At the break of dawn, the golden sunlight burned away the lingering mountain mist, and the world's spiritual qi gradually grew restless.
Ji An ended his cultivation, feeling refreshed, and stepped out of his bamboo lodge.
The sky was like a flawless sapphire, clear and pure, without the slightest blemish.
He strolled to the fields, crouched down in the shade of some bushes, and quietly waited.
Although Old Huang had said he would arrive at the third quarter of the Chen hour (around 8 a.m.), Ji An dared not show up at the last moment.
Since he was the one asking for guidance, arriving late would only leave a poor impression.
Half-closing his eyes, Ji An connected his mind with the stone tortoise.
[Master: Ji An]
[Dao Resonance: 0]
[Spiritual qi: Kan 0.5, Kun 0.4, Xun 0.2]
[Spells: Minor Rain Technique (Minor Mastery 1%), Thick Earth Formula (Proficient 71%), Withering-Bloom Formula (Proficient 8%)]
He toyed with a branch, casually casting the Withering-Bloom Formula.
A faint, nearly invisible glow enveloped the twig. Pinpricks of green radiance, each the size of a grain of millet, gathered into his palm.
At the same time, the leaves yellowed rapidly, and the branch withered.
Unlike the Minor Rain Technique or the Thick Earth Formula, both release-type spells that only consume spiritual power when activated, the Withering-Bloom Formula was a channeling-type spell.
In other words, once activated, it would continuously drain the caster's power until the connection was cut.
When enough energy had condensed, a bean-sized droplet of emerald liquid formed in Ji An's palm. He quickly severed the flow of power.
Staring at the liquid, he had a bold idea. Tentatively, he extended his tongue and licked it.
The shrub wasn't poisonous, so the extracted Wood Essence shouldn't be harmful either. If that was the case, could this liquid be consumed to replenish his depleted power?
If so, he had just discovered a shortcut for practicing the Withering-Bloom Formula.
The liquid tasted faintly sweet but mostly bitter, and overall unpleasant.
Once swallowed, however, wisps of spiritual qi unfurled inside him, and his immortal meridians instinctively absorbed them.
Ha! I really am a genius.
Ji An immediately sat cross-legged, gulped down the drop of Wood Essence, and began circulating the Clear Source Sutra.
The larger the dose, the stronger the bitterness, but he paid no mind.
In a way, wasn't this essentially a pill?
As the sutra flowed, the liquid's stored energy was swiftly drawn out, refined by his meridians, and condensed into spiritual power, flowing into his dantian.
The stone tortoise stirred as if alive, its maw twitching. Half of the newly refined power was devoured instantly.
The essence's energy was quickly spent. Ji An ended his practice and focused inward, gauging his reserves.
His mouth split into a wide grin, teeth flashing white against the morning sun.
By his rough estimate, consuming the liquid had restored about half of what he had spent on the spell. But once the tortoise's share was taken, his net gain was only about ten percent.
It works… but it's hardly worth it.
Still, he wondered whether the Wood Essence Pearl produced once the Withering-Bloom Formula reached Minor Mastery could also be ingested and, if so, what kind of effect it would have. Something to test in the future.
Just as he was lost in thought, a voice called out:
"Little An, you can begin now."
Old Huang approached with his hands clasped behind his back, smiling warmly in the morning light.
"All right then, please give me your guidance, senior brother!"
Ji An bowed and strode confidently to the edge of his half-acre field.
Outwardly, he looked anxious, but in truth, his confidence burned high. He poured his full strength into casting.
A thick white cloud rapidly took shape, soon blanketing the entire field.
What the?!
Old Huang's eyes widened.
Only the third-level Minor Rain Technique could cover such a large area!
The same gasp of shock rose from Ji An's own chest. Though his spells had advanced thanks to refining spiritual essence with the stone tortoise, this was still his first time casting the Minor Rain Technique at the Minor Mastery level.
Immediately, he felt a fierce suction drain the power from his body. In a blink, his dantian was left completely hollow.
I miscalculated! He hadn't even completed the casting yet.
At the Proficient stage, the spell's range was already more than double the Beginner level, consuming twice as much power. By that logic, Ji An had assumed his reserves would be more than enough.
He never expected the leap to Minor Mastery to cause an explosive surge in range and, with it, a massive spike in consumption. Even draining his dantian dry wasn't enough to complete the spell.
Damn it, what do I do now?
The cloud above began to churn violently, a sign that the spell was about to collapse.
He was at the final stage of casting. If he aborted now, he'd suffer backlash, not to mention the spectacle he'd planned would be ruined.
And he still wanted to borrow spirit stones from Old Huang, banking on his act as a "spellcasting prodigy."
Hesitation meant failure. As his thoughts wavered, spasms wracked his dantian. His immortal meridians shrank under the strain, the spell squeezing every last drop of power from his body.
It was too late to stop.
He recalled Elder Qin Yan's words during the sermon: When casting across realms, never go all out. Unless you face certain death, do not attempt it.
If one's power ran dry mid-cast and the spell wasn't halted in time, it would consume life force to force completion.
Just as disaster loomed, the stone tortoise in his dantian exhaled a wisp of airy spiritual breath.
It was like striking a spring from parched earth. Power gushed forth.
Like rain soaking a drought-stricken riverbed, his withered meridians swelled open again. The casting stabilized, and the spell finished smoothly.
The turbulent cloud quickly settled. Raindrops, the size of rice grains, pattered down in sheets.
Ji An wiped imaginary sweat from his brow, shaken. In that moment, he truly understood the saying: "Behind every unspoken rule lies blood and tears."
The pride he had felt since obtaining the stone tortoise slowly grounded itself into humility.
Old Huang clapped him on the shoulder.
"Little An, impressive! That must have been a flash of insight, eh? For a first-layer Qi refiner to reach Minor Mastery in the Minor Rain Technique, I've never even heard of such a thing!"
Ji An feigned frustration.
"My cultivation's too shallow. My power nearly ran out."
"Hah! That's just inexperience. Next time, restrain yourself. Once the clouds start forming, you can shift the hand seals. Don't go all in, sure, the effect will be a bit weaker, but it won't matter much."
He stretched out his hand, letting the rainfall soak his sleeve.
"For the first year, farming disciples don't pay field rent, no contribution points, and the sect even provides free spirit grain seed. With your talent, in a year, you'll be self-sufficient."
His eyes brimmed with envy. Back in his own day, he'd poured every ounce of power into practicing the Minor Rain Technique day and night, as long as he had strength left.
Even so, it took him eight months just to scrape into Minor Mastery. Among his peers, he had still been considered outstanding.
Ji An sighed, frowning with deliberate worry.
"Alas, I don't have enough power. It's slowing down my spell practice. If I could reach the second layer of Qi Refining, I'm confident I could bring the Thick Earth Formula to Minor Mastery before the grain heads sprout."
So this is what a prodigy sounds like? Old Huang felt a stab of sourness.
If he had possessed such talent, he would have risked the path toward Foundation Establishment long ago.
For a farming disciple, the first year in the sect was crucial.
If both the Minor Rain Technique and the Thick Earth Formula could be pushed to Minor Mastery within that year, the road ahead would be far smoother.
Both spells directly increased crop yield, and their effects stacked. And with four harvests of spirit grain a year…
Sensing the moment was right, Ji An clasped his hands in a bow.
"Senior brother, I have an unworthy request. Could I borrow a spirit stone to purchase a pill, so I can reach the second layer sooner? I'll repay you in full after the first harvest."