Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 7: Containing the Spring Grass

"Based on your performance during this period, let's reassign the spiritual fields."

"Zhang Susu will be in charge of the middle spiritual field!"

Zhang Susu was instantly overwhelmed with excitement, almost on the verge of tears.

During this period, her life had been miserable. Her monthly allowance was deducted, and she had to work while starving. She had also lost a considerable amount of weight.

"This is great!"

Wang Zilin was also delighted. It seemed that Zhang Susu would be swapping places with Li An. He had long been displeased with Li An, and now Li An would have to endure a difficult life...

"Li An will be in charge of the right spiritual field, and Wang Zilin will be in charge of the left!"

But Fan Jie's words left him stunned.

He was assigned to the worst spiritual field? How could this be?

"Why..."

He blurted out, filled with anger.

"Why?"

Fan Jie's gaze suddenly turned sharp as he looked at Wang Zilin. "Wang Zilin, what is this? You've been secretly hoarding spiritual rice!"

He took out a cloth bag.

Wang Zilin's face turned pale. That was his cloth bag, which he had left in his residence and hadn't brought to the spiritual field.

"Elder..."

He wanted to argue, but Fan Jie slapped him across the face.

Wang Zilin fell to the ground, coughing up blood. Fan Jie then kicked him hard on the thigh.

"Stealing rice, huh?"

There was a loud crack as Wang Zilin's thigh clearly broke, and he let out a miserable scream.

Zhang Susu, who was standing nearby, was even more terrified, her face turning pale.

...

That night, Fan Jie stayed at Zhang Susu's residence for dinner.

The night was quiet. Li An faintly heard Zhang Susu's painful moans, Fan Jie's heavy breathing, and Wang Zilin's cries that went unnoticed in the night...

He remained calm and didn't pay much attention, instead taking stock of his current gains.

Three months had passed, and he now had two complete spiritual stones, one small piece of a damaged spiritual stone, and one hundred catties of spiritual rice!

It was time to go out again. In another two or three months, he would be able to break through to the second level of Qi Refining. He needed to make some preparations for that.

After all, many people knew about his damaged spiritual roots. If he successfully broke through, it might attract the attention of those with ulterior motives.

He needed to create some cover.

Moreover, once Zhang Susu climbed into Fan Jie's bed, Li An would only be able to manage the average spiritual field. With the addition of pests, he might not be able to obtain any extra gains in the future. He needed to think of a solution.

...

The next day.

He asked Fan Jie for leave.

Fan Jie was in a good mood and readily granted it.

Perhaps Zhang Susu was too tired, as she hadn't gotten up yet and hadn't gone to work in the fields.

When Li An left, he turned back and saw Wang Zilin limping into the worst left spiritual field, leaning on a wooden crutch.

That figure looked like a miserable dog.

...

Leaving the Spirit Planting Mountain, it was noon when Li An entered the outer gate buildings of the Xuan Yang Sect.

There were many halls at the outer gate, such as the Spirit Planting Mountain, Iron Refining Hall, Scripture Repository, Pharmacy, and so on.

Most of the specific tasks were handled by the menial workers, while the named disciples were responsible for management. Above the named disciples were some outer gate elders.

In comparison, the inner gate was the true world of cultivators. Inner gate disciples only needed to focus on cultivation and didn't have to do any miscellaneous tasks.

At the outer gate, named disciples obtained resources through monthly allowances and by completing sect missions to earn contribution points, which could then be used to exchange for items at the Exchange Pavilion.

In addition, there were also many unofficially organized trading markets for exchanging needed items.

The market at the end of each month was the most lively, with the highest number of participants, usually held in an open space to the south of the outer gate.

Li An walked over.

There were all kinds of things being sold around.

Damaged refined iron, incomplete cultivation techniques, raw materials for refining tools... the list went on.

Most of the people coming and going were named disciples and menial workers, clearly distinguished from each other. The menial workers wore light gray linen clothes, while the named disciples wore uniform robes.

Li An took a stroll around, then went to several stalls selling herbs. Finally, he found a spot and set up his own stall, placing the one hundred catties of spiritual rice he had carried on his shoulder on the ground.

There were quite a few people inquiring about the price, but when they saw that he was a menial worker, the named disciples intentionally lowered their offers.

Li An rejected all of them.

"Oh, isn't that Senior Sister Xu?"

Suddenly, someone spoke up beside him.

