Chapter 20
“Although it’s a bit far from the bottom and a little inconvenient to access, there is an empty tile-roofed house here, built by the previous Spiritual Planter. The only downside is that it has been vacant for quite some time, so you’ll need to spend time cleaning it up.”
“You can completely move your home here and just live in this place from now on. It’s quiet and undisturbed, perfect for us cultivators.”
Wang Pangzi looked friendly and amiable, without any of the bossiness or arrogance that other stewards might have.
With a chuckle, he stretched out his hand to point at the tile-roofed house not far away: “That’s the house right there.”
Li Muyang followed the direction of his pointing and saw the dilapidated tile-roofed house with weeds growing on the roof.
Looking at the cheerful Wang Pangzi beside him, he felt a complex mix of emotions that were hard to describe.
“Um… Steward Wang, are there no other spiritual fields available?”
He did want a spiritual field that was a bit cheaper and more secluded, but this is just too remote!These two spiritual fields are located halfway up the mountain.
From here, you can overlook the town-like buildings of the Demon Refining Sect’s Outer Sect below, with a lush and dense primeval forest behind.
It is said that there are demon beasts lurking in the forest.
Li Muyang really wanted a secluded and affordable spiritual field, but this place was beyond secluded.
This is literally in the middle of nowhere.
Apart from these two lonely spiritual fields, there are no others nearby.
According to Guan Xiaoshun, when spiritual fields crisscross and are connected by ridges, the spiritual energy within them can complement each other, leading to a better growth of spiritual grains.
Therefore, Guan Xiaoshun advised Li Muyang to choose a vacant plot surrounded by other spiritual fields.
For these isolated spiritual fields, Li Muyang would need to expend more energy and spiritual energy than others to manage them well on his own.
Li Muyang felt somewhat helpless.
The always-smiling Steward Wang Pangzi also sighed and said, “There’s nothing we can do about it. I’ve shown you the remaining spiritual fields, but you can’t afford the deposit for the lease. This is the only spiritual field within your budget.”
“Why don’t you write home and ask for some money?”
Steward Wang considerately suggested, “I’ll hold two of the remaining vacant spiritual fields for you. Once the money from your family arrives, you can lease them.”
“The sect has rules, and without enough for the deposit, I can’t rent a spiritual field to you. There’s nothing I can do.”
Wang Pangzi, with his pleasant demeanor, was very accommodating within his capabilities, even though he was of much higher status than a Servant Disciple like Li Muyang.
Facing Li Muyang, Wang Pangzi still explained patiently.
After all, this person in front of him had quietly reached the third layer of Qi Refining in just two months of entering the sect.
Such talent was already considered excellent in the Outer Sect, and who knows, in a few years, he might become a steward like himself or even enter the Inner Sect.
Thus, Wang Pangzi was very patient.
After hearing the chubby steward’s suggestion, Li Muyang fell silent for a moment.
Home… In this world, he indeed had a family.
However, the relationship between the original body’s owner and his family was very strained, and Li Muyang also felt no sense of belonging to these strangers, wanting nothing to do with them.
So after hesitating for a moment, Li Muyang sighed and said, “Alright, I’ll just lease these two spiritual fields for now. I’ll rent a better quality spiritual field once I’ve earned some money next year.”
He had broken through to the third level of Qi Refining in less than a week after obtaining the Endless Spirit Rice Jar.
Later, he immediately learned the ‘Cloud and Rain Technique’, which allowed him to contract a spiritual field from the sect and become a Spiritual Planter.
But in Li Muyang’s view, being a Spiritual Planter was just a temporary means to avoid the hard labor of herding sheep.
With the existence of the endless spiritual rice jar, it wouldn’t take many months for him to hope to cultivate to the Qi Refining Realm Ninth Layer.
He couldn’t possibly be a Spiritual Planter for the Demon Refining Sect and do the hard work of farming forever.
Once he successfully establishes his foundation and becomes a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, the small Outer Sect would no longer be able to hold him.
Whether it was leaving the Demon Refining Sect to regain his freedom or joining the Demon Refining Sect’s Inner Sect for a more privileged status, it would not be a problem for Li Muyang.
