Chapter Forty-One: Creating Spiritual Soil

At this moment, it had been more than ten days since he obtained the black seeds. Almost every day, he would channel the Cultivation Acceleration Spell into the seeds. Although he had anticipated some results, as one spell after another fell and the seeds remained unresponsive, he grew indifferent.

After all, even Chen Yushu himself had said he’d tried many methods but failed to make the seeds sprout. Zhou Changwang never believed himself capable of succeeding where others had failed. The reason he persisted in casting spells was merely to use the seeds as a tool for honing his own magical skills.

Yet, unexpectedly, just as he reached mastery in the Cultivation Acceleration Spell, the seeds sprouted.

“So, these black seeds weren’t dead after all. It was simply that my earlier mastery of the spell was too shallow to awaken them,” Zhou Changwang thought, gazing at the three black seeds before him, each now sporting a tender yet resilient sprout. The sense of unexpected delight was genuine.

Suddenly, he recalled what Chen Yushu had said: if someone could make the black seeds sprout, he’d offer a reward of a thousand lower-grade spirit stones. To be honest, when he first heard this offer, Zhou Changwang had been sorely tempted. Heaven knew how enticing that sum was to someone who at the time owned only a single spirit stone.

But now, he dismissed any thought of claiming the reward without hesitation.

The reason was simple: the disparity in strength and status between them was too great. Chen Yushu was not only a mid-stage sixth-layer Qi Cultivator with extraordinary skills in spiritual botany, but his background was formidable—his master was a senior spiritual botanist in the Spiritual Plant Hall.

Zhou Changwang had no desire to place his safety at the mercy of another’s whims. Even if the other party honored his promise, trouble would inevitably follow.

“But then, how should I handle these sprouted spiritual seeds?” Zhou Changwang mused, troubled as he looked at the sprouting seeds. Once a spiritual seed had germinated, it had to be planted quickly or risk losing its vitality. By his experience, ordinary spiritual fields wouldn’t suffice to keep them alive. His three mu of fields, at least, were absolutely inadequate—the spiritual energy was simply too meager to sustain them.

Moreover, these three seeds, mysterious and extraordinary in origin, were unfit to be revealed before outsiders.

After some thought, Zhou Changwang decided to craft his own spiritual soil.

—

In the cultivation world, most spiritual fields were established upon spiritual veins. Only by being situated atop a spiritual vein could spiritual energy drift up naturally, nourishing the various spiritual plants and allowing them to flourish.

However, a first-grade spiritual vein could hardly produce a second-grade, let alone a third-grade, spiritual field, making it nearly impossible to cultivate higher-grade spiritual plants and materials.

Thus, cultivators often resorted to various auxiliary means to enhance their fields, the most common being spirit-gathering arrays, the use of spiritual items, or channeling spiritual springs and eyes.

All of these, however, were luxuries beyond Zhou Changwang’s reach.

So his method was simple and crude: supplementing with spirit stones.

He went outside, dug up three handfuls of suitable soil, and filled three small bamboo tubes—actually, three bowls. These bowls were older than he was, made by his father from mountain bamboo when he first arrived and couldn’t afford furniture. Long abandoned, they were now perfectly repurposed.

Next, Zhou Changwang took out a lower-grade spirit stone, crushed it with great force into fine, translucent powder, sprinkled it into the bamboo bowls, and mixed it evenly with the soil.

Thus, three simple spiritual pots were prepared.

He then buried each seed in its own pot.

“From here on, things get easier,” Zhou Changwang thought, a rush of excitement in his heart. He was eager to see what kind of spiritual plant these black seeds would yield. If they were spiritual rice, what variety would they be?

He immediately cast the Cultivation Acceleration Spell, infusing them with vitality, followed by the Spiritual Rain Spell. Since his targets were just three small potted plants, Zhou Changwang carefully controlled the spell’s range to just cover the pots—a feat only possible after he’d reached proficiency in the spell. Otherwise, the rain would have fallen over half the neighborhood.

The saying goes, “essence lies in concentration.” Although the Spiritual Rain Spell’s area was small, the cost was hardly lessened. Each drop of this fine, drizzling rain was imbued with spiritual energy a hundred times denser than ordinary spiritual rain.

When the rain ceased, Zhou Changwang watched as the tender shoots, once buried in earth, broke through the surface and emerged.

“By the looks of it, all three seeds have taken root.”

—

From this point, all he needed to do was monitor their environment, water, and fertilize them as needed.

Seeing this, Zhou Changwang was gratified. Admittedly, the “fertilizer” was staggeringly expensive—most people could never afford it. Even for him, it was a painful sacrifice.

“But only by giving up can one gain,” he reminded himself. “If these spiritual rice seeds truly are extraordinary, my initial investments will be repaid a thousandfold.”

With that in mind, he carefully placed the three pots on his windowsill.

—

“Qi Cultivation, Level Three (21/100)”

The next morning, Zhou Changwang opened his eyes and immediately checked his attribute panel. Seeing his cultivation had advanced slightly overnight, his mood brightened.

Of course, such progress was much slower than when he consumed spiritual pills. But he was well aware that elixirs like Vitality Pills and Yellow Spirit Pills, while beneficial for cultivation, could not be taken too often.

The danger of pill toxicity was something all cultivators dreaded.

His recent binge of spiritual pills to hasten his advancement had already been risky. So, although he still had more than a bottle of Yellow Spirit Pills in his storage pouch, he refrained from using them, spacing them out every three to five days at most.

Most of the time, he relied on the spiritual energy contained in spiritual rice, cultivating steadily to raise his level.

After getting up, Zhou Changwang checked on the three pots of newly planted spiritual seeds. Seeing that their growth was steady, he let out a sigh of relief.

He then cast the Cultivation Acceleration and Spiritual Rain Spells again to ensure their healthy development before leaving his room.

His father, Zhou Qiankun, had risen even earlier and had already prepared spiritual rice porridge. After breakfast, they headed out together.

Today was the day the spiritual rice in their fields was ready for harvest. Father and son worked side by side, intending to finish the harvest quickly, complete the handover with the Spiritual Plant Hall, and fulfill their tenancy contract.