In the evening, in the southeast of Sifang City, a group of farmers gathered in front of the fields, and a row of guards stood on the city wall.
“Even with an ox, you can only plow three to five mu a day, but Lu Chen, that kid, plowed nearly twenty mu in one day?”
“And that’s not even counting the two meals he had with his sister in the city!”
“If I were as capable as him, I’d go to Xianyun Pavilion once every six months!”
The farmers discussed animatedly; watching Lu Chen plow the land was even more interesting than watching cultivators fight in the city!
“Where did Tian Yuan Merchant Guild recruit this fellow from?”
“Such a young Refining Body Realm Ninth Level, he’s not much worse than our Young Master; he must be a priority for cultivation in the immortal sects, right?”
On the city wall, the guards were also talking with relish.
A young man in armor walked over curiously: “What’s so good about watching farming?”
It was Zhou Jinfeng, the City Guard Commander’s Young Master.
“Farming isn’t good to watch, but farming like that kid is good to watch,” a guard replied.
Zhou Jinfeng became interested, and after only a short while, his expression turned serious.
If Lu Chen had been holding a long spear instead of a hoe, if Lu Chen had been Cultivating instead of farming…
“Someone is even more diligent than me?”
Zhou Jinfeng felt a sense of crisis in his heart, and holding his long spear, he began to practice on the city wall.
The row of guards looked at each other, wanting to speak but hesitating.
They knew Zhou Jinfeng was using Lu Chen as a reference, but they felt Zhou Jinfeng was referencing the wrong person.
Based on their day’s observation, Lu Chen was as vigorous as a demonic donkey, working without stopping.
At the base of the city wall, Chen Mu and a brawny man were acting suspiciously.
Zhang Lin pointed at Lu Chen in the field and asked, “What’s going on with him? Didn’t you say Tian Yuan Merchant Guild was just sending someone to scare us?”
“How would I know what’s going on with him?” Chen Mu was a bit flustered.
Who would have thought that Lu Chen was actually here to farm, and could actually finish the farming?
At this rate, one hundred mu of land could be plowed by Lu Chen in less than three days! Within ten days, he could catch up to the progress of the adjacent spirit vein!
Originally, their three families had calculated the time carefully; even if Tian Yuan Merchant Guild didn’t give in, they would continue to farm, and even if it was still a two-eight split, it would be more profitable than finding work in the city.
“This is bad!” Chen Mu kept pounding his hands.
“Don’t panic,” Zhang Lin said calmly, “Lu Chen is a cultivator; even if he plows quickly, he might not know how to farm, and even if he does, can he keep farming forever?”
“What do you mean?” Chen Mu asked.
Zhang Lin said calmly, “Just wait. Lu Chen will at most leave after plowing the land. What cultivator would waste their time on farming?”
“What if he doesn’t leave?”
“Doesn’t leave? We have plenty of ways to deal with him!” Zhang Lin sneered, “There are many tricks to farming, fertilizer, seeds, we can do something with them. When the harvest is dismal next year, if he doesn’t leave, Tian Yuan Merchant Guild won’t let him continue farming either. At that time, when the Merchant Guild comes looking for us again, not to mention four-six, three-seven is definitely stable.”
Chen Mu’s eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands in praise: “Brilliant!”
In the spirit vein, Lu Chen stopped, his low-brimmed straw hat unable to hide the upward curve of his lips.
“I can already smell the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. If I had a Cultivation Technique, I might be able to Breakthrough to Qimai Realm tonight!”
Lu Chen walked to the edge of the field and rubbed Lu Qiangwei’s hair: “Qiangwei, what do you want to eat tonight?”
“Meat.”
“Let’s go, we’ll eat out again tonight. Once we clean up the courtyard, we’ll buy groceries and cook tomorrow.”
Lu Chen muttered about the unusually high prices in Sifang City, then picked up Lu Qiangwei, lightly stepped on the ground, and his figure soared into the sky, landing deftly on the city wall.
He nodded and greeted the guards, then took a few steps and leaped, jumping down from the ten-zhang high wall.
He only squatted slightly upon landing, completing the force dissipation. This scene made the guards on the city wall exclaim in admiration.
“Oh my god!”
“This kid…”
The guards widened their eyes, watching Lu Chen’s receding figure.
Zhou Jinfeng let out a long breath. He took off his helmet and shook his sweat-soaked hair.
If Lu Chen hadn’t stopped, he probably would have collapsed from exhaustion.
Zhou Jinfeng looked at the surrounding guards and frowned, “I can also control strength like that, what’s there to be so surprised about?”
“No, it’s not that,” a guard explained, “When he first came this morning and jumped off the city wall for the first time, the ground cracked and the stone slabs broke, and he stumbled upon landing. Later, after he ate two meals with his sister, the impact became smaller and smaller each time. If we hadn’t watched the whole process, this would have taken him at least a month of jumping walls to achieve such proficiency!”
Zhou Jinfeng frowned, “Really?”
“We all saw it!”
“Absolutely true!”
“Before today, I guarantee that kid had never jumped from such a height!”
Zhou Jinfeng pondered, then climbed over the city wall and jumped down.
“Bang!”
With a loud thud, Zhou Jinfeng looked at the two shallow pits he had stepped into, gritted his teeth, turned and jumped back onto the city wall, then jumped down again.
“…” The guards watched Zhou Jinfeng repeatedly jump off the wall, glaring at the person who spoke first, “You talk too much! Now look what happened?”
That guard scratched his helmet and weakly said, “Who said Young Master is only competitive? This is clearly stubborn…”
The guards all lowered their heads, winking at him.
Zhou Jinfeng squatted on the parapet, pointing at that guard and saying, “You, jump with me.”
“…” That guard.
The bustling Sifang City was brightly lit at night, and the streets were still crowded with people.
At Tian Yuan Merchant Guild, customers came and went. Lu Rong, the steward who was about to leave, saw Lu Chen, “Do you need anything?”
“I heard Lu Daye say that our Merchant Guild provides free Cultivation Techniques, so I wanted to learn about them,” Lu Chen said.
“Lu Daye…” Lu Rong’s expression was strange.
“What kind of Cultivation Technique do you want to Cultivate?” Lu Rong led Lu Chen and his sister into a private room.
“I don’t know much about Cultivation, could you introduce it to me?” Lu Chen was a bit embarrassed.
“Of course.” Lu Rong poured two cups of hot tea.
In her opinion, Lu Chen was a piece of excellent unpolished jade.
At his age, even if he had Cultivated since childhood, reaching Body Refinement Realm now would still be considered a Genius. If he Breakthrough to Qimai Realm before twenty, he could be called a Prodigy.
“How old are you?”
“Eighteen.”
“Hmm.” Lu Rong nodded, just as she had expected. She waved her hand, and stacks of books and pamphlets appeared on the table.
“Cultivators possess spirit vein, which is Aptitude.”
“spirit vein is not divided by attribute. Based on your affinity and preference, you can choose Cultivation Techniques and Spells with attributes.”
“Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Lightning, Light, Darkness, and rare attributes.”
Lu Chen pondered, “I want to Cultivate an Earth-attribute Cultivation Technique, and for Spells, I want to learn a Water-attribute one.”
“You can only cast Spells after reaching Qimai Realm. Even a Genius in Body Refinement Realm Ninth Level takes several months or even half a year to Breakthrough. However, why do you choose Water-attribute Spells?” Lu Rong was a bit curious.
“Because it’s convenient for watering the garden and irrigating the fields.”
Lu Rong’s expression was startled, and she almost didn’t react, “By Spells, I mean those used for fighting cultivators.”
“I’m a farmer, what would I fight cultivators for?”
