Chapter 13: Reaching Mastery
“What!”
Senior Sister Li and the others turned toward the sound, their eyes widening in astonishment.
Within the spiritual field, as each seedling was planted with precise care, a faint glow began to ripple across the entire field.
The spiritual light flowed like water, shimmering and refracting sunlight into a rainbow of colors.
“This… this is…” Wei Rong’s hand trembled, nearly causing his spell to falter.
He had worked these outer sect fields for decades, yet never witnessed such a wondrous sight.
The disciples nearby all held their breath, afraid to disturb this miraculous scene.
But Shen Qinghe’s expression remained calm, only the corners of her lips curving slightly upward. She said softly, “Senior Brother Wei, please continue.”
Wei Rong, hearing her words, quickly steadied his mind, calming his trembling hands, and focused once more on planting each seedling.
With the final stalk of Azure Spirit Rice firmly set in the spiritual soil, the entire field erupted in dazzling light.
For an instant, brilliant spiritual radiance surged skyward, weaving visible cycles of energy throughout the field.
The newly planted seedlings unfurled their tender leaves and grew taller at a speed visible to the naked eye, basking in the glow.
The watching disciples all gasped, eyes filled with awe.
The cycle of spiritual energy in Wei Rong’s field was several times denser than what Shen Qinghe had shown yesterday, and within the flowing light, faint patterns emerged, making the scene even more extraordinary.
“This… this cannot be!” Senior Sister Li staggered back two steps, her face filled with disbelief.
Wei Rong now stood statue-still amidst the field, eyes half-closed, as if immersed in some profound state.
“Look at Senior Brother Wei! He’s... having an epiphany!” a disciple cried out in shock.
“What?!”
The shout was like a stone cast into a tranquil lake, stirring a wave of commotion.
The disciples exchanged incredulous glances.
Who could have imagined that Wei Rong, after a single lesson from Shen Qinghe, would enter this rare state of enlightenment?
Their gazes toward Shen Qinghe changed completely, burning with excitement, fervor, and admiration.
But Shen Qinghe paid no heed to the shifting atmosphere around her. Her attention was fixed on the ancient book, on the line detailing her proficiency in cultivating Azure Spirit Rice.
“To think that a single lesson for Wei Rong has pushed my Azure Spirit Rice cultivation proficiency directly to mastery!” She was both shocked and delighted.
Yet she quickly deduced the underlying reason.
Wei Rong had immersed himself in spiritual planting for decades—he must have already touched the threshold of mastery.
She had benefited from his accumulated experience, allowing her own proficiency to leap forward in one stroke.
This discovery lit up her mind, as if she had found a shortcut to improving her cultivation skills.
But upon reflection, she realized that in the outer sect, cultivators as skilled in spiritual planting as Wei Rong were exceedingly rare.
After all, among the myriad arts of cultivation, spiritual planting was always considered a lesser path.
In truth, most outer sect disciples tended these fields simply for an easy life.
Though the annual stipend was only two hundred or so low-grade spirit stones, the work was light.
More importantly, it offered the precious reward of contribution points.
In the Cloudsky Sect, contribution points were more valuable than spirit stones, allowing disciples to exchange them for advanced techniques, magical tools, pills, and other cultivation resources.
This was the real reason so many chose to care for the spiritual fields.
When Wei Rong emerged from enlightenment, a sharp brilliance shone in his previously cloudy eyes.
He threw back his head and laughed, voice booming like a bell: “Marvelous! Truly marvelous! At last, I have broken through decades of bottlenecks on the path of planting!”
At the same time, Shen Qinghe closed the ancient book within her mind.
Their gazes met in the air, and Wei Rong, trembling with excitement, forgot all decorum and stumbled out of the field.
He came before Shen Qinghe, bowing deeply in thanks, his voice quivering: “Sister Shen, your guidance has renewed my life. I will never forget this favor! Whatever you may need in the future, I shall brave fire and water to repay you!”
“Senior Brother Wei, you overstate it,” Shen Qinghe replied, gracefully sidestepping his bow. “Your breakthrough in planting comes from decades of deep accumulation. I merely offered a small hint; I dare not claim the credit.”
As she spoke, her gaze swept over the stunned crowd, finally resting on Senior Sister Li’s ashen face. She smiled slightly: “Besides, if not for someone’s deliberate troublemaking, Senior Brother might never have had this opportunity.”
Wei Rong followed her gaze and immediately understood.
He stroked his beard and laughed: “Sister, you are too modest. Without your unique method, even another ten years of planting would not have revealed these mysteries to me.”
With that, he took a jade slip from his robe and handed it to Shen Qinghe with solemn care: “This is my ‘Notes on Spiritual Planting’ from these many years. It may not be a rare treasure, but it is thorough. I hope you will accept it.”
The onlookers burst into a new uproar.
Everyone knew Wei Rong’s ‘Notes on Spiritual Planting’ were well respected among the outer sect disciples.
For him to gift it so easily showed the high regard he held for Shen Qinghe’s instruction.
Standing at the edge of the crowd, Senior Sister Li’s nails dug painfully into her palm, fire of envy almost blazing from her eyes.
“Li Mumei, what is your purpose in slandering Sister Shen like this?”
A furious shout erupted from the crowd, and the gray-robed disciple from yesterday stepped forward, eyes blazing, pointing at Senior Sister Li.
His words ignited the emotions of everyone present.
“Yes, you kept accusing Sister Shen of deceit!”
“How do you explain the wonders in Senior Brother Wei’s field?”
“We demand an answer!”
Only now did Shen Qinghe realize from their words that Senior Sister Li was named Li Mumei.
The clamor surged like a tide, and Li Mumei’s face turned deathly pale.
Though she was at the fourth level of Qi Refinement, most disciples present could not match her, yet among those who had stepped forward, several were already at the fifth level—including Wei Rong, who had just made a breakthrough in spiritual planting.
She unconsciously retreated two steps, still stubbornly protesting: “You… you mustn’t be fooled by her! Who knows what tricks she used…”
“Enough!” Wei Rong suddenly roared, beard and hair bristling. “I saw it with my own eyes, experienced it myself. How dare you speak nonsense here!”
Shen Qinghe raised her hand lightly, and the crowd fell silent.
She walked to Li Mumei, her voice cold as a mountain spring: “Senior Sister Li, after all this, do you have anything left to say? Or… shall I offer you some guidance as well, so you’ll be convinced?”
“You…!” Li Mumei trembled with rage, about to retort.
But Shen Qinghe suddenly smiled, a hint of mischief in her eyes: “However…”
She glanced Li Mumei up and down, shaking her head with a gentle sigh: “From what I see, your aptitude is quite average. I fear even if I taught you, you wouldn’t be able to learn.”
Her words were light, yet the crowd could not help but laugh.
Li Mumei’s face turned from pale to blue, then red.
She clenched her fists so tightly her nails bit into her flesh, but could not vent her anger.
Wei Rong and several other fifth-level Qi Refinement disciples watched her intently, like hungry wolves.
“We’ll see about this!” In the end, Li Mumei could only leave with a harsh parting word, slipping away with her followers.
No one stopped them.
After all, this was within the sect, and private fights were forbidden by the rules.
Once Li Mumei and her group departed, the remaining disciples flocked eagerly to Shen Qinghe, begging for her guidance.
Shen Qinghe welcomed them all.
In her eyes, these disciples were walking spirit stones and valuable experience for improving her cultivation proficiency.