The matter of the spirit rice tax was finally settled.
For now, Qin Ming no longer had to worry about being sent to the front lines.
"This time, I must break through to the third level of Qi Refinement!"
In the quiet little house, Qin Ming sat cross-legged on a straw-woven cushion, his eyes slightly closed, his mind focused.
He held a low-grade spirit stone in his hand, its spiritual essence rapidly dimming.
In a moment, the spiritual energy within the stone was absorbed by him.
Qin Ming opened his eyes, his expression somewhat grim.
With a light squeeze, the spirit stone in his hand turned into a pile of powder.
"Sigh, using spirit stones for cultivation is just a waste for me."
"It's a bit too extravagant."
In the cultivation world, the spiritual energy in the environment and within spirit stones is essentially wild—chaotic and impure. Low-level cultivators cannot directly control it.
To convert it into their own spiritual power, cultivators must absorb it through their spiritual roots and continuously refine it through cultivation techniques, taming the external energy into their own spiritual power.
The quality of one's spiritual roots directly affects the efficiency of this absorption and conversion.
Qin Ming shook his head.
"Traits are still the best."
The "Faint Spiritual Power" trait didn't require absorption or refinement through his spiritual roots. He could use it directly.
This time, he planned to use two "Faint Spiritual Power" trait leaves to attempt a breakthrough.
"Two 'Faint Spiritual Power' traits are equivalent to half a year of hard cultivation for me."
He calmed his mind, eliminating all distractions.
With a thought, Qin Ming activated the first "Faint Spiritual Power" trait.
Even though he was used to it, the sudden surge of spiritual energy still caught him off guard.
The surging energy, guided by his "Eternal Spring Technique," began circulating through his body, flowing endlessly and settling into his dantian.
The "Eternal Spring Technique" was passed down from Qin Ming's cultivation family. It wasn't a profound technique, more of a common one.
Its main focus was on health preservation, with long-lasting energy and mediocre power. Cultivating it was as slow as a turtle's pace.
However, it had its advantages. When cultivated to a high level, it could extend one's lifespan slightly.
As a primary cultivation technique, it granted a bit more longevity and spiritual power compared to other techniques of the same level.
But if one switched to another technique midway, this effect would be lost.
This suited Qin Ming's temperament well.
'Farming, tending to plants, nurturing the spirit, and embracing nature—isn't that nice?'
'Why engage in constant fighting and competition, only to end up with nothing in the end? Sigh...'
But despite saying this, Qin Ming had come to a different realization over the years.
The resources in the cultivation world were limited.
Cultivation techniques, magical tools, spiritual materials, and pills were all controlled by powerful sects.
The major sects and strong cultivators feasted, while "rogue cultivators" struggled to even get a taste, surviving in the cracks.
Unless one was a prodigy, it was nearly impossible to make progress on the path of immortality without climbing higher.
Even a sect like the Spirit Feather Sect had gone to great lengths, traveling unimaginable distances to reclaim land here.
Wasn't it all for cultivation resources?
...
Qin Ming used one "Faint Spiritual Power" trait, but the bottleneck that had been slightly loosened still didn't break.
He frowned, his expression serious.
Gritting his teeth, he used the remaining "Faint Spiritual Power" trait.
After a long while, both "Faint Spiritual Power" traits were exhausted.
But there was still no breakthrough.
"Sigh, this is the gap in talent and aptitude."
"Second level of Qi Refinement, peak stage."
Qin Ming was still just a step away from the third level of Qi Refinement.
"If it were someone else, with the spiritual power provided by the previous 'Faint Spiritual Power' traits, they would have broken through long ago."
However, Qin Ming wasn't disheartened.
If he had followed the usual cultivation routine, he wouldn't have made any progress by now.
His current situation was already much better than before.
Although he hadn't broken through this time, his dantian had expanded significantly.
The spiritual power within his body had also increased by a third.
Moreover, he was now just one step away. It was only a matter of time.
'I can't keep going like this. I need to adjust my approach.'
'Once I cultivate Beast Tooth Rice, maybe I can try body-refining techniques?'
