Naturally, Li Ye had no idea about the discussion concerning him at the Inner Affairs Hall.
After turning them down, he simply tossed the matter out of his mind and paid no further attention.
As planned, he returned to his assigned spirit field, eager and energized to begin the day's work.
By his estimation, he would gather enough experience today to advance his Spirit Planting skill.
Li Ye was brimming with motivation!
Compared to the previous two days, his movements were far more fluid there was even a kind of flowing grace to them.
His sowing pace had picked up, his care for the seedlings was even more precise, and the success rate of sprouting had noticeably improved.
[With your practiced technique...]
As each emerald seedling unfurled its tender leaves beneath the soft green drizzle, Li Ye's experience bar shot upward rapidly.
With the final system prompt appearing, his accumulated experience had now reached [954] points.
Not quite a thousand, but enough to push his planting skill up a level!
Li Ye sat down by the edge of the field, assumed a meditative posture, and, without hesitation, poured all his experience into maxing out the proficiency bar.
[Spirit Planting - experience maxed. Would you like to break through?]
Did he even need to think about it?
With a single thought, Li Ye made his decision.
Breakthrough!
The moment he confirmed, a silent explosion went off in his mind.
The fine details of the Spirit Planting craft he had learned in the past
His father's teachings in the fields, long overlooked…
The bits and pieces from his trial and error…
Even fragments of knowledge he'd casually seen or heard about the trade…
All of it surged from the depths of his memory, becoming vivid and real, transforming into solid understanding, rapidly deepening his mastery of the spirit-planting art.
After a few breaths,
Li Ye slowly regained his composure. He instinctively practiced a few planting techniques with empty hands.
There was nothing in his grip, yet his movements were smooth and sure.
He stood up, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
With his skills now on a higher level, Li Ye had a more precise grasp of the condition of his five plots of Emerald Bud Rice.
Gazing down at the seedlings at his feet, he fell into thoughtful contemplation.
"Emerald Bud Rice is a fairly common tier-one spirit grain. Apart from basic spiritual energy, it doesn't demand much from the environment and has a relatively high survival rate. It's quite widespread in the cultivation world…"
"After correcting my previous planting mistakes, the seedlings have been sprouting well. My initial judgment on survival rate wasn't wrong…"
"But some of the ideas I had for the next stages were flawed and need adjusting…"
"Soil composition, irrigation and fertilization, pest control, the use of the Spring Rain Technique…"
"Spacing, seasonal timing these small details may seem insignificant, but if handled well, the seedlings should grow more vigorously, and yield could even increase further."
More importantly, he'd likely gain more experience points and Herbal Essence as rewards!
Li Ye's eyes sparkled brighter and brighter.
With a mid-tier first-level Spirit Planting skill, he could even attempt to work with some of the less delicate low-grade spiritual herbs.
Using it to care for something as manageable as Emerald Bud Rice was more than sufficient.
Comparing his newly improved techniques with the state of the field, Li Ye naturally formed a comprehensive cultivation plan in his mind.
He had it all mapped out.
In the days that followed, Li Ye tended to the spirit field with even greater care.
After a few more days, all five plots were fully sprouted.
Each seedling stood tall, vibrantly green.
Under the sunlight, they faintly glimmered with a jade-like luster.
The vitality of the entire field was no less than that of the neighboring plots maintained by seasoned spirit farming disciples.
It even faintly surpassed a few of them.
If things stayed on track, the final yield would be impressive.
Meeting the minimum quota of one hundred jin was already in the bag.
What Li Ye was truly looking forward to…
Was how much extra Spirit rice he could produce in the end!
And in just a few days, the spirit field had changed so drastically
This completely stunned the few spirit-farming disciples who had been paying attention to him from the start!
They had clearly seen Li Ye sowing seedlings all crooked and sloppy at first he couldn't even cast Spring Rain Technique properly.
How had he suddenly become as competent as someone who had studied spirit farming for years?!
Look at how well this spirit field is tended… it's downright pleasing to the eye!
"Junior Brother Li, hearing you talk just now taught me a lot..."
The big, dark-skinned man with a square face and an honest smile praised Li Ye warmly.
"Didn't expect you to recover your old farming skills in just a few days after being away for so long. That kind of talent makes me jealous… You're practically born to be a spirit farmer!"
What a way to compliment someone…
If his former self had heard that, he probably would've taken offense!
