Chen Ming finally calmed down, walked over to the bed, and lay down. Outside, heavy rain poured down. Inside the small wooden cabin, the lamplight flickered as he quietly pondered.
He thought to himself, There is fundamentally no opportunity right now, the timing is completely off. Even if I rushed over desperately right now, it would be useless-the people have already been dealt with by Han Li and the items have been taken away. Could I seriously try to snatch them by force? That is completely unrealistic, and whether I could even snatch anything from Han Li is another question entirely. The moment he cannot beat someone, he just hides straight inside the heaven-defying bottle, leaving people completely helpless. Besides, getting that Immortal Ascension slot is useless anyway!
It was just that he felt somewhat uncomfortable inside. Stirred up momentarily by what Yuan Wulang had said, a wave of anger had fogged his mind. Since he had already come to Spirit Beast Mountain, wasn't it still the same-he could farm monsters and level up!
"How is it? Did you bring the person back? Did you find out anything?"
At the Outer Disciples Hall, Li You, the grand elder of the outer disciples, looked at the newly returned Fatty Yuan and asked.
"Nothing special. Just a Fake Spiritual Root, average talent, his realm relies entirely on pills to pile up. The technique he cultivates is just the Evergreen Technique from the Yu Family."
Yuan Wulang walked into the hall, went over to a stool, sat down, and said indifferently.
"Since it's like that, arrange for him to go plant spirit medicine at the Spirit Medicine Garden tomorrow. They're short-handed over there!"
After hearing Yuan Wulang's account, Li You directly made the arrangement.
Yuan Wulang nodded, then got up and headed back.
The next day, early morning!
Last night's heavy rain had stopped, the sunlight was bright, and the air was incomparably fresh. Chen Ming pushed open the door and came outside. Feeling the morning light, his mood became cheerful.
The leisurely sound of footsteps drifted over from afar. He saw a tall and thin young man wearing the outer disciple robes of Spirit Beast Mountain walking toward him.
"You must be Mo Juren? Come with me, your task has been assigned."
The young man walked up to Chen Ming, looked him up and down, and then spoke!
"Task? What task?"
Chen Ming looked at the young man in confusion and asked uncomprehendingly.
Chen Ming followed the young man as they walked down the mountain. Through casual chatting, he learned that all outer disciples in Spirit Beast Mountain were required to perform tasks.
Only when one's cultivation reached Foundation Establishment in Spirit Beast Mountain could one enter the inner sect, and inner disciples had no assigned tasks-only the outer sect had assigned tasks!
Spirit Beast Mountain disciples only had inner and outer sects, and the same was true for the Seven Great Sects of Zhao State. People without cultivation could not enter the sects at all, meaning that anyone wishing to enter an immortal-cultivating sect needed at least the cultivation of the Qi Refining Realm to join!
The cultivation world here wasn't like the ones in novels with so-called mortal miscellaneous disciples. Even if someone had a Spirit Root but hadn't cultivated any cultivation yet, they could at most be called preparatory disciples. Once their cultivation reached the Qi Refining Realm, they could become outer disciples. Preparatory disciples only had one year of cultivation time; if they didn't reach the Qi Refining First Layer within a year, they would just be driven down the mountain!
Those so-called immortal-cultivating families were actually just established by cultivators whose Spirit Roots were originally ordinary and who hadn't cultivated any cultivation during their first year in the sect, subsequently returning to their families to cultivate cultivation later on. The immortal-cultivating families within the borders of Zhao State basically all attached themselves to the Seven Great Sects.
This young man was named Gao Yuan, Yuan Wulang's disciple. He was thirty years old, at the eleventh layer of Qi Refining, and five years younger than Mo Juren!
"We've arrived. This is it. Those two mu of land ahead are what you are responsible for. Since you're a newcomer, just start with spirit rice! You only need to harvest one thousand catties of spirit rice for the sect each season. That house over there is empty, so you can live there!"
Arriving at the foot of the mountain in front of a patch of spirit fields, looking at the two mu of land covered entirely by weeds and the small wooden cabin beside it, Gao Yuan pointed and said!
"You must be thinking you can just invite mortals to farm them-why do cultivators have to farm them themselves? Everyone who just arrives thinks that, and you aren't the first. Spirit fields are not ordinary land; even if mortals farmed them and a martial arts grandmaster came, they wouldn't be able to turn over a single patch of land. The reason spirit fields are spirit fields lies right here. Figure it out for yourself!"
