Cultivation begins with harvest.

Even at dusk, the glow of the setting sun remained bright rather than dim.

Back in his courtyard, Chen Guang sorted out his gains and losses. The only uncertainty was Lu Daxian's change in attitude. But if the other party had some strange feelings, then he could only let it be, as it was beyond Chen Guang's control.

As long as their peaceful farming life remains undisturbed, the interpersonal relationships of spiritual farmers like Lu Daxian are merely icing on the cake.

There's never too much goodwill you can make.

If we can't be on good terms, then let things take their course.

Chen Guang inspected the area and found that apart from the fact that no one had been there for a day and there were more weeds (except for the Linquan pumpkin), there was nothing else of great importance. There were some small insects, but he could just use an insect-repelling banner to circle around them.

Chen Guang couldn't wait to take out the wooden box. He opened the box and found a palm-sized stone disc with many markings and some stones and wooden blocks carved into fixed shapes.

The stone with white, diffused patterns is called cloud-patterned stone.

The bright red wood, as if scorched by fire, is firewood.

The one with radiating four-pointed stars is a small star stone.

Unfold the blueprints inside the wooden box; they show how to set up a spiritual energy array.

"Dig three feet into the ground at the Qian position and place a small star stone upright. Walk fifteen steps east, then deviate nine steps south..."

Next to the drawings were annotations, explaining the standard for the size of the steps, the position of the Qian position, and so on. It was impossible for someone who couldn't read to be illiterate. If someone couldn't read, they would be forcibly taken to the school when they joined the Qingheng Sect as a spiritual farmer, and they would study for seven years before being released.

For the past seven years, I have continued farming during the day, but I spend two hours every afternoon and evening studying. The lessons cover reading and writing, basic geography, the key to cultivating spiritual fields, some basic knowledge of cultivation, arithmetic, and more.

Even if his cultural progress seven years later displeases his teachers, he will be expelled from the Qingheng Sect even if he remains there—he lacks this learning ability, and the sect has no confidence in his ability to achieve anything in the cultivation world.

Fortunately, Chen Guangyuan was originally a cultured man and a scholar who passed the imperial examination. However, his family suffered some natural and man-made disasters, which made him disheartened. He then embarked on a path of seeking divine guidance, which later saved Chen Guangyuan from the trouble of going to school to complete the "seven years of compulsory education".

Otherwise, if he had to set aside at least two hours each day to learn, the time left for cultivation would be even less. Chen Guang might not be able to become a cultivator within three years. Without being a cultivator, he wouldn't even be qualified to go to the Xingfeng Hall office. He might never discover that he had a reward orb in the cultivation of spirit fields.

Finally, the rune stone plate was placed. Instantly, the small star stones, cloud-patterned stones, and firewood already buried in the spirit field established a kind of change with the rune stone plate that Chen Guang could not understand. The runes on the rune stone plate lit up one after another, and a hazy layer of cyan light curtain unfolded above the spirit field, covering the entire acre of spirit field of Jade Heart Grass, no more and no less, just right.

The surrounding spiritual energy is constantly being absorbed, maintaining the movement of the spiritual energy array.

"Incredible! Although the spirit stones, which should have been the energy source, have been removed, it can still function using spiritual energy. Can the cultivators of this world's research into spiritual tools and spiritual energy arrays be considered a result of 'cultivation going to the countryside'?"

Chen Guang poured his magic power into the rune stone disc. Each scale on it was used to finely control many environmental attributes such as wind, temperature, and humidity. The spiritual energy array was only useful in places as rich in spiritual energy as Ziling Peak. Once he left Ziling Peak, even if he went to Fang Lincang's territory, the spiritual energy array would not be able to operate.

The requirements for the concentration of spiritual energy are very strict.

After adjusting the environmental attributes to an optimal range that he had obtained through theoretical practice, Chen Guang temporarily stopped the adjustments, as night had fallen.

Chen Guang still didn't rest. He took out paper and pen. The paper and pen from Ziling Peak could handle smooth writing in most environments and did not hinder Chen Guang's behavior of observing and recording the data of the Jade Heart Grass while carrying the spirit lantern.

Recording data for two more days will help Chen Guang confirm whether the environmental attributes he regulated using the spiritual energy array are truly the attribute values ​​suitable for the Jade Heart Grass.

Using recorded information to confirm certain elements is a well-known method at Ziling Peak, and it is taught in the first year of school.

This method seems clumsy to cultivators, but high-level cultivators can simply reach out and touch it; sensing spiritual energy is far more accurate than recording numbers.

