Cultivation: Starting with Farming in the Spiritual Pivot Grotto

Chapter 18 Opening a Spiritual Field in a Grotto-Heaven, Fixing the Sun, Moon, and Stars

"Fellow Daoist, you can prepare the spiritual soil yourself according to the spiritual herbs you have planted!"

Li Ya stepped forward, pinched a pinch of black spiritual soil between his fingertips, and found it to be extremely delicate, with its rich spiritual energy firmly locked inside.

He was overjoyed. This spiritual soil was even better than he had imagined. If he used this spiritual soil to cultivate spiritual fields, the yield would definitely be much higher.

"How much does this sacred soil cost?"

Huang Dan smiled and said, "If you are sincere in your purchase, I will offer you the lowest price."

"This sacred soil costs only one or two copper coins for every ten catties, how about that?"

After some deliberation, Li Ya realized that the Ling Shu Cave Heaven now covered about five acres, but only a one-acre rock layer had gathered at the base of the mountain.

He planned to prepare as much spiritual soil as possible, as about a thousand catties of spiritual soil would be needed for one mu of spiritual field.

I originally planned to dig up the corner of the medicinal herb field, but the progress was incredibly slow.

"Yes, fetch me five thousand catties of spiritual soil. I wonder if there is any spiritual spring there?"

"Fellow Daoist, please follow me. The spiritual spring is on the other side."

Huang Dan quickly agreed, and then instructed the steward beside him, "Go, fetch five thousand catties of spiritual soil, put it into a Sumeru talisman, and give it to you, fellow Daoist."

He then led Li Ya to a pool that was divided into dozens of sections.

The pool contains a spiritual spring, clear and bright, with a light mist swirling around its surface, and its aroma is exceptionally refreshing.

"Fellow Daoist, these are samples of the spiritual spring, all collected from the surrounding spiritual veins and springs."

"This pool has an engraved array that can prevent the spiritual spring from decaying."

"These legitimate businesses are all handled by Wanbaolou. In the past, when customers placed orders, Wanbaolou would send someone to fetch water from the spring. They would fetch water once a day and would never sell water that had been sitting overnight. They would deliver the water to the customer's door on time."

Li Ya was completely bewildered. Was this the Qinglian World version of a water delivery service?

"Can I fetch water from this spring myself?"

"Fellow Daoist, please don't joke. This spring was rented at a high price. If just anyone could come and fetch water, we would lose a fortune."

Li Ya thought about it and agreed. However, buying the spiritual spring was only a temporary measure. To solve the problem once and for all, he would have to move a spiritual vein into the Spirit Pivot Cave Heaven and connect another spiritual spring eye to ensure a continuous supply of spiritual spring water and spiritual energy.

"Is it possible to draw this spiritual spring water yourself?" Li Ya asked tentatively.

"Of course you can pick it up yourself. Wanbaolou also sells water tickets. You can pick it up with the ticket. If you buy 100 water tickets at once, you will also receive a water storage jade bottle as a gift."

Hearing the term "water ticket," Li Ya was indeed somewhat surprised, but he quickly understood. When there's money to be made, any business model will naturally emerge.

Having ordered a sufficient amount of water tickets, Li Ya didn't need to ask anything before he spotted the foot of the mountain in the distance.

"Fellow Daoist Huang!" Li Ya couldn't help but smile helplessly. "Did you bring me here just for a casual stroll, or are you going to empty my wallet?"

All the money I've gotten from opening the package will probably be spent here; I can't possibly take a single penny away.

"No, no, I just felt that these items were what you needed, so I put extra effort into them."

If you don't succeed, who will?

After weighing the remaining money in the Ling Shu Cave Heaven, he gritted his teeth and bought five low-grade mountain roots.

With several hours to go before the third and fourth rounds of gambling, he asked Huang Dan to prepare a full bag of ordinary rocks and rented a quiet room in Qianjin Pavilion.

After activating the meditation technique, Li Ya sat cross-legged on the futon.

He stopped the Ling Shu deduction and transferred the mountain root, spiritual soil, and spiritual spring into the Ling Shu Grotto Heaven.

All his true energy surged into the square snail, and a vortex led it into the Spirit Pivot Cave Heaven.

As soon as the mountain root entered the Ling Shu Cave Heaven, it was enveloped in a blue light, like a meteor from outer space crashing heavily to the ground.

The suspended rocks, like swallows returning to their nests, are united as one by the spiritual energy at the foot of the mountain.

The spiritual energy gathered by the array in the quiet room also rapidly converged towards the square snail at this moment, so fast and urgent that it formed a vortex.

The rich spiritual energy in the upper-level quiet rooms of Qianjin Pavilion is all thanks to a huge spirit-gathering array and the coordinated operation of many precious materials, which sends the spiritual energy collected and accumulated on a daily basis to various quiet rooms.

The spiritual energy in Li Ya's quiet room suddenly cleared away, and as water flows downhill, the spiritual energy accumulated on this floor naturally flowed towards this quiet room.

The spiritual energy surrounding the conch shell suddenly appeared as wisps of mist, continuously flowing into it.

This process lasted for a full hour.

This thick rock layer was thus completely stabilized.

