Bai Ling'er Brings Rain, Hu Bugui Unloads Manure

In the blink of an eye, it was time to collect the summer seedlings.

He had Little Yellow Dog watch the house carefully.

Xu Changqing arrived at the Core Administration Office early in the morning.

Quite a few spirit farmers were already standing in line.

Before long, Xu Changqing received the rice seedlings for summer planting.

But he did not leave. Instead, he headed toward Flower Elder.

"Here already." After interacting with him many times, Flower Elder was quite familiar with this young man.

There were not many spirit farmers this talented in the entire spirit field core.

Xu Changqing respectfully cupped his hands in salute. "Steward."

Flower Elder asked, "Do you have something to ask?"

Xu Changqing smiled faintly. "This disciple has entered Middle Qi Refining and wishes to inquire what new spirit plants I may choose."

"So that's it." Flower Elder suddenly understood.

He had arrived last winter and reached Middle Qi Refining this summer.

The speed was not fast, merely average.

At Early Qi Refining, there was only one spirit plant one could choose: spirit rice.

But upon reaching Middle Qi Refining, the options rose to more than a dozen, making them far more varied.

Very soon, under Flower Elder's introduction,

Xu Changqing finally learned what spirit plants were available at Middle Qi Refining.

Put simply, they were divided into four main categories:

"Flowers."

"Grass."

"Trees."

"Vegetables."

Other than the most common spirit rice, he indeed had many more choices now.

However, there were not many that suited Xu Changqing.

After all, different spirit plants had different growing environments.

Flower Elder reminded him, "Spirit plants of the Qi Refining Realm are basically all related to food.

"Only after reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm will there be spirit plants of higher quality and greater value."

After thinking it over again and again, Xu Changqing finally made his decision.

They were:

"Four-Leaf Clover."

"Watermelon."

"Chinese cabbage."

He chose Four-Leaf Clover mainly because he was familiar with it and had some experience.

Moreover, the stuff was one of the foods eaten by small spirit beasts.

It would be perfect to sell to Hu Bugui.

As for watermelons and Chinese cabbage, he chose them because his mouth was craving something different.

Spirit rice was good, but he could not eat nothing but that, could he?

The seeds for the three spirit plants cost thirty points in total.

Five hundred minus thirty left him with four hundred seventy.

When he returned home, it was still early.

Xu Changqing was in no hurry to plant anything.

First, he poured himself a cup of Second-Grade Spirit Rice Wine and entered a pleasantly tipsy state.

Then he took out the incomplete volume of the high-grade spell [Ironwood Armor Art] and began studying it in depth.

With the boost from the Second-Grade Spirit Rice Wine, he would be able to master it completely within a month.

Only around noon, when the drunkenness gradually faded, did Xu Changqing stop.

Then he cooked, washed the dishes, and fed the dog.

Once everything had been handled, he finally began planting.

Yet the entire process was exceedingly simple and swift.

First, he wrapped the spirit rice seeds in the spiritual energy within his body and casually scattered them.

Then he used Wood-Spirit Entanglement Art (third layer) to control the seeds and burrow them into the soil.

He finished it all in mere minutes, without the slightest waste of time or effort.

This time was actually much the same as spring.

Spirit rice still took up the most space, since yield was the priority.

He planted the Four-Leaf Clover beside the irrigation channel he had dug in advance.

The watermelons and Chinese cabbage were planted rather casually.

He planted them wherever there was space; if there was no space, it did not matter.

After all, there was still room beneath the rocky hill on the other side.

Once everything was finished, only the time it took to burn a stick of incense had passed.

Xu Changqing took out Bai Ling'er's Communication Talisman from his small storage pouch and injected a thread of spiritual energy into it.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Xu Changqing!"

"Sorry, I forgot!"

"The one in that especially remote place, with no one around it."

"Now that you put it that way, I remember! It's you!"

"I'd like to make an appointment. Do you have time?"

"Of course I do!"

"When will you come?"

"Mm... would noon tomorrow work?"

"Sure."

The communication ended.

Xu Changqing put away the Communication Talisman.

He planned to have Bai Ling'er come several more times, since summer temperatures were high.

Moreover, this time he had planted more than just spirit rice.

There was also Four-Leaf Clover, watermelon, and Chinese cabbage.

To ensure the harvest, he had to bring down spiritual rain several more times.

The seeds had already been planted in the soil.

