Chapter 4: First Test of the Flaming Palm
Chapter 4: Chapter 4: First Test of the Flaming Palm
Over the following month or so, Chen Mo’s experience with the Rainfall Technique skyrocketed. From an initial 36 points, it had now soared to 82 points. This meant that in at most twenty days, this most foundational Magic for a Spirit Plant Cultivator would usher in its first transformation.
However, his Qi Cultivation Technique remained completely stagnant throughout this period. It seemed the single experience point he had gained days ago was the culmination of prolonged Cultivation. In his hands, everything was simply a matter of letting nature take its course.
Across his three acres of Spirit Fields, the Spirit Yellow Rice had already begun to form ears, leaving less than two months until harvest. The Spirit Plant Cultivators around the Ancient Dust Marketplace had good luck this year. It had been a year of Harmonious Wind and Rain—there was no severe weather, nor were there any insect or bird plagues. Everything presented a thriving, prosperous scene.
Nearly two months had passed since Chen Mo first woke up. He had paid careful attention, yet no news regarding the black-clad man in the bamboo hat had emerged from the Marketplace. It seemed this robber had vanished without a trace after succeeding, or perhaps he had fled far away. After all, if people found out he had struck inside the Marketplace and killed a Spirit Plant Cultivator farming for Purple Cloud Peak, he would most likely face severe consequences.
Of course, as a bottom-tier Spirit Plant Cultivator, Chen Mo’s sources of information were extremely limited. He couldn’t rule out the possibility that the killer had already been brought to justice.
In short, the death of the original owner was a closed Chapter for now. While there was no news about the murderer, Chen Mo had heard some idle gossip about himself recently. The other day, the tenant to his south—Yin Zheng, a Spirit Plant Cultivator from the same batch as him—had approached him mysteriously. Right off the bat, Yin Zheng asked if Wang Lixia’s time was up. But when Chen Mo questioned him in return, the man hemmed and hawed, dodging the subject.
After asking around, he discovered that rumors were spreading across the surrounding hundred acres. People were saying Wang Lixia was nearing the end of her lifespan, and that Chen Mo was deliberately currying favor with her, intending to become her Dao companion just to inherit her estate.
Chen Mo’s first reaction to this news was pure dumbfoundment. He felt helpless against the rumors, but he kept a mental tally. Once he grew stronger in the future, he would settle the score with them.
One day, Chen Mo arrived at Wang Lixia’s Spirit Fields as usual. After knocking on her door to offer his greetings, he began casting the Rainfall Technique. To his surprise, not long after he started, she pushed the door open and walked out. Wang Lixia stood a short distance away, watching him for a full hour.
Chen Mo retracted his Cultivation and stepped forward, speaking respectfully. "Senior, I will return in three days."
This time, she didn’t just nod in acknowledgment. Instead, she tapped her walking stick lightly on the ground and parted her chapped lips. "Have you heard the idle gossip outside?"
At those words, Chen Mo’s expression grew visibly awkward.
Wang Lixia gave a contemptuous smile and said, "They’re a bunch of mad dogs. Follow me."
With that, she headed north along the field ridge. Chen Mo didn’t know what was going on, but he followed her anyway.
Soon, the two arrived one after the other at another Spirit Field, where the resident Spirit Plant Cultivator was currently busy meditating and Cultivating. Since they weren’t neighbors, Chen Mo didn’t know the man’s name.
The moment they approached, Wang Lixia slammed her walking stick onto the ground. Her old, withered hands quickly formed hand seals. In an instant, a blazing Flaming Palm surged forward, hurtling directly toward the Spirit Plant Cultivator.
Panicked, the man could only try to dodge. But this was a full-powered strike from a Cultivator at the Qi Refining Third Layer! How could it be evaded so easily?
With a muffled THUD, the Flaming Palm grazed his shoulder, instantly scorching half his body black.
"Fellow Daoist Wang! What is the meaning of this!" He Zhiping’s face looked exceptionally ugly. He regulated his breathing while staring warily at the old woman.
