Low Hill Courtyard, under the wooden shed.
Chen Mu moved his rocking chair to the south, getting as close to the well as he could.
Recently, as his proficiency with the Spirit Armor Technique increased,
the silver strand at his forehead became clearer and clearer, and he often felt a cool touch.
It was as if a fine misty rain occasionally landed on his forehead.
These past few days, he discovered the closer he was to the well, the more frequent this cool sensation appeared.
“Earth Spirit Vital Energy?”
The Sixth Rank Cloud Mirage Spirit Armor Technique involved the unification of soul and spirit. The Seventh Rank most likely corresponded to perception.
Chen Mu guessed that this stage was about perceiving Earth Spirit Vital Energy.
Remembering his cultivation of the Cloud Mirage Spirit Armor Technique, Chen Mu’s face was full of emotion.
Without needing to cultivate, one could simply eat, drink, and breathe to earn experience, just as one grows normally.
“It’s practically a fantasy-like Cultivation Technique.” Chen Mu couldn’t help but sigh. “The only fear is that there might be some problems.”
Tongtian Square’s Scripture Transmission Institute was two months away. Going there alone, without enough White Jade Coins, wouldn’t work.
The appearance of the True Sun Scripture provided Chen Mu with a new plan.
To master the True Sun Scripture and compare it directly with the Spirit Armor Technique to see if there were any issues—it would be immediately evident.
“Reciting scriptures offers endless changes, and the essence will reveal itself?”
“Heh…”
“To others, this would be deceit.”
“But to me, it’s the true teaching.”
He immediately unrolled a grey scroll about the length of a palm and as thick as a wrist.
The densely packed, seemingly disjointed text came into view.
Chen Mu’s lips curled into a smile, his heart leaping with excitement.
“Another new challenge.”
…
Below Low Hill, in the Yellow Bud Rice Fields.
Chen Mu strolled casually among the metre-tall Yellow Bud Rice stalks.
Invisible black smoke spread across the ground, and the weeds that had just sprouted vanished in an instant.
Chen Mu mumbled non-stop, reciting the thousands of characters that made up the curse words of the True Sun Scripture.
At a certain moment, a sudden enlightenment sprang up in Chen Mu’s mind.
The curse words he was reciting were interrupted halfway through.
Find your next adventure on empire
Chen Mu couldn’t help but look at the main stalk of a Yellow Bud Rice plant beside him.
Curious, he walked over and snapped the main stalk.
Inside was a fat white caterpillar, wriggling and eating away at the stalk.
“I didn’t expect my planting abilities to advance to the Second Rank first,” Chen Mu chuckled.
With a flood of insights pouring into his mind, he looked over the verdant Yellow Bud Rice Fields and immediately noticed several areas needing improvement.
…
Three days later, as Chen Mu was in the midst of reciting scriptures until his head was swimming,
his tone modulated, his voice eased, the pace of his rhythm sped up and slowed down, a host of realizations rushed into his heart.
The thousands of words from the scripture instantly transformed into a few hundred strange syllables of curse words.
Chen Mu summoned the grey wall.
True Sun Scripture: 3/10000/First Rank;
With just a glance, Chen Mu focused his attention on his mind.
Six unclear orbs of light flickered in and out of existence behind the fog.
A realization rose in his heart. He could choose any one of them to change.
“Seems the Cloud Mirage Spirit Armor Technique and the Soul and Spirit Unification Secret Method really aren’t meant to be one and the same path,” Chen Mu sighed.
When he originally mastered the Spiritual Armor, the six other Shape Cultivation Technique Divine Intent Diagrams didn’t make the cut at all.
Looking at the six orbs, Chen Mu quickly made his decision.
“Blue-eyed Golden Ape Shape Cultivation Technique.”
This Shape Cultivation Technique came from Jie Jia and was known to offer the greatest potential during the Wandering Soul phase due to the largest surface area of the soul acquired.
…
On the east side of Low Hill, atop a lush and towering mountain,
a man in his forties, dressed in a black robe, stood beneath a pine tree at the edge of a cliff, gazing towards Low Hill in the distance.
A bald, muscular man stood behind him.
“Big brother, that fellow is like a tortoise; he never leaves his spot. It’s tough to make a move on his Yellow Bud Rice Fields,” said the bald man.
Dong Cheng’s face was all smiles. “What about at night? Strike when he is asleep in the late hours.”
“Last time, we took the chance at night and released five black rams, but bad luck had it that he ran into them, all the rams ended up killed by him,” the bald man said with a mix of distress and annoyance.
