Free Web NovelChapter 1270: Chapter 966: Half-Step Immortal Energy (Part 2)
Even the spirit plants containing various spiritual energies were growing at an incredible speed.
Filled with doubt, Du Li ventured deeper, and immediately widened his eyes, mouth agape, unable to utter a sound — in the northwest corner stood dozens of tea trees resembling a small forest. Judging by their appearance, they must have been growing for tens of thousands of years!
"Are these... the tea trees of the Eternal Spirit Zhi Tea?!" He was stunned, stepping forward to examine the color of the buds and their growth state, which was identical to the raw material of the Eternal Spirit Zhi Tea he was fortunate to have seen.
Oh no, it can’t be said to be exactly alike.
The precious tea tree I saw back then had been growing for who knows how many tens of thousands of years, with only the topmost buds remaining for tea making. But these tea trees in Mr. Jiang’s tea field, although seemingly quite old, remained lush with branches, with numerous budding tea leaves ready to emerge.
I once heard that in good years, an eternal tea tree would produce only half an ounce of Eternal Spirit Zhi Tea.
Seeing the state of the tea trees in this tea field, Du Li estimated that each tree could yield at least a pound!
"No wonder at the banquet on the Jade Platform that day, they served Eternal Spirit Zhi Tea. I thought Mr. Jiang used it specially to entertain distinguished guests at the first table, but now it seems all the residents in this courtyard may taste this exceptional spirit tea every now and then." Looking up at the busy cultivators living in the courtyard, a sense of envy rose within him once again.
For a moment, Du Li even contemplated giving up on his solemn vow to seek solace in the small courtyard, avoiding the hustle and bustle of the mundane world to pursue the Dao, perhaps also attaining ascension to immortality.
Unfortunately, they were not of the same path, and might one day fight to the death for the power of the Celestial Dao’s Remnant.
Thinking of this lowered his spirits slightly.
He intended to steal a moment of leisure, but his worries were relentless, no wonder the Alliance Leader often said his heart was too burdened by the mortal world, risking being hindered by the mundane.
Du Li felt there was no solution to this and could only hope to repair the Heart Mirror soon, to implement the collective ascension plan. However, repairing the Divine Artifact, not to mention anything else, takes at least a month or two, an agonizing wait.
He pondered over trivial matters while wandering through the excessively neat farmland.
Soon after, Du Li discovered something intriguing — he only knew that Mr. Jiang excelled in Shennong techniques, yet never explored it in detail.
Now, observing in the fields at leisure, he noticed various spirit plants he’d never seen before, each containing rich spiritual power. Ignoring the biting cold winds of early winter, they appeared even more lush and vibrant the colder it got.
"This seems like the ancient spirit fruit, superior in quality compared to the top-grade ones sold on Trapped Snake Island..." Du Li bent slightly to sniff the alluring fruit about to ripen, exuding a fresh and sweet fragrance.
Before he could observe further, the ancient spirit fruit in this field accelerated its ripening, an automatic harvesting tool swept overhead, and the ripe fruits vanished without a trace. Meanwhile, buds began to sprout from the branches, swaying and growing into a large golden flower...
What marvelous Shennong techniques!
He couldn’t even see where Mr. Jiang was, yet everything in the endless farmland operated according to specific rules, without any other spiritual energy fluctuation besides the spirit plants’ own.
Du Li studied with his hands behind his back, losing track of time.
Suddenly, for some reason, those crops seemed to receive an order to halt their frantic growth simultaneously, no matter how hard he stared, time seemed to pause on them.
"So wondrous and magical! Who would have thought such a mysterious sight lay within a seemingly unremarkable farmland? How is it done?" marveled Du Li, while by this time, Jiang Yuan’s mainline quest was nearly complete.
The Level Eight courtyard directly jumped to Level Nine, then ascended to the top Level Ten.
The protective shield enveloping the entire courtyard, including Kunlun Divine Mountain and Jasper Pool Immortal Realm, escalated; with the level rising to the top, the previously rich spiritual energy in the yard underwent a qualitative change!
Flowing mists glided with the wind, faintly visible celestial light shimmering in the sky, with an image of a magnificent beast flashing by; there was also the sound of dragon roars and phoenix cries.
Du Li saw no apparent change before him, yet everything was different; he couldn’t pinpoint what had changed as he cautiously observed his surroundings, aware of the alterations without making a rash move.
"Whoosh!"
A gust of fresh wind swept through, and everyone in the courtyard sensed the anomaly, rushing out of their rooms.
"What happened? Why does it feel like the spiritual energy in the courtyard is different from before?"
"Quick, go ask the senior masters, they surely know what’s happening!"
