Chapter 203: Another Year of Harvest

By the second year, the general skill level of Chen Mobai's freshman cohort had become largely clear. Although they were geniuses from the Immortal Gate's Thirty-Six Grotto-Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands, there were still distinctions in ability among them. Most people initially thought that Chen Mobai, coming from a minor Blessed Land and barely scraping into the academy thanks to the Four Great Dao Academies' expanded enrollment, would be at the bottom of the class. However, to their surprise, he carved out a significant reputation among these prodigies.

In this second semester, besides the Talisman Arts course, Chen Mobai also ranked first in all other subjects, including Puppet Crafting and Agricultural Studies. As a result, the title "Awakened Sleeper" resounded throughout their cohort and even became known to upperclassmen and teachers.

Besides Chen Mobai, other students also shone brightly, revealing talents and aptitudes that surpassed the rest. For example, Ming Yihua, who ranked first in Artifact Forging; Yun Yangbing, first in Array Formations; Wang Xingyu, first in Alchemy; Lu Zixuan, first in Beast Taming; Zhai Jianbai, first in Sword Cultivation, and so on. Chen Mobai was also included among them, and together they were dubbed the "Ten Prodigies of Wuqi" for the Wuqi Dao Academy's 5012 cohort.

Regarding this, Chen Mobai merely smiled. These were all empty titles; only Foundation Establishment was real. Even the combined reputations of all the "Ten Prodigies of Wuqi" were not worth a single finger of Zhongli Tianyu. Throughout the entire Immortal Gate, if you merely mentioned being Zhongli Tianyu's classmate, most people would immediately show a look of realization.

It was also in this year that Zhongli Tianyu broke through again, reaching the third level of Foundation Establishment. The "Can Tong Qi" (Book of the Kinship of the Three) radiated an unprecedented brilliance in his hands. Some even speculated that he might reach the threshold of Core Formation before his sixtieth birthday. Some senior students at the Foundation Establishment level, who had been cultivating in seclusion in the back mountains of Chicheng, couldn't resist emerging from their retreats to witness this true Dao Seed, who might be the most outstanding in the academy in a hundred years.

While everyone's attention was drawn to Zhongli Tianyu entering the back mountains, Chen Mobai quietly collected his final semester report card and left the academy. He did not return to Danxia City. Because his parents were traveling, although he wanted to reunite with close friends like Lu Hongsheng, after two years apart, Chen Mobai felt their images in his memory beginning to fade.

He called Qing Nü, with whom he had been in regular contact, and upon hearing he wouldn't be returning to Danxia City this year, Qing Nü seemed quite relieved. She was busy preparing for her Second-Tier Alchemist certification exam, needing to self-study over a dozen related books during the break. With Chen Mobai not returning, she had no reason to go back to Danxia City either, which allowed her to focus entirely on her studies.

"Then I wish you great success and good luck with your exam." Chen Mobai smiled as he ended the call with Qing Nü, but inwardly, he marveled at the rapid progress of those with Heavenly Spirit Roots. It was important to note that he, thanks to the effects of the Spirit Opening Enlightenment Pill, had only just passed the First-Tier Talisman Master exam this year in one attempt. But to qualify for the Second Tier, he estimated he would need several more years of study at minimum, perhaps even needing to reach Foundation Establishment before being confident of passing.

However, compared to the Immortal Gate's rigorous professional qualification exams for various cultivation arts, the standards in the Tianhe Realm were exceptionally broad, almost without prerequisites. As long as one could craft any Second-Tier talisman, they could declare themselves a Second-Tier Talisman Master. By this standard, Chen Mobai was already a Second-Tier Talisman Master. However, having suffered many setbacks in the Tianhe Realm, he had not revealed this fact.

This year, Chen Mobai focused most of his energy and attention on the academy, but thanks to the Spirit Opening Enlightenment Pill, which saved him a significant amount of study time, he didn't slack off at the Divine Wood Sect. He cultivated his two mu of medicinal fields and twenty-six mu of spiritual fields exceptionally well. After all, if he wanted to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill in the future, sect contributions would be indispensable. Cultivating fields yielded ten times the contribution of ordinary tasks, so Chen Mobai, with sufficient energy and time, paid close attention to this matter.

