Chapter 190

Xia Daoming quickly entered meditation, slowly circulating his true qi and magic power. When the timing and heat were ripe, he followed the circulation route recorded in the subsequent techniques of the "Green Wood Ever-Green Art," fiercely circulating his true qi and magic power to charge toward the seventh extraordinary meridian barrier.

The vast majority of cultivators need many days of preparation and multiple attempts to break through a barrier. Some spend years of hard work before finally breaking through to enter a new realm, while others spend their entire lives unable to break through that barrier, helplessly stopping there.

Compared to other cultivators, Xia Daoming's cultivation aptitude can only be considered mediocre, but his brain is nourished by powerful blood energy, and his spiritual sense is far stronger than that of a Qi Refinement stage cultivator. Having already brewed enough true qi and magic power at the sixth layer realm, and now possessing the subsequent techniques, his true qi and magic power, guided by his powerful spiritual sense, precisely struck the weak points of the barrier.

With just a single strike, he broke through the barrier like a hot knife through butter, and following the route and circulation method recorded in the subsequent techniques, he pierced through the seventh extraordinary meridian with unstoppable force.

Qi Refinement seventh layer realm!

As his true qi and magic power circulated through the seven extraordinary meridians and the Yellow Court of his dantian according to the specific path and rhythm, Xia Daoming discovered that the speed at which his true qi ascended into his mind to nourish his brain and spiritual sense had become significantly faster.

"No wonder the gap between the sixth and seventh layers is a relatively large breakthrough. It turns out that upon reaching the Qi Refinement seventh layer, the true qi ascending into the mind to nourish the brain and spiritual sense undergoes a relatively large change."

Upon seeing her enemy, Zhong Meng was naturally filled with intense hatred.

"I think Xu Shixiong Ma is right; this trend must not be allowed to grow. Otherwise, if he is truly indulged, relying on his Grandmaster cultivation base in the future, he might really ride on top of your heads," Zhong Meng said.

"He shouldn't have the guts for that!" Mo Mo Mo Rujun's expression changed slightly as she spoke.

"What if he interferes again?" Zhong Meng asked.

Three people sat in the living room of a residence covering five or six mu of land.

"Mount Xiling, Mount Xiling, why does that sound familiar to me!" Yan Xingmei muttered to herself, then suddenly her expression changed drastically, and she blurted out, "Oh no, Xu Shixiong, how could the managing disciple assign you such a piece of spiritual farmland? Did he make a mistake? You should go talk to him quickly and exchange this piece of spiritual farmland."

"Mount Xiling, a piece of spiritual farmland slightly below the mountainside," Xia Daoming replied.

Zhong Meng was older than Mo Mo Mo Rujun, but since Mo Mo Mo Rujun was an inner sect disciple, she had to call her Xu Shixiong Sister instead.

Upon hearing this, Mo Mo Mo Rujun was somewhat swayed and pondered, "What you say also makes sense. However, this person was insisted upon by my great-grandaunt to be admitted into the sect, and she was the one who assigned him to our Spiritual Farmland Hall from the beginning."

There is also a small portion, like people of Mo Mo Mo Rujun's type, who know the ropes and will spend a little money to seek speed.

"I was assigned a piece of spiritual farmland at the foot of Mount Nanyun. It is said that the soil quality is quite good. If I am diligent, I should be able to harvest about 1,300 to 1,400 catties of spiritual rice a year, which would leave a surplus of 300 to 400 catties."

After all, at Xia Shidi's age, only by working hard to earn more spirit stones can one have the opportunity to accelerate the speed of cultivation and have hope of going further on the path of cultivation, Ma Tianliang said earnestly.

"Oh, right, Xu Shixiong, which piece of spiritual farmland were you assigned?" Yan Xingmei finally remembered Xia Daoming and asked curiously.

Ma Tianliang looked at Xia Daoming, the smile on his face gradually fading, and pointed to the map, saying, "Take it. Remember to hand over 1,000 catties of spiritual rice a year. If you fail to complete the task, you will be punished."

