In the distance, thin plumes of cooking smoke curled upward, adding a touch of mortal warmth to the immortal mountains and spiritual lake.
From above, one could see bamboo houses scattered across the valley, smoke rising from their rooftops.
Wei Songnian turned his head and reminded them, "Slow down, follow my lead, and descend gradually."
Ji An clumsily controlled his talisman bird, slowing it as instructed. When the three landed on the small path before a bamboo house, Wei Songnian called out loudly:
"Old Huang, luck's with you today! New disciples have come to report, and they'll be under your care."
The bamboo house was encircled by a fence. Inside the yard grew vegetables and a few herbs Ji An couldn't name. Every inch of the small courtyard had been put to use.
Out came a cultivator with graying hair, darkened features, and a face full of deep wrinkles. Smiling, he cupped his hands:
"Many thanks, Senior Brother Wei, for bringing these two junior brothers to fill the vacancies."
Wei Songnian waved a hand.
"Old Huang, these two are promising talents. You should be pleased.
Tonight, I won't be leaving. I'll stay and drink a cup of spirit wine in their honor."
Huang's eyes swept quickly over the two newcomers. When he saw Liu Yu put away his talisman crane into a storage pouch, his eyes lit up. The previously weary look on his face bloomed into joy like a chrysanthemum in full blossom.
"Haha! Of course, of course. A welcoming feast is only proper for two new junior brothers."
Wei Songnian turned his head and explained openly:
"According to sect rules, every new disciple will follow a senior disciple for guidance during the first year.
After one year, the sect will hold an examination.
If the newcomers perform well, their mentor will be rewarded with contribution points.
Realm advancement and spell mastery are both part of the assessment."
Ji An cast a discreet glance at Liu Yu. He understood clearly that the warm welcome they now enjoyed was thanks to Liu Yu's wealth.
A storage pouch, even the simplest one, costs more than a dozen spirit stones in an immortal city. A talisman bird, crudely made, still costs at least one spirit stone.
Talisman birds were consumables. After a certain number of hours in flight, they were essentially scrap. Push them further, and accidents become likely.
No one from Green Pine Dao Academy had ever owned such things.
For someone with such resources, reaching the peak of Qi Refining was almost a given.
Liu Yu noticed everyone's attention on him and responded with a warm smile.
"Since it is offered with goodwill, I shall respectfully accept."
Old Huang began preparing the meal. Ji An immediately went to help, while the other two set up a table and chairs beneath a tree and chatted idly.
When the food was ready, Old Huang lit a lamp with a flick of his hand and produced a small wine jar, about the size of a newborn's head.
As he broke the clay seal, a rich fragrance drifted out.
Wei Songnian, sociable and eloquent, soon had everyone relaxed. The atmosphere grew lively.
Amber-colored spirit wine slid down Ji An's throat, leaving him refreshed and clear-headed. Threads of spiritual qi dissolved into his body, flowing into his qi sea.
For an instant, his expression shifted, but he quickly steadied himself.
Wei Songnian set down his cup with a sigh.
"Cultivation is never easy. Even within a sect, every step feels like walking on thin ice. You'll come to understand this more in time.
As for me, I never excelled in any particular art, so I scrape by on small trades, buying cheap, selling dear. Nothing glorious, just enough to live.
If either of you ever needs something hard to find within the sect, I can help run errands for you."
Old Huang added:
"Everyone around Bihai Lake knows Senior Brother Wei is fair in trade. If you compare prices, you'll see his honesty for yourselves."
"We'll surely trouble Senior Brother in the future," Ji An said with a small bow, raising his half-filled cup in a distant toast.
Liu Yu also raised his cup. They drank together, the camaraderie deepening.
The bright moon rose high, its silver glow filtering through the treetops, leaving scattered patterns on the table, now cluttered with dishes and cups.
Liu Yu tilted his head to the sky, then stood.
"My cultivation method is a family inheritance. At this hour, refining spiritual qi is most effective.
Senior brothers, junior brother, I'll take my leave for now.
Senior Brother Huang, may I ask where my lodging is?"
"Head due south, about half a li. Bamboo House No. Guiwei-12.
The warding seals will need to be reactivated by you personally. The jade slip explains the procedure in detail."
Wei Songnian pulled two half-filled cloth bags from his storage pouch.
"These are the supplies the sect provides to new disciples assigned as spiritual farmers.
Inside are Yellow Sprout rice seeds, powders to ward off spirit-field pests, and three months of rations.
I didn't hand them over earlier, as I thought it would be inconvenient to carry them on the road."
Ji An's eyes narrowed as he studied the senior brother again.
The larger the storage pouch, the more expensive it was. A typical pouch could barely hold half a sack of grain, yet this man's pouch clearly contained much more. And if it could hold so much, it surely contained treasures even more valuable.
Another wealthy one, Ji An thought.
"I know the rules of the Spirit Farmer Hall," Liu Yu said with a polite bow. "But I won't be planting spirit grain. These things, Senior Brother, you can deal with as you like."
