Agriculture Clerk

In the fifteenth year of the New Splendor Era, late May, Eastern Suburbs of Gucheng.

The blazing sun beat down as sweat poured like rain. Zhao Xing bent over, planting rice seedlings in the flooded field.

With every seedling he planted, rows of tiny numbers appeared beside him.

Successfully planted one rice seedling. Basic Cultivation Technique proficiency +1

Successfully planted one rice seedling. Basic Cultivation Technique proficiency +1

Successfully planted one rice seedling. Basic Cultivation Technique proficiency +1

...

Basic Cultivation Technique has reached maximum level. You have comprehended the beginner spell "Flourishing Growth."

Flourishing Growth: Beginner Spell

Progress: (1/9999)

Effect: Accelerates nutrient absorption and shortens the time required for plants to mature.

After planting for another half hour, Zhao Xing was drenched in sweat. He went up onto the ridge between the fields to drink some water.

Yet the sunlight was vicious, and the scorching agitation in his heart simply would not subside.

So he raised a hand and pointed at the sky.

"Hum~"

A streak of Golden Light emerged from his fingertip and disappeared some three or four meters above his head.

Right afterward, a cloud of grayish-white mist appeared and circled above him.

You have cast the spell "Cloudcalling." This spell has triggered Blessing of Luck; its effectiveness has doubled. Cloudcalling: ten meters.

Beginner spell "Cloudcalling" proficiency +2

"Whew, that feels much better."

The mist blocked out the sun like a parasol, enveloping Zhao Xing in shade.

Whenever Zhao Xing moved, the clouds above his head moved with him.

The Eastern Suburbs of Valley County were government-owned fields overseen by the Ministry of Agriculture. Part of the officials' food, clothing, and daily expenses came from here.

With Grain in Ear approaching, Agriculture Clerks like Zhao Xing could be found everywhere in the Eastern Suburbs.

Because if crops were not planted by Grain in Ear, planting them afterward would be useless.

Moreover, the harvest from the public fields was not only tied to their meals; it also determined whether they could become regular officials that year. The difference in benefits between an unranked clerk and an official Agriculture Official was as vast as heaven and earth.

Ever since he had transmigrated here a year ago, he had realized that he seemed to be in an early version of that mysterious game. In his previous life, it had appeared on Earth without warning. It had no name, only an entrance. Inside lay something like a real world, and its unprecedented freedom and realism had caused a massive sensation.

This was the era of the Great Zhou Emperor Jing, the version set during the dynasty's prime. The overall environment was relatively stable, and compared with later versions, its safety level could practically be called the highest.

The advantage was that spiritual energy had yet to fully revive, and combat power had not become absurdly high. There would be no great cultivators casually waving a hand and slaughtering an entire city.

After all, he was no longer a player. His status panel certainly did not say he could revive.

The downside was that things were too stable. His starting identity was ordinary as well, and finding opportunities within the stable social order of the early era as an NPC was comparatively difficult.

"In my previous life, changing classes only took two or three days. Now I've spent nearly half a year without seeing any hope."

"My starting identity wasn't anything special either. I started as an orphan from the Benevolent Orphanage, then was adopted by a wealthy household. My circumstances were still just so-so."

"I heard that some players in my previous life got lucky and were born into the families of kings, nobles, generals, or ministers from the start..."

Enough. I'll rest for a bit, then work harder. Whether I can complete my class-change mission this year will probably depend on how this field performs.

Zhao Xing found a haystack, gathered some rice stalks in his arms, and was about to rest while waiting for his vital energy to recover.

Then he saw a young man in a standard-issue tunic and straw hat waving at him from the haystack ahead. "Brother Zhao, over here."

Zhao Xing turned and strode toward him. "Ziyu, you're resting too?"

Chen Ziyu was also one of the Ministry of Agriculture's junior clerks. During Zhao Xing's year here, he had become most familiar with him.

They were colleagues, but they could also be considered classmates. At this stage, their main focus was not working; it was learning, striving to pass the selection as soon as possible so they would not have to keep doing this muddy-legged labor.

Another youth lay beside him. His name was Qian Dong, and he was likewise an acquaintance.

