Chapter 80 The Art of Telekinesis

Even now, he still failed to figure out how Qi exerted its influence on the outside world. His spiritual power, though denser and more solid than Qi, could not shake even a single speck of dust.

Chen Yu wanted to get to the bottom of this. If the source of Qi's influence and alteration upon the environment could be discovered, it might provide immense utility and a solid foundation for his upcoming practices regarding the refinement and nurturing of Qi, as well as his exploration of the next stage of cultivation.

Rumble!

Looking up, under the shining sunlight, clouds and mist seemed to gather, floating in clusters and merging together.

After finishing the irrigation of the final section of the medicinal field, he paused briefly outside the flowerbeds and walked toward the plot near the back wall, the one he had first cleared, carrying his sickle.

Growing here were the fourth batch of medicinal seeds. Unlike the plant in the water basin that was about to bloom, the seeds before his eyes still showed no signs of sprouting.

However, the vitality within them was rich and abundant, so there was no need to worry about them perishing prematurely for the time being.

Approaching the plot, he tossed the sickle into the air, then brought his index and middle fingers together in an upright gesture. The acupoints across his palm and arm opened wide, and channeling his Qi, he manipulated the blade as it descended into the field.

As early as June, when the fourth batch of spiritual flora was planted, mixed in among the medicinal seeds and vegetables were three other types of grain, alongside spring millet that had been imbued with spiritual essence twice.

These grain seeds had initially been cultivated on wooden boards for a period of time. Unfortunately, much like the medicinal seeds before him, they failed to sprout, and were later transplanted here to continue the process of catalysis.

Now, they had finally matured and were ready for harvest.

A flying sickle darted back and forth across the field, cutting down stalks of wheat and rice of varying lengths.

One had to admit that spiritual essence was indeed far superior to spiritual liquid. Autumn Saber Wheat, which was picky about its environment and disliked moisture, and Jingyang Rice, which heavily depleted the soil, had both put out ears. Under the catalysis of spiritual essence, clusters of them hung heavily upon the stalks and leaves, glowing either golden or grayish-blue.

The seeds planted initially were not numerous, and Chen Yu quickly harvested all of them, gathering them by his side.

After sorting and binding them into bundles, he suspended them in mid-air at shoulder height, then made his way back into the courtyard.

The profound development of the Water-Pouring Technique had allowed him to make giant strides in the manipulation and command of Qi, yielding immense gains.

The wielding of Qi was divided into the unanchored and the anchored methods, depending primarily on whether the restraint and assistance of spiritual power were required. However, once projected outward to a distance of five丈, no further progress could be made regardless of whether spiritual enhancement was applied. Thus, setting aside distance, he began to explore aspects such as control, flexibility, and load-bearing capacity.

He had to admit that spiritual power played a significant role in this. Relying on minute, meticulous observation and control over the Qi within his body, he gradually groped his way toward certain insights.

Projecting Qi externally to manipulate other objects sounded simple enough.

Yet Chen Yu still carefully summarized and analyzed the process, extracting lessons from it and repeatedly refining his method of control.

Qi was a novel entity; unlike spiritual power, which could be regarded as an extension of consciousness, Qi was much more independent. Consequently, its command involved a multitude of facets—release, timing, maintenance, acupoints, perception, feedback...

Slowly, a complete method of object manipulation began to take shape.

Although there were still quite a few flaws to speak of, the technique of suspending objects in mid-air had already been achieved, and the level of precision far surpassed the crude control he exhibited when he had first projected his Qi externally.

It could be executed effortlessly, at a mere wave of his hand.

However, manipulating objects also had its degrees of difficulty. Light, solid, lifeless items like wheat stalks and wooden talismans were not too difficult to control. But if he were to attempt to lift the heavy stone mill in the inner courtyard, even if he were to exhaust every single acupoint in his body, Chen Yu estimated he could only budge it slightly.

He would be entirely unable to lift it.

He had tried comparing the limits: with his current level of mastery, the absolute maximum was around two hundred catties, three hundred at the absolute most. Considering mobility and maintenance, the ideal weight of the lifted object was around one hundred and fifty catties. For this exact reason, the spring millet harvested from the mountain field had to be carried back in two separate trips.

As for the great divine powers capable of moving mountains and draining seas, he was currently miles away from such feats.

Perhaps in the future, he might aspire to them to some degree.

Aside from these, fluids like water were somewhat higher in difficulty, but practice made perfect, and he was already capable of handling them. Wind was not in a solid state; stirring it about randomly was fine, but mastering and directing it proved far more arduous.

