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

"Knock knock knock..."

"Xiao Zhou, open the door."

As dusk fell, the Lingnong team returned safely, and Lao Wang went to Zhou Mu's residence immediately.

Upon hearing the commotion, Zhou Mu welcomed Old Wang inside.

As soon as Old Wang sat down, he took things out and said, "Your things sold for a total of 562 low-grade spirit stones. I exchanged them for 25 bottles of Qi-Nourishing Pills. You still have 12 spirit stones left. Keep them safe."

Old Wang picked up the teacup on the table, drank it all in one gulp, and then took out ten bottles of Peiyuan Pills and placed them on the table: "These are a gift from the shopkeeper."

Zhou Mu was taken aback upon hearing this, and asked with surprise, "Is it related to those two people from last time?"

"Yes," Old Wang said, wiping the tea stains from the corner of his mouth, "Guess how much ransom the shopkeeper collected last time?"

"Hmm... 100,000 low-grade spirit stones?"

Zhou Mu thought for a moment and then gave what he thought was a very high number.

Old Wang shook his finger: "No, it's the mining rights for a small spirit mine."

"What? So many?" Zhou Mu stood up, surprised. "Those two Qi Refining Perfection cultivators are worth that much?"

"It's just mining rights."

Old Wang slowly explained, "Not long ago, the Wang family discovered this spirit mine, but since it's within the sphere of influence of the Myriad Dao Sect, it belongs to the Myriad Dao Sect. Originally, the mining rights belonged to the Wang family, but later the Blazing Sun Chamber of Commerce intervened, and the two sides reached a stalemate, and then..."

"I understand now. On the surface, the Wang family and the shopkeeper seem to be doing this for me, but in reality, their goal is the spirit mine."

Zhou Mu suddenly realized something and understood a lot in an instant.

He had been wondering why, even if the Wang family was authorized by the family alliance to deal with him, they wouldn't dare to take action against the Lieyang Chamber of Commerce.

The shopkeeper even sent a Foundation Establishment expert, seemingly to help him. In reality, both sides' goal was to mine that spirit mine.

After chatting for a while, Old Wang left, and Zhou Mu devoted himself to a new round of cultivation. He was now only a little short of breaking through to the fourth level of Qi Refining.

For the next five days, apart from taking time to send down spiritual rain, Zhou Mu devoted himself to refining pills at his residence.

That night, after the three bottles of Qi-Nourishing Pills were completely consumed, Zhou Mu's mana in his dantian finally reached its limit, and the fourth level of Qi Refining was visible to the naked eye.

"boom…"

Suddenly, a muffled rumbling sound rang out from Zhou Mu's body, and the fluctuations of his magical power suddenly surged.

"I've finally broken through to the fourth level of Qi Refining." Zhou Mu opened his eyes, a sharp glint in them.

Zhou Mu looked inward at his dantian and saw that the magical power, which was originally like a thick fog, had begun to show signs of turning into clouds.

However, to transform magical power into clouds, one must break through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining; transforming it into rain is the late-stage.

"I've been taking the pills a bit too quickly these past few days. I'll refine the poison from the pills first before going to the Internal Affairs Hall."

As Zhou Mu circulated his cultivation technique, wisps of dark gray turbid energy emanated from his body.

Zhou Mu took three times the usual amount of pills over the past five days in order to break through as quickly as possible. If it weren't for the fact that Zhou Mu also cultivated his body and his meridians were more resilient than those of ordinary cultivators, he would have collapsed long ago after gulping down three bottles of pills in these five days.

The next morning, feeling refreshed, Zhou Mu put the black jade ginseng into his storage bag and rushed to the Inner Affairs Hall.

---------

Room 90, the same room as last time.

Manager Liu smiled and looked at Zhou Mu with admiration in his eyes: "Not bad, not bad, I didn't misjudge you. I thought you wouldn't break through until next year, but I didn't expect you to give me such a surprise."

"Come with me, I'll take you to a good place." With that, Steward Liu stood up and walked out.

But when Manager Liu reached the door, he found that Zhou Mu had not followed.

