The next day arrived in the blink of an eye.
Early in the morning, just as the sun rose.
Xu Changqing and Lin An left swiftly without even eating breakfast.
The Foundation Establishment Realm Spirit Farmer's location happened to be near Lin An's Spirit Fields.
That was why he had learned the news at once and then gone around notifying everyone.
Lin An said seriously, "I'm telling you, the Qi Refining Realm and the Foundation Establishment Realm are truly worlds apart."
"Why?" Xu Changqing looked at him.
Lin An instead asked, "Do you know how many acres of Spirit Fields that Foundation Establishment Realm Spirit Farmer has?"
"How would I know?" Xu Changqing shook his head.
"A full ten acres of Grade-Two Spirit Fields." Lin An raised both hands as he spoke.
"Huh?" Xu Changqing was greatly surprised.
Very satisfied with his reaction, Lin An continued, "I asked around afterward. It turns out that after reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, every advancement in realm earns you another acre of Grade-Two Spirit Fields."
"But even at perfection, wouldn't that only be five acres?" Xu Changqing raised a brow.
"You, me, and Zhao Ying should all know where those other five acres of Grade-Two Spirit Fields came from." Lin An gave him a meaningful look.
"I understand." Xu Changqing immediately got it.
It seemed this Foundation Establishment Realm Spirit Farmer.
Had, like Zhang Er, gone to the outskirts to serve as an examining senior brother.
Those extra five acres of Grade-Two Spirit Fields had all been acquired back then.
Lin An reminded him, "This Foundation Establishment Realm senior brother is called Zhang Su. His reputation is decent. As long as we don't damage the spirit plants, we shouldn't provoke him."
"Don't worry." Xu Changqing waved a hand.
Before seeking out Zhang Su, the two first met up with Zhao Ziyao.
Although Xu Changqing had not seen him for several months, they had nothing much to discuss.
However, he noticed that the Spirit Rice Zhao Ziyao had planted was not doing well.
Its yield probably would not be high.
At best, it would barely fulfill the quarterly quota.
Before long, the three arrived near Zhang Su's Spirit Fields.
Xu Changqing swept his gaze around and discovered that the surroundings were enclosed by fences.
The ten acres of Spirit Fields were gathered together, and the Wood Qi in the air was exceptionally dense.
Yet what surprised Xu Changqing most was this.
The spirit plants in the different fields were all different.
Some resembled eggplants.
Some were covered in frost.
There was not even a single stalk of Spirit Rice.
Including the three of them, there were now ten people.
All of them were Qi Refining Realm cultivators who had become full members less than a year ago.
"Remember this: do not damage the spirit plants!"
"Every single one inside is more valuable than your lives!"
"If your hands aren't steady, then leave while you still can!"
Zhang Su lacked the appearance of an ordinary Spirit Farmer. He appeared exceedingly arrogant and wealthy.
As he spoke, his gaze did not linger on Xu Changqing and the others at all.
He merely swept over them, roughly memorizing their faces.
"Yes, Senior Brother!" The ten people nodded in succession.
"You, go to Spirit Field Number One, the one on the far left." Zhang Su began assigning tasks.
Xu Changqing, Lin An, and Zhao Ziyao happened to be assigned together.
They were given the three acres of Grade-Two Spirit Fields on the far right.
The spirit plant Xu Changqing was to harvest looked very strange.
Like tangled thorny roots, it was grotesquely shaped.
The harvesting method was to dig open the soil and begin from the exposed roots.
"Look, two Dao companions!" Lin An glanced back and immediately revealed an envious look.
Xu Changqing and Zhao Ziyao looked over as well.
They saw two female disciples with extremely striking figures standing beside Zhang Su.
Curves where they should be.
Their faces were fairly delicate as well.
Judging from the embroidered patterns on their chests, they were clearly both Water Spirit Roots.
It appeared Zhang Su also intended to use this method to generate new Spiritual Roots through mutual generation.
Zhao Ziyao shook his head. "Stop looking. He's in the Foundation Establishment Realm!"
"What do you know? I'll become a Spirit Farmer like that someday too." Lin An looked deeply yearning.
Xu Changqing could not help mocking him. "You should focus on growing some spirit plants first."
Lin An was immediately embarrassed beyond measure.
Xu Changqing and Zhao Ziyao were at least planting something.
Even if it was merely the most ordinary Spirit Rice.
Meanwhile, he was still wandering around everywhere.
He did not even dare plant anything casually, afraid of making a mistake.
Soon, the three arrived at the Spirit Fields they were each meant to harvest.
Since Xu Changqing's field was covered in sharp thorns, he did not approach rashly.
Holding a spirit-tool sickle, he circled around, searching for a place to begin.
Lin An and Zhao Ziyao, on the other hand, had it much easier.
One had spirit plants resembling eggplants.
The other had densely packed little red flowers.
"See that? Ten pounds of Second-Grade Spirit Rice is enough to get a whole crowd to volunteer to help me. I don't need to get down there and dirty myself with mud." Zhang Su watched the busy Qi Refining Realm Spirit Farmers, his face overflowing with unmistakable superiority.
