Agricultural Academy Opens, Cultivation Soars; a True Person Descends, Life and Death Hang by a Thread

Time rushed by; the years were silent.

The forty-ninth year of the Jingtai Era, Awakening of Insects.

In mid-spring, the first thunder of spring stirred. Greenery sprang forth, grass grew, and orioles flew.

The hundreds of thousands of fertile fields outside Welcoming Wind City had already been sown. Tender shoots and fresh green covered the land. Farmers bent over their work between the ridges, while the occasional newly advanced First Realm Farmer squatted on the embankments, pinching soil between their fingers and studying it again and again with grave concentration.

The total number of Agricultural Path Cultivators in Welcoming Wind City had now exceeded two hundred. From time to time, one would be selected by the Daoist Sect for training and leave, stirring countless jealous eyes and driving still more people to seek learning with ever-growing fervor.

The long street before the Rong Residence was more than ten times livelier than before.

A few years ago, its gate had been deserted enough for sparrows to nest, and pedestrians had taken detours around it. Now, carriages and horses came and went without cease. Farm children carrying shoulder poles and bundles had come seeking instruction, each sleeping on the streets with devout hearts. There were also local gentry rushing over in ox carts to deliver grain, as well as farmers gathering in twos and threes to exchange their insights on tilling the land.

All four doors of the residence stood open. The plaque above bore the words "Rong Residence Agricultural Academy," and it had become a vital core of Welcoming Wind City.

Today's lecturer was Hu Ting, one of the three Field Stewards.

He sat at the head of the hall. Behind him hung an enormous farming chart, marked with the planting seasons, taboos, and requirements of various common crops and medicinal