"Oh dear, I'm so stupid. I also have the ability of a plant master who can connect with the earth and wood elements. How could I forget that? I need to adapt. Chen Guang, this is the world of cultivation. At lower levels, you can still use knowledge from your previous life to learn some things. But the further you go, the more important the methods of cultivation and the elements of metaphysics will be in various fields, to a degree that cannot be understood by scientific thinking."

After confirming that no one was around the spirit field, Chen Guang bent down and, as if he were normally touching and feeling the compaction and dryness of the purple spirit soil, quietly activated the earth-wood sympathetic connection.

The earth was like a dark place, with wisps of purple aura lingering around it, illuminating this darkness. Near and far, there were more than a dozen strange green light-shaped objects. Chen Guang's consciousness moved forward in this darkness, like an earthworm actively swimming in a certain direction, and soon touched a strange green light-shaped object.

Upon touching it, Chen Guang's mind immediately entered the green, light-shaped object.

A strange sensation unfolded in Chen Guang's consciousness. He felt as if he were a Jade Heart Grass, sensing the peculiar indentation on his fourth leaf. He immediately understood: Oh, the wind had caused some structural damage here, and the roots had received a lot of water, so this leaf had withered.

Following the root system, you can feel that "your" roots have gone deep into the ground and spread out, but some of them are entangled together, which means that the absorption of nutrients is not so sufficient, so only four leaves have grown.

Chen Guang became aware of a variety of more subtle feelings.

"So these strange, luminous objects are the Jade Heart Grass," Chen Guang thought to himself.

Chen Guang slowly withdrew from one Jade Heart Grass and went to another Jade Heart Grass, sinking into it.

This Jade Heart Grass has five leaves, but its roots are also intertwined, only slightly less so than those of a four-leaf plant. The leaves are in good condition, but they convey a feeling of 'thirst', as if the air is too humid and they want some breeze. The leaves also have a slightly warm feel.

Chen Guang could understand these two seemingly contradictory feelings.

In his previous life, Chen Guang could say with certainty that high air humidity weakens transpiration, affecting the transport of mineral nutrients, potentially scorching leaves, and possibly affecting the alternation of wet and dry soil around the plant. Furthermore, it could lead to condensation on the leaf surface, causing leaf cells to rupture and making the plant weak.

In my past life, I wasn't an expert in biology or agriculture, but I had a hobby of tending to flowers and plants on my windowsill. I still remember the tragic incident where a pot of chili seedlings was reduced to a single, thriving chili plant that had just blossomed with fresh white flowers, only to be gnawed away by rats that very night, leaving only three branches. It was then that I began to pay attention to some scientific knowledge.

However, this is the cultivation world, and Chen Guang can only take it as a possibility and a reference for governance, rather than blindly copying it entirely. There are many things in the cultivation world that cannot be explained by the scientific knowledge of his previous life. In fact, the cultivation world also has its own "science," which is also a summary of some facts about the objective laws of cultivation.

The wisdom of our predecessors is so useful. Chen Guang doesn't think he can use the "science" of another world to overturn the "science" of this world, which is also obtained by many capable people and great philosophers. It's better to just learn the theory of cultivation and treat some knowledge as a way of thinking and a reference.

'This plant has shown signs of discomfort with air humidity; I need to make a note of that.'

Chen Guang silently noted the state of each Jade Heart Grass, without immediately making any corrections to the spiritual energy array. The minority must obey the majority. This is a simplified and weakened version of the spiritual energy array. To change some environmental attributes, it can only be done at a "fixed price," treating everyone equally. It cannot create a suitable environment for a single individual. That is a function that only a true array possesses, which is too far away. An important prerequisite for setting up the array is the spiritual stones that Chen Guang has no hope of obtaining in the short term.

Therefore, we can only change the specific environmental attributes through spiritual energy arrays if we can take care of more and better quality Jade Heart Grass.

Chen Guang checked the condition of more than ten Jade Heart Grass plants in one go. Just as he was about to continue, he suddenly felt the boundless dark earth expand, and he felt dizzy. Chen Guang knelt down in the spirit field and almost fell over.

"The interaction between earth and wood consumes a great deal of spiritual energy!"

Chen Guang immediately realized that without reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, one cannot utilize one's divine sense; one can only passively perceive it. Therefore, Chen Guang himself did not know the level of his divine sense.

"I can consume spiritual items like the Golden Fruit to enhance my spiritual sense, or cultivate techniques to enhance my spiritual sense. Refining Qi, refining the body, and forging the spirit are three directions of cultivation. Cultivating different techniques simultaneously will not conflict with each other, only with time and energy. This powerful ability of earth-wood interaction must be regarded as an important direction of my cultivation!"

The ability to empathize with plants and connect with the earth is too exaggerated. Only now has Chen Guang personally experienced the special nature of a plant spirit master.