https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-29-Now-This-is-What-Cultivators-Eat/12549105/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-31-The-Spirit-Body-Talent-of-the-Fu-Source-Manifests-Itself-for-the-First-Time/12549107/
Chapter 30: Who Says He's Incompetent? (To Be Continued)
Chapter 30: Who Says He's Incompetent? (To Be Continued)
"Elder Zhuang!" Chu Ning bowed respectfully.
Zhuang Yunde's round face was still filled with the same warm smile as before.
"Brother Chu, I hope the spirit rice harvest turned out well. I'm here on behalf of the sect to collect the required contribution."
Chu Ning nodded, "It's not bad. The spirit rice is inside. Please follow me, Brother Zhuang."
Zhuang Yunde followed Chu Ning into the house, reached out to touch the spirit rice, and then nodded in satisfaction:
"Hmm, the quality of this spirit rice is top-notch, Brother Chu.
According to the sect's rules, disciples must contribute half of their spirit herb harvests.
On average, one mu of land yields 700 jin of rice, with a husking rate of seventy percent, resulting in 490 jin per mu. For five mu, that's 2,450 jin, so 1,225 jin should be contributed."
At this point, Zhuang Yunde smiled and said:
"But since the quality of Brother Chu's spirit rice is excellent, according to the sect's rules, we can reduce the amount slightly. Let's make it an even 1,100 jin."
Hearing this, Chu Ning quickly thanked him with a smile.
This spirit rice was worth about 50 lower-grade spirit stones per 50 jin, so Zhuang Yunde had just saved him two and a half lower-grade spirit stones.
Of course, Chu Ning didn't mention this to Zhuang Yunde.
Due to his diligent use of the Green Wood Eternal Spring Art, his harvest was more abundant, yielding 800 jin per mu.
Moreover, the husking rate reached seventy-five percent, resulting in a total of approximately 3,000 jin of spirit rice, so he actually had some extra stored away.
Subsequently, the two of them set aside 1,100 jin of spirit rice.
Zhuang Yunde then took out a leather bag from his waist and snapped his fingers, causing the 1,100 jin of spirit rice to vanish instantly.
Seeing this, Chu Ning's gaze unconsciously fell on the bag.
"That's a storage bag," Zhuang Yunde explained upon noticing Chu Ning's interest.
"This one was specially bestowed by the sect, so it has a larger capacity.
Regular storage bags with smaller capacities can be purchased for 20 spirit stones each.
"With such excellent harvests of Spirit Rice and Black Ink Bamboo, Brother Chu should be able to afford one soon."
Chu Ning was tempted, but he still shook his head. "It's too expensive. I can't afford it yet."
He wasn't trying to be humble; he genuinely didn't have that many spirit stones.
After contributing this season's harvest to the sect, he would be left with 1,900 jin, which equated to only 38 spirit stones. He wasn't ready to spend 20 spirit stones on a storage bag just yet.
After all, Chu Ning hadn't even tried using spirit stones for cultivation yet.
Of course, that might change once he harvested the Ink Spirit bamboo, which could be used to make talisman paper.
Thinking of the Mo Ling bamboo, Chu Ning immediately fetched a bag and filled it with about 25 kilograms of spirit rice. He then discreetly handed it to Zhuang Yunde, who was about to leave.
"Elder Zhuang, thank you for your help during this time. Please accept this bag of rice as a token of my gratitude."
"Brother Chu, you're too kind!" Zhuang Yunde said, accepting the gift without refusing.
He took the bag and stored it in another, smaller storage bag with practiced ease.
"Brother Chu, I'll take my leave now. I'll come to collect the Inky Bamboo in a few days."
"Take care, Elder Zhuang."
Chu Ning saw Zhuang Yunde out of the courtyard and slowly closed the gate, returning to his house.
It was said that the cultivation world was filled not only with battles but also with the intricacies of human relationships, and this proved to be true.
Elder Zhuang, though greedy for wealth, was indeed willing to lend a helping hand.
With today's gesture, he would likely be more accommodating when it came to the Inkling bamboo harvest as well.
