“Today, I’ll assign your farming areas.”
Fan Jie glanced at the three, then walked to Li An, roughly grabbing his arm to check.
Wang Zilin watched from the side, smirking with a hint of glee.
Li An couldn’t have reached Qi Refining. He was in for trouble.
But the next mont, Fan Jie nodded. “Hm, your spiritual qi is weak, the weakest First Layer of Qi Refining I’ve ever seen, but at least you made it.”
He released Li An’s arm.
Wang Zilin and Zhang Susu were surprised.
Wasn’t Li An’s spirit root broken? How could he reach Qi Refining?
But hearing Fan Jie call it the “weakest First Layer,” they weren’t too shocked. Li An must have pushed himself to the brink, barely scraping by with this small result.
“Based on your conditions, Wang Zilin will handle the ten acres on the right!”
“Zhang Susu, you’re in charge of the ten acres on the left.”
“Li An, you take the ten acres in the center!”
Fan Jie’s words landed.
Li An was slightly surprised.
He got the most fertile section?!
Wang Zilin, with the fastest progress and best mastery of the Cloud and Rain Technique, got the dium-quality right fields.
Zhang Susu was stuck with the poorest left fields.
But after a mont’s thought, Li An understood.
Fan Jie was finally making a move on Zhang Susu.
His plan was simple: give Zhang Susu the toughest job, let her struggle, then soon swap her to the best fields.
Once she felt the difference, she’d want to keep the easiest, most productive fields. To do that, she’d have to give sothing up…
It’s easy to go from poor to luxury, but hard to go back.
The worst fields went to Zhang Susu, leaving the best and dium ones.
Why give the best to Li An? Li An guessed it was because Wang Zilin was too close to Zhang Susu, annoying Fan Jie.
Li An couldn’t help but think, Miss Susu is my lucky star.
“Immortal, Li An’s the weakest. Why does he get the best?” Wang Zilin spoke up, clearly unhappy.
Zhang Susu frowned too. Getting the worst fields felt unfair!
But Fan Jie shot Wang Zilin a cold look and slapped him hard.
Smack!
Wang Zilin’s face swelled instantly, his gums bleeding.
“You got a problem?” Fan Jie asked icily.
Fear flashed in Wang Zilin’s eyes. He lowered his head. “N-no… I don’t.”
Seeing this, Zhang Susu shut her mouth.
“Hm, one more thing.”
Fan Jie pulled out three clay jars and handed them to the trio.
“Recently, there’ve been so rice borers in the fields. When tending your areas, sprinkle this powder to kill them.”
Li An’s mind stirred. Fan Jie’s long trip likely for this?
If Li An was right, Fan Jie probably went to a black market or similar place to get these “pesticides.”
Normal pest issues would just be reported to the sect, and they’d handle it.
But since this pest problem ca from Fan Jie stealing spiritual qi, he wouldn’t dare let the sect know.
Li An stayed calm, took the clay jar, and headed to his central fields.
Fan Jie opened the fields’ protective barriers, letting the three enter.
Soon, clouds ford over Spirit Plant Mountain, and light rain fell, watering the fields.
Fan Jie patrolled outside, occasionally glancing at the central fields.
Everything seed fine, so he returned to the mountain peak.
…
Evening ca, and the day’s work ended.
Fan Jie appeared, checking their clothes and pockets to ensure no one stole spirit rice, then let them out of the fields.
He handed out their monthly rations.
Since they’d passed the newcor period and started working, and cultivation increased their needs, each got three bags of spirit rice, about ten pounds total.
The spirit stone was still just a small piece.
The joy of getting rations eased the day’s exhaustion.
“Susu, keep it up! I heard if our fields’ yield ets the standard, we get a share of the extra. Then we can sell it for spirit stones!” Wang Zilin said, full of energy.
Spirit rice gave limited spiritual qi, and daily Cloud and Rain Technique use left little to store.
Spirit stones were the key.
“Right, let’s do this! I’ll work hard and aim to break through to the Third Layer of Qi Refining. Then I can apply to be a registered disciple!” Zhang Susu wiped sweat from her face. Her beauty shone, her sweat-soaked gray nial uniform clinging, accentuating her graceful figure.
Their eyes sparkled with hope, believing hard work would achieve their dreams.
“Brother Li, you too!” Zhang Susu turned to him.
Li An’s special treatnt from Fan Jie made her think he might have so connection to him.
Best to stay friendly.
Li An smiled. “Yeah, let’s do it.”
…
At night, as usual, Li An slipped into the fields under cover of darkness.
He headed straight for the whirlpool.
As he’d thought, the qi-stealing whirlpool didn’t run during the day, staying hidden, but activated at night.
Around it, dozens of fat, spiritualized borer larvae had appeared.
This was his third haul of high-quality protein.
“This won’t last long-term…”
Li An muttered.
Spirit rice had too many impurities, slowing absorption. Even at the First Layer of Qi Refining, he could handle only about three pounds daily.
The amount of spiritual qi he could gain was capped.
Spiritualized borers were rich in qi, but their numbers were limited.
He’d need spirit stones eventually.
Otherwise, relying on spirit rice, he’d be stealing for years before hoping to reach the Second Layer of Qi Refining.
…
Half a month passed.
The grind of farming dulled the initial excitent. Wang Zilin and Zhang Susu grew quieter.
Zhang Susu, especially, showed fatigue and worry in her eyes.
The spirit rice was nearing maturity, making this ti critical.
But despite her hard work, exhausted daily, her fields’ growth lagged behind Wang Zilin’s and Li An’s.
At this rate, her ten acres might yield only a third of Li An’s.
Wang Zilin grew more jealous.
It wasn’t that Li An’s cultivation was better. In fact, Li An worked shorter hours, often resting.
But his fields’ good location let him coast.
“Brother Li, you’re so lucky,” Zhang Susu said, her eyes tinged with helplessness and envy.
Li An coughed twice, looking weak. “My spirit root’s still damaged. Maybe Immortal Fan gave easy fields because I’m weak.”
He returned to his hut to rest.
“Susu, don’t worry. I’ll work harder tomorrow. After finishing my fields, I’ll help you. With effort, our fields will outshine his…” Wang Zilin gritted his teeth, unwilling to lose.
…
Seven more days passed.
True to his word, Wang Zilin worked his fields, then helped Zhang Susu, laboring like an ox.
Fan Jie visited the fields once, saying nothing about their work but checking the “pesticide” results.
His frown deepened. None of the three pesticides worked well. Wang Zilin’s jar was the best, but it still left twenty to thirty percent of borers alive.
He told Li An to manage things temporarily while he went on another trip.
Being “entrusted” made Wang Zilin and Zhang Susu even more envious.
They felt Li An must have so tie to Fan Jie, earning such trust and favor.
Li An knew better.
Fan Jie just thought he was easy to control.
To Fan Jie, Li An’s damaged spirit root and forced breakthrough to the First Layer of Qi Refining ant he’d likely stay there forever.
…
On the last day of the second month, Fan Jie still hadn’t returned.
But that day, a visitor arrived.
Wang Dazhu!
“Brother An, I’m here to see you!” Wang Dazhu ran over from a distance, grinning.
…
(Chapter End)
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