Farming

"Senior brother seemed really disappointed that we chose the Spirit-Nurturing Art."

"We must have given him the wrong impression earlier."

Lin Jing left the scripture pavilion with not only the jade slip for the Spirit-Nurturing Art, but also several history books and, most importantly, Basic Alchemy (Herbs and Plants)!

A thorough grasp of the effects of various spirit plants was one of the fundamentals of alchemy.

"After successfully beginning qi refinement, outer disciples can choose one basic spell. To learn a second, they have to reach the fourth level of qi refinement."

"But since I receive the same treatment as an Inner Gate disciple, I should technically be exempt from that rule..."

"Forget it. Spells can wait. The sect has a reason for limiting how many spells disciples learn. Bite off too much, and you'll master none of it."

Lin Jing and the Pineleaf Squirrel both rubbed their bellies.

"Squeak!"

Half a month of arduous cultivation.

Not only were they running out of Spirit Stones.

They had also eaten almost all of that bag of spirit rice, with little remaining.

Although the outer sect had a dining hall that served all sorts of delicacies from land and sea rich in spiritual energy, every dish cost money.

The Beast Taming Sect did not provide ordinary food. Disciples had to buy ingredients themselves in the towns around the sect's gates, or hunt wild animals in the surrounding mountains and forests.

To speed up cultivation, cultivators were best off eating food containing spiritual energy for all three meals. But dining hall meals were expensive. Lin Jing and his companion barely had enough for cultivation, so they could hardly afford them.

From what Lin Jing had learned, however, disciples who chose Pineleaf Squirrels enjoyed one advantage.

"Let's buy some spirit rice paddy seeds and grow them in the courtyard ourselves. With your talents, we should be able to eat all the spirit rice we want, right?"

"Squeak!!!" The Pineleaf Squirrel nodded. Back in the Pine Forest, its kind had produced food for themselves this way: find suitable edible plants, then keep speeding up their growth until they ripened.

They could harvest food quickly without waiting around like other species.

"Still, even though spirit rice tastes good and fills us up, eating it for half a month has gotten a little monotonous."

"Once we buy the seeds, let's head down the mountain and see if anyone sells cheap beast meat, or go hunt some game in the mountains." Lin Jing sighed.

Even digging up some roots to pickle would do, as long as they were free.

The Harvest Pavilion in the outer sect.

Like the scripture pavilion, it was one of the Beast Taming Sect's basic facilities.

It mainly sold agricultural products.

It had branches throughout the sect.

When Lin Jing and his companion entered the shop, a frail, thin senior sister from the outer sect rose to greet them.

"What do you need, junior brother?" she asked slowly.

Another working stiff, apparently.

Before coming to the Harvest Pavilion, Lin Jing had passed the Mission Hall with the Pineleaf Squirrel and taken a look around.

He discovered that the sect's missions, large and small, covered every aspect of life.

Besides mining, farming, and kitchen work... there were even matchmaking missions urging disciples to find mates for their pet beasts.

The goal was to breed high-quality second-generation spirit beasts, creating a self-sustaining cycle of pet beasts within the sect.

From what Lin Jing could see, though, few people took those missions.

There were also jobs at sect facilities, like senior brother Ouyang Hao's.

These missions were easy and paid well, but there were only so many available, with certain requirements attached. Without sufficient ability, you would never get your hands on one.

Most disciples could only go to the mines and earn a meager handful of Spirit Stones.

For this senior sister to land such an easy mission as the Harvest Pavilion's shop attendant, she presumably had a few tricks up her sleeve.

But why do all of you look so weak?

Lin Jing pondered.

"Hello, senior sister."

"I'd like to buy some spirit rice paddy seeds," Lin Jing said.

The senior sister glanced at the Pineleaf Squirrel and nodded. "You're planning to grow them yourself, right?"

"Yes."

"Would you like some fertilizer produced by Foundation Establishment Realm spirit beasts, too? Combined with the Pineleaf Squirrel's spiritual power to speed up ripening, it can increase your spirit rice paddy yield," she suggested.

Apparently, once your cultivation was high enough, everything that came out of you was a treasure.

But he felt the few Spirit Stones in his pocket and shook his head.

