The Library Pavilion on Lingxi Peak only had cultivation methods for the early Qi Refining stage; to exchange for spells, one had to go to the Outer Sect Technique Transmission Hall on Gongde Peak—a place dedicated to exchanging merits for cultivation methods and spells.
Arriving at Gongde Peak, Lin Donglai first took a look at the spirit plant missions.
Most of them were for purchasing spirit grain, but nearly all involved Mid-Grade and High-Grade Tier One spirit grain—this portion was supplied to the inner sect disciples.
As for Low-Grade Tier One spirit grain, the Azure Wood Sect had actually left that to outside minor clans and small sects to grow.
A Low-Grade Tier One spirit farmer simply couldn't take on any missions worth mentioning.
Mostly, the spirit plant missions were issued by the Alchemy Hall, involving the cultivation of several kinds of Low-Grade Tier One spirit herbs. But growing spirit herbs was far too risky—one careless mistake could wipe out one's entire investment.
After memorizing a few of the Low-Grade Tier One spirit herbs that were purchased on a long-term basis, Lin Donglai turned and headed for the Technique Transmission Hall.
An outer sect elder of the Technique Transmission Hall glanced at Lin Donglai and said, "What spell do you want to learn? Present your token and register."
Lin Donglai replied respectfully, "This disciple wishes to learn the Spirit Eye Art!"
The outer sect elder recorded him with the token, then led Lin Donglai into the first floor, where row upon row of spirit slips floated, wreathed in spiritual light and wards.
The elder found the spirit slip containing the Spirit Eye Art, undid its ward, and handed it over. "You have one hour to study it. Return the spirit slip to me within that hour."
"Understood!"
Lin Donglai pressed the spirit slip to his brow, and immediately an eye-like rune appeared before his vision, profound and wondrous—a single glance told him it was the Spirit Eye Art.
Below it were additional explanatory notes and the cultivation method.
"Eh?"
Lin Donglai was surprised—the rune within this spirit slip was remarkably similar to the Rat Movement Art rune he had obtained after killing the giant rat of Spirit Field Valley.
"The Spirit Eye Art is quite useful as well. It can gauge cultivation levels, check the condition of spirit plants, and even be used to cultivate the Chaoyang Qi-Gathering Art. Once I learn it, I can try using the Jianmu spirit leaf as a vessel."
Perhaps because Lin Donglai's comprehension was decent, or perhaps because his spiritual root dao seed had widened his purple mansion, in any case, Lin Donglai learned it in less than half an hour.
Still, he used up the remaining half hour anyway, studying the finer details of the rune so as to avoid any mistakes or omissions.
The Spirit Eye Art was simple to cultivate: one merely circulated spiritual power to nourish the eyes and the several bones surrounding them.
If conditions allowed, one could even drip certain spiritual liquids into the eyes to aid cultivation.
At the same time, people of different constitutions would cultivate the Spirit Eye Art to somewhat different effects.
For instance, Lin Donglai's Low-Grade Jia Wood Body would lean toward perceiving vitality and life force.
Ordinary people without a constitution could see spiritual light—a faint glow emitted by spiritual power, invisible to the naked eye; the stronger the spiritual light, the higher the cultivator's level.
Furthermore, using different resources to cultivate it would produce different effects.
Some people nourished their eyes with gathered purple qi, transforming the Spirit Eye Art into the "Qi Observation Art," allowing them to view the fluctuations of others' fortune.
Those who nourished their eyes with treasure light could cultivate it into the "Treasure Appraisal Art."
The simpler a spell was, the more variations it tended to have.
After returning the spirit slip to the elder of the Technique Transmission Hall, Lin Donglai watched him pour his divine sense into the slip, replenishing the spell seed's worn-away true meaning within, then reapply the wards and place it back.
Leaving the Technique Transmission Hall, Lin Donglai headed to the Spirit Plant Hall on Lingxi Peak.
In hand, he now had a total of ten spirit stones: eight from his accumulated monthly stipend—two from before, and four earned after reaching the second layer of Qi Refining—plus the two Ding Zhen had just given him.
