Eternal Life: Starting with Refreshing the Farmland

The appearance of the premium Beast Tooth Rice was slightly different from the standard variety.

The surface of the premium rice was adorned with several crimson streaks, creating a striking contrast of red and white.

Not only was it visually appealing, but it also contained three times the spiritual energy and vitality-enhancing effects of the standard Beast Tooth Rice.

This made it a powerful resource for significantly boosting one's vitality.

Filled with excitement, Qin Ming quickly harvested the hundreds of Beast Tooth Rice plants. This batch yielded a total of six pounds of premium Beast Tooth Rice!

Over the next half month, Qin Ming followed the same process, saving some of the premium rice as seeds and using the remaining four "Accelerated Growth" traits to continue cultivating the rice in batches.

In the end, he harvested a total of thirty pounds of premium Beast Tooth Rice and four "Faint Vitality" traits. By this point, he had exhausted all the "Accelerated Growth" traits in his sea of consciousness.

He would now have to wait for the next season's spirit field to hopefully yield more of these traits.

Using the traits so liberally might have seemed wasteful, but Qin Ming couldn't afford to hesitate.

His top priority was to improve his strength as quickly as possible.

He estimated that if these thirty pounds of premium Beast Tooth Rice were to appear in the Qingyang Market, they would cause a frenzy among cultivators. Its value was self-evident.

Qin Ming understood the importance of staying low-key.

With his current low level of strength, it was unwise to draw too much attention in the cultivation world.

It was best to keep a low profile to avoid attracting the envy of others.

That evening, Qin Ming cooked a pot of premium Beast Tooth Rice.

The aroma that wafted from the pot was intoxicating, and the red-and-white rice presented a mesmerizing sight. More importantly, it contained the powerful vitality-enhancing effects that many body-refining cultivators dreamed of.

This was a delicacy that even high-ranking figures in sects would savor.

Qin Ming couldn't help but salivate as he inhaled the fragrance. He carried the pot of rice to his bedroom, sat on his bed, and began devouring it.

In no time, he had polished off the entire pot!

*Boom!*

A surge of scorching energy erupted within Qin Ming's body as the vitality contained in the Beast Tooth Rice flooded through him.

He quickly began circulating his energy according to the "Hundred Treasures Glazed Sutra," guiding the flow of vitality.

After the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Qin Ming's skin turned increasingly red, and a faint red mist began to emanate from his body.

This was a sign that the vitality was penetrating deep into his marrow, initiating the process of blood renewal.

After personally cultivating the "Hundred Treasures Glazed Sutra," Qin Ming discovered that the technique didn't produce violent reactions during cultivation.

Instead, it was gentle, filling his body with warmth and gradually causing it to swell with energy.

Combined with the premium Beast Tooth Rice, the cultivation process was incredibly efficient!

Soon, Qin Ming's entire body had turned crimson.

Beads of blood began to seep from his skin as new blood replaced the old.

Gritting his teeth, Qin Ming activated one of the "Faint Vitality" traits in his sea of consciousness.

*Boom!*

A massive surge of vitality rushed through him like a tidal wave.

Qin Ming felt as though he were trapped in a steamer, his entire body burning with heat. The continuous flow of vitality began to transform, surging through his body.

Gradually, the old blood that had been expelled began to form a scab, encasing him in a massive blood cocoon.

*Thump! Thump!*

Inside the cocoon, a red glow pulsed in rhythm with Qin Ming's heartbeat.

*Crack!*

After two full hours, a crack appeared on the surface of the cocoon. As more cracks spread, the entire structure began to crumble away. Qin Ming emerged from the cocoon, reborn!

A new power had been born within him—a profound and mysterious vitality force.

The emergence of this vitality force marked Qin Ming's entry into the first layer of the "Hundred Treasures Glazed Sutra." Having completed the transformation of his vitality, Qin Ming's entire body—his organs, bones, and skin—had been enhanced to an unprecedented degree.

Now, every movement he made felt filled with inexhaustible strength.

His skin, once weathered by daily exposure to the elements, had become smoother and fairer, as if he had shed an old layer.

More importantly, his skin now seemed to have a protective film, making it tougher.

