"Why did you come over?"
Li An saw Wang Dazhu arrive and gave a slight smile.
"Brother An, I've been wanting to come, but as a new disciple, we can only move freely on the last day of the month, so I could only come today... Brother An, how is your health?"
Wang Dazhu looked at Li An with concern.
Li An sighed, "Alas, my Spirit Root is still broken, but fortunately... I have entered the Qi Refining First Layer."
Wang Dazhu was somewhat pleased, "That's great! I knew you were not an ordinary person, Brother An! ... Hmph, at the gathering a few days back, Zhao Xian's Story said that you would never be able to cultivate in this lifetime..."
"Gathering?"
"Yes, those of us who entered the sect together agreed to gather at the end of each month to share insights and progress together... Next time I return, I'll let them know that you have successfully begun Qi Cultivation!"
He looked eager, clearly having faced some ridicule at the gathering because of Li An.
Now that Li An has succeeded in Qi Cultivation, he naturally wants to hold his head high.
Li An couldn't help but smile but said nothing.
Even if Wang Dazhu spreads the news of his success in Qi Cultivation, it wouldn't have much impact.
Zhao Xian and the others will quickly find out that under normal circumstances, Li An wouldn't advance further in this lifetime.
Wang Dazhu then excitedly spoke about his situation in the sect.
After entering the Profound Yang Sect, Wang Dazhu and other registered disciples received unified teachings from the outer sect elders, who taught them breathing techniques, Cultivation Techniques, and more.
The treatment for registered disciples is quite generous, with five Spirit Stones and ten bags of Spirit Rice every month!
Wang Dazhu cultivated diligently and practiced the Fire Element Skill and has already reached Qi Refining First Layer.
In just two months, he is nearly perfecting Qi Refining First Layer and is ready to move towards the second layer.
This is the benefit of having abundant resources!
In comparison, at Li An's current cultivation speed, it would take at least another year to reach this stage.
"Official disciples are truly privileged, as they can apprentice under outer sect elders and receive personalized teaching, and they receive ten Spirit Stones every month. Brother An, I heard that Mu Qingwan has already reached Qi Refining Second Layer and is highly regarded."
Mu Qingwan, Zhao Xian's Story, Wang Jian, and other official disciples live in comfort and have promising futures.
In comparison, Li An has already fallen far behind the group of youths who entered the sect together.
"Brother An, I have two spare Spirit Stones from these two months..."
Wang Dazhu said, taking out a Spirit Stone to hand to Li An.
Li An smiled and said, "No need, Dazhu, I don't have much use for Spirit Stones here."
"There will be evaluations for registered disciples in three years, and the winners have the chance to become official disciples, so keep it for yourself."
Wang Dazhu grinned, "I'll listen to you, Brother An. If you ever need anything, just come to me."
"By the way, Brother An, would you like to join us for the next gathering?"
Li An thought for a moment and said, "Alright."
...
Mid-month, Fan Jie finally returned.
This time, he brought back a large amount of pesticide, all of which was used by Wang Zilin.
Li An guessed that Fan Jie himself wasn't sure which pesticide was effective a few days ago, so he conducted experiments.
Now, having confirmed the results, he dared to purchase in bulk.
"The first batch of Spirit Rice will mature in a few days, we must control the Moths!"
"If anyone's field has reduced yield because of Moths, I won't forgive you!"
Fan Jie coldly threatened.
His gaze swept across Zhang Susu, noticing her tired and anxious expression, which brought a slight smile to his eyes.
But when he saw the even more exhausted Wang Zilin next to her, his face showed a trace of disdain.
"Immortal Master,"
After Zhang Susu and Wang Zilin left, Li An approached Fan Jie proactively.
"What's the matter?"
Li An respectfully said, "It's like this: a few days ago, a friend who is an Immortal Elder came to see me and mentioned wanting to buy some unique Spiritual Food..."
"Just recently, I discovered some of the Moths in the Spirit Field seem to have undergone Spiritualization, so I wanted to catch these Spirit Insects to sell to my friend."
"However, without your permission, Immortal Master, I dare not decide on my own, so I haven't mentioned it to him yet."
"What do you think, Immortal Master?"
Hearing this, Fan Jie frowned slightly.
"What is the name of your Immortal Elder friend? Are they an official disciple or a registered disciple?"
He asked very specifically.
"His name is Wang Dazhu. He's a new disciple who joined the sect this year and is currently a registered disciple, but his aptitude is excellent."
Li An replied.
Upon hearing this, Fan Jie pondered, somewhat astonished that a registered disciple was willing to befriend a servant...
However, it did make him pay more attention to Li An.
Moreover, the creation of Spirit Insects among the Spirit Rice must not be leaked by Li An, as any probing individual would unravel the truth...
His attitude softened slightly and he said:
"Those Spirit Insects won't earn many Spirit Stones. You should focus on tending to the Spirit Rice. Don't worry, if you perform well, I won't let you suffer."
"Next month, I will speak to the sect about increasing your monthly allowance."
Li An respectfully said, "Alright, thank you, Immortal Master."
This was Li An's way of cautioning Fan Jie!
After all, Fan Jie had been overly harsh in his deductions.
With this, Fan Jie would have some apprehension.
...
Another ten days passed.
The first batch of spirit rice finally matured and began to be harvested.
