Fang Yun then sat cross-legged beside the stream. With a slight mental movement, the cool aura began to flow through his meridians, responding to his will just like his spiritual energy. Witnessing this, Fang Yun became even more eager to discover the effects of this cool aura.
As the aura reached the previously injured meridians, it felt like a parched land suddenly receiving a scoop of fresh water. The injured meridians visibly accelerated their healing. If measured against the speed of healing he achieved with spiritual energy, the healing effect of this cool aura was roughly equivalent to ten days' worth of healing.
Although the amount didn't seem large, it was important to note that he had only harvested less than one-tenth of the total vegetables by the stream. If he were to harvest all the vegetables, the energy he would gain, combined with his previous healing efforts, would be enough to recover about 60 to 70% of his injuries. Besides these greens, there were still rice, soybeans, and medicinal herbs to consider.
Once all the crops in the valley matured, not only would he completely heal, but he would also be able to store some of the cool aura. This way, he might even research more uses and benefits of this energy.
Thinking about his impending recovery made Fang Yun feel a surge of excitement. The injuries had troubled him for too long; if it weren't for them, he would have been able to continue his cultivation. Moreover, with his previous Qi Training Level 1, he could practice the Ground Technique in the Spring Longevity Art. This would greatly support his farming endeavors, allowing him to gather even more unknown energy and create a positive feedback loop, instead of wasting time toiling like an ordinary person with a hoe.
After calming his excitement, Fang Yun glanced at the panel, where the unknown energy showed zero again, nodding to himself. The emergence of this energy was truly timely for him.
In the following days, Fang Yun ceased using spiritual energy for healing. After inspecting the spirit rice and removing some weeds, he directly went to the valley to tend to the crops more diligently. Over the next month, the other vegetables by the stream gradually approached maturity, and Fang Yun began to harvest them in stages.
After absorbing the cool aura, he immediately began healing and carelessly placed the remaining vegetables in a corner. Since he couldn't eat them all, Fang Yun, adhering to the principle of not wasting, decided to use the leftover vegetables for composting. This way, once the vegetables had decayed sufficiently, he could add some other materials to enrich the soil.
A month later, all the vegetables had been harvested. Perhaps due to differences in their growth periods, the remaining vegetables provided even more cool aura than the leafy greens before. Thanks to the cool aura from these vegetables, combined with the portion he had previously restored with spiritual energy, the injured meridians in his body had healed about 80 to 90%.
Full recovery was now within reach.
So, while Fang Yun closely monitored the ripening rice and soybeans in the valley, he remained vigilant against pests and weeds, using his spiritual energy to nourish his injured meridians.
Over a month later, as the rice and soybeans approached maturity, the injuries in his meridians were finally completely healed. With the full recovery of his meridians, Fang Yun's spiritual energy could now flow freely throughout his body. This meant he had returned to the Qi Training Level 1 realm.
The spiritual energy emanating from the spiritual spring could finally be utilized instead of wasted. Furthermore, the Ground Technique he had longed to practice was now accessible to him. It could be said that from this day forward, Fang Yun had officially embarked on his cultivation journey, beginning his ascent to the peak of the immortal path.
However, no matter how excited he felt, Fang Yun had to suppress his enthusiasm for the moment. After over three months, the rice and soybeans were finally maturing. For him, these crops represented a massive source of energy.
As soon as he sensed the rice was ready for harvest, Fang Yun returned to the foot of the mountain to retrieve the tools for harvesting the rice and soybeans. He politely declined the elders' offers of assistance and went back to the valley to begin harvesting.
Ultimately, due to their different growth periods, the cool aura contained in the rice and soybeans was much richer than in the previous vegetables. Once the harvesting of the rice and soybeans was complete, Fang Yun noticed some changes on his panel.
Fang Yun
Cultivation Level: Qi Training Level 1
Spiritual Energy: 10
Plant Control: Spirit Rice (63), Astragalus (2,536) …
Life Force: 2
With his injuries healed, Fang Yun no longer had to carry the incomplete label in his cultivation level. The amount of life force was significantly greater than when he had harvested the vegetables. Fang Yun estimated that just one point of this life force could restore his injuries to their peak state.
For him, it felt like having two lives.
Thinking of this, a radiant smile spread across Fang Yun's face. After pondering for a moment, he decided to name this unknown energy "life force." After all, it wouldn't do to keep calling it unknown energy.
As Fang Yun confirmed the name for this energy in his mind, the panel reflected the change as well, indicating that the data on the panel could change according to his thoughts.
Then, looking at the harvested grains in the valley, he considered that transporting them out by himself would be quite difficult. He had two options: either go down the mountain to ask the elders to send someone to collect them or burn them all to convert them back into nutrients.
After hesitating for a moment, Fang Yun was more reluctant to expose this area than he was to waste the food. After all, these crops were connected to his special abilities.
While he didn't believe that the Fang family would notice anything unusual about the grains if he handed them over, he remained cautious. Until he had the ability to protect himself, Fang Yun didn't want any information related to his special abilities to be exposed.
Once his strength increased and he could produce more crops, he would have time to hand them over to the Fang family then.
Thus, Fang Yun selected the most vigorous parts of the two crops as the seeds for the next batch. After several days of sun exposure, he burned the remaining rice and mixed the ashes back into the soil, using it as a nutrient source for the next generation of crops.
The remaining crops were the medicinal herbs, which took much longer to mature than ordinary crops. The longer they were planted, the better their efficacy. Did that mean they also contained more life force? If so, there was no rush to harvest these medicinal herbs.