"I may be old, but I’m not dead yet! If I hear that gossip again, don’t blame me for dragging someone down the Yellow Springs Road with me!" With that, Wang Lixia heavily slammed her retrieved walking stick onto the ground.
In her early years, when she was in the prime of her youth, she had never taken a Dao companion. She never imagined that in her frail and decaying old age, her reputation would be so foully slandered. How could she tolerate this?
Standing behind her, Chen Mo witnessed the entire scene.
The Flaming Palm Wang Lixia executed, much like the Rainfall Technique, was virtually a standard Magic known by all Spirit Plant Cultivators. But the Flaming Palm in her hands was worlds apart from his own entry-level technique, which barely emitted steam! Hers could even leave her body, turning into a long-range attack!
"So the Flaming Palm is actually this strong!" Chen Mo thought. "Once my Rainfall Technique is proficient, I have to dedicate some energy to Cultivating the Flaming Palm. It’s the only Magic I have to protect myself."
Wang Lixia was a woman of few words. After teaching He Zhiping a lesson, she turned and left. Her elderly back and hunched posture made her look as frail as a leaf in the wind, but as the only Qi Refining Third Layer Cultivator within a hundred-acre radius, no one dared to cross her. Furthermore, since the rumors of her approaching death were practically confirmed, provoking her now would be an incredibly unwise move.
"Senior, forgive my presumption, but what Realm must one Cultivate the Flaming Palm to for it to be as powerful as yours just now?"
Wang Lixia halted and turned her head slightly, a disdainful smile appearing on her face. "Forty years ago, after learning my Realm had stagnated and could advance no further, I’ve spent all my time painstakingly Cultivating the Flaming Palm. What do you think?"
"Great Success?" Chen Mo asked tentatively.
"Great Success?" Wang Lixia’s expression stiffened, a trace of complexity flickering in her cloudy eyes. "How could the Great Success Realm be grasped by mere Spirit Plant Cultivators like you and me?"
Before Chen Mo could press further, she continued, "At the Mastery Realm, the Flaming Palm can detach from the body. At the Minor Achievement Realm, its power increases greatly."
"Only Minor Achievement?" Chen Mo thought. He nodded slightly, silently committing the information to memory.
Back at his own farm, after performing Cloud Formation and Rainfall, Chen Mo began to meditate and recover.
Four hours later, he stood up and gathered Spiritual Qi into his hands. In the next moment, steam rose from between his palms. Following the Cultivating route in his memory, he went through a routine of punches. After merely a few breaths, the Spiritual Qi that had just recovered to less than ten percent instantly bottomed out.
"The consumption is this massive?" Chen Mo thought. Having always been busy tending to the Spirit Fields, only now did he realize exactly how much of a toll offensive Magic took on the body!
Right at that moment, bright yellow text suddenly surfaced before his eyes.
[Flaming Palm +1]
"Executing it once gives me one experience point?" Chen Mo thought in pleasant surprise.
The consumption of the Flaming Palm exceeded his expectations, but the increase in experience was equally surprising. At this rate, its Cultivation efficiency was nearly three times that of the Rainfall Technique!
"It seems Cultivating the Flaming Palm must become part of my daily routine," Chen Mo thought, making up his mind once again.
Time spent farming, casting Rainfall, meditating, and Cultivating flew by quickly. Before heading out, Chen Mo glanced at his interface:
[Name: Chen Mo]
[Class: Spirit Plant Cultivator (Unlocked), Spirit Nurturer (Locked)...]
[Lifespan: 28/76]
[Cultivation: Qi Refining First Layer]
[Cultivation Technique: Qi Cultivation Technique (44/100)]
[Magic:]
[Rainfall Technique (entry-level): 99/100]
[Flaming Palm (entry-level): 23/100]
[Talent: Increased Production (Green)]
He was just one experience point away from a breakthrough in the Rainfall Technique!