The Rapidly Growing Gourd

Two days later.

Li Ye clutched his slightly bloated stomach as he slowly stepped out of a spatial gate made of radiance and returned home.

To be fair, the meals cooked by that senior's Bean Soldiers had all been exceptionally delicious, and the Spiritual Materials used had been excellent. They had even replenished a full five hundred points of Vital Essence for him.

But having to thoughtfully review every single dish and say flattering things was truly making things difficult for him.

Fortunately, before transmigrating, he had been baptized by big data. In the end, he barely passed the senior's test and successfully returned home carrying a pot of Gold-White Spirit Soil.

Everything in the courtyard looked as usual. Not long after he entered, however, several beavers poked their heads out from the small gate leading to the inner courtyard.

"Chirp chirp!"

The moment they saw Li Ye return, their tiny eyes lit up. Their round, ball-like bodies practically rolled as they rushed to his feet, rubbing against him and pawing at him.

Only after they had finally eased their "longing" did they suddenly notice a noble, elegant blue bird lowering its head, its deep eyes fixed tightly upon them.

More precisely, it was staring at the largest and fattest beaver among them.

The beavers hurriedly huddled together, moisture glimmering around their paws as though they were trying to intimidate it.

Yet the blue bird paid them no mind. It descended and chirped twice at the largest beaver.

The spiritual radiance around its body immediately withdrew completely, and it transformed into a red bean that rolled right up to the beaver.

Its spirit had long since returned to the Love-Sickness Life-Death Bean, which had already been planted in the Gold-White Spirit Soil.

"This is a gift for you."

Li Ye's tone was rather teasing. "As long as you need it in the courtyard, it can transform out of it."

Presumably, when he had drawn the inscription seals on it earlier, the portion of Spiritual Energy belonging to the beaver had been somewhat more distinctive, leaving a deep impression on the Love-Sickness Life-Death Bean.

The beaver immediately understood. It took the red bean and stuffed it into its thick fur, making the corner of Li Ye's mouth twitch. Did it have a storage ring hidden in its fur or something?

He felt that he might need to hang a storage ring around the beaver's neck in the future.

After watching the beaver leave, Li Ye sat beneath the pavilion and placed the pot of white-gold soil before him, examining it closely.

According to that senior, who was presumably a Nascent Soul Cultivator, this Gold-White Spirit Soil was one of the most suitable soils for planting spirit plants.

Even within the Four Seasons Sect, it was not something ordinary disciples could come into contact with.

—In truth, one could tell just by looking. The soil was soft and fine in texture, like dust formed from mingled gold and silver, yet it brimmed with vitality and spiritual power.

Through the panel and the inscription-seal contract he had formed with the Love-Sickness Life-Death Bean, he could even sense that this soil was consciously sending sufficient spiritual qi to the Life-Death Bean while gathering the spiritual qi dispersing in the surroundings and storing it within itself.

"Truly miraculous."

"It can actually sense what a spirit plant needs."

After observing it for a while, he carried the pot of soil and the Love-Sickness Life-Death Bean directly into the inner courtyard. He set it beside the Spirit Vein Willow so it could fully absorb spiritual qi.

Once he had set it down, Li Ye gently stroked its stem and soothed it. "Grow well. I won't be going out for now, but when I do, I'll inevitably encounter dangers. I'll need you to protect me."

The spiritual radiance on the surface of the Love-Sickness Life-Death Bean flickered between light and dark.

Though this demonic plant had been sealed by a Nascent Soul Cultivator, its combat strength was still terrifying—not to mention that it directly attacked Divine Sense. Even Foundation Establishment Cultivators would probably be unable to withstand its attacks.

In a few days, Su Ya had invited him to deliver wheat. If he encountered danger, he would need some means of protecting himself. Perhaps nothing would happen, but one always had to prepare for the worst.

After settling his most valuable treasure for the moment, he swept his gaze over the courtyard.

He had been gone for two days, and with the previous growth added in, there were quite a few more things in the courtyard ready for harvesting.

The abundant spiritual qi allowed both the spirit plants and spirit beasts to flourish.

Take those Golden Horn Ants, for example. With the Spirit Vein Willow assisting them, they were like fish returned to water. They had already excavated and refined every piece of ore Li Ye had originally bought.

The gleaming chunks of ore lay beside their nest, as though they were "rent" offered to Li Ye, simply waiting for him to take them away.

Naturally, Li Ye accepted every last piece without ceremony, then continued working.

He scooped up some Crimson-Gold Dragon Carp scales, the little gourds grown by the water gourd, the lotus's excess stems and leaves, and the lotus roots at the bottom...

He had already decided to take the premium route, so he needed to focus on cultivating only a select few. The excess should be dug up when it was time to dig and pruned when it was time to prune, leaving only enough behind.

All these things were what Su Ya needed. The quantities were indeed a little small, probably not enough even for one batch of alchemy.

So he planned to give them to Su Ya after some time. They were all an unending stream of Spirit Stones!

Save up more Spirit Stones so he would not be strapped when the need arose.

Diligent Li Ye gathered everything and placed it in the frigid formation. Only then did he finally turn his gaze toward the Bitter Spirit Gourd Su Ya had given him, along with the materials that needed preserving.

"It has to be planted somewhere poor in spiritual qi, but not too poor, and the amount of spiritual qi it needs differs every day... Wouldn't it be better if you just demanded a specific purity of spiritual qi?"

He could not help grumbling a couple of times.

It seemed capable of being planted in places lacking spiritual qi, but in reality, it required far more care and effort than ordinary spirit plants. No wonder Su Ya had practically "forced it" on him.

But since it could earn Spirit Stones—and judging from Su Ya's words, this thing also counted as proof of one's ability in the Four Seasons Sect—planting it was no big deal.

He took the gourd seeds to the outer courtyard, sensing the emotions transmitted from within them as he walked. Only when he found the most suitable spot did he dig into the earth and begin planting.

Aside from all those other demanding requirements, this thing had no particular demands regarding either the soil or the location where it was planted.

One could even scatter a handful onto the ground at random, and it would take root and sprout.

After Li Ye buried the seed, a tiny sprout pushed up through the soil almost visibly to the naked eye, gleaming emerald green.

"So fast?"

Startled, he hurriedly picked up nearby sticks and other materials to build it a trellis. This gourd vine truly seemed as though some spell had been cast on it, growing at breakneck speed.

In no time at all, it had climbed all over the freshly built frame.

Several tiny, embryonic gourds swayed from the vine.

It had even skipped the flowering stage entirely and borne fruit directly!

Was that really normal? Had it not already defied the growth laws of gourds as a plant?

Li Ye was genuinely astonished. How had this thing been cultivated to grow so quickly? Could it be that the shorter its lifespan, the faster it grew?

He had no time to think further. Grasping a gourd, he gave its shell a light tap.

A dull thud rang out.

A piece of the gourd's outer skin peeled straight off. He then crammed Su Ya's materials into the gourd all at once, before putting the shell back on.

The shell was immediately glued back together by the mucus secreted by the gourd itself, sealed tight without the slightest seam, as though it had never been separated.

That counted as finished.