Cultivation begins with harvest.

"Come in yourself, there's nothing important in the courtyard." Chen Guang saw Cao Fang and felt relieved. He turned back to continue collecting his Moon Essence Liquid.

"Well, you're like this after I brought you peaches." Cao Fang muttered a couple of times, then walked in carrying a cloth bag. She didn't rush to Chen Guang's side, but instead looked at the edge of the courtyard wall first.

The number of spiritual plants in Chen Guangyuan was far beyond her expectations. The three colors of the Moonlit Robe slowly changed, emitting a faint glow. One or two plants would be fine, but there were eleven of them, forming a string like a soft, illusory brocade spreading out along the wall.

On the other side were three two-foot-tall spiritual plants with round leaves but cracks, and red veins resembling a tortoise shell. They were growing quite well.

"You seem to have plenty of free time. Oh, where's the fragrant orchid I sent?" Cao Fang looked around and suddenly asked.

"In the ice mist array, the environment there is suitable for its growth," Chen Guang walked over and gestured for Cao Fang to sit down at the stone table in the courtyard. Without any hesitation, he naturally took the cloth bag and opened it. Inside were three small, red peaches that looked so juicy they seemed to burst with moisture. Sensing the spiritual energy within them, and recalling the taste of fruit from the past, he realized that he hadn't eaten fruit in a long time. The last time was when the sect bestowed upon him the Golden Fruit. His mouth watered, and he reached out to grab one and put it in his mouth.

Cao Fang did not stop him. The Fire Peach could provide pure fire spiritual power after use, which was very helpful for cultivating fire attribute spells. In her opinion, Chen Guang had excellent flame control skills and should have mastered quite a few fire attribute spells in private.

If they knew Chen Guang simply wanted to taste it, they would be furious.

Fire peaches are not cheap; two or three are equivalent to a Linquan pumpkin. It's not something a typical late-stage Qi Refining disciple would put on a show for entertaining guests.

But Chen Guang just wanted to enjoy it. He swallowed half a peach in one bite. The ripe yet chewy texture was irresistible. He had thought the peach would be dry, but it was surprisingly juicy. It was neither too hot nor too cold.

As the fruit pulp entered the stomach, the heat-infused fire elemental energy began to be released.

As if sensing something, Chen Guang didn't make any hand seals. With a wave of his hand, a flame appeared. After it appeared, it burned for only one or two breaths before completely dissipating. It had nothing remarkable about it, from its heat to its shape.

The fire elemental power within the fire peach will involuntarily fall onto certain meridians and acupoints. With a little magical power applied, it will naturally release a burst of flames.

But this doesn't count as magic.

As Chen Guang nibbled on the fire peach, he seemed to gain some insight.

Having practiced several spells, though of different types, I have gained some understanding of the characteristics of spells in mobilizing meridians and acupoints. In addition, my understanding of the "Flame Control Technique" and the Flame Mist Technique is quite profound, so I naturally have some conjectures about other fire-attribute spells.

That's why it can release flames like that, but that alone doesn't count as magic. With a little more experimentation, it can be used to start a fire.

"I have a feeling that if I master enough spells, I'll be able to deduce some spells myself."

Chen Guang's intuition was incredibly strong.

The Fireball spell alone has similar spells like Fire Arrow, Fire Spear, and Fire Serpent, becoming increasingly complex, but all are developed based on the Fireball spell. Once you learn other similar fire-attribute spells, you can deduce them yourself even without learning Fire Spear.

If you were to learn everything, even with the accumulated knowledge of several floors of the Sutra Repository, you wouldn't finish learning it in a hundred years. Some of the more basic spells, once you reach a certain level of cultivation, you can figure them out on your own.

The more you master, the more variations of the same type of spells you can deduce on your own. These are all basic spells, and it's normal to comprehend a few on your own.

In Chen Guang's view, spells of the same type are all additions, except that fireball is the simplest 1+1, while the others are more complex additions.

Chen Guang, wanting to savor the taste, ate one of the fire peaches in a few bites, leaving only a pit that was too weak to sprout. He couldn't bear to eat the remaining two fire peaches.

Looking back, I've been living a frugal life, eating simple meals and having little to no enjoyment.

Seeing that Chen Guang had eaten the fire peach and practiced his magic, Cao Fang immediately braced herself on the stone table and leaned over, asking, "How was it? How was the effect?"

"Hmm...it tastes very good," Chen Guang said honestly.

"I was asking about the effects of the Fire Peaches," Cao Fang pretended to rise and then sat back down. "Okay, I admit, my purpose in giving you the Fire Peaches wasn't entirely to thank you for your help last year. I also wanted to get some feedback from you. My Fire Peaches are starting to ripen, and I want to price them higher than the market price, but I'm afraid they'll be too expensive. If I mess up the price, not only this year, but all the hard work of the past few years will have been for nothing. Your Flame Mist Technique is exquisite; I think you should have the answer to this question, right?"

