Plant Spirit Fields for Hundreds of Years

Spring gave way to autumn. The sunlight was perfect today, and it had already been their first year since arriving at the Five Aggregates Sect. They continued adding Longevity Points to their magical power.

A gap opened in the Medicine Valley's restriction. Chen Xun led Black Bull out with high spirits, his storage pouch filled with quite a few Spirit Medicines—all of them the quota they needed to hand in, not one stem short.

They made their way to the Sect Main Hall with practiced ease. They lingered outside the hall for a long while again, but fortunately, they did not run into Senior Brother Le today. Otherwise, they would have been lectured again.

The same old man was still inside the hall. Wearing a straw hat, Chen Xun respectfully said, "Martial Uncle, I'm here to hand in Spirit Medicine."

"Mhm." The old man seemed as though he had never fully awakened, answering lazily.

On the platform, Chen Xun took all the Spirit Medicines from his storage pouch. Not one extra, not one missing, their spiritual aura wafted straight to the nose.

A sharp gleam flashed through the old man's eyes. He hurriedly counted them, then took out a token and sent a stream of magical power into it. Understanding dawned in his eyes. "Not bad."

"Kid, so it was you."

The old man saw Chen Xun's face beneath the straw hat, then looked at Black Bull. "You are the first disciple to enter the herb garden immediately after joining the sect and still hand in the full quota of Spirit Medicine in your first year."

"Martial Uncle may not know this, but my family grows Spirit Medicine. I have some experience with it."

"Very good."

The old man spoke a little more than usual today. An Eight-Trigrams Token appeared in his hand. "These are your Sect Contributions for this year. They are yours."

"Thank you, Martial Uncle!" Chen Xun was overjoyed. He accepted it respectfully and gripped the Eight-Trigrams Token tightly in his hand.

"Just recognize it as your master with a drop of blood. Go on."

"Yes."

Chen Xun dragged Black Bull away at a run. He had long since figured out where the Contribution Hall was. "Old Bull, we've struck it rich!"

"Moo moo~" Black Bull bellowed with its mouth stretched wide.

As they ran past, the surrounding disciples frowned. Where had this straw-hatted fellow come from? Why was he making such a racket?

Once outside the hall, Chen Xun found an unoccupied spot and hurriedly recognized the token as his master with blood. When he checked it, he found that it contained a full 200 contributions!

"Woohoo!"

Chen Xun jumped up with a shout and looked at Black Bull. "Old Bull, we have two hundred contributions!"

"Moo!" Black Bull was startled. It stood up on its hind legs, leaned against Chen Xun, and hurriedly looked at the Eight Trigrams Token.

One had to know that the sect's minimum annual contribution requirement for outer disciples was only 100. They had actually exceeded it by double.

"Come on, let's go to the Contribution Hall. Today, we're spending—spending like mad!"

"Moo!"

One man and one bull began sprinting. Today, they would bleed the Contribution Hall dry.

Half a day later, Chen Xun and Black Bull emerged from the Contribution Hall with mournful faces. Chen Xun held a longsword in both hands, his eyes hollow and devoid of all hope.

"Damn it... this is a black shop."

Chen Xun muttered under his breath, his lips opening and closing as he continued mumbling, "A black shop..."

"Moo~" Black Bull's eyes were equally vacant. Their contributions had now been completely wiped out.

"One immortal sword, 50 contributions. A Yellow-Rank Low-Grade Magical Artifact."

"One Alchemy Furnace, 100 contributions. A Yellow-Rank Mid-Grade Magical Artifact."

"One Grain-Avoidance Pill Formula, 50 contributions."

Chen Xun stared blankly at Black Bull, his voice rising from low to high. "Our contributions are gone? Huh?! That's all we got?!"

"Moo!" Black Bull roared furiously. Once they got back to the valley, they would plow the spirit fields properly and save up several thousand contributions.

"Old Bull, back to the valley. Let's farm. Are we really going to let one Contribution Hall beat us?!"

Chen Xun shouted angrily, filled with heroic ambition. "We'll damn well farm for hundreds of years and empty this Contribution Hall clean!"

"Moo!" Black Bull rose to its feet and let out a long bellow, the muscles all over its body bulging.

