At the foot of Low Mountain, Yellow Bud Rice Fields.
Even though the harvest had been completed, the yellow bud rice plants remained lush and green.
At this moment, accompanied by a buzzing sound like a swarm of bees flapping their wings,
a grey cloud of insects descended into the yellow bud rice fields.
Wherever they passed, the tough stalks, which were almost as hard as sticks, instantly turned into a green, moist powder that fell to the ground.
The scent of fresh grass spread all around the fields.
In the middle of the insect swarm, a man in his fifties, draped in a black cloak, was slowly moving forward.
He carried a black ceramic urn almost as tall as a man on his back; wherever he went, the grey cloud of insects followed.
“Haven’t seen this before, have you?” Old Hao squatted at the end of the field, puffing on a cigarette.
“Tsk tsk, quite the eye-opener.” Chen Mu, also squatting at the field’s edge, observed the insect swarm at work with great interest.
After the harvest of the yellow bud rice, the plants also needed to be dealt with.
The man carrying the black ceramic urn was the professional responsible for handling the plants in the Lower Courtyard.
All the tough plants were pulverized by the grey insect cloud and recycled back into the field.
In the past world, large agricultural machinery accomplished this, while in this alternate world, they developed a method using insects.
“We have Director Song to thank for this,” Old Hao said with a smile.
Chen Mu understood and thought back to the red insect cloud from that night.
He thought to himself that the director was truly an expert in manipulating insects.
“How were they dealt with in the past?” Chen Mu asked curiously.
“You can’t burn them; that would damage the Earth Spirit Vital Energy. What else could you do but plane them?” said Old Hao, exhaling a puff of white smoke casually.
“Plane?”
“Yes, with knives and swords,” said Old Hao with an inexplicable expression.
Chen Mu squinted his eyes and couldn’t help but laugh.
Most of the farmers here were from elsewhere, with Shell Souls.
In the past, they were all significant figures in Jianghu, their blade and sword arts having cut down countless people.
But here… using supreme swordsmanship to chop for the landowners?
The feeling was quite peculiar.
…
Two quarters of an hour later.
Chen Mu handed the elder a cloth bag: “Elder Zhang, please keep this safe, it’s fifteen jin of yellow bud rice.”
The elder opened the bag, took a handful to check, and smiled, nodding at Chen Mu.
After chatting briefly with Old Hao, he hurried away.
“The work’s not easy this year,” Old Hao said, smoking a cigarette as he walked with Chen Mu towards Low Mountain.
“Quite a bit of the yellow bud rice was nibbled by green beetles, so to make this money, they had to travel further and to more places than in previous years.”
“How much does the Lower Courtyard give them?” Chen Mu asked curiously.
“It seems to be one White Jade Coin for two hundred mu of land,” Old Hao thought for a moment before answering, “This job is only available for a short period. Working tirelessly for five or six days, they can make roughly four or five White Jade Coins.”
“But you need to know how to raise insects.”
“If they die or get injured, you have to compensate.”
“A novice taking on this task will essentially end up working for nothing.”
“With such difficulty, how long would it take to save enough to buy a Secret Technique?” Chen Mu couldn’t help but wonder.
“Save money to buy a Secret Technique? That’s not so difficult,” said Old Hao, giving Chen Mu a puzzled look.
“Let me do the math for you.”
“Over here in the Lower Courtyard, those who plant yellow bud rice start with a ten-mu lease.”
“Between ten and twenty mu, they only collect half the land rent.”
“If you rent twenty mu, by the end of the year, minus expenses, you could save up more than thirty White Jade Coins.”
“Even for a high-end Spirit and Soul Unification Secret Method, you’d only need to save for about three or four years.”
“Save for another eleven or twelve years, and by that time, your Jade Seed should be nearing Perfection; you could then buy the Perceptive Secret Technique.”
“After that, practice steadily for thirty or forty years, and you might just be able to cultivate your Perceptive Spirit Light and formally become an apprentice in the Lower Courtyard.”
“Just keep your nose to the grindstone, it really isn’t that difficult.”
Chen Mu had a strange look on his face.
Three or four years?
Eleven or twelve years?
Thirty or forty years?
And this span of time isn’t supposed to be difficult?
He looked at the Cloud Mirage Spirit Armor Technique, which was equivalent to the Perceptive Spirit Light.
Then he looked at the lustrous and rounded Jade Seed in his mind.
“Unbeknownst to me, have I already reached the endpoint of many Lower Courtyard disciples?”
