"I wonder which experts are here?" Zhao Xing asked.
"Cao Qiushui, Wen Zhao, Du Jiaojiao, Hong Sihai, Dong Chuan, Xiang Chenglin..." Zong Shichang rattled off more than a dozen names in one breath, "All those I mentioned are at the ninth stage of Origin Qi Gathering, just one step away from entering the High Grade."
"Brother Zhao, if you want to know the detailed backgrounds of these people, why don't you chat with me?"
"Alright, let's do that then." Zhao Xing no longer refused.
Actually, he didn't care whether he knew these experts or not. Anyway, he only planned to stay at the foot of the mountain to farm on the first day and wouldn't immediately go up the mountain to compete.
"Whoosh~"
A breeze swirled at the bottom of the bamboo box. Zhao Xing put the box on his back and set off again.
"Others use wind to carry heavy objects, but they have to eat a layer of dust. Your wind is quite ingenious," Zong Shichang praised.
"Young Master Zong also has good stamina." Zhao Xing glanced at him; Zong Shichang hadn't used wind to support his bamboo box.
"Not at all. My bamboo box has a built-in lightness effect, so I don't need to bear any weight." Zong Shichang lightly patted the outside of the box, and then a swirling breeze appeared at the bottom, sides, and back of the bamboo box.
Specks of green light emanated, and Zong Shichang not only didn't have to carry it, but most of his body was leaning on the box. It was as if the box was pushing him along!
"..." Zhao Xing was speechless.
Being rich is so damn good.
Young Master Zong was using an absolute luxury item.
Even a bamboo box just for holding things was a Third Grade High Grade item.
Zhao Xing also had a bit of money, but he wouldn't spend it so extravagantly.
"Once we pass this mountain stele, we will truly enter the Spirit Mountain. Brother Zhao, what are your plans?" The two walked along the mountain path until they stopped in front of a stele.
"I plan to chop you, Brother Zong, and steal your box. You must have many treasures on you," Zhao Xing said indifferently.
Zong Shichang was stunned: "Is that really necessary? I don't have many valuable things on me."
Zhao Xing laughed: "Anyway, after passing the Forget Worry Stele, we won't remember anything after descending the mountain, so why not do it? Brother Zong, you're so ostentatious, even your box is a Third Grade High Grade treasure. Wouldn't it be better for me to benefit than for someone else to?"
Zong Shichang realized Zhao Xing was joking, but was actually reminding him to be more low-key. He scratched his head and said, "You're right. Even if my father has Face, if I don't remember who bullied me, how can I get revenge?"
Zong Shichang then turned off the function of the bamboo box, and the box immediately became simple and unadorned, no longer emitting specks of green light.
However, this meant he had to carry the box purely by his own strength.
"Raise the wind!"
"Whoosh~"
"Cough cough... Don't raise it, Brother Zong. Let me help you."
Zhao Xing choked on the dust and quickly told him to stop.
What kind of wind are you raising?
"Sorry about that." Zong Shichang was a bit embarrassed, "I haven't done such delicate work before."
Zhao Xing shrugged and continued forward.
After crossing the mountain stele, one could clearly feel that the Origin Qi was much denser.
The first three days of the mountain's opening were when the Origin Qi was most concentrated. If the effect of one day of Origin Qi Gathering outside was 1, then in the mountain, it was 10, and this was only at the foot of the mountain; it might be even more intense higher up.
Donghu Mountain was incredibly steep and perilous. Zhao Xing walked around the foot of the mountain for half an hour before finally finding a suitable planting spot.
He chose a place beneath a cliff, next to a small stream.
"Brother Zhao, you're not going up the mountain, but walking around the foot of it for so long, just to plant crops?" Zong Shichang saw Zhao Xing taking things out of his bamboo box and thought he was stopping to eat, but then realized they were several saplings.
"You've been following me for so long, are you really just planning to sightsee?" Zhao Xing asked in surprise, "Besides food, didn't you bring anything else? Do you not plan to participate in climbing the mountain to gather spiritual essence at all?"