Moreover, Chu Ning had other plans regarding their initial agreement about recommendations.
...
Meanwhile, after leaving Chu Ning's courtyard, Zhuang Yunde continued on his way to visit other disciples' residences.
Yuan Guang cleared his throat and called out to stop Zhuang Yunde in his tracks.
"Brother Zhuang, I heard that the sect periodically allows a menial disciple to be recommended for apprenticeship. May I ask if this information is true?"
Zhuang Yunde, who was about to leave, half-turned and smiled at Yuan Guang.
"Oh, does Brother Yuan want to recommend himself?"
Yuan Guang rubbed his hands together and quickly replied, "I hope Brother Zhuang will make it possible."
Zhuang Yunde immediately shook his head.
"You're too late. The recommendation spot has already been given to Chu Ning."
"Chu Ning?"
Yuan Guang exclaimed in surprise.
"He... What was he recommended for?"
Zhuang Yunde did not hide the truth and replied directly, "Making talisman paper. Chu Ning cultivates the Mo Ling Bamboo, which is perfect for that purpose."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Guang anxiously asked, "But the quality of his Mo Ling Bamboo is inferior. How could he be recommended for talisman paper making?"
"Who says his Mo Ling Bamboo is inferior?" Zhuang Yunde looked at Yuan Guang with surprise.
Then, he recalled the incident when they distributed the spirit fields and seemed to understand something.
He sighed inwardly, "This Brother Chu is indeed very low-key. After all this time, he hasn't boasted about his achievements to anyone."
With these thoughts, Zhuang Yunde smiled at Yuan Guang, his tone carrying a hint of amusement.
"Brother Chu Ning's cultivation of the Green Wood Eternal Spring Art is exceptional, and the Mo Ling Bamboo he cultivates is of superior quality."
Hearing Zhuang Yunde's words, Yuan Guang's anxious expression turned to one of astonishment.
Then, his astonished look changed to one of embarrassment.
Recalling the recent encounter on the road and how everyone had flaunted their purple sweet potatoes in front of Chu Ning, Yuan Guang's face burned with shame.
At this moment, Yuan Guang realized that if Chu Ning's cultivation of Mo Ling Bamboo had earned Zhuang Yunde's recognition, he must be superior in both spiritual art cultivation and spirit plant cultivation.
No wonder he had specifically asked others to come and see his purple sweet potato harvest in a few days.
Furthermore, when Yuan Guang thought about how the other new disciples would react when they learned the truth, his lowered head alternated between reddening and paling.
Under Zhuang Yunde's smiling gaze, which seemed to see through everything, he wished he could find a hole to crawl into.
In fact, he was so flustered that he didn't even notice when Zhuang Yunde left.
When Yuan Guang finally looked up and wanted to ask more questions, Zhuang Yunde was already out of sight.
Two days later, Chu Ning coincidentally ran into Yuan Guang on the road.
Yuan Guang's face was filled with a complex mix of emotions as he hurriedly departed, leaving Chu Ning perplexed.
However, Chu Ning didn't dwell on it and instead focused his attention on cultivating the Seven Star Spirit Fruit and the upcoming harvest of his Mo Ling Bamboo.
After completing the spirit rice harvest, Chu Ning stopped going to the intermediate spirit field.
He spent his days either in his courtyard, cultivating the Seven Star Spirit Fruit, or cultivating the Nine-Layered Tempering Body Technique.
Alternatively, he would go to the Mo Ling Bamboo spirit field and cultivate the Green Wood Eternal Spring Art, utilizing the Green Wood Eternal Spring technique to refine his Qi.
Ten days later, it was time to harvest the Mo Ling Bamboo.
Although the harvesting process for the Mo Ling Bamboo was slightly slower than for the spirit rice, the overall quantity was not as large.
As a result, the harvesting time was comparable, taking just a few days.
Chu Ning had been eagerly awaiting this day.
As soon as the Mo Ling Bamboo was completely harvested, he didn't wait for Zhuang Yunde to come and collect the sect's share of the harvest.
Instead, he eagerly began making talisman paper.
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(End of Chapter)
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