Immortality and Cultivation: Starting with Improved Spirit Rice

Chapter 36 Qingyan Zhenren

Soon, upon Lingwei's notification, Chen Heng, Xiang Yunyuan, Sun Fuli, and others rushed over from outside the valley.

Seeing Zhao Chengan and Shen Yanshan standing together, these people were all a little confused.

Especially the way Shen Yanshan looks at Zhao Cheng'an now, it's simply... it can be described as "benevolent". Even Chen Heng, who has a top-grade single spiritual root, doesn't receive such treatment.

Could Zhao Cheng'an really be a descendant of Shen Jijiu...?

The rather gossipy Sun Fuli couldn't help but secretly speculate in her mind.

But how could that be? Zhao Cheng'an is a descendant of the royal family, while Shen Yanshan is a cultivator from elsewhere.

However, Sun Fuli was a smart person and quickly guessed that it might be related to the meeting between Zhao Chengan and Qi Weizhao. She just didn't know what the two talked about. Sun Fuli was itching to find out.

Fortunately, he didn't have to wait too long.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Shen Yanshan immediately got straight to the point.

"I've gathered you all here today because of resource allocation, which is a good thing."

"Lingwei, distribute these things to them."

Lingwei took several small bags from Shen Yanshan and distributed them to everyone.

Chen Heng and the others reached out and took it, opened it, and an enticing aroma of rice wafted out.

"Is this ling rice?"

Chen Heng looked somewhat surprised, wondering what the purpose of calling him over was, especially since cultivation resources had already been distributed not long ago.

However, upon closer inspection, this spirit rice seems somewhat different from the spirit rice distributed previously.

Shen Yanshan coughed softly.

"I believe some of you have already noticed that this is a newly cultivated spirit rice. Moreover, it is an improved spirit rice cultivated on a large scale in the wild."

"You should know what this means..."

Wow!

Shen Yanshan uttered a casual remark.

It was like a ladle of cold water poured into a boiling oil pan, causing an immediate uproar below. Even Chen Heng couldn't maintain her composure.

Because spiritual rice is of great help to their cultivation. Compared to spiritual stones, the spiritual energy contained in spiritual rice is gentler and easier to absorb.

The downside is that production is limited.

The amount of food provided by the Imperial Academy was so limited that even Chen Heng could only eat a few meals a month, so the assistance it could provide was really limited.

If one can consume large quantities of spiritual energy over a long period and obtain a sufficient supply, the overall cultivation speed can be increased by at least 30% to 40%. For someone with exceptional talent like Chen Heng, it can even be increased by nearly 100%.

What does this mean?

Someone like Chen Heng, who could have originally entered a second-rate lineage, has nearly a 50% chance of striving for a first-rate lineage.

With Xiang Yunyuan's aptitude at the medium level of spiritual root, he has a greater chance of entering a second-rate or higher lineage.

As for Sun Fuli and Xu Baiheng... there was no hope at all before, and now, although the hope is still slim, at least there is a tiny bit more possibility.

The group struggled to remain calm, their minds racing with thoughts, and their breathing became heavy.

Shen Yanshan, seeing their expressions, poured cold water on their enthusiasm.

"But don't get too excited yet. There's no such thing as a free lunch. These things aren't given to you for no reason."

Chen Heng immediately asked.

"Please, Master, tell us what price we are required to pay?"

"This matter is not for me to decide."

Shen Yanshan waved his hand.

"It was decided by Zhao."

"Zhao Cheng'an?!"

All eyes turned to Zhao Cheng'an, who was standing to the side.

Everyone stared wide-eyed, their expressions incredulous, their minds seemingly unable to process what was happening.

Zhao Cheng'an felt a little embarrassed by their stares.

"good."

Shen Yanshan began to explain:

"These spirit rice grains are the result of Zhao's hard work over the past year, which has consumed a great deal of energy. What's even more remarkable is that he was able to maintain his own cultivation progress while cultivating and improving the spirit rice."

"Although Zhao's spiritual root aptitude is only above average, there is no doubt that he is a true genius. The gap in aptitude can be made up for with a lot of resources, but the gap in talent is something that is difficult to overcome no matter what."

"You should be grateful to have met Zhao at the same Imperial Academy; it's your good fortune. You should also be grateful for Zhao's generosity in sharing his achievements with you."

"It is because of people like Zhao that the Dao Court was established and the cultivation civilization of the East Sea was able to develop."

At this point, Shen Yanshan was the first to applaud.

The remaining people then seemed to wake up from their daze and followed suit, with applause erupting in unison.

When the applause subsided.

Sun Fuli reacted the fastest, bowing to Zhao Chengan and speaking very sincerely.

"Thank you for sharing with us, Zhao. We don't know what Zhao needs our help with, but we will do our best to help if it's possible."

After saying this, Sun Fuli felt a little uneasy.

Aside from the few spirit stones distributed by the Imperial Academy, cultivators really have nothing of value on them.

As for what these people needed to do, Zhao Cheng'an already had a plan in mind. Although the situation in Dayin had stabilized, it was still at a stalemate, with a large number of people displaced and many soldiers sacrificing their lives on the front lines.

Zhao Cheng'an didn't need to take away their limited cultivation resources, but he could get them to do something for him elsewhere.

He had previously written to his uncle, Zhao Jingting, asking him to obtain some forbidden drugs from the barbarian soldiers, and sure enough, they discovered some extraordinary substances. The barbarians' sudden rise to power likely had the support of a cultivator, but this cultivator had refused to come forward, indicating that their strength was not particularly great.

