Chapter 35: Tilling the Spirit Field, Cultivating the Heart

Everyone else had finished tilling their fields, leaving only Qin Haoxuan, Xu Yu, and Murong Chao still hard at work. As the others began to sow their seeds, the three of them looked completely out of place.

It wasn’t that they were lazy, but their land was simply too hard and dry. According to Elder Chu, the soil needed to be loosened to a depth of at least three inches to plant crops. On their plots, digging even one inch was a struggle.

The other disciples, having long since finished their own work, watched them with unconcealed schadenfreude. That’s what you get for following Qin Haoxuan and choosing land worse than the lowest grade. You wouldn’t even listen to the elder’s advice. Serves you right!

A few disciples close to Li Jing gathered around him, whispering as they cast suggestive glances at Murong Chao.

“Your Highness, it is clear Murong Chao has ulterior motives. You value him so much, yet he dares to run off with Xu Yu and Qin Haoxuan without even a word to you. He clearly has no respect for you.”

“Perhaps he’s jealous of that Qin fellow and wants a piece of the action, seeing as Xu Yu doesn’t have many people around her.”

“Indeed. Xu Yu is a Purple Seed, after all. Although her future achievements certainly won’t compare to yours, Your Highness, becoming one of her few friends before she rises to prominence would surely bring many benefits.”

“If you ask me, he has a rebellious streak. He’s trying to be like Zhang Yang.”

Listening to their discussion, Li Jing, who was already displeased, felt his eyes glint with a cold light. His gaze toward Murong Chao turned unfriendly.

After a full hour, Qin Haoxuan finally finished tilling his hard, dry plot. To his relief, once he broke through the top three inches, the soil beneath was noticeably better. Though not as good as a mid-grade field, it no longer looked so barren.

Among the 200 disciples, many had already finished planting. Only Murong Chao and Xu Yu were still struggling with their hoes.

Seeing the quality of Qin Haoxuan’s soil, Murong Chao, who came from a family of generals, felt his confidence grow. This land was indeed not as bad as it seemed on the surface. Perhaps there would be more surprises in the future. He had been skilled with all manner of weapons since he was a child, but a hoe was different from a saber. It felt awkward in his hands, and after an hour, he had tilled less than half of his plot.

In this kind of manual labor, the advantages of a Purple or Gray Seed were completely nullified. The delicate Xu Yu’s hands were covered in blisters, but she had tilled less than a third of her land.

Without a word, Qin Haoxuan, having finished his own plot, picked up his hoe, walked over to Xu Yu’s field, and began to till the soil for her.

Just then, at a signal from Li Jing, a few of his followers walked over to Murong Chao’s plot and deliberately began to stomp on the soil he had just loosened.

“Senior Brother Murong, need a hand?” one of them said, jumping up and down to compact the soil. He frowned. “Ugh, why did you choose such a low-grade field? It hurts my feet to even stand on it.”

“Hurts your feet? Let me try.”

“Ouch, it really does. Senior Brother Murong, you didn’t till this properly. Let us brothers help you break it up a bit.”

With that, the others also began to jump around, and in the blink of an eye, the soil Murong Chao had painstakingly loosened was packed down hard again.

Murong Chao was about to lose his temper when he happened to see the angry look in Li Jing’s own eyes. His heart skipped a beat, and he understood.

Ever since he had been tested as a Gray Seed, no one had dared to look down on him, and he had been second only to Li Jing in their faction. But when Zhang Yang, another Gray Seed, had completed the Rooting Stage before him, those who were dissatisfied with his high position began to talk. The vicious rumors had been rampant.

He had deliberately distanced himself from Li Jing’s group to escape their gossip and scorn. He had even overheard them calling him a waste.

Disheartened, he had decided to keep his distance, but he had forgotten that Li Jing was an extremely suspicious person. Getting involved with Qin Haoxuan and Xu Yu had crossed one of his taboos.

Thinking of this, Murong Chao snapped out of his melancholy. He was about to go and explain himself to Li Jing.

Just then, Qin Haoxuan and Xu Yu, who couldn’t stand to see them trampling on Murong Chao’s hard work, walked over.

With Qin Haoxuan’s help, Xu Yu’s land had been tilled in less than an hour. They were just about to take a break when they saw the scene unfold. Reading the expressions on Li Jing’s and Murong Chao’s faces, Qin Haoxuan quickly understood what was happening.

He walked up to the troublemakers and said calmly, “Want to come to my field and see how well my soil is tilled?”

“Uh… that won’t be necessary…” Although Qin Haoxuan’s smile was calm, his reputation was formidable. Even Zhang Kuang was wary of him; they certainly didn’t dare to offend him. At a signal from Li Jing to retreat, they fled as if granted amnesty.

After chasing them off, Qin Haoxuan, without another word, raised his hoe and began to till the soil for Murong Chao. Inspired by him, Xu Yu, her hands covered in blisters, also joined in.

