Cultivation begins with harvest.

Zhong Qi held the magic disc, sometimes making the fog thicker, sometimes making it disperse, sometimes making it colder, sometimes making it warmer.

Wei Donglai also cooperated by casting various spells to try to influence and interfere with the temperature and fog, but all of them were like stones sinking into the sea, and had no effect on Zhong Qi's change of the environment inside the formation.

"Okay, no problem."

Zhong Qi handed the magic disc to Chen Guang with satisfaction: "I'll leave it to you now. Remember, don't take this magic disc out of the formation. This is just a first-order ordinary formation with quite a few flaws, but it won't have much of an impact on planting in the spirit field. Remember this when using it later—once you've determined the temperature and the concentration of the mist, don't change them arbitrarily unless you absolutely have to. That way, when we come back next time, the amount of spiritual energy in this spirit stone will still be greater than eighty-one pots."

Since Zhong Qi said that, he must have several spirit stones in his possession.

But Chen Guang had no other thoughts besides envy. Even if there was no contract, the Xingfeng Hall and the Xingtang Hall would still investigate for misappropriating other people's property.

In the following time, Zhong Qi explained the key points of using the magic disc and some crucial aspects to Chen Guang, and watched Chen Guang demonstrate it once before she felt relieved.

"These are seeds and seedlings, as well as three spells you need to learn. They're not too difficult. They contain my and Wei Donglai's annotations and insights." Zhong Qi took out a large number of items from the storage bag.

Among them are naturally the seeds of Ice Lupine and Concentration Flower.

After finishing these tasks, Zhong Qi and Wei Donglai did not linger. They gave Chen Guang some instructions and then left in a hurry, entrusting everything to Chen Guang.

This is a form of trust.

"Exposing one's pure spiritual energy is the most correct step; it's a real risk, but the rewards are truly immense."

Holding the Black Void Serpent Belt with great affection, Chen Guang suppressed his impatience and, after setting up the Ice Mist Array with the manipulation disc, left the disc behind and returned to the courtyard with light steps.

The first thing he did was store the Purple Spirit Earth Root into his storage artifact, only then did he breathe a sigh of relief. He then put the other Blood Qi Pills, the Spring Spring Technique talisman, and a jar and a half of demon beast blood into the storage artifact.

Storage artifacts have a certain effect on keeping things fresh, essentially a high-powered version of a "refrigerator." Because they only contain traces of the universe, they still have variations in the flow of time and cannot completely prevent the process of spoilage, but it will be very slow.

Apart from taking only a small portion of the floating oil and soil, everything in the courtyard was finally restored to a level of exposure that Chen Guang could accept.

Even without the Qi Observation Technique, that feeling of abundant inspiration could be sensed to be much lighter.

He wrapped the Black Void Serpent Belt around his waist, then put on a light black robe over it, leaving no obvious marks. Satisfied, he looked after the drying grains and then went to the edge of the spirit field.

Ice Luzon.

In an environment rich in spiritual energy, it takes six years for a seedling to grow into a mature state that produces pine cones. Zhong Qi gave some seeds of [Ice Flower Stone] and [Frost Grass]. Ice Flower Stone can speed up the time it takes for the Ice Pine to produce pine cones, but the time for the pine cones to mature will be extended from six months to fourteen months. Frost Grass can make all spiritual plants with a cold nature grow faster.

It's clear that Chung Ki came prepared.

But Chen Guang's test will be even greater.

With the addition of Ice Flower Stone and Frost Grass, Ice Pine's growth rate is too fast, making it more prone to disease and premature aging. In addition, the contract states that the first observation period will end in two years, and Chen Guang may not be able to wait for the pine cones to ripen. During this period, it is more important to take care of Ice Pine's growth.

In addition, Zhong Qi has to come and replace the spirit stones every year, which puts even more pressure on him. He may not point fingers, but he will definitely check on Chen Guang's progress. This kind of inspection is quite stressful.

The ice mist array only provides a growing environment for this type of cold-natured spiritual plant, which is somewhat helpful for Chen Guang's cultivation, but it is inevitably limited. Without real skills, one cannot pass this test.

However, Bing Luson is very valuable.

Pine cones can be used to raise some spirit beasts and monsters. They have a nourishing effect and can slightly increase the power of ice and cold spells. More importantly, they can be used to refine various elixirs.

Pine pollen, pine resin, and pine bark can each be used to refine medicine, seal spiritual objects, forge artifacts, make talisman ink, sew divination objects, and so on, with a wide range of applications.

Tree trunks are commonly used for refining artifacts, but they can also be used to refine high-quality spirit charcoal. Spirit charcoal is one of the hard currencies in the cultivation world, and it is known as one of the four basic currencies, along with spirit rice used to assist cultivators in their cultivation, spirit ore used to refine artifacts and make tools, and Qi-nourishing pills used to enhance cultivation.

