The sudden change in the soil beneath his feet made Ji An freeze for a moment, then he burst into uncontrollable joy.
This wave of energy was identical to the feeling he had experienced when standing beside Old Huang's first-rank spiritual field.
By the moonlight, he saw the leaves of the vegetables in his courtyard stretching gently, faintly shimmering with a soft radiance.
The tender green leaves gleamed like translucent jade.
After the Thick Earth Formula reached perfection, his spells carried a subtle and restrained aura, one that echoed with the heaviness of the earth.
Thinking back now, it was precisely this aura that had accelerated the transformation of the courtyard's land into a low-grade first-rank spiritual field.
No, the perfected Minor Rain Technique had also played its part. The nourishing essence of the water element allowed the soil to retain more spiritual energy and fertility.
Ji An nodded slightly. These two spells truly complemented each other; it was no wonder they were considered essential for every spirit farmer.
"Advancing too fast has its own troubles…"
He muttered with mock bitterness, then threw his head back and laughed heartily.
Old Huang had reached mastery in both the Minor Rain Technique and the Thick Earth Formula, and still needed seven or eight years to cultivate just a single mu of ranked land.
Ji An had estimated that it would take him at least two or three years to achieve the same. Yet in only one year, his dream had come true.
This strengthened his resolve to push at least one of his spells all the way to Great Perfection. If mere perfection could produce such results, then Great Perfection must surely yield even greater effects.
His spellcasting frequency in the spiritual field wasn't as high as in his courtyard, but now that he had advanced to the late stage of Qi Refinement, his mana reserves were much deeper. With careful nurturing, he could soon cultivate several more mu of ranked land.
When that time came, he would stop planting the basic Yellow Sprout Rice and switch to Jadegrain Rice.
And if he could raise his fields to mid-grade first-rank, he could even grow Jade Essence Rice, a spiritual grain eaten only by Foundation Establishment cultivators!
At the thought of this, his mouth began to water, so much so that it trickled past the corner of his lips.
Under the bright moon and the gentle night breeze, with his robe sleeves fluttering, Ji An felt utterly carefree and at peace.
At dawn, the light of morning shone over the bamboo loft as Ji An ended his cultivation and stepped into the courtyard.
Since the land had advanced earlier than expected, he needed to plant fruit saplings as soon as possible.
Hands clasped behind his back, he walked out of the courtyard just in time to meet Old Huang and his grandson coming his way.
"Brother An, did you… Did you break through to the late stage of Qi Refinement?!"
Old Huang's cloudy eyes suddenly flared with astonishment. Three short years and he had walked the path that had taken me more than a decade to cover.
Along with his delight came a faint, sour twinge of envy.
He was pleased to have befriended such a talented disciple, someone who might one day look after his grandson.
Liu Yu's advancement to the ninth level of Qi Refinement didn't make him jealous. For the scion of a great clan, such progress wasn't surprising. Besides, he knew full well that he and Liu Yu lived in different worlds.
But Ji An… Ji An had entered the sect with an even weaker start than he had. When he had joined, he had at least carried two spirit stones and already reached the second level of Qi Refinement.
Yet Ji An, though starting lower, had advanced at such speed that even Old Huang's vision struggled to keep up.
"With Heaven's blessing, I managed to break through last night."
Ji An cupped his hands with a warm smile.
Old Huang stepped closer, sensing something unusual.
He recalled passing by at dawn and feeling the same strange aura, but he had been in a rush to secure a good spot by Bihai Lake to extract water essence, so he hadn't thought much of it.
Now the familiarity struck him again, though he couldn't immediately place what it was.
"Grandfather," Liu Yu suddenly blurted out, "why does it feel like the aura coming from Senior Brother Ji's courtyard is almost the same as that of the fields where we grow Jadegrain Rice?"
The speaker was Huang Feihu, Old Huang's grandson. At fifteen years old, he was already at the second level of Qi Refinement, and judging from the flow of his spiritual aura, he was not far from reaching the third.
