In less than half an hourglass, Li Yang returned to Lu Feng's house with the exchanged items.
"Brother Lu, I have brought the things you wanted. These two spell manuals are the Fireball Spell and the Golden Armor Spell. Please have a look."
Lu Feng took the bag handed over by Li Yang. Inside were five low-grade spirit stones, a hundred catties of spirit rice, and three cultivation manuals.
Opening the manuals and briefly browsing them, he found that they were indeed as Li Yang had said: the two spells were the Fireball Spell and the Golden Armor Spell.
These two types of spells were the most basic things in the Immortal Realm, belonging to the lower-grade Yellow tier, and had little value.
Previously, when he was in the Tianling Sect, Lu Feng would have turned his nose up at such trash spells, but now, with the Proficiency Panel, it was different.
"Alright, not a single item is missing. Then I will start teaching you the planting method today," Lu Feng said.
"Great, then I'll have to trouble Brother Lu."
"Come with me."
Lu Feng first led Li Yang to the spirit field, and then explained his planting method to the other party step by step.
He explained the precautions for every single step very clearly.
Li Yang learned quickly too. As a cultivator, his memory was much stronger than that of an ordinary person; Lu Feng only had to explain twice for Li Yang to remember everything completely.
"Many thanks for your guidance, Brother Lu. I'll go back and try it right now!" Li Yang said with utmost gratitude.
"Alright, if there's anything you don't understand, feel free to come and ask me at any time."
"You got it, Brother Lu, then I'll take my leave first."
Seeing Li Yang leave, Lu Feng cast the Spirit Rain Spell three times to irrigate the spirit field.
[You released the Spirit Rain Spell once, proficiency +1]
...
[You performed a spirit rice irrigation task, Spirit Planter proficiency +1]
Afterward, Lu Feng opened the three cultivation manuals that Li Yang had brought and began to read them.
In about half an hourglass, the middle-grade Yellow tier Longevity Formula was finished reading by Lu Feng, and at this moment, a piece of information popped up from the bottom of the Proficiency Panel.
[You have learned the "Longevity Formula", current proficiency is Beginner level]
With the appearance of this information, the method for cultivating the Longevity Formula appeared in Lu Feng's mind.
"Huh?! It's already at the Beginner level?"
Lu Feng wore a look of astonishment. Normally, learning a cultivation manual would take at least half a month.
He hadn't expected that he would master it directly just by reading it through carefully once.
It seemed this Proficiency Panel had some hidden functions as well.
Having figured this out, Lu Feng did not hesitate and read through both the Fireball Spell and the Golden Armor Spell completely.
[You have learned the "Fireball Spell", current proficiency is Beginner level]
[You have learned the "Golden Armor Spell", current proficiency is Beginner level]
Looking at the information jumping on the panel, a smile appeared at the corners of Lu Feng's mouth.
Time flew, and three days passed. During these three days, Li Yang did not come looking for him again, seemingly busy sprouting the spirit rice seeds.
As for Lu Feng, just like usual, apart from irrigating the spirit field and weeding every day, he spent all his other time in seated meditation, cultivating to raise his cultivation level.
At this moment, the cultivation column had already reached 99, and it was just a fraction of experience points short of being full.
Thus, Lu Feng continued to circulate the Azure Wood Formula without hesitation. An hour later, two new pieces of information popped up on the Proficiency Panel.
[You circulated the Azure Wood Formula once, proficiency +1]
[You performed a cultivation advancement, experience points +1]
[Your cultivation experience points have reached 100, successfully advancing to Qi Condensation Layer 2]
Suddenly, a familiar sensation swept over his entire body, and Lu Feng felt an immense surge of joy in his heart.
That's right! This feeling was precisely the sensation of a cultivation breakthrough.
Although it was merely breaking through from Qi Condensation Layer 1 to Qi Condensation Layer 2, this meant he was no longer bound by his trash Spiritual Root and could continue cultivating.
After a wave of excitement subsided in his heart, Lu Feng shifted his intent to check the changes in the Proficiency Panel.
[Name: Lu Feng]
[Age: 20/60]
[Cultivation: Qi Condensation Layer 2 (0/100)]
[Cultivation Manuals: Azure Wood Formula (Minor Accomplishment 145/300), Longevity Formula (Beginner 0/100)]
[Spells: Vine Wood Spell (Proficient 1/200), Spirit Rain Spell (Proficient 90/200), Fireball Spell (Beginner 0/100), Golden Armor Spell (Beginner 0/100)]
[Hundred Arts of Immortality: Spirit Planter (Tier 1 75/100)]
"Haha, my cultivation has finally improved."
Moreover, the Spirit Planter proficiency was also close to reaching its maximum value. He wondered what kind of changes would occur once it maxed out.
After viewing the panel, Lu Feng was just about to get up to make a bowl of spirit rice porridge when a knock sounded at the door.
"Brother Lu, are you in?"
Li Yang's voice came from outside the door. Lu Feng opened the door and smiled, saying, "So it's Fellow Daoist Li, please come in."
Li Yang wore an excited expression. As he walked into the house, he said, "Brother Lu, the method you taught me is really working! Those spirit rice seeds have already sprouted, and I've planted all of them in the seedling nursery. I imagine it won't be long before they grow into young rice shoots."
"Hehe, then congratulations, Fellow Daoist Li."
"Congratulations to us both! This time I came specifically to thank Brother Lu. Please accept this portion of spirit beast meat."
Lu Feng looked at the piece of spirit beast meat weighing about ten catties before him, and the glutton in his stomach was immediately aroused.
For the past ten-odd days, he had been drinking spirit rice porridge; his entire being had practically tasted like spirit rice porridge.
Seeing this, Lu Feng did not stand on ceremony and accepted Li Yang's token of gratitude: "We're neighbors, why be so polite? Besides, you exchanged equivalent items for the planting method—"
"It's only right! In the future, I will still have to rely heavily on Fellow Daoist Lu's guidance, so this small token of thanks is nothing."
Seeing that Li Yang was so tactful, Lu Feng invited him to share a meal at his home.
For this meal, Lu Feng cooked a pot of spirit rice and turned the spirit beast meat into stir-fried meat slices. The two of them had a wonderful meal.
After eating and drinking his fill, Li Yang suddenly revealed a trace of surprise. "Brother Lu, have you broken through?"
"Mn, I've broken through! By the way, Fellow Daoist Li, I wonder what your cultivation level is?"
Now that he was familiar with Li Yang, asking about the other party's cultivation level wasn't considered impolite.
"Sigh, I've been stuck at Qi Condensation Layer 4 for three years," Li Yang sighed. "I'm already thirty-two this year, and my hopes of Foundation Establishment in this lifetime are gone."
A slight stir rippled through Lu Feng's heart. He hadn't expected Li Yang's cultivation to be only at Qi Condensation Layer 4.
Generally, the probability of a cultivator successfully reaching Foundation Establishment was only around thirty to forty percent. With a Foundation Establishment Pill, the success rate would increase by thirty percent.
If one could not reach 90% Qi Condensation—meaning Qi Condensation Great Completion—before the age of thirty, the chance of a successful Foundation Establishment would drop by ten percent.
If one still couldn't establish their foundation by the age of sixty, the success rate would drop by another ten percent.
Therefore, the probability of a cultivator achieving Foundation Establishment after sixty became pitifully low, and breaking through was basically hopeless.
Moreover, Foundation Establishment Pills were tightly controlled by sects and immortal cultivation clans, and for ordinary rogue cultivators, getting their hands on a Foundation Establishment Pill was harder than ascending to the heavens.