Chapter Eight: Farming

“Senior Brother seems very disappointed that we chose the ‘Nurturing Spirit Art’.”

“We must have left him with some wrong impression before.”

Lin Jing left the Scripture Pavilion. Besides taking the Nurturing Spirit Art Jade Slip, he also took a few history books and, most importantly, the Basic Alchemy (Flora Chapter)!

Mastering the effects of various spiritual plants is one of the fundamental skills of Alchemy.

“After an Outer Sect Disciple succeeds in Qi Refinement, they can choose one basic Spell. To learn a second one, they need to reach the fourth level of Qi Refinement.”

“But since I have the treatment of an Inner Sect Disciple, logically, I don’t have to follow this rule…”

“Forget it, let’s put the matter of Spells aside for now. There’s a reason the Sect limits the number of Spells Disciples can learn; being greedy for many leads to lack of mastery.”

Lin Jing and the Pine Leaf Rat both rubbed their bellies.

“Squeak!”

Half a month of bitter cultivation.

Not only were their Spirit Stones almost gone.

Even that bag of spiritual rice was almost finished, with not much left.

Although the Outer Sect had a cafeteria that provided various delicacies containing Spiritual Qi, they all cost money.

As for ordinary food, the Beast Taming Sect did not provide it. Disciples needed to go to the towns around the mountain gate to buy ingredients themselves or go to the surrounding mountains and forests to hunt wild beasts.

To speed up Cultivation, it was best for an Immortal Cultivator’s three meals to consist of food containing Spiritual Qi. However, the cafeteria food wasn’t cheap, and Lin Jing and his companion didn’t have enough for their Cultivation as it was, so they couldn’t really afford it.

According to Lin Jing’s understanding, there was one advantage for Disciples who chose a Pine Leaf Rat.

“Let’s go buy some spiritual rice seeds and plant them in the courtyard ourselves. With your talent, we should be able to achieve spiritual rice self-sufficiency, right?”

“Squeak!!!” The Pine Leaf Rat nodded. Its Pine Leaf Rat clan produced food for themselves like this when they were in the pine forest—find suitable edible plants and continuously ripen them.

To harvest food quickly, they didn’t need to wait slowly like other races.

“But although spiritual rice is delicious and very filling, eating it for half a month is inevitably a bit monotonous.”

“After buying the seeds, let’s go down the mountain and see if there’s any cheap beast meat for sale, or go into the mountains to hunt some game.” Lin Jing sighed.

Even digging up some free pickled vegetable tubers would be good… Outer Sect, Harvest Pavilion.

Like the Scripture Pavilion, it was also a basic facility of the Beast Taming Sect.

It mainly sold agricultural products.

It was a Sect-wide chain.

Lin Jing and his companion arrived at the shop, and a frail, thin Outer Sect Senior Sister stood up to greet them.

“What does Junior Brother need?” the Senior Sister said slowly.

It seemed like another worker.

Before coming to the Harvest Pavilion, Lin Jing had passed the Task Hall with the Pine Leaf Rat and taken a look around.

He found that Sect tasks, large and small, covered every aspect.

Besides mining, farming, and helping in the kitchen… there were even marriage-urging tasks, urging Disciples to find mates for their Pet Beasts.

Then, they would breed high-quality second-generation Spirit Beasts to achieve a cycle of Pet Beasts within the Sect.

But Lin Jing saw that not many people took these kinds of tasks.

There were also tasks like Senior Brother Ouyang Hao’s, where one could work in a certain Sect facility.

Such tasks were easy and well-paid, but limited in number and had certain requirements. Without enough strength, one couldn’t even snatch one.

Most Disciples could only go to the mines to earn those meager Spirit Stones.

Since the Senior Sister in front of him could serve as the poster girl at Harvest Pavilion and snag such an easy task, she must have some skills.

But why do you all look so frail?

Lin Jing pondered.

“Hello, Senior Sister.”

“I want to buy some spiritual rice seeds,” Lin Jing said.

The Senior Sister glanced at the Pine Leaf Rat and nodded, saying, “Planning to plant them yourself, right?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to buy some fertilizer produced by Foundation Establishment Stage Spirit Beasts? Combined with the Pine Leaf Rat’s spiritual power ripening, it can make the spiritual rice yield higher,” the Senior Sister suggested.

It seemed that as long as the Realm was high, everything on one’s body was a treasure.

But he touched the few Spirit Stones in his pocket and shook his head.

A moment later, he and the Pine Leaf Rat spent all their Spirit Stones and brought back a bag of “spiritual rice seeds” and “spirit bean seeds.”

