63: Chapter 63 Soaring Realm

"Holy crap."

Zhao Mo's mana only protected his hands. The knife he reached toward the honey was just an ordinary blade, devoid of any mana attachment.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

In an instant, only the handle remained in Zhao Mo's hand; the blade had been completely devoured by the White Jade Bees outside.

"Dammit."

With his explosive temper, Zhao Mo tossed the handle aside and reached out to snap the honeycombs off with his bare hands.

He didn't look for a container for the broken pieces of honey; they simply vanished from his hands, stored directly into his Storage Ring.

Immersed in the harvest, Zhao Mo grew careless. His mana flow flickered, and with a miserable shriek, he received the same treatment as Ox Martial.

Even though he cast a Spell immediately, he had already been stung over a hundred times in that split second.

"This is such a loss; I'd already finished collecting the honey."

"How could I make such a rookie mistake?"

The combination of itching and pain was something even Zhao Mo, a Golden Core Immortal Master, couldn't withstand.

"I have to say, I could use these White Jade Bees to guard the house in the future."

Even with his face swollen like a pig's head, he was still thinking about this swarm of White Jade Bees.

"Hmm?"

"That Dead Ox... is it laughing?"

Zhao Mo secretly used his mana to bundle up a hundred or so White Jade Bees and tossed them into the ox shed.

"Laugh at your grandma's leg!"

A 'joyous' surprise descended upon Ox Martial from the heavens.

Followed by miserable moos of agony.

Zhao Mo's mood instantly brightened.

Inside the Leisurely Residence, Zhao Mo applied white jade honey to the welts on his body.

"Truly ferocious; even the defense of a Golden Core Immortal Master is useless."

...

Clink, clank.

The wind blew through the golden marrow fruits, producing a melodious sound.

As Zhao Mo plucked the golden marrow fruits, they vanished one by one, taken directly into his Storage Ring.

"This really is convenient."

"I was so stupid; last year I actually went and nailed wooden crates together. My head must have been in the clouds. I should have bought a Storage Ring ages ago."

Zhao Mo grumbled to himself, but his hands never stopped.

[You have completed the golden marrow fruit harvest. Experience +20.]

[Reward: After one hundred and seventy-eight days of meticulous care, your private spirit fields have yielded a bumper crop. Experience +2500.]

"Holy crap."

"An extra two thousand five hundred?"

This was truly an unexpected pleasant surprise.

Zhao Mo read through the System rewards several times before he noticed the difference from last year.

[Your private spirit fields.]

The word "private" had been added.

"Does this mean because it's my own spirit field, the experience points given are higher?"

Unfortunately, the System had always been cold and aloof, never replying to any of Zhao Mo's questions.

However, it was indisputable that the experience points were now in his hands.

"System."

[Farmer: Zhao Mo]

[Cultivation: Golden Core Second Layer (Upgrade available.)]

[Experience Points: 4080/1500]

[Reward: None.]

Because he hadn't upgraded his cultivation last time, Zhao Mo's current experience points had reached a terrifying four thousand and eighty.

"This—"

"If I don't enter Seclusion now, when will I?"

This was the first time since he started planting spirit fields that he had harvested something without having to pay land rent; it all belonged to him.

That sense of satisfaction could perhaps only be rivaled by the 4,080 experience points on the System panel.

The Formation around the Leisurely Residence rose,

And even the Formation of Tianfeng Valley was activated by Zhao Mo.

Of course, these were just ordinary Formations—the kind where you buy a Formation disk, insert Spirit Stones, and it starts up.

Its primary function wasn't defense, but a warning—to warn outsiders that the master was in Seclusion.

It also warned the master if someone had arrived.

Inside the Leisurely Residence,

Zhao Mo's expression was calm.

"System, upgrade cultivation."

The numbers on the panel began to count down rapidly.

A massive amount of mana appeared out of thin air within Zhao Mo's body.

"Huh, strange. Doesn't it usually provide Spiritual Qi directly?"

"Why is it so direct this time?"

Zhao Mo was a bit puzzled, but he was soon overwhelmed by the sheer volume of mana filling him.

He could only focus intently on circulating the mana according to the mnemonic of the Five Elements Art.

The Golden Core within his Dantian began to flicker, as if it were about to move.

