Managing fifty acres of spirit fields for rain summoning was no small task for Zuo Mo, who was at the seventh level of Qi Refinement.

  Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Zuo Mo said expressionlessly, "Alright, I'm exhausted."

  Old Black Head chuckled and gave him a thumbs-up. "Brother Mo’s skills are truly unmatched, just as the rumors say!" He then squatted down, full of delight, to inspect the growth of the spirit grains.

  Zuo Mo accepted the compliment without modesty. Old Black Head’s spirit grains were well-cultivated, and from Zuo Mo’s estimation, this year’s harvest would likely be quite good. With his rain summoning, the yield could increase by about twenty percent. As his reward, he would receive a ten percent cut, which was quite substantial.

  However, when he saw the reverence and joy in Old Black Head’s eyes as he examined the spirit grains, Zuo Mo inexplicably didn’t feel much happiness.

  Old Black Head had been an outer disciple of the Wukong Sword Sect for twenty years. His cultivation level was low, and he had spent those two decades planting spirit grains.

  The rent for the spirit fields was paid in spirit grains. Every year, he needed to hand over a certain amount of spirit grains to earn enough sect contribution points to maintain his status as an outer disciple. If he wanted to learn new techniques, he had to earn even more contribution points.

  After all the calculations, what was left for him was pitifully little. Old Black Head couldn’t even bear to eat the spirit grains he grew himself.

  Zuo Mo understood better than anyone how difficult life was for outer disciples.

  Yet, even a small sect like the Wukong Sword Sect still had countless people clamoring to join. Though the work was hard, they could learn valuable skills and, in the future, find decent jobs. For someone like Old Black Head, who had no family backing, this was a relatively stable livelihood.

  Zuo Mo’s life was much easier. Though he was also an outer disciple, he had been picked up by the sect master, so no one dared to bully him. His talent and comprehension were quite high, and after comprehending the third level of the Minor Cloud and Rain Technique, his life had become even more comfortable.

  Zuo Mo had no grand ambitions. With no clues about his origins or background, his only goal was to live comfortably.

  After finishing his work, he slowly made his way back to his residence.

  The entire Wukong Mountain was occupied solely by the Wukong Sword Sect, and the area was vast. The entire western peak was designated as the living area for outer disciples. You could choose to live in any size area you wanted and even build your own residence. However, most people opted to take over the courtyards left behind by previous outer disciples. Though they had been abandoned for a long time, they only needed a bit of cleaning to be livable.

  Zuo Mo’s courtyard covered an extremely large area. Despite his thin frame, he liked big things, so he had chosen the largest courtyard on the western peak. It had seven rows of rooms, a half-acre fish pond, and about five acres of spirit fields. The senior disciple who had originally built this courtyard must have been a planting fanatic. The fish pond had no decorative rocks, the courtyard lacked flower beds or gardens, and there were no ornamental features. The senior had converted everything into spirit fields.

  While others had no interest in such a charmless, utilitarian courtyard with incomplete formations, Zuo Mo loved it.

  The fish pond didn’t need to house anything; it was perfect for soaking in during the summer. The spirit fields were excellent—Zuo Mo was shrewd. The spirit fields rented from the sect required payment, but the fields in his courtyard were rent-free. Additionally, there was a cold spring in the courtyard.

  Building a house had its principles. Generally, it was best to build on a spirit vein. Staying in a place with dense spiritual energy would speed up cultivation progress, which was why blessed lands were so expensive. However, spirit veins were rare, and outer disciples like them had no chance of securing one.

  No one had expected that this abandoned courtyard had a small branch of a spirit vein beneath it!

  When Zuo Mo first moved in, he searched for a place to meditate and discovered a quiet room. Pushing open the door, a pungent smell of decay hit him. The floor was littered with rotting meditation cushions, reduced to piles of straw. Only one cushion remained mostly intact.

  Zuo Mo spent a great deal of effort cleaning the room, leaving only this intact cushion.

  When he first sat on the cushion, he was stunned.

  The spiritual energy at the cushion’s location was far denser than anywhere else!

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  His heart raced. At first, he thought it was the cushion’s doing, but he soon discovered the real reason—a small branch of a spirit vein lay beneath the cushion! This branch was tiny, and just one step away from the cushion, the spiritual energy was no longer noticeable.

  Only then did he gradually realize why the unknown senior disciple had built such a large courtyard—it was likely to conceal this small spirit vein.

  This unknown senior quickly became Zuo Mo’s idol.

  In the vast western peak, finding such a small spirit vein and cultivating spirit fields on his own—such abilities were almost unheard of for an outer disciple.

  After discovering the secret of the spirit vein, Zuo Mo became even more low-key. He knew the principle of not flaunting wealth. If others found out about the spirit vein, he would likely face schemes, and the best outcome would be the sect reclaiming it.

  He placed over thirty meditation cushions on the floor of the quiet room and piled another seventy or eighty in the corner. These cushions varied in color and shape, all woven by Zuo Mo himself. The rumor that Zombie Xiao Mo had a strange hobby for weaving cushions spread widely among the outer disciples. As a result, some people would buy beautifully crafted cushions as gifts when they needed his help. This led to an increasing number of cushions, eventually filling the quiet room.

