"Is the new junior brother here?"
As Chen Changming entered the house, he heard another voice from outside.
"I'm here."
His heart gave a sudden leap. Instinctively, Chen Changming sensed trouble brewing. He braced himself and walked out the door, only to see a chubby young man in servant's robes enter the courtyard, his round belly thrust out in front of him.
"Junior Brother, let me introduce myself. I'm Pi Dong. I've been with our Lingxiao Sect for ten years, and I'm already at the second level of Qi cultivation. Among us servant disciples, my Cloud Rain Art is one of the best."
Fatty Pi Dong introduced himself as soon as he arrived.
"Senior Brother Pi, I'm Chen Changming."
Chen Changming stepped forward and cupped his hands. Getting straight to the point, he said, "Senior Brother, I've already watered these few mu of spirit fields."
"You've watered them?"
Pi Dong froze, then said irritably, "That bastard Li Zhi sure worked fast."
Seeing Senior Brother Pi fume with anger, Chen Changming smiled without a word. It seemed watering was a popular business too. Some of the older servant disciples treated newcomers like pigs to slaughter, extorting them mercilessly.
Pi Dong's eyes rolled. "Junior Brother Chen, I just noticed your spirit fields aren't growing well. Looks like pests are at work. How about I help you get rid of them?"
Pest control?
Chen Changming was covered in black lines. Here was another way to make money.
Thinking of how his precious contribution points hadn't even reached his hands yet and he was already about to take another heavy hit, Chen Changming was heartbroken. He shook his head resolutely. "No need, Senior Brother. They're only a few bugs. I can handle them myself..."
"Heh. You think they're ordinary bugs? The pests in these spirit fields are fierce. Each one is comparable to a martial arts expert. Don't underestimate them, Junior Brother."
Pi Dong snorted twice, his gaze turning unfriendly.
Even the bugs in the fields were that powerful?
As expected of the cultivation world—even its insects were completely different from those in the mundane world.
Chen Changming didn't hesitate for long. In an instant, he made his choice and asked directly, "How much do you charge for pest control, Senior Brother?"
"Five contribution points per visit."
Pi Dong smiled. "Book ten visits, and I'll throw in one free."
"Then let's start with one."
Chen Changming said, wincing at the cost.
"Haha, you're a straightforward one, Junior Brother. Let's keep in touch from now on."
Seeing that Chen Changming knew how to play along, Pi Dong was in high spirits. He laughed as he left the courtyard and headed straight for the spirit fields.
Chen Changming followed him.
He wanted to see how Qi cultivators dealt with pests.
Hiss, hiss...
Pi Dong walked through the spirit fields, raising a finger whenever he spotted a bug. A beam of light shot out, killing it instantly. The entire process was as smooth as flowing water and a pleasure to watch. Chen Changming was left wide-eyed.
"Senior Brother, what technique is that?"
Chen Changming asked.
"Spirit Finger Flick."
Pi Dong didn't hide it and told him outright.
There was nothing to hide, really. It was an essential technique for every servant disciple responsible for cultivating spirit fields.
In less than the time it took an incense stick to burn, Pi Dong finished clearing the pests and hurried off.
Back in his room, Chen Changming sighed. In just a short while, he'd lost ten contribution points, and a deep sense of crisis welled up inside him.
He had to break through into the Qi Refining Realm as soon as possible. Only then could he cultivate the Cloud Rain Art.
As for Spirit Finger Flick, he would exchange for it once he had more contribution points.
After leafing through the Evergreen Art for a while, Chen Changming silently congratulated himself on his good fortune. This technique was rather profound. If he hadn't already had a foundation in the Spirit Armor Art, he really would have struggled to understand it.
It took Chen Changming three days to grasp the first layer of the Evergreen Art. The technique was incomplete and had only three layers in total. At most, it could take him to Qi Cultivation Level 10, not to Foundation Establishment.
Chen Changming didn't dwell on that and began cultivating frantically.
For the time being, he didn't need to tend the spirit fields, so he had at least a month to cultivate the Evergreen Art.
Over the next month, Chen Changming ate only one meal a day and barely slept at night. He devoted all his time to cultivating the Evergreen Art.
After circulating the Evergreen Art a hundred times, strange phenomena appeared around him once more.
As the warm current and the rumble of thunder appeared one after another, Chen Changming's body shuddered violently, as if an electric current had surged through him. Then he heard a crisp cracking sound, and his aura began to rise.
"The Qi Refining Realm!"
Feeling the changes in his body, Chen Changming was both thrilled and delighted. After persistent cultivation, he had finally become a cultivator at the first level of the Qi Refining Realm. This meant he had officially stepped through the gates of cultivation.
A month had passed.
"My Evergreen Art has changed too. It must have grown stronger."
Mulling over the profound mysteries filling his mind, Chen Changming spoke thoughtfully.
Once the Evergreen Art grew stronger, his cultivation speed would increase as well.
"Looks like these two black moles on the soles of my feet are no ordinary things..."
Muttering to himself, Chen Changming stood up, took off his shoes, and looked down at his soles.
Each sole bore a black mole the size of an egg. The moles, once dark and dull, had now changed just as they had the last time he'd seen them.
A white pattern resembling a coffin had appeared on the surface of the mole on his left foot. On the mole on his right foot, a red pattern resembling a woman's face had appeared.
The woman's face was indistinct and difficult to make out.
What was this?
Chen Changming was a little surprised too. After staring at them for a few seconds, he grew dizzy, and hurriedly put his shoes back on in alarm.
"Is Junior Brother Chen there?"
A somewhat familiar voice came from the courtyard gate.
Pi Dong was here!
Chen Changming knew it couldn't be good, but he had no choice except to steel himself and go outside.
"I sensed the spiritual energy fluctuating around here on my way over, so I figured you must have broken through, Junior Brother Chen."
The moment Pi Dong saw Chen Changming, he looked at him like a fat lamb and smiled especially brightly.
"I'm embarrassed to have you say that, Senior Brother."
Chen Changming replied sheepishly.
He had the worst aptitude among this batch of disciples, and was probably the last one to break through too.
Pi Dong patted him on the shoulder and said solemnly, "Junior Brother Chen, I've heard you have a Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root, so cultivation isn't easy for you. How about this? I'll give you ten percent off for watering and pest control."
Ten percent off?
Chen Changming was speechless.
This guy had done two jobs for him. Even with ten percent off, he'd still be losing nine contribution points for nothing.
"Senior Brother Pi, I'm short on money. From now on, I'll handle the watering and pest control myself," Chen Changming said after some thought.
He refused to believe he couldn't learn the Cloud Rain Art within a month. As for the pests, he'd just use his blade.
He was already a Qi cultivator, and his mastery of the Five Tigers Soul-Severing Blade was no joke. Surely he could handle a few pests in the spirit fields?
"Junior Brother, if you delay the growth of the Spirit Rice, you'll be crying about it later."
Pi Dong's gaze turned cold.
Chen Changming fell silent and didn't answer.
A month ago, he'd been a clueless novice. Now he had broken through into the Qi Refining Realm and officially stepped through the gates of cultivation. From here on, there were many things he would have to do himself.
Chen Changming believed that with the strange phenomena within him to help, he only needed to make it through the initial difficult period. Once he'd built up enough strength, things would get better and better.
If he strengthened the Cloud Rain Art too, the spirit fields would yield far more and bring him extra income. And if word got around, plenty of people might come knocking to ask him to cast the Lesser Cloud Rain Formula and summon rain. Then contribution points would keep rolling in.
At the thought, Chen Changming grew excited. This was a real money-making business!