On the other side of the trading market, a girl in a light yellow long dress walked slowly. She had a graceful figure and was extremely beautiful. As soon as she appeared, she caught everyone's attention.

Li An recognized this woman, Xu Qiuhui, the senior sister among the formal disciples of the outer sect. It was said that she would be challenging for the identity of an inner sect disciple at the end of this year's final exam.

On the day they took the entrance assessment, it was Xu Qiuhui who was in charge.

People of Xu Qiuhui's level rarely appeared in this trading market.

Many named disciples respectfully greeted her, and Xu Qiuhui nodded calmly as she walked past them, suddenly stopping in front of Li An's stall.

"These spirit grains are of decent quality, and it's rare to have so many... How much are you selling them for?"

Xu Qiuhui looked at Li An.

A hint of surprise flashed in her eyes. Obviously, she had some impression of this young man who had decent talent but willingly became a menial servant after failing to enter the Lingmen sect.

Li An's heart stirred, and he said, "Half a spirit stone."

"All of them?"

"All of them!"

Xu Qiuhui said calmly, "With so many spirit grains, according to the market price, they should be sold for one spirit stone."

"I don't want any favors."

Li An said, "Senior Sister Xu, I'm not asking for a favor. I want to ask you about something."

Xu Qiuhui glanced at Li An and said, "Go ahead and ask. If I'm willing to tell you, we can make the deal later."

"Senior Sister Xu, I want to ask how to treat damaged spiritual roots."

Li An showed a concerned expression.

Xu Qiuhui glanced at Li An and said, "If you can obtain a second-grade Restoration Pill before Qi Refining, there is an 80% chance of repairing your spiritual roots. Now that you have reached the first level of Qi Refining, even if you get a second-grade pill, there is only a 30% chance."

Li An's face was filled with despair and unwillingness. "A second-grade spiritual pill... Senior Sister Xu, are there any cheap herbs that can help with spiritual roots?"

Xu Qiuhui said, "The Spring Grass has some effect, but it's minimal."

Li An showed a grateful expression. "Thank you, Senior Sister Xu!"

Xu Qiuhui nodded and then took out a spirit stone and handed it to Li An. "This is just basic knowledge, it doesn't need to be cheap for you. You can still buy it at the market price."

Li An hurriedly said, "Senior Sister Xu, this knowledge may be a small matter for you, but for me, it's a great favor!"

"Really, giving you half a spirit stone is enough... Otherwise, Li An won't be able to repay such a great favor."

He was very sincere.

Xu Qiuhui actually quite appreciated him. This servant had a good character.

"Alright, I'll buy these one hundred catties of spirit grains from you with half a spirit stone. Take the other half and this spirit sand as a deposit."

"After two months, bring another one hundred catties to me."

Upon hearing this, Li An was overjoyed. "Okay, thank you, Senior Sister Xu, thank you!"

He took the spirit stone and said, "Senior Sister Xu, where do you live? Do you need me to deliver it for you?"

"No need."

Xu Qiuhui waved her hand indifferently. The one hundred catties of spirit grains were instantly packed into a small gray bag.

A storage bag.

Then, Xu Qiuhui turned and left.

Watching her leave, Li An turned and walked to a nearby stall selling herbs.

The herbs sold here contained a little spiritual energy, but they were not of high quality and only had a slight effect on low-level cultivators.

After some bargaining, Li An used a small piece of spirit stone to buy thirty catties of Spring Grass.

He had already picked out the Spring Grass as soon as he came in and deliberately asked Xu Qiuhui about it to make connections.

In the world of cultivation, connections were also important. Just having a friend like Wang Dazhu, a named disciple, was enough to prevent Fan Jie from daring to withhold his share.

But how long could his friendship with Wang Dazhu last? Only heaven knew.

He had to explore more networking resources on his own.

And he had another purpose.

Spring Grass and another second-grade spiritual herb, Yuan Chun Grass, looked very similar!

Unless it was a high-level alchemist, ordinary people couldn't tell the difference between the two.

Yuan Chun Grass had a great effect on spiritual roots.

When his spiritual roots gradually recovered and his cultivation level increased, he could use the excuse of accidentally consuming Yuan Chun Grass to repair his spiritual roots, and no one would suspect him.

"Oh, An Ge?"

As soon as Li An bought the Spring Grass, Wang Dazhu's voice came.

Li An turned around, and Wang Dazhu and several disciples walked into the trading market.

Mu Qingwan, Zhao Xianchuan, and other familiar faces were also there!

...

(End of this chapter)