Lingyu had just started his journey to immortality and yet met such a huge hurdle.
Fortunately, he was an expert in time management and reduced the time required for watering to 6 hours, opening 2 hours. These could be used to have a proper cultivation session, rather than just cultivating to fill his dantian with spiritual power and then continue working.
"The reason it's taxing on me is that I'm barely a second-grade Qi Refining cultivator. In the first year I entered the sect, I directly inherited an old vineyard and only needed to manage it a bit.
I was able to cultivate regularly with no issue, quickly advancing from the first to second grade.
In the second year I lost this privilege because my previous negligence had caused the plants to have issues. In the end, I spent half a year working full time, barely cultivating, so my cultivation didn't advance at all.
Additionally, these spells are so difficult on me because my understanding of them is too low. The comprehension levels of spells are five: Entry, Minor Accomplishment, Major Accomplishment, Perfection, and Great Perfection.
Entry means I can barely cast the spell by repeating every single step. Minor Accomplishment reduces many of these to only the main step. Major Accomplishment allows one to cast the spell with half a step or even less. Perfection is where one can cast the spell simply by thinking of it!
As for Great Perfection… it's when one can fully control the spell according to one's will!"
'With my talent, I should be able to achieve Minor Accomplishment fast, right?' he asked himself.
'No, I need to learn systematically. Learning this spell just like that… it's not systematic at all!
Then, what is the foundation for this spell?'
Lingyu went through all the knowledge he had been taught when he attended the sect school in the first year. It contained a lot of basic knowledge that could help him plant.
The teachers there taught several spells, most of which he had learned to the level of Entry.
'Among all of them, three are foundational spells that can be connected to Small Rain Cloud Spell – Spiritual Control, Wind Control, and Water Control.
The first is a general control spell of spiritual power, the second and third are self-explanatory.
In that case, to learn systematically, I need to have some knowledge in these three spells.
From then on, learning the Small Rain Cloud Spell should be rather easy.
Also, I don't believe that my talent is the only reason it would do better. If I can control water better, then I should naturally be able to cast the spell better.
In that case, it's 1+1 being more than 2, one is my talent, the other one is the natural order and the result is my expertise in casting the spell!'
Lingyu didn't waste his time anymore and returned to the hut.
It was time to cultivate!
Opening the door, he heard the creak but ignored it. Squeezing a bit, he got past the shelves and went to his futon.
Sitting down, he took deep breaths.
Inhale
Exhale
Inhale
Exhale
His mind entered a moment of quietness. The usual large traffic stopped.
Following the movement in his memories, he continued to breathe, taking a different rhythm.
Qi Refining cultivators couldn't absorb spiritual power directly, instead they did it by breathing it in with the air.
It entered their body and flowed down to the lower dantian.
Lingyu followed the rhythm and willed his spiritual power in his dantian, spreading a sound in the surroundings.
Like the call of a whale or bat, this spiritual power attracted the attention of specks of spiritual power from all over the vineyard.
They slowly moved towards the source.
One speck after another arrived in front of Lingyu, and with his inhaling, they entered his body.
When he exhaled, he let out the spiritual power he couldn't absorb.
Repeating this process, specks of spiritual power continuously entered his body.
The spiritual power outside was illusory, and in his dantian, condensed, it became gaseous.
Several times, Lingyu's mind became active momentarily, nearly kicking him out of cultivation.
It was only by forcing his mind to be quiet that he was able to cultivate for an hour straight.
"Huhhhh," he breathed out a large breath at the end of his cultivation. Once more he took a moment to marvel at the wonders of cultivation. These specks of spiritual power were invisible to the naked eye, but even while his eyes were closed, his spiritual eyes were still able to see them clearly!
"This… it seems my recovery won't be as I intended. It's fine, just a minor change, but it will force me to split recovery further and find other things to do in the meanwhile that don't cost me too much spiritual power.
Hmmm…
While the main issue right now is indeed rain, there are various other issues."
As he said so, he stood up and returned to the field.
Going up to one of the vines, he felt its needs and saw that a part of its vine was too long, while another was a bit short.
"Trimming!" an idea came to his mind. He could trim these vines in the spare time between.
"Hmm… trimming takes a long time, but the growth is rather slow. Every vine should only need trimming like once a month. A hundred vines per row, it's indeed a lot. But if I only do important cuts and don't focus too much on details, then I should be able to do two or three rows per hour.
At two per hour, I'm a bit too slow compared to the recovery…" although he said so, he knew that his initial speed would be even slower, maybe only one row per hour or even less.
He was calculating based on optimal standards, not tested standards.
"Regardless, after one hour of recovery, I will need ten to twenty minutes to calm my mind before I can cultivate again."
His mind was jumping from one matter to another in quick succession, but a sense of satisfaction entered his heart.
"Mother, if you could see me do well, you would also feel well, right?" he thought of his mother who had passed right before he reached adulthood.
It was gardening in his previous life that allowed him to connect with her even after she passed, and now, while he engrossed himself in numbers and calculations, he still remembered her smile.
"It would be great to keep a few kilograms of grapes and eat them when I'm tired."
He knew which grapes he was planting –
They were Spirited Green Grapes.
As the name suggests, they were below the rank of real Spiritual Plants. Rather, they were simply mortal plants that had gained a bit of spiritual power. In the mortal world, this would be equivalent to a ten-year-old medical herb. Only hundred-year-old medical herbs had the power to become low-grade Spiritual Plants.
Early-stage Spiritual Planters generally planted Spirited Plants. Only at their peak would they start planting low-grade Spiritual Plants, which is the territory of mid-stage Spiritual Planters.
These Spirited Green Grapes are sweet and can be eaten directly or made into Spirited Wine. Both can enhance the spiritual power of the cultivator, while the latter also has a way to make the cultivator drunk and enjoy the wonders of the world.
"If I had a few of these left, snacking on them would also help my cultivation…"