"I am already very grateful that Ma Pi came forward to urge me. How could I let you spend more money? Please take this!" Upon hearing this, Mo Mo Mo Rujun immediately took out a small bag of spirit stones.

If he honestly farms and hands over the spiritual rice on time and in full, that's fine. If he is unconvinced and dares to cause trouble, we can suppress him in a justified manner.

One pill bottle contained fifteen Qi Gathering Pills, and another contained five Cloud Condensing Pills.

"Still talking about it? If it weren't for a fool like her, could you, the manager, collect so much spiritual rice?" Zhong Meng lightly poked Ma Pi's forehead with her finger.

Not only did she try her best to maintain a relationship with her distant cousin Jia Shaoxuan in the inner sect, but she also used her looks to hook up with the managing disciple Ma Tianliang, also known as Ma Pi.

Zhong Meng then took the opportunity to sit on his lap.

"A newly arrived disciple is so arrogant; naturally, we must suppress his spirit. How can we just let it go?" Ma Pi smiled coldly, then looked at Mo Mo Mo Rujun and said, "Xia Shidi Sister Mo, do you think this will work? We will assign him a piece of spiritual farmland on Mount Xiling to farm."

On the fourth day of entering the sect, Xia Daoming came to the North City Spiritual Farmland Hall.

However, this was not much of a surprise to Xia Daoming.

Although a Martial Arts Grandmaster is powerful, martial arts cannot compare to immortal spells after all. When the time comes, we will find more people to cast spells from afar; we can tire him out even if we can't defeat him. I doubt he can stir up any trouble."

A man at the ninth layer of Qi Refinement sat in the host's seat.

"If she used this effort on cultivation, she would probably have entered the inner sect long ago, or if she used it to farm her own spiritual farmland, she would probably have become a large grain producer, earning plenty of merit points and spirit stones."

"Wouldn't doing this be too obvious? The soil quality on Mount Xiling is seriously poor now, and there are many pests and diseases. No sect members are willing to farm there anymore."

"One hundred mu? Wasn't it fifty mu?" Xia Daoming was slightly stunned and asked.

"Xia Shidi Sister Mo, how can this be?" Ma Pi hurriedly declined.

Xia Daoming turned his head and saw a woman walking quickly toward him; it was Yan Xingmei, who had been in his group a few days ago.

"You can't just shear wool from one sheep. Although Watching Lan Xue is easy to bully, you can't keep staring at her! Aren't there others?" Ma Pi said while reaching out to grope Zhong Meng.

"It's more than just poor! I heard it from a Xu Shixiong Sister who lives next door to me last night. She said the soil quality in the Mount Xiling area is seriously poor, and the pests and diseases have been severe in recent years."

"Then Ma Pi, I'll go first." Seeing Ma Pi accept the stones, Mo Mo Mo Rujun stood up and took her leave.

Xia Daoming smiled noncommittally, picked up the map, turned around, and walked away.

"No problem, no problem." Ma Pi nodded repeatedly, but soon showed a look of difficulty, saying, "I'm just afraid my influence might not be enough. If it really delays Xia Shidi Sister Mo's cultivation, please don't take offense. However, Xia Shidi Sister Mo, rest assured, I will definitely try my best to urge them. At worst, I'll slip them some spirit stones privately."

For that trivial matter, those two guys went through such a circle, and it was only about eighty low-grade spirit stones?

Compared to blood energy nourishing the brain and spiritual sense, the current nourishment from true qi is only a very small part. Even if there is some improvement, it won't affect much.

"This piece of land is the spiritual farmland you will farm, Xia Shidi, totaling one hundred mu." Ma Tianliang took out a map, circled a piece of land slightly below the mountainside of a peak labeled Mount Xiling, and said with a smile.

As soon as Xia Daoming entered the Spiritual Farmland Hall, he was brought to the office where Ma Tianliang was located.

"In this way, not only has my true qi and magic power increased, but as my spiritual sense has become more powerful, my ability to control true qi and magic power and cast spells has also become stronger!" Xia Daoming felt the changes in the nourishment of his brain and spiritual sense by his true qi, and had an epiphany.

Ma Tianliang sat behind the desk, with Zhong Meng standing beside him.

