Chapter Seventy-Nine: One Thousand Spirit Stones (5/5)

A Spirit Gathering Array.

When operating at full capacity, it could, within two years, transform the area of two and a half acres it covered into spirit fields.

At the same time, due to the array's limited range, the concentration of spiritual energy was exceedingly rich.

Therefore, as long as the coverage area remained unchanged, even if He Song no longer came here daily to cast the Spirit Rain Technique to temporarily boost the spiritual energy, the spirit rice planted here would still thrive.

This was the advantage brought by high spiritual energy concentration.

The spirit fields of the Immortal Workshop barely maintained enough spiritual energy to prevent degeneration.

Consequently, the spirit rice grown in those fields required a spirit cultivator to tend them, casting the Spirit Rain Technique every day to temporarily increase the field's spiritual energy for the rice’s growth.

For the Immortal Workshop, the spiritual energy gathered by the arrays would surely be prioritized for Foundation Establishment masters, followed by late-stage Qi Refining cultivators and places like the spiritual herb gardens that required denser energy.

Only after that would mid-stage and early-stage Qi Refining cultivators receive a share.

And finally, the spirit fields.

It could be said that, within the Immortal Workshop, the spirit fields received the lowest concentration of spiritual energy.

Of course, the Workshop could arrange a Spirit Gathering Array for every two and a half acres of field as He Song did.

But the cost would be astronomical.

The Workshop’s Spirit Gathering Arrays were not as modest as the ones He Song set up, which could operate at full speed for only five spirit stones per year.

Their arrays were of a higher grade, gathering vastly more spiritual energy than beginner-level arrays like He Song’s.

Naturally, the energy consumption was doubtless immense.

By He Song’s estimation, increasing the spiritual energy in the fields would be far costlier than hiring spirit cultivators to cast rain techniques daily.

Otherwise, given the Workshop’s stingy nature, they would have switched methods long ago, and there would be no need to hire spirit cultivators to tend the fields.

Once he understood this, He Song pondered for a moment, then promptly set up three more Spirit Gathering Arrays in the valley.

Ten days prior, He Song had installed a single array here. Now, with three more, there were four in total.

The four Spirit Gathering Arrays together covered a full ten acres.

Ten acres of fields.

In two years, all this land would be transformed into spirit fields.

Ten acres of spirit fields could yield a thousand catties of spirit rice per acre each year—a total of ten thousand catties.

At the rate of one spirit stone per ten catties, this meant ten thousand catties would fetch a thousand spirit stones.

A thousand spirit stones!

Subtracting the yearly operating cost of the four Spirit Gathering Arrays, the Concealment Array, and the Five Elements Array, he could still net over nine hundred spirit stones.

Running the numbers in his mind, a flash of joy appeared in He Song’s eyes.

A thousand spirit stones.

By his current annual stipend, it would take him about ten years to accumulate that amount.

But now? If he waited just two years until he could lay down the Five Elements Array and start planting spirit rice, his annual income would be one thousand spirit stones!

At that point, he’d make in a year what now took him ten years to earn.

And if he went elsewhere to open a few more spirit fields like this… an annual income of several thousand spirit stones was within reach.

When that day came, with thousands of spirit stones a year, he could easily afford even the coveted Foundation Establishment Pills that so many cultivators fought over.

But for now—

He Song soon composed himself, forcing his excitement to settle.

It was still too early.

All of this would have to wait until two years later, when he could arrange the Five Elements Array and finally realize his plans.

At present, he was just a fifth-layer Qi Refining cultivator, earning just over a hundred spirit stones a year—a minor figure.

There was no use getting ahead of himself.

Better to calm his mind and focus on comprehending the Five Elements Array.

When the time was right, he could proceed with the next step.

Casting his gaze around, He Song saw the four arrays already in operation, fine threads of spiritual energy forcibly confined within their boundaries and seeping into the dark soil.

Upon seeing this, He Song frowned.

The valley was still lush and green.

Having not known beforehand how much land the four arrays would cover, he hadn’t cleared the fields in advance.

But now that the area was determined, it was time to open up the ten acres.

Acting on the thought, He Song used the Object Manipulation Technique to swiftly turn over a great swath of grass, revealing the dark earth beneath.

Dark earth signified fertile land, ideal for planting spirit fields.

After a while, expending spiritual power with the Object Manipulation Technique, He Song finally cleared the ten acres covered by the arrays.

Now,

Where once there was a grassy valley, a ten-acre field spread out, surrounded by verdant grass.

Seeing this, He Song nodded with satisfaction.

Next,

All that remained was to wait. In two years, when these ten acres were fully transformed into spirit fields and he had mastered the Five Elements Array, he could finally begin planting spirit rice here.

When that time came,

He would no longer worry about spirit stones.

Gone would be the days of counting every coin, wishing he could split his last spirit stone in two.

After placing enough spirit stones into the five arrays in the valley to keep them running for a year, He Song’s figure slipped underground, swiftly making his way back to Bamboo Mountain Immortal Workshop.

This place was several hundred miles from Bamboo Mountain Immortal Workshop.

He Song memorized the route and left marks so he could return the following year to replenish the spirit stones for the five arrays.

That very day, he returned to Bamboo Mountain Immortal Workshop.

He also reclaimed the responsibility of managing the herb garden from Wei Fan.

No one but He Song himself noticed his absence from the Workshop; not even Wei Fan or the others in the herb garden, who only knew that He Song had been in seclusion cultivating for several days.

Nothing more.

His departure from the Workshop had been as silent as a shadow.

Since his trip to the mortal city and the opening of ten acres’ worth of spirit fields hundreds of miles away, life for He Song returned to quiet routine.

By day, he stood watch in the herb garden, using its rich spiritual energy to improve his cultivation.

By night, he returned home to study the Five Elements Array, striving to master it as soon as possible.

Yet although he toiled over the basics of array techniques, He Song’s ambitions drifted toward other crafts as well—

Talisman crafting, pill refining, artifact forging, beast taming...

After some thought, he decided to learn one of these money-making arts.

Not for any other reason but to “cleanse” spirit stones.

Yes—spirit stones, too, needed cleansing.

But not in the literal sense of washing them with water.

Rather—