Spirit Planter Guardian

That day, Yang Chen rarely managed to cultivate in peace. But when night fell, he went to bed early.

Tomorrow would be the day the Spirit Rice was harvested. Before the Outer Sect senior brothers and sisters, he had to ensure he was in peak condition. Naturally, he had to keep such matters of attitude straight.

Before dawn the next day, he began cooking over the fire. Once he had eaten, he immediately went to inspect the fields.

When dawn arrived, he seemed to sense something and looked into the distance, only to see a vast crowd approaching.

At the head were several disciples in white, all just over twenty. They carried an imposing air even without anger, while Wang Kui and several Area 8 supervisors carefully attended them at their sides.

Yang Chen had learned of the Spirit Rice harvest date earlier. Seeing them arrive now, he immediately stood respectfully at the roadside to wait. There were many like him; Xu Qingqing included, all waited obediently by the road.

A group split off from the main procession. It included one Outer Sect disciple, one Area 8 supervisor, and over thirty Labor Disciples.

Yang Chen gave them a rough look and knew that there were almost no newcomers among these laborers. Harvesting Spirit Rice seemed to be a good assignment, and quite a few had rushed to take it.

He gave it no further thought, watching his nose, his nose watching his heart, and waited for the white-clad senior brother's arrangements.

This white-clad senior brother was a man of swift action. After counting heads, he took the appropriate tools from his Storage Bag and distributed them. Then he called Yang Chen and several others over and ordered them to open the formation.

Once the formation was opened, the white-clad senior brother solemnly explained the precautions. He repeatedly stressed that no one was allowed to line their own pockets; anyone who defied the order would be expelled from the sect at once.

"You few, get down into the fields as well."

With a sweep of his hand, the white-clad disciple handed Yang Chen, Xu Qingqing, and the others sickles and other tools. They would enter the fields with everyone else shortly.

Before everyone entered the fields, the white-clad disciple circled the ridges three times. Seeing this, Yang Chen's heart immediately tightened.

Fortunately, it was all alarm without danger. When the white-clad disciple returned before the crowd, there was no displeasure on his face. He swept his gaze around, divided the several dozen people into five groups, and ordered them into the fields.

As for himself, naturally, he would not be doing the work personally. Accompanied by an Area 8 supervisor whom Yang Chen did not recognize, he supervised the progress in the five Spirit Rice fields.

Yang Chen bent over with his sickle and slowly advanced from a corner on the northern side.

"This Spirit Rice is really tough!"

Yang Chen could not help but remark. He felt less like he was cutting rice and more like he was felling trees. Only because his strength was now immense could he manage it; otherwise, who knew how long it would take to cut a single stalk of Spirit Rice.

A hundred mu of Spirit Rice fields was neither large nor small. With five or six people advancing together, their progress was fairly encouraging. But Spirit Rice was famed for its toughness, and it was clear these hundred mu could not be harvested in a single day. By afternoon, everyone stopped.

Yang Chen took notice of the other areas, and his expression immediately turned strange.

These people looked as though their cultivation was higher than his. Yet unexpectedly, they harvested Spirit Rice even slower than he did.

Just as he was about to smugly praise himself a little, realization struck him. These people were deliberately slacking off, hoping to earn two more Spirit Crystals.

He closed the formation and did not return to the residential area, continuing to stay in the wooden cabin.

After a busy day, his cultivation had already been delayed. He hastily ate his meal and could not wait to begin cultivating.

Over the next two days, Yang Chen maintained his own pace. He did not care about one or two Spirit Crystals. Naturally, he hoped to finish sooner and leave himself more time to cultivate.

This made the expressions of those Labor Disciples who had come over turn somewhat ugly. If they dragged things out, they could extend the work by one more day. That day meant one Spirit Crystal, and being assigned here had not come without a price for them.

Yang Chen could not be bothered with any of that. He continued to go his own way, and by the afternoon of the third day, he had completely harvested the hundred mu of Spirit Rice under his responsibility.

The white-clad senior brother had not been idle these past three days either. Once the Spirit Rice was harvested, he used special equipment granted by the sect to separate the ears of rice and weigh them one by one.

After everything was finished, the white-clad senior brother took out Spirit Crystals and distributed them among the crowd. He then summoned Yang Chen and the other four separately, rewarding each of them with three Spirit Crystals and praising them for faithfully fulfilling their duties. The yield of Spirit Rice per mu had perfectly met the standard.

Yang Chen happily tucked the six Spirit Crystals into his pocket. The advantages brought by a good assignment were things disciples in the mines and lumberyards would not even dare dream of.

The white-clad disciple led his group away. Yang Chen still had duties to carry out and did not leave with them. That night, he continued to stay in the wooden cabin.

After one round of cultivation, he summoned his status panel:

[Realm: Qi Martial Third Level, Punching Force: 4012 kilograms]

"Qi Martial Fourth Level isn't far away!"

Joy was hard to conceal on Yang Chen's face. It had been less than two months since he entered the sect, yet he had rapidly risen from a Quasi-Martialist to the verge of Qi Martial Fourth Level. Across the entire Nineteenth Servant Peak, there were only a few whose progress could surpass his.

"With my current cultivation, I can at least rank among the top three hundred of my cohort. It might not even be impossible to enter the top two hundred."

Yang Chen felt rather high-spirited at this moment. At the beginning of the month, seeing the cultivation of those on the rankings had shaken him deeply. Now, with the month nearly over, he had gradually closed the gap.

The night swiftly passed. At noon the next day, just as Yang Chen finished cultivating, the sound of great bells and mighty chimes drifted down from the heavens: "From this moment, for fifteen days, no one may enter the Spirit Rice field area. Relevant personnel are to activate the formations and leave immediately."

Upon hearing that voice, Yang Chen did not hesitate to leave the wooden cabin and look into the sky.

That single glance made his soul tremble violently. High in the heavens hung a human face that seemed even larger than the sky itself. The face gazed down upon the earth, bringing unimaginable pressure upon the disciples below.

Yang Chen was beyond shocked!

His understanding of the Sun Moon Sect was now greater than before. For instance, he knew exactly who the enormous face before him belonged to.

This was a true disciple of Hidden Sword Peak, overseeing the Spirit Rice, medicinal herbs, mineral resources, and other assets of the five Labor Peaks under Hidden Sword Peak's jurisdiction. He not only possessed power vast enough to span heaven and earth, but also held a position of utmost honor.

"Spirit Planter Guardian Qiu Jiuming!"

The supreme Tian of the Five Great Servant Peaks!

He hurriedly glanced twice before lowering his head. He quickly ran to the edge of the Spirit Rice fields and used his token to completely shut down the formation.

After closing the formation, he kept his head down and headed into the distance. Once he had left the Spirit Rice field area, he did not immediately return to the residential district. Instead, he found a relatively high spot and sat down.

He was far from the only one doing this. Nearly all the laborers from the Spirit Rice field area waited eagerly in various places outside it.

As Yang Chen waited with rapt attention, a fragrant breeze suddenly drifted over from beside him. Looking closely, he saw that Xu Qingqing had arrived not far from him, her dark hair cascading like a waterfall, her beauty unmatched.

"Senior Sister Xu, you came to watch the excitement too?"

Xu Qingqing smiled gently and gave Yang Chen a slight nod, but she did not say much else.

Yang Chen could tell that although she was smiling, there was an obvious sense of distance in that smile.

An iceberg beauty.

Yang Chen gave her that nickname in his heart. Thinking it over, he amused himself and could not help laughing aloud.

Xu Qingqing seemed not to notice. That enormous face was reflected in her eyes, and no one knew what she was thinking.