Two people sat in the guest seats: one was Zhong Meng, who had been taught a lesson by Xia Daoming not long ago, and the other was Mo Mo Mo Rujun, who had assessed Xia Daoming's group during the day.

Mo Mo Mo Rujun glanced at Ma Pi, her brow furrowing slightly again, but she quickly relaxed and said, "Do as you wish with this matter; it's not a big deal anyway. By the way, regarding the Qi Gathering Pills and Green Wood Profound Pills, please try your best to urge them, Ma Pi."

Xia Daoming and the newly recruited sect members held a grand ceremony for entering the sect and worshipping the patriarch in front of the magnificent hall where they had been assessed yesterday.

"Xu Shixiong Sister Mo knows this person?" Zhong Meng looked surprised.

After a busy year, if you are lucky, you can harvest six or seven catties of spiritual rice per mu; if you are unlucky, you might harvest nothing at all. Xu Shixiong, if you are stuck with such a piece of spiritual farmland, you won't even have a surplus at the end of the year, and you'll have to pay out a lot of spiritual rice!" Yan Xingmei said anxiously.

"You know a lot!" Xia Daoming said in a relaxed tone.

After a long time, Watching Lan Xue finally calmed her emotions and took out a Qi Gathering Pill to swallow.

"In that case, then, then I will respectfully accept!" Ma Pi then reluctantly accepted the spirit stones.

"Are we just going to let it go like this?" Zhong Meng asked, unconvinced.

He didn't care about the spirit stones, but he would definitely need the sect's merit points in the future. If they were deducted because those two guys cheated him, it wouldn't be worth it.

The former can increase a small amount of true qi and magic power, but more importantly, it condenses and improves the quality of true qi and magic power.

Disciples of the Qingyuan Sect must also pay fees to entrust the Alchemy Hall to refine pills, but it is much cheaper than outside. However, there are many people and few alchemists, so a single spirit pill often takes three to five months or even a year or more to be refined.

"Who else is as useful as Watching Lan Xue? Besides, Watching Lan Xue's 'Cloud and Mist Spiritual Rain Art' has already been cultivated to the fourth layer. Her performing cloud and rain not only can moisten a larger area of spiritual rice at once but also increase the yield," Zhong Meng retorted.

"We are just acting according to the sect's regulations; there is nothing wrong with that. Besides, the allocation of spiritual farmland is the business of us managing disciples; the elders in the hall rarely ask about it, and they wouldn't care about these trivial matters," Ma Pi said.

"So it's Xia Shidi Sister Yan, you also entered the Spiritual Farmland Hall?" Seeing Yan Xingmei, Xia Daoming felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity and closeness, as if he had just entered university in his previous life and always felt closer to the freshmen.

However, Zhong Meng likes to study things.

Soon, Xia Daoming calmed his mind and slowly circulated the "Green Wood Ever-Green Art" to consolidate his realm.

At the same time, relying on the connections he had made in the Alchemy Hall in his early years, he also acted as a middleman, accepting some kickbacks to help those who entrusted him get their spirit pills sooner.

"Yeah, for those of us who bring our own skills to apprentice, unless we have some special abilities or some background, we basically all enter the Spiritual Farmland Hall," Yan Xingmei said.

"If I don't open up paths, where would I get the spirit stones to buy spirit pills? Without spirit pills, could your cultivation improve so quickly?" Ma Pi laughed wickedly, his hand already reaching into Zhong Meng's loose robe.

South City, the place where managing disciples live and cultivate.

As a result, I didn't expect that just making up for the missing spiritual rice would be enough; what kind of matter is that!

"A newly arrived disciple actually dared to attack you, and even lightly injured you; how is this possible?" The seemingly honest man looked at the black-and-blue claw marks on Zhong Meng's arm in surprise.

If he is smart, knows what's good for him, and is willing to submit, a Martial Arts Grandmaster would be a great help, and he should be able to help a lot when going out for training in the future.

"Hmph, that guy is a Martial Arts Grandmaster, and he is very insidious. He didn't reveal it at all at first, which led to me being caught off guard," Zhong Meng said indignantly.