A large amount of spirit rice was harvested, and Zhang Susu looked at her yield and cried out in despair.
Her plot of spirit field was already barren, and she had to exhaust all her efforts to barely meet the production standard. With the effects of the moth infestation, she was still about two hundred pounds short!
Beside her, Wang Zilin also felt frustrated because he spent a lot of time helping Zhang Susu, which caused his own spirit field yield to be low, only above the standard by a little over a hundred pounds, earning merely about five pounds as a reward.
The biggest harvest was Li An's, exceeding the standard yield by a full eight hundred pounds!
According to the reward standard, he could receive about forty pounds of spirit rice as a reward!
For a servant, this was quite substantial!
After all, one hundred pounds of spirit rice could be exchanged for a lower grade spirit stone.
"Zhang Susu, all monthly allowances for this month will be deducted. Wang Zilin remains unchanged, and Li An receives forty extra pounds of spirit rice!"
Fan Jie announced expressionlessly.
Li An felt a slight surge of joy inside, the pressure he exerted a few days ago seemed to work.
Fan Jie embezzled Wang Zilin's five-pound reward, but did not deduct a single bit from Li An's!
Meanwhile, Wang Zilin and Zhang Susu were burning with jealousy but dared not show it, wary of the precedent set by others.
Shortly after, Fan Jie distributed the monthly allowances again.
Li An weighed the bag and found that the spirit stone inside was indeed a complete piece, not just a fragment!
The monthly allowance was fully given.
...
"Brother Li,"
Zhang Susu found Li An and bit her lower lip lightly, "Could you lend me some spirit rice?"
Her entire monthly allowance was deducted, leaving her without enough food for the month.
"Sister Susu, I actually owe you some spirit rice already."
Li An did not refuse and returned all the spirit rice he had previously borrowed from Zhang Susu.
Not a single grain more.
Zhang Susu took the handful of spirit rice but did not leave. Her face was slightly flushed, "Brother Li, could you lend me a bit more?"
This little amount of spirit rice... is still not enough to eat.
"How much do you need?"
"A bag, just a bag will do. I promise to repay you on time when the next monthly allowance is issued."
Li An shook his head, "Sorry, I can only lend you half a bag."
"My spirit root is still quite damaged and I really need the spirit rice."
Not lending might make Zhang Susu hold a grudge.
Lending too much might incur Fan Jie's wrath.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Susu's beautiful eyes showed some disappointment but she still expressed gratitude, "Alright, then half a bag, thank you so much..."
She left with the spirit rice.
...
During this period, the first leaf of the life seed within Li An had fully unfolded, about the size of a thumbprint.
Under the nurturing of the life seed, the spirit root seemed to have undergone a subtle change.
However, Li An couldn't help feeling conflicted; at this rate, it would probably take half a year to achieve perfection in Qi Refining First Layer...
Lack of spirit stones was one reason, but fundamentally... the Life Nourishing Immortal Skill also cultivated more slowly than other skills.
Nevertheless, Li An wasn't anxious. He felt his vitality was gradually increasing, reflecting in his longevity, which now had extended by over a decade.
Even if it took him ten years to break through to Qi Refining First Layer, it would still be enough!
Accumulate strength, grow slowly!
"It's about time to practice some spells."
Li An muttered.
This life, he intended to tread a path of steady development, but the cultivation realm was extremely cruel; without combative techniques, survival was impossible.
Fortunately, in his past life, he was born into a cultivation clan and had reached the Core Formation stage, leaving his mind overflowing with cultivation techniques.
"Currently, the most useful spell for me is the Water Arrow Skill!"
Water Arrow Skill, Yellow Rank Lower Grade, could utilize moisture in the air to form sharp water arrows to kill enemies.
Its lethality was quite decent.
Moreover, the reason for choosing this spell was that the Water Arrow Skill had similarities with the Cloud Movement and Rain Skill, allowing mutual reinforcement, and could be practiced during daily work.
After trying over a dozen times, water droplets suddenly condensed in front of him from the air, compressing into a small arrow shape. With a burst of spiritual qi, the water arrow whooshed out and pierced through a piece of wood a meter away.
"The spirit root is too weak, it took many repetitions to truly master it."
"Currently, the maximum range is only one and a half meters, to unleash significant lethality, it needs to reach about ten meters!"
"However, the spiritual qi cultivated from the Life Nourishing Immortal Skill is purer and more robust, and recovers quickly. Normally, a Qi Refining First Layer practitioner could only execute the Water Arrow Skill twice before running out of spiritual qi, but I can perform it about five times!"
Li An was quite satisfied.
In the following days, while engaging in the Cloud Movement and Rain Skill, he also refined the Water Arrow Skill, intentionally or otherwise.
The range of the Water Arrow Skill quickly increased to about four meters.
And the Cloud Movement and Rain Skill also improved continuously; when he caused rain, the rain curtain was evenly distributed, and the spiritual qi moved along with it.
The spirit rice visibly grew better.
...
Midway, the second batch of spirit rice was also harvested.
But during this period, the pest infestation worsened, and the insecticide provided by Fan Jie became less effective.
The additional benefits of Li An's Cloud Movement and Rain were nullified by the pests, making his yield roughly equal to last time.
Zhang Susu and the others suffered heavier losses.
And after harvesting the second batch of spirit rice, Fan Jie finally readjusted the spirit field allocation!