Cultivation begins with harvest.

The soil was soft and moist, tinged with purple.

After finishing his morning meditation, Chen Guang went to the fields.

It only took about two days to cultivate an acre of spiritual field, and this morning I came to plant the Jade Heart Grass.

"Planting Jade Heart Grass every year is not so much about being anxious, but about being exhausted. Starting today, I will have to take care of the spirit fields at the same time and cultivate them."

After officially starting farming, Chen Guang was so busy that he didn't have much time to rest. He still missed the leisurely days of winter, when he only had to keep an eye on the weeds and prevent them from growing wildly.

Winters under the jurisdiction of Ziling Peak are quite comfortable. It's only a bit cold in the mornings and evenings, with some frost. Once the sun comes out, it's much more comfortable, with no snow or cold, making it very pleasant.

After loosening the spirit field a little more, they divided it into sections and carefully planted each seed of Jade Heart Grass.

Chen Guang had read the theory many times, but putting it into practice was a different story. He still had to go through it once. In his first year of planting spirit rice, Chen Guang made a complete mess of it and almost starved to death. In his second year, he went around to learn from others and learned from his mistakes. He was able to save more than 100 catties of spirit rice. This shows the importance of practice.

According to the pre-defined area, Chen Guang ultimately planted only 76 Jade Heart Grass seeds.

It must be said that this decision was very bold. The sect distributed 120 seeds, which was actually to encourage these spiritual farmers to make up for the lack of quality with quantity. Even if they were not well cared for, the larger the base, the more likely they were to survive.

But Chen Guang still firmly believed in the information he had seen based on his own abilities.

In one mu of spiritual field, the number of Jade Heart Grass plants should not exceed 80.

In addition, since the Jade Heart Grass requires a rather demanding growing environment, Chen Guang put even more effort into connecting the ditches, digging smaller and more numerous water ditches in the Spirit Field to take care of every Jade Heart Grass plant.

"Next, to the left, is the spiritual field for cultivating red peonies." Chen Guang looked at the spiritual field in the middle.

As for the spiritual rice paddy, there's no rush. First, clear a small plot and sow the seeds. Once the seedlings have grown, clear out the paddy field and plant them directly. For now, let's plant the red peony and swallowtail grass first.

Days passed one after another, and soon Chen Guang had planted all three kinds of spiritual herbs, and also sown the seeds of spiritual rice to wait for them to grow into seedlings. Only then did he begin to cultivate spells other than earth magic while waiting for the late spring season to plant the Linquan pumpkins.

First-tier spiritual plants and their mortal counterparts actually have similar growth habits and are not as demanding. In addition, being spiritual plants, they only grow once a year and are not difficult to care for.

On the contrary, pumpkins like the Linquan pumpkin, which are planted in late spring and early summer, are relatively rare.

With half an acre of spiritual land, Chen Guang ultimately felt that planting only seven seeds of Linquan pumpkins was enough.

In the blink of an eye, it's already early summer.

Next, I started transplanting rice seedlings, checking the water level, loosening the soil and weeding the other spiritual plants. At the same time, I used the Warm Light Spell to warm the red peony and increase its sunlight exposure. I used the Wind-Calming and Qi-Regulating Spell and the Cloud-Drawing Spell to stop the wind and create clouds in the Jade Heart Grassland to prevent it from being too exposed to the sun. I also took some time to practice the Hundred Trees Dew Condensation Spell.

The life force of the weeds is directly extracted, and then the collected wood spirit vitality is spread out using the Spirit Rain spell, which helps the spirit plants grow slightly while raining.

This is a combination of spells that is recorded in the library.

Unfortunately, weeds are weeds, and the vitality of wood spirits is not much. Chen Guang used this kind of magic more for practice and weeding.

But as time went on, I gradually stopped using it.

As the spiritual plants grew, they took up more space. Chen Guang's magic was not yet proficient enough, and he accidentally extracted the life force from the spiritual plants. He had nowhere to cry then.

The wind gradually picked up, causing the young rice seedlings to tilt and sway considerably.

Chen Guang first arrived at the spirit field of Jade Heart Grass. In the spirit field, far apart, a short plant with crystal clear roots that looked like jade grew out of each field. Most of them only had two or three leaves. Under such a storm, the plants, which were clearly short, swayed more violently than the spirit rice.

Chen Guang quickly formed a hand seal and channeled his energy, then pointed at a certain spot in the spiritual field.

This is the Wind-Calming and Qi-Regulating Mantra.

A ball of light, resembling a talisman, landed in the center of the spirit field. The wind in the area, within a radius of several feet, gradually subsided and eventually disappeared.

"A single Wind-Calming and Qi-Stabilizing Incantation can last for about half an hour. After that, the wind will eventually subside, and cultivators from other buildings will come to the rescue. But for the next half hour, I can only rely on myself."

After confirming that one mu of spiritual field could be covered by five Wind-Calming and Qi-Stabilizing Spells, Chen Guang dared not stop and hurriedly moved to another position to continue casting spells.

Just as Chen Guang was focused on casting the Wind-Calming and Qi-Stabilizing Spell, a young man dressed in a black robe, with mostly black hair but also a fair amount of white hair, walked over from a distance.

"Chen Guang, you've finally broken through." The man stood by the spirit field, enjoying the gentle breeze on his body, and said with a smile.

"Wei Donglai".

Chen Guang only glanced at it before laughing.

