System Reward: Innate Spiritual Root · Five-Needle Pine Sapling

Taiyuan was startled by that kneel. Looking down at the tearfully moved Jieyin, the corner of his mouth twitched.

This kid—how had he ended up kowtowing halfway through their conversation?

I only watered it and showed off a little. Was this really necessary?

Yet seeing Jieyin so fired up, Taiyuan secretly rejoiced.

It was settled.

Whether out of gratitude or wild imagination, as long as his junior brother was willing to work, he was a good junior brother.

"Phew—"

Just then, Zhunti, who had been meditating nearby, exhaled a long breath of turbid air. His eyes flew open, and two beams of golden light shot forth, piercing the empty space before him into faint ripples.

Early-stage Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal—stabilized!

"Elder Brother!"

Zhunti leaped to his feet. Feeling the surging, boundless mana within him, his face flushed bright red with excitement. He rushed before Taiyuan, then abruptly stopped three feet away, straightened his robes, and gave a deeply respectful bow.

"Zhunti thanks Elder Brother for the grace of remaking me!"

This bow was more respectful and more sincere than any he had given before.

For he could truly feel that the drop of water contained not only immense energy, but also Elder Brother's painstaking intentions for him.

"No need for such ceremony."

Taiyuan made a token gesture to help him up, assuming the air of a stern teacher and loving father. "Now that you have broken through, do not grow complacent. Though Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals count as experts in the current Primordial World, they are still not enough. Your foundation has only just been restored; you must continue to temper it diligently."

"Yes!"

Zhunti answered loudly, then turned to Jieyin, his eyes glinting with a light called "involution."

"Senior Brother, I understand now."

With a solemn expression, Zhunti said to Jieyin, "Elder Brother has devoted such precious resources to me not merely so that I could break through, but to remind us that our Western Lands are too weak—so weak that Elder Brother must damage his own foundation to support us."

"We can't go on muddling through and waiting for death like this!"

"We have to start competing!"

Jieyin froze for a moment, then nodded heavily, blazing flames igniting in his eyes. "Junior Brother speaks true! For Elder Brother, for the Western Lands, we must compete!"

Taiyuan: "..."

Wait, I only wanted you to help water the plants. I never asked you to get into this weird "involution."

"Well, actually, there's no need to go quite so..." Taiyuan tried to salvage the mood.

"Elder Brother, say no more. We understand!" Zhunti looked utterly resolute. "You surely do not wish to put pressure on us. But we cannot be so thoughtless!"

Pointing at the desolate Mount Sumeru around them, Zhunti spoke with towering ambition. "Senior Brother, from today onward, I will neither sleep nor meditate. I will use the mana of a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal to move mountains and fill seas, to sort out the earth veins!"

"I'll take the thirty thousand li to the east, and you'll take the thirty thousand li to the west!"

Jieyin immediately followed suit. "Good! Then I'll raise the stakes: from now on, if I do not cultivate for a full twelve hours every day, I won't deserve to eat the Spiritual Grain Elder Brother grows!"

"Then I'll gather the dung of spiritual beasts from across the entire Primordial World to fertilize Elder Brother's Spiritual Field!" Zhunti gritted his teeth as though he were about to fight someone for an Innate Supreme Treasure.

Taiyuan looked at his two junior brothers, who had instantly transformed into work-crazed demons. His mouth opened, but in the end, he swallowed the words of dissuasion.

Forget it.

Could I possibly stop people from fighting to do the work?

This was probably the trouble of having two such "considerate" junior brothers.

"Since that is the case, then..." Taiyuan gave a light cough and took two oddly shaped farming tools from within his sleeve—the System Space.

They were a hoe and a shovel, both flowing with a faint azure radiance.

They were precisely the [Houtian Merit Spiritual Treasure · Ruyi Hoe] and the [Sky-Turning Shovel] included in the System's beginner gift pack.

Though they were merely Houtian spiritual treasures, having been touched by merit, they were twice as effective for sorting earth veins and reclaiming Spiritual Fields. They could even slowly improve the user's fortune.

"Since you are both so determined, take these little trinkets and put them to use."

Taiyuan casually tossed them over.

Jieyin and Zhunti hurriedly caught them.

They felt heavy in their hands, and that warm, gentle aura of merit instantly flowed up their arms and throughout their bodies.

"This..."

Jieyin's eyes widened. "Houtian Merit Spiritual Treasures?!"

Though they could not compare to that drop of divine water from before, such special spiritual treasures dedicated to "farming" were exceedingly rare even in the Primordial World!

What sort of family would have nothing better to do than refine something like this?

Elder Brother had indeed prepared for this long ago!

Elder Brother was indeed farsighted and deeply calculating!

"Elder Brother is hinting to us that if one wishes to do good work, one must first sharpen one's tools." Zhunti stroked the Sky-Turning Shovel as though caressing a lover's hand. "Elder Brother has even prepared the tools for us. What reason do we have left to be lazy?"

"Let's do it!"

"Grind them into the dirt!"

The two exchanged a glance and saw the crazily blazing fighting spirit in each other's eyes.

Watching this, Taiyuan shook his head helplessly, then leisurely lay back on that charred boulder and found himself a comfortable position.

"Mm, this rock's a bit too hard. I'll have to grow some cotton later and make a sofa cushion..."

As he mulled it over, thunderous rumbling already echoed from afar.

That was two Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals—though Jieyin had yet to break through, he was not far from it—wielding hoes and madly... plowing this wasteland.

Dust billowed into the air, their momentum soaring like a rainbow.

If an uninformed outsider happened to pass by, they would probably think these were two mighty experts locked in a life-or-death battle.

Who could have imagined that this was merely the beginning of the two leaders of the Western Sect madly competing for Elder Brother's great farming endeavor?

The sun finally set.

Night fell.

Yet all of Mount Sumeru was brightly lit.

Taiyuan yawned and turned over, thinking happily to himself:

"System, I have to say, lying low in the West... really is the best."

[ Ding! Detected that the host has successfully conquered his junior brothers with the charm of his personality (bluffing), launching the Great Construction of the West. Rewards issued:]

[Innate Spiritual Root · Five-Needle Pine Sapling x1]

[Beginner Spiritual Liquid Irrigation Technique (automatable)]

[Chaos Origin Qi Formation Diagram (requires a spiritual root to set up the formation)]

Hearing the notification in his mind, the smile on Taiyuan's lips widened.

Five-Needle Pine?

That was one of the Ten Great Innate Spiritual Roots!

This system was a keeper!

"Jieyin, Zhunti."

Taiyuan's lazy voice rang out through the night.

The two men, who had been frantically digging pits in the distance, instantly stopped what they were doing and listened respectfully.

"Since we're farming, don't touch the plot behind the courtyard for now. Tomorrow, your Elder Brother will show you a great treasure."

"A great treasure?"

Jieyin and Zhunti exchanged a glance, their eyes shining.

Just how many good things was Elder Brother still hiding?

The West... was about to take off!