Chapter 188: Farming

After returning from Building One, Chen Mobai spent the entire night pondering at home. He finally decided to fully accept Che Yucheng's advice.

He looked at the Pure Yang Scroll's Qi Cultivation chapter on his phone and sighed. He could only put it aside for the time being. However, the Pure Yang Dharma Body could continue to progress by consuming spirit stones.

With his decision made, his subsequent cultivation proceeded very smoothly. Chen Mobai directly converted the spiritual power vortex of the Five Elements Art into the spiritual energy of the Immortality Sutra, reaching the third layer of Qi Cultivation within just two months. He was eager to break through to the fourth layer of Qi Cultivation in one go, but unfortunately, his leave from the Divine Wood Sect was over.

After three months of woodcutting at the New Sprout Hall, disciples could choose to establish their own cave dwellings or enter one of the Three Halls and Twelve Departments for further study, earning spirit stones and building connections simultaneously. Others were worried about how to get into the desirable departments, such as the Pill Refining Department, Artifact Forging Department, and Talisman Making Department, which were the most popular. Even as a mere assistant in these departments, purchasing necessary cultivation materials would be much cheaper, even at cost price.

But unlike others who were anxious about gains and losses, Chen Mobai remained calm. Ever since Che Yucheng's guidance, he had resolved to let go of other distractions and focus solely on cultivating the Immortality Sutra, making foundation establishment his primary goal. Joining the Three Halls and Twelve Departments was for learning a skill and earning spirit stones for cultivation. However, he didn't lack ways to earn money. As for building connections, Chen Mobai believed that once he became powerful, others would seek to connect with him.

Therefore, he didn't submit applications to any departments. After discussing with Yuan Chiye, he claimed three acres of spiritual land from the sect's Spiritual Plant Department. The Divine Wood Sect had an abundance of spiritual land, so as long as disciples were willing to cultivate it, the sect would even subsidize them with contribution points. Harvesting one jin of spiritual rice would earn one sect contribution point. Generally, a spiritual field ripening once a year and yielding an average of one hundred jin of spiritual rice per acre was considered acceptable. In the second year, the sect would continue to provide the spiritual land for free management, and disciples could even claim more acres.

Chen Mobai felt that the "Agronomy" course he had taken at the Weaponry Dao Academy could truly shine here.

"Junior Brother Chen, a reclusive life in the countryside is good, but sometimes cultivation requires striving!" Yuan Chiye specifically came to see him off as he packed his bags to leave the New Sprout Hall. Chen Mobai knew that Yuan Chiye had always held high hopes for him. He was a direct subordinate of E Yun, who had returned to the sect two months prior and, living up to everyone's expectations, successfully established his foundation after taking the Foundation Establishment Pill. After establishing his foundation, E Yun was stabilizing his realm, but in about a year, he would be dispatched to Cloud Dream Lake to re-establish the market town destroyed by demonic beasts there, helping the sect generate revenue. This task would undoubtedly require a large number of personnel. Yuan Chiye and other Divine Wood Sect disciples who had long followed E Yun would undoubtedly continue to accompany him to Cloud Dream Lake. Chen Mobai was originally one of the younger talents they favored, and his way of handling affairs, after several discussions, also satisfied Yuan Chiye. However, his temperament was too indifferent; at merely twenty years old, he was already thinking of retreating to the countryside. Nevertheless, since he had put some effort into cultivating Chen Mobai, Yuan Chiye came to persuade him one last time.

"Senior Brother Yuan, I currently have enough spirit stones and haven't reached a point where I need to contend for anything. However, I will always remember your and Senior Brother E's kindness. Please do not hesitate to command me if there's anything I can do for you in the future." Chen Mobai also learned that it was E Yun who had helped him escape the pursuit of the Nanshan Bandits, a life-saving kindness he would never forget.

"Everyone has their own ambitions. If that's the case, Junior Brother, take care." Yuan Chiye said no more, giving Chen Mobai a small hoe as a parting gift. It was a small magical tool for weeding, and it seemed he had used it himself. Nevertheless, Chen Mobai was still very grateful.

"Senior Brother Chen, let's keep in touch." As he left, many new disciples from Nanxi also came to see him off. Liu Wenbo remained polite and respectful. "Junior Brother Liu, you handle things very well. After I go cultivate my fields, I'll leave them in your care." During the three months Chen Mobai was in seclusion, most of the new disciples from Nanxi who had found a path had already left the New Sprout Hall. For instance, Zhuo Ming, thanks to her excellent talisman-making skills, became an apprentice at a talisman shop within the sect's market. While applying to the Talisman Making Department, she was also slowly learning and improving herself. The remaining new disciples of the sect, who had no special skills beyond combat, also decided to follow Liu Wenbo. He had chosen to align himself with E Yun and, through E Yun's efforts, joined the Spiritual Beast Department. In a year, Liu Wenbo would lead this group of disciples from Nanxi Market to Cloud Dream Lake with E Yun to establish a new market town. Upon learning this, Chen Mobai immediately relinquished his role as the leader of the Nanxi newcomers for this batch. Besides wanting to focus on Qi cultivation and foundation establishment, it was also a way to assist E Yun. After the handover was complete, he left feeling light-hearted.

Giant Wood Ridge was vast and sparsely populated. Chen Mobai affixed a Spirit-Walking Talisman and traveled rapidly for two hours before reaching the three acres of spiritual land assigned to him by the sect. This spiritual land was carved out of a forest. Chen Mobai could still see over twenty tree stumps that hadn't been completely cleared. The boundaries were marked by an uncut circle of Red Sun Trees. After walking around and measuring the spiritual energy with his phone, he discovered that the core acre in the very center actually had spiritual energy from a second-tier low-grade spiritual vein. "What a waste," he thought. Generally, a second-tier low-grade spiritual vein could nourish and open up ten acres of spiritual land, but here, the Divine Wood Sect had only casually cultivated three acres. Moreover, the previous claimant's departure date was unknown. The current spiritual field was overgrown with weeds, and the spiritual energy was unevenly distributed. He could even see some snakes, insects, rats, and ants occupying several points where the spiritual energy was abundant, acting aggressively.

Chen Mobai directly activated his Needle Box, and golden needles flew out, killing all the snakes and rats. Then, at the most spiritually abundant point, he activated a Wooden Hut Talisman. Just as he was about to enter the hut, he heard mosquitoes buzzing, flying out of the forest in swarms, gathering around his wooden hut.

"This is a good chance to test out this artifact," he mused. Chen Mobai's eyes lit up. He took out a pair of white jade bells strung together with a red cord from his storage bag and gently shook one of them. *Ding-dong!* Sound waves spread out, and before the mosquitoes could get close, they all dropped onto the spiritual field as if their souls had been lost. After ringing six more times, no more insects, ants, or mosquitoes emerged from the Red Sun Forest. Chen Mobai nodded in satisfaction, then entered the hut, closed the door, and returned to his home planet.

The next day, after his Agronomy class at the Weaponry Dao Academy ended, Chen Mobai approached the lecturer with his notebook to ask about farming. "Oh, you want to plant a few things for practice? That's wonderful! Come, come, let's go to the academy's experimental fields, and I'll explain everything to you slowly." This teacher, named Lin Wenkang, was a third-tier spiritual plant cultivator. Seeing Chen Mobai, a student who usually ranked at the bottom of the class, suddenly become diligent, Teacher Lin felt his teaching was finally effective. He enthusiastically pulled Chen Mobai out of the classroom towards the experimental fields.