By the morning of the fourth day, he finally witnessed a joyful sight: the Spirit Valley he had planted in the Spirit Field had sprouted tender green shoots. He sat by the field, as if looking at his own treasure, happy for a long time.
“Patta.” In Zhou Sheng's Sea of Consciousness, unbeknownst to him, a blood-red jade block slowly faded its blood-red color, emitting bursts of green light. However, Zhou Sheng himself had no feeling whatsoever about what was happening within his Sea of Consciousness.
The subsequent planting of Spirit Valley would be much easier; watering would not need to be so frequent, once a week would suffice. Spirit Valley is different from normal plants; it absorbs Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to grow on its own. Once it breaks its shell, the main concern is preventing pests.
Returning home from the Spirit Field, Zhou Sheng encountered a disheveled man dressed in a Daoist robe. Seeing a hoe in his hand, he was likely one of the Senior Brothers living in these houses. Zhou Sheng bowed to him, which startled the disheveled man. Only then did he react and ask, “Are you the new Junior Brother?”
Zhou Sheng nodded, also looking at him with some curiosity. The disheveled man was not as rigid as Senior Brother Zhang Huaiyuan; he was much more amiable. He pulled Zhou Sheng to sit by a nearby Spirit Field and started chatting. He didn't hide anything about himself. He said his name was Zhao Huanzhen, and he was originally a wandering Daoist from down the mountain. Due to his lack of skill, he almost starved to death.
Fortunately, Heaven never seals off all exits. He met Zhang Yingying, and thus he was brought here. He was very satisfied with his current life; he didn't even need to lie to eat his fill. This place was simply a paradise on earth. For Zhou Sheng, who had also almost starved to death down the mountain, he deeply understood this Senior Brother.
“Oh~ Senior Brother, what a coincidence? I was also brought up by Senior Sister Zhang Yingying. Senior Sister is truly a kind person.”
Hearing this startled Zhao Huanzhen, and then he sighed, “No way, Yingying isn't even letting go of such a young child now.” Thinking of the look in Zhang Yingying's eyes when he last met her, he felt a pang of discomfort; she was practically asking him to return the money. It was a blemish on his daily life of idleness. Looking at Zhou Sheng beside him, a look of sympathy appeared in his eyes. The two chatted back and forth, and soon became as familiar as friends. Zhao Huanzhen had a very good impression of him. Although life here was carefree, he ultimately didn't have a close friend.
“Junior Brother, you are still young. If you don't like to Cultivate, you can come to my house to play.” After saying this, Zhao Huanzhen was about to get up and say goodbye, then he slapped his head again and took out a red radish from his mustard seed bag and gave it to him. “Junior Brother, take it. This is a Red Jade Radish. It's in the Spiritual Plant book, so I won't bore you with details here. Remember what I told you: you can be sincere with people, but you must not reveal a single bit of information about the great Dao of Cultivation to anyone.”
Zhou Sheng took the Red Jade Radish with both hands, feeling a burst of joy in his heart. This Red Jade Radish belonged to Intermediate Spiritual Plants and could be exchanged for many things. Most importantly, he could learn about Intermediate Spiritual Plants in advance, which would give him more experience for his future planting.
Upon returning home, Zhou Sheng placed the Red Jade Radish on his desk and took out paper and pen to study it carefully. Time passed quickly, and when he felt quite tired, he was startled to realize that it was already completely dark outside.
He put down the paper and pen, returned to his bed, and began to gather Spiritual Qi. Coincidentally, this time Zhou Sheng truly felt the Spiritual Qi. The Spiritual Qi was like a mist floating in the air. Zhou Sheng tried to guide this Spiritual Qi into his Qi Palace. Not all the Spiritual Qi was so obedient; ultimately, the Spiritual Qi that reached his Qi Palace from his Meridians was less than one percent of the original amount. He could only feel a wisp of Spiritual Qi, the size of a strand of hair, added inside.
Next was the Qi Refining. Zhou Sheng calmed his mind and began to recite the incantation from the book. The hair-thin Spiritual Qi ultimately became half its size, but this wisp of Spiritual Qi now belonged to Zhou Sheng.