The former could produce spiritual rice… and the latter was a spiritual plant similar to peanuts, one of the Pine Leaf Rat’s favorite foods.

“This time, we’re completely broke…”

Shortly after, Lin Jing and his companion returned to the courtyard.

Hearing Lin Jing’s muttering, the Pine Leaf Rat was so distressed it wanted to cry. You should know that those Spirit Stones were what it had been hoarding since shortly after it was born!

“Don’t worry.”

“Once our farming enterprise is successful, we can not only be self-sufficient but also sell the extra spiritual rice and spirit beans. We’ll soon earn back the Spirit Stones we spent…”

Lin Jing didn’t know how long “soon” would be, but anyway, he comforted it like this first.

“Squeak?”

Hearing this, the Pine Leaf Rat quickly wiped its tears and became full of expectation for the future again.

Seeing this, Lin Jing was filled with emotion.

“This kid is like me—optimistic!”

…Lin Jing wasn’t familiar with farming, but the Pine Leaf Rat was an expert.

After handing all the seeds to the Pine Leaf Rat, it went to look for an empty spot.

While the Pine Leaf Rat buried the seeds, pressed its big tail against the ground, and input emerald-green spiritual power to accelerate the seeds’ growth and ripen them, Lin Jing had already picked up the three history books he had brought from the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion.

“A Brief History of the Tian Yuan Continent”

“History of the Ancient Kingdom”

“History of the Development of the Beast Taming Sect”

He first opened “A Brief History of the Tian Yuan Continent.”

“In ancient times, the Tian Yuan Continent was one of the Lower Realms of the Immortal Realm power ‘Immortal Palace’ and was ruled by the ‘Immortal Palace’.”

“One hundred thousand years ago, due to an unknown disturbance in the Immortal Realm, the Immortal Palace was caught in the flames of war. The Ascension Path of the Tian Yuan Continent disappeared. Since then, the Tian Yuan Continent could no longer contact the Immortal Realm, and no more Immortal Cultivators could achieve Ascension.”

“At that time, the continent was still led by the ‘Tianyuan Immortal Palace’, the Immortal Palace’s power on the Tian Yuan Continent, and all races submitted to the Immortal Palace’s rule.”

“Fifty thousand years ago, due to the constant inability to contact the Immortal Realm, the Immortal Palace of the Tian Yuan Continent grew increasingly weak as time passed. To maintain its ruling status, the Immortal Palace attempted to forcibly break through the world boundary, excessively consuming the resources of the Tian Yuan Continent and causing widespread suffering.”

“At this time, four major Sects joined forces to overthrow the Immortal Palace’s absolute rule over the Tian Yuan Continent. Thus, the Immortal Palace Era ended.”

“Later, the four major Sects formed the ‘Immortal Alliance’ and took over the rule of the Immortal Palace. The Immortal Alliance became the new overlord of the Tian Yuan Continent. Thus, the Tian Yuan Continent entered the Immortal Alliance Era.”

“History is a Reincarnation. Although the Immortal Cultivation World of the Tian Yuan Continent flourished under the rule of the Immortal Alliance at first, ten thousand years ago, the Immortal Alliance ultimately could not avoid the same old path as the Immortal Palace.”

“At the end of the Immortal Alliance Era, another exceptionally talented Immortal Cultivator appeared. He not only successfully destroyed the Immortal Alliance but also established the ‘Tian Yuan Ancient Kingdom’ and developed the ‘True Dragon Secret Technique’, binding his own cultivation to the infinite territory. When the people prospered and the land was fertile, his own combat power would be stronger.”

“He called himself the Ancient Emperor. Relying on the True Dragon Secret Technique, he nurtured a Qi Luck True Dragon and became the strongest person on the Tian Yuan Continent.”

“The Tian Yuan Ancient Kingdom now occupies the central position, which is the core, largest, and most fertile area of the Tian Yuan Continent.”

“Besides the Tian Yuan Ancient Kingdom, there are also places like Qing Prefecture, Martial Emperor City, Water Moon Immortal Island, and the Snowy Plains that are not under the jurisdiction of the Ancient Kingdom and are also guarded by powerful Immortal Cultivators.”

“And the place where I am now is the Great Wilderness Region, one of the Nine Regions of the Ancient Kingdom… The Spiritual Qi is relatively thin, and only Nascent Soul Cultivators are active at the highest level.”

Lin Jing finished reading.

“It really is a brief history; you didn’t even record which four Sects formed the Immortal Alliance!”