Su Yu had not spoken to anyone about the Body Refinement Realm, including the high-ranking members of his family. Perhaps if he had, he could have gotten access to better and more resources from his family. But along with the resources would come more responsibilities and tasks, and the danger would multiply. For a novice cultivating the path of immortality, this was very disadvantageous.
Don't forget.
Besides their cultivating Su Family, River City also had the Lin Family.
The conflict between the Lin Family and their Su Family was very intense.
In past cultivation games, people had computed the probability of characters who chose the route of high-profile genius cultivation versus low-key survival cultivation becoming immortals.
The ratio of the former to the latter was roughly one to nine.
In other words, the number of people who stood out in cultivation was only one-ninth of those who chose low-key survival.
Compared to obtaining a small amount of cultivation resources from the family, Su Yu would rather cultivate low-key and slowly enhance his proficiency.
Until his strength had been built up, he would not leave his family.
Three months after returning from the Yunjian Sect, Su Qingyi, who lived nearby, had broken through to the second layer of the Qi Refinement Realm.
After boasting to Su Yu over a meal, Su Qingyi chose to go to a medicinal field of the Su Family to become an apprentice, learning how to plant spiritual medicine and how to discern their properties.
This was the first step towards becoming an apprentice of alchemy.
At the second layer of the Qi Refinement Realm, one could receive two low-grade Spirit Stones and fifty catties of Spirit Rice per month from the family.
In addition to that, becoming an apprentice in the medicinal field, he could get two more low-grade Spirit Stones per month.
The resources were quite considerable.
Or at least it seemed like that compared to Su Yu.
"The cultivation speed of a mid-grade spiritual root is really fast." Su Yu sighed inwardly. Su Qingyi had broken through to the second layer of Qi Refinement Realm in just three months.
Such growth speed could almost compete with a superior-grade spiritual root.
After finishing the good wine left by Su Qingyi, Su Yu shook his head gently and continued his own cultivation.
The most important thing every day was to practice the Verdant Wutong Cultivation Technique.
Although this wood-attribute cultivation technique was not strong in mana and had a slow cultivation speed, it shone for its mellowness and robustness. It could also heal injuries and even prolong life.
When practiced to the ninth layer, one could extend his life by at least twenty years in the Qi Refinement Realm.
Twenty years of life was quite attractive to many people, so there were quite a few people in the Su Family who practiced the Verdant Wutong Cultivation Technique.
Moreover, the rise of the Su Family was largely related to the Verdant Wutong Cultivation Technique.
At present, the Su Family mainly relied on the business of cultivating spiritual medicines, and the mana of the Verdant Wutong Cultivation Technique greatly aided the growth of spiritual medicine.
He could practice the Verdant Wutong Cultivation Technique for four hours every day to the limit.
Then, he would practice the Vine Technique and Nourishing Spirit Technique, both of which were only introductory level spells.
The Vine Technique was mainly for trapping enemies, and the Nourishing Spirit Technique was mainly used to cultivate spiritual medicine.
It was not difficult to increase the proficiency of these spells. In a few months, the proficiency of these two spells was nearly one hundred percent.
"I need to find another spell to practice." Su Yu muttered to himself.
But there was no rush.
At the family trading fair, Su Yu took a leisurely stroll with Lindong, the young girl.
At the fair, Su Yu found a wood-attribute spell that suited his taste: the Spirit Lancer Technique.
The trading price was not high, just one low-grade Spirit Stone.
This spell could create a spear from mana to attack enemies in midair, and combine it with the Vine Technique created a wonderful effect.
Although Su Yu was not affluent in Spirit Stones, he had still traded for this spell.
"Let's go, time to head home."
Since he had spent that month's low-grade Spirit Stones, he was not inclined to look at the remaining stalls. Su Yu returned to his yard and focused on practicing the Spirit Lancer Technique.
The strength of the Spiritual Spear Technique is directly related to one's own mana. The more mana you infuse into it, the stronger the war spear you condense will be.
But the more mana it consumes.
