As Wei Changsheng's fingertip touched the blue-tinged wild grass's leaf veins, a familiar pulling sensation climbed up his meridians, as if a thin thread from underground had hooked his Divine Sense. He didn't move, letting the force pull him, until the little fox flicked its tail, sweeping across his wrist, and the sensation scattered like a kite with a broken string.
He looked down; the runes on the grass leaf were still there, but fainter than last night, like ink marks secretly traced and then erased.
"Silent mode can't be activated, but the pollution ran out on its own." He stuffed the grass into a Jade Box, casually buried it deep in the center of the field, and then planted a common Spiritual Rice in its place, patting the soil firm. His movements were swift, as if he were patching a loophole that shouldn't exist.
Three hundred Spirit Stones still lay in his Storage Pouch; he wasn't in a hurry to use them. The System had just prompted: "Pollution has formed an independent Spiritual Vein node, physical isolation is required."—This sounded like "Your house is leaking, moving is recommended," but he hadn't even fixed the roof yet.
The little fox squatted on the field ridge, its ears tilted towards the northwest.
"Over there?" Wei Changsheng narrowed his eyes, "The barren slope? A place where even grass doesn't like to grow, who would be squatting there?"
The fox didn't answer, only lightly tapped the ground with the tip of its tail, three times, a rhythm like knocking a secret code.
He understood. It wasn't a question, but a reminder.
That night, he dug out the "Nine Revolutions Body Tempering Method" Jade Slip and added a line at the end: "Supplemented with three drops of Blood Sacrifice, it can accelerate Spiritual Vein resonance." With a flick of his brush, he added a note next to it: "Use with caution, prone to backlash. An ancestor once lost a finger because of this."
After writing, he tossed the Jade Slip by the field, half-burying it in the soil, then used his small hoe to draw a few incomplete Formation patterns around it, deliberately making them crooked and uneven, as if his hand trembled during a hasty concealment.
"In this day and age, no one believes in true secret methods; only fake loopholes attract people to exploit." He clapped his hands, "Let's see who's greedy enough to dare to try."
A night breeze blew, lifting a corner of the Jade Slip, revealing the words "Blood Sacrifice," as if beckoning.
Just after midnight, the mutated Ninglu Grass powder around the fields trembled slightly. These powders were part of the "Spirit Dust Sensing Formation" he had laid out earlier; whenever an external object touched the soil or plants, the Jade Tablet in his sleeve would glow faintly. At this moment, three light spots on the Jade Tablet flashed consecutively: one by the field—the Jade Slip was taken; one on the northwest barren slope—Spiritual Power fluctuation; and the last one, pointing directly to the center of the field—someone had disturbed the place where he buried the Jade Box.
"Good heavens, a combo move." Wei Changsheng touched the Jade Tablet, a smirk playing on his lips, "Taking the secret method, scouting the terrain, digging up the old roots—the standard triple threat."
He didn't rush to investigate, instead returning to his straw hut to sleep. As soon as dawn broke, he leisurely strolled to the field, first checking the Jade Slip's hiding spot; the soil had been turned, the traces fresh. Then he walked towards the northwest barren slope; there were two shallow footprints on the ground, their trajectory askew, clearly indicating that the person's Spiritual Power was unstable, causing them to stumble upon landing.
Finally, the center of the field.
He squatted down and dug away the soil; the Jade Box was intact, but all the surrounding Spiritual Rice had withered, their roots charred black, as if something had scorched them. Even stranger, scattered among the withered rice were a few grayish-white rice grains, their surfaces emitting a faint blue light, resembling mutated Spiritual Rice, but not recorded in the System.
"Did it grow out on its own again?" He picked up a grain and squeezed it; it was brittle like burnt paper.
The little fox came over, sniffed, and a faint blue light appeared at the tip of its ears, then extinguished.
"It seems I'm not the only one experimenting." Wei Changsheng put the rice grain into a Jade Bottle, "And they've experimented with a wicked method that's not quite right."
He looked back along the scorched earth and found that when the person activated the Spiritual Rice, they had indeed used Blood Sacrifice—three drops of dried blood remained underground, their Spiritual Power chaotic, clearly from forcibly cutting a finger to guide blood into the soil. However, this method not only failed to ripen the rice but also caused the Spiritual Vein to collapse, resulting in crop backlash and land damage.