All that remained was Hu Bugui's manure.

And Bai Ling'er's spiritual rain.

After that, Xu Changqing immersed himself in study once more.

Time came to the next day.

At noon, Bai Ling'er indeed arrived.

Since she was a child, the two did not exchange many words.

After Bai Ling'er cast [Minor Cloud-Rain Art],

Xu Changqing immediately took out twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones and handed them to her.

Bai Ling'er accepted them, then asked with a beaming smile, "How many more times do you need to make appointments?"

Xu Changqing had long since thought it through. He raised two fingers on his right hand. "At least twice."

Bai Ling'er blinked. "You need to pay a deposit first, then we can set the dates."

Once summer arrived, disciples with Water Spirit Roots became extremely busy.

Spirit farmers had great demand, and rain had to fall everywhere.

Without setting a time in advance, it was easy to clash with someone else's appointment.

Xu Changqing considered it carefully. "Come once during Grain in Ear and once during Great Heat."

"Alright." Bai Ling'er nodded lightly.

Then Xu Changqing took out another forty Low-Grade Spirit Stones and handed them over.

In the past, this would definitely have made his heart ache.

Now, however, it was not too bad. After all, five Mid-Grade Spirit Stones were equivalent to five hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Even in the Qi Refining Realm, that counted as a huge sum.

Bai Ling'er held them in both hands, her eyes shining. "So many!"

Jingle, jingle!

At that moment, the sound of camel bells came from not far away.

Xu Changqing did not even need to look to know that Hu Bugui had arrived.

After all, only he was willing to come to such a remote place.

"It stinks!" Bai Ling'er caught the scent in the air, and her face immediately filled with disgust.

"You should head back." Xu Changqing could not help laughing.

Before Hu Bugui could come any closer,

Bai Ling'er stepped onto her flying paper crane, turned, and fled.

She did not give him the slightest chance to pollute the air.

"Who was that?" Hu Bugui looked at the hurriedly departing figure. "She flew away so fast."

Xu Changqing shrugged. "A Water Spirit Root girl who came to bring rain for me. You scared her away with your stink."

"Uh..." Hu Bugui was deeply embarrassed.

Still, he was used to this sort of thing.

So although he felt somewhat uncomfortable inside, he did not take it to heart.

From the moment he chose to sell spirit beast manure, he had already tossed his pride away long ago.

Xu Changqing called out, "Stop standing there. Unload the manure."

Hu Bugui said irritably, "I came all this way. Can't I rest a bit?"

Xu Changqing smiled. "Then I'll do it myself."

Hu Bugui froze for a moment, then shook his head. "Let's do it together."

Very quickly, the two unloaded part of the century-old spirit beast manure from the camel.

It was enough for Xu Changqing to cover his entire Grade-Two Spirit Field.

Only after they were done did Hu Bugui sit down to rest.

Xu Changqing brought out a bowl of brewed Second-Grade Spirit Rice Wine from the house, handed it to him, and said, "Have a taste."

"It smells so good." Hu Bugui accepted it in surprise.

After taking only a small sip, his eyes widened.

He knew Xu Changqing could brew wine.

But he had not expected his skill to be so good or the quality to be so high.

He immediately drained the bowl of Second-Grade Spirit Rice Wine in one gulp.

Then he narrowed his eyes, his face utterly intoxicated.

After sitting down, Xu Changqing said, "If you like it, take a jin with you when you leave."

"Really?" Hu Bugui immediately opened his eyes, revealing an intensely eager gaze.

Xu Changqing nodded. "Why would I lie to you? We're friends."

Hu Bugui's eyes lit up. "Right, we're friends."

Xu Changqing then took out his small storage pouch. As he removed spirit rice, he said, "According to our previous agreement, you can take one-tenth of my total spring yield.

"After subtracting the one thousand jin submitted, there are still one thousand one hundred jin left.

"One-tenth comes to one hundred ten jin of Second-Grade Spirit Rice."

Added to what remained from before, it accumulated to [2290 jin].

He was giving away wine and fulfilling their agreement.

The spirit rice in particular had reached Supreme-Grade quality, far exceeding expectations.

Hu Bugui was so moved that after storing the Supreme-Grade Spirit Rice in his storage pouch, he decisively took out a spirit beast ring and introduced it. "There's a spirit beast inside called a Pearl Hen. It lays an egg containing a trace amount of spiritual energy every three days!"