With that, he took out his talisman crane, infused it with spiritual power, and departed gracefully.
In the night sky, the paper crane shone with a gentle glow, illuminating the path ahead.
"Truly enviable," Wei Songnian sighed. "A cultivation method that allows one to refine qi more effectively according to the time of day, such techniques in the sect's Scripture Pavilion would cost no less than a thousand contribution points."
He turned back with a smile.
"Since Junior Brother Liu doesn't need these spirit seeds or rations, they're wasted on me as well. Why don't the two of you divide them?"
Old Huang, clearly well acquainted with him, agreed readily:
"Alright then. I'll split them evenly with Junior Brother Ji."
Ji An quickly interjected:
"I've only just reached the first level of Qi Refining. I'm not yet familiar with spirit farming. The seeds allocated by the sect are more than enough. Why don't I just take some of the food for now?"
"That works too. And if you run into difficulties, feel free to ask me," Old Huang said with a laugh, happily keeping the spirit grain seeds.
Ji An cupped his hands.
"There's something I don't understand. May I ask?
Earlier, you mentioned that farming spirit grain was considered the worst assignment in the sect. Why, then, would Senior Brother Liu willingly choose to come here?"
From what Ji An had seen of Liu Yu's family background, gaining entry into the Artifact Hall or the Beast-Taming Hall should have been no problem at all.
Old Huang hesitated a moment before answering:
"I'll be frank, Junior Brother, so don't take offense.
For people like you and me, being assigned as a spirit farmer really is the worst outcome.
New disciples have low cultivation and weak spell mastery. We can only plant first-rank spirit grain.
There are natural disasters, pests, and when the grain ripens, beasts and birds come to feed. If your spells aren't refined, the harvest barely feeds you.
Only after two or three years, once your planting spells improve, will life grow easier.
But there is one benefit: spirit farmers are not given sect missions during their first year. All their time belongs to themselves.
For disciples from great clans, that single year is enough to push into the late stage of Qi Refining. With their families' connections, they can immediately take a master's and leave the jurisdiction of the Administrative Hall.
This place," he gestured vaguely around, "is just a stepping stone."
Silence fell. The three of them lost the mood for conversation.
After a while, Ji An offered thanks and took his leave.
Declining Wei Songnian's offer to escort him, he followed the path on foot toward his own residence, Bamboo House Guiwei-13.
A Qi Refining cultivator's arms had the strength of two hundred jin. Carrying two half-full sacks of grain was no burden at all.
The bamboo house had two rooms: a bedroom and a kitchen. Ji An lit a candle and made a quick inspection.
The bedroom was simply furnished: one table, one chair, a meditation mat, and a bed.
The kitchen held only a water jar and an empty rice bin.
It looked as if the previous occupant had moved out only days ago; the table wasn't even dusty.
He poured the rice into the bin. It was just ordinary mortal rice, containing almost no spiritual qi.
From his bundle, he placed his clothes neatly on the bed, then took out a palm-sized wooden carving and set it on the windowsill.
It was shaped like a bamboo rat, carved by his father in imitation of the spirit-seeking mouse, its surface patterned with gold-veined markings.
The toy had accompanied the original Ji An for ten years, worn smooth and polished in places by handling.
Ji An then took out the jade slip, pressed it to his forehead, and read its contents with his spiritual sense.
Skipping over the sect rules, he carefully studied the Clear Source Sutra.
Although he had opened his immortal vein and entered Qi Refining, he had no matching cultivation method. Merely relying on his body's instinct to absorb qi, his qi sea contained very little spiritual power.
Without spiritual power, practicing spells was out of the question.
But after years of study at the Dao Academy, reading this method was not difficult for him. And after his soul fusion, his comprehension and mental strength were far sharper than before.
In less than an hour, he had grasped the essence of the technique.
The method was pure orthodoxy: how to guide spiritual qi into the body, circulate it through the immortal veins, and synchronize breathing with the flow. It was all explained with absolute clarity.
The Clear Source Sutra was not so different from the Vein-Circulating Method. The difference was that one circulated internal qi through mortal meridians, while the other drew in heavenly qi and channeled it through immortal veins.
Once he had committed the technique to memory, Ji An pushed open the window. Moonlight flooded the room, bathing even the little wooden carving in its glow.
Seated cross-legged upon the meditation mat, he began his first true attempt at drawing in the qi of heaven and earth.
Quieting his mind and steadying his breath, he inhaled deeply.
Spiritual qi flowed in through his nose and mouth, coursing gently along his immortal veins.
Everything went smoothly. The spiritual qi was refined into mana and stored within his qi sea.
An hour later, Ji An slowly emerged from his meditation. His mind felt clear, his body light, and there was no doubt his cultivation had advanced.
But instead of joy, his brows furrowed deeply.
At dusk, after drinking spirit wine, when the absorbed spiritual power entered his qi sea, part of it had been swallowed by the stone tortoise.