I'm just acting as a middleman here, collecting some kickbacks; there won't be any problems. Otherwise, if I really relied on the monthly allowance given by the sect, I wouldn't even have to think about reaching the Qi Refinement Great Perfection realm before the age of thirty.

With the help of his family, and Ma Tianliang's good cultivation talent, he soon entered the inner sect.

"The elders definitely won't know the specific situation, and even if they do, it doesn't matter. Ma Pi can allocate some extra spiritual farmland to that guy," Zhong Meng immediately echoed.

Xia Daoming smiled and listened quietly without interrupting her.

"That's not necessarily true. This person is very arrogant, relying on his Grandmaster martial arts cultivation. I just asked Watching Lan Xue to help perform cloud and rain on the spiritual farmland, and he spoke rudely and attacked me."

The latter not only has the effect of condensing and improving the quality of true qi and magic power, but for cultivators at the Qi Refinement stage, it also has the effect of breaking through realms.

However, Ma Tianliang received Xia Daoming with a friendly smile.

Relying on the power to arrange spiritual farmland, Ma Tianliang received many kickbacks.

"Pay out spiritual rice?" Xia Daoming was slightly stunned and said, "If I don't farm, can I just make up for it with my own spiritual rice without being punished?"

Mount Xiling is inconspicuous compared to the vast outer sect spiritual farmland. Only we disciples who do specific work and rely on spiritual farmland income to support our cultivation would pay special attention to it and know that the soil quality there is seriously poor now, and the pests and diseases are severe.

"Regarding Watching Lan Xue, you should slow down for the next two days. Wait until two days later, after I arrange the spiritual farmland for that Xia Daoming, and then we'll see how to proceed."

Xia Daoming's strength and cold, sharp gaze still made Zhong Meng feel lingering fear even now.

Of course, the latter is expensive, at least two hundred spirit stones per pill.

"That's true," Xia Daoming smiled.

In recent years, the harvest from farming that area of spiritual farmland only required handing over a very small portion, almost equivalent to giving the spiritual farmland to the disciples for free, so only disciples who were short of money were willing to farm it," Mo Mo Mo Rujun said with a slight frown.

"Martial Arts Grandmaster, you mean Xia Daoming!" Mo Mo Mo Rujun's expression sank slightly.

Today, the managing disciples of the Spiritual Farmland Hall will allocate spiritual farmland to the newly admitted disciples.

Speaking of Foundation Establishment, Ma Pi seemed to have suddenly lost interest in matters between men and women and withdrew his hand.

"Xia Shidi Xu Shixiong is right, it's usually fifty mu. However, the soil quality of this piece of land is slightly worse, and the output is low, so I assigned you an extra fifty mu as compensation."

Some disciples are wealthy and simply go outside to find people to refine or buy them, but more disciples are reluctant to pay the price difference and would rather wait slowly.

"Haha, we are all fellow sect brothers. My cultivation is higher than yours, and I am a managing disciple, so it is only right for me to consider more for a newly admitted Xia Shidi Xu Shixiong," Ma Tianliang seemed not to notice Xia Daoming's coldness and laughed loudly.

Besides, Xu Shixiong Cui is such a shrewd person; he knows very well whose spirit pills should be arranged for refining first and whose can be postponed.

"Then I must thank Ma Pi for his kindness," Xia Daoming said coldly, glancing at Zhong Meng as he spoke.

Of course, this extra fifty mu will definitely require Xia Shidi Xu Shixiong to shed more sweat. However, one gets what one pays for; if you work harder and can harvest more spiritual rice, it will be worth it.

"Yeah, as long as there is no discrepancy in the amount of spiritual rice entering the Spiritual Farmland Hall's warehouse every year, the elders won't ask about these trivial matters."

He thought farming spiritual farmland was a mandatory task, and that one couldn't avoid it, or that merit points would be deducted afterward.

Ma Pi glanced at Zhong Meng, showed an "honest" smile on his face, and said, "If the soil quality is insufficient, it is only right to allocate more spiritual farmland."

