So that was the case.
Lu Xuanji was enlightened. He had learned a lot.
At this moment, the Patriarch sensed something and opened the jade talisman. "The cultivators of the Dan Yang Sect are here to collect the family tribute. Are you interested in serving tea?"
"I don't dare to refuse the Patriarch's order!" Lu Xuanji said.
They left the library and went to the living room.
After serving tea, Lu Xuanji stood respectfully at the side.
The guest was a 15-year-old youth. He was extremely plain-looking, with only a pair of bright eyes that seemed extraordinary.
"Dan Yang Sect, Ye Taizhen. I hereby greet fellow Daoist." The youth smiled.
"So it's fellow Daoist Tai!" The Patriarch said. "The Lu clan has 23 Foundation Establishment cultivators and one Zifu disciple. Each year, the Foundation Establishment cultivator gets 100 stones, and the Zifu disciple gets 1,000 stones. In ten years, we have accumulated the spirit stones will be 33,000 spirit stones. Fellow Daoist, keep it well!"
As he spoke, he handed over a storage pouch.
Ye Taizhen took the storage pouch, opened it, and carefully inspected it. "The accounts are in order!"
"Farewell!" Ye Taizhen cupped his hands and said. Then, took his leave. Without even drinking tea, he left.
From the moment he appeared to the moment he left, less than ten breaths had passed.
"Does it hurt?" The Patriarch asked.
"It hurts!" Lu Xuanji said.
33,000 spirit stones... That was equivalent to three Foundation Establishment Pills.
A Qi Refinement stage cultivator's annual salary was 10 to 50 spirit stones
A Foundation Establishment stage cultivator's annual salary was only 100 to 500 spirit stones.
"My heart aches too. By spending money, we may not necessarily buy peace, but not spending money will definitely bring us chaos," the Patriarch said leisurely. "Leave!"
"Yes!" Lu Xuanji left respectfully.
Life was still the same, simple and repetitive.
At the same time, he was thinking about how to increase the yield of the White Yang Rice.
It was mainly used for farming, and it was also known as the spirit farmer.
Compared to alchemists who needed to burn money, blacksmiths needed talent, formation masters needed comprehension. Meanwhile, spirit farmers had the lowest requirement. They only needed spirit fields and seeds.
...
In the blink of an eye, four years had passed.
In a cavern, Lu Xuanji opened his eyes. Golden rays of light shot out from his eyes, and electricity was generated in the void space.
His body crackled as his bones and tendons resonated with the surrounding energy. The red light flickered and fluctuated, followed by an ever-changing green light. There was also yellow light, fluctuating up and down.
Finally, the green, yellow, and red lights alternated and rotated continuously.
The three-colored light fluctuated in the cave abode, and after an hour, Lu Xuanji retracted its aura and he returned to his normal appearance.
At this time, he was already at the third level of the Qi Refinement stage.
Originally, he estimated that he would need five years to cultivate the Green Lotus Creation Art derived from Fate Deduction. In four years, he would be able to step into the third level of Qi Refinement stage.
Feeling the aura on his body, Lu Xuanji felt extremely good.
Cultivating the three great attributes of fire, earth, and wood, not only did he take into account the characteristics of his own attributes, but he also perfectly matched them with his own body. His circulation was extremely smooth.
"I'm 18 years old!"
Lu Xuanji sighed.
In the cave abode, he immediately lit a fire, poured spiritual spring water into the copper cauldron, and poured in the White Yang Rice. Thus, he began to steam the rice.
The fire was the spiritual fire.
After a moment, the cauldron emitted waves of fragrance.
He opened the copper cauldron, used a wooden spoon to take out the White Yang Rice, and placed it into a wooden bowl. He took out another three bowls, which contained soup made from demon beast meat, dishes made from spiritual herbs, and a bowl of medicinal wine.
He began to eat.
The spirit rice felt warm in his stomach.
The spirit wine felt like it was on fire in his mouth.
The spirit meat was soft and had a chewy texture.
As he ate, his stomach slowly digested the food. The spiritual energy contained in the food was slowly refined by his body. It was delicate and gentle, nourishing his body.
The level of the food could determine the level of his life. The higher the level of life, the more exquisite the food was.
In the eyes of mortals, immortals were high and mighty. They thought that the immortals ate dew and clouds, breathing spiritual energy for a living. However, in reality, it was not the case. Cultivators also had to eat spirit rice, spirit herbs, and spirit pills.
Having a cave abode above the spiritual vein and absorbing spiritual energy to refine it into True Qi was a normal cultivation method for cultivators.