"Should we send a message to the master since he’s not home?"
......
Even the Cloud Concealment Sect members busy in the Divine Mountain noticed something unusual, directing their gaze toward the Sect Leader.
Before Cang Rui could recover from the ecstasy, Yan Xuan’s languid voice came from the Jade Platform, echoing through the entire courtyard, "Why panic? All this noise over nothing.
The master merely upgraded the protection array and spirit gathering array of the courtyard. The changes you sense result from the spiritual energy becoming exceptionally dense, now on the verge of transforming into immortal energy.
Unfortunately, this courtyard is set in the mortal world, dragging it down somewhat. Therefore, what permeates the courtyard is a higher-grade than spiritual energy, yet slightly inferior to immortal energy — half-step immortal energy. Absorbing and refining such pure energy can make cultivation twice as effective with half the effort.
Stop the noise, and don’t disturb the master’s affairs. Instead of idling, spend the time cultivating. Outsiders dream of getting a single breath of half-step immortal energy without any chance; residing here, you are nourished by it consistently—a great fortune indeed, seize the opportunity the master granted without fail!"
Finishing this, it continued to concentrate on refining the Ten Thousand Years Profound Ice within, like a giant humidifier, emanating tangible spiritual energy atop the Jade Platform.
Ever since Huo Jun suddenly exited seclusion to train, Yan Xuan felt an immense sense of crisis.
It didn’t want that brat to outstrip it and ascend first!
Yan Xuan figured, among the future Four Symbols Divine Beasts, if it weren’t the first to be subdued and first to venture to the Extreme North Secret Realm for training, yet not be the first to ascend to ease the master’s concerns, it would be an utter disgrace, wouldn’t it?
Hence, it exerted all its effort to devour the Ten Thousand Years Profound Ice in the Extreme North Secret Realm, returned to refine it, and also collected the massive spirit stones within the ice crevices. It waited eagerly for the master’s return to offer them with both claws for reward and recognition!
Occupying the mountain top, Shi Hu lounged lazily, showing no emotional disturbance at the words.
I think about all this Four Symbols Divine Beast ascension stuff—isn’t it just light chatter from the master’s lips without real meaning? I’ve never seen it, so who knows if it’s true?
The sight of the Great King Tortoise returning from training, always with weary steps and exhaustion, clearly indicates training is arduous; and as for Huo Jun, he’s disappeared without a trace, who knows what whips and scorns he’s enduring in some corner. Why not simply take advantage of this excuse, claiming recovery, to stay in this carefree, picturesque courtyard, enjoying a life of ease and plenty?
When, in the future, Yan Xuan or Huo Jun truly ascends, comes the time to consider exerting effort.
If they exhaust themselves for ten or even eight years without ascending, what’s the point in enduring such hardship?
For now, taking life one day at a time is just fine!
Apart from Shi Hu, including Du Li, everyone recovered from the initial shock, absorbing the more refined energy of half-step immortal energy, genuinely grateful to Jiang Yuan.
"What’s going on? Isn’t this sentiment boost a bit exaggerated?" Jiang Yuan was reviewing historical records, as system messages flew rapidly, too many favorable sentiments to count, and he was momentarily stunned.
Apart from the permanent members of the courtyard, there were over two hundred people from the Cloud Concealment Sect alone, all genuinely grateful, boosting favorable sentiments—a considerable quantity.
He vaguely guessed it was likely due to the courtyard reaching Level Ten, yet he couldn’t fathom why the courtyard upgrading resulted in favorable sentiment boosts from everyone.
However, often these sentiments accumulate for mysterious reasons. For instance, a cultivator far away recalling received benefits suddenly increases their favorable sentiment—it happens quite often. Anyway, it’s not harmful, so Jiang Yuan didn’t bother delving into it.
The portal wasn’t yet open, and it was uncertain when the Leisure Sect would send someone to replenish the energy.
He thought about it, then decided to click into the Mizhang Ridge instance.
Now this place had merged several world fragments, almost becoming a complete small world, yet with not many cultivators residing within. So, Jiang Yuan planned to do something significant today!
In the past, Mizhang Ridge was engulfed in miasma, and while completing the instance, he not only acquired the Thunder Element Technique but also recruited ten valiant Yu Hu warriors. After completing the entire instance, finding all the Earth Seals, he cleared away all the rolling poisonous miasma from the Yu Hu warriors.
Since then, his combat power soared, but rarely had opportunities to dispatch them for battle.
Now that Mizhang Ridge returned to normalcy and was devoid of humans, he wished to try gifting each Yu Hu warrior 200 points of Life Origin to see if it could help them revive once more!