"The Blood Sacrifice was a false bait, but the person who tried it was truly foolish." He sneered, "The Nan Shao Immortal Sect strictly prohibits Blood Sacrifice techniques. Anyone who dares to do this is either a madman or... an outsider."
He suddenly remembered something and took out an empty Jade Slip from his Storage Pouch, quickly writing: "Last night, someone trespassed on the fields and used a forbidden technique, causing the Spiritual Rice to wither. It has been reported to the Outer Sect Deacon, and protection will be strengthened subsequently."
After writing, he inserted the Jade Slip into a wooden stake at the head of the field, facing outwards, like a signboard.
"Let the Surveillance Hall people come and investigate too." He clapped his hands, "Anyway, someone else will take the blame; I'll just focus on farming."
At noon, he returned to his straw hut to cook. Just as the Spiritual Rice porridge began to boil in the pot, the little fox suddenly darted onto the roof beam, its tail held perfectly straight.
He looked up and saw a faint wisp of black Qi slowly seeping through a gap in the roof, like smoke, but with a rusty smell. Without changing his expression, he flipped his palm, and a pinch of mutated Ninglu Grass powder slid between his fingers. With a gentle flick, the powder ignited upon contact with the Qi, and the black Qi instantly twisted, forming a slender snake-like outline, then whooshed out of the gap and disappeared in the northwest direction.
"So that's where it came from." He blew on his fingers, "There's someone behind the Surveillance Hall's spies."
He didn't pursue, instead scooping out the porridge from the pot and carrying it to the head of the field, eating it under the sunlight.
"You come to investigate me, and I'll let you investigate." He chewed on the rice grains, his eyes calm, "But you must first learn what 'you can see it, but you can't take it' means."
In the afternoon, he re-tilled the field, pulling up the withered rice by the roots, burying them in a deep pit, and then scattering a layer of System-produced accelerated humus. In the blink of an eye, the scorched earth turned into black soil, and vitality returned.
He squatted on the field ridge, took out his small hoe, and drew a few new patterns on the soil—not Formations, but a few lines of small characters: "Blood Sacrifice is ineffective, and backlash harms the body. If you seek quick results, you can try the 'Yin and Yang Exchange Method,' which requires three qian of cinnabar, half a cup of moon dew, and guiding Qi at midnight. Sprouts can be seen in three days."
After writing, he used his foot to erase half of it, leaving an incomplete sentence, as if someone had hastily stepped on it.
"This time, let's try a more literary approach." He mumbled, "Incomplete things seem more real; complete ones look copied."
As night fell again, the Jade Tablet in his sleeve lit up.
Three light spots: by the field—someone read the incomplete characters; on the northwest barren slope—Spiritual Power fluctuations intensified; in the center of the field—the soil was gently pushed aside and then closed, the movement extremely light, as if the person only dared to glance and leave.
"They're more timid now." Wei Changsheng touched the Jade Tablet, "It seems the scorched rice from last time scared them."
He didn't move again, only charged ten Spirit Stones into the System before sleeping. The interface flashed, prompting: "Spiritual Field expanded to 1.5 mu, growth speed +10%." He closed the interface and resealed his Spirit Stone Pouch.
"Charging it isn't important; the key is to have the System keep a record." He blew out the oil lamp, "In case someone checks the Spirit Stone flow someday, there needs to be a record to see."
The next morning, he went to inspect the field and found that the incomplete characters had been re-traced with Spiritual Power, and a small pit had been dug next to them, containing a small pinch of cinnabar and half a Jade Bottle shard. Clearly, the person had tried the "Yin and Yang Exchange Method" but failed.
"The cinnabar isn't pure, the dew isn't right, and the time is still two quarters off." He shook his head, "In this day and age, people can't even copy homework properly."
He took the cinnabar, left the Jade Bottle shard, and added a new note next to it: "Cinnabar must be refined with Earth Core Fire for three days, and moon dew must be collected on the fifteenth night. Neither can be omitted."
After writing, he turned to leave, then suddenly stopped.
On the newly tilled black soil in the center of the field, a wild grass was slowly sprouting, its leaves tinged blue, with intricate runes appearing in its veins, precisely matching the patterns on his small hoe.
Even more bizarre, at the tip of the grass leaf, a dewdrop condensed, and reflected within the drop was not the sky, but a pair of golden vertical pupils.