Cultivation: Starting with Farming in the Spiritual Pivot Grotto

Chapter 3 The Immortal Staircase, Ten Thousand Feet High, Begins at Your Feet

Li Ya was fast asleep when Fang Cunluo broke free of its restraints and crawled all the way to the bamboo bed, its fleshy feet enveloping Li Ya's right hand.

All the fatigue and worries of the past few days dissipated, and Li Ya had a beautiful dream, though not a beautiful one.

"Fairy, you mustn't."

"Young master, yes, yes, I'm willing!"

The female cultivator, who was five feet tall and weighed at least two hundred pounds, grabbed Li Ya's right hand and kept pressing it between her two soft mounds.

"Young man, feel my heart, isn't it beating very fast!"

"Yes...yes!"

He had never seen anything like this before, and he couldn't even speak clearly.

The moment the fairy in front of them made a move, the fleshy waves on her body rippled like waves on a field of shells.

The damp, sticky feeling on his right hand made his stomach churn.

"That's good. I'll show you right away what the most beautiful and blissful thing in the world is."

"Don't worry, you'll get your money back."

A lump of fat pressed down on him, making it difficult to breathe. Li Ya's eyes widened in terror.

It felt as if a thousand pounds were weighing on my body.

"No!"

I startled awake from my deathbed dream as a dark wind blew into the dilapidated bamboo building.

Li Ya was panting heavily, still somewhat shaken.

"Thank goodness it was a dream! Thank goodness it was a dream!"

He patted his heaving chest and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Looking up, I saw that the sky was already beginning to lighten. I hadn't expected to sleep until dawn.

"This is?"

Looking around, the bamboo couch and the ground were piled with miscellaneous items.

Upon closer inspection, these were all items that were originally placed inside the Sumeru Bracelet; how did they all end up outside?

When he raised his right hand, it was covered with a layer of transparent, slippery mucus, and the Sumeru stone that had been embedded in the silver bracelet on his wrist had disappeared.

A crisp sound came from behind. Turning around, Fang Cun saw two rows of fleshy feet holding a dusty gray pebble, which was smaller than he remembered.

Li Ya instantly grabbed the tiny snail and, with a combination of prying and hooking, managed to rescue half a piece of Sumeru Stone from under the snail's opening.

"It's all over, all over. The treasure passed down through three generations of my Li family has been destroyed in my hands today."

Ordinary cultivators treasure even a Sumeru bag, let alone this Sumeru bracelet, which is worth a considerable sum of money.

This was originally Li Ya's backup plan, prepared for the day when he was desperate.

It took Li Ya a long time to recover from his heartache.

What else can we do but kill it?

This tiny snail is quite a stroke of luck!

By a stroke of luck, it turns out that this tiny snail can directly gnaw on the finished Sumeru ritual implement, eliminating the need to add Sumeru stones.

Gently stroking the conch shell, it seemed to have changed from before. Through the spiritual contract, his consciousness probed into the deepest part of the conch shell's body.

A strange space suddenly appeared.

It was a true microcosm, though only a few feet in diameter. Li Ya could clearly sense that it was different from the inanimate space of a Sumeru artifact.

This place is alive, stable, and clear.

It is a small, secluded realm where spiritual energy can gather.

Li Ya suppressed the turmoil in his heart and withdrew from the small cave.

At that moment, an absurd yet perfectly feasible idea suddenly arose in his mind.

"If the Fangcun Snail can break through the restrictions that my family has refined over generations, wouldn't breaking through other inferior Sumeru magical artifacts be a piece of cake?"

There is a black market in the underground of Sifang Town called the Nine Nether Ghost Market, and even the Yunfu Sect has a stake in it.

Many shady items can be found here; without an acquaintance's introduction, you would never find them even if you searched the entire town.

Li Ya had gone with Wang Wu a few times, so he naturally knew the rules for going in.

"Among the stolen goods sold in the ghost market, there are quite a few unopenable Sumeru ritual artifacts."

"The fact that it can't be opened means that the original owner's cultivation level was not low and the restrictions were powerful. In other words, the items inside must be of high value."

Go to the black market and buy stolen goods.

Li Ya's heart pounded so hard it felt like it would burst out of his chest. His eyes shone brightly, and his whole body trembled with excitement.

This is a windfall that can be seized right before your eyes.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart.

The most important thing right now is capital; I currently have one hundred taels of red copper coins on me.

Even if those unopenable Sumeru magical artifacts in the Ghost Market aren't worth much, they'd still be worth several hundred taels of silver.

"It seems we have no choice but to turn to Wang Wu."

Having made up his mind, he began to organize the scattered items.

But when tidying up the items on the bamboo bed, he touched a hard object in the quilt.

It turned out to be a thick leather bag, filled to the brim with copper coins that gleamed with a dazzling luster.