And so, Zhao Mo entered Seclusion.

Meanwhile, the Spiritual Plant Peak and Artifact Refining Peak of the Xuan Sect went completely wild.

The ten thousand acres of golden marrow fruits were harvested, with an average yield of over three hundred pounds per acre, giving the Xuan Sect three million pounds of golden marrow fruit directly.

"Good, good, good!"

"With such a large quantity of golden marrow fruit, refining three Spiritual Artifacts this year should be no problem," Cheng Xiao said happily, pulling Tong Weiping along.

Heaven knows how furious he had been at the Iron Sword Sect last year.

It was fine now; he would never have to go to that wretched Sect ever again.

He could even let the Iron Sword Sect taste the iron fist of the Xuan Sect. A tiny Sect actually thought they could manipulate the Xuan Sect?

Cheng Xiao felt the Iron Sword Sect had likely lost their minds.

"Come, come, you and I shall go to Tianfeng Valley. Such a grand event should be celebrated with Immortal Master Mo."

Cheng Xiao pulled Tong Weiping along, and together with over a dozen Nascent Soul True Lords who had come to Spiritual Plant Peak to deliver the good news, they rode the clouds toward Tianfeng Valley.

However, from a distance, they saw the Formation outside Tianfeng Valley, along with two conspicuous characters on the barrier: "Seclusion."

"This Immortal Master Mo, he really is..."

For a moment, Cheng Xiao didn't know how to describe Zhao Mo.

Instead, Tong Weiping burst into laughter.

"Perhaps only an unconventional person like Junior Brother Zhao can constantly provide people with surprises."

"Since Junior Brother Zhao is in Seclusion, we won't disturb him. Let's all go to Spiritual Plant Peak; today, we won't return until we're drunk."

...

"How is this possible?"

Liu Yaogu sat dazed atop piles of golden marrow fruits. A year had passed, and the dust had now settled.

The Xuan Sect had truly succeeded in growing golden marrow fruits.

This meant that all the golden marrow fruits he had bought were now stuck in his hands.

"Zhao Mo..."

Liu Yaogu ground his teeth.

"I'm going to kill you."

The moment the thought occurred, he felt the air turn cold, and a bone-chillingly eerie sensation swept over him.

"Heh, what bullshit Xuan Sect rules—high-Realm Cultivators can't attack those of a lower Realm. Dammit, once my Liu Clan Ancestor makes a Breakthrough, the first thing he'll do is abolish this shitty rule."

After struggling for a long while, Liu Yaogu ultimately lacked the resolve to follow through. As the killing intent in his heart dissipated, the chilling aura vanished as well.

"Which Yin Spirit is it exactly?"

"Don't they know my Liu Clan also has Yin Spirits enfeoffed by the Xuan Sect?"

"Men, prepare offerings. I wish to sacrifice to the Liu Clan Ancestors."

...

Tianfeng Valley, Leisurely Residence.

Zhao Mo didn't know how long he had been cultivating; he only knew to keep circulating the mana in his body, cycle after cycle, with no intention of stopping.

The Golden Core in his Dantian also flickered in rhythm with the mana circulation, constantly absorbing and releasing mana to strengthen itself.

Phew—"

"Golden Core Third Layer."

Zhao Mo let out a long breath.

Next was the first minor hurdle of the Golden Core Stage: breaking through from the Golden Core Third Layer to the Golden Core Fourth Layer, commonly known as the 'three-to-four' jump.

"System."

[Farmer: Zhao Mo]

[Cultivation: Golden Core Third Layer (Upgrade available.)]

[Experience Points: 2580/2000]

[Reward: None.]

"To break through from the Golden Core Third Layer to the Fourth Layer, the cost actually increased by five hundred experience points?"

The amount the experience points increased this time was beyond Zhao Mo's expectations; he had thought it would continue to increase by three hundred at a time.

But on second thought, it was normal. After all, his cultivation was now at the Golden Core Third Layer. For an ordinary Cultivator at this Realm, if they didn't polish themselves for several decades, breaking through would be as difficult as reaching the heavens.

And for him, Zhao Mo, it was just an extra five hundred experience points—what was there to complain about?

Once he made sense of it, Zhao Mo slowly calmed down.

"System, upgrade cultivation again."

Since he had enough experience points, he would continue to break through.