"Steward Zhang, you can't take all this grain and next year's spring seeds!"
Inside a thatched hut, a scrawny young boy tightly clutched a cloth bag, unwilling to let go.
"Cut the nonsense. You farm the Yang family's land, so you must hand over the grain. This is only right and proper! What do I care if you don't have spring grain!" Steward Zhang's face was covered in fat, his eyes wide like copper bells. He suddenly kicked the boy in the face.
He was burly and had practiced martial arts for years, so this kick was incredibly powerful, causing the boy's mouth to fill with blood as he rolled several times on the ground before stopping.
Steward Zhang coldly glanced at him, then, as if nothing had happened, hoisted the freshly plundered grain onto his shoulder and hummed a tune as he walked away.
"Eighteen touches, oh eighteen touches, touched the little peach, then touched the little apricot~"
The boy, who had scrambled to his feet in a disheveled state, watched his retreating back, his thin body trembling slightly.
His eyes, fueled by anger, were bloodshot, staring intently at a stone in the corner.
"Bang!"
The November wind blew the wooden door, causing the dilapidated door to sway. Immediately after, Steward Zhang's footsteps seemed to pause.
Time seemed to stand still, until after a moment, the footsteps resumed, gradually fading into the distance.
The boy inside the house weakly threw the brick in his hand. In the end, he still didn't dare to act.
Years of malnutrition had made his body very weak; he couldn't possibly win against the other party. If he had acted, he might have been beaten to death on the spot.
"Father, Mother, I tried my best." The boy's pale lips moved, and he slowly sat down in the corner.
His name was Ji Die, and his ancestors had lived in Wenhe Village for generations, making a living through farming.
Not long after he was born, his father, who suffered from a chronic illness, passed away, leaving his mother to raise him alone until he was five years old.
Unexpectedly, his mother also left him at the age of five due to a cold...
From then on, he was the only one left in the entire household...
Yang Yuanwai, a wealthy local landlord, saw that he was just a child and easy to bully. Taking advantage of the situation, he forcefully bought the family's remaining meager land at an extremely low price.
Afterward, he rented it back to him for an annual fee.
Over the years, the fee had increased year by year. Now, he had to hand over all his grain just to pay it.
It was clear they didn't want him to live...
He was already tired and didn't know what to do next. He might starve to death, as there was no more grain.
But remembering how his mother, before her death, had tightly clutched his hand, repeatedly urging him with her dying breath to live well, Ji Die still staggered and stood up again.
"Mother said that as long as a person is alive, there is hope, Ji Die, live on..."
He didn't know what the meaning of living on was.
Perhaps it was the resentment and indignation deep within his heart towards those wealthy and unrighteous landlords that supported him in living!
He wanted to kill these scoundrels who oppressed him!
However, the Yang family kept many martial artists, and it was rumored they even had connections with cultivators. He, a fourteen-year-old and malnourished boy, was no match for them.
Ji Die raised his hand to wipe the blood from his mouth, but it only made his face appear even more covered in bloodstains.
His stomach, at this moment, was rumbling with hunger.
He looked around, and the house was empty, devoid of any valuables.
Even the furniture like tables, chairs, and benches had all been sold for money over the years, leaving the house utterly bare.
Suddenly, a pleasant sound came from the doorway.
"Brother Ji, are you busy today? Can you take me to catch crabs?"
Ji Die looked over, his gaze falling on a girl of seven or eight years old, wearing straw sandals.
This girl's full name was Li Pingping, and she was from the same village as him.
Because she once saw him catch a very large crab, she admired him greatly and liked to follow him around.
During non-farming seasons, Ji Die often took her to the small stream outside the village to catch crabs.
However, he was currently worried about how to survive, so he didn't have the leisure. He turned his back to her and said,
"No time."
"Oh..." Ping Ping stood at the doorway and didn't pester him as usual. She turned her head and ran off.
Ji Die shook his head and paid no attention, his gaze falling on the corner.
There lay an overturned copper furnace with two handles, looking about the same size as a cooking pot.
This was the only item in the house that might be worth something. It was said that Ji Die's grandfather's generation had dug it out of the ground.