However, the spiritual energy in the spiritual vein was violent and restless. After absorbing it into the body, one had to circulate spiritual power to suppress it and continuously refine it to eliminate its violent and restless properties. After absorbing the spiritual energy and cultivating for a period of time, the cultivator had to rest and recuperate to avoid damaging the meridians.
The spirit rice grew on the spirit field. The spiritual energy contained within it was gentle and nourishing. After eating it, the cultivator would not damage the meridians. It could also nourish the body and increase the cultivation base.
There was a large number of spirit fields near the spirit vein. A large number of spirit rice was planted as food.
Spirit rice was a necessity for cultivators. Cultivators could live without eating spirit rice, but their cultivation would stagnate, and their progress would be much slower.
After eating and drinking his fill, Lu Xuanji lay on the bed to rest. At this time, the jade pendant in his arms rang, and a message came.
"Father is back!"
After receiving the message, Lu Xuanji left the cave abode and headed home.
At the foot of the mountain, in the courtyard, Lu Xuanji saw his father and mother.
"Mother, father... You're back!" Lu Xuanji said.
"We're back. We haven't seen each other for three years!" his father said.
"Son, come and give me a hug!" His mother went forward, but she realized that her son had already grown up. She hesitated.
"Son, this is the present I brought for you!" his father said as he took out some gifts from his storage bag.
Lu Xuanji saw a sword that was like autumn water, emitting a bright light. It was extremely sharp, and it danced in the air with a sizzling sound. Not only was it sharp, but there were also many symbols combined together in the inner part of the spirit sword, turning into a large array of symbols. It attracted the spiritual power of heaven and earth, nourishing the sword.
The three-foot-long blade had a sword spike on the hilt. It was light and unique.
"This is the Autumn Water Sword, a tier-1 Magic Tool. Try it!"
The father pointed with his finger, and the spirit sword flew over.
Lu Xuanji took the spirit sword and held it in his hand. It only weighed about three tonnes, but it was abnormally sharp.
He dripped a little blood on the core runic array of the spirit sword and left a blood mark. He immediately felt that the spirit sword seemed to have turned into an extension of his arm. It was agile and fast.
Threads of True Qi entered the rune array, activating the array.
The True Qi was being consumed rapidly. After exhausting three layers of True Qi, the flying sword flashed and turned into a ray of light. Its speed was extremely fast, reaching three hundred meters per second. The void emitted a sizzling sound.
Whoosh!
It only lasted for three breaths before the True Qi was exhausted.
"What a good sword!" Lu Xuanji exclaimed.
"This is a tier-2 spirit talisman. One is an Earth Shield Talisman, which can form an earth shield and defend against an attack from an early Foundation Establishment stage cultivator. The other is a Fireball Talisman, which can unleash a fireball spell from a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator. The other is a Teleportation Talisman, which can send the users ten miles away," his father said as he took out three jade talismans.
After taking the three jade talismans, Lu Xuanji did not feel happy. Instead, he asked worriedly, "Father, what happened?"
According to the family's rules, before reaching the seventh level of Qi Refinement stage, most people would plant spirit herbs. Spirit rice was the main ingredient, and very few people would be sent out on missions. It seemed like these things were not needed.
However, these gifts were at least 200 spirit stones.
Father's cultivation was at the third level of Foundation Establishment stage, and his annual salary was only 400 spirit stones.
"Two years later, the once-in-a-hundred-year Beast Tide will arrive. At that time, I won't be able to take care of you. You have to be a little more alert," father said worriedly.
"The ancestral land has a tier-3 spirit formation. I won't have to worry about my safety here!" Lu Xuanji said.
"You don't understand. The Beast Tide is very terrifying!" his father said. "When the Beast Tide arrives, all sorts of low-grade monsters will appear in the skies and the earth, one after another. It's as though the Beast Tide is sweeping through everything, drowning everything."
"Don't even mention that you are merely at the third level of the Qi Refining stage. Even Foundation establishment cultivators, Zifu disciples, and even Golden Core stage cultivators might perish within it!"
"During the Beast Tide, some of the Zifu clan's protective spell formations would be broken through!"
"I remember that 200 years ago, one of the clan's protective spell formations was broken through by force. 3 Foundation Establishment cultivators, 25 Qi Refinement cultivators, and 100,000 mortals perished!"
Seemingly terrified, his father's expression was solemn as he said, "My son, when the time comes for the Beast Tide, don't think too much about anything else. Just protect yourself."