Qin Ming sat cross-legged on the woven grass mat inside his room.
In his hands, he held a bowl of Blood-Leech Rice.
The spirit rice grains, shaped like tiny insects, emanated a blood-red mist across their entire form, reflecting a crimson glow onto Qin Ming’s face.
Qin Ming grinned broadly, the joy of harvest surfacing in his heart.
Just by taking a whiff, he could feel a surge of dense vital-blood energy rushing toward him.
Consuming Blood-Leech Rice demanded high physical vital-blood strength from a cultivator; it was not something to be eaten in excess.
With Qin Ming’s current vital-blood strength: He could barely manage to withstand a single bowl of Blood-Leech Rice.
He scooped a spoon of Blood-Leech Rice and sent it into his mouth.
Boom!
A surge of overwhelming vital-blood energy shot straight up to his crown!
Even though Qin Ming was fully prepared, he was still nearly unable to bear it!
He hastily began circulating his vital blood according to the Hundred-Treasures Glazed Scripture, cleansing his marrow and replacing his blood.
In an instant: A thick crimson mist began rising and swirling around Qin Ming’s entire body.
An unbearable, intense itch flared inside him, as if countless insects were writhing beneath the surface of his skin.
He felt the blood throughout his entire body begin to boil and scald.
Through continuous, repeated compression and refining of vital blood, the vital blood within Qin Ming’s body gradually began to turn into a thick paste.
He finished eating the rest of the Blood-Leech Rice in one go.
Instantly, his entire vital blood reached a peak state of condensation.
Boom!
Qin Ming snapped his eyes open, and the scabs formed on his skin during the blood-refining process peeled away layer by layer.
Hundred-Treasures Glazed Scripture, 4th Layer—Breakthrough!
“Finally…” Feeling the powerful vital-blood energy surging within his body, Qin Ming felt exhilarated.
“Stepping into the 4th Layer is equivalent to reaching the mid-stage of body refining.” Qin Ming had undergone such massive changes in just a short single year that even he found it somewhat unbelievable.
“The 4th Layer…
is still not enough.
I must try to break through to the 5th Layer as quickly as possible!” Qin Ming clenched his fists and thought to himself.
…
In the days that followed: Apart from tending to his spirit fields, Qin Ming spent his time intensely cultivating the Hundred-Treasures Glazed Scripture.
He kept a low profile and rarely went out.
With the aid of the Blood-Leech Rice, his body-refining progress advanced at lightning speed.
As he devoted himself to cultivation, time flew by in a flash.
Another half-year passed.
Inside the room: Qin Ming’s eyes were tightly shut.
After repeated rounds of marrow cleansing and blood refining during this period, the vital blood within his body had grown increasingly compressed and condensed.
Now, his vital-blood energy had reached an unprecedented height.
He was currently just one final hurdle away from breaking through to the 5th Layer.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Qin Ming used up the [Abundant Vital Blood] trait stored in his sea of consciousness.
Instantly: Everything went dark before his eyes, as if a surging, tempestuous ocean was pouring down from above.
The pressure nearly rendered Qin Ming breathless.
The vital-blood boost contained within this [Abundant Vital Blood] trait was so immense that it was hardly inferior to the Blood-Leech Rice itself.
Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
Suddenly: The sound of vital blood continuously flowing and circulating echoed by Qin Ming’s ears.
The scene before his eyes underwent a abrupt transformation.
Scanning his interior with spiritual sense, he discovered that the inside of his body now resembled a boundless sea of blood.
The vital blood was thick and viscous, like liquid mercury.
He was surrounded by mysterious and profound vital-blood energy.
Standing in the midst of it, Qin Ming appeared extraordinarily minuscule.
Suddenly!
Deep within the sea of blood, a massive tsunami began to roll and surge up.
The roaring waves engulfed Qin Ming in an instant.
Boom!
An explosion sounded in Qin Ming’s head, accompanied by a ringing in his ears.
The vital-blood energy inside his body underwent yet another qualitative transformation, continuously strengthening Qin Ming’s physical body, muscles, bones, and constitution.