Qin Ming estimated that ordinary weapons would no longer be able to harm him.

Qin Ming stood up and walked into the courtyard. He raised his fist and struck a stone mill beneath a tree.

*Bang!*

The stone mill shattered into countless pieces under the force of his punch.

Incredible!

Qin Ming was overjoyed.

"This is far stronger than an ordinary first-level body-refining cultivator!" he thought, amazed.

No wonder Fellow Cultivator Ruan had been willing to go bankrupt to cultivate this technique.

Qin Ming gazed at his hands, filled with renewed hope for the future.

Perhaps he had found a shortcut to surpass others.

In the days that followed, Qin Ming divided his time between diligently tending to his fields and cultivating the "Hundred Treasures Glazed Sutra." Whenever an "Accelerated Growth" trait appeared, he immediately used it to cultivate more premium Beast Tooth Rice.

With a steady supply of Beast Tooth Rice to enhance his vitality, Qin Ming's progress in body refinement advanced by leaps and bounds.

...

Time passed.

Six months later, thanks to the massive quantities of premium Beast Tooth Rice and the "Faint Vitality" traits he had accumulated, Qin Ming had cultivated the "Hundred Treasures Glazed Sutra" to the third layer.

If Fellow Cultivator Ruan were to learn of this, he would likely be driven to despair.

Qin Ming now understood why Fellow Cultivator Ruan's eyes had lit up at the mention of Beast Tooth Rice.

It turned out that Beast Tooth Rice was one of the most compatible spirit materials for enhancing vitality in conjunction with this technique.

This was something Qin Ming had come to realize through his own cultivation.

However, according to the technique's records, the body-refining effects of the first five layers of the "Hundred Treasures Glazed Sutra" were only slightly stronger than those of ordinary body-refining techniques.

The true qualitative change would come with the breakthrough to the fifth layer, where one's vitality would become as dense as mercury, and a "Glazed Treasure Armor" could be condensed from one's vitality force.

At higher levels, the power of this technique would far surpass that of ordinary body-refining cultivators.

Such potent vitality would also greatly aid Qin Ming in his future journey toward Foundation Establishment.

In the cultivation world, cultivators aiming to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage had to reach the peak of the Qi Refining stage before the age of sixty, at the very least.

Foundation Establishment Pills, however, were strategic resources monopolized by major powers and sects. For ordinary wandering cultivators, even glimpsing such a pill was a distant dream.

In addition, there were three major hurdles to overcome.

The first was the vitality hurdle. When attempting to break through to Foundation Establishment, a cultivator's vitality had to be vigorous, and their body had to be free of hidden injuries or ailments.

Otherwise, attempting to establish a foundation with weakened vitality could lead to catastrophic consequences.

The second hurdle was the spiritual power hurdle.

During the breakthrough, a cultivator's spiritual power had to be both abundant and of high quality, and their meridians had to be resilient enough to withstand the process.

Falling short in any of these areas could prevent the successful condensation of spiritual power into liquid form.

The final hurdle was the spiritual sense hurdle.

Qi Refining cultivators could only use their spiritual sense for internal observation and enhancing their five senses, such as reading jade slips.

However, upon reaching Foundation Establishment, one's spiritual sense would extend outward, allowing them to detect their surroundings within a radius of several dozen feet.

This would provide significant advantages in both daily cultivation and combat.

...

As the days went by, an unexpected event occurred during these six months. Alchemist Su actually visited Qin Ming twice.

This was an extremely rare occurrence! After not seeing Alchemist Su for over half a year, Qin Ming was surprised to learn that he had already broken through to the sixth level of Qi Refining.

"Alchemists really do advance quickly in cultivation!" Qin Ming thought with envy.

During his visits, Alchemist Su had come to purchase some everyday spirit rice. Qin Ming, of course, welcomed him warmly.

Over time, the two became more familiar with each other.

After some discussion, Qin Ming exchanged a total of one hundred pounds of Golden Spirit Rice for two Spirit Gathering Pills, which were used to enhance spiritual power during the Qi Refining stage.

Alchemist Su happily agreed to the trade.

(End of Chapter)