Li Ye silently grumbled but kept a humble smile on his face, waving a hand. "You flatter me, Senior Brother Zhang. My skills are nothing compared to yours and the others…"
"If anything, I've been learning a lot from you guys I'm the one benefiting here!"
Zhang's smile grew even more radiant at that.
The nearby spirit farmer disciples, who were still busy tending to their fields, overheard their conversation and started to view Li Ye with a bit more friendliness in their eyes.
Having worked in the spirit fields for over ten days now, Li Ye had naturally interacted with the other farmers nearby.
And the stark improvement in his planting techniques over just a few days made many of them more willing to strike up a friendship.
After several chats, everyone got along well and exchanged knowledge, building a solid rapport.
Among them, Zhang Liangfu whose plot was right next to Li Ye's was the most familiar and frequently spoke with him.
During their casual conversations, Li Ye also dropped some hints about how his past self used to work in the fields with his father.
That helped explain the strange disparity between his earlier clumsy performance and his current expertise.
After all, spirit planting was one of the most common skills in the cultivation world. Low-tier techniques weren't worth much spirit stones at all. So even though Li Ye's sudden improvement was a bit odd, it didn't raise any serious suspicions.
That little explanation alone was enough to put any doubts to rest.
Right now, Li Ye was all about keeping a low profile and steadily growing stronger through farming.
Even if spirit planting wasn't particularly valuable and didn't attract much attention, he still didn't want to risk drawing trouble from acting too unusually.
That said, it was only the first time his system panel had activated he hadn't been prepared. From now on, he would be much more cautious.
He chatted a bit more with Zhang Liangfu.
After loosening up for a while, the two didn't waste any more time and each sat cross-legged to restore their spiritual and physical energy.
Once they had recovered a bit, Li Ye returned to the fields to resume his labor for the day.
As he worked the soil and activated his techniques, the internal resistance from his lingering injuries persisted, making the circulation of his spiritual power sluggish.
If it were just discomfort, he could tolerate it he was already somewhat used to it after so many days.
But the fact that it wasn't improving was a real problem.
"If this goes on, not only will it be difficult to control my spiritual energy due to the injury, but the lack of nourishment and my depleted vitality will keep weakening my overall condition…"
"Although the injury isn't getting worse, just relying on daily cultivation to slowly heal is too inefficient. If I don't deal with this properly, I might end up with hidden internal damage…"
"And worst of all, if both issues continue to compound each other, my cultivation might regress!"
Though his face remained calm, focused on the seedlings in front of him, Li Ye was growing increasingly anxious inside.
Hidden injuries might not seem like a big deal day to day, but once it came time to attempt Foundation Establishment, they could become a fatal flaw.
That directly affected his future potential.
And with Li Ye's ambitions to break through that stage, there was no way he could just ignore it.
He had to find a way to fix this and fast!
"Since the injury and spiritual energy affect each other, solving either one should help improve the other as well…"
"Problem is, there's no shortcut to mastering spiritual control it's a long, slow grind…"
Li Ye clenched his jaw.
After cultivating for so many days with barely any progress, he was starting to understand just how limiting his low-grade earth and wood spiritual roots were.
He was secretly relieved he had made the smart choice to farm instead of locking himself away for isolated cultivation otherwise, he might've already gone crazy.
But still, he had to think of another way to improve or at least relieve his condition.
"If I could just get my hands on a low-tier healing pill, most of my internal injuries would recover significantly at least enough to avoid hidden damage…"
Back then, his former self had used a forbidden medicine to extend his life at the cost of spiritual energy and even lifespan. The effect had been quite potent.
Otherwise, there's no way a single low-tier healing pill would be enough to fix his current situation.
"But the real problem is… I don't even have the spirit stones or sect contribution points to buy one right now!"
Letting out a sigh, Li Ye couldn't help but curse.
Given his current state, it looked like he'd have to wait until the harvest to have enough spirit stones and contribution points to loosen things up.
As for now…
"I'll just have to scrape together whatever spirit crystals and stones I've got and buy some spirit rice to supplement myself…"
Spirit rice wasn't nearly as expensive as spirit herbs or pills. Buying it by the pound was still manageable.
Even a gentle boost of spiritual energy might help him regain some control over his power and aid the healing process.
That, at the very least, might buy him enough time to figure out a real solution to his problems.