Chapter 20: Bright Eyes Night Vision, Five Elements Object Observation

The lamplight flickered as Zhao Xing stared at the book, its pages brightening and dimming, and gradually the view before his eyes grew clearer.

He had thought it was just a normal fluctuation, but the brightness only grew stronger, until at a certain moment it was as bright as broad daylight.

"Huh?" Zhao Xing raised his head, set down the book, and glanced around.

He found that it was not yet dawn outside—it was still deep into the night—and the almanac also showed it was the hour of Zi, with nothing unusual.

Looking again at the panel record, he couldn't help but feel enlightened.

【You studied the *Compendium of Materia Medica* at night, primordial Qi entered your eyes, and you comprehended the spell 'Bright Eyes Night Vision.'】

【Bright Eyes Night Vision: Beginner Spell】

【Proficiency: 20/9999】

【Effect: See objects at night, gaze up to a thousand meters.】

"A common spell, and I actually rolled it."

Zhao Xing smiled slightly. He hadn't expected that after only a short read, he would gain something—and a very practical skill at that.

"Still, I'm not far from the third stage of Qi Gathering, so it's about time I got this spell."

Bright Eyes Night Vision was an adaptive spell—passive yet also actively castable. It could adjust to changes in the surrounding environment.

Basically every Ninth Rank Realm cultivator had this as standard equipment; those below rank also had a certain chance of obtaining it. Warriors obtained it most easily—even at the first stage of Qi Gathering—because their primordial Qi mainly enhanced their own physique. Si Nong obtained it a little later.

"Very practical. Later it can advance to 'Discerning the Autumn Hair,' which not only lets you observe finer movements and fluctuations of primordial Qi, but even grasp a person's psychological activity—though it only works on those whose realm is lower than yours." Zhao Xing thought to himself.

If the target was of the same realm, or higher, their primordial Qi was a seamless whole, locked tight and not leaking out, making it very hard to detect; psychological activity was even harder to capture.

"Even stronger is the Si Kou profession's Bright Mirror Questioning the Heart—it's absolutely superb for interrogating prisoners."

With Bright Eyes Night Vision, Zhao Xing's reading became much more convenient.

He continued studying the *Compendium of Materia Medica*, the *Great Observation of Trees*, and the *Compendium of Hundred Herbs*.

The ultimate goal of the Si Nong profession was always to cultivate crops. These three books introduced and classified the plants of heaven and earth.

Classified by use, they could be divided into medicinal, edible, and livestock-feed types.

There were also divisions into 'Class,' 'Outline,' 'Series,' 'Phylum,' and 'Species.'

For instance, Zhao Xing was now looking at a page of the *Compendium of Materia Medica* that mentioned a miraculous plant called 'Selaginella,' also known as Soul-Returning Grass, which could heal damage to the soul and was classified under the Herb Outline.

Turning a page, Zhao Xing saw another familiar name.

"In the Mushroom Class, it describes how on a certain wondrous mountain in Mingdao Province, there grows a plant called 'Chameleon Mushroom.' It can change color to blend with its surroundings; touch it and it explodes, releasing toxic gas that can cause blindness, poisoning, or fainting—severe cases lead to death."

Chameleon Mushroom—Zhao Xing had grown plenty of them in his previous life. They grew fast, were easy to keep alive, weren't expensive, and worked pretty well. Simply a must-grow for Si Nong players to ambush people.

Classified by species, there were native types (originally existing in heaven and earth) and derived types (artificially created by later generations).

There were also classifications by the attributes of the Five Elements and Wind and Thunder—for instance, the 'Purple Lightning Bamboo' Zhao Xing had once grown in his previous life.

It belonged to the Thunder attribute of the Five Elements; its bamboo joints could fire purple lightning attacks, making it one of the more offensive plants in the bamboo series.

The weakness of Si Nong players in the early stage was that they could only fight positional and defensive battles, requiring advance deployment—because plants couldn't move.

But once Qi Gathering reached the fiftieth stage, this annoyance disappeared.

Because one could perform 'Origin Dantian Seed Cultivation,' opening up a small patch of pure-Yuan soil, equivalent to a mobile reserve base.