"What are you yelling for?! No loud noises outside the hall!" Several voices shouted from within the hall.

"Moo moo~"

"Let's go, let's go."

Chen Xun gave an awkward laugh, led Black Bull away while hunched over, and hurriedly fled. Their movements were so sneaky that disciples from the Law Enforcement Hall checked their identities several times along the way.

The road was filled with Five Aggregates Sect disciples. They gathered in twos and threes, their spittle flying as they talked nonstop, all of them seeming extremely excited.

"This year's Sect Tournament is about to begin again. I heard Senior Brother Bai Shi has come out of seclusion!"

"My heavens, he's the pillar holding up us outer disciples! The Sect Master once praised Senior Brother for having the potential for Foundation Establishment."

"If he takes first place this year, then during the Southern Mountain trip four years from now, I heard he can be directly rewarded with a Foundation Establishment Pill!"

"We outer disciples should forget about taking first place. It has long been monopolized by inner disciples."

"But we can still participate to earn some contributions and strengthen ourselves."

Several disciples passed by Chen Xun, speaking with animated gestures. They had no idea that a straw-hatted man leading a bull stood beside them.

"Senior Brothers, please wait."

Chen Xun gave a light cough and led Black Bull over. "How many contributions do you get for participating in the Sect Tournament?"

The few of them were startled. How had this man appeared like a ghost? And why did he look like an old farmer?

"Hehe, Junior Brother, you must have just joined the sect, right?"

"Yes, yes. I hope Senior Brothers can enlighten me." Chen Xun casually placed three Low-Grade Spirit Stones into their hands.

Oh?

The three exchanged glances. It was their first time meeting such a tactful junior brother. With one hand behind their backs, they laughed heartily. "We are all fellow sect brothers."

"Of course, of course. Brothers, all brothers." Chen Xun smiled as well.

"Junior Brother may not know this."

The three found Chen Xun much more pleasing to the eye. "Only Qi Refining Realm disciples may participate in the Sect Tournament. If you enter the top five hundred in the rankings, you can receive five hundred contributions!"

"If you enter the top one hundred, you can receive one thousand contributions and may even be accepted as a disciple by one of the elders."

"If you enter the top ten, you can receive two thousand contributions, advance directly to become an inner disciple, and even choose your own master."

"If you enter the top three, then that would be incredible. Not only would there be all sorts of magical artifact rewards, there would also be things we do not know about."

The few of them smiled faintly, longing surfacing in their eyes. If they could enter the top one hundred, they would soar straight to the heavens.

"How many people participate?" Chen Xun asked casually, his heart stirring. Getting those five hundred contributions would be enough.

He had just seen that the Foundation Establishment Pill Formula cost three thousand contributions. He would have to work for fifteen years without exchanging anything else.

"Usually, around thirty thousand."

"That many?!" Chen Xun was greatly shocked. In his previous life, he had never even ranked in the top five hundred in exams with only one thousand people.

"Of course. Not only do many inner disciples participate, but the descendants of those elders are in it too."

The few shook their heads slightly and sighed softly. "Those people have Yellow-Rank High-Grade Magical Artifacts and all sorts of spells to protect themselves. We cannot compare to them."

"Then that's way too unfair. What's the point of competing?"

Chen Xun frowned. Such a magical artifact was like him holding a kitchen knife while the other person held a Gatling gun. What the hell was there to compete in?

"The sect naturally takes us into consideration. Inner disciples have their own contests too. They only participate in the competition for the top one hundred rankings."

"That still won't do. Isn't this just inner disciples entertaining themselves?" Chen Xun shook his head. Cultivation resources were far too unequal.

"Then Junior Brother is mistaken. Our outer disciples produce outstanding talents as well, such as Senior Brother Bai Shi. Qi Refining Tenth Level—who can contend with him!"

The few spoke boastfully, as though Senior Brother Bai Shi were themselves.

"Hehe, true enough. Then I won't disturb you Senior Brothers any longer."

Chen Xun led Black Bull away at a leisurely pace, deep thought in his eyes. Disciples constantly rushed past around them, while others rode flying swords and whistled through the air.