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

The day after returning to the sect.

Zhou Mu led the eight fist-sized, yellowish-brown earthworms to the edge of the spirit field outside.

He made a spirit-controlling incantation, and eight pale blue magic marks condensed at his fingertips, which then entered the earthworm's forehead one by one.

Zhou Mu's face lit up with joy. As the mark was planted, he could clearly sense that he had established a strange connection with the eight spirit insects.

Squatting on the edge of the field, I placed them into the sacred field. The eight little creatures burrowed into the soil and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Zhou Mu then gave them the command to loosen the soil, and the spirit field became quiet for a few moments.

Zhou Mu then sensed a response, and the eight tiny consciousnesses began to move simultaneously.

The soil in the spirit field began to tumble slightly, something the earthworms did naturally without Zhou Mu needing to give detailed instructions.

Zhou Mu, still feeling uneasy, squatted on the edge of the field and watched for a while longer.

Earthworms occasionally poked their heads out of the soil, tilted their heads to look in his direction, and then burrowed back in, as if to confirm whether Zhou Mu was still there.

Half an hour later, Zhou Mu stood up and patted the dirt off his hands.

Although these earthworms are not classified as high-ranking, they have a very small chance of developing intelligence and advancing to the first-rank spirit insects after living in the spirit field for a long time.

Their role will be far more significant by then, but that's a long time from now.

"Time to get back to work!"

Zhou Mu withdrew his senses and walked towards the courtyard; it was time to harvest that half-acre of spirit field.

The half-acre plot in the yard, after he had accelerated its ripening three times, was now fully ripe after another ten days.

An hour later, two more green fruits containing "abundant mana" appeared in Zhou Mu's dantian.

In addition, he received 500 catties of Polygonatum rice. Combined with the 100 catties of Blood Tooth Rice he had left over, this would be Zhou Mu's food rations for the next four months.

Zhou Mu then continued to plant the Solomon's seal rice, but he did not accelerate its ripening again. After all, there would only be one ripened fruit left, so it was better to keep it as a backup.

---------

"Why is there no movement? Could this spiritual liquid be fake?"

Zhou Mu squatted in the corner of the yard, looking at the earthenware pot on the ground, his brows furrowed into a knot.

The seeds planted in this earthenware pot were obtained from Elder Qin. Zhou Mu checked on them every day, and the spiritual liquid was added continuously, but more than ten days have passed and there has been no sign of anything happening.

"It seems this method won't save the seed; we need to think of another way."

Zhou Mu shook his head helplessly. He had almost worn out the two books on spiritual plants that Manager Liu had given him. They only contained basic knowledge and did not contain any methods for cultivating spiritual seeds.

Zhou Mu guessed that Steward Liu probably didn't have such books either, otherwise he would have definitely exchanged them for him.

After three days of arduous cultivation, Zhou Mu was preparing to go out and inspect the spirit fields when his gaze swept across the courtyard and he froze.

At this moment, the emerald green seedlings have broken through the soil, and a green bubble fruit floats in the spirit field.

[Polygonatum Rice: Regenerating Spirit Seed x1, Maturity 1%]

"Oh my god..."

Zhou Mu looked at the bubble fruit in disbelief, his mind momentarily scattered.

"What's luck? This is called destiny!"

"Hahaha……"

"Now it's my turn to hold my head high!"

Zhou Mu couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Regeneration Seed: After use, it can restore the vitality of a first-tier spirit plant and give it a new lease on life.

Looking at the newly appeared fruit, Zhou Mu deeply understood what it meant to find a new path after a seemingly hopeless situation.

Elder Qin's seed had to be cultivated within a year, and four months had already passed since Zhou Mu obtained it.

The Regeneration Seed fruit can be harvested in four months, at which time the seed can be cultivated. With the addition of the ripening agent, meeting Elder Qin's conditions will be a piece of cake.

"Stay calm, stay composed, and don't get cocky..."

---------

Since the addition of eight more workers, Zhou Mu has had more time to cultivate.

