A sage master under the pine tree imparted the Dao and taught longevity.

At noon, Chen Chuan took Shu'er and rode a blue ox into the fields.

Shu'er sat on the back of the ox, swinging her legs, her little hands clutching the two big horns of the green ox, humming a tuneless little tune.

Chen Chuan held the plow with one hand and made a hand seal with the other.

【Fertile Soil Technique】When applied, hardened soil is transformed into soft, fertile loam.

When the [Rain Spell] is activated, fine spiritual rain falls from the clouds, nourishing the fields.

Shu'er watched, mesmerized, clapping her hands and laughing, "Master's magic is even more spectacular than magic tricks!"

When they reached the end of the field, Shu'er suddenly jumped off the ox's back, stepped barefoot into the newly turned soil, leaving a series of crooked footprints.

She bent down, scooped up a handful of spiritual soil, sniffed it, and said earnestly, "Master, this soil is sweet!"

Chen Chuan chuckled and let her frolic in the fields.

……

Sunrise and sunset, two years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Those twenty acres of spiritual fields are now golden waves of rice and lush spiritual vegetables.

Shu'er has grown from a little girl with pigtails into a young lady with double buns, her eyebrows and eyes still curved, and she still loves to smile.

Xiao Jin has grown much taller, like a willow branch.

For the past two years, except for the autumn and winter seasons when vegetation is sparse and the vital energy of nature is thin, he has been diligently cultivating under the pine trees every day, and his cultivation has reached the sixth level of embryonic breathing.

Chen Chuan has aged two years, but his complexion is rosier than it was two years ago. This spring, following Xiao Jin's breakthrough to the sixth level of Qi Refining, he also crossed the threshold of the fourth level of Qi Refining.

Golden waves of rice rippled across the field. Chen Chuan stood with his hands behind his back on the ridge, gazing at the bountiful harvest before him, feeling at peace.

Shu'er squatted to the side, teasing the grasshopper with a blade of grass.

Suddenly, a commotion of voices came from the valley entrance.

Chen Chuan looked up and saw a group of villagers winding their way along the mountain path. The man in the lead was a portly fellow, none other than Wang Huai'an, the village chief of Qingxi Town.

"Immortal Master! I have brought my fellow villagers to help!" Wang Huai'an called out from afar, cupping his hands in greeting.

Chen Chuan smiled and nodded.

Since the opening of Lingtian, Wang Huai'an has led villagers to help with spring planting and autumn harvest every year without interruption, which has become a tradition.

Chen Chuan turned his head and called out, "Shu'er."

Shu'er was holding a grasshopper's leg when she heard this and looked up.

"You should ride the green horn to the fields and direct the villagers in the harvest, knowing better than they do where to harvest first and where to harvest last."

Shu'er's eyes lit up. She put the grasshopper into the grass, clapped her hands, stood up, and said crisply, "Okay, Master!"

Having said that, he ran to the cowshed, skillfully untied the reins, leaped onto the back of the cow, and walked to the edge of the field. With a wave of his little hand, he called out, "Folks, follow me!"

Qingjiao strode along the ridge of the field at a leisurely pace, while Shu'er sat upright on the back of the ox, pointing things out, truly resembling a little manager.

Wang Huai'an moved closer to Chen Chuan, gazing at the ox and marveling, "Master, this ox... is much more robust than when I gave it to you two years ago. Its coat is glossy, and its horns are even greener. It doesn't look like a local ox at all!"

Chen Chuan laughed and said, "It eats spirit rice stalks and drinks fresh water from the stream every day, so it's naturally different from ordinary animals."

Wang Huai'an clicked his tongue in admiration, then suddenly remembered something and lowered his voice to say, "Immortal Master, I have already taken care of the matter you asked me to handle last time."

Chen Chuan's eyes flickered slightly: "How is it?"

"I have personally visited the village chiefs of the five towns surrounding the Great Wilderness Mountain to convey the Immortal Master's intention to accept disciples."

Wang Huai'an bowed and said, "The village chiefs have all agreed and are waiting for the immortal to select disciples."

Chen Chuan nodded slightly.

Now that the temple has opened up a spiritual field and has a surplus of spiritual stones, it is time to prepare to take on the next disciple. Therefore, he entrusted Wang Huai'an to prepare for the disciple-taking ceremony.

He took out a bottle of pills from his bosom and gave it to Wang Huai'an.

To everyone's surprise, Wang Huai'an waved his hands repeatedly and said, "Immortal Master, I'll stop now. I already have six sons!"

