Chapter 33 (continued)

After meeting with the disciples from both classes, Shan Heyuan asked Jiang Zhi to take him to the Spirit Plant Garden.

Jiang Zhi: "This is our Class C's Spirit Plant garden, with a total of 364 species..."

Shan Heyuan stood at the entrance of the Spirit Plant garden, listening to his introduction while looking at the Spirit Plant inside.

This Spirit Plant garden looks like it has been abandoned for a long time. All kinds of Spirit Plant are crammed together in the ground, in pots, and on shelves, and it's hard to tell how long it hasn't been tended to.

Let it be chaotic.

Shan Heyuan looked at the rotten, incomplete, haphazardly grafted, and malnourished Spirit Plant, a vein throbbed on his forehead.

Even if these Spirit Plant were piled up in the wild, no one would necessarily pick them.

Shan Heyuan murmured, "Now I finally understand why getting the job went so smoothly. It's really not easy to get this little bit of monthly salary from the Sword Reverence Academy."

Jiang Zhi chuckled dryly, "Haha, don't worry. The dean knows about the Spirit Plant in both Class C and Class D. Even if there are some minor problems, he won't make things difficult for you."

Shan Heyuan: "What kind of minor problem wouldn't be considered difficult?"

Jiang Zhi scratched his face. "The academy requires that the loss rate of the Spirit Plant Garden be controlled within 20%. In the current situation, is it possible to lose another 10%?"

Shan Heyuan sighed, "Less than 60% of the Spirit Plant are still intact."

Jiang Zhi: "Then, why don't you go and explain the situation to the dean?"

Shan Heyuan: "I'll try my best to manage it first."

The dean is aware of the situation here and will most likely not act rashly.

Furthermore, Sword Reverence Academy is recruiting teaching assistants, presumably to help them manage these dilapidated Spirit Plant.

As a working professional with many years of experience, Shan Heyuan has a good understanding of his job duties.

He then went to visit Dingban's Spirit Plant garden, retrieved planting tools from the office, and began working.

First, we must ensure the vitality of the Spirit Plant.

That begins with removing the rotten branches and roots of the Spirit Plant.

Improperly grafted Spirit Plant should also be separated.

Shan Heyuan had mastered the first few moves of the "Spring Transformation Art" very well. With the move "Gentle Breeze," he straightened out the Spiritual Power within each Spirit Plant. With the move "Rising Sun Ascends in the East," he nourished the Spirit Plant on a large scale. Finally, he used "Spring Breeze Turns into Spring Breeze Turns to Rain" to transform the prepared spiritual liquid into rain and mist, further nourishing these Spirit Plant.

After a few moves, the Spirit Plant in both Spirit Plant gardens showed a significant improvement.

Planting Spirit Plant is not difficult; all that is required is patience, care, and persistent effort.

Under Shan Heyuan's supervision, the Spirit Plant plants in both classes visibly improved.

Those who had previously criticized Shan Heyuan's cultivation level also fell silent.

For growers, the most important thing is their planting skills; everything else can be put aside.

Shan Heyuan hadn't expected the process of joining Sword Reverence Academy to be so smooth.

After getting the hang of things, he relaxed a little and started writing to friends to tell them that he was settled, that the new job was great, and that his new colleagues were nice too.

The climate in Sword Reverence City is warmer and more humid than that in Jingzhishan Town.

After Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng arrived here, they encountered several light snowfalls, all of which melted within a day.

On a nice day, the temperature can rise a bit, and there's not even ice in the ditches outside.

After Shan Heyuan's work got on track, he wasn't as busy anymore.

He originally planned to clean the yard next spring, but seeing that the weather was good, he decided to start cleaning it this year.

Their house was fairly large, but the yard was much smaller than the one in Jingzhishan Town, at most eighty square meters.

However, the quality of the spiritual soil in the courtyard was quite good. After examining it, Shan Heyuan determined that the soil was likely of medium grade.

Unfortunately, it had been abandoned for too long, and the entire yard was overgrown with weeds, making it difficult to clear.

On a day off, Shan Heyuan started working in the yard early in the morning.

Shen Duheng came downstairs. "Ready to start clearing the land?"

Shan Heyuan saw him, his eyes lit up, and he ran over excitedly. "Brother Shen, you're up? Can you do me a favor?"

