After bidding farewell to the Patriarch, Lu Xuanji resumed his normal life.
At the foot of the mountain, he opened up a spirit field and planted spirit rice.
After entering the third level of the Qi Refinement stage, the area of the spirit field expanded, spanning 300 acres.
100 acres to plant spirit rice, 200 acres to plant spiritual herbs.
About half of the spiritual herbs and spirit rice he planted were handed over to the clan, and the rest were his.
There was one more thing about spirit rice, which was that it was harvested once every three months. However, spiritual herbs required ten years for each harvest.
During these ten years, the clan needed to take care of the spiritual herbs. This included preventing them from dying, and to prevent spirit insects from corroding them.
The spiritual herbs that were planted were of very low age, and the main reason was to prepare for refining low-grade medicinal pills in the future.
Some clans needed to grow spiritual herbs once every several decades, once every several hundred years, or even once every thousand years. It took a long time to grow, but this was inevitable. Only in this way could there be an endless supply of spirit herbs to be cultivated.
If they depended only on herbs obtained in the wild, it would be neither stable nor safe.
Just like when the Lu Clan was founded 1,000 years ago, they began to grow large amounts of Jade Marrow Ganoderma. The Purple Marrow Jade needed 300 years to mature, but because the Lu Clan cultivated it early, they were able to have a good supply of it.
This way, the clan could achieve sustainable development.
On average, it was harvested once every 20 years, and the furnace was opened to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill.
Since the medicinal materials could be self-sufficient, the price of the Lu Clan's Foundation Establishment Pill dropped from 15,000 spirit stones to 10,000 spirit stones.
As long as one entered the ninth level of the Qi Refinement stage before the age of 60 and had enough contribution points, most people could buy a Foundation Establishment Pill.
This policy allowed the number of Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Lu Clan to remain above 20. Every generation, Foundation Establishment cultivators would appear, and the clan would have many powerful experts.
The excess Foundation Establishment Pills could also be sold to other cultivators at a high price.
This was how forefathers planted trees, and later generations enjoyed the shade.
Forefathers who planted the trees might not be able to reap the benefits, but later generations would certainly enjoy them.
Feeling the deeds of his forefathers, Lu Xuanji opened up another acre of land. Inside, he scattered the seeds of the Jade Marrow Ganoderma and carefully took care of it. If he could live to 300 years old, he would be able to watch the Jade Marrow Ganoderma mature.
Time passed, calm and peaceful.
Four years later, the aura on Lu Xuanji's body changed again. He was already at the fourth level of the Qi Refinement stage.
At this time, he was already 22 years old.
"I'm at the fourth level of the Qi Refinement stage."
Lu Xuanji walked out of the cave abode and walked near the Ziyang. There were a large number of clan disciples cultivating here, opening up spirit fields, and planting spirit rice.
However, most of them were not high in cultivation. They were only at the third level of Qi Refinement stage, while some were at the fourth level.
An old man was already 80 old, but because of his Five Spiritual Roots, he was only at the third level of Qi Refinement stage.
There were many people like this in the clan.
"The difference between humans is even greater than the difference between humans and dogs." Lu Xuanji looked at these people and could not help but sigh.
It was useless to work hard for many moments. A person with Five Spiritual Roots could have a firm will and work very hard. However, by the time he passes away, he would at most be at the fifth level of Qi Refinement stage. Unless he had a Small Green Bottle like Han Paopao. Or, he had a top-tier Immortal's Cave with unlimited spirit herbs as support.
In the clan, there were more than 1,000 Five Spiritual Roots cultivators.
In the cultivation world, Five Spiritual Roots cultivators occupied 80% of the cultivators' population. The bottom level was always the most.
Looking at those humble Five Spiritual Roots cultivators, Lu Xuanji thought that he was lucky.
He was glad that he had awakened Three Spiritual Roots, which was of great value in the clan and could be cultivated as a Foundation Establishment seed.
If he had Five Spiritual Roots, he would just choose to give up.
It was the same for Four Spiritual Roots.
In the clan, in the distribution of Foundation Establishment Pills, the priority was to supply Three Spiritual Roots, then Four Spiritual Roots.