Even if the foundation establishment fails, he can still accumulate strength and try again next time.
So these two spiritual fields can still be used for planting. It’s no big deal even if the harvest isn’t great.
Once his cultivation is high enough and he has the power to protect himself, he can secretly sell some high-grade spiritual rice. He won’t be short of money at all.
Having realized this, Li Muyang finally took out his meager savings and, with a smile, signed a contract with Steward Wang for the cultivation rights to these two vacant spiritual fields.
However, after sending Steward Wang away, standing on the weed-infested ridges and looking at the waist-high weeds in the field, Li Muyang couldn’t help but sigh.
“Forget about farming. Just clearing these weeds is going to take days…”
But then again, who cares? I’ve got plenty of time.
Without delay, Li Muyang went down the mountain to borrow a wheelbarrow and transported all his belongings from his thatched hut—jars and bottles, two sets of bedding, and a few changes of clothes to his new mid-mountain residence, truly intending to settle down here for the long haul.
As for gaming, he hadn’t logged in for nearly 24 hours.
He had been stuck at the same level for too long and temporarily lost interest.
In the past few days, Li Muyang had died hundreds of times in the game, explored the entire stronghold, conversed with every villager, and collected all the information on the side quests available.
But he still hadn’t triggered the storyline related to the assassination of the murderer and kept dying inexplicably.
After being stuck for seven days and having successfully advanced his cultivation to the Qi Refining Realm Third Layer and even learning the ‘Cloud and Rain Technique’, Li Muyang still hadn’t found a way to break through.
At this moment, he truly understood the value of the “unlimited time” aspect in that ‘Unlimited Time Nurturing Simulation Game’.
—If this game had a time limit, I might as well have given up.
Standing on the ridge, looking at the waist-high weeds, Li Muyang rolled up his sleeves and plunged into the mess.
Since he was continuously stuck in the game, he decided to focus his energy on real life first, clean up the spiritual field and the new house, and then slowly get back to gaming.
Sometimes, that’s how it is with gaming. You keep getting stuck and can’t get through, but after taking a break for a couple of days and then logging back in, you might suddenly have a breakthrough idea.
And so, Li Muyang began his life as a Spiritual Planter, cleaning his new house and clearing the weeds from the abandoned spiritual field.
Life settled into a new rhythm.
……
On the third day after moving into his new house, a letter from his family outside the sect disrupted Li Muyang’s routine.
—His family, with whom he had a strained relationship, had actually taken the initiative to write to him.
The person who wrote the letter was his adopted sister, whom the original owner of the body didn’t think much of.
Seeing the first sentence of the letter, Li Muyang suddenly pictured the girl’s smiling face in his mind.
“Brother, Miss Ning whom you’ve always wanted to marry even to the point of falling out with our parents has joined the Demon Refining Sect!”
“By the way, I’ve also joined the Demon Refining Sect and will be reporting in a few days.”
“I’ll help you this time! We’ll win Miss Ning over together and make her agree to marry you!”
After reading the contents of the letter, the corners of Li Muyang’s mouth twitched, and he suddenly felt a bit nauseated.
Miss Ning…
In the memory of the original body’s owner, she was a beautiful girl from Jiuyuan City, someone who had completely captivated him, and he had sworn to marry her, even at the cost of falling out with his parents.
But from Li Muyang’s perspective, the relationship between this Miss Ning and the original owner was nothing more than a story of a green tea b*tch who liked to raise fish and a foolish ‘Licking Dog…’
Miss Ning my ass…
Li Muyang rubbed his temples, feeling somewhat speechless, and muttered,
“I’m totally not interested!”
Who would want to marry a green tea b*tch who’s keen on “fishing”?
Certainly not me!
***
TLN:
Green tea girl: Someone who appears innocent and charming but is manipulative and/or deceitful underneath
Raises Fish: Similar to keeping several fish in a tank, keeps several people as options “feeding them”, not fully committing to any
Licking Dog: Sycophantic towards someone they are attracted to
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