Li Xiang was now Tier Seven, having condensed a total of seven Spiritual Power Vortexes in his body. Although he had always focused on solidifying his foundation, and the vastness of the Spiritual Power within him was rarely seen in the world, he still felt that reaching Tier Seven in less than a year was a bit too fast.

He needed to properly settle down and polish his skills.

A skyscraper is built from the ground up. Without a solid foundation, his future achievements would have a ceiling.

After cultivating until around 11:00 PM, Li Xiang went to bed. Although Extraordinary Beings required less sleep, getting more was still very beneficial.

Li Xiang woke up right on time at five in the morning. He went to the bathroom, washed his face, brushed his teeth, stretched a bit, drank a glass of warm water, then went to let out the chickens, ducks, and geese, scattering a few handfuls of grain for them.

The two goslings and the big rooster all gathered around, following Li Xiang.

Li Xiang led them to their usual spot, by the large boulder near the Chicken Blood Stone Jungle. The Little Fox, Er Huang, the kittens, and the little hedgehog were already waiting there.

Seeing Li Xiang, the little hedgehog squeaked, appearing very happy. Clearly, the little thing had integrated into the group. It had run off somewhere last night but had shown up for the morning meeting today.

Li Xiang checked the little animals’ Cultivation progress and rewarded them with Spirit Fruits according to their individual advancements.

The Little Fox was progressing the fastest, having already condensed two Spiritual Power Vortexes. Er Huang, Xiaobai, the big rooster, and the little male goose had each condensed one.

Xiaosanhua and the tabby were also close; only the little female goose and the little hedgehog were lagging slightly behind.

Perhaps animals just cultivated slower than humans. Li Xiang wasn’t worried, letting them cultivate at their own pace. Some people started slow but later surged ahead—Yao Yao was a perfect example. So it was best to let Nature take its course.

After distributing the Spiritual Medicine and teaching them the next part of the Breathing Technique according to their progress, Li Xiang dismissed the meeting and let them go about their business.

WHOOSH! The kittens shot off, fast as lightning, like little leopards.

The big rooster, on the other hand, flapped its wings and took off. Perhaps it wanted to show off for Li Xiang. With a single flight, it soared right over the courtyard wall, only landing on a large tree several hundred meters away. It then faced the Sun and crowed, "COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!" Its call was loud and clear, and it looked exceptionally majestic.

That cheeky rooster was flying farther and farther.

The little hedgehog, being a slow runner, went off to play with the two goslings.

The goslings waddled away, their bottoms wiggling, with a hedgehog in tow. It was a rather comical sight.

Only the Little Fox and Er Huang remained, staying with Li Xiang, unwilling to leave.

"Go on and play. Come back for breakfast later. I’ve got something special for you, a little upgrade to your usual meals," Li Xiang said with a smile, stroking the heads of the Little Fox and Er Huang.

When it came to intelligence, these two were the smartest, even more so than Tuantuan. Of course, intelligence wasn’t directly correlated with Cultivation Talent.

In his past life, Li Xiang had met many exceptionally smart people. Back then, when Extraordinary Particles first appeared on Earth, some generic Breathing Techniques were made public. Anyone who wanted to could try to cultivate, but those people just couldn’t cross the threshold into Cultivation.

The Little Fox and Er Huang then ran off to play.

Next, Li Xiang swept the courtyard and started preparing breakfast. Granny Li Xiang had also woken up. She helped Li Xiang by picking fresh vegetables from the garden, then went off to wash and dry things, busying herself with various chores.

A large pot of Spirit Medicine Porridge, a dish of dried radish, a dish of peanuts, three plates of stir-fried seasonal vegetables, a plate of marinated beef, and three fried eggs. Then there was the snake meat soup, prepared for the cats, the dog, the Little Fox, and the little hedgehog. It was simmered in a special pot, its aroma filling the air.

His grandmother didn’t like it, and Li Xiang wasn’t very interested after a few bites either, so he gave it all to the little pets.

The porridge, made from Low Tier Spiritual Medicine, was shared with the kittens as well.

Li Xiang had plenty of Low Tier Spiritual Medicine now, so he naturally wouldn’t be stingy. He would even feed some of the leftovers to the ordinary chickens, ducks, and geese.

After eating the Spirit Medicine Porridge, the ordinary chickens, ducks, and geese never got sick, their meat became more tender and succulent, and the eggs they laid were larger.

He would also find time to send some to his maternal grandparents. He tried to pick things that looked like normal food, such as Spirit Fungus or Lingzhi.

It was the same for Jiang Cai’Er’s family.

After breakfast, Li Xiang gathered up many of the "local specialties" he had brought back from Southeast Asia, along with some select Low Tier Spirit Fungi, and took them over to Jiang Jianguo and his wife.

For the other villagers, his grandmother would give a small gift as a token gesture. But she didn’t send anything to Jiang Cai’Er’s family; because their situation was special, she wanted Li Xiang to deliver the gifts himself today. And they had to be much more numerous, and of much better quality, than what everyone else received.

In addition, Li Xiang also brought a few cans of palm wine and Singapore Slings for Jiang Jianguo to try.

Palm wine, also known as toddy, is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of various palm trees. Besides some countries in Southeast Asia, it is also common in tropical regions like the Caribbean coast and Africa.

The Singapore Sling is a rather unique cocktail, hailed as one of the "Top Ten Cocktails." It is the national drink of Singapore and the only one of the top ten invented by an Asian.

Li Xiang had tried both drinks before. Neither had a high alcohol content, but they tasted quite good, so he brought them for Jiang Jianguo to try something new.

