“Bah! I'll f*ck your mother!”
Li Ping'an spat fiercely, then went to sit down by the city gate to rest.
It was clear they wanted to make things difficult for him, so there was no point in saying more.
When he got the chance, he'd make them pay!
However, this Zhang Tiepeng was not easy to deal with. He was backed by the Zhang Family, one of the three great Families of Tiankui City, and he even had relatives serving as officials in the Holy Martial Empire.
He himself was a minor expert who had reached the second level of the True Spirit Realm.
Even his father-in-law, An Lan, had to give the Zhang Family some Face.
The sky gradually darkened, getting later and later.
City Lord's Mansion.
An Ruoyi waited and waited, but Li Ping'an didn't return. She found Lanlan and asked, “Have you seen Li Ping'an?”
“No,” Lanlan shook her head.
An Ruoyi picked up her battle sword. “Come, follow me. We're going out of the city to find him.”
Lanlan said, “Young Miss, there's no need to look for him. He's terribly afraid of death, so he must have returned to the city long ago.”
“The only reason he hasn't come back is probably because he's afraid you, Master, will blame him for privately selling the shop. He must be hiding somewhere where he can't be found.”
An Ruoyi thought that made sense.
As soon as she sat down, she got up again and walked out. “No, I have to go find him.”
“What if he gets angry and doesn't return to the city, staying overnight in the mountains? That would be too dangerous.”
Lanlan followed her. “Young Miss, you haven't really fallen for him, have you?”
“What nonsense are you spouting?” An Ruoyi glared at Lanlan. “Although this Young Miss has no romantic feelings for him, he is still her husband.”
As she spoke, her steps quickened.
At the South City Gate, the on-duty personnel had changed.
Zhang Tiepeng was very malicious and didn't tell the current shift that Li Ping'an was still at the city gate.
The city gate was also recessed by one meter, and Li Ping'an was almost asleep leaning against it, so no one noticed him.
An Ruoyi arrived at the city wall. The on-duty commander quickly saluted and asked, “Young Miss, is there something you need here?”
“Has Li Ping'an returned to the city?” An Ruoyi asked while looking out over the city.
In the hazy night, no one was in sight.
The on-duty commander shook his head. “No, we haven't seen him. The city gate has been closed since we took over.”
An Ruoyi said, “Open the city gate, I need to go out!”
“This...” The on-duty commander showed a worried expression. “Young Miss, it might be dangerous outside the city at night.”
An Ruoyi said, “I told you to open the gate.”
In a daze, Li Ping'an heard the conversation. He quickly got up and took a few steps. “Wife, I'm here, I'm here!”
Hmm?
The on-duty commander frowned. “When did someone appear under the city gate?”
Everyone shook their heads repeatedly. “We don't know. No one mentioned it when they handed over the shift.”
Seeing Li Ping'an, the worry in An Ruoyi's heart finally subsided. She didn't say much, only stated calmly, “Open the city gate and let him in.”
“Open the gate,” the on-duty commander ordered.
“Click, click, click~”
Accompanied by heavy friction, the city gate opened a certain distance, and Li Ping'an quickly entered the city, carrying his hoe.
An Ruoyi came down from the city wall and complained, “You still know how to come back?”
“I... was too engrossed in farming today and forgot the time.” Li Ping'an didn't mention Zhang Tiepeng's malicious act.
This was a man's business, and it had to be resolved in a man's way.
Moreover,
Even if he told An Ruoyi, even if he told his father-in-law, what good would it do?
City Lord's Mansion, backyard.
After Li Ping'an returned, he ravenously ate a lot of food.
Today's work was all physical labor, and he was very hungry.
An Ruoyi teased, “Eat slowly, as if someone's going to snatch it from you.”
“I was too hungry,” Li Ping'an's words were muffled.
After eating and drinking his fill, Li Ping'an leaned closer to An Ruoyi. “Wife, tonight I want to sleep in the bed.”
“Do you want another beating?” An Ruoyi rolled her eyes at Li Ping'an. “Don't even think about it until you Awaken your Spiritual Root and until I reach the Peak of the Spirit Law Realm.”
“Doing that would only harm you and also cause my Foundation to be unstable, do you understand?”
“And you didn't even call me Mother Tiger before, be careful or I'll gobble you up!”
Understand.
How could he not understand?
The key was, he was in a hurry!
Lights out, time to sleep.
One person in bed, one person on the floor.
Early the next morning.
Lanlan had already prepared breakfast, simple yet nutritious.
After eating, Li Ping'an greeted An Ruoyi, then picked up his hoe and left, preparing for today's progress.
At the entrance of the City Lord's Mansion, An Lan stood there.
From his appearance, it seemed he was waiting for Li Ping'an.
Li Ping'an went over to greet him. “Father-in-law, you're up early today.”
