After meditating for one hour, Mu Jiuxiao stopped. It wasn’t that he was lazy and didn’t want to cultivate anymore, but his current meridians could only endure one hour of sitting meditation. If it went on for too long, it would instead damage his meridians.
He was still a little short-his Earth Spirit Root attribute needed to grow to 20. Cultivators said the total spirit root attributes needed to reach one hundred, but in reality, as long as a single spirit root attribute reached 20, one would have the opportunity to enter the Qi Condensation stage and become a Qi Condensation cultivator.
Of course, even after becoming a Qi Condensation cultivator, there were still distinctions between good and bad talent. However, with Hard Work Makes Up for Clumsiness in hand, as long as he lived long enough, his talent would eventually improve, until one day, he could compare with heaven’s chosen ones, even surpass them.
Just like his name-Mu Jiuxiao!
He was someone who wanted to go to the nine heavens to see the scenery!
This was the name his father gave him, but his father didn’t dare tell outsiders his real name, fearing that one day some cultivator would hear it, think the name displeasing, and have him killed.
So to outsiders, he was only called Mu Jiu.
And his mother, not long after his father passed away, left Luoxia Mountain. She didn’t want to be a servant for the immortal sect anymore; she wanted to go to the mortal world to see the scenery and enjoy life.
As an innate expert, she could live a carefree and happy life in the mortal world. Before leaving, she originally wanted to take Mu Jiuxiao with her, but Mu Jiuxiao was unwilling and stayed behind.
He could understand his mother giving up the cultivation path, but he was unwilling to give up. Having finally obtained a chance to cultivate, how could he give it up!
Mu Jiuxiao walked to the stove nearby, carefully scooped out a bowl of spirit rice from the rice jar, and cooked himself a bowl of porridge.
The acre of spirit field he planted this year had some roots damaged by earth ants, so the yield per acre only reached five hundred catties. Two hundred catties were handed over to Luoxia Peak, sixty catties were used to bribe Manager Meng, and he still had two hundred and forty catties left. After removing the husks, only two hundred catties remained.
However, this year, he could consume all two hundred catties of spirit rice himself.
In previous years, to better farm the land, he couldn’t bear to eat or use it. Combined with some savings his mother left him, he finally saved enough spirit stones to buy a Cold Iron Sickle.
The Cold Iron Sickle he bought was a Low Grade Magical Artifact-the lowest grade of magical artifact in the cultivation world. Those true Qi Condensation cultivators naturally looked down on it, but for mortals like them, it was like obtaining a treasure.
Now that the Cold Iron Sickle was in his hands, he had finally endured hardship and tasted sweetness. This year, he completed the harvesting of this acre of spirit rice all by himself, without needing to spend extra money to hire those sickle men from outside.
In fact, from now on, just by relying on this Cold Iron Sickle, he could work as a sickle man to earn resources.
The fragrant spirit rice porridge was finally ready. This taste was truly indescribable. The delicacies and fine foods of the mortal world were worthless compared to this bowl of spirit rice porridge.
After eating the spirit rice porridge, a warm current surged through his limbs and bones. Mu Jiuxiao quickly sat down cross-legged to digest this warm current.
This kind of spirit rice porridge contained Spiritual Qi, which could subtly strengthen a person’s meridians. Mortals who consumed it long-term could eliminate hidden illnesses and increase lifespan. For cultivators, it was also a good thing-it could help cultivators cultivate without developing drug resistance.
Unfortunately, Mu Jiuxiao wasn’t a Qi Condensation cultivator yet. After eating this bowl of spirit porridge, most of the Spiritual Qi dissipated, with only a small part being retained by his body, becoming his foundation.
Even so, Mu Jiuxiao was already very satisfied. After drinking this bowl of spirit porridge, he could cultivate for one more hour. If he drank a bowl of spirit porridge every day, he only needed five days for his earth attribute to officially break through twenty. He had a premonition that by that time, he would definitely step into the first layer of Qi Condensation and become a true Qi Condensation cultivator!
