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Chapter 20: The Silent Sediment
Time: 3 Days After the First Batch.
Location: Inside the Farming Space.
The artificial sun hung motionless in the white void, casting a stark, shadowless light over the fifteen acres of thriving greenery.
Luo Feng stood in the open clearing near the tool shed, his torso bare, sweat gleaming on his skin. In his right hand, the heavy Spirit Iron Saber hummed.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
He was practicing the "Heavy Plow" technique. 998... 999... 1,000.
On the final swing, a sharp, grinding sensation shot through his right shoulder. It wasn't muscle fatigue. It felt foreign, abrasive, as if someone had poured fine sand into his joint.
Clang.
Luo Feng dropped the saber. He grabbed his shoulder, grimacing. He tried to rotate his arm, but the movement was jerky, lacking its usual fluid grace.
"Stiff," Luo Feng hissed. "My arm feels like a rusty hinge."
He sat down immediately, crossing his legs. He closed his eyes and triggered the Sun & Moon Internal Scan.
He circulated the cooling Moon (Yin) Qi. As it passed through his shoulder, he saw the problem. Tiny, microscopic red crystals were gathering in the marrow of his bones and the cartilage of his joints. They pulsed with a stubborn, aggressive heat.
"Yang Sediment," Luo Feng realized.
The Flame Spirit Wine.
It was effective—too effective. It flooded his body with massive amounts of raw Fire Qi. His muscles absorbed what they could, but the excess settled and hardened.
"It's not poison," Luo Feng analyzed grimly. "It's residue. Like soot in a chimney. If I leave this unchecked, my joints will calcify. I won't be a powerful cultivator; I'll be a living statue."
He looked at the wine jar on the table. "The formula isn't wrong. The source is. The grapes are too aggressive."
The Soil Alchemist.
Luo Feng walked to the Red Clay Area. The heat coming off the field was intense.
The Crimson Fire Grapes were growing in pure, concentrated Red Clay. They were absorbing 100% Yang energy, making the fruit incredibly potent but chemically unstable. The vines looked angry, the grapes glowing with a blinding, violent light.
"Pure Yang is poison," Luo Feng realized. "I need balance. I need to temper the earth itself."
He grabbed a large iron spade and a reinforced wooden cart.
Step 1: The Excavation.
He dug up the entire vineyard. He carefully pulled the grapevines out of the ground, wrapping their sizzling roots in damp cloth to protect them from the air.
Step 2: The Transport.
He went to the Black Spirit Soil area near the spring. This soil was rich in Earth and Wood energy—cool, nurturing, and heavy. He filled the cart with the dark earth and hauled it back to the Red Zone.
Step 3: The Synthesis.
Luo Feng dumped the Black Soil directly into the deep trenches of the Red Clay. He didn't just layer it; he mixed it.
He channeled Qi into his hands, using the Spirit Finger technique to churn the earth.
Mix. Churn. Blend.
He forced the fiery, cracked Red Clay to merge with the cool, dense Black Spirit Soil. Steam rose from the ground as the two opposing energies fought, then stabilized.
Slowly, the color changed. The violent red and the deep black merged into a new, rich color.
Red-Brown Soil.
"Fire creates Earth," Luo Feng recited as he worked, sweat pouring off him. "Earth absorbs Fire. This Red-Brown Soil will act as a buffer."
Step 4: The Replanting.
He replanted the grapes into this new Red-Brown Soil. Then, for total stability, he planted the Iron-Skin Yams between the grapevines.
The effect was visible instantly.
Previously, the grapes glowed with a violent red light. Now, sitting in the balanced Red-Brown earth, the glow softened. The Yams and the hybrid soil absorbed the sharp edge of the heat. The grapes turned a deep, rich crimson—stable and heavy.
"The Farm is a formation," Luo Feng wiped his eyes, satisfied. "The soil itself is the regulator."
The First Rule.
Luo Feng returned to the table. He could feel the energy in the air was less chaotic.
He poured himself a single cup of the wine and drank it.
Boom.
The heat rushed down his throat. But this time, he was ready. He immediately triggered the Sun & Moon Circulation, using the Moon Qi to aggressively grab the exploding Fire energy, guiding it into his Dantian before it could settle.
He drank a second cup. He circulated again.
He reached for a third cup.
Stop.
His instinct screamed. His meridians were full. Even with the Red-Brown Soil fix, his body had a limit.
Luo Feng put the jar down.
"Two cups," he corrected himself. "Two cups is the limit."
He realized his arrogance. He had hoped to reach Layer 5 in a month. That was impossible without crippling himself.
"Cultivation is a marathon," Luo Feng murmured, rotating his shoulder. The stiffness was fading. "I will reach Layer 5... but it might take three months. But when I get there, my foundation will be flawless."
He wrote down his first true law of cultivation and pinned it to the shed wall:
[Rule #1: The Flame Spirit Wine is a pill. Max dosage: 2 Cups. Must use Moon Circulation immediately.]
The Secret Drain.
While Luo Feng was obsessing over soil mixtures, he didn't notice the silence near the house.
Luo Xia was standing by the Spirit Spring, holding a heavy basket of wet laundry. She watched Luo Feng rushing around the field, glowing with vitality. He looked like a god of the earth.
She smiled, her heart swelling with pride.
Then, the world tilted.
Vertigo.
Luo Xia dropped the basket. She grabbed the wooden post of the goat pen to keep from falling.
Thump... thump...
Her heart fluttered wildly. A wave of exhaustion washed over her—a deep, hollow drain. It felt as if a hole had opened inside her Dantian, sucking away her vitality like a whirlpool.
"Ugh..."
She pressed a hand to her mouth, fighting a sudden surge of nausea. Her knees went weak, and she slid down the post.
'What is this?' she thought, fearful confusion clouding her mind. 'I ate a full bowl of Spirit Rice an hour ago. I drank the Milk. Why am I so hungry? Why do I feel so empty?'
She touched her lower abdomen instinctively.
There was a strange warmth there. Not the burning heat of Qi deviation, but a greedy, pulsing warmth. It felt like... something was eating her energy from the inside out.
"Luo Xia?"
Luo Feng's voice cut through the haze. He was swinging his saber again, laughing. "It works! Xia! The stiffness is gone! The Red-Brown Soil worked!"
Luo Xia forced her body to straighten. She took a deep breath, biting her lip until the color returned to her cheeks. She couldn't ruin this moment. He was finally happy.
She stood up, legs trembling.
"That's wonderful, husband!" she called out, forcing her voice to be steady.
Luo Feng beamed at her. "We are on the right path, Xia."
He was so focused on his victory, he didn't see the pallor of her skin or the protective way her hand lingered over her stomach.
"Yes," Luo Xia smiled, picking up the laundry basket. It felt twice as heavy as before. "We are."
She turned away to hide the wince of discomfort.
'I'm just tired,' she told herself, trying to ignore the rhythmic pulse in her womb. .
[End of Chapter 20]
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