"What problems could there be? Tens of thousands of sect members and disciples live in this Azure Cloud City; who doesn't need spirit pills to improve their cultivation? But how many alchemists are there in the Alchemy Hall?"

"Today I accompanied my great-grandaunt to assess the disciples who brought their own skills to apprentice, and this person was one of them. I saw that he was older and didn't recommend admitting him, but my great-grandaunt valued his martial arts cultivation and insisted on admitting him."

"Xu Shixiong, please just accept it. I know there is a lot of work and few people in the Alchemy Hall, and everyone has a bad temper. It's only because you've stayed there for a while and are familiar with the people that you can urge them. If I went, I definitely wouldn't get a good look," Mo Mo Mo Rujun said.

Yan Xingmei became more excited as she spoke, her face full of longing for a beautiful future.

Now that breaking through is no longer a problem, the focus should naturally be on looking further ahead, first trying to improve the quality of true qi and magic power, and then seeking a breakthrough.

Ma Tianliang's middleman business was booming, and by accumulating small amounts, he had earned quite a few spirit stones.

After Mo Mo Mo Rujun left, the honest smile on Ma Pi's face quickly disappeared, and he reached out to hug Zhong Meng's waist.

Yan Xingmei is twenty-seven years old, looks quite decent, and has an elegant temperament.

They are too busy, so it is normal for some spirit pills to be postponed again and again! If those people can't wait, they can spend spirit stones to find alchemists in Changqing City to refine them or buy them directly.

"Xu Shixiong Xia Shidi!" Just as Xia Daoming walked out of the Spiritual Farmland Hall, he heard someone calling him from behind.

Watching Lan Xue looked at the two pill bottles in front of her, her mood unable to calm down for a long time.

You know my great-grandaunt has always been strict and doesn't like people contradicting her. This person was only admitted by her today, so I definitely can't go and talk to her."

Seeing Ma Pi withdraw his hand, a look of relief flashed deep in Zhong Meng's eyes, but on the surface, she still entangled with him for a while before getting down from his arms.

Zhong Meng's cultivation talent and background were average; at the age of twenty, she had only just cultivated to the sixth layer of Qi Refinement and had no opportunity to enter the inner sect.

This is looking down on me, Master Xia, too much!

If things continue like this, even if the hope of cultivating to the Qi Refinement Great Perfection realm before the age of thirty-five is small, at least there is hope. If there really is such a day, there will be hope of entering the inner sect. Once in the inner sect, Foundation Establishment will be in sight..."

"That's of course!" Yan Xingmei said as a matter of course, "If you've already made up for it with your own spiritual rice, what else do you want? Some disciples in the Spiritual Farmland Hall feel that farming spiritual farmland is too slow to earn spirit stones, so they often go out to seek opportunities, which inevitably leads to neglecting farming and insufficient output, so they have to pay out of their own pockets to buy from other fellow disciples to make up for it."

No wonder many people want to apprentice in the Qingyuan Sect; the place of cultivation is full of spiritual energy, and there is a monthly allowance. Although farming spiritual farmland is a bit hard, there is also surplus income, which is a wonderful thing that we loose cultivators dare not even think about.

The newly admitted disciples go to the Law Enforcement Hall to learn the sect's rules and precepts.

"Xia Shidi Sister Mo is right, the Qingyuan Sect is an immortal cultivation sect; how can it tolerate sect members bullying others by relying on martial arts? If this Xia Daoming defeated Xia Shidi Sister Zhong with magic, then it could only be blamed on Xia Shidi Sister Zhong's lack of skill, but what kind of ability is it to hurt her with martial arts?"

I think this trend must not be allowed to grow. Otherwise, as a newly arrived disciple, relying on his Grandmaster martial arts cultivation, wouldn't he be able to bully even us in the future?" the honest-looking man said with a heavy expression.

The man is about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, looks a bit short and sturdy, with dark skin, and looks like an honest and reliable person.

Ma Tianliang comes from a small alchemy family and has some alchemy background and talent.

"I've become familiar with the fellow disciples next door these past few days and specifically asked about many things, so I know a bit more," Yan Xingmei explained.