A layer of treasure light resembling glazed glass: Gradually emerged across Qin Ming’s entire body, covering every inch of his skin like a robe.
This was the “Glazed Treasure Robe” condensed from his own immense vital-blood energy once he reached the state where vital blood turned into liquid mercury!
The moment the treasure robe solidified, it signified that he had finally stepped into the 5th Layer of the Hundred-Treasures Glazed Scripture!
His body refining had completed a total qualitative change.
Qin Ming’s current strength far surpassed body-refining cultivators of the same tier.
He drew out his Green Feather Flying Sword and slashed forcefully across his own skin.
Only a faint white mark appeared on his skin, which vanished an instant later.
“It seems ordinary magic artifacts can no longer harm me!” Qin Ming was overjoyed, an indescribable sense of security welling up from within.
Even more importantly, the ‘Glazed Treasure Robe’ possessed spell-warding properties.
“The 5th Layer is already this formidable!
The power described in this scripture was actually all true!” “I have already completed the first five layers of the Hundred-Treasures Glazed Scripture.
It seems I need to get the remaining four layers from Fellow Cultivator Ruan as soon as possible.” Feeling his own power skyrocket, Qin Ming couldn’t help but look forward to the subsequent layers of the technique.
The main reason he could break through so quickly was credited to the massive vital-blood boost brought by the Blood-Leech Rice.
Otherwise, given the spirit materials required by the Hundred-Treasures Glazed Scripture, who knew how long it would have taken him to reach this realm.
Qin Ming felt immensely refreshed and liberated.
After washing up: Qin Ming drew all the blood energy across his body inward, concealing it deep within.
The skin on his body still retained the appearance of a spirit farmer, slightly wheat-colored.
However, his overall spirit and energy were completely different from before—his temperament was reserved, yet his eyes shone with brilliant vitality.
“Now, I can finally be considered to have a modest amount of self-defense capability in this chaotic cultivation world.” “This can be considered the very first trump card I’ve acquired after coming to the cultivation world for all these years, right?” “Sigh…
it really wasn’t easy…” The sense of tension that had weighed on Qin Ming due to the rogue cultivators appearing earlier eased significantly.
The tightly wound nerves across his whole body finally felt a sense of relief.
There were still two months left.
The one mu of Beast-Tooth Rice in Qin Ming’s spirit field was on the verge of maturity.
When that time came, not only could he trade for the remaining layers of the Hundred-Treasures Glazed Scripture, but he could also be promoted to a Tier-One Low-Grade Spirit Plant Master.
From then on, he would enjoy the Spirit Feather Sect’s policy of halving the spirit grain tax.
Not only would his status among spirit farmers be greatly elevated, but it would also bring a very substantial income of spirit grain.
However, being promoted to a Tier-One Spirit Plant Master still required passing an official examination on spirit plant knowledge administered by the sect.
As for successfully cultivating Tier-One spirit plants, he had already grown Beast-Tooth Rice and Yin-Congealing Flowers.
These had already been recorded and reported by the Spirit Feather Sect’s scribes.
Now, only the written examination on spirit plant knowledge remained.
Qin Ming still intended to strive for the Tier-One Spirit Plant Master title.
After all, having this official credential would bring all kinds of conveniences in his future cultivation life.
With his body refining having achieved a breakthrough, Qin Ming lacked the subsequent technique chapters.
He could only wait patiently for the one mu of Beast-Tooth Rice to mature in two months.
During this period: Qin Ming crammed spirit plant knowledge aggressively to prepare for the examination.
Besides that, he was also learning the art of alchemy.
He had even bought a small alchemy cauldron from Shopkeeper Liao and attempted to refine a few batches of basic pills.
All ended in failure.
“It seems that without guidance, relying solely on reading books won’t work…” Qin Ming stared at the blackened spirit materials inside the cauldron and let out a helpless sigh.
Alchemy really depended on talent after all; his aptitude in this area was quite mediocre as well.
It seemed he could only wait until the future to grow large quantities of spirit herbs and stack experience points to make up for it…
Hopefully, when the Yin-Congealing Flowers matured, Alchemist Su might give him some pointers.