He didn't have many friends, and Wei Donglai was the only one. His previous body almost died in the mountains and forests. His soul took over the host's body, but there were still toxins left in his body. If Wei Donglai hadn't happened to be passing by on his mission and casually taken Chen Guang to a pond and cured him of the poison, then Chen Guang's subsequent events would not have happened.

Of course, if Wei Donglai hadn't escorted Chen Guang back in one go, Chen Guang wouldn't have received the evaluation of "firm in seeking the Dao" and would have entered Ziling Peak with a slightly weaker aptitude.

Cultivators possess all five elements, but their aptitude is categorized into A, B, C, and D. Chen Guang's aptitude is slightly weaker than D, indicating that even the best aptitude among the five attributes of spiritual roots barely reaches the boundary of D.

If one's attribute reaches Grade D, then one has Grade D aptitude.

Only when both attributes reach Grade C can one be considered a Grade C qualification.

Only when all three attributes reach Grade B can one be considered a Grade B qualification.

Only when all four attributes reach Grade A can one be considered a Grade A qualifier.

Above that, there are said to be five attributes that surpass Grade A, known as the "Heavenly Spiritual Root," a supreme talent. However, these are merely rumors and records; at least Chen Guang within the Qingheng Sect has never heard of such a genius.

This is the Qingheng Sect's standard for judgment. The outside world judges a cultivator's aptitude based on whether they have a certain attribute level. However, in the eyes of the Qingheng Sect, they are "pseudo-Grade B" or "pseudo-Grade A". But it is still a standard, since within the Qingheng Sect itself, 90% of the cultivators are only Grade D.

This is the difference in aptitude among cultivators. Even within the same level, the difference in aptitude can be worlds apart. Chen Guang is already very fortunate to have embarked on the path of cultivation.

Wei Donglai nodded and looked at Chen Guang's spirit field, clicking his tongue in amazement: "It's quite impressive. When I saw you in Xingfeng Market that day, I couldn't believe that the guy who wasn't even a third-grade talent had actually broken through in just two years."

"That's right, I'll lend you a hand."

Wei Donglai walked towards the other spirit field.

Red peonies are short and not as delicate as jade heart grass, so they don't need to be cared for even in stronger winds. Swallowtail grass is tough; if it breaks, it can quickly sprout new shoots. Only two acres of spirit rice need to be taken care of.

Wei Donglai made a hand seal and cast a spell. An almost invisible blue wind wall flew past a foot above the spirit rice. Strangely, the wind was absorbed into the wind wall. The wind wall rolled and gradually changed from being vaguely invisible to being clearly visible blue. The howling wind grew stronger and stronger, and it always kept a foot away from the spirit rice. It did not affect the spirit rice at all, as if the violent wind was just Chen Guang's illusion.

Wei Donglai, still having energy left, laughed and said, "This is the [Wind Wall Technique]. When combined with the [Spirit Whirl Seed], it can absorb incoming and outgoing wind and firepower for its own use."

Chen Guang admired him.

Any spell that is not one of the five elements is more than ten times more difficult to cultivate and comprehend. The Spirit Whirl Seed is a non-elemental spell similar to the Spirit Gathering Slash, and its difficulty is no less than that of non-five elements spells. Moreover, it is a purely auxiliary spell, so very few people choose it.

It is common knowledge that different spells can work together to create unexpected power, but mastering them requires talent.

Wei Donglai truly lives up to his reputation as a disciple of the Qi Hall; his talent in magic is truly admirable.

The gale came quickly and went quickly, completely subsiding within half an hour.

One of the roles of the cultivators in the branch buildings is to guard against extreme weather. Most of the time, such strong winds rarely occur. If it is like this inside the spirit fields, it should be like a hurricane outside the spirit fields. Such a situation only happens a few times a year. The work of the spirit farmers is more about weeding, loosening the soil, repelling insects, and irrigating.

Even pest control is done regularly by the building's stewards.

"Alright," Wei Donglai made a hand seal, and a violent gust of air rushed towards the sky. Soon, the blue wind wall disappeared without a trace, with only a gentle breeze passing by to prove that it had existed. "This kind of field is quite interesting."

After saying that, he waved his hand at Chen Guang, who was about to invite him back to the courtyard to rest: "No need. Recently, the sect has been preparing to develop a snow-capped peak in the northwest. I will go there after resting for a while. That's why you planted red peonies. I just wanted to say hello to you and let you know that I won't be back for a while."

Wei Donglai still liked Chen Guang, the spirit farmer. Chen Guang's way of thinking was very different from others, and he often felt inspired by him. Therefore, Wei Donglai also valued Chen Guang as a friend.

Wei Donglai examined Chen Guang's spiritual field: "I didn't expect you to break through. I have a deal for you, would you like to hear it?"

"What?" Chen Guang asked hurriedly.

Wei Donglai, a disciple of the Qi Hall, is at the fourth level of Qi Refining. If he makes a deal with me, as long as it's not excessive, I should be the one who benefits.

Wei Donglai laughed and said, "It's very simple. I see you have some He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum), which is a top-grade first-tier spiritual plant, but its growth is just average. I can have someone bring back some fresh demon beast blood for you every month, as an advance payment of interest."

Wei Donglai paused for a moment and said, "I need you to plant a kind of spiritual plant for me. You need to clear some space in your private spiritual field. It will take several years to harvest. It's not difficult to take care of, but it takes a long time. At least one-third of the plant will be grown. I will bring it over in the winter. How about it?"

"no problem."

Chen Guang smiled broadly. If I didn't agree, wouldn't I be a fool?

My spiritual field is different from others'.

Chen Guang thought to himself.