Spirit stones are rare, and ordinary cultivators cannot use them as currency.

Most cultivator factions use the gold standard for currency, and their own currencies are usually based on these four hard currencies.

Most sects take spiritual rice as their foundation, and the Suiyuan sect of the Qingheng sect is an example of this.

Aside from selling spirit rice, the value of the spirit rice mentioned, including how many kilograms it is, is all settled in Sui Yuan. No one would carry tens or hundreds of kilograms of spirit rice to trade. Ten thousand Sui Yuan is just a stack of coins in hand, which can be carried away in one's pocket.

Among these four basic currencies, those based on Qi-Nourishing Pills are the fewest, because Qi-Nourishing Pills require artificial refining, which increases costs and makes them too expensive as a basic unit of value, hindering market transactions. On the other hand, all four basic currencies can be used directly, but Qi-Nourishing Pills are the only ones that can rapidly promote cultivation, making them more frequently used than currency transactions.

The value of spirit charcoal is also for a reason. For independent cultivators, spirit charcoal is essential for refining artifacts and alchemy with sufficient spiritual flames. It is rich in spiritual energy, and with more practice, one can generate one of the five basic acquired spiritual flames, the [Kui Flame], when igniting spirit charcoal.

The ability to draw raging underground fire to a suitable location is not something an ordinary cultivator can handle.

The Qingheng Sect has the resources to control the power of the earth fire using formations. Even a fire craftsman can use the earth fire to refine pills and weapons. As for rogue cultivators, even if they find the earth fire vein, they would most likely end up burning themselves if they dared to try to draw it. Setting up formations for them is even more absurd.

The advantages of Kui Yan are that it is mild and easy to control, making it suitable for alchemy. It is also difficult for it to explode. Even the disciples of Yan Tang would buy some spirit charcoal to practice in private. The sect's earth fire is suppressed by the formation, and even those at the first level of Qi Refining can control it, but it is still too intense.

Therefore, the drawback of Kuiyan is that its fire is not strong, it takes a long time to refine a batch of pills, and it is not very suitable for refining weapons, but at least it can be made up for by quantity.

There are still many independent practitioners in the world.

Therefore, spirit charcoal is also a form of hard currency.

Needless to say, spirit ore is a powerful material. Even if two cultivators don't know magic, the blades forged from spirit ore would be more powerful. Which rogue cultivator would go out without carrying something for self-defense?

Over time, these four items became hard currency.

So it is true that the Ice Pine is a treasure trove, but not many people plant it. This is because although the four seasons are distinct near Purple Spirit Peak, they are not suitable for the growth of spiritual plants like the Ice Pine, which have a cold nature. If you force it to grow, the Ice Pine that takes six years to mature will take more than ten years to mature, and the quality will not be high. It is better to go north to find a snow-capped peak, where it is not difficult to find a tree that is two feet in circumference in an hour.

Concentration Flower is the main ingredient in the "Concentration Pill," a elixir used to strengthen the soul, and it has a large market.

To build a foundation, one must achieve perfection in Qi cultivation, body refinement, and spirit forging. However, the other two cannot be too far off. If the spirit is too weak, one will not be able to control the surge of magical power during the breakthrough and will fail. If the physical body is too weak, one will not be able to withstand the purer magical power and will damage the meridians and dantian, leading to qi deviation and demonic possession.

It doesn't require a very high realm. Refining Qi is the main focus, and the other two only need to be at the third level of Body Refinement and the third level of Spirit Forging. If one of them is at the same level as the Qi Refinement realm, then this cultivator is either a Xuan cultivator who refines the body or a spiritual cultivator who forges the spirit. If only Qi Refinement is outstanding, then it is a traditional Qi Refiner, which is a cultivator in the conventional sense. The other two are actually quite rare, especially spiritual cultivation, which has few lineages and is difficult to cultivate.

A person's energy is limited. Usually, only orthodox cultivators have all sorts of methods and can do a little bit of everything. Therefore, they will also practice some body-refining techniques and spirit-forging incantations to increase the success rate of foundation building.

This is also why Cao Fang wanted to practice body-refining techniques to pave the way for the future.

Chung-Chi prepared many seeds of the Concentration Flower, which must have been part of that consideration.

Cultivating the Concentration Flower isn't too difficult, but it needs to be watered frequently with a liquid of icy properties. This spiritual plant grows in the wild near cold pools and streams, and it doesn't require much water; too much will cause it to rot. Its growing locations in the wild are extremely difficult, so cultivating it artificially is even more troublesome.

Of the three spells left behind by Zhong Qi, two are related to the Concentration Flower.