"For now, having this attack spell at the Qi Refinement Realm's first layer is enough." Su Yu was satisfied. If his power was insufficient, he refused to be greedy.
Time slowly passed.
Stars danced in the sky.
Spring came and went, followed by Autumn.
In the blink of an eye.
A year had passed since Su Yu returned from the Yunjian Sect. During this year, besides cultivating daily, Su Yu would roam around the Treasured Pavilion and various markets within River City.
Sometimes he would find his Fifth Grandpa, Su Bin, to chat and learn many interesting tidbits about the cultivation world from him.
This old man was somewhat unique within the Su Family. Other than staying in the Treasured Pavilion, he would often disappear without a trace. No one knew where he went.
The other elders in the family, even the Family Head, did not pay much attention to his comings and goings, nor did they mind his idleness.
Su Yu once asked the old man about this, but Su Bin just laughed heartily, advising him - a young whippersnapper - not to be so curious.
One day, while Su Yu was cultivating, an aquamarine light blinked and his mana surged dramatically.
His cultivation level finally broke through from the first layer of the Qi Refinement Realm to the second layer.
After the breakthrough, Su Yu didn't hide his progress. He found the Second Elder, showed his new level of cultivation, and received a reward for breaking through to the second layer of the Qi Refinement Realm.
The doubled monthly stipend included a lower-grade Spirit Stone and thirty pounds of lower-grade Spirit Rice.
In addition to that, his monthly stipend for the second layer of the Qi Refinement Realm was two lower-grade Spirit Stones and fifty pounds of lower-grade Spirit Rice.
It took a whole year for Su Yu to break through from the first layer of the Qi Refinement Realm to the second layer, placing him at the bottom in terms of talent.
It wouldn't attract anyone's attention.
Even if someone knew about Su Yu's breakthrough to the second layer, they would only shake their heads. Taking a whole year to achieve a breakthrough... he really was useless. Upon turning around, they would forget about Su Yu.
However, Lindong was very excited about Su Yu's breakthrough in cultivation. He specially prepared a delicious meal for Su Yu, and the two celebrated modestly in their own courtyard.
At another family trade fair, Su Yu saw a lot of monster beast blood for sale at the stalls. There was first-stage early-phase monster beast blood and a few drops of first-stage middle-phase monster beast blood.
"So much monster beast blood? Did a small beast tide occur in the medicinal field?" Su Yu wondered in surprise.
He spent the lower-grade Spirit Stone he had saved to buy two drops of first-stage middle-phase monster beast blood. After a round at the trade fair and failing to find Fifth Elder Su Bin, whom he intended to question about this, he gave up and left.
About half a year ago, Su Yu broke through to the second layer of the Body Refinement Realm.
After half a year of cultivation, he had already broken through to the third layer of the Body Refinement Realm a month prior.
He returned to the courtyard.
A line of text appeared in Su Yu's concentration.
[Name: Su Yu.]
[Cultivation: Qi Refinement Realm Second Layer.]
[Life Span: 17/99.]
[Techniques: Phoenix Green Wood Scripture (Second layer, proficiency 1.42%), Crocodile Demon 108 Style Body Refinement Technique (Third layer, proficiency 10.67%).]
[Spells: Wood Vine Technique (Complete), Spirit Nurture Technique (Complete), Spirit Spear Technique (Complete).]
"With these two drops of first-stage middle phase monster beast blood, let's see if I can break through to the fourth layer of Body Refinement Technique within two or three months." Su Yu looked at the proficiency panel thoughtfully.
And the spells, when he accumulates some Spirit Stones, he can look for a stronger spell that suits him.
Or perhaps, he should consider secondary businesses like alchemy or talisman crafting?
With the proficiency panel, it would be a horrendous waste not to improve a side business to earn some pocket money during free time.
"Alchemy, Artifact Refining, Talisman Crafting, and even Formation Setting and so on, all these side occupations are very profitable." Su Yu thought, his eyes gleaming slightly.
With money, his cultivation speed can be greatly accelerated.