Upon careful counting, it turned out to be just enough to cover the costs.

"What's this? Brother Wei's bag!"

Li Ya's breathing suddenly became rapid; he had seen Wei Que use this bag before.

"Second brother, thank you!"

With the welcome money secured and the three spiritual items indicated by the Spiritual Pivot settled, only the magical artifact that gathers the radiance of the sun and moon remains.

The herb fields on the back mountain have been very busy lately. When I do part-time work, I'll bring some snails with me and sneak some spiritual soil and spring water. If I go a few times, I'll be able to gather enough for my needs.

"The most urgent task is to find the bridge of the nose!"

Now that he had made his decision, Li Ya quickly ate his fill, fed himself some spirit shells, and went to find the root of the mountain as soon as possible.

After feeding the spirit clam and taking the square-inch snail with him, he also borrowed an iron pickaxe and a long knife from Wei Que.

Just as I was setting off, an unfamiliar voice sounded from behind.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait!"

Looking back, he saw a handsome man in a blue robe who was just as good-looking as himself.

Li Ya asked tentatively.

"Fellow Daoist, are you calling for me?"

"Absolutely! Absolutely!"

"I don't seem to know you, fellow Daoist. Why do you call me?"

The man in the blue robe let out a hearty laugh, displaying great affability.

"Junior Brother Li, we didn't know each other before, but now we do. I am Xie Lingji, the nephew of Manager Xie of the herb field in the back mountain."

The medicinal herb field on the back hill?

Li Ya cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you, Senior Brother. I have urgent business to attend to. May I ask what you need me for?"

"Junior Brother Li, the reason I've come to see you is because of a close friend's scheme to bribe the servants in Beitian."

"I suppose my junior brother hasn't yet prepared the welcome money for the new Manager Liu."

How did this guy know? Li Ya frowned but didn't say anything.

Xie Lingji continued speaking to himself.

"My dear friend is willing to give you a magic weapon worth two thousand taels of red copper coins, along with a low-grade one, in exchange for you relinquishing your position as a handyman in Beitian."

Li Ya feigned hesitation and pondered for a moment before answering.

"I...I'm afraid I can't comply!"

This is clearly a godsend. The cave isn't something that can be opened up and then expanded step by step. If one can work in the medicinal herb field, wouldn't that be like a mouse falling into a rice jar?

Xie Lingji wasn't annoyed; he just smiled faintly.

"Junior brother, no rush. Think it over carefully. If you've made up your mind, you can always come find me at the herb field!"

Having said that, he turned and left, quite nonchalantly.

Li Ya didn't linger and strode off to Qianji Peak.

A moment later, a figure darted out from the bamboo forest.

"Senior Brother Xie, why did you let him go after only a few words? I... sigh!"

Xie Lingji concealed the hint of disgust in his eyes and said calmly.

"Junior Brother Lin, you must remain calm in the face of trouble."

Lin Zhenshan was about to offer a few words of greeting, but remembering the identity of the handsome man before him, he had no choice but to give up.

"How do you know no one else is eyeing this position? Just because you've colluded with him doesn't mean everything will be fine. Doesn't that mean you need to bribe Manager Liu too?"

"He's a registered handyman in the sect, a respectable young man with a clean background, not one of those handymen who can be killed and settled with money, and who will never be promoted. Things must be done step by step, and food must be eaten one bite at a time!"

As Li Ya walked, he pondered what had just happened. He was no longer an innocent novice; he knew exactly what these guys were up to and what they were planning.

There was no time to talk to him anyway, and if we agreed so easily, we would lose our bargaining power.

Li Ya first went to the General Affairs Office to get a job collecting spiritual herbs, and then headed to the back mountain of Qianji Peak. After all, with the order issued by the General Affairs Office, he could deter the ferocious beasts and monsters in the back mountain.

There are countless peaks in Yunfu Zongshan, and Qianji Peak is just one of them, not particularly remarkable.

The back of Qianji Peak stretches for dozens of miles, with overlapping peaks and towering ancient trees, exuding a primitive and wild atmosphere.

Following the ancient pine forest upstream, there are no mountain paths; a path must be carved out by human hands.

The forest was bitterly cold, and the icy moisture was even more concentrated, hitting our faces and making our breath white.

The vines, shaped like giant pythons, intertwined, and before long Li Ya abandoned his sword, conserving his energy to walk around them.

Every now and then, vertical pupils could be seen flashing in the shadows of the woods, but under the intimidation of the command arrow, they did not approach even a fraction of a step closer.

The deeper you go, the denser the trees become, and a thin mist rises in the air.

"Almost there!"

The sound of rushing water could already be heard, and as the sound grew louder, the road ahead became increasingly rugged and difficult to traverse.

The rocks were slippery, and I had several scrapes on my body, from which blood seeped out and a dull ache.

