Chapter 27: Choosing Cooperation, The First Spring Rain
After some discussion, Jiang Chen agreed to cooperate.
The cost was that he had to provide at least eight hundred jin of Tier-2 Spirit Rice every quarter.
In other words, if his quarterly yield was only two thousand jin, after submitting the one thousand jin required for the sect's task, he would have to take out another eight hundred jin.
Thus, he would be left with only about two hundred jin of Tier-2 Spirit Rice.
At first glance, it seemed like a bad deal.
However, Chen Tian would provide a sum of Spirit Stones to purchase it. The only catch was that the price would not be high—it would even be slightly lower than the market price.
Therefore, over these ten years, he estimated he would neither lose much nor gain much.
But regardless of whether Chen Tian succeeded in breaking through to become an Earth-Grade Golden Core cultivator or not, the investment would be worthwhile. After all, the other party was a genius with three mutually reinforcing spiritual roots, a core disciple, and had a Nascent Soul True Lord backing him.
"Junior Brother, I know this is somewhat difficult for you, and these ten years might be quite tight. But this is an opportunity to change your fate, isn't it?" Chen Bo stared at the person before him, his eyes flickering with an inexplicable light.
Chen Bo took out a Spirit Stone from his storage bag. "This is a Mid-grade Spirit Stone, equivalent to one hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones. Consider it a deposit for our cooperation. Of course, whether my cousin ultimately succeeds or fails, we will not take this Spirit Stone back."
Jiang Chen took it and then cupped his hands in a salute. "Thank you, Senior Brother!"
Chen Bo was quite satisfied with the outcome of this trip and immediately waved his hand. "I'm off."
Then, he turned and walked toward the direction of the Core Management Office.
Strangely, even though each step didn't seem particularly fast, Jiang Chen found that within a few breaths, the other party was already just a blurry figure in the distance. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "A movement technique?"
Then, he looked down at the Mid-grade Spirit Stone in his palm.
Compared to Low-grade Spirit Stones, this thing was bigger. If Low-grade Spirit Stones were quail eggs, then Mid-grade Spirit Stones were chicken eggs. The spiritual energy contained within was also several times denser.
This was truly good stuff. It could be used not only for cultivation but also for setting up formations. Of course, for Jiang Chen at present, its value as a collectible outweighed its practical use.
Time passed day by day.
A spring thunderclap boomed. Not long after, churning dark clouds gathered above the Spirit Farm.
Boom!
Dull rolls of thunder sounded one after another, and the atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive. Even though it was daytime, the sky grew darker and darker.
"This is the first rain of spring. I've heard it brings benefits to spirit plants." Jiang Chen stood at the doorway, looking up at the sky.
The little yellow dog also sat beside him. It lifted its head, looking with its dark eyes as if understanding yet not quite understanding. Although it didn't know why its master was doing this, it felt an instinctive fear toward the occasional thunderclaps.
Pitter-patter!
Soon, rain poured down heavily. Dense raindrops seemed strung together by invisible threads, one after another, too many to count. The moment they landed, they burst into countless smaller droplets of water.
In no time, the ground became pitted everywhere with puddles.
Seeing this, Jiang Chen simply brought over a chair and sat right at the doorway. He picked up the little yellow dog and held it in his arms, feeling its slightly trembling body and gently soothing it with his hand from time to time.
Perhaps the sound was too soothing; he actually fell asleep.
He didn't know how much time had passed. When he opened his eyes again, the rain had stopped. Although the dark clouds hadn't fully dispersed yet, there was no sign of further rain.
"That was a really comfortable sleep." Jiang Chen stood up, placed the little yellow dog, who had also fallen asleep, on the chair, and then stepped outside.
The air after the rain was quite complex. There was both the earthy smell of soaked soil and the sour stench of rotting matter washed out by the downpour. And because of the rain, the ambient Water Spiritual Energy had skyrocketed.
This caused Jiang Chen to feel a slight sluggishness as he walked, as if being gently tugged by something unseen.
Similarly, the Wood Spiritual Energy content had also increased.
But now was not the time for cultivation.
Even though it was only one mu of Spirit Farm, Jiang Chen still carefully inspected it, striving to sense the condition of all the spirit plants, not daring to be careless.
It must be said, the nourishment brought by the rain was indeed good. All spirit plants that had absorbed it, whether Spirit Rice or Spirit Clover, were all moist and glossy, growing more robust.
Especially the Spirit Clover. Originally, most only had one green leaf. But after being nourished by the spring rain, many now had two leaves. And those that already had two green leaves now had three.
All had improved.
"Wait, why are so many bugs crawling out of these puddles?"
After a thorough inspection, the spirit plants showed no problems at all. But Jiang Chen discovered that many puddles and water-filled depressions actually had bugs crawling out of them.
They were very small in size, like tiny cicadas. And there were two types: one with long, narrow wings and one with short, round wings.
Seeing this situation, Jiang Chen took out a communication talisman from his small storage bag, injected spiritual energy into it, and after it lit up, called out, "Fellow Daoist Sun Jin, help with pest removal!"
Although these bugs hadn't climbed onto the Spirit Rice yet and might not cause any harm, Jiang Chen still didn't dare to let his guard down. Even if it meant wasting some Spirit Stones, it was worth it.
Not long after, a voice came from the communication talisman. Although somewhat fuzzy, it could barely be made out.
"When are you free?"
"Not free right now. Should I find someone else for you?"
"Anyone is fine as long as they can come remove pests!"
Their conversation ended. Jiang Chen looked at the dimmed communication talisman in his hand and couldn't help but complain, "It's just like a cell phone."
Not only could it communicate over long distances, but rainy days even affected its signal.
Fortunately, although Sun Jin couldn't come help himself, he found someone else. He just didn't know how long he'd have to wait.
One shichen later, a figure holding an umbrella approached. The other party clearly got a fright and immediately stopped moving forward.
Seeing this, Jiang Chen walked out of the wooden hut and called toward them, "Are you Fellow Daoist Sun Jin's friend who came to help me remove pests?"
"Yes!" Soon, a timid voice sounded.
"Then come quickly." Jiang Chen beckoned with his hand.
"Is that... a dog next to your foot?" The voice remained hesitant.
Jiang Chen was taken aback. "My dog is only a few months old; he doesn't bite!"
"But I'm scared!"
Jiang Chen nodded helplessly. "I guarantee he won't bite. You can rest completely assured."
"Well... alright." Having received assurance, the other party slowly approached step by step.
As they got closer, Jiang Chen finally saw clearly: underneath the umbrella was a female disciple with rather androgynous features; on her chest was also an inverted golden sword emblem. Clearly, she shared Sun Jin's Metal Spiritual Root affinity.
Why confirm she's a female disciple? Because although her face was androgynous, her figure wasn't. It even reached a certain scale that couldn't be ignored.
At this moment, the Metal Spiritual Root female disciple introduced herself, "Greetings, Fellow Daoist. My name is Sun Mu."
Sun Mu patted her chest in relief. "It seems I didn't get lost."
Jiang Chen asked curiously, "What's your relationship with Fellow Daoist Sun Jin?"
Sun Mu smiled. "He's my older brother."
Sun Mu nodded as she put away her umbrella. "Yes."
Jiang Chen sighed inwardly. No wonder they look so alike.
It was hard to believe such an impressive figure was topped with a face so similar to a man's!