Naturally, managing so many spiritual fields alone was impossible, but Chen Mobai hadn't forgotten he belonged to the Spiritual Plant Department. Through the Spiritual Plant Department, he posted a sect mission at the Spirit Treasure Pavilion to care for the spiritual fields, recruiting three people with no cultivation level restrictions, as long as they had cultivated spiritual power and could activate the Azure Light Array to fend off birds and beasts. In any case, the main tasks of plowing, sowing, fertilizing, inducing rain, pest control, and harvesting were all personally handled by him. For this task, he offered a reward of 15 spirit stones per year, which was relatively low, but two Divine Wood Sect disciples at the second level of Qi Condensation and one at the third level still accepted it.

Chen Mobai personally managed the two mu of medicinal fields and two mu of spiritual fields at Xiaoyang Ridge, while the remaining twenty-four mu of spiritual fields were conveniently located in three different areas, with each recruited disciple taking care of one section. He was not secretive; when sowing seeds, transplanting seedlings, or even inducing rain and controlling pests, he openly demonstrated his methods with an attitude of guidance to the three Divine Wood Sect disciples. However, the crucial fertilizers he used were brought from the Immortal Gate, a fact he did not disclose to them.

"Junior Brother Chen, another year of abundant harvest!" Under Chen Mobai's guidance, Lu Jun and Teng Jie harvested all two mu of medicinal fields and nineteen mu of spiritual fields under the Spiritual Plant Department's management. Due to the sheer volume of the yield, they worked for three full days to complete the task.

"Senior Brothers, you've worked hard. Come, have a drink before you leave."

"Junior Brother Teng, this is the spiritual wine Inspector Sun praised so highly last time after drinking it. We're in for a treat."

The jar of wine Lu Jun had taken from Chen Mobai last time — he tasted a sip and found it divine, immediately gifting it to his superior, Sun Gaochang. The latter, also a heavy drinker, after tasting it, immediately approached Chen Mobai to purchase all his remaining stock. However, Chen Mobai also knew that scarcity increased value, so he only offered ten jars of wine, not even asking for spirit stones, simply gifting them to the Spiritual Plant Department inspector.

But Sun Gaochang was a remarkably scrupulous person, and after taking the wine, he immediately left behind a mid-grade spirit stone. "We who come from the Hall of Merit and Reward value transparency in transactions above all else. If accounts aren't settled from the beginning, they become increasingly difficult to settle later. If they turn into favors owed, they might even cost one's life. Therefore, this inspector must give this spirit stone." After saying this, Sun Gaochang took the ten jars of wine and left. It was precisely through this incident that Chen Mobai felt Sun Gaochang, this Foundation Establishment elder who appeared like a smiling tiger, was a reliable connection worth befriending.

In the Tianhe Realm, spiritual wine had not developed at all. The Green Mountain wine yeast from Chen Mobai's hometown could at most brew Second-Tier spiritual wine. When used with the Jade Sprout Spirit Rice from the Divine Wood Sect, even though the rice itself was of ordinary quality, its abundant spiritual energy meant the brewed spiritual wine was not much inferior to Green Mountain Wine. What he offered Lu Jun and the other to drink was the Jade Sprout spiritual wine he had brewed before the New Year. After they finished drinking, he opened another jar of Green Mountain Wine. After comparing the two, they found each had its own unique flavor. The Jade Sprout spiritual wine was potent, while the Green Mountain Yellow Wine was mellow.

After the hospitality, the three of them settled the spiritual rice yield, and Chen Mobai's account received an additional 3000 sect contribution points. Of these, 2650 points came from the Jade Sprout spiritual rice, and 350 points from the two mu of Dew-Condensing Grass. After this comparison, it was indeed clear that cultivating spiritual herbs and medicinal plants yielded more. No wonder, even with ten times the contribution reward for farming in the Divine Wood Sect, everyone still flocked to the medicinal fields, almost completely disregarding the spiritual grain fields.