A short while later, he and the Pineleaf Squirrel had spent all their Spirit Stones and headed back with a bag of spirit rice paddy seeds and spirit bean seeds.

The former would produce spirit rice...

The latter was a spirit plant resembling peanuts, one of the Pineleaf Squirrel's favorite foods.

"Now we're completely broke..."

Before long, Lin Jing and his companion returned to the courtyard.

Hearing Lin Jing mutter to himself, the Pineleaf Squirrel was so distressed it wanted to cry. It had started hoarding those Spirit Stones shortly after it was born!

"Don't worry."

"Once our grand farming venture succeeds, we'll not only be self-sufficient, but we can also sell the extra spirit rice and spirit beans. We'll earn back all the Spirit Stones we spent in no time..."

Lin Jing had no idea how long "in no time" would actually be, but for now, that was how he reassured it.

"Squeak?"

At that, the Pineleaf Squirrel quickly wiped away its tears and once again looked forward to the future.

The sight filled Lin Jing with emotion.

"This kid takes after me. An optimist!"

Lin Jing knew little about farming, but the Pineleaf Squirrel was an expert.

He handed all the seeds over to the Pineleaf Squirrel, and it went off to find an empty patch of ground.

While the Pineleaf Squirrel buried the seeds, pressed its large tail against the soil, and poured in emerald-green spiritual power to accelerate their growth and ripening, Lin Jing had already picked up the three history books he had brought from the first floor of the library.

"Brief History of the Heavenly Origin Continent"

"History of the Ancient Kingdom"

"History of the Beast Taming Sect"

He opened the Brief History of the Heavenly Origin Continent first.

"In ancient times, the Heavenly Origin Continent was one of the lower realms ruled by the Immortal Palace, a power in the Immortal Realm."

"One hundred thousand years ago, an upheaval of unknown origin struck the Immortal Realm. The Immortal Palace was swept into the flames of war, and the Heavenly Origin Continent's ascension passage vanished. From that point onward, the Heavenly Origin Continent could no longer contact the Immortal Realm, nor could any cultivator ascend."

"At that time, the Heavenly Origin Immortal Palace, the Immortal Palace's branch on the Heavenly Origin Continent, still ruled the continent, with a hundred races bowing to its rule."

"Fifty thousand years ago, with contact with the Immortal Realm still impossible, the Immortal Palace on the Heavenly Origin Continent grew weaker with the passing years. To maintain its rule, it sought to forcibly breach the boundary between realms, consuming the Heavenly Origin Continent's resources to excess and plunging its people into misery."

"At this point, four great sects joined forces to overthrow the Immortal Palace's absolute rule over the Heavenly Origin Continent, bringing the age of the Immortal Palace to an end."

"The four great sects then formed the Immortal Alliance and took over from the Immortal Palace. The Immortal Alliance became the Heavenly Origin Continent's new overlord, ushering in the age of the Immortal Alliance."

"History moves in cycles. Although the cultivation world of the Heavenly Origin Continent initially flourished under the Immortal Alliance's rule, ten thousand years ago, the Immortal Alliance ultimately followed the same old road as the Immortal Palace."

"At the end of the age of the Immortal Alliance, another cultivator of extraordinary talent emerged. He not only destroyed the Immortal Alliance but also founded the Heavenly Origin Ancient Kingdom and developed the True Dragon Secret Art, binding his cultivation to his boundless territory. The more prosperous his people and the richer his lands, the greater his strength in battle."

"He called himself the Ancient Emperor. Through the True Dragon Secret Art, he nurtured a true dragon of destiny and became the strongest cultivator on the Heavenly Origin Continent."

"To this day, the Heavenly Origin Ancient Kingdom occupies the central region of the Heavenly Origin Continent, its heartland, largest expanse, and most fertile territory."

"Beyond the Heavenly Origin Ancient Kingdom, surrounding lands such as Green Province, Martial Emperor City, Water-Moon Immortal Island, and the Snowfield remain outside its jurisdiction, with powerful cultivators presiding over them as well."

"And where I am now is the Great Wilderness Region, one of the Ancient Kingdom's nine regions... Spiritual energy is relatively sparse here, and the strongest cultivators active in the region are only Nascent Soul Cultivators."

Lin Jing finished reading.

It really is a brief history. You didn't even record which four sects formed the Immortal Alliance!