Spirit Plant Farmer

Spiritual energy drifted between heaven and earth.

Some lands of exceptional beauty were favored by heaven and earth, and their spiritual energy was extraordinarily dense.

White Jade Mountain, where the Azure Cloud Sect stood, was one such place.

"The spiritual energy in the sect is who knows how many times denser than back home."

Sensing the spiritual energy around him, Lin Mo clicked his tongue in admiration.

He had once heard a drunken Steward Cui mention that the cultivation grounds of those lofty inner disciples were so rich in spiritual energy that it could gather into mist.

What a sight that must be!

"Senior Brother Liu, the water's here!"

Having fetched fresh Cold Spring Water in a different bamboo bucket, Lin Mo bowed to a young man of average build and appearance standing a short distance away.

Liu Xianzong looked up, smiled, and nodded. "Water them slowly along the ridges. Be careful."

He had a gentle temperament and treated even servant disciples kindly.

After all, everyone had their own work to do. Few people were idle enough to go out of their way to mock servant disciples.

Besides, how well these spirit plants grew also depended on how much care the servant disciples put into them. Naturally, he would not start barking orders at the newly arrived Lin Mo.

"Erhu found a lucky opportunity and became an outer disciple. I was worried there'd be nobody to take over his work for a while, but you arrived just in time."

"Spirit plants aren't like ordinary crops, where you can steal a little rest even during the busy season. You need to watch them constantly. If you spot any problems, call me over immediately."

"If you do well, I might even give you a spirit fruit."

With that, Liu Xianzong yawned and made to leave.

It all came back to the same thing: cultivation resources were limited.

Even outer disciples therefore had annual sect contribution point requirements. Anyone who failed to meet them for two consecutive years would have their cultivation crippled and be expelled. It was a brutal system.

Working as a spirit plant farmer earned a fair number of contribution points, but it took a great deal of time and effort.

These spirit fields were largely tended by servant disciples, since the outer disciples needed to devote more time to cultivation.

"Rest assured, Senior Brother Liu. I'll do a good job."

Lin Mo could hardly wait for Liu Xianzong to leave.

Yet to his surprise, Liu Xianzong hesitated for a moment before turning back. "The sect assessment is coming up, and you still haven't become a cultivator. You should devote more attention to cultivation during this time, too."

"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother."

No formal disciple had ever said anything like that to Lin Mo. Although Liu Xianzong was probably speaking mostly out of self-interest, it still warmed his heart.

Liu Xianzong soon left, leaving Lin Mo alone to watch over nearly ten mu of spirit fields.

A smile crept onto his face. After looking around and making sure no one was there, he secretly took out the Little Gourd, found a poorly growing spirit plant, and poured a little of the Spirit Spring water inside it down along the plant's roots.

Spirit plants were delicate. They needed fresh mountain spring water every day, and from time to time a cultivator had to personally feed them spiritual energy through spells for them to flourish.

Lin Mo could not project spiritual energy outside his body, but with the gourd in hand, he could do far better than nourishing them with spiritual energy alone.

After he poured out a little under half a gourd of Spirit Spring Water, the spirit plant Liu Xianzong had all but given up on looked noticeably healthier.

Lin Mo jolted in alarm and hurriedly kicked it a few times around its roots, suppressing its vitality so it would not stand out too much.

Spirit plants were not planted as densely as ordinary crops.

The ten or so mu of land held barely a hundred eggplant-like spirit crops.

If it recovered slowly, he could explain it away as the result of his attentive care.

But if a sickly plant suddenly flourished in less than half a day, wouldn't that spell trouble?

Holding this precious gourd, Lin Mo was like a small child carrying gold through a marketplace. If anyone discovered it, he would not only lose his life and see his path of cultivation cut short-his family might be dragged into it as well.

I was still too reckless.

Lin Mo secretly wiped away his sweat as the thought crossed his mind.

With this supreme treasure supporting me, even if my talent is abysmal, it should at least push me to the peak of Qi Refining.

Then I could become a steward at the Servant Disciples' Courtyard, and this life wouldn't have been lived in vain.

But until then, I have to keep as low a profile as possible.

I must never reveal the precious gourd's existence.

Lin Mo understood the principle that an ordinary man was innocent, but possessing a jade treasure made him guilty.

After some more experimentation over the past few days, Lin Mo had discovered that the spiritual energy in the Spirit Spring water poured from the Little Gourd rapidly diminished over time.

After roughly two hours, it would turn back into ordinary spring water.

Furthermore, when ordinary spring water was poured into the gourd, its spiritual energy reached its limit after about twenty-four hours. It could not keep increasing indefinitely.

Then if I poured genuine Spirit Spring Water into it, what would come out twenty-four hours later?

Unfortunately, Lin Mo had yet to obtain even a drop of genuine Spirit Spring water. He could only set aside his curiosity for now and continue his grand undertaking of "lying low."

The mountain was vast, but there were few people on it.

Even the disregarded servant disciples had small courtyards of their own.

Lin Mo had already set his sights on a spirit plant that was close to death. He planned to wait a few more days until Liu Xianzong definitively sentenced it to death, then take it back to plant in his own courtyard.

With enough Spirit Spring Water poured over it, he might be able to bring it back from the dead.

Then he would have a spirit plant of his own.

Once that happens, I can harvest its seeds and plant them, then harvest more seeds and plant those. With offspring upon offspring stretching on without end, wouldn't I make a fortune?

Uh... of course, someone might also set their sights on me.

Then murder me for my treasure.

But spirit plants were not merely delicate; they were precious, worth more than a servant disciple's life. There was no way he could obtain a healthy spirit plant through normal channels.

Aside from that dying spirit plant, he would have to make other plans as well.

Watering, removing pests, wiping down branches and leaves...

By the time he finished all these tasks, it was already afternoon.

Lin Mo tapped his slightly stiff back and was pleasantly surprised to discover that his body seemed a little stronger than before.

Although the improvement was pitifully small, it was clearly another effect of the Little Gourd.

"It seems this Spirit Spring Water doesn't just increase my cultivation. It can even strengthen my body and spiritual roots. No wonder I've felt myself absorbing spiritual energy a little faster these past few days."

Carefully sensing the changes in his body, Lin Mo murmured to himself. The slight upward curve of his lips revealed the joy in his heart.

His poor talent was Lin Mo's greatest sore spot.

If Spirit Spring Water really could nourish his spiritual roots, his future would certainly hold far greater prospects.

Maybe I could even land myself a position as an outer sect elder.

Tsk, now that would really be something.

Lin Mo recalled the outer sect elder he had seen last Lunar New Year's Eve. The man truly possessed the immortal bearing and transcendent grace everyone spoke of. One glance was enough to tell he was no ordinary mortal.

His eyes seemed capable of seeing straight through a person's heart.

After absorbing and refining that day's spiritual energy from the spring water, Lin Mo enjoyed a good night's sleep. Before he knew it, the next day had arrived.

As usual, he collected the formal disciples' chamber pots, listening without a change of expression as they called him "Chamber Pot Boy," then headed to the Spirit Plant Garden.

The first thing he did was check on the poor spirit plant he had kicked.

An ordinary spirit plant could die on you at the slightest displeasure, even if you tended it carefully.

Let alone after being kicked.

Yet under the powerful growth-promoting effects of the Spirit Spring Water, this sickly plant displayed such vigorous vitality that even Liu Xianzong, inspecting it nearby, looked surprised.

"Little Lin, yesterday... what did you do to this spirit plant?"