Half an hour later, Old Man Lu ran over looking troubled.
"What's the matter?" Xu Ping asked curiously.
"I heard them say a demon beast has broken into the spirit fields, trampling and eating a large patch of spirit rice." Old Man Lu sighed, the wrinkles on his face seeming deeper.
"A demon beast has broken into the market!"
Xu Ping was shocked and immediately asked, "Doesn't the patrol team survey the market every day? How could there be demon beasts roaming around?"
"Those guys just go through the motions every day. If they truly put effort into patrolling for us, there wouldn't be so many incidents of robbery and murder happening regularly." Old Man Lu grumbled indignantly.
These words inevitably reminded Xu Ping of the two cultivators who had tried to rob him a few days ago.
If the patrol team had been genuinely patrolling, how could those two individuals have been so bold and dared to attack him in broad daylight?
"Did demon beasts break into the market during the beast tide before?" Xu Ping continued to ask.
Old Man Lu hesitated for a moment, then shook his head: "Once before, many people died, and in the end, the Longevity Sect had to put in great effort to suppress that beast tide."
"But last time, even second-stage demon beasts appeared. This time, not even a shadow of a second-stage demon beast has been seen, so it shouldn't be that dangerous." Old Man Lu reassured.
"I hope so." Xu Ping sighed, feeling a vague sense of unease.
But there wasn't much he could do; he could only strive to earn more spirit stones and work hard to enhance his own strength.
....
...
After harvesting sixteen spirit crystals today, Xu Ping hurried home.
The residual medicinal power in his body was finally fully refined, and he could continue to take Qi Nourishing Pills.
The demon beast invasion that happened today had put a lot of pressure on him.
He now wanted to strengthen his power as much as possible.
After dinner, Xu Ping entered the bedroom.
He took out the Qi Nourishing Pills from his storage bag.
After fully refining the medicinal power these past two days, his mastery level increased by a point, and the proficiency of the Five Elements Skill increased by eight points.
The progress was impressive.
At this rate, this bottle of pills would be enough to push his cultivation level to the fourth layer of Qi Cultivation!
Xu Ping swallowed the Qi Nourishing Pill in one gulp and then sat cross-legged.
Soon, he smoothly entered a meditative state.
Time passed unnoticed in cultivation.
Gradually, the flow of spiritual power in his body became increasingly smooth, subtle hindrances began to dissolve, and even the circulation routes underwent slight adjustments and optimizations, becoming more compatible with his physical form.
He cultivated for nearly two hours before he awoke from the meditative state.
Since his arrival, he had never meditated for such long periods.
When he opened his eyes, it felt like waking from a dream.
It took him a good while to come completely to himself, quickly opening the proficiency panel.
He saw the Five Elements Skill proficiency had turned into 'Proficient: 4/400'.
The cultivation level had also increased by 2 points in one go.
"Finally.... the Five Elements Skill has broken through!!" Xu Ping rejoiced!
Initially, the Five Elements Skill had the highest proficiency among all skills, yet the progress was unbelievably slow.
While exhilarated, Xu Ping immediately sensed a unique insight forming in his heart.
He seemed to have practiced the Five Elements Skill hundreds of times, gaining a deeper understanding of its many evolutions.
It was something he had never experienced before.
"It's so amazing?" Xu Ping's heart pounded intensely.
Moreover, he felt that his cultivation speed had increased by at least one-third compared to before.
This was already akin to the level of top-tier lower grade spirit roots.
And more importantly, now he only needed a day to completely refine the Qi Nourishing Pill!
His time to break through to the fourth layer of Qi Cultivation had been moved forward!
"Great, great!"
Xu Ping beamed with joy.
No matter the deficiency of his spirit root, he could still grind his way forward step by step.
"If the Five Elements Skill were to break through again, my cultivation speed wouldn't be inferior to those with mid-grade spirit roots."
"This is true... hope for immortality!"
...
...
In the following days, Xu Ping took a Qi Nourishing Pill every day.
His cultivation speed was astounding.
The cultivation level increased by two points daily, and after the proficiency breakthrough of the Five Elements Skill, though proficiency decreased slightly, it continued to show a daily increase of four points.
If things continued this way, in less than ten days, he would break through to the fourth layer of Qi Cultivation!
Amidst his joy, Xu Ping also worried about the demon beast intrusion in the market.
In these few days, he frequently heard that certain families' spirit fields were devastated by demon beasts, or even certain individuals were attacked while out at night.
Faced with such problems, he was helpless; he could only quietly work on strengthening his abilities.
...
Four days later.
Xu Ping stood amidst a vast spirit field, casting a magic technique with his hands.
The clouds in the sky quickly gathered, and soon, a drizzle of spirit rain began to fall.
At this moment!
Ding!
[Spirit Rain Skill experience +1]
The panel prompt appeared before his eyes, and suddenly Xu Ping's head buzzed. His consciousness blanked.
In an instant, countless pieces of information about Spirit Rain Skill were forcibly infused into his Sea of Consciousness.
It took him a full half hour before he regained his senses.
"This is... Spirit Rain Skill has broken through!!"
Xu Ping excitedly opened the proficiency panel.
[Spirit Rain Skill proficient: 1/400]
"Finally, it's broken through!"
Seeing the words on the panel, Xu Ping's heart raced.
The breakthrough of Spirit Rain Skill meant he had finally truly become a First Rank Lower Grade Spirit Plant Cultivator.
Although the status of a Spirit Plant Cultivator does not compare to formations, pills, artifacts, or talismans, in the myriad arts of cultivation, it ranks in the upper tier of the disdain circle.
After all, the natural spirit medicines and fairy treasures are limited in quantity, and most require extremely harsh conditions for successful cultivation.
However, Spirit Plant Cultivators can use magic and other means to create environments suitable for growing spirit medicines and fairy treasures, even accelerating their growth.
It's important to note that Spirit Plant Cultivators meticulously cultivate not just ordinary spirit rice, but precious spirit medicine, or high-grade Spirit Wood used for artifact refining and talisman making.
Skillful Spirit Plant Cultivators are not in any lesser status compared to some Talisman Masters!
"It seems I should visit the market center to see if there are houses for rent." Xu Ping mused internally.
The environment for spirit medicine growth is highly demanding, and the thin and unsafe spiritual environment at the market outskirts is clearly unsuitable for spirit medicine cultivation.
The reason rent is high in the market center is partly due to safety, but also because of the spiritual environment.
Dongwu Market is built on a second-stage spirit vein.
The core of the second-stage spirit vein is exclusively occupied by Foundation Establishment cultivators.
There is another branch vein in the market center, where the spiritual qi reaches the level of First Rank Upper Grade.
As for the market outskirts being on the tail end of the branch vein, the spiritual qi barely reaches First Rank Lower Grade.
The difference in spiritual qi concentration is immense; if Xu Ping moved to the market center, his cultivation speed could increase by at least fifty percent.
"Fellow Daoist Xu? Fellow Daoist Xu!"
The voice calling from behind snapped Xu Ping back to reality.
He turned around and waved to Old Man Lu standing on the ridge: "I'm fine."
"Hurry up, we need to go to the next house after this." Old Man Lu urged.
Xu Ping...
Wait, there's something off here!
Employees starting to exert pressure on the boss in reverse?