will execute the task until its condensed spiritual power dissipates.
Li Mu opened his eyes. Metal-element spiritual power gathered in his right hand, and soon, a ‘Gold Blade’ condensed from metal-element spiritual power appeared. The half-zhang long golden curved blade was extremely dazzling, almost tangible.
Li Mu ‘locked’ his Divine Sense onto the root systems of all the Wind Spirit Grass, and lightly shouted: “Go!”
The next moment, the ‘Gold Blade’ flew out like an arrow from a bowstring. “Swish, swish…” Large patches of Wind Spirit Grass fell one after another, in a flash, all eleven acres of Wind Spirit Grass had fallen, not a single stalk remained standing in the field.
The eleven acres of spiritual fields revealed pale green light clusters the size of a baby’s fist, which were clearly the plant spirits left behind by the Wind Spirit Grass.
Without hesitation, Li Mu released his Divine Sense, frantically sweeping and collecting.
The scene of plant spirit light clusters swarming like moths to a flame appeared again, only this time the quantity was particularly terrifying. For a moment, Li Mu seemed to turn into a large cluster of green light.
【Heavenly Talent - Plant Spirit Absorption takes effect. You have absorbed a cluster of plant spirits. Free Proficiency Points +2】
...
Li Mu looked at the character’s virtual frame. The dense plant spirit acquisition notifications ultimately brought his total free proficiency points to 573,230 points.
Li Mu looked at his character panel, deciding to first upgrade the five Level 8 Five Elements Cultivation Techniques, bringing them to max level. Conveniently, all five Five Elements Techniques were Level 8, and upgrading to Level 9 only required 100,000 free proficiency points.
【Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point, Qingmu Spell proficiency +1.】
...
【Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point, Qingmu Spell proficiency +1. Qingmu Spell level has been raised to: Level Nine. Your Qingmu Spell has reached Perfection. Your cultivation has received a partial increase. Your control over Wood-element spiritual power has greatly increased. Your Wood-attribute Spiritual Root has been strengthened.】
【Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point, 《Glazed Gold Skill》 proficiency +1.】
...
【Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point, 《Glazed Gold Skill》 proficiency +1. 《Glazed Gold Skill》 level has been raised to: Level Nine. Your 《Glazed Gold Skill》 has reached Perfection. Your cultivation has received a partial increase. Your control over Metal-element spiritual power has increased. Your Metal-attribute Spiritual Root has been strengthened.】
...
【Ding, your Five Elements Technique has reached Perfection. Your Five Elements Spiritual Root Aptitude has increased, advancing to - Medium Grade Five Elements Spiritual Root. Your cultivation has greatly increased. You have broken through to Qi Refining Eleventh Layer, and broken through to Qi Refining Twelfth Layer.】
Li Mu’s Divine Sense rested on the character’s virtual panel, continuously adding proficiency points to the five Five Elements Cultivation Techniques. His cultivation Spiritual Pressure surged repeatedly, until the last Profound Earth Art reached Perfection.
The next moment, Li Mu emitted an extremely powerful Aura. Five Elements Spiritual Qi burst forth, and his cultivation broke through again, skipping Qi Refining Eleventh Layer directly to Qi Refining Twelfth Layer. His entire body exuded an incredibly magnificent Five Elements True Essence.
With every movement, a powerful Spiritual Pressure overflowed.
Li Mu felt as if the Five Elements True Essence flowing through his Meridians was about to liquefy, yet it was blocked by something, unable to break through the final barrier.
“Qi Refining Thirteenth Layer should be the limit of the ancient Foundation Establishment method!” Li Mu roughly estimated, feeling that he was only one step away from Foundation Establishment, lacking only one Cultivation Technique that could allow him to establish his foundation: the Yin Yang Five Elements Scripture.
Li Mu swept his Divine Sense around, and after finding no spiritual plant light clusters in the spiritual field, he immediately circulated the Illusionary Breath Art, quickly reducing his Spiritual Pressure Aura to the level of Qi Refining Seventh Layer Elementary.
However, Li Mu suddenly discovered that the Spiritual Pressure intensity and True Essence density of Qi Refining Twelfth Layer were five or six times stronger than Qi Refining Tenth Layer. The Level Five Illusionary Breath Art felt somewhat ineffective, as if it couldn’t exert enough force. If he were to act casually, this powerful Spiritual Pressure would overflow.
Hmm! Should I upgrade the Illusionary Breath Art’s level?
Li Mu glanced at the character panel. After upgrading the five Cultivation Techniques to Level Nine Perfection, he had 73,230 free proficiency points remaining. However, upgrading the Level Five Illusionary Breath Art to Level Six required 30,000 free proficiency points.
No!
There were still many Cultivation Techniques and spells whose levels needed to be raised. The remaining free proficiency points couldn’t be wasted like this.
For example, Harvesting Technique, which was originally just a common spell for spirit rice farmers, after being upgraded to Level Five Minor Achievement, it gave birth to a terrifying offensive spell - Gold Blade Technique.
Li Mu was certain of one thing: with his current Qi Refining Twelfth Layer cultivation, the Gold Blade Technique he condensed and released would be difficult for even a Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator to resist. Even if it couldn’t instantly kill them, its power could at least severely wound them.
The precision, unpredictability, and flexibility of the Gold Blade Technique transformed it into an extremely powerful and dangerous offensive spell.
What about the other spells of the spirit rice farmer? Kurong Technique, Turning Earth Technique, Drying Technique… If these spells, originally serving spiritual plants, were all upgraded to Level Five Minor Achievement, and then to Level Nine Perfection, what kind of derivative spells could they give birth to?
At this moment, Li Mu yearned for more free attribute points. Over 70,000 attribute points were far from enough to satisfy the demands of these spells.
Numerous thoughts flashed through Li Mu’s mind.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough free proficiency points, so Li Mu saved them, planning to use them when he obtained the Yin Yang Five Elements Scripture, to immediately raise the level of that Cultivation Technique and break through to Foundation Establishment.
After a quick scan, Li Mu saw the Wind Spirit Grass harvested from the eleven acres of spiritual fields. He thought for a moment and decided not to process it. These Wind Spirit Grass would decay in the spiritual field, turning into nutrients to fertilize the spiritual field.
Next, the eleven acres of spiritual fields would all be replanted with cloud mist spiritual tea, and the spiritual fields needed to be fertilized first.
Soon, Li Mu flew on his sword, heading to Qingshui Town. Nangong Hong, along with several Outer Sect Disciples, were waiting for him to transport the large batch of spiritual plants collected as rent this time.
“They’re here, they’re here!” Seeing Li Mu’s figure arriving on his sword, Nangong Hong gestured to the four people behind him.
Li Mu landed his sword in the outpost courtyard and apologized to the Senior Brothers who were eagerly waiting: “Senior Brother Nangong, Senior Brother Tang, Senior Brother Fu, Senior Brother Wang, I apologize for making you wait so long!”
“Let’s depart quickly! Don’t miss the handover period!” Wang Kun glanced at Li Mu, urging.
“Yes! We’ve been delayed for several days! If we miss the handover period, you’ll be responsible. I won’t take any responsibility!” Tang Hongliang nodded readily, speaking directly to Li Mu.
“Alright, both of you say less. Junior Brother, go get the goods! We’ll depart immediately.” Nangong Hong gestured to Li Mu.
Li Mu nodded, walked to the Spirit Plant Division warehouse, opened the lock with a key, and then released a True Essence to close the formation.
Soon, the group of five flew up on their swords, heading towards Gangyang City.