Shopkeeper Xu fell silent for a moment, then sighed. "Miss, this person is merely a young man at the first level of Qi Refining. Can he really shoulder such a great responsibility?"
Though the black-clad man selling Spirit Rice had disguised himself, even if he could fool a Foundation Establishment cultivator like Shopkeeper Xu, one sweep of his spiritual sense had revealed the man's true appearance.
However,
the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion was a major establishment with its own rules. It would never harbor any ill intentions toward a mere young Qi Refining cultivator.
"Xiao Liuzi said this person had visited the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion once before. At the time, he was an errand disciple of the Lingxiao Sect."
White-Clad Woman said meaningfully.
"An errand disciple of the Lingxiao Sect?"
Shopkeeper Xu's brows immediately furrowed. He had spent many years in Lingyun City and was quite familiar with the neighboring Lingxiao Sect. In the past several decades, the sect had never produced Mid-grade Spirit Rice.
After all, the sect didn't need much Spirit Rice—Low-grade Spirit Rice was enough—so it had always assigned the task of growing it to errand disciples who weren't good for much else.
"Miss, I'll send someone to investigate quietly."
Shopkeeper Xu said solemnly.
White-Clad Woman waved her hand and smiled faintly. "There's no need. This young man doesn't have that ability yet. If he brings us Mid-grade Spirit Rice next time, we can speak with him at length then."
"Yes."
Shopkeeper Xu bowed in assent, then turned and left.
The room fell quiet again. The beautiful White-Clad Woman gazed out the window, her thoughts drifting as her eyes gradually grew distant.
Lingxiao Sect.
Spirit Field Planting Zone.
"Cloud Rain Art!"
Standing in the woods, Chen Changming gazed at the ten mu of land he had reclaimed and cast several spells in succession. A fierce wind sprang up, and a vast bank of clouds appeared out of thin air, blanketing the entire field as fine rain began to fall.
After a while, the rain stopped and the clouds dispersed.
"More than nine hundred casts before Cloud Rain Art can be strengthened..."
Chen Changming turned and walked deeper into the woods, continuing to summon clouds and rain.
Lately, he had been focusing on cultivating Cloud Rain Art. Since his cultivation had recently advanced, he could now cast it ten times a day.
At this rate, it would take him more than three months.
While waiting for his spiritual energy to recover, Chen Changming had also taken the nineteen Spirit Gathering Pills he had bought in Lingyun City, which greatly sped up his progress.
Nearly two months later, an anomaly appeared on his body again. He had successfully cast Cloud Rain Art a thousand times and achieved his second breakthrough!
As soon as it broke through, he immediately used it to water the ten mu of spirit fields.
As for the other five mu, he watered three mu; on the remaining two, he deliberately weakened the effects of Cloud Rain Art.
He did this because, for now, he didn't want the sect to know he could grow Mid-grade Spirit Rice.
When he had first joined the Lingxiao Sect, Chen Changming had thought about using Cloud Rain Art to earn contribution points by helping others. But after exchanging Spirit Rice at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, he had changed his mind.
His Cloud Rain Art was too effective. It was best not to draw attention to it yet.
He was better off tending the spirit fields he had now. If he managed to grow Spirit Rice of higher quality, he would receive a large payment in Spirit Stones.
Growing Spirit Rice wasn't the proper path for him, either. After his two trips to Lingyun City, Chen Changming had set his sights on talismans.
Making talismans didn't take long, and they sold for a handsome price. As long as he got the chance to learn how to make one kind of talisman, he could use his own anomaly to strengthen it—and then he would have another source of income!
For a young man like him, Spirit Rice took too long to pay off. He only harvested it once every six months, which was terribly inefficient.
Relying on Spirit Rice to support his cultivation was simply too slow.
Chen Changming knew that the path of talisman-making required talent. With his Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root, he might not be able to learn it at all. But no matter what, he had to try. Even if he failed, it wouldn't matter.
A month later,
even though Chen Changming was in the spirit rice fields in the rear mountain, he heard astonishing news from someone else.
Yue Kingdom and Chu Kingdom had gone to war!
The cultivation sects of both kingdoms had joined the fighting. As a renowned major sect of Yue Kingdom, Lingxiao Sect had also sent some outer- and inner-sect disciples to support the front lines, under the command of an elder.
"Luckily, my cultivation is too weak..."
Hearing the news, Chen Changming couldn't help but feel secretly fortunate. Most of the errand disciples in the valley had low cultivation and poor combat abilities. Lingxiao Sect would never send cannon fodder like them into battle—that would only invite ridicule from the other sects.
The young man focused on cultivating in peace.
Over the next two months, the atmosphere in the sect grew tense. Many outer- and inner-sect disciples trained desperately or went out to carry out missions for contribution points, which they could exchange for cultivation resources.
The reason was that, reportedly, most of the disciples sent to war had been killed.
Those who had survived were badly wounded and had been sent back to Lingxiao Sect.
The war between the two kingdoms still hadn't ended. As the fighting intensified, Lingxiao Sect continued sending people to the battlefield, leaving the entire sect on edge.
This unease gradually spread to the spirit rice fields. The errand disciples who lived on the mountaintop grew anxious, while those who lived at the foot of the mountain didn't seem worried at all.
Over these two months, Chen Changming first mastered Detoxification Art, then successfully strengthened it twice.
He didn't keep cultivating Cloud Rain Art. He only cast it as part of his routine when watering the fifteen mu of spirit fields. During this time, he often observed how the Spirit Rice was growing and gradually discovered, to his delight, that it was doing better than he had expected.
The difference was especially clear between the Spirit Rice in the five mu of fields outside his courtyard and the rest.
The Spirit Rice in three mu of those fields grew taller, with larger ears, and the yield looked likely to be even greater than he had expected.
Chen Changming believed that if one strengthening of Cloud Rain Art could bring the Spirit Rice close to Mid-grade quality, then two strengthenings would surely let him grow Mid-grade Spirit Rice.
After all, he had seen for himself what it could do with Spirit Finger Flick.
"I wonder if the black mole on the sole of my foot has changed..."
A startling thought suddenly surfaced in the young man's mind. He carefully took off his shoe and looked at the sole of his foot.
He looked at his right foot first.
The blurry image of a woman on the black mole had disappeared. The mole had turned red, crimson as blood and shockingly vivid. The sight made the young man's head swim, and his mind grew hazy in an instant.
At the same time,
a fine layer of red hair sprouted across the top of his foot, racing up his calf. In the blink of an eye, his entire body was covered in half-inch-long red hair, making him look like a red-haired monster.
"Enough!"
A cold, eerie voice rang out from some unknown place. Black light surged from the sole of his left foot and spread throughout his body. In an instant, it drove the red hair back, restoring Chen Changming's body to normal. But by then, his mind was still hazy.
He hadn't even heard the cold, eerie voice.
"Doesn't watching him cultivate like this tire you out? Why don't you give him a hand?"
A woman's voice rang out.
This voice was even more sinister and eerie. Anyone who heard it would have been scared half to death.
The man gave a cold snort. "He has his own mission. If you interfere by force, you might never escape from beneath his feet in this lifetime."
"Fine. I'll just sit back and watch the show."
The woman seemed to give in, then fell silent.
The man said nothing more.
By then, Chen Changming had also come to his senses. He looked at the sole of his foot again and saw that the red mole had disappeared, too.
Both feet still bore two black moles.
The pattern from before had vanished completely, as if it had never appeared. Chen Changming rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing.
What exactly was going on?