Chapter 44: Subsequent Arrangements

As he stepped out of the cave where he had spent several days, Fang Yun stretched vigorously under the sun and let out a comfortable breath.

No matter what, he had finally broken through to the third level of Qi Training.

Fang Yun felt quite satisfied with himself.

He glanced at the spirit rice still lying at the entrance of the cave.

After a few days of drying, the spirit rice was now completely dry.

He selected some of it as seeds for the next batch of spirit rice.

The remaining rice was threshed and stored away.

Seeing that there was still some of the last batch of spirit rice left, Fang Yun decided to take it all out, remove the husks, and turn them into spirit rice grains.

He then placed them in a clay pot, added pure spirit spring water, and began to cook.

Due to the variety of spirit rice, eating it wouldn't increase his cultivation level.

So, even though the spirit rice tasted great and could enhance physical strength a bit, Fang Yun didn't consume it often.

That was why some of the previous batch of spirit rice was still around.

After enjoying a delicious meal of spirit rice to celebrate his breakthrough to the third level of Qi Training, Fang Yun began to consider his next phase of plans.

First and foremost, planting spirit rice was indispensable, as it was the most important source of his life energy.

Fang Yun didn't believe that the more than 200 points of life energy he had was sufficient.

The demand for life energy would only increase, and that amount was definitely not enough.

Thus, planting spirit rice remained the primary source of life energy.

However, due to the previous acceleration in growth, the spirit field had been significantly depleted.

To plant again, he needed to make some adjustments.

Similarly, once he started planting spirit rice, Fang Yun would have to become busy.

With the growth technique at his disposal, the growing time for spirit rice had been greatly reduced.

Of course, this also meant that Fang Yun would need to be busier.

For the time being, having just broken through, he wanted to relax a bit and didn't want to exhaust himself immediately.

So, he could hold off on planting spirit rice for a while.

Once he had recuperated, he would begin the planting process.

Apart from planting spirit rice, expanding ordinary crops was also particularly important for his new source of life energy.

Additionally, the pirates he had sent to clear land had already cultivated all the wasteland to the east.

According to current estimates, a significant amount of wasteland had also been cultivated to the west.

This plan was now halfway complete.

Next, it would depend on the quantity of seeds he had stored.

As long as the quantity was sufficient, he could begin the expansion of crops.

However, although some seeds had already been stored, they still weren't enough for such a large planting area.

If possible, Fang Yun planned to plant soybeans in most of the cleared land.

This way, he could obtain more life energy.

As for the weed seeds, he intended to plant them in the corners and even in the northern hills.

After all, those weeds had no significant requirements for the environment or management.

There was no need to plant weeds in such good places.

If this soybean planting could fall within the influence of his lucky charm,

then based on an estimated area of millions of acres, he would surely be able to obtain thousands of life energy points.

At that point, not only would he be able to break through to the fourth level of Qi Training, but he would also make great progress in practicing spells and various other aspects.

Thus, continuing to plant and accelerate the growth of soybeans and weeds would be Fang Yun's main task for the time being.

Aside from completing this task, the remaining concern was the five vines he had planted previously.

He had no idea how they were doing now.

Perhaps he could find some time to check on them and study how to help them mature faster.

He would see if they could produce any life energy.

Once these tasks were completed and Fang Yun had fully recovered, he could start planting spirit rice.

In terms of planting crops, Fang Yun had basically outlined these three projects.

The remaining focus was on his cultivation and spells.

These two aspects were generally closely tied to his crop planting efforts.

Regarding cultivation, he had long stopped self-training and was solely relying on life energy to improve his cultivation level.

His spells were all related to planting, so naturally, he would use and practice them during planting without needing to specifically train for them.

With the arrangements for planting sorted and no issues with his cultivation or spells, all that was left was to proceed step by step.

The only thing remaining was to practice new spells.

After reaching the third level of Qi Training, he could now practice the last spell of the Changchun Gong, the Golden Qi Technique.

Mastering this spell would allow him to face those green armored beetles, and even other spirit insects, without being so passive.

Moreover, Fang Yun had some unique expectations for the Golden Qi Technique.

From the spell's description, he could tell that it was a technique that gathered metal-attributed spiritual energy to harm pests.

Since it involved condensing metal-attributed spiritual energy, he wondered if accumulating enough of it could lead to a spell with immense destructive power.

Although the description indicated that the spell was not meant for use against humans, Fang Yun still held a glimmer of hope.

Thinking of the spirit insect, he found the previously bound dark green spirit insect in a corner of the cave.

To his surprise, even after nearly twenty days of neglect, it was still alive, having managed to sustain itself solely on the flowing spring water.

He felt that its condition seemed to have improved somewhat.

One could say that it was indeed a spirit insect; its vitality was remarkably resilient.

Seeing it wrapped tightly in silk, Fang Yun thought that with his cultivation at the third level of Qi Training, he shouldn't be afraid of an injured insect escaping.

So, he untied the silk binding the spirit insect.

As soon as the restraints were released, the spirit insect began to struggle frantically.

However, Fang Yun simply covered his hand with spiritual power, preventing the insect from escaping.

Noticing the insect's broken wings, Fang Yun had a sudden idea; his life energy could heal injuries, but he wondered if it could also work on other creatures.

With that thought, Fang Yun quickly summoned the life energy from his dantian.

He directed the life energy through his meridians to his right hand and then enveloped the spirit insect in it.

Immediately, the green life energy smoothly merged into the spirit insect's body.

As the life energy flowed in, the spirit insect's struggles ceased, and its wings began to slowly grow back.

At the same time, Fang Yun was astonished to find that he could faintly sense the spirit insect's emotions and some aspects of its condition, much like he could with the spirit rice he had planted.

Discovering this phenomenon, Fang Yun was filled with joy.

He hadn't expected life energy to have such a significant effect—not only could it heal other beings, but it could also achieve a similar effect to bonding with them.

At this moment, Fang Yun felt a surge of excitement as he thought about the various applications of life energy in the future.

After a while, he gradually calmed down.

Reflecting on his earlier thoughts, Fang Yun shook his head; these ideas were still too far off. For now, he needed to focus on the tasks at hand.

Looking at the spirit insect in his hand and feeling its sense of dependence, Fang Yun slowly released his grip.

Once freed, the spirit insect indeed didn't attempt to escape; instead, it rubbed against his palm and then opened its wings, happily flying back and forth above his head.

After a while, it gently landed on Fang Yun's shoulder.

He reached up to touch the spirit insect on his shoulder, a smile spreading across his face.

After resting for another two days to bond with the spirit insect, Fang Yun finally set out toward the canyon.