"It's you."
The dark-faced steward revealed a surprised expression. He had clearly not forgotten Xu Chunniang, the one who had rejected the recruitment of an inner sect disciple.
He frowned and glanced at the Jade Slip in his hand.
"Planting spiritual rice is no easy task. It requires careful daily cultivation. With your Spiritual Qi, you are not suited for this task. I advise you not to take it.
"The only commission suitable for you may be caring for demon beasts. But caring for demon beasts is not as easy as you imagine either. You must understand their habits before you can do it."
Xu Chunniang knew that if she revealed her true Fifth Layer of Qi Condensation cultivation, the steward would certainly say no more.
But if he asked why her cultivation had progressed so quickly, would he believe her if she said it was due to an epiphany?
The Fifth Layer of Qi Condensation might seem impressive, but compared with the Ninth Layer of Qi Condensation, the gap was immeasurable. If they wanted to deal with her, they would not even need half a finger.
Xu Chunniang's original intention in concealing her cultivation was to avoid drawing attention. Things were quite good as they were now.
"But this disciple wishes to give it a try. If I cannot manage it, I'll switch to another commission."
Seeing Xu Chunniang persist, the dark-faced steward shook his head and did not try to dissuade her further.
In truth, cultivators often had no way back. She thought that if she did poorly on this commission, she would still have the chance to change to another one.
But she had not considered how difficult her circumstances would become once she was saddled with enormous debts five years later.
Unaware of the dark-faced steward's thoughts, Xu Chunniang successfully accepted the commission and walked out of the Commission Hall.
All her belongings were on her. Thinking it over, there was nothing to pack, so she might as well head directly to the spiritual fields.
After taking out her map and determining the direction, Xu Chunniang headed toward Spiritual Plant Peak.
She walked for half a day before finally reaching the foot of Spiritual Plant Peak.
The entire Spiritual Plant Peak was covered in spiritual fields, scattered here and there in an irregular pattern.
Some places were rich in Spiritual Qi, with over a dozen spiritual fields connected together. Other places were relatively barren, with only one or two fields scattered sparsely about.
Beside every spiritual field stood a small wooden house for the disciples tending the fields. Numbers were written on the houses, apparently serving as identifiers.
Every spiritual field was protected by a formation. Only by holding the corresponding formation talisman could one enter. This was to protect the fields and crops from damage.
Most of these spiritual fields had already been planted with spiritual rice, while only a few were bare. Some field owners had also activated their formations' concealment functions, making the scenes within hazy and indistinct.
Xu Chunniang roughly understood the situation. Those spiritual fields planted with spiritual rice already had owners. She would likely only be able to choose among the bare fields.
She made her way all the way to the peak and finally found Steward Sun, who was in charge of distributing the spiritual fields.
When he saw someone approaching, he was initially delighted. But after sensing Xu Chunniang's cultivation, he frowned again.
"Third level Qi Condensation? What's going on? Are you just passing by?"
Xu Chunniang shook her head and handed over her token. "I accepted a commission to cultivate a spiritual field."
Steward Sun rolled his eyes and accepted the token with some dissatisfaction, only to discover that she truly had accepted the commission.
"Since you've accepted the commission, choose a spiritual field."
As he spoke, he took out a map containing the spiritual fields of the entire Spiritual Plant Peak.
Those shining with white light had already been chosen. The gray, dull-looking ones had not yet been selected.
Xu Chunniang carefully examined it all. It was not hard to see that the best locations had all been taken. The remaining fields were poorer, and they were distributed in remote places as well.
Since they were all about the same, she simply chose the most remote one. Its field number was Number 172.
After registering it, the steward handed her half a jin of spiritual rice seeds and a strangely shaped Spiritual Artifact, carefully instructing her as he did so.
"Spiritual rice can be planted twice a year. These are seeds, and they are only issued the first time you accept this commission. After that, you'll have to find a way yourself.
"Planting spiritual rice is no trifling matter. Every day, you must use the Spiritual Rain Technique to water it, and the Earth Moistening Technique to increase the Spiritual Qi in the Spirit Soil.