This guy really is a monster.

Even Elder Chu found it incredible, watching Qin Haoxuan till two such hard plots of land and then immediately start on a third.

What he didn’t know was that Qin Haoxuan was cultivating the Dao Heart Seed Demon Art, a high-level art of Body Tempering Cultivation. The strength of such a cultivator was far beyond their imagination. Furthermore, with the excess medicinal power from the One-Leaf Golden Lotus in his body, this kind of heavy physical labor, though not as good as meditation, provided an outlet for the searing heat, making it much more bearable.

For a moment, Murong Chao’s heart was filled with a sense of warmth and gratitude. Compared to the ups and downs of being with Li Jing, Qin Haoxuan’s act of repaying injustice with kindness made him feel, for the first time, what true warmth was.

With Li Jing, he was a subordinate, a follower, an accessory to be used and discarded at will.

But with Qin Haoxuan and Xu Yu, he felt a sense of equality and respect. In that instant, Murong Chao understood what true dignity was.

With their help, Murong Chao’s plot was soon finished. Qin Haoxuan, having tilled three hard plots of land, had only a thin layer of sweat on his forehead and was still full of vigor. After some discussion, the three of them decided to follow the crowd and plant spirit corn, which was the easiest to grow and had the shortest cycle.

Normally, spirit corn took 100 days to mature, but when planted in the spiritual fields of the valley and irrigated with Spirit Spring water, it could be harvested in 30 days. On the superior spirit fields of Zhang Kuang and Li Jing, 25 days would be enough.

However, corn contained the least amount of spiritual energy. Apart from being a source of food for new disciples, it was generally used to feed spirit beasts.

All the new disciples, including Zhang Kuang and Li Jing, decided to plant corn first, intending to trade it for spirit beast manure to fertilize their land for other crops.

At this point, Qin Haoxuan, Xu Yu, and Murong Chao had formed a united little group. They planted their three plots together, chatting casually. Murong Chao’s resentment over being punched had completely vanished. He found this feeling of equality and mutual help much more liberating than the constant caution he had to exercise around Li Jing.

After planting, Qin Haoxuan didn’t stop to rest. He picked up two empty buckets and started walking towards the Spirit Spring five li away. Inspired by him, the exhausted Murong Chao and Xu Yu exchanged a look, got up, and followed him, each carrying their own buckets.

Although they had a Spirit Spring beneath their land, if others irrigated their fields and they did not, their advantage would be meaningless.

Because their plots were the most remote, they had to walk five li for a single trip, while others only had to walk three.

After one trip, the shoulders of Murong Chao and Xu Yu, who had never done such work before, were raw and blistered. But they followed behind Qin Haoxuan without a single complaint. In their eyes, the back of this weak-seeded disciple seemed towering and immense, like a great mountain they could only look up to.

Qin Haoxuan carried a full load on his shoulders, walking with swift, steady steps, not spilling a single drop. Some tried to race him, but when they moved as fast, water sloshed out of their buckets. By the time they reached their destination, panting and exhausted, their buckets were half-empty.

But Qin Haoxuan wasn’t even flushed, and his buckets were still full. And he could make over a hundred such trips.

In the time it took Xu Yu and Murong Chao to make one trip, he had already completed three. After thoroughly watering his own field, he began to help them with theirs.

To the others, their efforts were the height of foolishness. Their land was worse than the lowest grade, completely devoid of spiritual energy. No amount of Spirit Spring water would make a difference.

While they were working hard, Elder Chu was not idle. He secretly tilled and planted two spirit fields. But unlike the disciples, he didn’t need to carry water. With a single Spirit Rain Technique, both plots were evenly watered, instantly looking full of life.

After he was done, he looked at the hard-working Xu Yu and Murong Chao and sighed to himself, “Tomorrow, you will know you were wrong. Your land is so poor, no matter how hard you work, your corn will never compare to the others.”

He then shot an angry glare at Qin Haoxuan. “If you hadn’t instigated them, would I, a dignified Initiate Master and elder of the Spirit Field Valley, have to do this manual labor myself?”

Unable to persuade them to change their minds, he was worried they would fall behind, and he would be blamed by the Sect Master. So, he had no choice but to do the work for them.

The planting lesson lasted until nightfall. The new disciples, having spent the afternoon carrying water, were all grumbling. To properly irrigate an acre of land required 40 to 50 trips. They had all gritted their teeth and finished, but their backs were aching.

Only Xu Yu and Murong Chao, inspired by Qin Haoxuan, persevered. With his help, they, who had the longest distance to travel, were the first to finish.

In the process of carrying water, Qin Haoxuan had an epiphany. It was like cultivating: one needed to be both fast and steady. Otherwise, even if you reached the destination, if your bucket was empty, it was all for naught. And that water… was a cultivator’s heart.

Tilling the land and carrying water, cultivating immortality and cultivating the heart.