He turned around and saw Zhou Mu with his hands on the storage bag, saying to him, "Manager, wait a moment."

Manager Liu's gaze shifted from Zhou Mu's face to his storage bag, a look of curiosity on his face.

Zhou Mu took out an earthenware basin from his storage bag and gently placed it on the table.

When Steward Liu's gaze fell on the earthenware pot, he was completely stunned. As the steward of the Internal Affairs Hall, he recognized what it was at a glance.

He then quickened his pace, bent down, and stared intently at the two tender green leaves, examining them closely.

After a full half-incense stick's time, Steward Liu straightened up. He looked at Zhou Mu, his eyes filled with surprise and a hint of uncertainty, and asked, "Is this Elder Qin's seed?"

"Reporting to the steward, this is the black jade ginseng cultivated from that seed," Zhou Mu said with certainty.

Manager Liu's lips twitched slightly. His voice tightened as he pressed on, "Did you really raise it?"

"Yes."

Manager Liu pulled up a chair, sat down, took a couple of sips of tea, and then calmly said, "It seems it's been quite a while since it was cultivated."

Zhou Mu replied hesitantly, "About half a year ago."

Zhou Mu's words stunned Manager Liu once again. He stood up, pretending to be angry, and said, "So why didn't you tell me last time? Were you afraid I'd steal you away from you...?"

Zhou Mu rubbed his hands together: "Manager, I didn't..."

"Alright, I understand. It's always better to be cautious," Manager Liu waved his hand. "I'm asking you, does Elder Qin know now?"

"not yet."

Manager Liu sat down again, tapping his fingers lightly on the table twice. His gaze towards Zhou Mu was somewhat complicated: "Zhou Mu, this Black Jade Ginseng is an incredible opportunity that could potentially propel you to great heights."

"Manager, this Jade Ginseng is just a high-grade first-tier spiritual plant. Could there be some hidden story behind it?"

This was something Zhou Mu had always been curious about. In the end, the Ink Jade Ginseng was just a first-tier spiritual plant, which was no longer useful to Foundation Establishment experts. So why did Old Wang and Steward Liu value it so much?

"I can't say more about this. You'll understand when you meet Elder Qin. Keep it safe for now, and I'll take you to see your future spirit field."

"Yes."

Zhou Mu followed behind Steward Liu, and the two left the Internal Affairs Hall and headed towards the Luoying Mountain Range.

"Zhou Mu, the medium-grade spirit field is completely different from the land you planted before."

As they walked, Manager Liu explained, "The lower-grade spirit fields are flat and spread out, with tens of thousands of acres of spirit fields stretching as far as the eye can see from the ridges. But the middle-grade spirit fields are all located at the foot of the Fallen Flower Mountain Range, where the terrain is undulating and scattered."

He pointed to a hillside in the distance to the left of the path: "Look, that hillside gets a lot of sunshine, making it perfect for planting hydrangeas, but watering them is a hassle."

Manager Liu gestured with his chin toward a depression on the right: "This depression is good for saving water, but it gets less sunshine and the earth's energy is stagnant, so it can only be used to grow yin-type medicinal herbs."

Zhou Mu looked around. The two terrain features each had their own advantages and disadvantages, but the one on the right was more valuable. He could sense that the spiritual energy in the depression was more concentrated.

"The sect has about 6,000 acres of medium-sized spiritual fields, and very few of them have the same environment. Moreover, they are all scattered. If you farm here, you won't have to see people every day like before."

Half an hour later, the two followed the winding path and, after passing through a thicket of mixed trees, the terrain suddenly opened up considerably.

Zhou Mu's eyes lit up as a spiritual field appeared before him, covering an area of ​​about fifteen acres.

Lingtian is surrounded by mixed forests on three sides, and a stream runs along the other side, with a small courtyard situated beside the stream.

"I've kept this land under my control ever since the previous Lingong died."

Manager Liu looked at Zhou Mu and said slowly, "There are three thousand acres of medium-grade spirit fields. This one ranks in the top three hundred. It will be your territory from now on."