’I have to perform Spirit Awakening on tens of thousands of them in a year?’

’If I really grind myself to the bone, I could probably pull it off, right? I think so? But that’s even more ridiculous than making tens of thousands of Spirit Nurturing Beads. You’d have to be insane to do that. It’s a death wish. Even being a reincarnated old monster wouldn’t save me.’ 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

’A person capable of that could only be a High-Tier Spirit Nurturer, but they belong to the Spirit Nurturing Holy Land. If one of them really did reincarnate, why be so secretive? Why come to the Celestial Spirit Sect to lay low and develop?’

’Among the current Three Great Holy Lands, while the Spirit Nurturing Holy Land is the youngest, Spirit Mountain is the one bringing up the rear.’

Gan Zili looked startled for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile. "My apologies, I didn’t explain clearly, leading to a misunderstanding, Junior Brother.

"The Spiritual Wisdom of a Flower Demon Elf is not easily born. It requires the Flower Sea to be extremely pure, so they are often cultivated in Secret Realms to prevent contamination.

"Even so, the rate of normal, spontaneous Spirit Awakening doesn’t exceed a quarter.

"And because the Cyan Wood Secret Realm was contaminated, although this batch of the Flower Sea has been nurtured for several hundred years, the results are expected to be poor.

"So the Sect wants us to help them achieve Spirit Awakening as much as possible.

"The minimum requirement is one hundred, which comes down to twenty-five each.

"So, you’re not required to perform Spirit Awakening on every single Flower Wood, Junior Brother. Instead, you should select some with ample Spirituality—those most likely to develop Spiritual Wisdom—and use your Spirit Nurturing Technique to help them achieve it.

"To put it plainly, we just need to go into this so-called ’stillborn’ Flower Sea, each pick twenty-something strong ones, and bring them to life.

"Spread out over a year, this task isn’t arduous. It just involves a larger element of luck.

"After all, we are all Secret Level Spirit Nurturers, still at the stage of performing Spirit Awakening for Demon Beasts. Plant Spirit Awakening is something for the Law Level.

"However, Flower Demon Flower Wood, even the ’stillborn’ ones, aren’t considered entirely plants, so it’s not too difficult a task."

Hearing this, Zhang Deming nodded. He now understood the reason.

Gan Zili added, "The Flower Sea has already been sealed off. You know the location, Junior Brother, so you can go in to nurture them whenever you wish.

"There are no other mission orders assigned for this year, so you are completely free to arrange your own schedule for the nurturing and Spirit Awakening.

"With that said, is there anything else you don’t understand, Junior Brother?"

Zhang Deming shook his head. "No."

Gan Zili then gave a few more instructions before announcing that their discussion was concluded.

Zhang Deming stood up, left, and walked to the edge of the waterfall, leaping straight off.

The Light Wings on his back vibrated, and Zhang Deming flew back to the Flying Spring Waterfall Tower.

The three of them watched Zhang Deming’s departing figure. Gan Zili frowned slightly and said, "There are only a handful of Tier Three Spirit Nurturers with Mastery who haven’t sold themselves to the Spirit Nurturing Holy Land.

"And of those who don’t belong to any power, I haven’t heard of any being forced to reincarnate.

"Senior Brother, should we investigate?"

Yue Mengsheng shook his head. "There’s no need. With a Spirit Nurturing Technique like that, he has no reason to come to our Sect to scheme anything.

"If he made a name for himself, which of the Four-Nine Upper Sects wouldn’t be scrambling to recruit him?

"Even if he went to the Spirit Nurturing Holy Land, as long as he was willing to sign a bit of a binding contract, he could secure a decent position.

"Add to that the fact that he’s clearly living in seclusion and avoiding the Spirit Mountain Holy Land, we can be almost certain he has no significant background. Regardless of his previous identity, there’s no need to investigate.

"He was originally a Loose Cultivator, not someone nurtured by a sect, so he has no deep emotional ties.

"If you investigate and aren’t discovered, fine. But if you are, you might alienate him. He could even leave for another sect. Since that’s the case, why bother!"

Gan Zili nodded. "Alright. I just thought that someone with such a Spirit Nurturing Technique couldn’t possibly be a nobody."

·········

Starting the next day, Zhang Deming continued to diligently idle, simultaneously cramming all sorts of general knowledge and information about the Celestial Spirit Sect.

For nearly half a month, Zhang Deming didn’t go to the Flower Sea. He spent the entire time idling and absorbing knowledge.

After a period of idling with Spirit Crystals in his Three-Star High-Grade Cave Mansion, Zhang Deming felt that he was on the verge of a breakthrough for his Tai Chi One Life.

On this day, Zhang Deming didn’t go to the information office. Instead, he stayed obediently in the Cultivation Room of the Flying Spring Waterfall Tower, peacefully idling.