However, he was just a mortal, with limited digestive capacity. Today, he could only drink this one bowl of spirit porridge. Otherwise, he wished he could immediately drink eight bowls of spirit porridge and instantly cultivate to become a Qi Condensation cultivator.
Haste makes waste. Victory was right before his eyes. Mu Jiuxiao calmed his mind and quietly finished meditating for one hour, then finished work.
He didn’t waste the following time either, but started drawing talismans. He wasn’t a Qi Condensation cultivator now, so he had no Spiritual Qi in his Dantian. Drawing talismans was basically useless. However, with Hard Work Makes Up for Clumsiness, he believed that after he became a Qi Condensation cultivator, his path in talisman drawing would surely yield results.
What he drew was the Water Cloud Talisman, which functioned precisely to bring clouds and rain. This was also the lowest grade talisman in the cultivation world, an inheritance his father left him. Back then, after his father became a Qi Condensation cultivator, he went through great hardships to obtain this talisman drawing method.
After drawing for two hours, Mu Jiuxiao put down the brush and lay down on the bed to sleep.
He was still a mortal now and still needed to ensure sleep every day. It was just that nights were quiet, allowing him to better cultivate and draw talismans. So he usually stayed busy until midnight before sleeping, then got up at the end of the si hour.
This routine of his also made some tenant farmers around him who didn’t know the truth think he was lazy. Sometimes when they wanted to invite him out to play, he was usually sleeping. Over time, except for a few neighbors nearby, others even forgot that among the tenant farmers on Luoxia Mountain, there was still him.
However, Mu Jiuxiao was happy to be at ease. With the Hard Work Makes Up for Clumsiness talent, of course he wanted to live as long as possible. He wasn’t willing to go out with others to see scenery-what if they encountered some Demon Beast or ghost? That would be a death in vain.
He’d better stay at home honestly farming, diligently cultivating, and become a cultivator sooner.
…
“Knock, knock, knock!”
The next day, Mu Jiuxiao woke up to the sound of knocking.
“Brother Jiu, Brother Jiu, are you up?”
Li Xinyue’s voice came from outside. Mu Jiuxiao sprang up from the bed like a carp, “I’m up.”
He fetched water to wash his face, then came to the door, “Sister Xinyue, why have you come so early?”
“I’m afraid you’ll oversleep.”
After Li Xinyue said this, Mu Jiuxiao opened the door, “Don’t worry, I keep my word. You go back first. Before noon, I’ll definitely arrive.”
“That won’t do. I have to wait here. This year, many tenant farmers’ spirit rice is ripening at the same time, and sickle men are in high demand. I can’t let someone else snatch you away.” Li Xinyue stood at the doorway and said.
“Alright, then wait for me a moment. I’ll eat breakfast and come.”
As Mu Jiuxiao spoke, he went to cook himself a bowl of spirit porridge. Smelling the fragrance coming from the house, Li Xinyue almost drooled. She silently swallowed her saliva and stood by the door.
This was the rule among these tenant farmers-don’t enter unless invited, even if they were close friends.
After all, the reason these tenant farmers didn’t go to the mortal world to enjoy life was for the sake of the immortal path. And on Luoxia Mountain, tenant farmers had low status. The fields belonged to the immortal sect; what truly belonged to them was only this small thatched cottage.
This was their private space. Even though it could be seen through at a glance, no tenant farmer would be so tactless as to barge in.
Mu Jiuxiao also had no intention of inviting Li Xinyue in to drink spirit porridge. This spirit porridge wasn’t something to be used for politeness. Those ordinary tenant farmers, busy from the beginning to the end of the year, after paying the rent, how many catties of spirit rice could they get?
“I really envy you, Brother Jiu. You dare to eat spirit porridge as a meal.”
After Mu Jiuxiao finished eating, Li Xinyue said enviously.
“Ah, isn’t it because we just finished harvesting the spirit rice? If I can’t bear to eat it even now, then what’s the point of working hard all year?” Mu Jiuxiao replied, picked up the Cold Iron Sickle, and went out the door with her.