The most difficult of all, however, belonged to the categories of fire and lightning.

He had no clue how to even begin.

***

The four types of grain were harvested and laid out in the courtyard to dry.

These grains cultivated with spiritual essence were vastly superior to the previous batch of spring millet grown with spiritual liquid, outshining them in both size and plumpness. Moreover, their husks were thin and easy to dry.

Thus, in a mere morning, the colorful grain stalks were gathered and threshed.

Before his eyes, a faint, hazy glow seemed to drift across the rice grains.

A rich fragrance filled the air.

Judging purely by the scent, it perhaps fell slightly short of the spiritual liquid batch. However, Chen Yu saw it clearly: within the core of every single grain, enveloped tightly, was a trace of pulpy fluid.

Both the Autumn Saber Wheat and the Jingyang Rice possessed it. The spring millet had the least, but perhaps due to having consumed more spiritual essence, its viscosity was noticeably higher.

The harvested grain was scant, so he deliberately set aside a portion to use as seeds—spiritual flora cultivated with spiritual essence had never left behind viable seeds before, and he wondered if these grain seeds could break that record.

He hoped they would grow.

However, when replanting them, he would no longer use spiritual essence for catalysis; after all, having undergone mutation once, they needed to undergo at least two more rounds of natural growth to see whether they would degenerate or undergo other variations before he considered introducing a second round of spiritual essence.

He picked up the four hundred and seventy-seven grains of rice arrayed on a plate beside him.

He looked at the wheat grains in his hand, each well over an inch long.

For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

Through the snow-white, flawless texture of the rice, a streak of moistened adhesive pulp could be clearly seen winding within.

Autumn Saber Wheat... He had heard of the great renown of this wheat. Alongside the Changbai Millet he had already planted in the mountain field, it was cultivated in the summer. However, the wheat seeds did not care for moisture; their ability to grow in the medicinal field was entirely due to the action of the spiritual essence.

Yet even he had not expected that wheat grains, which in his memory only resembled the shape of a blade and grew no longer than half a thumb, could grow to such a monstrous size.

They were hard, with sharp tips at their apex. If they grew just a little longer, they could probably be used as hidden weapons.

When broken apart, a fresh fragrance assailed his senses.

"This is... apricot flavor?"

Unlike the other grain seeds, the scent of the Autumn Saber Wheat was more unique, carrying a faint sweet-and-sour note that made one feel as though they were standing amidst a vast grove of red-laden apricot trees.

In a trance, he seemed to notice a wispy vapor rising and drifting away. Lowering his gaze, he realized it was that layer of adhesive pulp evaporating at a rapid pace.

It was identical in nature to the spiritual origin.

Spiritual power surged out of the Niwan Palace, spreading and blanketing the surroundings.

Sure enough, he could perceive landscapes invisible to the naked eye. He was unsure whether this was because the gaseous substance was exceedingly minuscule or for some other reason. In short, from the perspective of his spiritual power, the vaporized mist emanating from the pulp lingered in the air for a long time without dispersing.

It neither coalesced into droplets like spiritual Qi, nor was it filtered and screened away by the great sieve of heaven and earth.

In the air, the sweet-and-sour scent grew increasingly dense.

Chen Yu checked his body; after breathing it in several times, he felt no abnormality, save for the fact that his primordial blood seemed to circulate a bit faster. It remained unclear whether this was the effect of the mutated Autumn Saber Wheat.

After a moment of contemplation, he got up, carrying the broken Autumn Saber Wheat, and headed toward the chicken coop. Brother Chicken had been living a comfortable life lately; with no new vegetable seeds and the medicinal herbs not yet ripe, its job as a tester had been temporarily set aside, allowing it to indulge itself wholeheartedly.

It was plump, sturdy, and had rounded out significantly.

"Open your beak."

Chen Yu stepped forward, completely ignoring the bird's sudden, ferocious glare and its pair of sharp talons.

Without even raising his hand, with a mere shift of his mind, the entire chicken was frozen in place, slowly lifted into the air, and brought before him.

The large red rooster showed no fear and still attempted to struggle.

The art of object manipulation was simpler when applied to lifeless objects than living ones, but fortunately, his reserve of Qi was currently massive, and dealing with a mere rooster was something he could handle effortlessly.

It was merely a matter of consumption volume.

The rooster's beak was forced open by the creeping support of his Qi. He wrapped a layer of spiritual power around the perimeter to prevent this Qi from flowing into the creature's body, lest it perish before achieving anything.