"This is a low-grade Spiritual Artifact specially used to harvest spiritual rice. It must be returned once you complete the commission. If it is damaged or lost, one hundred Contribution Points will be deducted directly. Oh, and the formation talisman—"
The steward pulled out a bag, found the formation talisman marked with Number 172, and handed it to Xu Chunniang.
"You can use this to open the spiritual field's protective formation. Just infuse it with Spiritual Qi.
"Remember to bring spiritual rice to me every half year. If your yield exceeds the required amount, I'll buy it at two jin per Spirit Stone.
"But you're a novice, and your cultivation is only in the early stages of Qi Condensation. For the first two or three years, I'm afraid you'll..."
As he spoke, the steward shook his head, looking as though he held very little hope for Xu Chunniang.
Xu Chunniang accepted the items, nodded at the steward, and said nothing more before heading toward the spiritual field.
Number 172 was located in an extremely remote place. Xu Chunniang walked for a full two hours before reaching her destination.
As far as the eye could see, this entire expanse contained only this one spiritual field. One could imagine just how barren this area was.
A small wooden house stood alone beside the spiritual field. It was inside the formation, and the house itself was intact and looked as good as new.
Xu Chunniang used the formation talisman to open the formation and entered, carefully inspecting the spiritual field.
The Spiritual Qi within the field was fairly abundant. She secretly compared it with the Spirit Soil and found that the Spiritual Qi content in the field was only about one-tenth that of the Spirit Soil.
However, the entire field possessed this level of Spiritual Qi, covering an area many times larger than the Spirit Soil. It was barely enough to grow spiritual rice.
After inspecting the spiritual field, Xu Chunniang did not rush to sow the seeds. Instead, she first entered the small wooden house nearby.
Thanks to the formation's protection, the little wooden house looked very clean, with hardly any dust.
The furnishings inside were extremely simple. Aside from a bed and a table with chairs, there was nothing else.
Xu Chunniang nodded in satisfaction. Though it was somewhat crude, it was livable. This would be her residence for the next five years.
The house looked clean, but no one had lived here for a long time. It still needed a little washing.
"Spiritual Qi Manifests as Rain."
As Xu Chunniang's words fell, rain began to fall throughout the entire house, densely showering every corner.
If anyone else saw this scene, they would certainly find it incomprehensible and think Xu Chunniang was wasting Spiritual Qi.
After all, she was only rinsing out the house. She could simply draw water from the well outside. Wouldn't that Spiritual Qi be better used watering the spiritual field?
But Xu Chunniang did not see it that way. Drawing water from the well would save Spiritual Qi, but it was far too slow. She would rather use that time to cultivate.
Besides, it was only one Spiritual Rain Technique. It truly did not consume much spiritual power.
Looking at the newly refreshed wooden house, Xu Chunniang smiled faintly and left it for the edge of the spiritual field.
She did not sow the seeds right away. Instead, she began casting the Spiritual Rain Technique.
With her current cultivation, casting the Spiritual Rain Technique was no more difficult than raising a hand.
But after casting the technique only twice, Xu Chunniang stopped using the Spiritual Rain Technique and switched to the Earth Moistening Technique.
Standing in the center of the spiritual field, she transformed the Spiritual Qi within her body into pure earth Spiritual Qi and continuously sent it down into the ground below.
Only after consuming three-quarters of the Spiritual Qi in her body did Xu Chunniang stop. She took out the half-jin of seeds given by the steward from her Storage Bag and gently scattered them over the field.
Each spiritual rice seed was plump and crystal-clear, nearly three times the size of rice from the Mortal Realm.
Looking at the newly planted spiritual rice, Xu Chunniang fell into thought.
She had once tried casting the Spring Growth Technique on several targets at once. At that time, she could condense at most three streams of pure Wood Spiritual Qi simultaneously.
After two years had passed, how many streams of Wood Spiritual Qi could Xu Chunniang now condense at the same time?
I spoke with the editor. The release will go premium next Tuesday. (Latest news: I just received a notice from the editor saying it can go premium this Friday instead, so you won't have to wait too long!) Thanks to fellow Daoists Xinlian, Yu, and Zhao Hong for the monthly tickets!
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