Shen Fan had already displayed an endurance ordinary people could scarcely bear by dragging his badly injured body back to the Spirit Field.
He used the last of his strength to shut the door, then slowly sat down. Looking at the Qi Induction Pill crushed into powder in his hand, Shen Fan carefully placed it into the chipped, broken bowl he usually ate from on the table.
What had shattered was not only the pill, but also his feelings for Lu Qingzhu.
After that, he could no longer endure it. He spat out a mouthful of blood, staining the broken bowl on the table.
Then he fell backward to the floor and finally lost consciousness.
After Shen Fan passed out, he had no idea that the blood he had spat onto his hand, after staining the broken bowl, was silently absorbed by it completely.
Early the next morning.
Bang!
The wooden door was kicked open, and Zhao Erhu, the Spirit Field steward, strode in with a ferocious expression.
Cursing all the way to the bedside, he said, "Shen Fan, what time is it already? Why aren't you out in the fields working? If this season's yield falls below fifty kilograms per mu, just see how I deal with you!"
"Huh? Why are you sleeping on the floor, kid?"
"Wait! What's this?"
Shen Fan was suddenly jolted awake and saw Zhao Erhu reach toward the broken bowl on the table.
He then took out an intact Qi Induction Pill from the broken bowl, greedily preparing to slip it into his pocket.
"What are you doing?"
Shen Fan abruptly sat up to stop him, but a violent pain suddenly shot through his back.
"Ah!!"
Shen Fan let out a miserable scream and collapsed limply to the floor.
Holding up the intact Qi Induction Pill, Zhao Erhu said mockingly, "I heard you saved up three years' worth of contributions just to exchange for this Qi Induction Pill, planning to give it to Lu Qingzhu?"
"This is the one, right?"
"I'm warning you. Senior Brother Qingshan told me to take good care of you. Starting today, besides the five mu of spirit fields under your care, the five uncultivated spirit fields right next to yours will also all be under your management!"
"A total of ten spirit fields. If the harvest comes up short, I'll skin you alive!"
"Today, for the sake of this Qi Induction Pill, I'll let you rest for one day."
"Starting tomorrow, you alone will be responsible for clearing, sowing, and irrigating all ten spirit fields!"
With that, he left the room humming a little tune.
Fine beads of sweat covered Shen Fan's forehead. The intense pain made his entire body convulse.
He had not heard clearly what Zhao Erhu said. It seemed Zhao Erhu wanted him to manage ten spirit fields, and Li Qingshan was obviously the one pulling strings behind this.
But what was with the Qi Induction Pill Zhao Erhu had taken?
After a moment, Shen Fan recovered somewhat and raised his head toward the table.
There, he saw only the bowl and chopsticks he usually used for meals.
Yet he had clearly seen Zhao Erhu take an intact Qi Induction Pill from his rice bowl just now. Hadn't that pill been crushed yesterday?
All sorts of doubts coiled around Shen Fan's heart, leaving him utterly baffled. Still, Zhao Erhu had taken the Qi Induction Pill and given him one day to rest.
After resting for a night, Shen Fan struggled to rise. His legs felt as heavy as if filled with lead, barely supporting him as he took a few steps.
His hands trembling, he picked up the broken bowl and overturned the rice sack. The remaining half-bowl of coarse rice rustled down, and he carefully picked up even the few grains scattered on the floor.
"All my contribution points were exchanged for that Qi Induction Pill..."
Shen Fan stared at the grains at the bottom of the bowl, his Adam's apple bobbing.
One sect contribution point could be exchanged for ten jin of coarse rice, while his only livelihood was cultivating spirit fields for a meager number of contributions.
But there was still a month until this season's harvest. How was he supposed to endure these long, endless days?
Anger churned in his chest as Shen Fan recalled everything he had given Lu Qingzhu over the past three years.
Yet what he had received in return was being swept out the door. How could he swallow this insult?
"You want to drive me away? I refuse to leave. Even if all I can do is disgust you, I'll disgust you to death!"
Shen Fan gritted his teeth, though his voice was tinged with hoarseness.
But Shen Fan quickly calmed down.
Because he knew full well that leaving the sect meant a dead end. Only by staying here could he use the sect's strict rules to protect himself.
Otherwise, for Li Qingshan to take his life would be no harder than lifting a hand.
After all, an Outer Sect Disciple of an immortal cultivation sect was already an unattainably lofty existence in the eyes of the secular world.
Any secular superpower would swarm toward one like moths to a flame.
But now, badly injured as he was, he could not work. Even eating had become a problem.
Anxiety surged over him like a tide, but his rumbling stomach gave him no room to think further.
Shen Fan divided the coarse rice into two portions. At least he could barely fill his stomach today. He then cooked a small half-bowl of rice, wolfed it down, and carefully stored the remaining rice in the bowl.
The agonizing pain throughout his body struck again, as though his internal organs were being torn apart.
Helplessly, Shen Fan lay back on the bed, his hollow gaze fixed on the dilapidated roof.
What exactly had Zhao Erhu taken?
He had clearly seen an intact Qi Induction Pill, yet Li Qingshan had clearly crushed it beneath his foot.
How could it have become whole again overnight?
Could it have been Lu Qingzhu...
"Impossible!" Shen Fan violently shook his head, casting this absurd thought from his mind.
Then Shen Fan laboriously turned over, his gaze falling upon the broken bowl on the table.
He had dug up this bowl while clearing spirit fields after first coming to the Heavenly Xuan Sect and being assigned as a Miscellaneous Disciple. Seeing that it could still be used, he had washed it clean and used it as his everyday rice bowl. There was nothing special about it!
Drowsiness washed over him, and Shen Fan fell into a deep sleep once more. When he awoke, night had already fallen.
By moonlight, Shen Fan struggled into a sitting position and fumbled to light the oil lamp by his bed.
Under the dim yellow light, Shen Fan touched his empty stomach and prepared to get up and cook the remaining half-bowl of coarse rice.
The daytime rest seemed to have eased the pain in his body somewhat.
He could move much more freely now as well.
But the next moment, when Shen Fan picked up his broken bowl and prepared to begin, his entire body froze in place as if struck by lightning.
Looking inside, he saw that the broken bowl was filled to the brim with dark gray coarse rice.
"Th-this..."
As if he had seen a ghost, Shen Fan stared in disbelief at the broken bowl, which was packed full of coarse rice and even heaped above the rim.
"What is going on? Wasn't there only a small half-bowl? Why is there so much?"
"Could it be..."
Shen Fan suddenly smiled in relief.
It seemed Old Man Duan, the other Miscellaneous Disciple next door, must have done this.
The old man had joined the sect in his seventies. Ordinarily, the sect did not accept disciples of such an advanced age, but he possessed a sect token, so he had entered the sect without trouble.
Yet because of his age and lack of talent, he could only become a Miscellaneous Disciple.
He was usually very strict with Shen Fan, like a stern elder.
Shen Fan shook his head with a smile and turned to cook.
This time, he ate another half-bowl, then left the remaining half-bowl in the bowl.
Before you continue