Cooperation

Old Sun unscrewed the stopper and tipped out a pill the size of a longan.

Using Mana to hold it aloft, he sent it floating before Wang Chen.

Wang Chen asked in surprise, "Grandpa Sun, what is this?"

The pill was jade-like throughout, exuding a rich medicinal fragrance.

Just smelling it made the Mana within him circulate faster.

"A Qi Replenishing Pill."

Old Sun said irritably, "Hurry up and eat it so you can get back to work!"

Wang Chen smiled. "This doesn't count as part of the payment."

Old Sun gritted his teeth. "It doesn't!"

His heart ached!

A low-grade Rank One Qi Replenishing Pill sold for one Lower Spirit at the pill shops in Yunyang City.

The Qi Replenishing Pill's effect was to accelerate the recovery of Mana.

Its true purpose was not cultivation, but rapidly replenishing Mana during battle.

Old Sun had saved up a few for emergencies.

Under normal circumstances, how could he bear to give Wang Chen a Qi Replenishing Pill for nothing?

But now, he truly had no other choice.

If he did not hurry and clear the Earth Rhinoceroses from his Spirit Fields, his losses could not be made up with just one or two Spirit Stones.

He had already knelt; one more bow made no difference!

Watching Wang Chen happily snatch up the pill and pop it into his mouth, Old Sun felt sorrow surging backward into a river in his heart.

Wang Chen held the Qi Replenishing Pill in his mouth, using saliva to dissolve it before swallowing the medicinal liquid bit by bit.

The medicinal power swiftly dispersed into pure spiritual energy, which the Five Elements Technique condensed into Mana.

Wang Chen sprang up from the ground and threw himself back into the great undertaking of exterminating pests in the Spirit Fields!

A Qi Replenishing Pill restored Qi a hundred times faster than meditating and circulating his technique.

One Qi Replenishing Pill could undoubtedly greatly extend his combat endurance.

Speaking of which, the original owner had been pitiful too.

He had lived to seventeen, cultivated for more than ten years, yet the pills he had taken could be counted on one hand.

Many of the "second-generation immortals" in the Yunyang Sect inner sect normally ate pills like snacks.

Even a pig could be piled into a high-level Qi Refining cultivator that way!

With the Qi Replenishing Pill's medicinal power continuously supporting him, Wang Chen quickened his sweep through the Spirit Fields.

He grew increasingly proficient at pest removal.

Though he was limited by his innate Spiritual Root and comprehension.

Wang Chen's intelligence and emotional intelligence were far beyond what the dull-witted original owner could compare with.

After the Gengjin Finger broke through to the proficient level, his mastery of the spell deepened considerably.

Moreover, Wang Chen was good at drawing lessons from experience.

Relying on his powerful perception and his ability to resonate with vegetation.

He could easily find Earth Rhinoceroses hidden among the Spirit Rice, then quietly approach them.

And kill them with a single finger.

As the number of Earth Rhinoceroses dying at Wang Chen's hands continued to rise, the proficiency of his proficient-level Gengjin Finger steadily increased.

Yet the Mana he consumed actually decreased.

This was because Wang Chen discovered that ordinary Earth Rhinoceroses did not require him to use the full force of his Finger Force.

If he was close enough, one-tenth of his Finger Force was enough to deal with an Earth Rhinoceros.

But if he got too close, the Earth Rhinoceros would notice and flee underground.

Wang Chen soon tested out the optimal distance.

Then the hit rate of his Gengjin Finger rose accordingly.

By the end, no Earth Rhinoceros locked onto by Wang Chen's Spiritual Sense could escape.

His one-hit kill success rate approached one hundred percent!

Under such circumstances, Wang Chen pressed on in one burst and cleared all thirty mu of Old Sun's Spirit Fields.

He rested only once during that time, taking a second Qi Replenishing Pill.

Old Sun had gone all out as well.

On the other hand, Wang Chen's pest-removal efficiency had truly stunned him.

As a result, even as Spirit Stones flew out of his Storage Bag one after another, he had gone numb and felt nothing!

Wiping the streaming sweat from his forehead, Wang Chen happily counted today's gains.

