Establishing a Clan in the Eastern Wilderness: A Daily Divination, Cultivating Longevity in a Grotto

He secluded himself for several months.

Li Changsheng sat cross-legged on the futon, circulating the Chaos Primordial Scripture. The two Qi-enhancing pills had been completely transformed into the surging spiritual power within his body.

The difficulty of cultivating this Earth-rank technique far exceeded his expectations.

The path of spiritual energy circulation is profound and complex; the slightest carelessness can lead to a disruption of one's energy flow. In the first two months, he was forced to stop countless times due to the faint stinging pain in his meridians, and had to return to the "Circulation Guiding Technique" to nourish and regulate his breathing.

But he never thought of giving up.

The benefits of Earth-rank cultivation techniques gradually become apparent through subtle perceptions of the efficiency of spiritual energy absorption and release. While both techniques absorb spiritual energy, the conversion rate is more than ten times higher than that of Yellow-rank techniques.

This gap, accumulated over time, becomes an insurmountable chasm.

He had lost count of how many cycles he had completed.

Within his dantian, the vortex of energy was no longer the thin, wispy cloud it had been when he first entered the Dao. It was now solid and heavy, its color changing from pale blue to deep turquoise, and as it slowly rotated, the faint sounds of wind and thunder could be heard.

a moment.

The barrier that had lingered for so long, like a thin membrane, was finally breached by the torrent of spiritual energy.

boom!

His dantian suddenly expanded, and spiritual energy surged in like rivers flowing into the sea, only to be compressed and condensed again under some mysterious pull.

Mid-stage Qi Refining.

Li Changsheng opened his eyes, the blue light in his pupils subdued, his aura deep and still. He opened his palm, and with a thought, a ball of spiritual energy several times more concentrated than it had been months ago leaped into his hand.

He finally overcame this hurdle.

The stone door to the quiet room was slowly pushed open.

The autumn sun shines in at an angle, carrying the fresh scent of the mountain grass and trees and a cool, pleasant feeling.

Li Changsheng took a deep breath and stepped out of the quiet room.

……

He went to Lingtian first.

From afar, the ten acres of red marrow rice could be seen as a golden-red sea.

The heavy ears of rice bent the stalks, surging like waves in the autumn wind, filling the air with a sweet fragrance.

On the ridge of the field, the eldest cousin, Li Changming, was leading more than a dozen clansmen in their busy work.

Li Chang'an was among them.

However, after a few months, he seemed to have grown taller and his cultivation had improved. He was squatting by the field, carefully turning over the soil with a small shovel, looking very focused.

"Clan Chief!" Li Changming looked up and saw Li Changsheng, immediately putting down his scythe and hurrying forward. He looked Li Changsheng up and down, his eyes filled with surprise: "Clan Chief, you...you've broken through? To the fourth level of Qi Refining?"

Li Changsheng nodded.

"Congratulations, Clan Chief! Congratulations, Clan Chief!" Li Changming repeatedly cupped his hands, his face beaming with uncontrollable joy. "Our Li family has gained another cultivator at the mid-stage of Qi Refining!"

He paused, then said:

"During the clan leader's seclusion, Wen Yuan and Ninth Grandmother both broke through to the fourth level of Qi Refining. Wen Yuan did it half a month ago, and Ninth Grandmother... Ninth Grandmother even earlier. The day she emerged from seclusion, her energy and spirit were even more abundant than mine, her grand-nephew. It's truly a remarkable thing!"

Grandmother's spiritual root aptitude is indeed extraordinary!

Li Changsheng smiled slightly, his gaze falling on the golden-red waves of rice:

When can we harvest these red marrow rice grains?

"Soon, soon!" Li Changming exclaimed excitedly. "I reckon we can start harvesting in another four or five days. Clan chief, how much do you think we'll harvest from these ten mu of land this year?"

Before Li Changsheng could guess, he couldn't help but shout out the number:

"At least six thousand catties!"

After deducting the cost of preserving seeds and providing a year's worth of food for the clan, there would still be 3,000 catties left to sell!

