Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 23 Spirit Plant
Li Shiming produced a pouch of Spirit Rice seeds. Eschewing a cautious trial run, he decided to commit half of his entire seed stock to the process at once.
Failure was a remote possibility given his sophisticated soil-less cultivation techniques, paired with the near-omniscient perception and micrometer-precision control he wielded within the computer room space. Without this edge, he had no other viable way to harvest Spirit Rice in the immediate future.
The situation was becoming urgent; with every day that passed, the impurities from mundane food increasingly contaminated his physical form.
To resolve this crisis, he had to accelerate the growth of a Spirit Rice batch as quickly as possible.
He submerged the Spirit Rice seeds in a solution meticulously balanced with the ideal nutrient ratios for seedling development.
Focusing his consciousness entirely on the seeds, he remained vigilant, not daring to let his attention waver for a moment.
Within the nutrient bath, the Spirit Rice seeds began their intake, the germs beneath the seed coats starting to expand.
However, Li Shiming detected a palpable sense of weakness emanating from the seeds. He realized that if left to nature, these germs might lack the strength to pierce the seed coats, resulting in a total failure to produce Spiritual Rice Seedlings.
Channeling the Spiritual Power in his body, Li Shiming used his mind to trace the rune for the "Spring Breeze and Rain Skill" within the computer room space. As the spell manifested, a cluster of dark clouds gathered overhead.
A spiritual downpour covering twenty square meters began to fall. His consciousness tracked every individual droplet, guiding them precisely into the seedling solution at the base of the cultivation racks.
Infused with the essence of the "Spring Breeze and Rain Skill," the Spirit Rice seeds surged with new life, their germs bursting through the seed coats in rapid succession.
As Li Shiming monitored the transformation of the seeds, he simultaneously logged every data point into the IBMz15 server.
The "Spring Breeze and Rain Skill" saturated the solution with spirit rainwater that was incredibly potent for plant growth. Because he captured every drop within the seedling trays without wasting any, the magical effects remained concentrated and continuous.
In a typical setting, a spirit cultivator would see most of the rain from the "Spring Breeze and Rain Skill" soak into the earth, leaving only a fraction to be utilized by the plants.
This wasn't due to a lack of talent among spirit cultivators, but rather because Cultivation in this world had been tethered to the soil for millennia.
It was a mental block—a rigid perspective that the spirit cultivators of this realm had never thought to challenge.
Furthermore, without a comprehensive understanding of the specific nutrients plants require, developing hydroponic methods was simply impossible for them.
Gaining such mastery required deep research into botany, chemistry, and other scientific fields—knowledge far beyond the reach of a lone individual.
In his previous life, the vast array of technological progress had been constructed brick by brick through global effort over centuries, culminating in the data now stored within the IBMz15 server.
The Spiritual Rice Seedlings flourished, and after forty-eight hours, they were moved to the top four tiers of the cultivation racks.
To perform the "Spring Breeze and Rain Skill," Li Shiming tapped into the Spiritual Energy present in the computer room space. He then utilized the "Five Elements Qi Absorption Technique" to replenish his own internal Spiritual Power.
To conserve the room's limited Spiritual Energy, he would cut off the external supply the moment his reserves were full, relying solely on the "Five Elements Qi Absorption Technique" for maintenance.
It was a necessary compromise; Spirit Plants required an environment saturated with Spiritual Energy to thrive.
Fortunately, the soil-less technology amplified the efficacy of his spells. This meant he had to cast the Spring Breeze and Rain Skill less frequently, significantly slowing the depletion of spiritual energy within the server room.
He chose not to learn the other two Spiritual Plant Cultivation Spells, the "Geng Metal Skill" and "Earth Spirit Technique," to save his energy for more vital tasks.
The "Geng Metal Skill" was designed to eradicate spiritual pests. These insects could be microscopic yet devastating, often possessing resistance to mundane pesticides, requiring the spell to pick them off with surgical precision.
The "Earth Spirit Technique" served to revitalize the spiritual energy within a field's soil after a harvest.
Since Li Shiming was using hydroponics, the "Earth Spirit Technique" was redundant. Moreover, the sterile server room space made the appearance of spiritual insects impossible. Even if they did appear, his consciousness was far more precise than any spell for pest control.
He kept a constant watch over the Spirit Rice, ensuring the plants received unparalleled care through his mental link to the space.
By fine-tuning the light spectrum, intensity, and duration, along with other environmental factors, he maximized the rate of photosynthesis. This forced early blooming and spurred rapid growth, drastically compressing the Spirit Rice's natural life cycle.
According to the records left by Shi Ximing, Spirit Rice usually takes two months to reach maturity.
However, within the server room, the plants could undergo photosynthesis twenty-four hours a day. Li Shiming used his perception to constantly adjust the LED cold lights, keeping the crops in a perpetual state of peak growth.
The Spirit Rice reached full maturity in a mere twenty-five days.
Li Shiming also noted an interesting phenomenon: growing Spirit Rice didn't drain the server room's spiritual energy; it actually caused a slight increase.
As the Spirit Rice grew, photosynthesis actually generated a small amount of spiritual energy.
While the output from a single plant was negligible, the combined effect of seventy square meters of multi-layered racks was enough for him to feel the rising concentration of spiritual energy.
It was sufficient to offset the energy he spent on the Spring Breeze and Rain Skill daily, meaning the energy levels in the room had actually improved over the twenty-five-day period.
Of course, this ambient energy was only enough for the plants and fell short of what he needed for his own daily Cultivation practice.
During this time, Li Shiming remained in total isolation, rarely leaving his study. This led everyone to assume he was engrossed in studying for the upcoming spring exams.
Consequently, he was left in peace. Even his father, Li WenYuan, had issued strict orders that no one in the household was to disturb his son's academic focus.
Today marked the climax of his efforts. After twenty-five days of intense work and minimal sleep, Li Shiming had devoted his entire being to the Spirit Rice.
His hard work had paid off; the harvest was ready.
Through his consciousness, he could see the golden stalks of Spirit Rice bowed under the weight of their grains, and the thrill of the harvest surged through him.
He had spent the last month eating as little as possible, yet his body had still accumulated a heavy burden of impurities.
He was desperate to cleanse himself of the filth of mortal food, and this Spirit Rice was his only salvation.
Once you have experienced the clarity of a pure body, the sensation of being polluted is unbearable. Whenever he circulated his spiritual power, he felt a distinct friction; he feared that if this continued, his very ability to control his spiritual power would be compromised.