Chen Mu thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement: “As long as you diligently study and practice, this really isn’t difficult at all.”
…
Three days later.
Tongtian Square north, the Lower Courtyard residence, Scripture Transmission Institute.
Chen Mu arrived in front of the octagonal wooden tower, standing tall and straight, his arms heavy with over four hundred White Jade Coins, his rightfully earned capital.
“Secret Techniques are expensive? Ha… I have money!”
Chen Mu strode into the Scripture Transmission Institute and casually handed the elder a White Jade Coin.
He didn’t linger in the first-floor hall, instead turning and heading straight up to the second floor.
The second floor was still lined with bookshelves, but the scrolls and books were noticeably fewer than on the first floor.
Chen Mu walked directly to the bookshelf row dedicated to Perceptive Secret Techniques.
He confidently picked up the outermost scroll.
Hundred Intentions Spirit Light Technique, two hundred and eighty-eight White Jade Coins.
Chen Mu’s face twitched.
Are you kidding me…
He shakily lifted the tag hanging next to the adjacent scroll.
Minor Floating Clouds Spiritual Light Technique, three hundred and seventy-six White Jade Coins.
Excuse me!
Chen Mu expressionlessly pulled out the Hundred Intentions Spirit Light Technique and turned to go back down the stairs.
I should have seen this coming…
…
In the first-floor hall, Chen Mu, holding the scroll, slowly made his way to the counter.
Two hundred and eighty-eight White Jade Coins, his savings were about to shrink by more than half in an instant.
He had only been flush with cash for a few days, only to be knocked back to his old status.
Moreover, for later cultivation, the Jade Plate would consume White Jade Coins, and auxiliary elixirs would also require White Jade Coins.
He hesitated for a long time, then looked at the elder with grizzled hair.
“Old sir, do you think you could possibly…”
He hadn’t finished speaking when the elder with graying hair interrupted him expressionlessly.
“If you dare to haggle with me again, I’ll throw you out!”
Chen Mu felt embarrassed in an instant.
It was just about last time I haggled so hard, how did this old man remember it.
Seeing the old man’s gaze growing colder, Chen Mu could only reluctantly part with his money.
The elder was accustomed to Chen Mu’s pained expression.
With a wave of his hand, the strands of White Jade Coins on the counter disappeared.
In their place was a brown, wooden flat box as wide as a palm and as long as a forearm.
Chen Mu’s face brightened, and he reached out to take it.
However, the gray-haired elder held down the wooden box, staring at Chen Mu.
“Remember, you can only view it when your Jade Seed has reached Perfection.”
“If you don’t heed the warning and your head explodes, don’t have any complaints in the Underworld.”
Chen Mu’s heart skipped a beat.
“My… my head could explode?!”
The elder with graying hair looked at Chen Mu askance: “Did you think cultivating Perceptive Spirit Light was easy?”
“If success could be guaranteed with just a Secret Technique, why would so many people be desperate to come to Jilong Road’s Lower Courtyard?”
Chen Mu felt a chill in his heart.
“On the path of cultivation, every step is a challenge, and any small mistake can potentially end your life and your pursuit of the Dao!” the elder with graying hair said with a sigh.
“You should be grateful that you became a member of Jilong Road’s Lower Courtyard.”
“Here we have the Scripture Transmission Institute.”
“A well-established system of lecture and teaching that can help you avoid many troubles in cultivation.”
“Unlike those Wild Cultivators out there, always secretive and never fully disclosing their methods.”
“Who knows how many naturally talented Daoist Bones have been killed or crippled by these deceptive Wild Cultivators!” the elder with graying hair exclaimed sadly.
Chen Mu listened with a pounding heart.
Indeed, he had an external advantage that could grind for experience.
But before climbing the wall, he had none whatsoever.
A minor mistake could completely block his path to the Dao!
“Afraid?” the elder with graying hair asked, concerned.
Chen Mu looked terrified: “Afraid!”
“Don’t be scared. Since you’ve come to Jilong Road, that’s your fortune,” the elder with graying hair said more kindly.
“The Perceptive Spiritual Light cultivation class, taught by the veteran cultivators of the Scripture Transmission Institute, is thoughtful and meticulous, with one-on-one teaching that guarantees learning—for just fifty White Jade Coins.”
“Not afraid anymore, are you? Want to give it a try?”
Chen Mu: “…”
I was wondering why it all seemed so familiar just now.
Isn’t this just like the anxiety-selling soft articles from peddling courses in my previous life?!
Fuck!