In the blink of an eye, Su Yu had already been in the herb garden for half a month.
He had memorized all the contents of the manual given by his master, Su Changyu, and had successfully cultivated the Spirit Nurturing Technique. Although the progress was slow, his proficiency had reached 4.1% over the past half month.
The cultivation of the Wutong Qingmu Art and the Body Refining Technique had also improved, with the rate of proficiency growth slightly faster than when he was at the Su family mansion.
However, after reaching the third layer of the Body Refining Technique, the difficulty of increasing proficiency was greater than Su Yu had anticipated.
Breaking through to the fourth layer in two or three months was wishful thinking; he now estimated it would take him half a year to achieve that.
Of course, if he could obtain more beast essence blood as an aid, the time could be shortened.
Fortunately, after becoming an herb apprentice in the herb garden, Su Yu's monthly allowance had significantly increased. Additionally, since there were occasional attacks by Rock Rat demons in the herb garden, he could trade for more beast essence blood here.
After the half-month of leisure time ended, Su Yu began to follow Su Changyu in learning how to cultivate spiritual herbs and to test his understanding of the herbs' characteristics.
A few days later, there was a trade fair in the herb garden estate.
At the trade fair, Su Yu saw Su Qingyi, whom he hadn't seen for over half a year, and was surprised to find that Su Qingyi's cultivation had reached the third layer of the Qi Refining Realm.
Breaking through from the first layer to the third layer of the Qi Refining Realm in just over a year—this speed was somewhat astonishing to Su Yu.
Although Su Qingyi had the talent of a mid-grade spiritual root, wasn't this progress a bit too fast?
Su Yu himself estimated that it would take him more than a year and a half to break through to the third layer of the Wutong Qingmu Art.
Su Qingyi had set up a stall, and much of the immaturity he had shown over half a year ago had faded. He no longer looked like a pampered young master from a wealthy family. On his stall, there was also beast essence blood for sale, which Su Yu needed.
Seeing Su Yu, Su Qingyi wasn't surprised. After asking about Su Yu's needs, he smiled and said, "I also have mid-tier first-grade beast essence blood here. Two low-grade spirit stones for five drops."
"Deal," Su Yu naturally wouldn't refuse; the price was favorable.
Su Qingyi enthusiastically added, "There will be more demon beasts appearing in the herb garden during this period. If you encounter any trouble you can't solve, you can come to me."
"If you find any traces of demon beasts, you can also come to me, and we'll share the spoils."
From Su Qingyi's demeanor, it seemed he had already adapted to the environment of the cultivation world.
Su Yu also saw in him a bit of the template of the low-level stall owner NPCs he had encountered in previous cultivation games.
After chatting with him for a while, Su Yu left the trade fair and returned to his room.
With his current third-layer Body Refining Technique cultivation, he could now refine one drop of mid-tier first-grade beast essence blood at a time.
While practicing the Body Refining Technique, Su Yu thought of a tip Su Qingyi had mentioned: "Perhaps I can find a way to hunt Rock Rats myself, earn some extra money, and also obtain some essence blood for refining the Body Refining Technique."
With the strength of his third-layer "Crocodile Demon One Hundred and Eight Forms Body Refining Technique," he wasn't afraid even if he encountered a mid-tier first-grade Rock Rat comparable to the fourth layer of the Qi Refining Realm.
Moreover, he knew a method to hunt Rock Rats without having to fight them directly.
Among the tasks he often did in the early stages of previous cultivation games, there was one that involved trapping and hunting Rock Rats, collecting materials to make a special beast-attracting powder.
The specially made lure powder for ground rock rats could attract them out of their hiding spots. Once they consumed the lure powder, the ground rock rats would fall unconscious, making them easy prey.
Su Yu wasn't sure if other cultivation factions knew about this method, but the Su family, who had no prior contact with spirit veins or ground rock rats, likely didn't.
"Blue Earth Flower, Rosemary, Cloud Shadow Grass, and Tung Oil are all common materials that can be gathered from the herb fields," Su Yu thought to himself.
He decided to act immediately.
