Cultivation begins with harvest.

The spiritual plants always mature one after another. Just as autumn was beginning to sprout, the spiritual rice in one acre was already showing signs of maturity, making Chen Guang realize without him noticing that it was this time of year again.

This year, I didn't have that kind of rushed busyness, just a hectic pace. If I wanted to relax a bit, I could have cut some of the training projects at any time, but Chen Guang persevered. Now, I suddenly understand the meaning of his perseverance these days, and I can't help but feel satisfied.

Self-reflection leads to self-knowledge, and self-knowledge leads to clarity of mind.

Chen Guang let out a long breath and looked at his body. He didn't have those exaggerated muscles, but the sense of power he exuded was even stronger. This was the result of breaking through to the second level of body refinement.

The training of the Bloodstained Battle Technique was indeed somewhat torturous, but progress was rapid, and a breakthrough was achieved in just a few months.

Meanwhile, with the help of the Dingzhen Tea, the Visualization Diagram, and the Concentration Pill, Chen Guang also entered the second stage of the Divine Forging Realm. In just a few months, his foundation underwent an exaggerated improvement.

The cultivation conditions he possessed were unmatched by others, so his current speed was understandable. Chen Guang also planned to temporarily slow down his cultivation pace. During this period of high-pressure cultivation, he made great progress, but also experienced great mental stress, so he needed to relax. Another reason was that he mainly cultivated the Purple Qi Brightening Technique, and his understanding of the other two cultivation methods was not deep enough, so his progress was naturally slow.

"Brother Wan said he had some good news for me today. Could it be related to the 'Capturing Wood Juice'?"

Although he knew that Wan Longjing was not qualified to get in touch with the Taoist priest of the Scripture Pavilion and obtain information in advance, Chen Guang was indeed itching to capture the wood juice during this period. Wasn't the purpose of such high-pressure training to prepare for capturing the wood juice?

As winter approached, Chen Guang indeed became increasingly concerned.

"Bump bump"

There was a knock on the courtyard gate. Chen Guang, who was still in the center of the courtyard, stared at the door. He naturally used the [Object Manipulation Technique]. During the process of strengthening his soul, he naturally understood how to cast some simple spells. Under the influence of his strong soul, even the heavy wooden door creaked open a crack.

Seeing this, Wan Longjing pushed hard and walked in. He saw Chen Guang still in the middle of the courtyard, glanced back and forth between the door and the person, and then closed the door. The smile on his face visibly faded.

"I was going to tell you some good news, but it seems there's no way to compare people."

Chen Guang sensed the aura emanating from Wan Longjing and realized that the other party was about to break through to the sixth level of Qi Refining. Within the sect, many cultivators did not deliberately conceal their aura and could roughly tell without using the Qi Observation Technique.

"Are you about to break through?" Chen Guang immediately stood up.

Wanlong Scenic Spot nodded, then shook his head: "Everyone knows this. The good news I want to tell you is that the appointment was officially finalized today, and I am now the acting manager of the branch building."

Fearing that Chen Guang might not understand, Wan Longjing explained, "Senior Brother Jiang is going to help Senior Brother Liu find an opportunity to enter the late stage of Qi Refining. The process has been going on for a while now. As of yesterday, he was able to leave the branch building and act on his own. It's not just about helping Senior Brother Liu; he's also going to find some opportunities to break through. This time, he's going on a long journey, which will probably take several years. During this time, I will be in charge of some of Senior Brother Jiang's affairs."

The only ones Wan Longjing could call his senior brothers were Jiang Zuoyun and Liu Yige. Chen Guang hadn't expected the two to have such a deep personal relationship.

Wan Longjing was naturally excited because he was acting as the steward. Even though the salary and benefits were not as good as those of a real steward disciple, it would still be a significant step up. For the Xingfeng Hall disciples, who lacked resources outside of cultivation, this step up was a cause for celebration.

Xingfeng Hall has one branch every ten miles. According to regulations, each branch needs two disciples to serve as stewards. However, these are cultivators at the late stage of Qi Refining. Some branches will temporarily use acting stewards, but at most one, to ensure that each branch has a cultivator at the late stage of Qi Refining.

It won't keep a cultivator under control forever. If they want to leave for an extended period, they only need to complete a smooth handover of some affairs. Of course, there are more detailed rules, but those are beyond Chen Guang's knowledge.

"Congratulations, congratulations! I've been waiting for you to officially become a steward and rise to great heights, Senior Brother," Chen Guang said sincerely.

"The late stage of Qi Refining is quite a distance away." Wan Longjing's smile faded slightly.

