The Path to Immortality: Starting with the Growth of Bubble Fruits from the Ground

That evening, Zhou Mu and Lao Wang sat in the courtyard, enjoying the evening breeze.

Zhou Mu repeated what Steward Liu had said during the day, then asked, "Old Wang, what do you think?"

"Xiao Zhou, Old Liu has taken a liking to you. This is a good thing for you," Old Wang said, taking a sip of tea. "For the past ten years or so, Old Liu has been trying to climb the ranks and get a seat in the inner hall. Only then will he be qualified to exchange for Foundation Establishment Pills."

"His cultivation level is sufficient, but his subordinate spirit farmers are disappointing. In all these years, not a single first-tier superior spirit farmer has emerged, so he has been unable to advance."

Zhou Mu: "You mean Steward Liu wants to mentor me?"

Old Wang shook his head: "It's not enough to train you, at most I'll just give you some preferential treatment. He has trained many spirit farmers over the past ten years, but they have all failed."

Zhou Mu's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "Failure? Was it because your cultivation level was insufficient?"

"Yes, first-tier spiritual plants are not difficult to grow, but spiritual farmers all have four or five spiritual roots. It is extremely difficult for them to cultivate to the eighth level of Qi Refining."

Old Wang sighed deeply and continued, "Actually, as long as you have the right cultivation method and enough resources, your cultivation level can improve very quickly during the Qi Refining stage. However, the spirit stones that a spirit farmer can save up throughout the year simply cannot support the consumption of cultivation."

Zhou Mu remained silent. What Old Wang said was cruel, but that was the reality. The worse one's spiritual root aptitude, the more resources one needed. Since they couldn't earn spirit stones, cultivators with poor aptitude would remain stuck at the bottom.

In the eyes of sects and families, this was an absolute loss.

"Old Wang, how do the other first-tier superior spirit farmers improve their cultivation?"

Zhou Mu asked, as this was also his biggest concern.

"The first-tier superior spirit farmers in the sect either have the inherent talent," Old Wang turned to look at Zhou Mu, "the other type is someone like you."

Zhou Mu asked in surprise, "Someone like me?"

Old Wang's tone carried a hint of envy as he gave Zhou Mu a deep look.

"Yes, the fact that you were able to upgrade a low-grade first-tier Huangjing Rice right under the sect's nose proves that you have a talent for spiritual plants and are naturally close to them. This is a kind of hidden talent that cannot be detected by conventional testing methods."

Zhou Mu feigned surprise and looked at Old Wang: "It's like some people are born with the ability to communicate with wild animals? And I'm born with an affinity for spiritual plants?"

"This is nothing, at most it will earn you a few more spirit stones and make your Qi Refining stage a little smoother."

At this moment, Old Wang revealed undisguised jealousy: "There's a guy in the sect whose talent is truly outrageous."

"His strongest of his five spiritual roots is the earth spiritual root, and he is naturally close to the earth, so he can even sense the location of spirit stone veins."

"Good heavens, isn't this a humanoid spirit ore detector...?"

Zhou Mu was extremely shocked; he never expected there to be such an extraordinary individual.

Zhou Mu couldn't help but ask, "Then he...?"

Old Wang waved his hand to interrupt Zhou Mu, and said seriously, "Don't ask, I don't know either, and don't mention it outside."

"..."

After returning from Lao Wang's place, Zhou Mu decided to break through to the third level of Qi Refining tonight. This way, when he met Steward Liu tomorrow, he would have more leverage to persuade him to offer more benefits.

"Let's see how many bubble fruits we harvested this season."

Zhou Mu closed his eyes and focused his mind into his dantian, where he saw twenty white bubble fruits and two green bubble fruits floating in it.

Among them are eleven minor magical powers, four each of ripening and minor blood and qi, and one advanced-level Minor Cloud and Rain Technique.

The two abundant magical powers are green bubble fruits.

"Start by refining the white ones."

With a thought, eleven weak magical powers exploded one after another, continuously surging into Zhou Mu's dantian. Zhou Mu refined them one by one into his own magical power, making the magical power in his dantian increasingly dense and pure.

After one night, a surge of magical energy rose in Zhou Mu's courtyard, lasting for half an incense stick's time before gradually subsiding.

"This is a breakthrough; the fruit is much more effective than pills."

Zhou Mu opened his eyes, the light in them gradually fading, and he repeatedly praised the effects of the bubble fruit.

The magical power provided by the fruit only needs to be refined slightly, but if it were a pill, Zhou Mu would not be able to break through to the third level of Qi Refining in less than a month.

Moreover, because he had refined two bottles of pills beforehand, Zhou Mu didn't need to use the two green fruits this time to successfully break through.

Furthermore, with a solid foundation and no discomfort, one only needs to adapt slightly to control the surge in magical power.

When Zhou Mu went outside, the fluctuations of his magical power had disappeared, and he didn't look like he had just broken through at all.

"Go see Steward Liu first."

Zhou Mu used his Windwalking Technique to speed towards the Internal Affairs Hall. This time, he not only wanted to meet Steward Liu, but also to see if there were any suitable cultivation techniques he could exchange for.

Although cultivation techniques were sold in the market, Zhou Mu was not at ease, as cultivation techniques were deadly.

---------

Half an hour later, the No. 90 Internal Affairs Hall came into view, and Steward Liu was still sitting in his old seat.

When he saw Zhou Mu, he led Zhou Mu to a room in the back hall.

"Qi Refining Level 3? Not bad!"

The two sat facing each other. Manager Liu smiled with satisfaction. With his perfected Qi Refining realm, Zhou Mu was transparent to him and could be seen through at a glance.

Manager Liu's smile faded, and he said in a calm tone, "Zhou Mu, you should know why I called you here today."

"I know a little bit."

"You know it's good that you know it. I'll be blunt. I need you to meet the requirements for advancing to the first-tier superior spirit farmer as soon as possible. This is one of the requirements for my promotion to deacon of the Internal Affairs Hall."

Manager Liu stared at Zhou Mu and asked, word by word, "You can do it."

Zhou Mu feigned difficulty and whispered, "Manager Liu, you know my qualifications..."

Manager Liu glanced at him, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, it was hard to tell whether it was a smile or something else.

"Poor aptitude doesn't matter. As long as there are enough resources, even mud can be turned into a wall. In the sect, which of the four- or five-elemental-root cultivators who reached the late stage of Qi Refining wasn't built up with pills?"

Manager Liu's words made Zhou Mu roll his eyes inwardly: "Easier said than done. If you threw ten thousand spirit stones at my face, I'd break through to the next level right away."

Manager Liu: "If I make a request to you, I will naturally lend you a hand."

Zhou Mu's eyes lit up uncontrollably: "Could it be that this guy is really going to give me ten thousand spirit stones?"

"Are you daydreaming?" Manager Liu said irritably when he saw Zhou Mu looking like he was about to fill a sack with spirit stones.

"I'm talking about points. If you redeem points with me, I can give you an extra 10%."

Although Zhou Mu knew that Steward Liu wouldn't give him spirit stones directly, he was still a little disappointed. However, one ten percent of sect points was still good, much better than nothing.

Zhou Mu immediately stood up, cupped his hands in thanks, and said, "Thank you, Steward Liu."

Manager Liu waved his hand: "Don't thank me yet. Let me ask you, have you offended the family alliance?"

"yes!"

Zhou Mu did not hide anything and revealed all his conflicts with the Zhou family, including the matter involving Li Kui.

Manager Liu listened quietly, then fell silent, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the table.