Lu Feng had been on the path of cultivation for four years, yet he had only managed to bring the Azure Wood Formula to the Minor Accomplishment stage.
This was the result of his grueling, day-and-night cultivation. Even so, the Azure Wood Formula at the Minor Accomplishment stage offered a terrifyingly high speed in absorbing and refining spiritual Qi.
If the entry-level Azure Wood Formula had a baseline speed of one for absorbing and refining spiritual Qi, the proficient level was three times that, while the Minor Accomplishment stage reached a staggering sixfold increase.
Judging by this logic, the area covered by the Spirit Rain Spell at the Minor Accomplishment stage would reach roughly eighteen meters, and its duration would extend to half a gathering of the hour—in other words, a full hour.
After organizing his thoughts, Lu Feng looked at the spirit rice seeds planted in the seedling nursery, feeling a mixture of anticipation and slight nervousness.
Over the next twenty days of the seedling stage, all he needed to do was maintain the humidity and temperature of the seedbeds while occasionally clearing out weeds.
However, Lu Feng lacked any temperature-control devices, so he had to rely entirely on natural temperatures for warmth.
Before long, afternoon arrived. Lu Feng sat on the ridge of the field, practicing the Azure Wood Formula while casting the Spirit Rain Spell to raise his proficiency.
At that moment, Li Yang walked over from the distance. Seeing that spirit rice seeds had actually been sown in Lu Feng's spirit field, a look of astonishment instantly crossed his face.
"Oh dear! Fellow Daoist Lu, why did you sow the seeds at a time like this? The sowing season hasn't even arrived yet. Doing this is just wasting spirit rice seeds."
Lu Feng raised his head to look at Li Yang and smiled faintly. "Ah, it's you, Fellow Daoist Li! It's fine, I'm just trying out some seeds, nothing to worry about."
He casually made up an excuse to brush it off. Hearing this, Li Yang shook his head helplessly.
"Very well, if Fellow Daoist Lu wants to try, then try. But I must remind you, the normal sowing season for spirit rice is around mid-April. Sowing either too early or too late will affect the harvest, so you must keep that in mind."
Seeing that Li Yang was offering a well-intentioned reminder, Lu Feng smiled and said, "Alright, this Lu will keep it in mind. Many thanks to Fellow Daoist Li for the reminder."
Li Yang looked at the seedbed, then looked at Lu Feng, and finally let out a sigh.
Newcomers cultivating spirit rice invariably made mistakes sooner or later, and given Lu Feng's actions, Li Yang found it difficult to say anything more.
Just then, a flying boat suddenly appeared in the distant sky.
Within the space of a few breaths, it arrived right beside them.
Without a second word, Li Yang bowed respectfully to the middle-aged man standing on the flying boat. "Greetings, Steward Chen."
Seeing this, Lu Feng immediately stood up and cupped his fists in a salute.
The middle-aged man had an ordinary appearance, distinguished by a pair of very representative, squinted eyes.
"Hmph, you must be Lu Feng," the middle-aged man said, breaking the silence.
"That is precisely this humble one."
The middle-aged man looked Lu Feng up and down before continuing, "I am Chen Mo, the spirit field steward of the Chen Clan. From now on, I will be the one collecting the annual field taxes every year. Remember not to bungle the tax delivery."
"Understood, this subordinate has noted it down."
Chen Mo glanced again at the adjacent spirit field, discovering that Lu Feng's barren spirit field had actually returned to normal, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes.
However, when Chen Mo saw the spirit rice seeds sown in the seedbeds, a trace of mockery surfaced on his face once more.
"Very well, I will come again next September. You had better take care of yourself."
With those words, Chen Mo manipulated the flying boat and departed from the scene.
A short while later, Lu Feng looked at Li Yang and suddenly asked, "Fellow Daoist Li, might I ask what cultivation realm this Steward Chen is in?"
Li Yang paused for a moment before replying, "Steward Chen is a great cultivator at the Qi Condensation Layer 9, and he is also a direct-line disciple of the Chen Clan."