Now, when he cultivated the Clear Source Sutra, the same thing happened; half of his refined mana was devoured.
Sensing carefully, Ji An confirmed it: fully half of his effort had been taken.
A bitter look twisted his face, his teeth grinding with frustration.
So before I even get to rely on this golden finger to sweep all obstacles aside, it's already skimming off half of my hard-earned mana?
Half! With only mid-grade aptitude, his absorption efficiency was already low; this was a disaster.
A chilling thought arose: what if he couldn't advance to the fourth level of Qi Refining in time?
The sect's rules were strict. If a disciple failed to reach mid-stage within three years, they would be expelled.
At the Qi Refining stage, one's immortal veins were newly opened and fragile. Cultivation couldn't continue endlessly; an hour at a time was best, followed by one or two hours of rest. Overtraining strained the veins and sharply reduced efficiency.
Secluding oneself for days of continuous cultivation was a luxury reserved for higher realms. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn't manage it.
Steadying his heart, Ji An retrieved another jade slip, pressed it to his forehead, and began studying the Minor Rain Technique.
Now that he had mana, he could test a spell and test the tortoise's mysteries.
If the gains outweighed the losses, even losing half his mana might be acceptable.
The Minor Rain Technique was no profound art. It was a farming spell, designed to summon rain over spirit fields, suited for Qi Refining cultivators.
The summoned rain carried spiritual qi, nourishing spirit grain and herbs. Without such rain during critical growing periods, harvests would be severely reduced.
The first two levels of the technique were simple, requiring no threshold. After enough practice, mastery would come naturally.
Most spells were the same: easy to learn, hard to master.
Once a spell reached the third level, or Minor Attainment, it required comprehension of its underlying intent and resonance.
Those of dull aptitude could grind their way to the fourth level, Major Attainment, but progress would be agonizingly slow.
And without sufficient comprehension, achieving Perfection was as futile as scooping water with a bamboo basket, or grasping the moon's reflection in a well, always in vain.
Casting a spell required guiding mana through the immortal veins in precise patterns, while synchronizing with a hand seal to trigger it.
Both aspects had to align, or the spell would fail, sometimes even damaging the veins.
Thankfully, the Minor Rain Technique was a basic farming spell. Its entry barrier was low.
Ji An memorized its essentials, then set aside actual casting for the moment. Instead, he practiced the hand seals until his movements flowed smoothly, without stiffness.
Only then did he step outside the bamboo house.
The night breeze was damp and cool, carrying the scent of water.
Taking a deep breath, Ji An calmed his excitement and channeled his mana along the prescribed route through his immortal veins.
Years of circulating inner qi, coupled with his new understanding of the Clear Source Sutra, allowed the spell to flow seamlessly.
Under the moonlight, a faint mist rose to shroud the courtyard. A fine drizzle began to fall, thin as ox-hair.
It worked! My first spell!
Even after living two lifetimes, Ji An's heart pounded wildly.
He stepped into the mist, closed his eyes, and spread his arms wide, letting the rain soak his hair and clothes, patter against his skin.
He didn't know how far he was from ascending as an immortal, but he knew he had taken his first firm step.
The road may be long, but with steady walking, one must arrive.
The spell lasted only half a quarter-hour. When the drizzle stopped, Ji An crouched down and pawed at the ground. The soil was damp only to half a finger's depth. He chuckled wryly.
Well, what can you expect from a novice spell? Results will have to wait.
But when he gauged his mana reserves, his smile froze.
Even with his qi sea filled, he could only cast the Minor Rain Technique five or six times.
And one hour of cultivating the Clear Source Sutra had filled only a third of his qi sea.
The total mana at first-level Qi Refining is far too little. And even cultivation yields so little power…
Suppressing the irritation rising in his chest, Ji An closed his eyes and focused on the stone tortoise.
A panel of words appeared in his mind:
[Master: Ji An]
[Dao Resonance: 0]
[Spiritual Qi: Kan 1.1, Kun 0.8, Xun 0.4]
[Spells: Minor Rain Technique (Entry 1%)]
Now it was time to witness a miracle. Whether his path would open wide or collapse here depended on this moment.
Ji An's breathing grew rapid. His future rested on the outcome.
He focused on the spell. A prompt appeared:
[Consume Kan-ling to enhance Minor Rain Technique. Refine?]
Refine! Do you even need to ask?
Ancestors above, bless me!
As his decision was made, Ji An's consciousness was pulled into a mysterious space.
The stone tortoise glowed with soft light. He stood upon the tortoise's back at the Kan position, casting the Minor Rain Technique again and again. Countless insights poured into his mind.
The number beside "Kan-ling" dwindled rapidly until it reached zero.
[Spells: Minor Rain Technique (Entry 1% → 66%)]
Ji An burst out laughing.
"Old Tortoise, you're awesome! Six-six-six!"
Cultivation? From now on, he was steady!