So that's how it is.
Lu Xuanji understood the Dao.
I've learned something new.
At this moment, the ancestor sensed something and opened the Jade Talisman: "Cultivators from the Dan Yang Sect have come to collect the clan taxes. Young one, would you like to serve tea?"
"I dare not decline the ancestor's command!"
Lu Xuanji said.
Leaving the library, he went to the guest hall.
He served the tea and stood respectfully to the side.
The guest was a fifteen-year-old youth, exceedingly ordinary except for a pair of bright eyes that seemed extraordinary.
"Dan Yang Sect, Ye Taizhen greets the fellow Daoist."
The youth smiled and said.
"Ah, it's a fellow Daoist of the 'Tai' generation!" the ancestor said, "The Lu Family has twenty-three Foundation Establishment cultivators and one Purple Mansion cultivator. The annual spirit stone tax for Foundation Establishment is one hundred spirit stones, and for Purple Mansion, it's one thousand spirit stones. After ten years, the total comes to thirty-three thousand spirit stones. Please receive them, fellow Daoist!"
He said, handing over a storage bag.
Ye Taizhen took the storage bag, opened it, and carefully checked it, "The accounts are clear and accurate!"
"Farewell!"
Ye Taizhen clasped hands in farewell and left.
He didn't drink tea; he left directly.
From the moment he appeared to when he left, it took less than ten breaths.
"Does your heart ache?" the ancestor asked.
"It hurts!"
Lu Xuanji said.
Thirty-three thousand spirit stones are equivalent to three Foundation Establishment Pills.
For Qi Cultivation cultivators, the annual salary is between ten spirit stones to fifty spirit stones;
For Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, the annual salary is only about one hundred spirit stones to five hundred spirit stones.
"It pains me too, but spending money doesn't guarantee peace, while not spending it surely brings trouble." The ancestor said leisurely, "You are dismissed!"
"Yes!"
Lu Xuanji respectfully retreated.
Life continued as usual, simple and repetitive.
Meanwhile, he was pondering how to increase the per-acre yield of White Sun Rice.
Focused on farming, he was also known as a Spirit Plant Cultivator.
Compared to alchemists who need to burn money, artifact refiners who need talent, and array masters who need enlightenment, Spirit Plant Cultivators have the lowest entry requirements; they just need spiritual fields and seeds to farm.
However, even in farming, some can grow two hundred jin of Spirit Rice, while others grow two hundred thirty jin—this is the difference among different Spirit Plant Cultivators.
...
In the blink of an eye, four years had passed.
In the cave mansion, Lu Xuanji opened his eyes, golden lights radiating from his pupils, generating electricity in the vacant space.
His body cracked and creaked, emitting a series of sounds, with his muscles and bones in harmony. Red glows flickered, rising and falling; then green glows evolved and changed; then yellow glows shifted up and down.
Finally, the green, yellow, and red glows continuously alternated, rising and falling in cycles.
The three-colored glows fluctuated in the cave mansion, and after half an hour, the aura retracted, returning to its usual state.
At this moment, he was at the third layer of Qi Cultivation.
Originally estimated to take five years, but cultivating the "Cyan Lotus Creation Technique," deduced by "Destiny Calculation," it only took four years to enter the third layer of Qi Cultivation.
Feeling the aura on his body, Lu Xuanji felt exceedingly comfortable.
Cultivating the three major attributes of Fire, Earth, and Wood not only considers the characteristics of his own attributes but also perfectly aligns with himself, operating very smoothly.
"Eighteen years old!"
Lu Xuanji sighed.
In the cave mansion, he directly started a fire, poured Spiritual Spring Water into the copper cauldron, added White Sun Rice, and began steaming the rice.
The fire was Spiritual Fire.
After a while, an enticing aroma wafted from the cauldron.
Opening the copper cauldron, he used a wooden spoon to scoop out the White Sun Rice into a wooden bowl. He also took out three other bowls containing demon beast meat soup, dishes made from spirit medicine, and a bowl of medicinal wine.
He began eating.
Spirit Rice made the stomach warm after eating;
Spirit Wine seemed like fire in the mouth after drinking;
Spirit meat was smooth and tender, yet chewy.
While eating the meal, the stomach was gently contracting, digesting the food.
The spiritual qi contained in the food was slowly refined by the body, subtle and gentle, nourishing the flesh.
The level of food determines the level of life.
The higher the level of life, the more exquisite the food.