Chen Chuan was both amused and exasperated, and had no choice but to give up. He put away the pills and thought to himself that he should go down the mountain again in two days. Before that, he should take some time to visit the market.

Xiao'er will be preparing to break through to the Qi Refining stage in two months.

However, after practicing Qi cultivation, in addition to drawing the Qi of the Five Elements into the body, one also needs something to carry with them.

That is something that is considered together with other substances.

In this world, every cultivator possesses a natal object, which may be a vessel or a non-human being.

Once a cultivator obtains their natal item, their cultivation speed can increase by more than ten times.

However, one's destined treasure is something that can only be encountered by chance and cannot be sought after. Even the most gifted person may not be able to find it even after a lifetime of searching.

Therefore, some senior masters have found another way: they use items similar to their natal element as a reference, which can also help speed up their cultivation.

This is what is meant by "shared knowledge".

Take Chen Chuan for example. His destined object is an ancient pine tree from an unknown world, so he found a thousand-year-old pine tree to study with and built Songjian Temple.

However, one can only control the same object after cultivating Qi. If a cultivator in the embryonic breathing stage has an unstable spiritual consciousness, forcibly using the same object may easily lead to qi deviation and demonic possession.

"It's time to prepare for him," Chen Chuan muttered to himself.

Seeing everyone busy in the fields, he put up his talisman and headed to Jingxin Lake Market.

Because of their improved cultivation, they arrived at the lake bottom market in just one hour.

He brought one hundred second-tier spirit stones with him this time.

Last winter, he had already repaid Bai Pu the fifty spirit stones he had borrowed, including interest.

Now, the spiritual fields in the temple have yielded a bountiful harvest, with spiritual rice and vegetables more than enough to feed themselves. The surplus is refined into spiritual pills and entrusted to Wanbaozhai for sale. Although they are not wealthy, they are no longer as strapped for cash as they were two years ago.

He first went to the ghost market, found a familiar hunter, and bought spirit meat and spirit rice.

The remaining seventy-five second-tier spirit stones were used to find fellow practitioners for Xiao Jin.

Xiao Jin's natal sword is the "Dust-Slaying Sword," and he needs a good sword as a companion.

After visiting several shops, the swords he liked were either of poor quality or overpriced.

As he walked to an inconspicuous stall on a street corner, his gaze suddenly sharpened.

A long sword lay across the stall, its scabbard dark and heavy, exuding a chilling aura.

He bent down and drew out half of the sword, its cold light spilling onto the ground.

"What a fine sword!"

He sighed inwardly.

"What is the price of this sword?" Chen Chuan suppressed the turmoil in his heart and pretended to be indifferent.

The stall owner, a gaunt old man, lifted his eyelids slightly upon hearing this: "Eighty second-tier spirit stones."

Chen Chuan frowned and pushed the sword back: "Too expensive."

After saying that, he made a move to leave.

"Hey—Taoist priest, please wait!"

The old man quickly sat up straight: "It can't be any less. This is forged from century-old cold iron, and the sword blank came from the outer sect of the Golden Palace Sword Sect..."

"Forty second-tier spirit stones," Chen Chuan said, turning around.

"What?!" The old man couldn't believe his ears. "We can't even break even!"

"Forty pieces, not even one more is worth it."

The old man's lips twitched, and he muttered, "I really can't take it. My purchase price is more than that. Here's the deal: sixty-five. Consider it a friendly gesture."

"Forty-two."

Chen Chuan held up two fingers.

"Sixty-four! Any lower and I'll lose everything!"

Chen Chuan did not answer, but held the sword horizontally in his hand, his gaze falling on a tiny scratch on the scabbard, and said indifferently, "The scabbard is damaged, and we will have to replace it when we get back."

The old man stared at him for a long time, realizing he had encountered a real miser. Finally, he sighed, waved his hand, and said, "Fine, fine, I'm unlucky to have met you, old Taoist. Fifty, take it!"

Seeing that the price was about what he had estimated, Chen Chuan took out fifty second-tier spirit stones and arranged them on the stall.

The old man counted the swords one by one to make sure they were correct, then took out a piece of old cloth from under the stall, wrapped the sword in it, and handed it over.

"Taoist Master, please use it well. Although this sword is not a famous weapon, it has a certain spirituality. Given time, it may well develop sword intent."

Chen Chuan took the sword and nodded in satisfaction.

This trip has been very fruitful. When we return, we can let Xiao'er try out the sword.