According to market prices, three catties of red marrow rice is worth one low-grade spirit stone, which is... that's a thousand spirit stones!

Li Changsheng was slightly taken aback.

One thousand spirit stones.

This is the Li family's fiefdom, and it currently represents their largest source of income.

"Such a harvest in the first year..." He looked at Li Chang'an by the field, "Thank you for your hard work."

"Clan chief, this isn't my doing." Li Changming quickly waved his hand, then turned and called out to the field, "Chang'an! Come here!"

Li Chang'an looked up at the sound, saw Li Changsheng, his eyes lit up, and he jogged over.

"Chieftain!" He bowed respectfully.

"Chang'an," Li Changming said with a smile, "you tell the clan chief yourself, why is this red marrow rice so highly productive?"

Li Chang'an scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly, but when he spoke, his words were exceptionally clear:

"Chief, I have observed that red marrow rice has a great demand for water and fertilizer during the heading stage."

However, the original soil in the spirit field has limited fertility.

If fertilizer is applied using conventional methods, it will inevitably become ineffective in the later stages.

So I dug a composting pit by the underground river, and mixed the droppings of the Fire Cloud Chicken, the residue from harvesting Seven Star Grass, and the decaying leaves collected from the foot of the mountain in a certain proportion to create a new kind of spiritual fertilizer.

He paused, then continued:

"After applying this magical fertilizer, the red marrow rice grew significantly better than the first few crops. I also combined the 'Spiritual Rain Technique' and the 'Fertile Soil Secret' to figure out the rules of applying rain before the morning dew dries and loosening the soil when the earth's energy rises in the evening. As a result, the yield per mu increased by nearly 20% compared to usual."

He spoke calmly, but Li Changming, listening from the side, was deeply moved:

"Clan leader, you don't know, this child has hardly slept a full night in months while trying to figure these things out. He goes to check the composting pond on the back mountain three times a day to record the temperature, humidity, and fermentation level... Of all the spirit fields that our Li family has been cultivating for almost a year, he's the best."

Li Changsheng looked at the boy in front of him, who was still thin but had a straight back, and nodded to himself.

The talent for sixth-grade spiritual plants has indeed lived up to expectations.

"Chang'an," he said gently, "compile this method of composting and the rules for fertilizing and watering into a book."

Li Chang'an was taken aback: "Completed...completed into a book?"

"Yes," Li Changsheng said, "write it into a clear and easy-to-understand manual. When the Li family's spiritual fields expand in the future, new members of the clan can learn seven or eight parts of it by referring to this manual."

He paused, then added, "If it can be sold, this method could be worth a lot of spirit stones."

Li Chang'an stood there, her face gradually turning red, and nodded vigorously.

...

...

After leaving the spirit field, Li Changsheng arrived at the underground river in the back mountain.

Months later, the place has changed dramatically.

Rows of poultry sheds were erected on the river.

Inside the poultry house, the clucking of Fire Cloud Chickens laying eggs could be heard from time to time.

On the riverbank, a dozen fluffy Fire Cloud Chicken chicks huddled together, chirping and pecking at the bits of spiritual herbs on the ground behind their mother.

The male Fire-Cloud Chicken with the broken leg stood proudly on the high place, exuding the air of a head of the household.

The surface of the underground river rippled slightly.

Li Changsheng approached for a closer look and saw groups of spirit fish, each over a foot long, swimming about, their scales shimmering with a faint silver light in the dim light—the first batch of fry had already grown to about half their original size.

A small nursery newly established along the riverbank.

Hundreds of saplings, each about half a person's height, are neatly arranged, with light blue leaves and finely serrated edges, swaying gently in the wind.

Li's father was watering the seedlings by the nursery when he saw Li Changsheng arrive. He straightened up and said with a smile:

"Chang Sheng, you've emerged from seclusion? You've broken through?"

"Father," Li Changsheng nodded, his gaze falling on the saplings, "when were these planted?"

The sapling looked familiar, but he couldn't remember its name.