But Jiang Jianguo was used to high-proof spirits, so he might not necessarily like these low-alcohol drinks.

After chatting with Uncle Jiang and Aunt Jiang for a while, Li Xiang went back to do his farm chores.

He weeded the vegetable garden, loosened the soil, and caught pests. Naturally, they didn’t use pesticides on the vegetables they ate themselves. Sometimes, the family’s chickens would even help out by pecking at the insects.

As for the chickens also eating the vegetables, well, that was overlooked.

The Li family’s vegetable garden was huge, with so many vegetables in the front and back yards that a large portion was intended to be chopped up and fed to the chickens, ducks, and geese anyway.

It wasn’t just the chickens, ducks, and geese that ate vegetables. Er Huang and the Little Fox would occasionally come to the garden to munch on a few cucumbers, while the kittens had a particular fondness for cherry tomatoes.

Country cats don’t need to be specially fed cat grass or hairball medicine; they find suitable and palatable plants on their own.

For instance, right now, while Li Xiang was busy working, Xiaobai led Xiaosanhua and the little tabby into the vegetable garden to patrol, play hide-and-seek, and frolic. Seeing the bright yellow cherry tomatoes, Xiaobai took a bite of one, its mouth filling with juice.

Xiaosanhua and the little tabby followed suit, though Xiaosanhua was more delicate, licking a single cherry tomato for a long time.

As for rats, it was estimated that no rat dared to appear within an eight-hundred-meter radius of Li Xiang’s house.

Furthermore, only the chickens, ducks, geese, and other small animals from his family were allowed to eat the vegetables in Li Xiang’s garden. If any from another family came over to "freeload," they would be driven away by the dog, the fox, and the kittens.

His grandmother often said with a laugh, "These little ones are amazing at guarding the house."

They never had to worry about birds coming for any grain they were drying in the courtyard.

Any bird that dared to come was just delivering a free meal.

Not even eagles dared to approach.

Weeding, loosening the soil, catching pests... although this work seemed simple, it actually required great patience, meticulousness, and a calm mind. A restless person couldn’t do this job well.

As Li Xiang did this work, his heart was exceptionally calm.

This state of profound tranquility made the Spiritual Power in his body flow even more smoothly, becoming purer. "Impurities" and "hostile energy" were slowly expelled. His eyes shone brightly, and a faint, clear light, like that of crystal, shimmered within his flesh and blood.

Minor Spirit Body Achievement.

At the scenic area next door, the security guards started their drills early in the morning, practicing formations and training in Martial Arts. Since there weren’t many tourists in the morning, it was the perfect time for their "morning exercises."

Since Lei Jiaming had recently acquired many powerful Martial Arts techniques, he led everyone in practice. The security guards were more enthusiastic than usual, their shouts rising and falling in succession, creating a lively scene. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Lei Xiaohui called, saying that a few of the young women at the shop also wanted to learn. Li Xiang replied, "Anyone who wants to learn can. Just limit it to those Martial Arts. If any of them show exceptional performance and have good talent, report them to me."

The women would naturally learn the Martial Arts practiced by Zhao Xueqing, Yao Yao, and Lei Xiaohui, which were more suitable for them.

If there were any with good talent, Li Xiang wouldn’t mind nurturing them a bit.

"Mm-hmm, okay, Brother. Don’t worry." Lei Xiaohui then took the young women to practice.

Of course, they were all very sensible, only practicing in shifts for an hour or two each morning so as not to affect the shop’s work or the afternoon and evening livestream sales.

The rough structure of the employee dormitory was complete, but it would be some time before renovations could begin. Although it would be a long while before they could officially move in, the young women had already picked out their rooms.

There was no dormitory for the men, of course; this one was specially prepared for the women. People like Lei Jiaming had to go home every day. Not that the men minded—it was more comfortable and convenient to go back to their own homes anyway.

And some, like the married Lei Jiaming, wouldn’t dare not go home.

For the next few days, Li Xiang focused on his arduous Cultivation at home while also helping with various farm chores. Tending the fields was a form of mental cultivation. He helped his grandmother plant a new batch of vegetables, such as okra, celtuce, radishes, youmaicai, crown daisy, and red amaranth.

One variety of chili peppers he had planted earlier grew especially tall, with lush branches and leaves, laden with fruit. They were almost as tall as his grandmother’s shoulders. His grandmother said the peppers were on the verge of becoming spirits and would probably grow into pepper trees in the future.

By then, the peppers from a single pepper tree would probably be enough to make several jars of chili sauce.

Li Xiang used the "Mutant Creature Identification Function" to check. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the potential to become Extraordinary. However, in a few years, the descendants grown from the seeds of these pepper trees might just be able to become spirits.

’Spirit peppers from a spirit pepper tree would probably taste even better,’ he thought.

Li Xiang found some time to restock the jadeite factory’s warehouse with some raw stones and cut materials. He then went to the factory to inform his Little Aunt and inspect the operations. Things were going well; it was running in an orderly fashion under his Little Aunt’s management.

His Little Aunt was becoming more and more adept at her work there.

Li Xiang treated the employees to a meal, telling them to bring their families if they could.

Li Xiang also met his cousin’s new girlfriend. The young woman was indeed very pretty, and his Little Aunt was quite satisfied with her future daughter-in-law. She was planning to formally meet with the girlfriend’s parents before the New Year to settle things.

His Little Aunt called Granny Li Xiang often, so she also knew that Li Xiang’s "major life event" had been settled—with Jiang Cai’Er from their own village. Naturally, she was happy for Li Xiang.

Someone from the same village was good; you knew their background. And when it was time to exchange gifts during holidays, it was just a short walk away.