Chapter 139: Spirit Farmer
"What do you mean?" Meiling asked in confusion.
"The Sect Master departed yesterday and won’t return for quite some time," Elder Huang explained, maintaining her professional composure. "If you seek an audience, you’ll need to return at a later date."
"What?"
Suddenly, she recalled the figure cutting through the sky at tremendous speed earlier. She wondered if that might have been the Sect Master.
"This matter cannot wait," she insisted, her tone growing urgent. "It concerns the safety of your sect. Surely there must be some way to contact her"
Elder Huang’s expression remained carefully neutral. "I’m afraid there isn’t."
Even if there were, I wouldn’t tell you, she thought privately. These self-righteous members of the Orthodox Faction are always full of themselves. In my opinion, they’re no better than those from the Demonic Faction.
"Do you know the specific time she will return?" Meiling pressed.
"No," Elder Huang answered curtly.
"Then we’ll have to wait here until she returns," Meiling declared with finality.
Elder Huang’s lips twitched slightly. Why are you inviting yourself to someone else’s house? she thought, though she kept her irritation carefully masked.
"That’s acceptable to you, right?" Meiling asked, though her tone suggested it wasn’t really a question.
"No problem at all," Elder Huang replied smoothly, though inwardly she was cursing. I just don’t want to make enemies with the Righteous Faction when we’re already at war with the Demonic Faction.
"Come on in," she said, gesturing with one hand as she guided them forward. "You can park your flying vessel there," she added, pointing to an expansive open field.
"Sister Mei Mei!" Xiuying’s voice rang out as she emerged from the flying boat, her white robes fluttering around her small frame.
Meiling turned sharply. "What are you doing here? Didn’t I tell you to stay inside?"
"But I don’t want to," Xiuying replied stubbornly, causing Meiling to sigh in resignation.
Elder Huang glanced at the newcomer, studying her carefully. There’s something strange about this girl, she thought, though she couldn’t quite identify what triggered her unease. Well, at least she doesn’t seem to be a threat.
"Follow me," Elder Huang commanded, turning on her heel as they fell into step behind her. She opened a passage through the defensive formation, allowing the two visitors entry into the sect grounds.
After ensuring their flying vessel was properly secured, Elder Huang led them toward the Mountain Heart Pavilion. "Our sect is quite modest, so we don’t maintain dedicated guest houses," she explained.
"We’ll just stay there," Meiling said, pointing toward the bamboo house at the center of the pavilion.
"That’s the Grand Elder’s residence," Elder Huang clarified. "I can arrange an introduction if you wish."
"Never mind," Meiling quickly backtracked. It would be incredibly rude to demand the Grand Elder’s own house, she realized. We came to discuss important matters, not make enemies. Especially now, when the Azure Cloud Sect appeared so different from what they’d expected.
She had arrived carrying numerous resources, prepared to save the sect from its supposedly dire situation. But from what she’d observed, there was no crisis at all. In fact, quite the opposite—the sect seemed to be thriving.
"It’s fine. We’ve brought our own temporary accommodations..." Meiling began to explain.
Suddenly, a new voice cut through the air. "Wife, why did you leave so suddenly..."
Elder Guo’s words trailed off as he noticed the woman standing beside Elder Huang. He paused for a moment before speaking again. "Mei Mei?"
At that moment, Elder Huang slowly turned to face Meiling, her eyebrows raised in question. "Mei Mei?"
Meiling stared back in shock, "Wife?"
...
After some deliberation, Xiang Yu decided to extend his qi sense to investigate further. But before he could, something unexpected happened—the system immediately displayed additional information:
[Name: Huang Fengqi]
[Realm: Body: 11th Layer; Spirit: Core Formation 6th Layer; Mind: Level 3]
[Species: Human]
[Spiritual Root: High-Grade Fire]
[Bloodline: Phoenix (Common Blood)]
[Enlightenment: Superior]
[Techniques: ...]
[Scriptures: ...]
Xiang Yu finally understood what had transpired. Elder Huang must have finally noticed the mysterious flying vessel and gone out to confront its occupants. Since no battle had erupted despite their prolonged presence, they were probably not hostile intruders.
He surmised they had been circling the sect to attract attention, but Elder Huang—who should have been on guard duty—must have been preoccupied with more... pressing matters.
He shook his head ruefully. "The pill was more effective than expected. I should probably rework that recipe." But then he quickly dismissed the thought. Why bother? I didn’t want anything to do with that recipe anyway. I only made it as a joke.
Noting that it was almost dawn, Xiang Yu decided to farm some farming experience. He needed to harvest herbs for eighth-grade healing pills anyway, having depleted his supply the previous day.
He gathered the mature blooms needed for his potions. He then examined other plants that had been left to grow overlong and now bore fruit. Previously, he’d considered these useless, but with his farming profession, he felt obliged to properly utilize them.
Xiang Yu cleared a more expansive area for his personal garden and carefully planted the seeds extracted from these fruits. Having gained the Spirit Farmer profession through the system, he at least possessed fundamental knowledge about ninth-grade spirit farming.
The Spirit Farmer profession didn’t differ drastically from regular farming. The main distinctions were its specialization in spiritual plants and spirit beasts, including techniques for helping herbs and animals achieve their maximum potential using spiritual energy manipulation. Currently, his methods were still basic—he couldn’t accelerate herb growth to mere days yet.
Nevertheless, he applied what knowledge he possessed. He carefully injected qi into each seed before planting to ensure rapid sprouting. He even infused the soil with additional spiritual energy, despite it already being saturated from the spirit vein’s presence. Doing it for the love of the game (exp).
After completing the planting, Xiang Yu reflected that he could always practice farming and medicine during these hours. As for mind cultivation, he’d delegate that to his soul infant. "Sorry, little guy," he murmured, thinking of the diligent infant tirelessly practicing in his spiritual sea.
Speaking of mind cultivation, the designated time had ended. He prepared to transition to pill refining and weapon forging.