Controlling living beings, aside from the difficulty of subduing them, lay in preventing the Qi from infiltrating flesh and blood to cause mutations that would rapidly result in the target's death—that was the true test of one's level of control.

Had it not been for the insulation provided by his spiritual power, Chen Yu would not have dared to pull off such a stunt.

Although Qi itself possessed very little adhesiveness, being tainted by it and being enveloped by it were two entirely different concepts. In the latter scenario, unless the target possessed a thick carapace or heavy feathers, disaster was inevitable.

Seeing that Brother Chicken had swallowed half a grain of Autumn Saber Wheat, he lowered it back to the ground.

The flock of chicks immediately rushed over, cheeping noisily, while the two hens circled around it, clucking incessantly.

Ignoring them for the moment, the rooster's good days were basically at an end. Chen Yu had already mapped out a lengthy testing schedule for Brother Chicken; not just it, but that foolish deer would have to be added to the roster as well.

The grain seeds were limited, but the flowers and plants in the backyard medicinal field were also nearing maturity. Take, for instance, that six-foot-tall flower that exuded a foul, fishy stench—over the past two days, it had borne fruit, resembling transparent leather bags filled with black sand, looking thoroughly unappetizing.

Naturally, Brother Chicken would have to be the first to test it.

After all, the creature had plenty of experience in this regard.

Before leaving, Chen Yu cast a glance at Brother Chicken, which had already nestled back into its comfortable surroundings, leaving a trace of a smile.

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

The large red rooster proudly fluffed its tail feathers, spreading its wide wings like a great roc descending upon the world.

The next moment, however, with a dull thud, the rooster's neck stiffened as it held its head high. Its crowing cut off abruptly, choked off mid-sound. Then its head tilted sideways, its chest and abdomen swelled by a fraction, and its entire body slumped sideways to the ground...

Chen Yu returned to the courtyard. He had witnessed Brother Chicken's reaction, but for now, there was no danger—it was simply unable to digest it immediately, much like the gluttonous deer that had once eaten the spring millet ripened by spiritual liquid.

Perhaps because it was too small and its absorption rate couldn't keep up, the symptoms looked somewhat sudden and severe.

It would be fine after a little while.

He carefully put away the remaining grains. These had all been catalyzed by spiritual essence and did not come easily; the cultivation process alone had taken several months, consuming a considerable amount of spiritual essence. The cost was far, far higher than that of spiritual liquid, and had their efficacy not been entirely unknown, how could Brother Chicken ever have had the privilege of taking the first bite?

Thinking of this, Chen Yu felt that Brother Chicken ought to feel a deep sense of gratitude.

He chuckled, shaking his head to dismiss these stray thoughts, and carried the wooden bucket into the kitchen. As for the remaining grains set aside for seeds, since he didn't know how long their viability would last, he decided not to store them for long, intending to turn the soil that very day and plant them directly into the ground.

"Originally, Autumn Saber Wheat dislikes moisture. Although cultivation with spiritual essence allowed it to grow, now that there's no spiritual essence, I wonder if these mutated varieties can still successfully head and mature."

After pondering for a moment, he decided it didn't matter. Whether they grew or not made no difference; if they failed, he would simply cultivate another variety.

Then, his consciousness sank, and the sound of crashing waves washed over his ears.

A boundless ocean spanned out before him, countless white lights flashing and surging beneath his feet. Yet only a tiny fraction of them pierced the water's surface into the void above, and of those, only a minute portion could be captured and scraped together to condense into starlight-brilliant particles of spiritual essence.

Even with spiritual power and having tentatively stepped onto the path of cultivation, Chen Yu still could not figure out the state he was currently in.

It was denser than consciousness, yet illusory and unlike true spiritual power.

Without further thought, he floated in mid-air and looked toward a corner. There lay a "starry sky" formed by the convergence of spiritual essence.

He counted them: twenty particles.

The number met his expectations. Ever since he divided the medicinal field into five plots, he had stopped using spiritual essence, continuously accumulating it until it naturally reached this exact tally.

Yet his expression held no joy of accumulation.

One grain every three and a half days... It had never changed.

Did it have nothing to do with the volume of Qi and spiritual power? Or was the production of spiritual essence tied to something else?

Finally, Chen Yu cast a glance at the misty, pitch-black expanse lying behind the "starry sky." He knew that hidden within that space was an even larger web, one ordinarily invisible to the eye.

A thoughtful look flashed in his eyes before he silently retreated.

Splash! The silent waves continued to surge relentlessly across the vast ocean.