When encountering enemies, one could cast 'Pure Yuan Projection' onto the real world, making plants appear at a certain location, take root in the real world, and basically be deployed instantly.

A wave of the hand, and an entire army of plants!

As for the even later Revival version, one could cultivate seeds directly within the Inner Landscape, possessing even more miraculous plants that could even take root in the void, completely free from terrain and environmental constraints—that was the strongest era of the Benwo Sect's Si Nong…

"What a nostalgic thought. I wonder if I'll even live to see those days."

"In the Qi-Dynasty system, an emperor's lifespan is at most a thousand years. The longest-lived official was Peng Zu of the Yin Dynasty, who lived eight hundred years."

"This shackle was later broken by Wu Di. Officials' lifespans actually became longer than the emperor's, while the Emperor's lifespan grew shorter and shorter. That's because the dynasty began to decline, and everyone was 'stealing fortune to survive.'"

Zhao Xing counted on his fingers: "I must borrow the Qi-Dynasty system to extend my life, only then might I live to see the future Revival era. Emperor Jing, Wu Di, and after them fifteen more emperors—as long as I can survive through Wu Di's reign, the rest are all short-lived emperors."

"Each dynasty averages only a little over a hundred years… Extending lifespan will be much easier then. I'm a Si Nong with vigorous vitality too; outlasting those short-lived ghosts shouldn't be a problem."

"The hardest part is Emperor Jing's reign. Not only was he a diligent emperor, he was also stingy—extremely miserly in extending officials' lifespans. Wu Di, on the other hand, was generous—often waving his hand grandly to max out some general's lifespan…"

His thoughts wandering for a moment, Zhao Xing continued reading. His immediate goal was still to change professions.

【You studied the *Great Observation of Trees Scripture* at night and comprehended the spell 'Five Elements Object Observation.'】

【Five Elements Object Observation: Beginner Spell】

【Proficiency: 1/9999】

【Effect: Use the principles of the Five Elements to discern the vitality of plants and trees.】

"Oh, lucky me—another practical spell." A stream of spell knowledge, profound and mysterious, surfaced in Zhao Xing's mind.

The wondrous flowers and strange herbs under heaven were countless; even Si Nong of all dynasties had not been able to exhaust them all, and many things went unrecorded.

Five Elements Object Observation was essentially an advanced detection spell for the Si Nong profession.

Suppose one encountered an unknown plant—one could observe its internal vitality from afar and use the principles of the Five Elements to discern its use.

Combined with other spells, one could basically judge it accurately.

Si Nong players had many other identification skills, such as 【Body-Furnace Identification Method】.

Cut off a small portion, taste it personally, using the body as a furnace to experience the specific effects more delicately.

But this spell skill was quite a trap—many Si Nong players got poisoned terribly. Zhao Xing often saw people on the forums complaining that they'd been killed by some herb or another.

"With this, Shennong need not taste the hundred herbs—observing them suffices."

Having obtained two practical spells in a row, Zhao Xing was in an excellent mood.

Even though it was already past the hour of Zi, he still read on tirelessly.

The classics bestowed by the imperial court carried certain miraculous powers that could aid one in comprehending the Dao; a single book could usually be comprehended from twice.

After those two times, it lost its miraculous effect and would only consolidate the spell knowledge already comprehended.

Time slipped away, but Zhao Xing was completely unaware, utterly immersed in a wondrous sensation.

The miraculous power within the tome was faint, but every now and then it would grant him a sudden flash of inspiration — that was the feeling of "enlightenment." It was fleeting, like a meteor streaking past, but as long as one grasped it, the satisfaction was immense.

"Cluck-cluck-cluck~" Outside, a rooster crowed. The oil lamp had long since burned out. Feeling something, Zhao Xing raised his head for a glance, only to find that dawn was nearly here, and the faint glow on the tome had vanished completely.

"Tonight's harvest was truly no small matter. With the Dao Embryo Pill and the blessing of the second derivative fortune, I actually managed to gain such insight even from this standardized tome."

Zhao Xing glanced at his panel.