Choosing a Place to Call Home, Blossoming Alone

No one knew how long they had flown.

All at once, Xu Changqing and the others felt a wave of comfort wash over them.

They hurriedly sensed their surroundings and discovered that the concentration of wood spiritual energy in the air was soaring.

"What is this?" Xu Changqing exchanged a look with Lin An beside him.

Luo Bucheng pointed ahead and said, "We've already approached the Spirit Field Core Region."

Everyone immediately looked down.

They were instantly dumbfounded.

All manner of spiritual plants broadened their horizons.

The spiritual plants below to the left resembled a green ocean.

As the wind swept through them, it stirred wave upon wave.

On the other side, vines dozens of meters long had formed a gigantic nest in midair.

They even bore one human-faced fruit after another.

In the distance stood a Golden Sunward Spirit Sunflower, towering like a great tree.

It radiated dazzling golden light comparable to the sun itself.

Xu Changqing only glanced at it briefly before immediately feeling as though a sharp weapon had pierced through him.

Looking across the entire Spirit Field Core Region, there was simply no end in sight.

It stretched onward without cease, as though boundless and infinite.

"My heavens!"

"So these are true spiritual plants!"

"Will we get the chance to grow them?"

Xu Changqing, Lin An, and the others all appeared rather excited.

This was completely different from what they had imagined.

They had thought the place would be filled with Spirit Rice and the like. Now, they had truly opened their eyes.

Luo Bucheng said with certainty, "As long as you meet the annual assessment requirement of five thousand jin or an equivalent value, you can grow whatever you want."

Xu Changqing was the first to calm down. Pondering it, he said, "It can't be that easy, can it?"

"Of course not." Luo Bucheng shot him a somewhat surprised glance before continuing, "These things have requirements for cultivation realms and spell levels. You must act according to your ability."

At that moment, Crane Nineteen slowed its flight.

It glided downward at an exceptionally steady pace.

At the same time, a bald mountain appeared ahead.

It was not particularly tall, only a little over a hundred meters.

There were no plants whatsoever around it.

At its peak was a platform.

A quaint little palace stood upon it.

Luo Bucheng pointed at the palace and introduced it. "This is the Spirit Field Core Administration Office. From now on, whether you submit resources or apply for spiritual plant seeds, any request at all goes through here."

"Alright." The group nodded.

Luo Bucheng chuckled. "Once I deliver you here, my task will be complete."

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Luo." Xu Changqing and the others hurriedly clasped their hands in salute.

"You're too polite. I'll need your help in the future too." Luo Bucheng waved his hand.

When dealing with outer sect disciples, he was as indifferent as the vast majority of formal disciples.

But now, Xu Changqing and the others had become formal disciples, making them his peers.

Naturally, he could no longer keep a cold face and leave them with a bad impression.

Although Spirit Field disciples were not particularly strong, they supplied vast amounts of resources.

Thus, they were instead the kind of people one absolutely could not afford to offend.

Once Xu Changqing and the others jumped from the crane's back, Crane Nineteen took flight again.

Before long, it carried Luo Bucheng beyond the horizon.

"Let's go inside," Xu Changqing called out.

The group headed toward the entrance of the Spirit Field Core Administration Office ahead of them.

Yet after entering, they found no one there.

Because they had to tend to spiritual plants.

Most formal disciples in the Spirit Fields rarely left their fields.

They only came to the Spirit Field Core Administration Office when they had business.

However, a spiritual plant grew deep within the palace.

It was a red flower.

It had an enormous flower bud.

Lin An could not help calling out, "Is anyone there?"

"Yes." A voice answered.

All at once, the flower bud bloomed.

It revealed a face with human features, though it looked rather aged.

Its surface was wrinkled like dried tangerine peel, one crease pressed atop another.

At a glance, it was clear that it had lived for a very long time, covered in traces left by the years.

"A demon..." Lin An jumped in fright and nearly screamed.

Xu Changqing hurriedly stopped him, then respectfully called out, "Senior!"

With Crane Nineteen as a precedent.

Since this being dared appear in the Spirit Field Core Administration Office.

It was clearly no ordinary existence.

"Young man, you reacted quickly." The human face tugged at its mouth and smiled somewhat stiffly.

Xu Changqing then asked curiously, "We are Spirit Field outer sect disciples who passed the third-quarter assessment, and we came here specifically to become formal disciples. May I ask who you are, Senior?"

The human face answered, "I am Flower Elder, the administrator of the core office."

Xu Changqing and the others were greatly shocked.

They had not expected the administrator of the Spirit Field Core Administration Office to actually be a flower.