In the Spirit Plant Hall, a cultivator dressed like an old farmer had appeared, and Huang Yue stood obediently beside him, speaking with him.
Not wanting to interrupt, Lin Donglai waited a while. Only after the old farmer cultivator tossed out an emerald banana-leaf fan, sat upon it, and slowly flew away did Lin Donglai step forward. "Senior sister, was that just now an elder of our Spirit Plant Hall?"
"That's right. Our Spirit Plant Hall has one hall master, two vice hall masters, and eight elders. The hall master and vice hall masters are all Tier Three spirit farmers, while the elders are Mid-Grade to High-Grade Tier Two spirit farmers. That was the Fifth Elder just now—he is also my master."
"I see! So senior sister is already an inner sect disciple!"
"Haha, not at all. My cultivation is still insufficient, and I haven't been in the sect for ten years yet. I merely took the Fifth Elder as my master to study the way of spirit planting. There are seven or eight disciples like me—it hardly counts as inheriting his mantle."
"That's already wonderful." Lin Donglai said with envious sigh, then continued, "Oh right, senior sister, besides growing spirit grain, this time I'd like to grow some Low-Grade Tier One spirit herbs. I saw that the Merit Hall has such spirit plant missions, and I thought I'd try in advance, so that in the future when I take on these missions I'd have some experience. So I came to ask you—which kind is easiest for a beginner?"
Huang Yue was startled by Lin Donglai's boldness and couldn't help worrying. "Junior brother, you've only just managed to grow one kind of spirit rice and now you're thinking of growing spirit herbs? Spirit herbs are not so easy to cultivate—the seeds are expensive, and the investment is considerable!"
"It's true that you've grown some unranked spirit grasses, so you have some experience, but rank-ed spirit herbs are completely different from those unranked ones."
"Well then—if you've successfully cultivated the Sprout Gestation Art and the Spirit Eye Art, you really could try growing the Summer-Born Flower. This flower is the main ingredient for refining the Low-Grade Tier One pill, the Advancement Pill, used mainly for low-tier fire-attribute spirit beasts seeking breakthroughs."
"I've grown it before. If you run into any problems, you can come ask me."
"The Summer-Born Flower is best planted right now. Cast the Sprout Gestation Art on it once every day, water it with sweet dew once in the morning and once at dusk, and by the summer solstice it will bloom. It is one of the main ingredients of the Yellow Sprout Pill."
"As for the seeds, one spirit stone gets you twelve. If you exchange for merit instead, it's two flowers for one merit point; converted to spirit stones, it's also two flowers for one spirit stone."
"The Summer-Born Flower loves fertilizer, loves the sun, and loves water. If you plant it in a spirit field valley, you'll need to prepare some cinnabar wood ash, supplement it with powder from blank spirit stones, and plant one every three paces—otherwise they'll compete with each other for spiritual qi and fertilizer, and end up growing poorly."
Lin Donglai considered. "Then I'll buy two spirit stones' worth of seeds to try first. Also, I'll buy two catties of Blazing Sun Rice, two catties of Blood Marrow Rice, and two catties of Pearl Rice seeds."
"You're going to plant three different spirit rices all at once?"
"Doesn't the Sprout Gestation Art, besides helping seeds sprout, also hasten spirit plants to bear seeds? I figured I might as well sell the seeds when the time comes."
"Bearing seed with spirit plants places an enormous strain on the spiritual field's fertility and your spiritual power! If you're going to bear seed, you certainly can't plant them as densely as before. Moreover, when the spirit grain flowers, you'll need to add another application of fertilizer and cast the Sprout Gestation Art once more, and when it heads, you'll need to add another dose of fertilizer and cast the art yet again."
"Counting the first fertilizer application at sowing, that's three times in total, and each application is no small investment. Honestly, it's not much better than growing spirit grain. That's how it is with all these low-tier spirit herbs—the more you plant, the more you harvest."
"But low-tier cultivators, with their shallow cultivation, naturally have limited energy and can't plant too much."
"It's only once you endure until you can grow High-Grade Tier One spirit herbs that things improve. Your cultivation will be higher, the herbs will be worth more, and you'll even be able to take on a few apprentices to help out."