If he doesn't know what's good for him and doesn't know how to advance or retreat, you can urge Watching Lan Xue again. Her 'Cloud and Mist Spiritual Rain Art' has been cultivated to the fourth layer; she is definitely a high-tier spiritual farmer. If we don't make good use of her, it's really a waste of heaven's gifts," Ma Tianliang instructed after Zhong Meng got down from him.

Isn't it just 1,000 catties of spiritual rice? Milled into spiritual rice, it's only 800 catties at most, worth eighty low-grade spirit stones.

Xia Daoming naturally knew that this piece of land was not good, but seeing Yan Xingmei's strong reaction, he still asked curiously, "Is the spiritual farmland on Mount Xiling very poor?"

After being sent to the Qingyuan Sect by his family, he later achieved some success in cultivation, and through some connections, his family sent him to the Alchemy Hall to be an alchemy apprentice.

Ma Pi wanted to decline upon hearing this, but Zhong Meng spoke up, "Yeah, Ma Pi, Xu Shixiong Sister Mo is right. You should just accept it; you can't always be the one paying for favors!"

You should know very well how difficult it is to collect Foundation Establishment Pills. Even if you take out 40,000 or 50,000 spirit stones outside, it's hard to buy one. 40,000 or 50,000 spirit stones, think about it, with our cultivation, when will we be able to earn that many spirit stones?

And although the sect releases some Foundation Establishment Pills every year, the merit points required are very frightening. If you don't risk your life, don't even think about it."

Managing disciple, newly admitted, this is a warning that my status is different!

Xia Daoming smiled coldly in his heart, but on the surface, he suddenly grinned at Ma Tianliang and said, "Xu Shixiong is too polite. I have my own plans for my affairs; Xu Shixiong doesn't need to worry too much for me."

A house across a courtyard.

"Don't forget I am still a managing disciple; I will come forward when the time comes," Ma Tianliang said.

——

The next day.

If I can't cultivate to the Great Perfection realm before the age of thirty, the inner sect's managing elders won't value me at all and will at most give me one chance for Foundation Establishment. Once I fail, I can only find a way to collect Foundation Establishment Pills myself.

"Speaking of spirit pills, is there any problem with Xu Shixiong Cui's path? Will anyone go to the Law Enforcement Hall to complain because their spirit pills to be refined are postponed again and again?" Zhong Meng asked with a hint of worry.

"Ma Pi's method is too wonderful; this kind of person should be dealt with in this way!" Zhong Meng's eyes lit up, and she said with a gloating expression.

However, Ma Tianliang's alchemy talent was really average, and although Ma Tianliang looked honest, his mind was very active. When he grew up a little, he realized that he had no future in alchemy, and although alchemists were respected and had power in the sect, they were also hard-working, especially the bottom-level disciples, who were basically tools.

Therefore, Ma Tianliang soon left the Alchemy Hall and chose the Spiritual Farmland Hall.

Qingyuan Outer Sect, the Spiritual Farmland Hall has the largest number of people.

Hmph, as a result, I didn't expect that this person would not only not be grateful and act low-key and humble, but instead rely on martial arts to be arrogant and bully others; it's really hateful!" Mo Mo Mo Rujun said coldly.

"This girl's 'Cloud and Mist Spiritual Rain Art' has actually been cultivated to the fourth layer?" Ma Pi was surprised first, then seemed to remember something, and showed a hint of sarcasm, saying, "This girl is also really stupid. Most of the time she is grabbed to help perform cloud and rain, and she has forcibly practiced the 'Cloud and Mist Spiritual Rain Art' to the fourth layer."

The day after that.

There are many strong people in the inner sect, and Ma Tianliang couldn't find any opportunities, so he took the initiative to apply to be a managing disciple in the outer sect's Spiritual Farmland Hall.

"So that's it!" Xia Daoming said with relief.

Watching Lan Xue has been in seclusion for the past few days, and he himself basically hid in his room to circulate the "Green Wood Ever-Green Art" whenever he had time to consolidate and improve his cultivation, and he didn't visit his neighbors at all.

(End of chapter)