  However, Zuo Mo always insisted on meditating on the old, preserved cushion. After enduring so long without decaying, this cushion might have some special qualities. The profound and mysterious senior made him treat every preserved item in the house with care, never underestimating anything.

  The only regret Zuo Mo had was that the spirit fields had been abandoned for too long, causing their grade to drop to the first level. It had taken him immense effort to restore their vitality. However, raising them back to the second level would take time.

  He had planted all five acres of spirit fields with spirit grains. The grains were waist-high, with serrated edges on their leaves that were sharp enough to cut if one wasn’t careful. The grains had been sown at the same time, so their height was uniform, creating a lush, green expanse that was pleasing to the eye.

  At night, however, it looked somewhat eerie.

  To prevent theft, Zuo Mo had set up formations around the courtyard. These low-level formations weren’t lethal, but they would create a loud disturbance if triggered.

  The entire courtyard was dilapidated, with cobwebs everywhere, and the furniture had all rotted away. The formations inside the house had also deteriorated over time and could no longer function. No one competed with him for this place.

  This didn’t bother Zuo Mo. He liked sleeping on the roof at night and meditating in the quiet room. The other rooms were left empty or used as storage for ordinary food. As for the formations, he had someone inscribe a basic light formation for illumination at night. He couldn’t be bothered to spend money on anything else.

  Sitting on the meditation cushion, the dense spiritual energy around him made him feel so comfortable he almost moaned. Controlling his emotions and calming his mind, he slowly circulated his spiritual energy.

  The cultivation technique he practiced was the "Tranquil Heart Method," a widely circulated second-grade technique known for its stability and safety, with little risk of qi deviation. Most outer disciples of the Wukong Sword Sect chose it as their primary cultivation method. However, its success rate for reaching Foundation Establishment was very low. Ambitious disciples needed to earn more sect contribution points to exchange for higher-level techniques.

  Zuo Mo felt as if he had entered a void. His spiritual energy circulated along a fixed path, and with each completed cycle, his body felt lighter.

  At the seventh level of Qi Refinement, he could sustain three cycles each time. He could feel that with each breath, some of the spiritual energy he inhaled merged with the energy circulating in his body. The dense spiritual energy around him allowed him to absorb a significant amount. Over the past two years, his progress from the third to the seventh level of Qi Refinement was largely due to this small spirit vein.

  After completing three cycles, he withdrew from the void.

  He felt refreshed, and the fatigue from earlier was completely gone.

  He casually ate some food to fill his stomach. Before reaching Foundation Establishment, cultivators still needed ordinary food. While it didn’t provide spiritual energy, it was essential for Qi Refinement cultivators. Fortunately, ordinary food was cheap, and no one had to worry about starving.

  He took out the jade slip he had bought the day before. The jade slip was made of high-quality jade, a vibrant green that felt cool and solid in his hand.

  In his mind, he envisioned a mountain of spirit grains, and himself lying on top, utterly content.

  —What a desirable life!

  In the dimly lit room, a thin man with a stiff, expressionless face let out a series of eerie chuckles, sending shivers down the spine.

  After indulging in his daydream, Zuo Mo began to seriously study the jade slip.

  Infusing it with spiritual energy, text immediately appeared in his mind.

  The jade slip contained five techniques: "Metal Edge Technique," "Wood Nurturing Technique," "Water Purification Technique," "Fire Refining Technique," and "Earth Strengthening Technique." Apart from the "Minor Cloud and Rain Technique," the other four were techniques Zuo Mo had never learned before.

  The prospect of learning new techniques excited Zuo Mo, and he took a deep breath.

  It was clear that for a long time to come, he would need to focus most of his energy on mastering these four techniques.

  The first one he decided to learn was the "Metal Edge Technique." Among the five elements, metal represented killing and destruction, and most metal-based techniques were related to combat. Spirit grains had many natural enemies, which were troublesome. For example, a type of aphid would burrow into the spirit grain plants to reproduce, even hollowing out the main stems. Ordinary planters had no way to deal with them.

  The "Metal Edge Technique" was a good solution. It allowed metal energy to penetrate the spirit grain plants, killing the pests inside. This was the technique Zuo Mo needed most. Besides the agreements he had with his fellow disciples, he had also rented fifty acres of spirit fields himself.

  The harvest from these fifty acres accounted for a significant portion of his annual income.

  He read the text word by word, not daring to miss anything. He had learned very few techniques, and studying a completely new one immediately felt challenging.

  An hour passed, and he made no progress. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t condense the "Gengjin Qi Blade" mentioned in the technique.

  All the techniques in the "Metal Edge Technique" were derived from the Gengjin Qi Blade. Without being able to condense it, he couldn’t learn any of the techniques.

  Zuo Mo’s zombie-like face remained expressionless, but his lively eyes revealed a hint of determination.