With such progress while cultivating in the sect's Dao Academy, it was clear Old Huang had spent a great deal of resources to support his grandson's training.
"Smack!"
Old Huang slapped his thigh suddenly. "Of course! Brother An, did you cultivate this field just last night? The perfected Minor Rain Technique has such power?"
Old Huang had tended his own courtyard for many years. Though he didn't work it daily, he still cast the Thick Earth Formula and Minor Rain Technique at the mastery stage every few days. Yet he had never once heard any fellow brothers say that the Minor Rain Technique could accelerate the cultivation of spiritual farmland.
Could it be that my own skills aren't enough, and those brothers just didn't bother to share such things with me? He suddenly felt that their smiling faces were a bit hypocritical.
Ji An nodded and said openly, "Yes, it was cultivated just last night. I was just as surprised as I was."
His small courtyard had no formation shielding it. Any passing spirit farmer would be able to tell at a glance.
Including the bamboo loft, his courtyard was nearly half an mu in size. Buying a formation to conceal an area that large would be extremely costly and completely unnecessary.
He cleared his throat lightly and added, "The perfected Minor Rain Technique alone doesn't produce this effect. Only when combined with the perfected Thick Earth Formula does it work. My Thick Earth Formula has been at perfection for some time now."
"Ah, people truly can't be compared…"
Old Huang's smile carried deep bitterness. He had thought that after spending his entire life as a spirit farmer, he was at least among the better-off group of Qi Refinement disciples in the sect.
But now he realized he had been living inside a carefully woven illusion for too long, always comparing himself only with those worse off than him. Truly, he had been a frog at the bottom of a well.
After sighing, Old Huang cupped his hands and said, "When Feihu officially joined the sect, I had planned to invite you and Brother Wei for a drink. But since Brother Wei went to Azure Cloud Immortal City, I've had to delay it.
Yesterday, I heard from some other juniors that they saw Brother Wei at the Bihai Market. Since chance meets timing, why don't we go to the Hundred Flavors Pavilion for a feast at noon?"
"Better to follow than decline. But there's no need for the Hundred Flavors Pavilion. Among ourselves, we can just enjoy some of Brother Liangqiu's spiritual fish."
Ji An nodded in agreement. He had been planning to find Wei Songnian anyway, to discuss getting fruit tree saplings.
"That won't do. Let's hear what Brother Wei says first.
Junior Brother, come to my place first. I'll gather the odds and ends I've harvested these past few days to sell to Brother Wei."
Ji An smiled. "Brother, you really should buy yourself a storage pouch."
Old Huang waved his hand. "Bah, only those who often go out hunting beasts or gathering herbs need a storage pouch. I'll still be a spirit farmer once I join Brother Wei's clan; buying a pouch would just be a waste."
The three returned to Old Huang's home, collected the goods, and each mounted a talisman bird, flying off toward Bihai Market.
Wei Songnian lived nearby. After finding him, the three went to Liangqiu's little eatery.
Upstairs in a private room, Old Huang muttered, "I had wanted to treat my brothers to something better."
"Enough, Old Huang, don't act so put-upon. I'm only worried you'd feel the pinch."
Wei Songnian laughed. After dealing with him for over a decade, how could he not know Old Huang's nature?
Old Huang chuckled sheepishly, then pointed toward the door. "Feihu, go to the Hundred Flavors Pavilion next door and buy three bottles, no, make it four bottles of spirit wine."
He pulled out a spirit stone and a handful of spirit crystals, handing them over.
"Alright, Grandfather!" Feihu's face lit up at the thought of having his share, and he happily accepted the payment before running off.
Ji An smiled faintly, withdrawing his gaze from Huang Feihu, then turned to Wei Songnian and asked,
"Senior Brother Wei, I'd like to purchase two spirit fruit saplings. Do you have any connections for that?"