After Lu Wanyuan watched the other person leave, he immediately gathered the seeds on the ground into his Storage Bag, along with the Forbidden Seal token.
Then he took out the Spirit Hoe and began breaking ground. This was his old trade; back on Green Bamboo Peak, he had tended most of the Spirit Fields.
Now that he finally had something to do, of course he wanted to finish it as soon as possible. The sooner he finished, the sooner he'd start earning.
Once he had the job done, he could do other things. After all, once the seeds were planted, he wouldn't need to keep watch over them, leaving him plenty of free time.
He cleared his mind and immediately began hoeing the weeds with the Spirit Hoe. Great swathes of weeds toppled to the ground, as if a plow had passed through.
Once he had more Spirit Stones to spare, he'd have to buy a Spirit Beast to help with the farming. That would make things much easier. For now, he had no choice but to do it himself.
He had to clear every last weed. Otherwise, they would compete with the crops, stealing their Spiritual Qi, nutrients, rainwater, and so on.
The more thoroughly he cleared them, the less they would affect the crops. But weeds grew back with astonishing ease, especially before the crops had grown tall.
An hour later, Lu Wanyuan had already stripped off his shirt and thrown himself into the work. After hoeing weeds nonstop, heat rolled off him, and sweat poured down like rain.
But the results were astounding: he had cleared the weeds from nearly an acre of Spirit Field.
Just then, a string of prompts appeared in his mind.
[Name]: Green White Grass [Entry]: Strand of Spiritual Qi X2 (Weeding completed: 100%)
At the sight of it, Lu Wanyuan grew incredibly excited. He hadn't expected his Golden Finger to still be there. Over the past three days, he had tried again and again to activate it, but nothing had worked. He'd grown rather dejected, even regretting how rashly he had come down from the mountain.
But now the Entry Golden Finger had appeared again, and he felt much more confident!
Without a word, he immediately collected the two Entries.
If weeding could earn him Entries, then there was no need to think twice—he'd keep at it!
Three hours later, he was utterly exhausted, his face deathly pale. He'd clearly overexerted himself. His hands and feet felt as heavy as lead, and he could barely move. He panted like a bellows, then collapsed onto the ground to rest.
Still, the results were plain to see. The Spirit Field, once choked with weeds, had now been cleared completely. He had also obtained twelve "Strand of Spiritual Qi" Entries. He'd discovered that the number of Entries was random; clearing a whole acre of weeds didn't guarantee he'd get one. Sometimes, even after finishing the job, no Entry appeared.
But with these twelve "Strand of Spiritual Qi" Entries, he was certain he could raise his Cultivation Realm by one minor level.
The yard behind this place seemed fairly safe, so he decided to refine the Spiritual Qi from the Entries there. The sooner he raised his Cultivation Realm, the stronger he'd become—and the less exhausting everything would be.
Two hours later, Lu Wanyuan had used up four Entries, refining four strands of Spiritual Qi and filling his Dantian with it.
He had wanted to keep refining, but the sky was gradually darkening.
Worried that Baili Qiuyue might be frightened home alone, he decided to refine the remaining Spiritual Qi back at the house. He planned to raise his Cultivation Realm to Qi Refining Level 2 today.
He had been stuck at Qi Refining Level 1 because he lacked cultivation resources and Spiritual Qi. Now that he had so much Spiritual Qi, of course he had to refine it properly and raise his cultivation.
He wondered if he could give this Spiritual Qi to someone else. If so, Baili Qiuyue could cultivate with it too. Her cultivation was low as well—she was only at Qi Refining Level 2.
Of course he had to share good things with his wife.
When he stepped out of the yard, he realized it was a deserted mansion, marked with the number 9527.
It stood at the far end of the main street in the marketplace, three li from where he lived.
Half an hour later, Lu Wanyuan returned to Shangsha Lane No. 78.
Knock!
Knock!
Knock!
Lu Wanyuan rapped on the door several times.
"Qiuyue, I'm back!"
"Ah, you're home, husband!"
Baili Qiuyue's excited voice rang out. She hurried to the door and opened it.
Lu Wanyuan went straight inside. "Wife, I found a job today. You don't have to worry now!"
"Really? That's wonderful!"
"Of course. When have I ever lied to you?"
"Mm, you've got some nerve bringing that up. Didn't you trick me?" Baili Qiuyue said, giving Lu Wanyuan a scornful look.
"Haha, I was just so handsome I swept you off your feet!" Lu Wanyuan said guiltily. Before she could reply, he added, "I found a job helping someone break in some wasteland!"
"Ah, breaking in wasteland? Do you think we can really afford to live here?"
"You know perfectly well that the proceeds from breaking in wasteland won't cover our expenses. We don't have a single Spirit Stone left, and we only bought sixty jin of Spirit Rice. If we eat sparingly, it'll last us two months—that's when the lease on this house expires. By then, we'll have nothing at all!"
Baili Qiuyue sounded worried.
"Mm, don't worry. You haven't even asked what kind of work I'm doing, and you're already fretting."
Lu Wanyuan tried to reassure her.
"Oh? Did you find something else while breaking in the wasteland?"
"Not exactly. This job is pretty simple, and I only have to provide the labor. The employer supplies everything else, like the seeds for the spirit crops."
"The best part is, they won't take any of my harvest the first year. That means I get to keep all of it."
"There are more than five acres of Spirit Field. The yield is small—sixty jin per acre, with two harvests a year—but I can still get six hundred jin of spirit grain, which is sixty Spirit Stones. That's the minimum. If the yield is higher, I'll get even more."
"In the following years, the employer and I will split the harvest seven to three. There's nothing to be afraid of with such a good deal."
"Besides, after I finish the work here, I can take on other jobs elsewhere. The employer only needs me to break in the wasteland."
"There isn't some kind of trap hidden in all this, is there?" Baili Qiuyue asked worriedly.
"There shouldn't be. We're just a couple of poor nobodies. They wouldn't give us a second glance—we don't have anything worth coveting!"
Lu Wanyuan explained.
"Good, that's good. Come eat with me. I've already steamed the Spirit Rice, and I also brought back some food from Osmanthus Pavilion. It was left over by the wealthy patrons, so the servers packed some up for us!"
"There are Spirit Fish balls here, your favorite!"
Baili Qiuyue said with a smile, pointing to the dishes on the table.
"Qiuyue, have you eaten?"
"Of course. I ate earlier at Osmanthus Pavilion with the girls!"
"Oh, good. Then I won't hold back. I'm starving. I cleared the weeds from all five acres today, and it wore me out. Tomorrow I'll turn over the whole field, and then the day after that I can plant the spirit crop seeds. The sooner I plant them, the sooner we can harvest!"
"Mm, earning Spirit Stones is important, but so is your health. You have to pace yourself. It'll be a problem if you ruin your health—I'm counting on you in the future!"
Baili Qiuyue reminded him gently. Then she gave Lu Wanyuan a thoughtful look and said, "When I came back this afternoon, someone next door was staring at me. He scared me half to death, so I rushed inside and activated the Forbidden Seal!"
"Oh? Are you sure it was a neighbor?"
"Of course. I saw him come out of house number 79. He was a man!"
"Oh, it's fine. Don't worry. We're inside the marketplace, and there are patrols everywhere. Otherwise, I wouldn't have rented a place here in the first place. Who would pay that much for a house with no security?"
"When you're home, just keep the Forbidden Seal activated. He definitely won't have the guts to do anything else!"
"But we should still be careful. Once I have enough Spirit Stones, I'll find a house with its own private courtyard. That'll feel much safer."
"Mm, I understand. I'll be careful!"
Before you continue