Others toiled themselves half to death just to earn ten pounds of Second-Grade Spirit Rice.
But as for him, he only needed to send these medicinal herbs to the Alchemy Pavilion.
Then he could earn tens of thousands of Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
"You're amazing!" The Water Spirit Root Dao companion on the left had little stars in her eyes.
The Water Spirit Root Dao companion on the right had only joined recently and was not yet used to it.
But she could tell.
This man appeared to be showing off, but in truth, he was enjoying the women's admiration.
At last, Xu Changqing found a suitable point of entry.
With a thought, he used the Evergreen Formula to sense the surrounding spirit plants.
[Matured] [Undamaged] [Abundant Spiritual Qi] [High Quality Today] [Supreme Quality Tomorrow]
In other words, the true harvesting time was tomorrow.
He was essentially harvesting a day early.
Although they were already mature and could be harvested without issue.
Their quality and yield would clearly be somewhat lacking.
Xu Changqing had no intention of pointing this out. They were not his spirit plants anyway.
The reason he had done this was purely out of curiosity.
Afterward, he began digging through the somewhat hard Black Soil and harvesting from the roots.
[Harvested 1 "High-Quality Black Thorn," lifespan +5 days] [Harvested 1 "High-Quality Black Thorn," lifespan +5 days] [Harvested 1 "High-Quality Black Thorn," lifespan +5 days] --X9 --X99 --X999 --X1999
They worked from daytime until near dusk.
Other than drinking water, they barely stopped at all, let alone ate.
Fortunately, his cultivation had reached the Middle Qi Refining stage, and abundant spiritual power supported him from within.
Zhang Su looked at the completely intact harvested Black Thorns and revealed a satisfied expression. "Very good. What is your name?"
Xu Changqing answered, "In reply to Senior Brother, my name is Xu Changqing."
Zhang Su asked again, "How long have you been in the core region?"
Before Xu Changqing could answer, Lin An beside him spoke first. "All of us have been here for less than half a year."
Zhang Su cast Lin An a sidelong glance, frightening him into hurriedly lowering his head. Only then did Zhang Su shift his gaze back to Xu Changqing and smile. "For your first time, you harvested them so completely. And these were the most troublesome Black Thorns. It's clear your foundation is excellent."
"Thank you for your praise, Senior Brother." Xu Changqing cupped his hands.
"Since you're so outstanding, I'll give you an extra ten pounds of Second-Grade Spirit Rice." Zhang Su waved a grand hand.
The people around them immediately revealed envious looks.
Zhao Ziyao was even somewhat jealous.
"Thank you, Senior Brother." Xu Changqing cupped his hands once more.
Zhang Su lightly patted Xu Changqing's shoulder and smiled. "I'll remember you. The next time there's a harvest, just come directly. No need to sign up."
"Alright." Xu Changqing nodded forcefully.
"You may all leave now." After saying that, Zhang Su turned and departed.
Lin An said enviously, "To earn Senior Brother Zhang's appreciation—kid, you've struck it rich!"
Xu Changqing merely smiled, then separated out five pounds of Second-Grade Spirit Rice and handed it over. "I have you to thank for this. I have nothing else, so I can only thank you with Spirit Rice."
"What are you doing? You're being far too polite." Lin An hurriedly waved his hands.
"Just take it." Xu Changqing insisted.
Zhao Ziyao chimed in from beside them, "Xu Changqing and I are at least growing Spirit Rice. You've been wandering around all this time, so you don't have much Spirit Rice left, do you?"
"This... alright." Lin An could only accept it reluctantly.
He had to admit that Zhao Ziyao had seen right through him.
During this period, he had kept wandering through the core region.
He had met many people, but he had also given away plenty of Spirit Rice.
His supply had already run dry, which was why he had come here to help Zhang Su harvest spirit plants.
Xu Changqing had noticed this as well, and he was indeed grateful to Lin An.
That was why he had deliberately taken out five pounds of Second-Grade Spirit Rice.
After putting away the Spirit Rice, Lin An asked, "Are you still going back tonight?"
"Of course. I'm exhausted. I probably won't even be able to get up tomorrow." Xu Changqing rubbed his shoulders as he spoke.
"Alright, then I won't keep you overnight." Lin An smiled knowingly.
Just like that, the three parted ways afterward.
Xu Changqing walked for nearly half an hour before finally returning to his wooden cabin.
But the first thing he did upon arriving home was neither eat nor rest.
It was to immediately check his status panel.
[Xu Changqing] [Male] [18 years old] [Wood Spiritual Root] [Middle Qi Refining] [Evergreen Formula (Fifth Layer)] [Spirit Rice Wine (Proficient) ↑] [Wood-Spirit Entanglement Art (Second Layer) ↑] [Remaining Lifespan: 29,672 days]
This time, helping Zhang Su harvest Black Thorns had earned him a full eighty years of lifespan!!!
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