Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Gathering Moonlight and Consuming Wheat Pill
The wind and snow pause for the time being.
The clouds disperse and the moon emerges, only to see the bright moonlight pour down from the sky, illuminating the white snow like flowing water, almost appearing as if it’s in motion.
Within the courtyard, the leaves of the Silver Moon Grass are lifting the plump Flint Fire Crystal Insect, its silvery shoot top pointed towards the moonlight, reminiscent of the legendary monsters’ Moon Worship.
The bright moonlight, the white snow, and the insect reaching up to receive the moonlight create an undeniably beautiful scene, which, if painted, would undoubtedly be considered an excellent work.
But it’s also quite strange.
The wondrous power of nature’s vitality is displayed before my eyes.
It is at this moment that Li Ye finally has a substantial feeling—he has arrived in a bizarrely colorful Cultivation World, naturally with many mysterious oddities.
"Thankfully, these mysterious oddities are my own."
"Ah... what is this?"
Li Ye silently gazes through the mirror, suddenly noticing a difference in the moonlight around the Silver Moon Grass, the moon-colored radiance especially bright, just as if a spotlight is illuminating it.
"Is this the Silver Moon Grass’s Innate Divine Techniques?"
He recalls the scene when he performed the Light Technique yesterday, all related to light, making him suspect, perhaps his Light Technique needs to be performed under moonlight to be different?
He indeed can’t wait to try.
But he doesn’t go out directly.
Now the Silver Moon Grass and Flint Fire Crystal Insect are clearly undergoing some changes, if he goes out now, and affects it, the loss would be his own.
So he plans to wait for a while.
He walks to the window, murmuring to the clear night sky, "During the day, the Spiritual Mechanism Vine said that the snow would stop in about fifteen days, and yet it stopped tonight."
Is it that the weather forecast in the Cultivation Realm can sometimes be inaccurate?
Time slowly passes in the waiting.
After about the time it takes to sip a cup of tea, the Flint Fire Crystal Insect finally manages to wriggle off the leaves, bouncing down, and curls back into the leaf of the Silver Moon Grass.
The surrounding bright moonlight that was gathering gradually dissipates, returning to its normal scenery.
Li Ye can clearly see at the top of the Silver Moon Grass, there appear three round bead-like pearls, glowing with a silver sheen under the moonlight—obviously, those are the Moon Liquid Pearls.
"So, it’s the Flint Fire Crystal Insect that expedited the gathering speed of the Moon Liquid Pearls."
"I should go out and take a look."
He opens the door and steps out, shivering from the sting of the cold night wind, quickly running to the front of the Silver Moon Grass.
Alas, his injured meridians indeed make his resistance somewhat weak.
Li Ye first checks the grass and the insect, ensuring there are no issues before reaching out to pick the three Moon Liquid Pearls, then performing the magic.
Accompanied by an outburst of Spiritual Power.
Then a miraculous scene unfolds—the ball formed by the Light Technique seems to absorb the surrounding radiance under the moonlight, gradually forming, then lightly falling to the ground, floating above the snow layer.
Apparently not very heavy.
"Light formed substance?"
Li Ye is quite surprised, he cautiously picks up the small ball, it feels slightly cool in his hand, and upon contact with his body temperature, it has a tendency to quickly melt.
So this thing is essentially composed of an outer layer of water vapor, with the light wrapped inside, forming such a shape.
Can moonlight be frozen and stored?
He’s somewhat moved, from the previous situation, it’s apparent these Silver Moon Grass need to absorb moonlight to undergo changes.
Perhaps they have some method to store moonlight, hence affecting his "Light Technique" form.
Can more be stored, to be used at another time?
Perhaps even directly planted inside the house.
Thinking this, he begins frequently performing the Light Technique, but unfortunately, the power from the Silver Moon Grass within him has completely vanished.
He only manages to make ten of these ice balls, unable to create more.
But with such rare good moonlight, he again communicates with the Silver Moon Grass, obtaining some Spiritual Qi, finally making twenty, which he stores inside an ice box, then collects the Moon Liquid Pearls, leaving satisfied.
He decides to drink the Moon Liquid Pearls produced during this period, to expedite the binding process on one hand, and to enhance his strength on the other, since there’s nothing particularly urgent he needs to purchase right now.
...
Thus, time passes quickly.
He spends several days accumulating eighty points of Vital Essence, binding all the Silver Moon Grass and Flint Fire Crystal Insects.
It seems perhaps due to the increased quantity, the Spiritual Qi they emit converges, almost occupying that small plot.
These five Silver Moon Grass can produce fifteen Moon Liquid Pearls daily.
Compared to the unbound Silver Moon Grass which only produce one pearl every three days, it’s an immense difference, making the task easily completed.
Is this the magical effect of binding?
However, he does not directly submit the sufficient number but plans to do so slightly earlier than the predicted completion time.
As for the excess Moon Liquid Pearls, he naturally intends to make some food with the flour produced by the Cold Ice Wheat and the lotus seeds from the Glazed Snow Lotus.
"I wonder whether mixing these together would enhance the vitality force?"
Li Ye stands about three meters away from the Cold Ice Wheat, observing the Cold Ice Wheat that is nearing maturity.
They are now abnormally swollen, the grains inside restricted within the ears of wheat.
A few moments later—
"Bang bang bang!"
The ears explode one after another, the grains directly shedding and turning into dust, instantly filling the area with white.
Had the snow not been small now, it would likely mix with the snow, indiscernible from each other.
Li Ye had long prepared, using a hand sign to perform magic, a gust of clear wind instantly wrapping the white flour into a prepared vat.
"Eh, what’s this?"
At this time, he notices the flour contains small round beads, which have fallen into the vat.
In the end, these forty Cold Ice Wheat produced half a pound of flour!
And even more astonishingly, thirty Wheat Pills, quietly resting in the vat, as white as snow dust.
"This yield is truly terrifying, just forty plants can produce half a pound of flour? Wouldn’t this mean there’s no possibility of famine ever?"
He glances at the post-explosion, completely desolate wheat, picking up a bucket of well water to make some spirit-infused snow for them, then carrying the vat back to the house, washing his hands clean before picking up a round "Wheat Pill."
The Wheat Pills are indeed tiny, barely detectable without careful observation, seemingly tasteless, appearing like small white stones.
Eating such things truly requires mental preparation.
He hesitates for a moment before opening his mouth, cautiously eating one.
It tastes slightly sweet, with a hint of flour’s stickiness.
It’s not unpleasant, upon eating it, he feels his stomach seemingly filled by something, with a surge of Spiritual Qi entering his body, completely absent the sensation of hunger.
Simultaneously, a number [2] appears in his mind.
This means that one pill can provide two points of Vital Essence.
He smacks his lips, "Not bad, Spiritual Qi truly rivals pills, plus the effect of satiation, if it can continuously produce, it does save a substantial amount on pill expenses."
However...
He looks at the lotus seeds, Moon Liquid Pearls, and flour he’s prepared, deep in thought.
Originally planning to make a lotus seed cake, but now suddenly having a full stomach, perhaps he’ll have to make it and eat it later.