Gathering his thoughts, Lu Feng moved his mind and checked his Proficiency Panel.
[Name: Lu Feng]
[Age: 20/80]
[Cultivation: Qi Condensation Layer 4 (0/200)]
[Techniques: Azure Wood Formula (Great Accomplishment 0/400), Longevity Formula (Entry 0/100)]
[Spells: Vine Wood Spell (Proficient 1/200), Spirit Rain Spell (Proficient 120/200), Fireball Spell (Entry 0/100), Golden Armor Spell (Entry 0/100)]
[Hundred Arts of Immortality: Spirit Planter (Tier 1 90/100)]
"What?! My maximum lifespan seems to have increased again."
Previously, Lu Feng's maximum lifespan had been fifty years. Every time his cultivation broke through to a minor realm, his maximum lifespan would increase by ten years.
This was likely a restoration of his own vitality.
Lu Feng had previously reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, and a typical cultivator at that stage could live up to two hundred years.
Now, everything was moving in a good direction. Given enough time, not to mention the Foundation Establishment Realm, even the Nascent Soul Realm was not out of the question.
The sect master of the Tianling Sect was a mighty expert of the Nascent Soul Stage; if Lu Feng wanted his revenge, he had to reach at least the Nascent Soul Realm.
Furthermore, the cultivation column on the panel had finally changed, and the experience points required for a breakthrough had finally gone from 100 to 200.
Judging by this, the increase in cultivation numerical values was likely based on the early, middle, and late stages of each realm.
In addition, his Spirit Planter rank was about to make a breakthrough. Now he could steadily gain three points of Spirit Planter proficiency every day, and in four days he would see a change.
With this thought, Lu Feng sat down cross-legged once again and began circulating the Azure Wood Formula.
Days passed one by one, and soon the fourth day arrived.
Lu Feng started tending the spirit field as usual. Following the completion of the spirit rain irrigation, three notifications popped up at the bottom of the panel:
[You cast the Spirit Rain Spell once, proficiency +1]
[You performed a round of spirit rice irrigation, Spirit Planter proficiency +1]
[Your Spirit Planter proficiency has reached 100. You have successfully advanced to a Tier 2 Spirit Planter]
Instantly, a wave of knowledge and techniques related to spirit planting flooded into Lu Feng's mind.
This memory contained not only the cultivation techniques for spirit rice, but also a great deal of spirit flora that Lu Feng had never seen before.
Among them were even some Tier 2 spirit plants, such as Scarlet Refining Fruit and Blood Cherry Grass.
Once he had absorbed all the memories, Lu Feng's face was filled with surprise and joy.
"Ha! With all this knowledge, why would I bother growing mere spirit rice? I'll make way more money growing Tier 2 spirit plants directly."
"Wait, growing Tier 2 spirit plants seems to require at least a Tier 2 spirit field. Where on earth am I supposed to get one of those?"
The joy on Lu Feng's face immediately vanished by more than half. Ordinary Tier 1 spirit fields were easy to come by, but how was he supposed to get a Tier 2 one?
Those cultivation clans did possess a small number of Tier 2 spirit fields, but such fields were barely enough for their own families—how could they possibly rent them out to outsiders?
After pondering for a moment, Lu Feng suddenly found a solution.
Among the memories of a Tier 2 Spirit Planter were two methods for upgrading a spirit field.
The first method was to bury high-grade spiritual veins underneath a Tier 1 spirit field, allowing the field to upgrade through prolonged nourishment.
The second method was manual nourishment, which involved pouring spiritual energy into the spirit field over a long period to elevate its grade.
Lu Feng could only use the second method for now. He could use the Spirit Rain Spell to irrigate the spirit field over the long term, taking about a year to raise this mu of spirit field from Tier 1 to Tier 2.
However, this method was time-consuming and arduous. Ordinary spirit planters would never waste their cultivation time doing such a thing.