'At least it would give me some self-defense capabilities.'
'But with my current level of spirit planting, cultivating Beast Tooth Rice will likely require the "Accelerated Growth" trait. Otherwise, success is uncertain.'
'If I fail and waste the Beast Tooth Rice mother seed, it would be a huge loss.'
After much deliberation, Qin Ming made up his mind.
He ended his cultivation session and got up to cook breakfast.
After eating, he headed out to Qingyang Market once again.
**Gathering Pavilion.**
It was still the same shop located in the center of the market. Besides the tavern on the first and second floors, the upper levels handled various other businesses.
Being able to operate in such a prime location suggested that the shop had strong connections.
The manager, surnamed Liao, greeted Qin Ming with a professional smile.
Qin Ming got straight to the point. With a wave of his hand, two large bags of spirit rice appeared on the floor.
Manager Liao was surprised that Qin Ming could produce so much spirit rice at once—a full bag more than last time.
As far as he knew, the Spirit Feather Sect taxed spirit farmers at a rate of 70%. Based on that, this young spirit farmer must have harvested at least eight stones of spirit rice this season.
This was proof of his skill in spirit planting.
Only experienced spirit farmers could achieve such high yields.
Alternatively, he might have a natural talent for spirit planting.
If it was the latter, there was a chance he could advance to become a first-tier spirit planter in the future.
After the shop assistants finished inspecting and weighing the rice, Manager Liao smiled warmly and subtly reevaluated Qin Ming's status.
"Two hundred and twenty pounds of Golden Spirit Rice."
"Brother Qin, as usual, here are forty-four spirit stones."
"Is there anything you'd like to purchase from our shop?"
"We have everything you could need. Just ask, and we'll do our best to accommodate."
Qin Ming was prepared.
He pulled out a blueprint from his pocket, showing the design of a small bell, and handed it to Manager Liao. "I'd like to custom-order a bell like this. Can it be done?"
"Of course, Brother Qin. This must be a special spirit bell for the Beast Repelling Technique, right?"
"Our shop has an affiliated artifact forge, and we happen to have one in stock."
"A low-grade magical tool, the Beast Chime Bell. It costs ten spirit stones."
Manager Liao produced a palm-sized bell and handed it to Qin Ming with a smile. "It will shrink or expand when used with the Beast Repelling Technique."
"So cheap?"
The price was lower than Qin Ming had expected. He had been prepared to spend a fortune.
"Brother Qin, the Beast Repelling Technique's effectiveness lies in mastering the spell. The bell is just an auxiliary tool."
"Let me remind you, the Beast Repelling Technique is extremely difficult to master."
"Many cultivators from the Spirit Feather Sect's front lines have custom-ordered this bell, but only a handful have fully mastered the technique."
Qin Ming understood what he meant.
In short, no one bought it.
If one failed to master the technique, the special spirit bell would become a useless ornament, a waste of spirit stones.
But for Qin Ming, failure wasn't an option.
He paid ten spirit stones, took the bell, and then asked, "Do you have any pills that can enhance Qi Refinement cultivation?"
Qin Ming was still unwilling to give up on breaking through to the third level of Qi Refinement.
"Yes, please follow me to the third floor."
A moment later, Qin Ming walked out of the shop with a calm expression.
He had forty spirit stones in his pocket but couldn't spend them.
The lowest price for cultivation-enhancing pills on the third floor started at sixty spirit stones.
Manager Liao warmly escorted Qin Ming out of the shop.
...
On his way back, Qin Ming stopped by Overseer Du Haifu's place to rent another acre of spirit fields.
Given his current cultivation level, five or six acres were already his limit.
"Oh, little Qin, you're here?"
"You're a bit late."
"Just a short while ago, all the spirit fields on the mountain were rented out!" Du Haifu sipped his tea and delivered the news unhurriedly.
!!!
Qin Ming thought to himself.
"This isn't good! Just as I expected."
"Next year, everyone will probably be fighting tooth and nail for higher spirit rice yields."
(End of Chapter)