"So that's how it is."
Lu Feng inquired further about the situation of the Chen Clan, but the other party did not know much. After chatting for a short while, Li Yang took his leave.
In truth, not all of these tenant farmers lived near the spirit fields; someone like Li Yang, for instance, lived within the market town.
Steward Chen's sudden visit to find Lu Feng this time was most likely done on purpose.
Since the condition of his spirit field was now known to Chen Mo, it meant the entire Chen Clan was aware of this matter.
Thinking of the trap set by Chen Donglai, a flash of coldness crossed Lu Feng's eyes.
However, since both sides had not yet torn off their masks of civility, there was still plenty of room to maneuver in many matters.
Over the next three days, Lu Feng's primary focus was tending to the growth of the seedbeds, carrying out irrigation of the seedling nursery once every single day.
His proficiency as a Spirit Planter would rise accordingly, and during his spare time, he cultivated the Azure Wood Formula and the Spirit Rain Spell.
Three days later, Lu Feng's Dantian had recovered almost completely, and the time had come to attempt a breakthrough in his cultivation.
No sooner thought than done.
He sat cross-legged within the thatched hut and began circulating the Azure Wood Formula.
To prepare for today's cultivation breakthrough, he had kept the spiritual Qi within his body in a replete state ever since last night.
As the Azure Wood Formula circulated, wisps of spiritual Qi were drawn into his body, running along the cultivation technique's operational pathways where they began to circulate and be refined.
Before long, an hour passed, and the Azure Wood Formula finally completed one major cycle.
[You circulated the Azure Wood Formula once, proficiency +1]
[You performed a cultivation breakthrough, Experience Value +1]
"Hm?! Experience Value?"
With a thought in his mind, Lu Feng immediately checked the changes on his Proficiency Panel.
[Name: Lu Feng]
[Age: 20/50]
[Cultivation: Qi Condensation Layer 1 (2/100)]
[Cultivation Technique: Azure Wood Formula (Minor Accomplishment 42/300)]
[Spells: Vine Wood Spell (Proficient 1/200), Spirit Rain Spell (Proficient 69/200)]
[Hundred Arts of Immortality: Spirit Planter (Tier 1, 34/100)]
At this moment, the cultivation column on Lu Feng's panel had increased by one point.
However, the increase in cultivation was not proficiency, but rather Experience Value.
After reviewing the panel, Lu Feng felt an incomparable surge of excitement.
According to the changes on the panel, if the number 100 following Qi Condensation Layer 1 reached its maximum value, would he be able to advance to Qi Condensation Layer 2?
To test the conjecture in his heart, Lu Feng began cultivating once more.
As the Azure Wood Formula continuously circulated, string after string of information prompts popped up beneath the panel.
[You circulated the Azure Wood Formula once, proficiency +1]
[You performed a cultivation breakthrough, Experience Value +1]
[You circulated the Azure Wood Formula once, proficiency +1]
[You performed a cultivation breakthrough, Experience Value +1]
.........
For an entire day, Lu Feng remained immersed in cultivation, forgetting even to eat or sleep.
Soon enough, the time arrived for the morning of the next day. Lu Feng's stomach suddenly let out a rumbling growl, the sensation of hunger making it impossible for him to continue his cultivation.
Opening his eyes, he went to the stove to cook a bowl of spirit rice porridge to fill his stomach.
Afterward, he went back out to the spirit field and cast a Spirit Rain Spell over the seedling nursery.
[You performed a spirit rice irrigation task, Spirit Planter proficiency +1]
Following four days of time, the sown spirit rice seeds had already pushed tiny, delicate shoots up out of the soil.
Seeing this, Lu Feng felt a trace of astonishment; the growth rate of this spirit rice was far faster than ordinary paddy rice. He had never expected the tender shoots to break through the soil in a mere four days.
"Heh, rather interesting!" Lu Feng rubbed his chin and said.