After completing his body tempering cultivation, Su Yu began collecting the materials for the lure powder.
With just one low-grade spirit stone, he managed to gather enough materials for five portions of the lure powder.
After grinding the materials into powder and storing them in jade bottles, Su Yu thought, "I'll try it again tonight."
Since there was still plenty of time, he followed Su Changyu to the herb fields to complete his daily tasks. He used the Spirit Nurturing Technique to nourish the spiritual herbs and the Spirit Sensing Technique to monitor their growth, combining his practical experience with the knowledge he had previously memorized.
Seeing that Su Yu had mastered the Spirit Sensing Technique in such a short time, Su Changyu remarked, "Xiao Yu, you're the most talented individual I've seen in all these years. None of your three senior brothers have been able to comprehend the Spirit Sensing Technique yet."
Su Yu quickly replied, "I was just lucky. Last year, when I followed the family head to the Cloud Sword Sect for the disciple entrance test, my performance in the second round, which tested comprehension, was only average."
"Moreover, I have a low-grade spiritual root. It took me over a year to break through from the first to the second level of the Qi Refining stage."
"Teacher, please don't praise me too much, or I might lose my motivation to cultivate."
"Alright, then," Su Changyu said with a simple smile, and from then on, he refrained from calling Su Yu the most talented.
However, he paid even more attention to Su Yu, allowing him to learn alongside him every day.
At night.
Su Yu arrived at a remote section of the herb fields and placed five portions of spirit rice mixed with the lure powder in different spots. He then moved away and waited quietly.
After more than two hours, deep into the night, Su Yu returned to check and found that the lure powder had successfully attracted two ground rock rats.
One was less than a foot in size, likely a small demon at the first or second level of the Qi Refining stage, while the other was nearly two feet long, a mid-tier first-grade demon beast.
"This is a win," Su Yu thought with joy upon seeing the larger beast.
He walked over, grabbed its head, and with the terrifying strength from the third level of the "Crocodile Demon One Hundred and Eight Forms Body Tempering Technique," he twisted its head around until its life force completely dissipated.
After dealing with the larger beast, Su Yu slapped the smaller one, producing a dull thud as its brain matter splattered out.
He destroyed the remaining three portions of spirit rice mixed with the lure powder and quietly returned with the two ground rock rats.
Since the lure powder had a time limit of three hours, after which it would become ineffective, the remaining three portions were useless. By destroying them, no one would discover his method.
Back in his room, Su Yu skinned and bled the two ground rock rats.
The essence blood of a demon beast refers to the blood from its heart, which contains the concentrated essence of its power and serves as the source of its strength. There wasn't much of it.
From the smaller beast, Su Yu obtained twenty-three drops of early first-grade demon beast essence blood.
From the larger one, he obtained forty-one drops of mid-tier first-grade demon beast essence blood.
The cost of one low-grade spirit stone yielded materials worth approximately thirty low-grade spirit stones.
"With the help of these demon beast essences for cultivation, perhaps I can break through to the fourth level of body refining in just two or three months," Su Yu thought happily.
What made him even happier was that the game quest from his previous life, which involved luring and hunting Earth Rock Rats, had actually allowed him to successfully hunt them.
Apart from the proficiency panel, he now had another golden finger to survive in this world of cultivation.
Of course, the success of the beast lure powder recipe was due to its ease of preparation.
As for other miraculous recipes he knew from his previous life's cultivation games, such as alchemy and artifact forging, they would likely require further experimentation and deduction.
Nevertheless, Su Yu was quite satisfied. Compared to others, he at least knew the ingredients and their quantities for cooking; the only things left were the sequence and heat control.
Moreover, besides the recipes, the greater wealth lay in other knowledge and quest strategies.
"Save up a bit more money to buy a suitable magical artifact," Su Yu thought with a sense of urgency, considering the appearance of Earth Rock Rats and the possibility of a first-grade spirit vein beneath him. A low-grade magical artifact was worth at least several dozen low-grade spirit stones.
Currently, he didn't have that much money and could only save up slowly.