No, more accurately, a flower demon that had lived for who knew how long.

"Greetings, Administrator!" This time, everyone reacted quickly.

Flower Elder smiled. "Young ones, from the moment you received your formal disciple robes, you had already become formal disciples. The reason you came here was mainly to receive Grade-Two Spirit Fields and field deeds."

"So that's how it is." The group understood.

"Come, choose a plot." After saying that, Flower Elder unfurled a massive scroll.

Within it was a map of the Spirit Field Core Region.

Remarkably, many locations had already been marked.

For instance, the Golden Sunward Spirit Sunflower Xu Changqing and the others had seen earlier was among them.

"What's the difference?" Lin An could not help asking.

Flower Elder answered, "Some are near, and some are far."

Zhao Ziyao immediately said, "I want one closer to here."

"Alright." The contents of the scroll in Flower Elder's hand blurred, and before long, only several locations remained.

They were all Grade-Two Spirit Fields closest to the Spirit Field Core Administration Office.

After looking over them for a few moments, Zhao Ziyao made his choice.

In his view, the closer, the better.

It would make everything more convenient.

Soon, it was Lin An's turn.

He chose a Spirit Field that was neither close nor far.

But it was surrounded by people.

Then came Xu Changqing.

"And what about you, young man?" Flower Elder had a good impression of this young man.

Xu Changqing slowly said, "I like peace and quiet. I want somewhere farther away and more secluded."

"There are only three places." Flower Elder remembered that clearly.

Before long, three locations appeared before Xu Changqing.

All of them were farthest from the Spirit Field Core Administration Office.

One was at the foot of a mountain.

One was along the route they had taken to get here.

One was near an abandoned cave.

Xu Changqing asked, "May I ask, Administrator, whether there are any powerful formal disciples near these three places?"

Flower Elder said, "There are near the first and second locations. There isn't even anyone near the third."

Xu Changqing immediately decided, "Then I'll choose the third one."

"Why choose somewhere so far away?" Lin An did not quite understand.

"Wouldn't it be good to stay with us?" Zhao Ziyao was also puzzled.

"I'm not really fond of socializing, haha." Xu Changqing grinned.

"It's your turn to choose." At that moment, Flower Elder shifted his gaze to Zhao Ying.

"I..." Zhao Ying had just begun choosing with an excited expression.

"Choose the one closest to me." At that moment, a familiar voice rang out.

Upon hearing that voice, Zhao Ying's body could not help trembling.

The smile on his face vanished as well.

A trace of pain surfaced deep in his eyes.

Everyone turned around and, sure enough, it was Zhang Er!

Flower Elder said without any courtesy, "He is choosing, not you."

"What do you think?" Zhang Er looked at Zhao Ying instead, then smiled meaningfully.

Zhao Ying gave a dry laugh and said, "Yes, I choose the Spirit Field closest to Senior Brother Zhang."

Xu Changqing and Lin An exchanged a glance.

Then, both of them looked at Zhao Ying with a hint of sympathy.

It seemed that the reason this man had become a formal disciple.

Definitely had something to do with Zhang Er.

What did becoming a formal disciple matter?

From now on, would he not still be serving another like an ox and a horse?

"Alright, everyone has finished choosing. These are your field deeds." Flower Elder did not care about the hidden currents involved and directly took out the field deeds.

Xu Changqing accepted his and discovered that it was a talisman deed.

Because it had not been activated, its surface was dim.

Without hesitation, he forced out a drop of blood from his right hand and pressed it onto the deed.

Sure enough, once the blood was absorbed, a faint glow immediately emerged from the talisman paper.

Lin An and Zhao Ziyao beside him followed suit and did the same.

Zhao Ying was ten thousand times unwilling in his heart.

But while his hand trembled.

He still handed his deed to someone beside him who was eyeing it like a tiger watching its prey.

Yet even after obtaining one field deed, Zhang Er was far from satisfied.

His greedy gaze shifted toward Xu Changqing and Lin An.

At the same time, the hatred in his heart grew ever more intense.

The Formal Disciple Grand Competition was held once every ten years.

The next one would take place in two years.

The higher one's ranking, the better the corresponding benefits and treatment.

With enough luck, one could even take an immortal elder as a master and become a core disciple.

If these Spirit Fields provided him with resources.

Zhang Er's strength would definitely grow rapidly within two years, perhaps even allowing him to break through into the Foundation Establishment Realm.

At that time, he could compete for the rankings.

Yet Xu Changqing and Lin An had not only refused to compromise, they had even become formal disciples.

Not only had the three become peers, they were now competitors as well.

That made Zhang Er extremely displeased!