An Lan's Face was stern, but he couldn't bear to strike Li Ping'an too hard, so his expression softened a bit. He said, “Where are you going?”
Li Ping'an shook his hoe. “As the ancients said, people depend on food as their Heaven. I'm going to reclaim land and farm.”
An Lan said, “Have you never thought of doing anything else?”
Li Ping'an said, “No, and it won't change.”
“Alas~” An Lan sighed softly in his heart, then waved his hand. “You go.”
Li Ping'an walked away, carrying his hoe.
As he walked down the street, most passersby would turn their heads and glance at him, saying, “Look, that's the City Lord's Family's farmer son-in-law.”
An Lan found An Ruoyi and said with some guilt, “Ruoyi, you... you must hate Father, right?”
An Ruoyi shook her head. “No, Father, what's wrong?”
An Lan said, “Your father and Ping'an's father were brothers on the battlefield, and it was his father's promotion that gave me this position as City Lord.”
“At that time, you were both young and got along very well, so we arranged your engagement.”
“Your father couldn't go back on his word, so we held your wedding. In reality, this was entirely your father's selfishness. I originally thought that even if Ping'an wasn't good at martial arts, he could be cultivated in literature.”
“But his performance recently has truly exceeded your father's expectations. If, Father is saying if, if you have any thoughts, you can divorce.”
An Ruoyi poured An Lan a bowl of water and said, “Father, what are you talking about? The engagement was set long ago, and the wedding has taken place. Your daughter would never be such a faithless woman.”
“Ping'an may not be outstanding; in everyone's eyes, he's a good-for-nothing. But he is my husband. He can be useless his whole life, and I can protect him for his whole life.”
“Oh, right, I also heard that there are miraculous Medicinal Pills in some immortal sects that can cleanse a Mortal's marrow and veins, and condense a Spiritual Root.”
“When I get the chance, I'll get him a few to eat. He only wants to farm now, and we must respect him and not let him feel inferior...”
South City Gate.
The day shift was Zhang Tiepeng and his men.
Seeing Li Ping'an pass by with his hoe, Zhang Tiepeng naturally couldn't resist a few taunts. “City Lord's Family's farmer son-in-law, how many acres have you reclaimed?”
“Enough to bury your whole Family,” Li Ping'an couldn't be bothered with him and continued walking.
Zhang Tiepeng was furious.
He felt that being talked back to by a useless good-for-nothing in front of his subordinates made him lose a lot of Face.
But what could he do?
He was the son-in-law of the City Lord's Mansion. In broad daylight like this, Zhang Tiepeng, no matter how arrogant, dared not act aggressively.
South of the city, Da Huai Village.
Originally, there were many households here.
Later, bandits appeared, and all the villagers moved away with their belongings. The original farmlands here were all abandoned and became Li Ping'an's target for reclamation.
It was still very hot today.
The cicadas' chirping seemed to be cursing, “So hot, so hot~”
Li Ping'an did not use the Cloud Summoning Technique.
Cultivation points came too slowly, so he had to conserve them for now.
At the field, the hoe swung fiercely.
He dug small pits and dropped pairs of corn seeds.
Soon, he was drenched in sweat.
Li Ping'an was now a man with dreams, aspirations, and strength, so this little bit of fatigue was nothing.
(Ding: Planted one acre, Cultivation Point +1)
After planting an acre of corn, he happily gained 1 Cultivation Point.
Li Ping'an immediately felt a sense of accomplishment.
It was just that the soil was too dry, with no moisture at all.
It would be very slow for the seeds to sprout, and the germination rate would not be high.
“Rain, come.”
Li Ping'an formed a hand seal with his left hand and gestured lightly with his right, deducting 100 Spirit Power points.
The next moment, something miraculous happened.
In this sky where no dark clouds were visible, raindrops began to fall, and they could move according to Li Ping'an's will, controlling the intensity of the rain.
(Ding: Irrigated one acre, Cultivation Point +1)
(Ding: Dry land received moisture, Cultivation Point +1.)
This time, the harvest was too quick.
Li Ping'an had a flash of inspiration: if continuous irrigation could always yield Cultivation Points, wouldn't that be wonderful?
When the Rain Summoning Technique lost its effect, Li Ping'an continued to cast it. “Rain, come!”
Raindrops began to fall from the sky again.
The hot air even carried a moist scent.
(Ding: Cultivation Point +1)
(Ding: Cultivation Point +1.)
This time, it was still 2 Cultivation Points.
Li Ping'an seemed to have found a shortcut and began casting it for the third time, happily gaining another 2 points.
“I've gained 6 points in such a short time. If this continues, I'll rise very quickly.”
However,
The fourth use of the Rain Summoning Technique yielded no harvest.
The System also gave a prompt, saying that there was too much rainwater and no lack of moisture.
So, this was not a shortcut.
It was entirely because the land was too dry.
However, Li Ping'an had a new idea...