Old Sun's thirty mu of Spirit Fields had actually contributed fifty-seven Earth Rhinoceroses to him.

The "yield per mu" of Earth Rhinoceroses was nearly double that of Wang Chen's own Spirit Fields!

Who knew what terrible sins this old man had committed.

At the price of twenty Shattered Spirit per Earth Rhinoceros, Wang Chen earned eleven Lower Spirit and forty Shattered Spirit from Old Sun.

Cash settled on the spot, without a single Shattered Spirit withheld.

In addition, he obtained spoils worth nearly three Lower Spirit.

As for the insect meat he could dig out and eat.

That was nothing at all!

The Spirit Stones Wang Chen earned today were already twice all the savings the original owner had possessed!

He felt that his Storage Bag had never been so swollen.

"Wang Chen..."

Old Sun handed his water gourd to Wang Chen. "Have a drink."

This elder cultivator no longer called Wang Chen by his nickname, and the look in his eyes was complicated.

"Thank you."

Wang Chen removed the gourd hanging at his waist. "I have water of my own."

He noticed the other man's gaze and smiled. "Grandpa Sun, what do you think of my pest-removal skills?"

Old Sun fell silent for a moment, then gave him a thumbs-up. "Impressive!"

They were truly impressive—and truly ruthless!

Thinking of all those Spirit Stones that had "vanished without wings" from his Storage Bag, Old Sun nearly cried aloud.

He had never dreamed there were so many Earth Rhinoceroses in his own fields!

He had suffered a devastating financial loss.

"Grandpa Sun."

Setting down his gourd, Wang Chen said, "Since my pest-removal skills are so impressive, other households must have suffered an Insect Plague too. Help introduce me to some business, and I'll give you a kickback. How about it?"

On the great path of cultivation: Wealth, Dharma, companions, and place.

Wealth came first!

The original owner had been too poor to bear spending resources to break through a bottleneck, and as a result something went wrong—his soul scattered and vanished.

Which had handed Wang Chen, who had crossed over, a bargain for nothing.

Wang Chen did not want to follow in the original owner's footsteps.

With both his Spiritual Root and comprehension low, spending money was undoubtedly the true path!

So Wang Chen wanted to earn Spirit Stones—more Spirit Stones.

Yet at present, he was merely a minor Spirit Planting farmer of the Yunyang Sect outer sect, a lowly Qi Refining cultivator at the very Bottom Layer.

No matter how loudly he spoke, no one would hear him.

Nor was he worthy of trust.

Old Sun was different.

Although Old Sun was also a Spirit Planting farmer at the Bottom Layer.

He had farmed Spirit Fields for decades; his connections and reputation were beyond anything Wang Chen could compare to.

With this old cultivator vouching for him.

Wang Chen's pest-removal business would surely get underway smoothly.

"Ten percent."

Wang Chen raised one finger. "I'll give you ten percent of every household's payment!"

A kickback?

Old Sun was wide awake at once.

He swallowed, his cloudy old eyes gleaming sharply. "Twenty percent. I want twenty percent!"

"Deal!"

Wang Chen did not haggle and agreed immediately.

A sudden outbreak of Earth Rhinoceroses was rare.

At least, it had never happened before in the original owner's memories.

Among the many Spirit Planting farmers in the Yunyang Sect outer sect, there were plenty proficient in the Gengjin Finger.

And if the situation became serious, the Spirit Planting Hall above could not possibly remain indifferent; they would surely send experts down to resolve it.

If a Purple Mansion cultivator personally stepped in, what could mere Earth Rhinoceroses amount to?

Therefore, the window for Wang Chen's grand money-making plan was actually very short.

To ensure Old Sun remained enthusiastic about seeking out business, it was only right to give him a little more sweetness.

On the other hand, Wang Chen wanted to dispel Old Sun's resentment toward him.

After all, they were neighbors.

A distant relative was no match for a close neighbor!

"I'll go ask around right now!"

Old Sun took off running, moving even faster than a rabbit.

Wang Chen could not help but laugh.

He was considering a question.

There were so many Earth Rhinoceroses in Old Sun's fields—so why had he not seen a single one that had turned demonic?