Shen Duheng: "What?"

Shan Heyuan gestured. "Can you control the spirit sword to accurately cut these grasses? Cut them close to the ground, discarding all the parts above ground."

Shen Duheng glanced at it. "What's so difficult about that?"

Hearing that he had agreed, Shan Heyuan ran up behind him excitedly, signaling that he could make his move.

Shen Duheng drew his spirit sword, and with a single strike, everything on the ground in the courtyard vanished.

The cut weeds and shrubs drifted lightly to the ground, spreading evenly across the entire yard.

The sword's momentum began with Shen Duheng and ended at the courtyard wall, neither too much nor too little, demonstrating the precision of his control.

Shan Heyuan slightly opened his mouth, squatted down, and touched the ground.

When you touch it, the ground is flat; you can only feel the slightly prickly grass roots underneath by pressing it with your hand.

Shen Duheng smiled slightly, "Are you satisfied?"

Shan Heyuan gave a thumbs up, everything was understood without words.

The weeds and shrubs on the ground have been cleared away, and the yard is clean and looks much more refreshing.

Shan Heyuan swept the floor clean with a broom, then took out a strange magical Spirit Artifact, taller than a person, from his storage ring.

This Spirit Artifact was entirely red, with a large belly and a short body, and wheels underneath; it looked strange no matter how you looked at it.

This was the first time Shen Duheng had ever seen this thing. "What is this?"

Shan Heyuan exclaimed excitedly, "The soil-turning Spirit Artifact used by the Sword Reverence Academy is much faster at turning the soil than a human can!"

Shan Heyuan reached out and pulled off the outer shell of the Spirit Artifact, then carefully inserted a Spirit Stone inside and infused it with the operating incantation.

A hook slowly extended from beneath the Spirit Artifact, landed on the soil with a "whoosh," dug up a thick clod of earth, fed it into its abdomen, churned it up with a crackling sound, and then sprayed it out from the other end.

Shen Duheng's senses were extremely sharp; he could detect that the fallen soil was hot and scalding, as if it had been burned.

This was the first time he had ever seen such a method. "What's the principle behind this? Why does the soil need to be baked?"

Shan Heyuan raised his hand. "It was my suggestion. Originally, this magical Spirit Artifact only dug up the soil and filtered out the gravel, grass seeds, and insects inside. Later, I suggested adding a high-temperature sterilization function to kill any harmful substances in the soil."

Shen Duheng: "Kill?"

Shan Heyuan smiled and said, "I referenced the technology of our world. Although we don't have Spirit Plant there, we do a lot of research on plants. There are many bacteria and viruses in the soil that we can't see with the naked eye, many of which are harmful to plants. After disinfection, they are much easier to use."

Shen Duheng commented. "Truly amazing."

Shan Heyuan laughed, "Yes, the teachers in the Planting Institute said the same thing. After testing it out, they found that the sterilized soil worked better, so they asked the artifact makers to improve this earth-turning Spirit Artifact."

Seeing that he no longer needed Shen Duheng's help, he quickly went out.

Shan Heyuan guarded the earth-turning Spirit Artifact, waiting for the earth to be turned over before proceeding to the next step.

The earth-turning Spirit Artifact is more than three times more efficient than humans; in just half a morning, the entire courtyard was turned over.

The entire yard is now spotless, with only dark soil and not a single speck of debris.

Shan Heyuan took out the miscellaneous items from the waste bin, then removed the Spirit Stone that were half-used, and stuffed the earth-turning Spirit Artifact back into the storage bracelet.

That completes today's tilling work.

He picked up some soil that had been sifted by the earth-turning Spirit Artifact to examine it.

The freshly sifted soil is a little hot.

The soil had been shattered by the earth-turning Spirit Artifact, trapping a lot of air inside. It was soft and fluffy to the touch, and when he rubbed it slightly, a fine, paste-like layer of soil remained on his fingertips.

This soil was turned over skillfully; it's suitable for planting anything.

The weather was cold, and the temperature of the soil dropped quickly.

After checking it over and confirming that there were no problems, Shan Heyuan prepared to plant it.

During his time working at the Sword Reverence Academy, he collected many broken branches and fallen leaves, most of which have been cultivated into new plants and planted in small flowerpots in the corridor.