Chen Ming really had been thinking exactly that, except that he didn't understand spirit fields. The reason Gao Yuan told him so clearly was simple: every outer disciple's first time was just like this.
"Then aren't spirit materials planted with spirit fields outside? Why is it that it has an effect there too?"
Chen Ming asked in confusion.
"What you have over there can't be called spirit materials. The ones you see can only be called medicinal herbs-medicinal herbs and spirit materials are two different concepts!"
Gao Yuan answered very patiently. He was already used to this kind of question.
After collecting the spirit rice seeds, Chen Ming began to get busy. It took him seven days to clear the weeds out of the spirit fields, and then it took him another three days just to finish planting the spirit rice!
Through these past few days, he finally learned that the outer disciples of these cultivation sects were all coolies. If they wanted to leave, they had to accumulate enough contribution points, or else work for at least a full thirty years.
Fleeing was simply impossible; with a single contribution point decree, plenty of inner-sect Foundation Establishment cultivators would drag you back. However, as long as you completed your tasks on time, no one bothered about your remaining spare time!
Just because of this, Chen Ming now often traveled back and forth to Jiayuan City when he had nothing to do. Actually, he needed to prove one thing for Mo Juren: it was impossible that he couldn't produce a son. It wasn't because of lust; it was purely for Grand Doctor Mo to carry on the family line.
This day, Chen Ming returned to Jiayuan City once again. As soon as he entered the city, he spotted a familiar figure. This person was none other than Han Li. Yet at this moment, Han Li was chatting with Sun Ergou of the Four Peace Gang.
He thought to himself, How did Han Li come here and hook up with Sun Ergou? Han Li managed to get here even without the letter I kept for him-could this be following the plot no matter what?
"Han Li! Why did you come here?"
Chen Ming hurried forward, came up beside Han Li, and said.
"Teacher Mo, why are you here?"
Han Li was startled at first, hastily turned around to see a familiar figure, and likewise asked in astonishment.
"My home is right here, what do you think? This isn't a place to talk, come back with me first!"
As Chen Ming spoke, he walked toward the Mo Mansion, and Han Li followed closely behind!
"Adoptive father, you're back! Oh! Han Li, why did you come!"
Zhang Tie first greeted Chen Ming, and then, seeing Han Li following behind him, asked in surprise.
The three of them arrived at the main hall and sat down. Han Li recounted the events of the Seven Mysteries Sect over the past two years, and also spoke together of the matter involving Venerable Golden Light from a while ago!
"You didn't get poisoned again, did you?"
Chen Ming looked at the eloquently speaking Han Li in confusion and couldn't help asking!
"Teacher Mo, you even saw through that. That's right, I was poisoned!"
Han Li smiled awkwardly, his face completely red as he said with embarrassment.
Chen Ming thought to himself, Even this works? Could it be that a new primary antagonist has appeared now, and this plot! Could it be that the protagonist's path remains unchanged, and even if other supporting characters are swapped they still have to follow the script?
"Zhang Tie! Go to Fourth Madam's place and fetch the Warm Sun Jade!"
Chen Ming spoke directly to Zhang Tie.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Tie hurriedly stood up and left. Before long, Zhang Tie returned carrying the Warm Sun Jade, and handed it directly to Chen Yang!
"Take it. Tell me, who administered the poison?"
After taking the Warm Sun Jade, Chen Ming casually handed it over to Han Li and pressed on.
"A person named Ouyang Lingyun. Does Teacher Mo know of him?"
After receiving the jade pendant and tucking it into his bosom, Han Li asked in succession.
"I know him. Ouyang Lingyun is the only son of Ouyang Feitian, the master of the Dominating Mountain Manor!"
As Chen Ming spoke, he thought to himself, It follows that Ouyang Feitian is bound to die, and then said nonchalantly,
"Since you've arrived here, stay here for a few days to recuperate. The two of you haven't seen each other in a long time either. You chat first, I still have some business to attend to!"
Chen Ming looked at the two of them, spoke, and turned to leave.
Returning to the study, he thought to himself, Should I go join in the fun at the Tai Nan Gathering or not?