Helping with the Harvest, Lifespan Soars

Time quickly reached the next day.

Early in the morning, just as the sun rose.

Xu Changqing and Lin An left in a hurry without even eating.

The Foundation Establishment Realm spirit farmer's location happened to be near Lin An's Spirit Fields.

That was precisely why he had learned the news immediately and then gone around notifying everyone.

Lin An said seriously, "I'm telling you, the Qi Refining Realm and Foundation Establishment Realm really are worlds apart."

"Why?" Xu Changqing looked at him.

Lin An asked instead, "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 held up both hands as he spoke.

"Huh?" Xu Changqing was deeply surprised.

Very pleased with his reaction, Lin An continued, "I asked around afterward and found out that after reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, every breakthrough to a higher stage earns you another acre of Grade-Two Spirit Fields."

"But even at the peak, wouldn't that only make five acres?" Xu Changqing raised a brow.

"As for the other five acres of Grade-Two Spirit Fields, you, me, and Zhao Ying should all know where they came from." Lin An gave him a meaningful look.

"I get it." Xu Changqing understood at once.

It seemed that this Foundation Establishment Realm spirit farmer...

Had, like Zhang Er, gone to the outer region to serve as an examining senior brother.

Those additional five acres of Grade-Two Spirit Fields had all been acquired back then.

Lin An warned, "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 her."

Xu Changqing waved a hand. "Don't worry."

Before going to find 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 talk about.

Still, he noticed that the spirit rice Zhao Ziyao had planted was not doing very well.

It seemed the yield would not be much.

At best, it would barely fulfill the quarterly task.

Before long, the three arrived near Zhang Su's Spirit Fields.

Xu Changqing swept his gaze around and found the surrounding area enclosed by fences.

Ten acres of Spirit Fields were clustered together, and the wood spiritual energy in the air was exceptionally dense.

However, 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, ten people had gathered.

All of them were Qi Refining Realm cultivators who had become full members less than a year ago.

"Remember this: absolutely do not damage the spirit plants!"

"Every single one inside is more important than your lives!"

"If your hands aren't steady, leave now while you can!"

Zhang Su did not look like an ordinary spirit farmer at all. She appeared exceedingly proud and well-to-do.

As she spoke, her gaze did not linger on Xu Changqing and the others at all.

She merely swept her eyes over them, roughly memorizing their faces.

"Yes, Senior Sister!" The ten of them 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 sent to the three Grade-Two Spirit Fields on the far right.

The spirit plant Xu Changqing needed to harvest looked rather strange.

It resembled tangled, twisted thornbushes, bizarre and grotesque.

The harvesting method was to dig open the soil and begin at the exposed roots.

"Look, two Dao companions!" Lin An glanced back and immediately revealed an envious look.

Xu Changqing and Zhao Ziyao also looked over.

They saw two female disciples with extremely curvaceous figures standing beside Zhang Su.

Their chests were full and their waists slender, their hips rounded.

Their features were fairly delicate as well.

Judging by the patterns embroidered over their chests, they were clearly both Water Spirit Roots.

It seemed Zhang Su also intended to use this method to generate new Spiritual Roots through mutual generation.

Zhao Ziyao shook his head. "Stop looking. She's in the Foundation Establishment Realm!"

"What do you know? I'll become a spirit farmer like that in the future too." Lin An was filled with longing.

Xu Changqing could not help mocking him. "You should plant some spirit plants first."

Lin An was instantly embarrassed beyond measure.

Xu Changqing and Zhao Ziyao were at least planting things.

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 their respective Spirit Fields.

Because Xu Changqing's field was covered in sharp thorns, he did not rashly approach.

Holding a spiritual artifact sickle, he walked around it, searching for a place to start.

Lin An and Zhao Ziyao, on the other hand, had it much easier.

One had spirit plants resembling eggplants.

The other had dense clusters of tiny red flowers.

"See? Ten jin of Second-Grade Spirit Rice is enough to bring a whole group of people over to help me willingly. I don't need to go down there and get my hands dirty, covering myself in mud." Watching the Qi Refining Realm spirit farmers busily working, Zhang Su's face radiated unmistakable superiority.

Others had to work themselves to the bone just to earn ten jin of Second-Grade Spirit Rice.

But as for her, she only needed to send these medicinal herbs to the Alchemy Pavilion.

Then she could earn over ten thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

"You're amazing!" The Water Spirit Root Dao companion on the left had stars in her eyes.

The Water Spirit Root Dao companion on the right had only joined recently and was not yet accustomed to this.

But she could tell.

This person appeared to be showing off, but was actually enjoying women's adoration.

At last, Xu Changqing found a suitable place to cut in.

With a thought, he used the Evergreen Formula to sense the surrounding spirit plants.

[Already Mature]

[Undamaged]

[Spiritual Energy Abundant]

[High Quality Today]

[Top Quality Tomorrow]

In other words, the true harvesting time was tomorrow.

This was effectively one 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 only reason he did this was out of pure 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

He worked from daytime until nearly dusk.

Other than drinking water, he scarcely stopped at all, much less ate anything.

Fortunately, he had reached Middle Qi Refining, and the abundant spiritual power within his body supported him.

Looking at the completely intact Black Thorns that had been harvested, Zhang Su revealed a satisfied expression and asked, "Very good. What is your name?"

Xu Changqing answered, "Reporting to Senior Sister, 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. "None of us have been here for even half a year."

Zhang Su shot Lin An a sidelong glance, frightening him into hurriedly lowering his head. Only then did she turn her gaze back to Xu Changqing and smile. "For your first time, you harvested so completely, and it was Black Thorn, the most troublesome kind. Your foundation is clearly very solid."

"Thank you for the praise, Senior Sister." Xu Changqing cupped his hands.

"Since you are so outstanding, I'll give you an extra ten jin of Second-Grade Spirit Rice." Zhang Su waved a hand grandly.

The people around them immediately revealed envious looks.

Zhao Ziyao was even a little jealous.

"Thank you, Senior Sister." Xu Changqing cupped his hands again.

Zhang Su gently patted Xu Changqing on the shoulder and smiled. "I'll remember you. Next time there's a harvest, come directly. You won't need to register."

"Alright." Xu Changqing nodded vigorously.

"You may all return now." After saying that, Zhang Su turned and left.

Lin An said enviously, "To win Senior Sister Zhang's favor, kid, you've struck it rich!"

Xu Changqing merely smiled, then separated out five jin of Second-Grade Spirit Rice and handed it over. "This time, I have you to thank. I have nothing else, so I can only use spirit rice to show my gratitude."

"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 the side, "At least we're growing spirit rice. You've been walking around everywhere, kid. You don't have much spirit rice left on you, do you?"

"Th-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 been constantly wandering around the core region.

He had gotten to know many people, but had also given away a great deal of spirit rice.

He was already nearly out, 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 him.

That was why he had deliberately taken out five jin of Second-Grade Spirit Rice.

After putting away the spirit rice, Lin An asked, "Are you heading 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 hut.

But the first thing he did upon arriving home was neither eat nor rest.

Instead, he immediately checked his attribute panel.

[Xu Changqing]

[Male]

[18 years old]

[Wood Spirit Root]

[Middle Qi Refining]

[Evergreen Formula (Level Five)]

[Spirit Rice Wine (Proficient) ↑]

[Wood-Spirit Entanglement Art (Level Two) ↑]

[Remaining Lifespan: 29672 days]

This time, helping Zhang Su harvest Black Thorn had earned him a full eighty years of lifespan!!!