It looked dark and grimy, possibly a bronze artifact, usually used to store rice. But now, on the verge of starving, Ji Die couldn't care less. He stumbled over, preparing to take the copper furnace to town to sell for some money.
Unexpectedly, just as his blood-stained hand picked up the copper furnace from the ground, the black copper furnace suddenly flashed with light.
Immediately after, the blood on the surface of the copper furnace rapidly disappeared, and then the copper furnace in his hand transformed into a streak of light, rushing into Ji Die's body.
What's going on? Did I see things?
Ji Die was bewildered. He rubbed his eyes, confirming that his hands were empty and the black copper furnace had indeed vanished into thin air.
"Where's my copper furnace?"
As if sensing his summons, the copper furnace reappeared in his hand.
Ji Die was even more bewildered, looking at this scene that defied his understanding. Then, he seemed to grasp something and tentatively spoke,
"Put it away!"
As his voice fell, the copper furnace immediately disappeared from his hand.
"Come out." Ji Die called again.
As expected, the copper furnace reappeared in his hand.
"Could this be a Magic Treasure used by an Immortal?"
Seeing this miraculous scene, Ji Die immediately hugged the copper furnace tightly, no longer having any thoughts of selling it for money. He decided to thoroughly research the copper furnace's function.
Perhaps it could help him turn his fortunes around!
Just then, a 'thump-thump-thump' of footsteps came from outside the house.
"Brother Ji, here's this for you... Take it to the pharmacy in town and sell it, it should get you some money. And here's some steamed bun for you to eat..." The little girl who had left earlier anxiously ran back, spreading out her tender little hands.
She placed a wild ginseng, about the thickness of a finger, and a steamed bun into the copper furnace in his hand.
Ji Die was slightly stunned, looking at the still warm steamed bun and ginseng, his voice suddenly choked.
"Ping Ping, I can't take this..."
Unexpectedly, before he could finish speaking, the little girl giggled and ran off.
"Brother Ji, in Ping Ping's heart, you'll always be the strongest. You can even catch such big crabs. You must be strong, okay? Life will definitely get better..."
Hearing this innocent voice, Ji Die sniffled, his eyes welling up with a misty layer.
Having lost his parents at a young age, he knew the cold realities of human nature early on, understanding that it was easy to add flowers to brocade in this world, but difficult to send charcoal in the snow.
Now, in his lowest moment, to have someone care for him—that feeling was indescribable...
Suddenly, the copper furnace in his hand flashed with a green light. The ginseng, which had just been the thickness of a finger, instantly grew several times larger.
"What's going on? The ginseng... how did it get bigger...?" This sudden scene immediately filled Ji Die with astonishment, and he even stammered when he spoke.
The price of ginseng increases with its age. Typically, the older the year, the larger the ginseng, and the higher its value.
The previous ginseng was only the thickness of a finger, not very valuable, probably only worth a few copper coins.
But the ginseng in front of him now was as thick as a baby's arm. He had never seen anything like it; even decades-old ginseng might not be this impressive! It must be very valuable!
With it, he no longer had to worry about starving to death!
But why did it suddenly get bigger...?
Ji Die slowly looked at the copper furnace in his arms, then quickly went to close the door, returning to study the copper furnace.
He had already suspected that this copper furnace might be an Immortal's Magic Treasure, and now he was even more certain.
After all, this wild ginseng only changed suddenly when it was placed inside the copper furnace!
"Could it be that this copper furnace can improve the quality of medicinal herbs?"
Thinking of his guess, Ji Die placed the wild ginseng back into the copper furnace, staring intently, afraid of missing a single detail.
But even until his eyes felt sore, the copper furnace still showed no reaction this time.
"Is it that each medicinal herb can only be improved once, or can it only be improved once in total? If it's the latter, then..."
Ji Die ate the steamed bun Ping Ping had given him earlier, filling his stomach a bit. After a moment of thought, he decided to go to town to try selling the wild ginseng.
Before leaving, he washed his face, removing the bloodstains.
Then, with a thought, he put the copper furnace into his body. Only then did he tuck the wild ginseng into his clothes and set off out of the village, heading towards the town a few miles away.