Li Ya ignored his wounds and crawled through a net of intertwined vines, where his view suddenly opened up.

A pool of water lies before us, surrounded by dense ancient trees, with emerald green vines hanging down.

The waterfall cascades down from a cliff tens of meters high, the water rushing and crashing against the rocks below like a strongman beating a drum.

The rocks by the pool were covered in moss and were extremely slippery. I could only grip the soles of my shoes tightly with my toes, circulate my internal energy, stabilize myself, and move my body little by little.

There are dozens of blue stones under the waterfall, and they need to be examined one by one. According to the Ling Shu, the mountain base is covered with a stone shell. After chiseling it open, the original appearance can be seen, and its texture is like jade.

Li Ya found a blue stone and settled on a good spot to stand.

He channeled his inner energy into his arms and swung the iron pickaxe, the sound of metal clashing against stone being drowned out by the roar of the waterfall.

"Click!"

The blue stone in front of them suddenly split open, revealing that its inner and outer textures were identical, clearly indicating that it was not the root of the mountain.

"Ling Shu would never lie to me. If I can find a free root of the nose, what's a little extra effort?"

By the time the sun was high in the sky, dozens of blue stones along the edge of the pond had been smashed, but nothing had been found.

Even with the help of true qi, his cultivation level was only at the first level of Qi Refining. Now his arms were sore, numb, and weak, and the blood blisters on his palms burst, dripping blood into the pool water.

"That leaves only a few pieces at the bottom of the waterfall."

Li Ya ate two dry, hard cakes in the pool water. After regaining his strength, he tore off strips of cloth, wrapped them around his hands, and then got up again.

We waded slowly along the water, moving towards the waterfall.

The force of the water was so great that it almost knocked him over, and whenever he got close to the waterfall, the turbulent current pushed him backward.

"Damn, this water's really cold!"

Li Ya leaned against the bluestone, staring intently at the few bluestones under the waterfall, scrutinizing them meticulously and not missing a single detail.

Suddenly, a piece of blue stone near the edge caught his attention. On this oddly shaped blue stone, a calamus was growing, its roots unusually thick and firmly attached to the stone.

"No, the other patches are all smooth and moss can't even climb on them after being washed by the waterfall's huge force. How come only this patch has a calamus growing on it?"

"Got it!"

Li Ya quickly picked up a smaller piece of bluestone and moved closer to the waterfall. With the weight of the bluestone pressing down on him, he became much more stable.

The cascading waterfall stung my shoulders, and a thunderous roar filled my ears.

Arriving at the strange blue stone, I took off my belt and tied my body to the stone.

With each swing of the pickaxe, a piece of the stone shell fell off, revealing the blue jade-like stone core.

"This is the bridge of my nose!"

Gently sweeping away the pebbles, even with only the first level of Qi Refining, Li Ya could clearly sense the spiritual energy contained within them.

He continued swinging the pickaxe, but with much gentler movements, until the watermelon-sized root of the mountain was peeled out of the bluestone.

He held the bridge of his nose tightly, and couldn't help but smile.

Back on the shore, Li Ya took out a small snail from the bamboo basket. With a thought, a mysterious light flashed on the snail shell, and a vortex appeared.

With a sudden lightness in his hand, the bridge of his nose vanished instantly.

The small cave within the conch shell underwent a dramatic transformation the moment it entered the root of the mountain.

The root of the mountain transformed into a soft blue light, slowly hovering in the very center of the cave.

The previously bubble-like cave instantly stabilized, revealing a ground bathed in clear light.

For the first time, the ethereal and confused Fangcunluo conveyed vague emotions to Li Ya.

They shared the same idea, and he immediately understood what it meant.

All the true energy in his body was poured into the vortex, which continued to expand, sucking the blue stones into the cave.

The blue stones blended together under the spiritual energy of the mountain's base.

Soon, a solid ground appeared in the cave.

Li Yafu, moved by a sudden inspiration, leaped into the vortex, entering this small, secluded cave.

There was no light around, like the chaos before the creation of the world, but the bluestone ground underfoot felt incredibly real.

"Cultivating immortality is not something that can be accomplished overnight; it requires hundreds or even thousands of years of diligent and tireless work."

"Isn't this very place the very foundation for my enlightenment bestowed upon me by the Spiritual Pivot?"

In that instant, Li Ya had already figured out how to develop this cave.

By cultivating spiritual rice in spiritual fields and medicinal herbs in medicinal fields, this grotto-heaven will continuously provide me with resources for cultivation.

"Who knows, this place might one day become a place comparable to the Snail Cave Heaven!"

"Therefore, this place shall be called the Spirit Pivot Grotto-Heaven!"

As Li Ya finished speaking, the words "Ling Shu" slowly appeared on the jade-like conch shell, then vanished in an instant.