Infinite Professions-Chapter 147 - 64: Cultivation (2)

"Good!"

Shen Hex glanced at the spirit contract and had no objections, so he directly took out the spirit stones.

Money changed hands, goods were delivered, and soon Shen Hex obtained the spirit contract, becoming a tenant farmer of Red Maple Valley.

Having established the contract and rented the spirit field, Shen Hex did not linger and directly left the Red Maple Valley Inn.

"Shopkeeper..."

Watching him leave, the servant turned back, looking at Shopkeeper Qian, hesitating to speak.

"Mind your own business."

Shopkeeper Qian simply said, tossing out the words and then left with his hands behind his back.

...

On the other side, after leaving the marketplace, Shen Hex followed the jade token’s guidance and finally arrived at the location of the spirit fields.

Ten acres of spirit fields, six thousand square feet, neither particularly big nor small.

Standing on the ridge of the field, Shen Hex surveyed the scenery around him, only to see that in the distant spirit fields, figures were flying about—Martial Dao practitioners, carrying water buckets and moving swiftly between the fields.

That’s right, martial artists!

In the cultivation realm, there are martial artists as well.

This isn’t something unusual; those who reach the Gang Yuan Realm in Martial Dao have some extraordinary abilities. Some martial artists accidentally enter the cultivation realm by chance, which is quite normal.

Moreover, not all offspring of cultivators in the cultivation realm have spiritual roots; those with no spiritual roots turning to Martial Dao is also natural.

The only strange thing is that all the spirit farmers around seem to be martial artists, with not a single cultivator among them.

"Oh, a newcomer!"

While Shen Hex was observing, a figure approached from afar, stepping into the air and moving swiftly.

An old man, dressed as a farmer, with a hoe on his shoulder, said with a cheerful smile to Shen Hex, "What is your honorable name, friend?"

The old man’s welcoming smile was met with Shen Hex’s polite response, "I am Zhong Shan!"

"So, it’s Friend Zhong Shan."

The old farmer chuckled, introducing himself as well, "I am Yang Qii; I appear a bit older than you, so why not call ourselves brothers?"

"Ah, Senior Yang Qii."

With his youthful disguise, Shen Hex nodded respectfully and glanced around, "The spirit farmers here seem to all be from Martial Dao backgrounds?"

"Naturally."

Yang Qii chuckled lightly, "These spirit fields are on the edge of Red Maple Valley, and the spiritual qi is thin here—it’s the lowest-grade spirit field. The cultivators aren’t willing to farm here, so only us struggling martial artists come."

"Is that so?"

Shen Hex appeared surprised.

"You are new here and might not know the intricacies."

Yang Qii shook his head, "The spirit farmers with cultivator backgrounds can use skills like the Small Cloud Rain Skill to gather spiritual qi and bring forth rain to nourish the spirit fields.

We martial artists don’t have such abilities and can only rent these spirit fields in this area, relying on the nearby Spirit Stream to irrigate, allowing us to cultivate the spirit rice just like the cultivators."

Then he looked at Shen Hex, "Younger Brother Zhong, I see no signs of magical power or spirit light on you, so you must be from a martial artist background. It’s quite reasonable for the Red Maple Inn to recommend you rent this spirit field."

"I see!"

Shen Hex nodded, appearing relieved.

Yang Qii laughed again, "But you need not be discouraged. Though we martial artists are lacking, we can still thrive in Red Maple Valley. As long as you take good care of one acre of spirit field, ensuring everything is smooth and without disease or disaster, you’ll manage by the year’s end, even after giving spirit rice to the owner and paying the spiritual rent of Red Maple Valley, with a few spirit stones left."

"Every grain of rice is hard-earned!"

Hearing this, Shen Hex also sighed.

"Indeed!"

Yang Qii glanced around, then lowered his voice, "Younger Brother Zhong, as someone new here, there’s something you must be careful about."

"Oh?"

Shen Hex’s eyes narrowed, "What is it?"

"Immortal Fate Tribulation Cultivators!"

Yang Qii spoke in a serious tone, "We martial artists, born of common origins, mistakenly enter the cultivation realm and are often considered to possess immortal fate. Some evil tribulation cultivators specifically target martial artists for robbery and murder as soon as they leave the marketplace. Many have fallen to them, so you must be cautious."

"Is there such a thing?"

Shen Hex showed a look of anger and surprise, "Doesn’t Red Maple Valley intervene?"