“I didn’t expect to be tripped up by him after so many times without issue.”
“Does he patrol at night?” Dong Cheng asked, looking over at the Yellow Bud Rice Fields by the Low Mountain.
“I had brothers watch from a distance for several nights, and there was no movement,” the bald man said, scratching his head in confusion.
“But toss a few White Line Earth Spirit Mice in there, and before they’ve even gnawed through a few stalks of Yellow Bud Rice, that guy would show up.”
Dong Cheng’s eyes narrowed: “Although these outsiders have poor experience, they always have some strange tricks up their sleeves.”
“We must make our move when he’s not home.”
“Big brother, why don’t we change targets?” the bald strongman suggested. “All he does is take care of the Yellow Bud Rice all day long.”
“He’s so familiar with Old Hao, yet I have never seen him go to Shang Huan to sell anything.”
“He’s probably flat broke, pinning all his hopes on the Yellow Bud Rice Fields.”
Dong Cheng looked at the stone courtyard on the Low Mountain and said indifferently, “This ‘flat broke’ man you speak of spends four White Jade Coins just on food per month.”
“Do you think he has money or not?”
The bald strongman’s eyes lit up, and he leaned in to whisper, “Big brother, maybe we should not…”
Dong Cheng glanced back at the bald man: “If you want to make it big, you need to put a stop to those shady tricks from the past.”
“As long as we ruin his Yellow Bud Rice Fields, he will definitely need to raise money.”
“All we need to do is strike when he’s vulnerable and buy his valuables at a low price.”
“But what if he really has a lot of White Jade Coins and doesn’t need to sell anything?” The bald man was somewhat worried.
“Then we can make him buy something, and earn his White Jade Coins,” Dong Fang said with a nonchalant wave of his hand.
“Buy what?” The bald strongman was puzzled, why would the man have to buy from them?
Dong Fang looked at him with a smirk: “Buy his life.”
“Buy his own life.”
The bald strongman: “…”
…
Advancing his Planting Skill to the Second Rank had made Chen Mu’s care for the Yellow Bud Rice Fields even more proficient.
With the help of the Five Ghosts, he only needed one hour a day to complete the care of the Yellow Bud Rice.
The rest of the time, he used it all to recite the True Sun Scripture.
He didn’t know if it was because he had mastered the Cloud Mirage Spirit Armor Technique or because the fog outside the Divine Intent Diagram had been previously broken through.
Every time he recited the Curse Words, it would bring Chen Mu four to six points of experience.
In one hour, he could gain sixty to seventy experience points.
As his proficiency increased, the Divine Intent Diagram of the Blue-eyed Golden Ape and his Soul Strength began to shake, adjust, and resonate in unison.
Two days later, this resonance reached its peak.
A strand of Jet Black Soul Strength suddenly appeared in front of him.
Then, following a small breach in the fog, it swiftly drilled into the middle of the fog.
Next, it headed straight for the Blue-eyed Golden Ape’s Divine Intent Diagram and disappeared into it in the blink of an eye.
Chen Mu looked helplessly at the Divine Intent Diagram, which had immediately brightened slightly, his face full of chagrin.
“One Divine Intent Diagram running away, one Soul Strength burrowing in,” he lamented.
“The Cloud Mirage Spirit Armor Technique really is making me do the splits.”
…
Five days later, inside the Low Hill Courtyard.
Black smoke billowed as Chen Mu held a fist-sized white porcelain bottle in his hand.
“Tongtian Square’s prices truly are expensive,” Chen Mu sighed.
One White Jade Coin only got him ten Fasting Pills.
Previously, Jie Jia had said that one White Jade Coin could usually buy about twelve pills.
Dumping out one pill, Chen Mu carefully divided it into ten parts.
Picking up one piece, he placed it in his mouth.
The Fasting Pill, with its faint fragrance, melted as soon as it hit his tongue, traveling down his throat into his stomach and quickly assimilating throughout his body.
“Given my current physical condition, eating a Fasting Pill is unlikely to burst me,” Chen Mu shrugged.
“Still, I should eat only half,” he decided, to be safe.
With the entry-level mastery of the True Sun Scripture, his Spirit Soul began to merge.
His appetite increased once again.
Chen Mu could only buy a bottle of Fasting Pills as a supplement.
“It’s just too expensive.”
Now his monthly living expenses had reached an astonishing five White Jade Coins.
And as he continued his cultivation, this number would only go up.
“I can’t just sit around and wait for the supplies to run out.”
“I need to find a way to sell some Calming Pills.”