In the eyes of mortals, immortals reside above, feeding on dew and clouds, living by inhaling spiritual qi. But this is not the case; cultivators also eat Spirit Rice, Spirit Medicine, and Spirit Pills.
Establishing a cave mansion on a spirit vein, drawing in spiritual qi to refine into True Qi, is the conventional cultivation method for cultivators.
However, the spiritual qi from spirit veins is wild and turbulent; once absorbed into the body, it requires spiritual power to suppress and constantly refine and quench its wildness. After continuously absorbing spiritual qi for cultivation, one needs to rest and recuperate to avoid damaging the meridians.
Spirit Rice, grown in spiritual fields, contains spiritual qi that is gentle and nourishing. After eating, it won't harm the meridians, can nourish the body, and can also increase cultivation.
Near the spirit veins, there are many spiritual fields where Spirit Rice is grown in large quantities as food.
Spirit Rice is a necessity for cultivators.
While a cultivator could survive without eating Spirit Rice, their cultivation would stagnate, and progress would slow considerably.
After eating and drinking his fill, Lu Xuanji lay on the bed to rest. At this moment, the Jade Pendant in his embrace vibrated, delivering a message.
"Father is back!"
Receiving the message, Lu Xuanji left the cave mansion and walked toward his home.
Reaching the foot of the mountain and entering the courtyard, Lu Xuanji saw his father and mother.
"Mother, Father... you're back!"
Lu Xuanji said.
"We're back; it's been three years since we last met!"
Father said.
"Son, come here for a hug!" Mother stepped forward, only to find that her son had grown up and could no longer be held.
"Son, this is a gift I brought for you!"
Father said, taking some gifts out from the storage bag.
The sword was like autumn water, emitting a bright glow, extremely sharp, and when danced in the air, it made a hissing sound. Not only was it sharp, but inside the Spirit Sword, there were runes arranged into a rune array, triggering the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power, nourishing the sword's body.
A three-foot green blade, with a tassel on the hilt, light and delicate.
"This is the Autumn Water Sword, a first-level spiritual artifact. Son, why don't you try it out!"
Father pointed, and the Spirit Sword flew over.
Lu Xuanji took the Spirit Sword, held it in his hand, weighing just over three jin, but extremely sharp.
He dripped blood on the core rune array of the Spirit Sword, leaving a bloody imprint, immediately feeling as if the Spirit Sword became an extension of his arm, agile and quick.
A trace of True Qi entered the rune array, activating the formation.
True Qi was rapidly consumed, and after expending three layers of True Qi, the flying sword flashed into a streamer, assailing out at extreme speed, reaching three hundred meters per second, producing a hissing sound in the void.
Swoosh, swoosh!
It could be maintained for less than three breaths, with True Qi exhausted.
"Good sword!"
Lu Xuanji exclaimed.
"This is a level-two Spirit Talisman. One is an Earth Shield Talisman that can form an Earth Shield to defend against one attack of the initial Foundation Establishment stage; another is a Fireball Talisman that can cast a Foundation Establishment cultivator's Fireball Technique; the third is a Teleportation Talisman that can transport you ten miles away." Father said, taking out three Jade Talismans.
Receiving the three Jade Talismans, Lu Xuanji was not pleased but rather worried, saying, "Father, what has happened?"
According to the clan's rules, before reaching the seventh layer of Qi Cultivation, most work involves planting Spirit Medicine and Spirit Rice near Qingfeng Mountain, with few external assignments. Yet these gifts alone are worth at least two hundred spirit stones.
Father's cultivation is at the third layer of Foundation Establishment, with an annual salary of only four hundred spirit stones.
"In two years, the centennial beast tide will arrive. At that time, I won't be able to protect you, so you must be clever," Father said worriedly.
"The ancestral land has a third-level Spirit Array; I'm safe here!"
Lu Xuanji said.
"You don't understand, the beast tide is terrifying!"
Father said, "When the beast tide comes, all kinds of low-level demon beasts swarm like a flood, sweeping everything away, engulfing everything. Don't think that just because you're merely at the third layer of Qi Cultivation that you're safe; even Foundation Establishment cultivators, Purple Mansion cultivators, and even Golden Core cultivators might fall in it!"
"During the beast tide, even the protective arrays of some Purple Mansion clans are often broken!"
"Remember, two hundred years ago, one of the clan's protective arrays was forcibly broken, and within, three Foundation Establishment cultivators, twenty-five Qi Cultivation cultivators, and a hundred thousand mortals were brutally breached!"
With some fear, Father said gravely, "Son, when the beast tide comes, focus on nothing else but self-preservation."