Within the Ling Shu Cave Heaven, Li Ya was a Dao Lord-like being. With a thought, he spread five thousand catties of spiritual soil onto the rock strata.

The spiritual spring water is poured out on it, nurturing the quality of the soil.

"We'll adjust the soil mix once we've determined which type of spirit plant to plant."

"Next, we will construct the sun, moon, and stars."

He simply raised one hand, and the Heavenly Mystery Array Plate leaped into the air. Following the refining method given to him by Huang Dan, he activated the array plate.

The array engraved within operates, spiritual light surges on the array plate, and talismans flow.

"The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, governing the birth and death of all things!"

"The moon waxes and wanes, governing nourishment and replenishment!"

"The stars and constellations revolve ceaselessly, nurturing the spirit!"

As Li Ya finished speaking, the three magical artifacts—the Dawn Crimson Gold Wheel, the Clear Radiance Glazed Plate, and the Starry Sea Banner—connected with the array plate's energy and floated in the air.

The Dawn Light Crimson Gold Wheel is located east of the grotto-heaven. Shaped like the sun, it is entirely crimson and surrounded by golden light, marking the place where the sun rises.

The Clear Radiance Glazed Plate is located west of the grotto, shaped like a round moon, and entirely white, corresponding to the place where the sun sets.

The Starry Sky Banner transformed into a Milky Way, filling the sky above the cave and responding to all the stars in the heavens.

Controlled by the array plate, the three magical artifacts follow the orbits of the sun, moon, and stars. The Dawn-Radiant Crimson Gold Wheel rises in the east and sets in the west, the Clear Radiance Glazed Plate waxes and wanes, and the Starry Sea Banner rotates like the stars in the celestial sphere, scattering the power of the stars throughout the sky.

As the three magical artifacts were activated, the power of the sun, moon, and stars intertwined with the spiritual energy within the cave.

"As long as they are properly prepared and performed, these three ritual implements may be able to undergo a complete transformation."

"No matter how small the Ling Shu Cave Heaven is, it is still a world in itself. These three magical artifacts have now been placed in their respective positions within the cave heaven, representing the sun, moon, and stars. Their concepts have been elevated."

"But the form remains the same as before, and it can only absorb the essence of the outside world through these three jade mirrors."

These three jade mirrors are originally one with the three magical artifacts. As long as Li Ya places them in a high place in the outside world, they can absorb the power of the sun, moon and stars. Putting them into the Ling Shu Cave Heaven will replenish the losses of these three magical artifacts.

Li Ya felt an overwhelming surge of pride; to him, he was the master of this world.

The desolation is gone; the stars and moon are hidden, the sun hangs high, scattering its light and heat, and a thin layer of mist rises from the sacred land.

Upon leaving the Ling Shu Cave, he was somewhat surprised to see the dense spiritual energy surrounding Fang Cunluo.

Now the two are integrated, and with each improvement of the grotto-heaven, a benefit is returned to oneself.

The most noticeable change is that as he consumes the Sumeru Stone, his Qi Sea expands continuously, and the amount of Azure Qi he can accumulate is comparable to that of a cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining.

After consuming the mayfly bag, the Five Prisons Bracelet, and other Sumeru ritual implements, the square snail visibly spun around, and mysterious patterns faintly appeared on its jade-like shell, with the gold lines on its ridges becoming increasingly clear.

Li Ya composed himself, slowly calming the turmoil in his heart, and savoring this unique harvest that belonged only to him.

The road ahead is long and arduous, filled with countless hardships and setbacks. But the abundant harvests we have now yielded will become our foundation and provide us with support on our journey.

Every step forward, regardless of its size, is a real step forward, bringing you one step closer to the summit.

It is this step-by-step progress that supports the long road ahead.

He swallowed a Qi-gathering pill and silently began to work his way up his acupoints.

I haven't forgotten to take the Cleansing Pill every day these days, and many of my acupoints have already loosened up.

Circulating the "Azure Mist Condensing Wood Nourishing Essence Technique" activated the Qi Gathering Pill, drawing in external spiritual energy that surged into the body. Even if not all of it remained, a greater amount was retained than usual.

He felt the sound of the forest rustling in his ears, like the endless flow of a river, and his Qinglan True Qi circulated through his limbs and meridians.

The acupoints loosen and move, and true energy, like a dragon, breaks through layers of solid ice.

There was no wind in the quiet room, but a continuous whistling sound suddenly arose, stirring the surrounding spiritual energy.

Each time a vital acupoint was broken through, a thunderous roar resounded.

Compared to the first time when he was exhausted after opening just one acupoint, this time he opened five acupoints before he ran out of energy.

The five acupoints resembled a bright hall, and five strands of pure primordial energy appeared. Li Ya opened his eyes, his Adam's apple bobbed, and the tip of his tongue pressed against the upper palate.

Visualize a dragon absorbing water, and the rich spiritual energy in the quiet room is swallowed into its belly and refined into Azure Mist True Energy.

"Even with the assistance of numerous elixirs and blessed lands brimming with spiritual energy, the true energy of those disciples from aristocratic families and sects still requires years of refinement. It's absolutely not like the stories in illustrated novels where one elixir can instantly grant one instant ascension to heaven!"

Even a Golden Core True Monarch's cultivation is the result of persistent, gradual accumulation.