White Jade Rice

Apart from the spiritual grain seeds, Shi Yu detoured down a small alley to buy food for the next few days along with some ordinary vegetable seeds.

Her already meager silver shrank considerably. Shi Yu took these items back to her small courtyard, stored the food inside the Yin-Yang Fate-Tapping Bell, and then looked at the vacant patch of ground in the yard.

Her buying these spiritual grain seeds was precisely to test other uses of the Life Spring water.

In her past life, Shi Yu had been a pampered young lady accustomed to luxury, and in this life she was an imperial princess, completely ignorant of farming. Relying solely on intuition, she pulled up the weeds on the open plot, opened the small jade casket, took out the small handful of seeds inside, and scattered them as evenly as possible onto the soil.

Had cultivators who specialized in growing spiritual grain witnessed her actions, they would surely have beat their breasts in distress, cursing her for wasting precious treasures.

Logically speaking, growing spiritual grain shared similarities with farming mortal rice. Setting aside gathering spiritual energy to nourish the field, one still needed to plow and turn the soil first, carefully nurture the seedlings, and then transplant them.

Who would simply scatter seeds directly onto the ground like this? Moreover, this land lacked even a trace of spiritual energy—it was not a spiritual field at all. How could it grow spiritual grain?

Shi Yu knew none of this. Lowering her gaze, she inspected the seeds on the ground and scattered a few vegetable seeds around the edges as well.

Rising to her feet, she drew half a bucket of water from the courtyard well. Then she pulled out her gourd containing diluted Life Spring water, unplugged it, and poured a small amount into the bucket.

The water in the gourd was already diluted Life Spring water, and now in the bucket, it was diluted even further.

Yet even so, the water in the bucket still faintly revealed something extraordinary. The Life Spring water was a rich, milky white, and now this half-bucket of water was no longer crystal clear, exhibiting a subtle milky sheen as though spiritual energy were flowing through it.

Using a ladle, Shi Yu scooped up the water and watered the small patch of land back and forth twice.

By the time the bucket was empty, her clothes were soaked with sweat.

After tidying up, Shi Yu ignored the small plot of land for now and returned to her room to cultivate the Yin-Yang Fate-Tapping Record.

Previously in the Mortal Realm, spiritual energy had been extremely sparse. She had been unable to even enter the threshold of cultivation, unable to feel anything inside her body.

Now that she was in the Origin Realm, spiritual energy was far more abundant than before. Furthermore, her spiritual meridian was gradually forming. Although it was merely a Low-grade One-fraction Spiritual Meridian, it was ultimately the key to unlocking the door to cultivation. Sitting in meditation and circulating her cultivation technique now, she felt a weak current of air enter through her crown, pulling in the surrounding spiritual energy with every breath.

She continuously circulated her technique, striving to absorb the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth, compressing it and sending it to gather in her dantian.

Unfortunately, limited by her spiritual meridian's aptitude, this Low-grade One-fraction Spiritual Meridian behaved like an old man on his deathbed—extremely sluggish and stiff when absorbing or converting spiritual energy.

In her past life, Shi Yu had been told she would not live past twenty, yet she had never slacked off in living her life. Whether it was studying or mastering skills, she had pursued everything earnestly, never once wallowing in self-pity or endless lamentation because her time was short.

This mindset and patience allowed her to face her current snail-paced cultivation speed without feeling disheartened.

As long as there was progress, no matter how minute, as long as it was in a forward direction, it was enough. Poor aptitude and weak constitution simply meant she had to try her absolute best.

Cultivation was a long road to immortality, not something achieved in a single day. Doing what needed to be done was enough; overthinking the rest served no purpose.

Practicing her meditation and circulating her technique in this manner, the night passed imperceptibly.

Early the next morning, Shi Yu opened her eyes. After cultivating all night, she felt no fatigue at all; instead, her mind was clear, her spirits refreshed, and her heavy, broken body felt much more active.

Sinking her divine sense into her dantian, she could see that after a night of cultivation and conversion, a thin strand of innate true Qi had settled within it.

Once this strand of innate true Qi nurtured a yellow sprout and established a Dao Foundation, she would truly be considered to have crossed the threshold of cultivation. She wondered how long that would take.