Chen Ziyu had a blade of grass between his teeth as he greeted him warmly. "I only got here a moment ago. Brother, just share this cloud with me to cool off. No need to waste another portion of vital energy."

"Sounds good."

Zhao Xing nodded, dismissed the cloud above his own head, and lay down beside Chen Ziyu.

The moment he lay down, he heard the other man complain, "It's only Start of Summer, yet Gucheng is already this hot. The Ministry of Agriculture's higher-ups even had every sizable tree in the Eastern Suburbs cut down. If we want some shade, we have to cast spells ourselves."

Zhao Xing smiled. "It's training too."

"If you want to cool down, isn't that easy? Watch me." Qian Dong tossed aside the straw hat he had been using as a fan, struck a pose, and pointed at the sky. "Wind, come!"

Chen Ziyu looked startled. "Brother Qian, you've already learned Rising Wind?"

Qian Dong grinned mischievously, picked up his straw hat again, and fanned Chen Ziyu with it. "See? Didn't it come?"

Only then did Chen Ziyu realize he had been fooled. He grabbed a handful of dry grass and scratched at Qian Dong's neck.

"Qian Dong, you bastard! You dared trick me? If you don't fan me for half an hour, I'm not letting this go!"

"Hey, don't scratch! Ziyu, calm down. I'll fan you, all right?"

"..."

As the two laughed and tussled, the clouds overhead swayed along with them. Watching this, Zhao Xing was somewhat speechless.

Can you two not be so flirtatious in this heat?

Just as he was about to speak, Qian Dong beat him to it. "All right, if you don't stop, Brother Zhao is going to scold us again for being ignorant and unserious."

Zhao Xing said lazily, "Don't stop. Keep going. Better yet, start fighting. If you both end up badly injured, there'll be fewer people competing with me for the Minister of Agriculture position, and I'll have a better chance of passing this year."

"Brother's being sarcastic again..."

After resting for half an hour, Zhao Xing felt his vital energy gradually recovering. He planned to nap a little longer before continuing his grand class-change plan.

But at that moment, the clouds overhead suddenly scattered, and a blinding glare struck his closed eyelids.

"What is it, Ziyu? You took down the cloud without even saying anything..." Qian Dong was still complaining. Zhao Xing, however, propped himself up on an elbow and narrowed his eyes toward the distance.

A dark cloud nearly a thousand meters wide slowly rolled in from ahead. Beneath it, atop a haystack, stood a tall, slender figure.

The Cloudcalling spell was mutually exclusive. This person had collided with Chen Ziyu's Cloudcalling, dispersing and absorbing it.

His spell had been interrupted without warning, and Chen Ziyu's body trembled slightly. The backlash had caused minor damage to his vital energy.

"It's that hypocrite Li Chengfeng again! Fuck your mother!" Chen Ziyu glared furiously at the figure atop the haystack.

Why call him a hypocrite?

Because Li Chengfeng used the wind-rising spell to carry his voice in every direction.

"Fellow colleagues, you may rest beneath my, Li's, mist. In a moment, there will also be a light rain to wash away the dust for you all."

Chen Ziyu's spell was not the only one that had been scattered; quite a few others had been affected as well.

Yet Li Chengfeng had won over most of them, saving them vital energy. Many applauded and praised him for possessing the bearing of a gentleman.

"This guy pulls people close while stepping on others. It's utterly disgusting! He always loves showing himself off, with no regard for anyone else's feelings. I once went to reason with him, and others said I was petty and jealous of his reputation as a gentleman... Jealous of him? Pah!" Chen Ziyu said bitterly.

Qian Dong shook his head as well. "It would be fine if he truly were a gentleman. But though he comes from a great clan, he only associates with the sons of wealthy families. He puts on one face in public and another in private. He hasn't even become an official Agriculture Official yet, but he already carries himself like some superior. It's truly nauseating. If he becomes our direct superior next year, who knows how he'll torment those beneath him? Sigh..."

Zhao Xing agreed with them, but he could only pat their shoulders in comfort. "I don't like him either, but complaining is useless. Strength is what matters. Work hard, and sooner or later, there'll be a day to slap him in the face."

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