As for Five Spiritual Roots, no clan was willing to give them Foundation Establishment Pills.
When he arrived at the medicinal garden, he toured around and cleaned up the weeds. When he reached the spirit field, he began to hoe the grass, loosen the soil, fertilize the soil, and so on. After busying himself for half a day, it was afternoon time. He returned to the Immortal's Cave and began to cultivate.
Suddenly, his head felt dizzy, and he could not help but fall asleep.
...
Whew...
After a long time, Lu Xuanji opened his eyes, but his body was slightly numb. Some of his acupoints and meridians were sealed, and he could not use spells.
Not only that, he was sitting on a chair with ropes tied to his body.
These ropes were usually easily broken. However, with his acupoints and meridians sealed, he was unable to resist at all.
He looked up and saw a familiar person.
"Patriarch, why did you bring me here?" Lu Xuanji asked.
That familiar person was Lu Fuming.
He did not know why this Zifu Patriarch had tied him up here, but he felt uneasy.
"I'm sorry."
Right at this moment, this Lu clan's Zifu Patriarch had a complicated expression on his face. There was malevolence, fear, unease, and guilt.
Lu Xuanji's uneasiness was growing.
A Patriarch at the eighth level of the Zifu stage was kneeling in front of a fourth level Qi Refinement disciple and apologizing. It was very strange.
"Patriarch, what are you doing?" Lu Xuanji asked, his voice trembling.
His instincts told him that the Patriarch was very dangerous right now.
"I failed," the Patriarch said. "I was originally a Chosen One. When I was six years old, I was found to have two Spiritual Roots of wood and fire. Wood was the main root, and fire was the auxiliary..."
"Wait a moment. Didn't the patriarch have Three Spiritual Roots? Wasn't it wood and fire metal? How did it become Two Spiritual Roots?" Lu Xuanji asked in confusion.
"That's just to fool outsiders."
The Patriarch smiled contemptuously and said, "Since the establishment of the Lu Clan 1,000 years ago, only three cultivators with Two Spiritual Roots have been born. Who would foolishly say that I have a Two Spiritual Root and attract the jealousy of the cultivators in the outside world, as well as all kinds of schemes and assassinations?"
Lu Xuanji was speechless.
That's right, geniuses who did not know how to hide their attributes had long been beaten to death.
"However, although the Spiritual Roots can be hidden, there are some things that can not be hidden. That is, the speed of one's training. As long as one's training speed is observed, one can infer the Spiritual Roots," The patriarch said.
"In the past, at the age of 23, I reached the Foundation Establishment stage. At the age of 100, I became a Zifu disciple. It could be said that my spirit was soaring, and I thought that I would become a Golden Core stage patriarch."
Speaking of the past, the Patriarch's face was filled with joy and delight.
"Patriarch, to reach the Foundation Establishment stage at the age of 23 is truly incredible. I am far inferior. I am already 22 years old, but I am only at the fourth level of the Qi Refinement stage. I am far inferior to you, Patriarch." As Lu Xuanji spoke, he was somewhat envious of the Two Spiritual Roots.
The difference between a human and another human was even greater than the difference between a human and a dog.
The difference between the Two Spiritual Roots and the Three Spiritual Roots was even greater than the difference between a noble and a beggar.
"Are you envious? I'm not envious at all. In fact, I feel extremely regretful," The patriarch said. "A little over 100 years old, I am already at the Zifu level. I thought that I would be able to become a Golden Core patriarch and that I would be able to glorify my ancestors. Unfortunately, my early-stage speed was too fast, and it consumed too much of my own potential. In addition, I consumed too many pills, which left a large amount of pill poison in my body. It is very hard to expel it. The pill poison settled within one's body, affecting one's cultivation speed. At the age of 100, I entered the Zifu level, but at the age of 350, I am only at the eighth level of the Zifu stage."
"If there is a cure for regret in life, it would be to start all over again. At the age of 50, I will reach Foundation Establishment. At the age of 120, I will enter the Zifu stage, and at the age of 300, I will attempt to break through to the Golden Core stage."