"Outside the marketplace, it’s lawless."

Yang Qii shook his head with a sigh, "Even within the marketplace, absolute safety isn’t guaranteed. It’s better to rely on oneself than others. Expecting assistance from others is not as reliable as being careful oneself."

Shen Hex nodded, "Thank you for the advice, Senior."

"As fellow martial cultivators, we should help each other."

Yang Qii smiled, "I have several close friends here; once you’ve settled, I’ll introduce them to you. It’s not easy to cultivate, especially for us martial cultivators, so we should unite."

"Thank you, Senior!"

"..."

The seniors of the Jianghu, so enthusiastic.

Is it genuine kindness or deceitful intention?

Hard to say.

But it doesn’t matter, for Shen Hex has already decided to focus on developing quietly in Red Maple Valley and not leave anytime soon.

Thus, whether genuine or deceitful is insignificant; it’s not like he can do anything inside Red Maple Valley.

Even if he could, it would only mean flipping the table.

As long as the opponent doesn’t produce a core formation, Shen Hex remains unconcerned.

Therefore, he lets things develop naturally.

After seeing the man off, Shen Hex turned back and entered a straw hut by the field.

This was the legacy of the previous tenant farmer, now his residence.

After sitting down in the hut, Shen Hex didn’t hesitate. He used his professional experience to transform the hut and surrounding ten acres of spirit fields into a cultivation land.

The cultivation land attribute corresponds to the tier of the Professional; the higher the tier, the more cultivation lands one can have.

As an Immortal Hermit, he was Tier Two, allowing him to transform one more cultivation land besides the Dongting Lake Island.

After consuming professional experience, the hidden cultivation was complete, and Shen Hex soon felt the gathering of spiritual qi.

The key aspect of the cultivation land is concealment, but it doesn’t neglect cultivation entirely. It can gather spiritual qi slightly without any visible changes, detectable only by Shen Hex himself.

It’s simply a tool for exploiting resources!

After transforming the cultivation land, Shen Hex began cultivation, sitting cross-legged in the Five Hearts Facing Yuan stance, silently practicing the Five Elements Technique cultivation method, to absorb nature’s spiritual energy.

Indeed, he was cultivating immortality.

Previously, during his interrogation of several cultivators on Dongting Lake, Shen Hex acquired talismans that could detect spiritual roots from them, confirming his spiritual root aptitude.

The aptitude was very poor!

But it wasn’t nonexistent.

He possessed a pseudo-spiritual root encompassing all five elements!

According to the cultivation realm’s divisions, spiritual roots are graded into four tiers and three grades: Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow for tiers, Upper, Middle, and Lower Grades for grades.

However, his pseudo-spiritual root doesn’t fall into the four tiers and three grades. To be accurate, it doesn’t qualify for the four tiers and three grades—it’s an unqualified item without training value.

Thus, it’s called a pseudo-spiritual root!

But despite being pseudo, it is still a spiritual root, with a slight ability to absorb spiritual qi—it’s just that the efficiency is quite low.

If a Yellow Tier Lower Grade true spiritual root has an absorption rate of ten, then his pseudo-spiritual root’s rate is one, even with all five elements, it only reaches five. Cultivating with it is twice the work for half the result.

Shen Hex confirmed that even with the cultivation land gathering spiritual qi, his cultivation speed was still frustratingly slow.

And that’s with him practicing the Five Elements Technique.

The Five Elements Technique, like the Xingyi Fist, is a basic technique from the Human Empire, but it belongs to the cultivation system—anyone with any spiritual root from the five elements can train in this fundamental technique.

Though it’s a basic technique, like the Xingyi Fist, it has been refined to perfection by countless High-tier Professionals and even Immortal, Buddha, and Divine beings in the Human Empire; it’s not only simple to understand but also highly efficient in cultivation.

In this world, it’s an Immortal Spirit Skill, an Immortal-level Foundation Establishment Method.

Releasing it could lead to madness among sects vying to obtain it.

Yet now, in Shen Hex’s hands, his spiritual root’s poor aptitude limits its effectiveness.

Such a waste!

However, Shen Hex didn’t mind since with his cultivation, the universal skills tab showed three small characters.

Five Elements Technique!

Shen Hex seeing this, smiled.

Pseudo-spiritual root, poor aptitude?

In the face of cheating, is this a problem?

"Would you like to expend professional experience to transform the universal skill [Five Elements Technique] into a professional skill?"

"Transform!"