169 The Busy Plant Hall (2)
To be honest, he did sympathize with the old man. However, they still had to follow the rules. If they did not follow the rules here, not only would they be looked down upon, but they would also easily get into trouble with their peers.
Old Gu Zi’s spirit field spanned a total of eight acres. Jiang Ming, as usual, pretended to be only at the fourth level of the Qi Refinement Realm and only managed to cast the Misty Rain Technique on all the spirit rice after working hard for more than half a day.
“Ah! I’m done! My spiritual energy is almost exhausted. I’m so tired!”
Jiang Ming’s face was pale. and he was gasping for breath. He was secretly making some calculations. When he first watered the field, he used almost half of his spiritual energy. Although he did not make a breakthrough in the past six months, his spiritual energy had become more condensed. Now, when he watered the field, he did not even use a third of his spiritual energy.
He was getting closer and closer to breaking through to the late stage of the Qi Refinement Realm. Perhaps he would be able to break through before he harvested the next batch of spirit rice.
Old Gu Zi quickly handed him some tea and snacks. It was just some ordinary white rice mixed with a little spirit rice. However, it was so fragrant that it made his stomach grumble.
“You’re so thoughtful.”
Jiang Ming gave him a thumbs up. This was something that Old Gu Zi would not normally eat because of how expensive spirit rice was.
He casually sat on the ridge of the field and finished the food under the nervous gaze of Old Gu Zi. Then, he patted Old Gu Zi’s shoulder and left.
Old Gu Zi looked at the empty bowl. However, he grinned happily. Seeing that the sky was getting dark, he quickly turned and walked down the mountain, humming a little tune along the way, estimating the harvest of this season.
* * *
The headquarters of the Plant Hall was where the most precious medicinal herbs of Xiaoqian Mountain were grown. The value of each medicinal herb was more than one spirit stone, which was equivalent to the harvest of one acre of spirit rice.
“Jiang Ming, you’re here!”
At the intersection at the foot of the mountain, a middle-aged man at the fourth level of the Qi Refinement Realm greeted Jiang Ming.
On the surface, the two of them were both at the fourth level of the Qi Refinement Realm, but Jiang Ming, who had mastered the Misty Rain Technique, had a higher status in the Plant Hall.
“Duan Ping, you’re on duty today!”
Jiang Ming greeted him warmly and was about to continue walking up the mountain when Duan Ping suddenly remembered something and quickly said, “By the way, Zhong Gui came this morning. He said that he was so bored that he used the Misty Rain Technique on the six or seven spirit herb fields today.”
“What?”
Jiang Ming was stunned for a moment, and then he pretended to be angry. “Then what does he want us to do?”
Although there were many spirit herb fields here, it was not necessary to use the Misty Rain Technique every day to cultivate them. After Jiang Ming came here, he learned that the slots to water these fields were limited.
“Jiang Ming, calm down! Calm down!” Duan Ping grinned. “Zhong Gui said that we’ll all be busy tonight. Jade Pavilion is celebrating its third anniversary. We have to go and have a taste to see if our spirit rice tastes good. This is in case the rice doesn’t taste good, and it ruins the reputation of the hall!”
“That’s right!” Jiang Ming nodded and said seriously.
“Also, Miss Zi Luan of the Wonderful Sound Pavilion has used the spirit rice to brew an improved version of their osmanthus wine. She also needs us to evaluate her new recipe.”
Jiang Ming nodded. “Then I’ll be busy tonight!”
“Yeah! This mission is very important!” Duan Ping slapped his thigh and said solemnly.
Then, the two of them looked at each other and smiled.
* * *
Jade Pavilion was one of the top five restaurants in Xiaoqian Mountain, and it cost five or six spirit stones for a casual meal here, which was equivalent to a year’s worth of earnings for a farmer!
More than a dozen people filed in from the back door and entered a side hall in the corner of the second floor. After a while, they began to drink and chat merrily.
“Zhong Gui, I won’t be mad at you for snatching other people’s jobs. Let’s treat ourselves to three cups today!”
A slightly fat immortal cultivator patted the table. It was Feng He who invited Jiang Ming to join the Plant Hall. As an immortal cultivator of the eighth level of the Qi Refinement Realm, he was one of the top figures in the Plant Hall.
“Hmph, what do you mean three cups? I’ll show you!” A burly man laughed loudly, grabbed the wine bottle, and began to gulp it down.
The atmosphere was very lively. Except for Jiang Ming, Zhong Gui, and a few others who had mastered the Misty Rain Technique, there were only a few important members of the Plant Hall here.
Apart from the spirit herb field in the base camp that needed to be taken care of occasionally, the spirit rice fields, and other menial chores were taken care of by individual cultivators.
A slightly thin, plain-looking young man on the main seat smiled and raised his glass to Jiang Ming. “Ming, have you adapted to this place after half a year?”
“Except for a few hiccups, it’s been going great!”
Jiang Ming quickly stood up and returned the greeting. This man looked ordinary, but he was a cultivator in the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm. He was Huang Chu, the head of the Plant Hall, and he was over two hundred years old!