Although Zhao Cheng'an was a transmigrator, he also inherited the original owner's karma. Now that he has such power, he doesn't mind giving it a push from behind the scenes.

He cleared his throat and began to speak:

"I appreciate your kindness. Actually, I don't need you to share your cultivation resources. I just hope that you can help the Great Yin Dynasty defeat the northern barbarians."

Sun Fuli immediately agreed:

"That's easy. The Four Seas Merchant Guild has many trading channels in the Northern Territory, including the transportation of grain and weapons, as well as intelligence gathering within the barbarian tribes. I can get the guild to fully cooperate with us. We can take this opportunity to settle the accounts for the weapons we sold to the barbarians."

Xu Baiheng hesitated for a moment, then spoke softly:

"Although Dongning is a small country, it is mountainous and rich in fine iron. I can ask my father to arrange for a batch of high-quality black iron to be used to forge weapons and armor, which will be provided free of charge to support the front lines of Dayin."

Among the group, Xiang Yunyuan was the most forthright; he patted his chest and said:

"Brother Zhao and I have known each other for so many years, what is this little matter? The Azure Scale Iron Cavalry of Western Chu is famous throughout the seven kingdoms. After I return, I will personally write to my father and he will be able to mobilize at least 100,000 troops to march south and lend a helping hand to the Great Yin."

Several people were taken aback by such a large-scale gesture.

With the addition of auxiliary troops, servants, and so on, this could easily be an army of four to five hundred thousand, equivalent to half of the military strength of the Great Yin Dynasty, enough to destroy a small country, which is extremely terrifying.

Zhao Cheng'an nodded slightly and clasped his hands in a fist salute to Xiang Yunyuan.

"Then thank you very much, Brother Xiang."

In the end, only Chen Heng remained standing in place.

After all, her background was the most ordinary among everyone else, and her family couldn't provide any support.

Chen Heng and Zhao Cheng'an exchanged glances, and after a moment's thought, Chen Heng spoke:

"My family is merely of ordinary civil officials, and we don't have much to offer. However, I do have some experience in swordsmanship and combat. If Young Master Zhao doesn't mind, I can spar with you in exchange."

"If you're unwilling, then pretend I didn't say anything."

Zhao Cheng'an recalled that Shen Yanshan had once told him that Chen Heng was also a genius, but his specialties lay in combat and cultivation.

Combat between cultivators is also a very important part of the Dao Court's assessment.

Zhao Chengan smiled and nodded.

"Of course I'm willing, then it's settled."

The two reached a deal.

……

……

Meanwhile, millions of miles away.

East Sea Region, Qingmu Academy.

The entire Taoist temple was built high in the clouds, its existence only becoming apparent from a distance. The entire sea of ​​clouds was actually growing from the canopy of a gigantic tree, which covered an area of ​​hundreds of thousands of square kilometers, a truly magnificent sight.

Like the World Tree in mythology, it fully demonstrates the powerful foundation of a first-class lineage.

In a pavilion on the east side of the Taoist temple, the temple's flagship publication, "Changqing Lingpu," is enshrined. This is the daily office of the editors responsible for reviewing the publication.

"Coo coo coo!"

The sound of pigeons was coming from somewhere.

In the courtyard in the middle of the attic, a dark shadow rapidly enlarged, and a plump pigeon crashed down from above, its eyes dangling like mosquito coils, unable to get up for a long time.

"You little pigeon, you've gotten so fatter in the months I haven't seen you!"

A middle-aged cultivator in a blue robe smiled, patted the spirit pigeon's head, casually fed it a pill, and then took the wooden box hanging around the spirit pigeon's neck.

This middle-aged cultivator was named Lin Tan. He was a senior editor of the "Changqing Spiritual Manual" of the Qingmu Dao Academy and was also a late-stage cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Refining.

Open the box and take out the articles inside.

Lin Tan glanced at the title, affiliation, and author's name, and couldn't help but shake her head and chuckle.

"Wow, this manuscript was actually submitted from the Imperial Academy of the Seven Kingdoms? And it's on such a popular topic as the improvement of spirit rice. Young people these days always dream of instant success, but there are no shortcuts on the path of cultivation."

Lin Tan felt a bit dismissive, but adhering to her professional attitude as an editor, she still carefully looked through the contents.

Upon seeing the summary above, Lin Tan's disdainful expression softened somewhat.

When he saw the experimental process and the new rune structure, his face became even more serious.

After spending half an hour quickly skimming through the entire article and confirming that the key data was correct and that there was a high probability of reproducibility, Lin Tan stood up from his chair and hurriedly walked towards a room deep inside the Taoist temple.

They encountered another young monk on the way.

The young cultivator asked jokingly, "Senior brother, why are you walking so fast? Did something urgent happen?"

Lin Tan said without turning his head, "I just received a manuscript from the Imperial Academy of the Seven Kingdoms. Some of the contents are quite good and need to be reviewed by Master personally."

He then hurriedly left, leaving the young cultivator alone on the spot.

If he remembered correctly, Lin Tan's master was the Spirit Plant Elder of the Azure Wood Academy, True Person Qingyan, a genuine Foundation Establishment cultivator. In these people's eyes, the Imperial Academy was just preschool; how were the two connected?

The young cultivator stared dumbfounded at Lin Tan's hurried departing figure, and couldn't help but think to himself:

"Could it be that Senior Brother Lin Tan has gone mad from the pressure of meeting his targets lately?"

"Alas! I must take this as a warning and prepare more Dao Heart Pills!"