20: Soil loss

Seventeenth Uncle-Grandfather watched Chen Jianshen's departing back, his slightly hunched figure appearing even more frail in the wind.

He smiled wryly, shook his head, and turned to Chen Jiancang and Chen Jianyun, saying, "You two, don't take his words to heart."

"This child, I placed great hopes on him, and his temperament has become a bit spoiled."

Chen Jiancang shrugged helplessly.

Chen Jianshen had a three-spirit root talent, and at just fifteen years old, he had already reached the Qi Refining Fifth Level cultivation.

He was even valued by the Law Enforcement Hall and had become a member of the Law Enforcement Hall, truly possessing the capital to be arrogant.

However, Chen Jiancang wasn't envious at all.

The path of cultivation, although relying on struggle and acquisition.

Resources in the cultivation world are limited.

If one lacks ambition, falling behind one step means falling behind every step.

But gaining recognition for status through such comparisons was something Chen Jiancang did not agree with.

Although the Law Enforcement Hall was primarily responsible for the Chen Family's external combat affairs, a good divine weapon was a manifestation of combat power.

However, Chen Jiancang, being at the Qi Refining Fifth Level, would at most be assigned patrol duties in the various Markets.

It was impossible for him to be assigned tasks like apprehending external criminals, so Magical Artifacts were optional at this stage.

The two mu of Spirit Field rented by Seventeenth Uncle-Grandfather yielded an annual income of only one hundred eighty spiritual stones, while the price of a Magical Artifact spiritual sword was at least over 100 spiritual stones.

This also had to cover the consumption of pills for Chen Jianshen's daily cultivation.

By the end of the year, the surplus of spiritual stones was limited, so where would the extra spiritual stones come from to buy him a Magical Artifact?

Chen Jianshen did not engage in the affairs of spiritual farmers, so he didn't know the hardships involved and thought he could have whatever he wanted.

"Alas, Seventeenth Uncle-Grandfather," Chen Jiancang sighed softly, his eyes full of concern, "You work so hard for Junior Brother Chen Jianshen, yet he is completely unaware of your hardships."

Seventeenth Uncle-Grandfather waved his hand, his expression weary yet tinged with helplessness: "Let it be, let it be.

He is still young.

When he experiences some hardships later, perhaps he will understand that life is not easy."

"Fortunately, the qinghe rice is growing well this year.

Maybe we can harvest a bit more this year.

By then, together with his father, we should be able to buy a Magical Artifact."

Seeing that Seventeenth Uncle-Grandfather already had a plan in mind, Chen Jiancang said no more.

Their qinghe rice still used the previous planting method.

The new cultivation method hadn't been widely promoted yet, so even if it grew well, how much could the yield increase?

Chen Jiancang had originally planned to tell Seventeenth Uncle-Grandfather about his purchase of the Spirit Field, but seeing the situation today, he temporarily abandoned the idea.

"It's better to wait for someone from the Spirit Field Management Office to notify him."

The qinghe rice still needed half a month to ripen, so Chen Jiancang couldn't do anything even if he was anxious.

"Yun Mei, let's part ways here today."

Chen Jiancang had finished the farming tasks for the qinghe rice Spirit Field.

He still needed to go and tend to the spiritual herbs in Plot 30 Spiritual Field.

"Cang-ge, see you tomorrow then."

Chen Jianyun bowed and saluted, then turned and left.

Chen Jiancang arrived at Plot 30 Spiritual Field and inspected the growth status of the spiritual plants and herbs.

"Now, the Lueling Grass seeds can plant about three mu.

Once Seventeenth Uncle-Grandfather finishes harvesting, I can start arranging the array for planting."

Chen Jiancang picked up a hoe and began turning over the field, digging out the Lueling Grass roots one by one and turning over the soil of the Spirit Field again.

"Hmm~"

While turning the soil, Chen Jiancang discovered something unusual.

The originally black and moist high-grade spiritual soil had now turned gray and dry.

He knew that planting Lueling Grass depleted the soil's fertility, but he thought the cultivation plan would solve this problem.

"I wonder if it will affect the next crop?"

Chen Jiancang frowned slightly, a worried expression appearing on his face.

His current cultivation mainly relied on the rewards from harvesting the spiritual plants he planted.

If the drawback of Lueling Grass depleting the soil's fertility couldn't be resolved, then Lueling Grass, this excellent variety that matures every month, couldn't be continuously planted on a large scale.

Chen Jiancang had originally thought the cultivation plan would solve the drawback of Lueling Grass depleting the soil's fertility, but now it seemed the cultivation method only reduced the intensity of the depletion and did not completely solve it from the root.

With the problem of soil fertility depletion unresolved, Chen Jiancang didn't dare to rush into planting a new batch of Lueling Grass.