"This is a congratulatory gift I prepared for my senior brother. Please accept it." Chen Guang took out a few leaves of Xi Feng Spirit Tea, about a zhu (a unit of weight), placed them in a jade box, and gave them to Wan Longjing.

A single cup of spiritual tea consists of only a few leaves, but to Wan Longjing, it is already a precious treasure.

In fact, Chen Guang didn't have much Xi Feng Spirit Tea left. He had used some when comprehending the improvement of cultivation techniques, the inheritance of formations, the Tuan Xuan Qing Xuan, the Chi Xin Dan Juan, and so on. It was extremely difficult to buy such a second-tier spiritual item in the market, so for Chen Guang, every little bit he used was one less.

Wan Longjing took a deep breath, accepted the jade box with both hands, and said thank you in a deep voice, without any excessive formality.

Then his expression relaxed a little: "This was the good news I wanted to tell you, but now, there is an even better thing waiting for you. This morning, a spirit crane came from the market and brought you two doses of spirit liquid."

Seeing Wan Longjing's deliberately paused, smiling expression, Chen Guang felt a jolt of electricity run through his body: "Qinmu juice?"

"Yes." Wan Longjing nodded happily. "Let's go to the branch building. That thing is not easy to bring. I think you should go in person and bring it over using the Thousand Water Gourd."

"Um."

Chen Guang couldn't wait any longer. He threw out the Green Leaf Boat, beckoned Wan Longjing to come up, and eagerly flew towards the branch building.

He had been waiting for the Wood-Capturing Juice for far too long. In fact, since last year, some of his cultivation plans had been inseparable from the Wood-Capturing Juice. Now that it was finally settled, a huge weight had been lifted from his heart, which is why he had such an excessive reaction.

Upon landing at the branch building, a huge leather bag stood in front of the building's entrance, guarded by the branch building's disciples.

"Thank you for your hard work, Senior Brother." Chen Guang said to Wan Longjing, who was also the disciple from the branch building, after confirming that this was the Capturing Wood Juice meant for him, and then eagerly opened it to take a look.

Its liquid is like green juice, yet it exudes a fragrance, a mixture of the damp feathers of birds after rain and the dust moistened by rain—a strange smell.

With a surge of inspiration, the water rippled, like the leaves of a tree swaying, which was quite strange.

"It is indeed the juice of the Capturing Wood. Then I will take it with me, Junior Brother." Chen Guang greeted Wan Longjing, who understood and used the Thousand Water Gourd to store the pot of Capturing Wood Juice.

The Taoist priest in the Sutra Repository was truly meticulous; when he said there were two sides, then there were indeed two sides.

"For the thorn to sprout new life, it needs constant nourishment with sap, a riverbed paved with swirling stones, and a steady, spirited stream—and I have provided all of these."

The vortex stone had already been purchased.

The water in the irrigation ditches of the spiritual field contains spiritual energy, and the concentration is already quite high, but it is still some distance from the concentration required by Buzhiji. However, it can be used after gathering and sealing the spiritual energy with an array. You just need to activate such an array once every once in a while.

Chen Guang was also delighted with his choice to inherit the array formation. The more he used it, the more he discovered its convenience in the process of cultivating spiritual plants, which solved many problems.

The slightly elongated leaves, about the size of a coin, are dark green, and the branches are covered with orange-yellow fruits, each a size larger than a sesame seed.

With a wave of his hand, Chen Guang conjured up vortex stones out of thin air. Using his magic, he placed them along the canal and used spells that could manipulate the water flow and change the terrain to transform the area once again. A riverbank covered with stones and with water barely covering one-third of the vortex stone banks was formed, interspersed with some stone pillar-shaped objects resembling hexagrams.

"Such frequent and intense use of object manipulation and magic has really made my head a bit dizzy. My soul only has the foundation; it hasn't been truly honed yet. It's definitely lacking in refinement."

But it doesn't matter anymore. In the past, I had to move stones one by one to complete the task, but now I just put my hands behind my back and let the vortex stones go wherever my eyes look. I really have the demeanor that a cultivator should have.

The improvement in efficiency is self-evident.

At the same time, the sap appeared and dripped evenly along the branch closest to the roots of the thorn, immediately wetting the bark of that area. The entire root system was immediately tinged with green in the perception of the interaction between the earth and the wood. Chen Guangcai finally stopped when the green was full and the thorn's current absorption reached its limit.

Just looking at this simple plant makes me happy; it's been a long time since I've felt this happy just by looking at a spiritual plant.