When noon arrived, Zhang Deming’s expression flickered, and the script panel appeared before his eyes.

Cultivation Technique: Turtle Water Defense Array Skill (Tier Five)

Cultivation: Tai Chi Lv1 (300,000/300,000)

Skills: Spirit Nurturing Summoning Skill Lv3 (0/50), Jade Demon Blood-Sucking Vine Lv3 (0/50), Enhancement Skill Lv3 (0/500), Oratory Word Spirit Lv2 (0/10), Hidden Breath Technique Lv2 (0/10)

Spiritual Power Recovery: 100 Spiritual Power / 3 minutes

Experience Growth: 10 Experience / 3 minutes

’Initially, for my Tai Chi One Life breakthrough, I planned to choose the Jade Demon Blood-Sucking Vine as my Skill Tree’s branch rune. That’s why I fused it with the Summoning-class Flower Demon Vine Technique.’

’But after my Enhancement Skill reached Tier Three, I changed my mind.’

’This was because when the Spirit Nurturing Summoning Skill was my Rune Core, the Magic Enhancement gained from advancing simply increased its level.’

’Only the fusion of multiple techniques actually strengthens a skill’s foundation.’

’So, if condensing the branch rune for the Tai Chi One Life breakthrough worked the same way, choosing Enhancement Skill would obviously be better.’

After a moment of hesitation, Zhang Deming took a deep breath and finally made his decision.

The rune for the Spirit Nurturing Summoning Skill appeared between his eyebrows. Zhang Deming opened his mouth, and a glowing ball of runes for the Enhancement Skill was spat out.

Immediately, Spiritual Power surged through his body, rushing towards the Enhancement Skill’s Rune Ball.

Because it was a Mastery Rune Ball, and was also currently active, this minor stage breakthrough should have been somewhat difficult. For Zhang Deming, however, it seemed exceptionally simple.

The Rune Ball trembled a few times before shattering completely.

It transformed into a special ’+’ shaped rune in front of him and once again imprinted itself between his eyebrows.

The Spirit Nurturing Master rune between his eyebrows began to rapidly complete itself. A white ball of light slowly rose above Zhang Deming’s head, spinning gently.

When the transformation of the Rune Core between his eyebrows was complete, the ball of light above his head also finished forming.

At that moment, Zhang Deming’s whole body shuddered. The Spiritual Power in his Dantian flowed back into his body, disappearing into his flesh.

When his Dantian was completely empty, after his body had absorbed all the Spiritual Power, a new wisp of Spiritual Power was born from within.

With this wisp of Spiritual Power, Zhang Deming’s aura began to grow rapidly.

In an instant, he broke through Tai Chi One Life and reached the Tai Chi Second Life stage.

A not-so-large wave of Spiritual Power Sea Absorption swept out from the Cultivation Room. Because it was a Three-Star High-Grade Spirit Vein, it could barely satisfy even a Three Talents Cultivator, let alone a Tai Chi Cultivator.

Therefore, the disturbance wasn’t significant. There was only a slight fluctuation, and the absorption reached saturation before it could even spread beyond the Flying Spring Waterfall Tower’s Array Space.

On the entire Spirit Nurturing Peak, only Yang Guangfu of Guardian Cliff frowned slightly. He stepped out of his room and looked towards the Flying Spring Waterfall Tower.

Under the gaze of his spiritual eyes, he saw the swirling Spiritual Power within the tower.

’What is this?’

’A breakthrough?’

’The disturbance is too small. How seamless must the breakthrough be, and how perfect the rune, to require such a small amount of supplemental Spiritual Power?’

’Or is Senior Brother Zhang refining something?’

Yang Guangfu watched as the spiritual vortex slowly shrank. He hesitated for a moment but ultimately chose not to enter, returning to his room to continue his cultivation.

···········

After completing his breakthrough, Zhang Deming felt his script running rapidly, his empty Dantian quickly filling up. He paid it no further mind.

Looking at the script’s information, Zhang Deming’s face lit up with joy.

········

Skills: Enhancement Skill Lv3 (50/500), Spirit Nurturing Summoning Skill Lv3 (5/50)

········

’As expected, the enhancement to a skill from advancing isn’t a fundamental improvement, but a level-based one.’

’I encountered this once before with the Spirit Nurturing Technique, and this advancement has confirmed it.’

’Good thing I chose the Enhancement Skill. If I had picked the Jade Demon Blood-Sucking Vine first, it would have been impossible to gain fifty points of skill experience.’

’After all, that would have been equivalent to a full upgrade. A breakthrough for the Tai Chi One Life stage couldn’t possibly have such an exaggerated effect.’

’But now, my advancement has essentially earned me fifty points of Qi Fortune, a bountiful harvest indeed.’