"Then you should honestly build your reputation by offering low prices or market prices in the first year," Chen Guang said.

Cao Fang said with a look of resentment, "But I've invested so much. Do you know how many coins I spent just on the seedlings for one acre of fire peach trees? And so many of them died. I've reached the fourth level of Qi Refining. I have to take care of a lot of spiritual fields, so I have to take some Qi Nourishing Pills to ensure my cultivation speed. Also, my cultivation of other skills has been intermittent, all because I don't have money."

"I'm just hoping the Fire Peach Tree can liberate my economy. I'm not particularly greedy, I just want to maximize the economic value of the Fire Peach Tree. Right now, I'm worried whether the price is too low or too high."

Chen Guang really didn't know what to say.

Although he appeared to have used the Fire Peach Tree to cultivate magic, in reality, since the only magic he knew was Flame Mist, and at most Warm Light, he didn't have a deep understanding of the Fire Peach Tree's greatest value—assisting in the cultivation of fire-attribute magic. He did, however, remember the taste very clearly.

Cao Fang knew she was asking too much, but she needed to vent some of the pressure she had been under to feel better. Now that she had said it, she quickly changed the subject: "You seem to be doing very well. It seems like there haven't been any problems with your cultivation of spiritual plants. Your relationships and opportunities are also going well. You even have people helping you build the Yanhuang Formation! Everything is developing in the best direction. Especially the Lie Xin Grass that you've been taking care of. Your neighbors all praise it highly. Not a single red locust has escaped. It's different for some spiritual farmers. My spiritual fields were almost ruined."

"Not at all, it's just that other spirit farmers are unwilling to go through so much trouble for themselves. Spirit fields and mortal fields are the same. If you go through a little trouble for yourself, you'll trouble others less," Chen Guang said with a smile. "A few years ago, my blood he wu was almost beyond saving. Who can avoid making mistakes? It's just that you didn't see me make a mistake."

"Back then, you were just a mortal..." Cao Fang's eyes changed slightly, and she couldn't help but think back to when she first entered Ziling Peak. Comparing herself to the person in front of her, she realized that the worst thing for a person is to compare themselves with others. This made her feel even more bitter and she started to grit her teeth.

Looking at the sky, and remembering that there was still a lot to do in the spirit field, I bid farewell to Chen GG.

If the conversation continued, she would feel utterly ashamed.

Chen Guang put the peach pit away, thinking that perhaps he could condense a seed of a fire peach tree once his Void Spirit Seed was fully developed.

After taking care of the spiritual plants in the courtyard, Chen Guang returned to the spiritual field.

Taking care of the spiritual plants was a monotonous and repetitive task, filled with nothing but hardship and excitement. The tasks he had to do each day had to be completed the next. Only by watching the spiritual plants grow strong and the Thousand Needlewort's life force grow stronger could Chen Guang find some solace from his weariness.

Finally, the first thousand-needle wren hatched at the incubation site located in the red peony garden.

With its eyes tightly closed, it kept calling out in short, rapid calls. Chen Guang could actually hear it through the shell when it was about to hatch. He picked up the baby wren from its shell and placed it in his palm. The baby bird felt a sense of comfort and lay down in his palm. It moved its bottom as if it was more comfortable and continued to call out.

It's pink and tender, with tiny downy hairs, and a bit big on the head and small on the body, somewhere between cute and disgusting.

Chen Guang examined the baby wren and placed it in the nest. In addition to the bitter wood and golden millet stems and leaves, the nest contained other spiritual objects, providing a simple and comfortable experience of being warm in winter and cool in summer, which was much better than holding it in his hands.

The fledglings do not need to eat during the first hour, but Chen Guang will need to feed them frequently afterward.

For this reason, Chen Guang prepared small pieces of red locust meat and red locust eggs. Although there were more than two jars of them, he estimated that they would not last more than a few days if he really fed them. Chen Guang also made some preparations for this. He first used some chopped monster meat and spirit rice as a base. There are not so many requirements for the first month or two after the bird is born. Once it starts to develop magic, it is best to only provide insects and grass seeds as food to ensure the growth of the young bird.

However, by then, the first batch of Linquan pumpkins and Lingmi rice would definitely be ripe, and their own economy would begin to recover, so the problem wouldn't be so serious, and the top-tier package could be arranged directly.

Chen Guang turned his head and glanced at the spirit field. In fact, the one that matured the fastest was the Fiery Heart Grass.

In the height of summer, the heart-stealing grass matures.