Twelve Forms

Su Ye sorted out the hose and watered every greenhouse with plenty of diluted spiritual energy water before heading outside.

Zhang Erhu had stopped practicing his punches and was reading the yellowed book on Xingyi Quan beneath the shelter.

When he saw Su Ye come out of the greenhouse, Zhang Erhu took the book and walked over to him.

"Brother Ye, I've figured out the Five Elements Fist, and I've gotten a basic grasp of some of the Twelve Forms too. Could you explain them to me in more detail?"

Su Ye sat down beneath the shelter, poured himself a cup of cold tea, and took a sip before speaking.

"The Twelve Forms are essentially an enhanced version of the Five Elements Fist. They build on it with many more hand techniques and even movement techniques, making the forms more varied and the expressions of force more comprehensive."

"The Five Elements Fist corresponds to the five elements of heaven and earth, while the Twelve Forms correspond to the attacking forms of twelve animals. If you want to practice the Twelve Forms, you must have some understanding of the habits of those twelve animals."

"Understand the habits of the twelve animals recorded in the book..."

Zhang Erhu muttered to himself in a low voice.

"That's right. Don't underestimate the animals recorded in the book. Most of those included have a special skill of their own."

"Even if you can easily defeat or kill them now, try it when you're both at the Xiantian realm!"

At Su Ye's words, understanding dawned on Zhang Erhu. He immediately put the book away and trotted off to observe the animals.

Su Ye drank several cups of spiritual tea beneath the shelter before getting up and heading to the orange grove.

The orange trees were more than a size bigger than they had been two months ago. Su Ye had deliberately kept them from growing too tall: he and Zhang Erhu had pruned away the upward-growing branches, so the trees now grew in clusters.

In the lower left corner of the grove, four or five orange trees were already laden with green oranges.

Su Ye had deliberately left those few trees as test subjects. He had picked all the little oranges off the other trees just after their blossoms fell and the fruit appeared.

It was a tip Su Ye had learned online from fruit growers.

For the first two years, it was best to let orange trees grow larger and develop plenty of branches and the like.

That way, the branches would be less likely to bend under the weight when they bore fruit later, and there would be enough nutrients to go around.

If an orange tree was allowed to bear fruit in its first year, its own nutrients would be diverted to the oranges, leaving the tree malnourished.

In the long run, the returns from the latter approach would be far lower than from the former.

However, watered with Su Ye's diluted spiritual energy water, these orange trees were clearly growing faster than those planted by other fruit growers.

By Su Ye's own estimate, the trees would be more or less fully grown by early next year at the latest. He would let them bear fruit then.

Su Ye followed the path through the center of the grove uphill until he reached the water tank.

He bent down, picked up one end of the hose, and opened the valve on the tank. Then he dragged the hose along as he watered the orange trees.

When Su Ye was away, Zhang Erhu did all this work. Even with his previous Houtian cultivation, the work had been easy for him.

By the time Su Ye returned to the shelter, Zhang Erhu had cooked a meal at some point and was waiting for him to come back and eat.

Two months ago, Su Ye and Zhang Erhu had built a simple kitchen here to save themselves trouble. Afterward, they had rarely gone home for meals, usually eating here instead.

The rice was, of course, the spiritual rice Su Ye had grown. There were two dishes: stir-fried cabbage and a plate of stir-fried lean meat.

Whenever they had nothing to do, Su Ye would send Zhang Erhu to the outskirts of Mount Jiuhua to hunt a couple of small wild pheasants or rabbits as a treat.

The plate of lean meat was clearly stir-fried rabbit.

When Zhang Erhu saw Su Ye return, he served him some rice, then filled a bowl for himself and dug in.

After lunch, Zhang Erhu and Su Ye reclined beneath the shelter and drank spiritual tea.

Su Ye had harvested around a hundred jin of spiritual tea over the past two months. With some to spare, he had given Zhang Erhu a portion to take home as a gift for his father. Zhang Erhu had accepted without ceremony. In any case, he might never be able to repay what he owed Su Ye in this lifetime; even if Su Ye told him to die now, he would be willing.

While Su Ye and Zhang Erhu were savoring their tea, Su Ye's phone rang again.

He took it out and saw an unfamiliar number, so he promptly declined the call. A little later, the phone rang again. Su Ye picked it up and saw that it was the same number.

"Hello?"

"Brother Su, long time no see! Have you almost forgotten me?"

A deep, resonant voice came from the other end of the line.

"How could I? I might forget anyone else, but I'd never forget you, Brother Li!"

Su Ye replied with a laugh.

That was right. The person on the other end was none other than Li Guodong.

Su Ye had now advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage, and he had begun to straighten his back when he spoke.

"It's been two months. How are the vegetables and fruit you planted coming along, Brother Su? Are they ripe yet?"

On the other end of the line, Li Guodong went straight to the point.

"They're almost ready. You can come pick them up whenever you have time! The watermelons need a little longer, though."

Su Ye answered.

"All right, then. Tomorrow I'll have the purchasing team go straight to your place and load up! We'll talk about the rest later."

"Sure. I'll get all the vegetables picked today, then."

"Good. That way, I can send people to load them straight up tomorrow."

After the call ended, Su Ye sent Zhang Erhu back to the village to get some people.

Before long, practically everyone in the village who could move had come. Some came to help, while others came to watch the excitement.

By the time all the vegetables had been picked and placed in the designated spot, the sun was almost setting.

The group headed back to Su Ye's house in a great procession. Su Ye's mother had been in charge of the cooking today and had made plenty of food.

The rice was ordinary rice, of course, not spiritual rice, but the dishes were made with produce from Su Ye's greenhouses.

Everyone ate at Su Ye's old family home. The new villa was actually ready to move into, but Su Ye's mother said they had to choose an auspicious day first, so moving into the villa had been put on hold for the time being.

Perhaps they were too tired from the day's work, or perhaps the vegetables Su Ye grew were simply too delicious. Everyone ate until their bellies bulged and only put down their bowls and chopsticks when they could not eat another bite.

After the meal, Zhang Erhu came over carrying a small bag. Inside it was cash, of course.

At Su Ye's instruction, Zhang Erhu gave everyone who had helped that day 500 yuan as wages.

Su Ye's father also brewed a large pot of spiritual tea for everyone to enjoy.