Unlimited priesthood

Chapter 131 Pastoral Life
Five Elements Formula
Skill Class: Hermit Immortal.

Skill Effect: Seclusion (When cultivating in a secluded place, the efficiency of the Five Elements Technique is significantly increased)

Skill Description: The Way of the Five Elements begins here.

……

A general skill upgrade grants immediate professional enhancement.

Shen He activated the incantation again, and felt all his meridians relax. He could clearly feel the spiritual energy gathering and entering his body. Under the effect of the Five Elements Technique, it integrated into his internal organs and nourished spiritual power in the organs according to the five elements, thus achieving the cultivation of the "Gathering of Spirits" state.

Although there are three thousand great paths, all leading to the same destination, the starting points are still different.

The focus of martial arts is on training the physical body, using qi and blood to condense internal strength, and then purifying internal strength into true qi and qi essence. Only when one enters the fifth realm can one come into contact with the power of heaven and earth and use qi and qi to refine the golden elixir.

The focus of the Immortal Path is on the cultivation of the Primordial Spirit. By using the Primordial Spirit of Heaven and Earth to change the body, it can gradually become Primordial Spirit-like. Early on, one can cultivate magical power comparable to the True Essence of Martial Arts. Once one reaches the Foundation Establishment stage in the fourth realm, one can mobilize the power of Heaven and Earth to a certain extent.

Martial arts training!

Immortal cultivation of Qi!

This is one of the differences in the origins of the two systems.

Although there are differences, there are also similarities and even commonalities. Therefore, it is common for people to cultivate both immortality and martial arts, training both the physical body and spiritual energy, thus becoming immortals among martial arts practitioners.

Shen He has now reached the third level in martial arts, but has only just begun in immortality. Logically, he should need to explore for a while, but having had experience in refining pills with the power of the Gang Sha, he is already adept at controlling the power of heaven and earth, so cultivation is not difficult for him.

The only obstacle is the spiritual root.

Originally, Zhong Chuan did not have any spiritual root. Shen He estimated that the pseudo spiritual root with all five elements was an acquired spiritual root that was born when the "Spirit Fisherman" leveled up and his immortal aptitude increased.

Now that the Spirit Fisherman has become a Celestial Being, although his spiritual root aptitude has not increased further, his cultivation efficiency has also significantly improved thanks to the Five Elements Technique, the power of seclusion, and his experience in refining pills with the Qi and Sha. He dares not say that he is better than any Heavenly or Earthly Spirit, but he is at least no less than a Yellow-rank spiritual root.

After half a day, Shen He finally felt tired and emerged from that strange state.

Cultivation emphasizes gradual progress, and this is especially true for the cultivation of immortality. Because it involves directly absorbing the primordial spirit of heaven and earth, even with the help of spiritual roots and cultivation techniques, it is still a great burden on the physical body and soul. One must relax and regulate one's movements, otherwise one is very likely to suffer from qi deviation and demonic possession.

This is why Taoist cultivation places great emphasis on "Dharma, Land, Wealth, and Companions".

While one can absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, it is like sewage, containing all sorts of messy impurities and even toxins. Only a small amount of the pure spiritual energy that cultivators can utilize is contained within it.

Cultivators practice by using techniques and spiritual roots to purify the impurities and toxins in spiritual energy, integrating the purest and most suitable primordial spirit into their bodies.

Therefore, law, land, wealth, and companions are extremely important.

The law is a method for achieving immortality, while the technique is a method for protecting the path. It not only affects the cultivator's cultivation speed but also concerns their life, death, and the survival of their path, making it of paramount importance.

The land is a spiritual land. Living in a place full of spiritual energy can significantly improve cultivation efficiency and reduce the possibility of going astray. If it is a high-level spiritual land, then the cultivator does not even need to actively cultivate. Being in it, one can subtly cultivate and develop a primordial spirit body.

The same applies to wealth and companionship. Wealth consists of spiritual stones and other items, as well as elixirs, talismans, artifacts, and arrays. Spiritual stones possess pure spiritual energy, and elixirs offer various benefits that can greatly aid in cultivation.