"Not entirely." Zong Shichang had already set up a tent and folded his bamboo box twice, transforming it into a lounge chair.
He lay by the stream, holding a pot of fine wine, and drank by himself: "Before entering the mountain, I found four good experts to search for the spiritual essence of the mountain for me."
"When they have some harvest on the mountain, I'll just take it out and hand it in."
Zhao Xing asked while planting, "Will they agree? The spiritual essence in the mountains is a good thing; perhaps being appointed an official only needs the help of such a spiritual essence."
Zong Shichang chuckled: "Why do they gather spiritual essence? It's nothing more than to get promoted and make a fortune. I can directly help them get promoted and make a fortune, isn't that more secure?"
Zhao Xing asked, "Brother Zong, do you mind if I give you thirty taels to punch you?"
Inside the bamboo box Xue Wenzhong prepared for Zhao Xing, there were Vajra Bamboo and Green Vine saplings.
Zhao Xing took out three of each and planted them on the spot.
Then he cast Earth Vein Comprehensive Origin, enveloping the soil within a one-li radius.
"Moving Clouds!"
"Spreading Rain!"
He pointed a finger, and a small cloud appeared three meters above the saplings, just covering a ten-meter square of soil.
Because there was a small stream nearby, Zhao Xing easily absorbed enough rainwater and didn't consume much of his Origin Qi.
"Pitter-patter~"
Raindrops merged into the soil.
Zhao Xing cast another Spell, performing the 【Cultivation Spell】.
"Good job!" Young Master Zong applauded from the side, "To be able to control Moving Clouds to be so small, worthy of Zhao Sanjia. Are you planning to make more straw figures?"
I'm working hard farming here, and you're watching it like a play? Zhao Xing retorted without hesitation: "Yes, the same kind of straw figures that beat you last time."
"..." Zong Shichang felt a chill in his crotch, seemingly recalling an unpleasant memory, and his smile shifted to Zhao Xing's Face.
Young Master Zong, having been rebuffed, looked into the distance and drank alone.
As he drank, Zhao Xing actually found that this guy had fallen asleep?
You really came for an autumn outing!
Shaking his head, Zhao Xing continued working.
Due to the rich Origin Qi of Donghu Mountain and having been closed for more than half a year, the soil here was quite fertile.
The Vajra Bamboo and Green Vines planted by Zhao Xing quickly entered their growth period.
"Once they reach the growth period, it's easy. Their roots are deeply embedded in the ground and can withstand the ripening of intermediate Spells."
"Wild Growth!"
Six golden lights emerged from Zhao Xing's fingertips and merged into the bodies of the Vajra Bamboo and Green Vines.
This consumed half of his Origin Qi, but the effect was also very obvious.
"Sizzle sizzle~" The Green Vine began to grow wildly, clinging to the cliff, and in the blink of an eye, it climbed a meter high and bloomed.
The Vajra Bamboo also performed well, growing taller almost every second, and after a quarter of an hour, it surpassed the growth rate of the vines.
"Hiss hiss~" The opposite situation occurred in the surroundings: all the green grass withered, and smaller trees began to shed their leaves.
Even many fish in the small stream began to turn belly up.
The surroundings looked like late autumn.
"Am I still dreaming? What's going on?" Zong Shichang looked around in surprise. He had clearly set up his tent on green grass, but when he woke up, he found that he was lying on withered grass!
The leaves on the surrounding trees had also turned yellow, and a gust of wind made them swirl down onto Zong Shichang's head.
"Brother Zong, you overslept. It's late autumn now," Zhao Xing casually lied.
"Do you take me for a three-year-old?" Zong Shichang snorted, "I only slept for an hour at most."
"Then you're quite capable... Hmm?" Zhao Xing's expression suddenly changed, as if he sensed something, and he abruptly looked up.
He saw a dark shadow in the sky, falling down along the cliff.
"Bang!" The dark shadow landed on the scree in front, immediately splattering a patch of crimson.
Zhao Xing's Face slightly changed; it was actually a person who had fallen!