Yet Lu Feng was no ordinary spirit planter. With the blessing of the Proficiency Panel, raising the grade of a spirit field would be no difficult task.
Aside from the grade of the spirit field, the remaining issue was how to acquire Tier 2 spirit plant seeds.
Seeds of this category were generally not sold on the open market; only certain auction houses would occasionally feature such items.
Even so, the prices were not something Lu Feng could afford.
"Sigh, I'm still short on spirit stones! Oh well, I'd better focus on raising my cultivation first." Lu Feng let out a long sigh, finished tending the spirit field, and resumed his cultivation.
***
The scene shifted to the interior of the Tianling Sect.
At this moment, inside the main hall of the sect master, Li Mu, the head of the Law Enforcement Hall, was reporting recent events within the sect to the sect master.
As he listened, Sect Master Zhang Daoran suddenly asked, "How has Lu Feng been lately?"
"Reporting to Sect Master, after Lu Feng was expelled from the sect, he drifted down to the southern marketplace and became a tenant farmer for the Chen Clan."
"A tenant farmer of the Chen Clan? Hahaha! Such a heavenly talent has actually been reduced to such a state. How pathetic, how laughable."
Li Mu glanced at Zhang Daoran, thinking to himself: Lu Feng only ended up like this because of you, old man.
However, Li Mu only dared to think it in his heart; outwardly, he echoed, "Lu Feng murdered his fellow disciples, so this is only what he deserves."
"Hmph. Since he likes being a tenant farmer so much, let him be one for the rest of his life. Have there been any unusual movements from Junior Sister Luo's side?"
Li Mu naturally understood what the sect master meant by unusual movements, and replied, "Elder Luo has been in closed-door cultivation all this time and has never left Fengluan Peak."
"Good, then it is settled!"
***
Time flowed like water, and the years flew by.
In the blink of an eye, another two weeks had passed.
At this moment, Lu Feng, sitting inside his thatched cottage, had reached the peak of the Qi Condensation Layer 4, needing just a tiny bit more experience to break through to the Qi Condensation Layer 5.
At the same time, his Azure Wood Formula was only a hair's breadth away from another breakthrough in proficiency.
As spiritual energy completed one full major circulation within his body, four notifications suddenly popped up at the bottom of the Proficiency Panel:
[You circulated the Azure Wood Formula once, proficiency +1]
[You performed a cultivation advancement, experience +1]
[Your cultivation experience has reached 200. You have successfully advanced to Qi Condensation Layer 6]
[Your Azure Wood Formula proficiency has reached 400. The technique's proficiency level has advanced from Great Accomplishment to Flawless]
The very next moment, the density and total volume of spiritual energy within his body doubled once again.
The continuous elevation of his cultivation gave Lu Feng a feeling both familiar and strange.
It felt familiar because he had already reached the Foundation Establishment Realm before; cultivating back to Qi Condensation Layer 6 now gave him the familiar sensation of a lost treasure regained.
As for the strangeness, it was because the total volume and density of the spiritual energy inside him were completely different from before.
If the total volume and density of his spiritual energy when he was previously at Qi Condensation Layer 6 could be considered as one, now it was three.
He was a full three times stronger than his past self.
This change puzzled him somewhat; when he was at the first and second layers of Qi Condensation, it hadn't been this obvious, but now at Layer 6, he could clearly feel it.
It seemed that realms attained through cultivation via the Proficiency Panel were vastly more powerful than normal cultivation.
At the same time, the creation process of the Azure Wood Formula flooded into his mind, as if this middle-grade Earth-tier technique had been created by his own hands.
This technique could be cultivated all the way from the Qi Condensation Realm to the Nascent Soul Realm. As the memories continuously poured in, the insights for every single realm of this technique merged into Lu Feng's mind.
A few breaths later, Lu Feng opened his eyes, a flash of golden light darting through them.
"So that was the creation process of the Azure Wood Formula."
With a thought from Lu Feng, the Proficiency Panel appeared before him.