She got up, washed herself, and stepped out into the courtyard. When she saw the state of the plot, she froze slightly.

The vegetable seeds planted at the edge had sprouted and matured in just a single night! Each plant had vibrant, lush green leaves, looking crisp and juicy with a remarkably fresh aroma.

These vegetable seeds were just ordinary seeds, not spiritual vegetable seeds, yet after being watered with diluted Life Spring water, they had grown so remarkably well.

Though still far from being spiritual vegetables, they were already sweeter and more delicious than vegetables grown in ordinary farm fields.

“If I dilute the water less, could ordinary vegetable seeds grow into spiritual vegetables?” Shi Yu could not help wondering.

Looking at the White Jade Rice seeds, they grew much slower compared to ordinary mortal vegetables, having only just sprouted. The tiny hint of green emerging from the tips of the sprouts was delightfully charming, crystal-clear and enticing like jade.

“If my cultivation fails to make progress and I can't earn a living making artifacts, pills, arrays, or talismans, maybe I can rely on farming?” Shi Yu chuckled quietly to herself.

After all, three pounds of White Jade Rice cost a hundred taels of silver. Once this batch of spiritual grain matured, it would yield at least ten pounds or so.

But that was just a fleeting thought, a backup plan in case worse came to worst.

The Life Spring water was precious, generating only one drop every half-month, and she needed it to repair her vitality. Cultivation was her greatest reliance in this world. Without cultivation, she couldn't even protect herself in the Origin Realm where the strong preyed on the weak, let alone return to seek revenge.

Sparing a small portion of Life Spring water to grow spiritual rice was the absolute limit; anything more would be a waste. Furthermore, what she grew was meant for her own consumption; selling it would not be worth it.

She couldn't lose sight of what truly mattered for minor gains.

Moreover, since the Life Spring water was effective on spiritual grain, it would naturally work on other spiritual plants as well. In the future, using it to cultivate rare flowers, exotic grasses, and precious medicinal herbs would likely promote their growth and enhance their medicinal properties.

All in all, the benefits were vast; the only shortcoming was that there wasn't enough water.

She still needed to cultivate diligently to further refine the Yin-Yang Fate-Tapping Bell as soon as possible, hoping to generate more spring water.

Gaining a new understanding of the Life Spring water put Shi Yu in a good mood. She picked a few heads of the newly grown vegetables and cooked a pot of vegetable porridge for breakfast.

The vegetables watered with Life Spring water were crisp, sweet, and exceptionally delicious.

Once the White Jade Rice matures, I'll be able to cook meals using spiritual grain, she thought with anticipation.

After eating, Shi Yu pondered briefly and looked toward the other spring.

Inside the Yin-Yang Fate-Tapping Bell, the perfectly round plot of land was bisected by a stream of water into two fish-shaped halves. Each side held a spring outlet, forming the shape of a Taiji diagram.

One spring outlet was white—the Life Spring she had experienced deeply. The other was black, which she named the Slaughter Spring, though she had yet to understand it.

Over the past month, two surplus drops of water had accumulated in the Life Spring for her use, and the same was true for the Slaughter Spring, which had two extra drops stored.

However, the piercing, lethal aura emanating from the Slaughter Spring was far too intense, filling one with awe and dread. Simply bringing her consciousness near it made Shi Yu feel a faint stinging, tearing sensation, making it impossible to draw out for now.

Unable to draw it out, she could only speculate about its functions.

The Yin-Yang Fate-Tapping Bell was a supreme treasure. Just like the Life Spring, the Slaughter Spring water undoubtedly had its own wondrous uses.

“It has such a rich killing intent... could it be used for artifact refining? If I try adding a drop or two when forging weapons, maybe it'll yield a pleasant surprise?” Shi Yu thought, her eyes brightening.

Furthermore, if such a sharp and lethal aura could be used for artifact refining, logically it could also be used for tempering—tempering spiritual materials, tempering the physical body, or even... tempering the divine soul.

None of this could be verified at the moment, but Shi Yu had a vague feeling that her hunch was correct.

Fortunately, the Slaughter Spring water also generated a single drop every half-month. Accumulating in the spring outlet without being drawn out would not diminish it, so keeping it stored for later use would certainly not be a waste.