With three meals of spiritual rice and two Qi-cultivating pills every day, Zhou Mu could clearly sense his magical power gradually accumulating in his dantian.

The physical body was also getting stronger at a very slow pace under the nourishment of the spiritual rice.

In the blink of an eye, two months had passed, and all ten bottles of Peiyuan Pills had been used up.

"That's such a big difference!"

Zhou Mu frowned secretly. He was still far from breaking through to the fourth level of Qi Refining with the mana in his dantian. He had only accumulated less than 30% of it.

The key lies in the fact that Zhou Mu switched to cultivating the "Yi Wood Longevity Technique," which is known for its abundant magical power and consumes far more resources than the "Green Wood Technique" he cultivated before.

However, Zhou Mu did not regret switching cultivation techniques. The upper limit of the "Green Wood Technique" was only the eighth level of Qi Refining, and he would never be able to establish his foundation in this lifetime.

However, the "Yi Wood Longevity Technique" is different. It is a first-class superior technique, enough for Zhou Mu to cultivate to the Qi Refining Perfection stage, and it can also increase his Foundation Establishment probability by half a percent.

Not only that, this "Yi Wood Longevity Technique" is only a part of the Foundation Establishment Technique. If Zhou Mu breaks through to the Foundation Establishment stage in the future, he will not have to worry about not having any other techniques to practice or having to switch to other techniques.

"I still have six bubble fruits left to improve my cultivation level, two white and four green. It seems I'll have to use them up."

"Let's test how abundant 'abundant mana' can be."

With a thought, one of the green magic fruits gently exploded.

A massive surge of magical power erupted from the crack in the fruit, instantly pushing Zhou Mu's meridians to their limit, making him appear as if he had swelled up.

He groaned, focused his mind, and fully activated the Yi Wood Longevity Technique, guiding the magical power to flow through his meridians along the technique's pathway.

"boom……"

Half an hour later, as Zhou Mu finished refining this magical power, the magical aura on his body suddenly surged.

"Wow, as expected of a green fruit, the effect... is amazing!"

Zhou Mu opened his eyes, his face filled with ecstatic joy. The magical power provided by this fruit was equivalent to three or four bottles of Qi-Nourishing Pills, and would be worth nearly a hundred spirit stones.

"Including the unripe fruit this season, I can only accumulate up to 70% of my magic power at most."

Zhou Mu made a mental estimate and realized that he wouldn't be able to break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining before this season's harvest.

We can only wait until after the harvest to buy ten bottles of Peiyuan Pills to make up the last 30%.

---------

"Knock knock knock..."

The next morning, as Zhou Mu was holding his rice bowl, there was a sudden knock on the courtyard gate.

Zhou Mu initially thought it was Old Wang, but when he opened the courtyard gate, he saw an annoying face.

"Why are you here?"

Zhou Mu stood in the doorway, looking at Zhou Ye outside the courtyard gate with a stern face.

He originally thought that after what happened with Li Kui last time, Zhou Ye wouldn't bother him again.

But now it seems that this guy is like a leech, impossible to shake off.

"I'm here to inform you that the Zhou family's ancestral worship ceremony, which takes place every five years, is in three months. The clan head has ordered you to return."

After coldly uttering those words, Zhou Ye turned and left.

Zhou Mu, however, fell into deep thought.

He knew about the ancestral worship ceremony. The Zhou family had once been glorious, with several Foundation Establishment stage cultivators at its peak. However, they gradually declined due to a lack of successors.

However, the Zhou family had never allowed Zhou Mu to participate with other clansmen of lower aptitude before.

If Zhou Ye hadn't come to inform him, Zhou Mu wouldn't have remembered about the ancestral worship ceremony.

The fact that the family specifically sent Zhou Ye to deliver this message clearly indicates they have ulterior motives.

"It seems the Zhou family can't hold back any longer."

"The seed has been cultivated for three months. We'll go and see what the Zhou family is up to then."