Take Shen He as an example. If he absorbed a spirit stone, it would be equivalent to several days' worth of Qi Refining cultivation. Taking pills would be even more efficient, potentially lasting months or even years. If he used top-grade spirit pills, achieving sixty years' worth of cultivation overnight would not be an exaggeration. Unfortunately, most cultivators don't have this luxury. Forget top-grade spirit pills; even low-grade pills and low-grade spirit stones are unusable for daily cultivation. They can only be used sparingly during breakthroughs, the hardships of which are difficult for outsiders to understand.

Because of the preciousness of these treasures, some people have taken a different approach, starting with "companions" and devising some vicious methods of absorbing yin to replenish yang, turning their Daoist partners into furnaces.

Shen He now possesses the Five Elements Technique, a secluded cultivation ground, and the contributions of Ding Shengji and other generous disciples. He already has three resources: Dharma, land, wealth, and companions. As long as he is willing to spend spirit stones, even if his spiritual roots are not strong, his cultivation can still advance by leaps and bounds.

However, he did not immediately take out the spirit stones to cultivate.

The lesser hermit lives in the forest, the greater hermit lives in the city; this is the work that Lingnong has not yet done.

Shen He took out a bag of spirit rice seeds and a black iron hoe from his storage bag, then left the thatched hut and began to cultivate the land.

Farmers toil under the scorching midday sun; every grain is the result of hard work!
Red Maple Valley only rents out land. Farmers have to buy their own rice seeds and farming tools. They are responsible for their own profits and losses from farming. Regardless of whether there is a harvest or not, they have to pay a fixed amount of spirit rice every year. Otherwise, the pledged spirit stones will be deducted and the spirit fields will be taken back.

Therefore, if a spiritual farmer wants to survive, he must take good care of his fields. Farming is his primary occupation, while cultivation can only be secondary.

Although some spirit farmers focus on cultivation and only rent an acre of spirit land, they do not cultivate it on weekdays but instead cultivate diligently in their thatched huts. They then go to the market to buy spirit rice to pay the rent at the end of the year. However, such people are only a minority and cannot support themselves without enough spirit stones.

Although Shen He has a lot of spirit stones, he can't just sit around and do nothing. So he has to cultivate these spirit fields as well. Not only does he have to cultivate them, but he also has to cultivate a large variety of special species to create a path to immortality.

He bent over, his black iron hoe leaving afterimages as he swung it, and with the powerful physique of a Gangyuan martial artist, he quickly turned over the ten acres of spirit fields.

What, an ox-drawn plow?

We apologize, but even spirit beasts need to pay a fee to enter the valley.

After all, spirit beasts can also absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. If we don't count people and don't charge for spiritual energy, what would happen if one person brought in hundreds of cows? Would Red Maple Valley still be able to operate?
In fact, like alchemy, talismans, artifacts, and arrays, beast taming is a high-end industry in the cultivation world. Many cultivators can't even support themselves, so where would they get extra spirit stones to cultivate spirit beasts?
One must have a certain amount of wealth to back them up; otherwise, if an ordinary cultivator encounters a rare and exotic beast, the best outcome is that they end up on the dinner table.

This is also why Shen He didn't release the Iron Feather Eagle. Not only is it conspicuous, but he also has to pay a spirit fee for it. Although it's not much, it's still an unnecessary expense, so he'd rather avoid it if possible.

Ten acres of fine soil were cultivated, both coarsely and finely, to make it sufficiently soft.

Then Shen He used his lightness skill again, and like the martial artists in the surrounding fields, he carried several large buckets and leaped across the fields, fetching buckets of spiritual water and pouring them into the fields to turn them into paddy fields.

Even martial artists would find such work arduous.

But Shen He was happy with it, drawing water day and night to irrigate, and finally, after three days, he had irrigated all ten acres of spiritual fields into paddy fields.

At this time, the rice seeds sprouted under the soaking of the Lingxi River, and Shenhe began transplanting rice seedlings acre by acre.

And so it goes, from sunrise to sunset, until evening.

The setting sun, like blood, cast its slanting rays upon the ten acres of fertile fields, where rows of green rice seedlings, planted in the moist yellow mud, appeared vibrant and full of new hope.

After a day's work, Shen He didn't go back to cultivation. Instead, he moved a reclining chair out in front of the thatched hut, relaxed, and lay down in it. Looking at the green rice seedlings in the field, his eyes revealed the satisfaction and joy of an old farmer.

Rural life and farm scenery, though somewhat arduous, possess a unique charm that immerses one in and makes one look forward to the harvest.

Shen He really enjoys this kind of life!
(End of this chapter)