Chen Jiancang knew deeply that if he wanted the Spirit Field to sustainably grow Lueling Grass, he must find a way to improve the soil fertility as soon as possible.

Chen Jiancang was a bit anxious but had no solution.

"I wonder if there's a way to improve the soil fertility?"

He originally planned to start with the Chen Family's Spirit Plant Hall.

After all, the Chen Family had been specializing in farming for hundreds of years and should have records of methods to solve soil barrenness.

However, the Spirit Plant Hall was located in the main lineage's territory, and going there alone was too far.

"I can only go to the Chen Family's library first and look."

The Chen Family's Xiao Yun Mountain library was located in the very center of the Chen Family residential area.

It was built entirely from spiritual rock boulders, covered in ancient runes and dense array patterns, considered an important place for the Chen Family.

The library had a total of three floors.

Each floor stored different categories of books, from Cultivation Techniques and spiritual plant cultivation to pill refining, covering everything.

However, with Chen Jiancang's authority, he could only enter the first floor.

Chen Jiancang quickly walked through the small paths in the residential area.

The surrounding clansmen cast curious glances.

After all, in the past year, Chen Jiancang had never visited the library except for farming.

But at this moment, his mind was completely occupied by the Spirit Field's problem, leaving him no time to pay attention.

When he stood before the library, the tall stone door was tightly shut, and two on-duty Chen Family Disciples blocked his path.

"Chen Jiancang, what brings you here today?" one of them asked.

Chen Jiancang quickly explained, "I encountered a problem in spiritual plant cultivation and came specifically to consult the classics to find a solution."

The two Disciples exchanged glances and stepped aside, letting him pass: "Remember to abide by the rules inside and don't damage the books."

Stepping into the library, a musty and heavy aura assailed him.

Chen Jiancang walked directly towards the Deacon Disciple responsible for registration.

After explaining his purpose, the Deacon handed him a spiritual brush and a record book, guiding him to the spiritual plant section on the first floor.

The bookshelves on the first floor were tall and dense.

Chen Jiancang searched along the aisles one by one.

His gaze swept over the ancient books one by one.

The variety of books was so numerous that it made his eyes blur.

Time passed second by second, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Compendium of Spiritual Plants": Systematically organizes various spiritual plants, from appearance and characteristics to growth environment.

It is a classic work for basic knowledge of spiritual plants.

"Illustrated Guide to Rare Spiritual Plants": Focuses on rare spiritual plants, includes exquisite hand-drawn illustrations, and records their unique features and identification methods.

"Essentials of Spiritual Plant Cultivation": Covers Cultivation Techniques for spiritual plants from sowing to harvesting, including special cultivation methods and precautions.

"Great Canon of Spiritual Plant Pharmacy": Elucidates the roles of spiritual plants in pills and spiritual healing.

It is an essential guide for Alchemists and healers.

"Analysis of the Relationship Between Spiritual Plants and Arrays": Explores the combination of spiritual plants and magic arrays, such as the influence of the Gathering Spirit Array on the growth of spiritual plants.

"Tracing the Origins of Ancient Spiritual Plants": Traces the origins and changes of ancient spiritual plants, uncovering the mysterious stories behind them.

"Record of Spiritual Plant Variation Research": Researches the phenomena and application value of spiritual plant variations caused by special environments.

"Mysteries of Spiritual Plant Transformation": Discusses the conditions and legends of some spiritual plants cultivating and transforming into human form, full of fantasy.

"Detailed Explanation of Spiritual Plant Feng Shui Layout": Explains how to arrange Spirit Fields according to Feng Shui principles to promote the growth of spiritual plants.

Suddenly, a book titled "Essentials of Spiritual Plant Soil Fertility Improvement" caught his eye.

Chen Jiancang took down the book and opened its pages.

It detailed various methods for improving soil fertility.

However, most of the methods were extremely costly for Chen Jiancang at present.

After careful consideration, Chen Jiancang selected two methods from it to try.

One was to use the power of arrays to improve soil fertility, named "Gathering Spirit Soil Cultivating Array".

If this array was set up in a Spirit Field, it could gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, slowly nourish the soil, and improve its fertility.

However, to successfully set up this array, several extremely rare Materials needed to be collected, including ice soul crystal that grows in extremely cold places, and green wood marrow that contains rich wood attribute.

Although they were occasionally sold in the Market, it would still require some effort to collect them all.

Another method was the secret technique for making spiritual fertilizer.

The book stated that by mixing specific spiritual plants, demon beast bones, and some rare Ores in proportion and refining them, a spiritual fertilizer called "Soil Nourishing Pill" could be produced, which could effectively improve the condition of barren soil.

Most of the Materials could be bought in the Chen Family Market, but only an Ore called purple crystal marrow was relatively rare.

Chen Jiancang felt as if he had found a treasure and carefully noted down the required Materials and refining steps.