Planting

Su Ye got dressed and entered the Immortal Spirit Space. He walked to the thatched hut, put Taihe Sixteen Grotto-Heavens on the shelf, and picked up the cloth bag for a closer look.

"Could this be the legendary storage bag?" Su Ye murmured to himself.

Su Ye swept the cloth bag with his modest spiritual sense and saw a space inside it measuring roughly a hundred cubic meters. There was nothing extra in the space, only five small bags and a few farming tools: a hoe, a shovel, a sickle, a long blade...

With a thought, Su Ye took out the five bags and the tools, then examined the bags closely.

On the bags were four large characters: "Spirit grain seeds." Beneath them was the name "Ye Xuan Chamber of Commerce."

The previous owner of this Immortal Spirit Space probably came from the world of immortal cultivation. This Ye Xuan Chamber of Commerce must be a chamber of commerce somewhere in that world, Su Ye thought.

I don't know how long these seeds have been in here, or whether they'll still grow.

Su Ye left the thatched hut, picked up the hoe, and began tilling the soil. After the cultivation technique had cleansed his body and marrow, he felt as though he had inexhaustible strength.

After several hours of hard work, Su Ye finally finished tilling all the soil.

He then scattered all the seeds and watered them. Along the way, he grew so thirsty that he scooped up a ladleful of water to drink. He found it unbelievably delicious and refreshingly cool. After he drank it, the spiritual energy in his body seemed to increase by a tiny bit.

This must be some kind of spiritual energy water, Su Ye thought.

All five small bags of spirit grain had been sown, taking up roughly three quarters of the space.

After planting the spirit grain, Su Ye left the Immortal Spirit Space in a flash.

Time flows ten times faster inside the Immortal Spirit Space than outside. I might as well buy some precious medicinal herbs to plant, Su Ye thought.

He acted on the idea at once, quickly tidying himself up before heading out to look for a seed shop.

He finally found one near the end of a street in the south of the city.

"Sir, do you have ginseng seeds here?" Su Ye asked as soon as he entered the shop and saw an old man sorting medicinal herbs at the Chinese medicine counter.

Seeing a customer, the old man stopped sorting the herbs and walked toward Su Ye. "Yes, yes. How much would you like, young man?"

Hearing that the shop had seeds, Su Ye's eyes lit up. "How much per jin are the ginseng seeds and Solomon's seal seeds?"

"Ginseng seeds are 500 yuan per jin, and Solomon's seal seeds are 300 yuan per jin. Both have a germination rate of over ninety percent," the old man replied.

Su Ye didn't know much about the ins and outs of this, so after some thought, he said, "I'll take a jin of each. I'll try planting them first, and if they really are good, I'll come back and buy more from you."

"No problem, no problem," the old man replied, going to weigh out the seeds for Su Ye.

"That's 800 yuan in total. Thank you for your business. Cash or scan to pay?" the old man asked, placing the seeds in front of Su Ye.

"Cash." After paying, Su Ye took the seeds and hurried back to his rented room. On the way, he passed a supermarket and bought a few bread rolls and two boxed meals.

Ever since he began cultivating Taihe Sixteen Grotto-Heavens, Su Ye had felt his appetite grow to nearly twice what it had been. The rice bowl he had eaten that morning hadn't even filled him up, whereas before, he wouldn't have been able to finish it.

Back in his rented room, Su Ye devoured everything he had bought to eat, then took the seeds and entered the Immortal Spirit Space in a flash.

He scattered the ginseng and Solomon's seal seeds and watered them, finally filling the Immortal Spirit Space with crops.

"That's enough for today. I'll come back and check tomorrow." With that, Su Ye left the Immortal Spirit Space.

After a hot shower, he fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, Su Ye woke at daybreak.

He entered the Immortal Spirit Space in a flash, then came right back out.

"Good thing it wasn't a dream," Su Ye murmured.

"I'll go downstairs and get some breakfast first."

"Ever since I started cultivating Taihe Sixteen Grotto-Heavens, why is my stomach always hungry?" Su Ye muttered to himself.

Su Ye quickly washed up, then went downstairs to Li Dafu's restaurant.

"Brother Su Ye, you're here! What would you like this time?" A girl who looked about eighteen or nineteen asked when she saw him enter the restaurant.

She had a fair, oval face, with a pair of bright, lively eyes beneath her curved brows.

"Zhaozhao, didn't you go to the hospital to look after your mom? Why are you back?" Su Ye asked.

"Mom just had her operation yesterday. My aunt is looking after her, and things are pretty busy at the restaurant, so I came back for now. I'll take them breakfast later," Li Zhaozhao replied.

"Let me know when you go. I'll come with you and visit Auntie Guo," Su Ye said.

"Oh, there's no need to trouble yourself. Mom only had a minor operation." When Li Zhaozhao heard that Su Ye wanted to go with her, her face first turned red, and then she hurriedly explained.

"Oh, it's fine. I'm only going to visit Auntie Guo, not you. Besides, she's been very good to me. She's sick, so what's wrong with me visiting her?"

Seeing that Su Ye insisted, Li Zhaozhao stopped trying to dissuade him. Blushing, she said, "All right, I'll call you later! Oh, right, what would you like to eat?"

"The usual. A rice bowl for me."

Su Ye didn't know whether it was his imagination, but he kept feeling that today's rice bowl had more meat than before.

After breakfast, Su Ye returned to his rented room and entered the Immortal Spirit Space in a flash.

Inside the Immortal Spirit Space, the spirit grain he had sown seemed to have already sprouted. The pale green shoots were a lovely sight.

The ginseng and Solomon's seal, however, showed no sign of activity yet.

Su Ye drank a ladleful of spiritual energy water, then sat down to cultivate. The spiritual energy all around slowly gathered around him.

After about three or four hours, Su Ye slowly opened his eyes. The spiritual energy in his body had increased by another tiny bit.

"Why am I always hungry..."

"At this rate, I'm going to eat myself into poverty."

Su Ye left the Immortal Spirit Space in a flash. Less than half an hour had passed outside. He quickly got himself ready, locked the door, and headed downstairs.

Fortunately, there was a steamed bun shop not far from his rented room.

When Su Ye entered the shop, he found it quite crowded. It was now the morning rush hour for people heading to work.

"Boss, two steamers of soup dumplings!" Su Ye called.

"Coming right up! Please wait a moment, young man."

Su Ye found a table with fewer people and sat down to wait.

Before long, his soup dumplings arrived: two steamers of dumplings and a dish of soy sauce.

A steamer of soup dumplings generally held ten. Each one was round and plump, like a little snowball, except for the uneven spot on top. Before they had even arrived, their aroma had already left Su Ye utterly entranced, and he could hardly wait to swallow a whole freshly steamed dumpling in one bite.