Chapter 71: Trial Planting (Part One)
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In the sea of flowers, two diligent gardeners were hard at work. White Fox, dressed in white robes, strolled leisurely through the flower beds not far away, occasionally bending down to smell the various enticing fragrances. Guan Yu and Chen Feng would steal glances at her from time to time – after all, such a beautiful woman was truly rare. No, not rare – they had never seen anyone like her before. The two men had no idea that White Fox was actually a fox spirit.
When they first arrived here, both had considerable resistance and resentment. But as time passed, they discovered that staying beside such a beauty and working daily in this sea of flowers wasn’t such a bad thing after all. There were no schemes or conspiracies, no conflicts – the two had gradually grown accustomed to and begun enjoying life here.
After spending so much time together, they had become familiar with each other, and White Fox gradually began talking with them. She walked quietly to their side and, seeing they had cleared another plot of land, looked around and suggested, “It would be best to plant purple flowers here.”
“Alright, we’ll listen to Miss Bai. Chen Feng, let’s plant violets here!” Guan Yu said with a smile.
Chen Feng nodded in agreement, then turned his head and asked, “Miss Bai, how come we haven’t seen Boss for such a long time?” He now admired Yue Qianchou completely – he had never seen such a talented young man.
“I don’t know either,” White Fox replied softly, gazing toward the empty bamboo cottage in the distant woods, a trace of disappointment flickering in her eyes.
“What’s this? Does everyone miss me? Haha!” Yue Qianchou suddenly appeared behind them with a laugh.
Guan Yu also laughed, “Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives.” This phrase was something he had picked up from listening to Yue Qianchou tell stories about the Three Kingdoms.
“Enough talk. Yunzhang, Chen Feng, stop planting these flowers from now on. I have something important for you to do,” Yue Qianchou said with a smile.
Guan Yu and Chen Feng looked at White Fox with doubt, but seeing that she unusually showed no objection, Guan Yu asked, “What is it?”
“Haha…” Yue Qianchou suddenly threw back his head and laughed heartily toward the sky. Everyone looked at each other in confusion, not knowing why he was so happy. But White Fox seemed to hear a trace of bittersweet melancholy mixed with all sorts of emotions in his laughter, and she watched him quietly.
After venting through his hearty laughter, Yue Qianchou patted Guan Yu’s shoulder and said, “Yunzhang, do you remember something I once told you?”
“You’ve said so many things. Which one do you want me to remember?” Guan Yu said with a dismissive smile.
Yue Qianchou was in a great mood today and didn’t mind at all. “I once told you that I’d guarantee your successful foundation establishment within ten years.”
Guan Yu nodded, “You did say that, but I’ve long since given up hope.”
Yue Qianchou was stunned, then touched his nose and sighed, “Ah! Since you’ve already given up hope, then forget it. During this time, I learned pill refining at Fuxian Island, and I just happened to get my hands on the spiritual herb seeds needed to refine Foundation Building Pills today. Since you’re no longer interested, Chen Feng and I will handle it ourselves. Yunzhang, go back to planting your flowers!”
“What?” Guan Yu and Chen Feng were stunned, then both cried out simultaneously, “Spiritual herb seeds?” The two knew that any plant seeds could be successfully cultivated here. If there really were spiritual herb seeds, what would that mean?
Guan Yu had stayed at Fuxian Island before, so he understood the situation better than Chen Feng. Fuxian Island’s spiritual herb seeds weren’t something you could just get your hands on casually – if it were him, he wouldn’t have that ability. Moreover, Yue Qianchou had said he learned pill refining. For anyone else, a Qi Refining stage disciple would only be qualified to do odd jobs and wouldn’t have the qualifications to learn pill refining at all. If everything Yue Qianchou said was true, then this Boss Yue really wasn’t ordinary! Guan Yu was completely convinced.
“Chen Feng, let’s go find a place to plant spiritual herbs,” Yue Qianchou said smugly.
“Wait!” Guan Yu grabbed Yue Qianchou’s arm. The latter smiled, “Yunzhang, what’s this? Want to fight me again? That’s a bit too overconfident, don’t you think?”
“No, no, no, Boss, you misunderstood. I just want to ask you a few questions,” Guan Yu said with an apologetic smile.
“Oh!” Yue Qianchou nodded, “This boss is in a good mood today. Speak!”
Guan Yu held onto his arm and wouldn’t let go. “Who did you take as your master when you entered Fuxian Island?”
“Someone with the same surname as you – Guan Weiwu.”
“Elder Guan is the elder in charge of the Pill Refining Pavilion. It’s possible you could learn pill refining from him.” Guan Yu swallowed and asked again, “So where did you steal those spiritual herb seeds from?”
“Bullshit!” Yue Qianchou forcefully pulled his arm free. “Am I the type of person who would do such things? These seeds were personally given to me by Ma Jiugu from Mulberry Grass Garden.”
“Ah! The legendary Ninth Aunt whose cultivation has reached the late Tribulation Crossing stage? How could she give you seeds?” Guan Yu asked in amazement.
“What’s so strange about that? She and I have a very good relationship. This boss is currently living in Mulberry Grass Garden, eating well and drinking well every day.” Yue Qianchou turned his head, “If you don’t believe it, forget it. I can’t be bothered with you. Go plant your flowers! Chen Feng, let’s go plant spiritual herbs.”
“Wait.” Guan Yu smiled apologetically, “Boss, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have doubted you. I’ll come with you to plant spiritual herbs.”
Yue Qianchou looked at him with a smug smile, “For the sake of how long we’ve known each other, I won’t hold it against you. Hurry up and find a place – let’s get to work quickly.” Joking around was fine, but he didn’t want to waste more time fooling around. Besides, he also wanted to get the spiritual herbs planted as soon as possible.
Watching the three men’s excited and jubilant behavior, White Fox frowned slightly. She didn’t believe that Yue Qianchou had obtained these things as easily and casually as he claimed. Otherwise, where had all that hidden melancholy he’d shown over the past year come from?
“Boss, how about planting here? This is the ground Chen Feng and I just tilled,” Guan Yu said, bowing and scraping as he pointed to the plot beside them. This was the first time he had spoken to Yue Qianchou like this, and he was being completely shameless about it.
Chen Feng beside him was even more excited, not knowing what to do with his hands and feet, constantly rubbing his palms together. ‘Back when I hadn’t met Yue Qianchou yet, I was worrying about spirit stones. Who would have thought that after coming here, there would be so many spirit stones that I wouldn’t dare use them even if I wanted to! Now there’s even a chance to obtain Foundation Building Pills – after taking them, I could step into the Foundation Building stage! My old dream!’
“Hold on.” Yue Qianchou waved his hand with great dignity. Guan Yu and Chen Feng were stunned, not knowing what trick this boss was going to pull now.
Yue Qianchou held up a small cloth bundle in his hand, his expression serious. “Refining Foundation Building Pills requires nine types of spiritual herbs. Ma Jiugu gave me ten seeds of each type. Everyone must be extremely careful – we can only succeed in trial planting, we cannot fail. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to get more next time. Do you all understand?”
Although he had the suspicion of taking this opportunity to boost his own prestige, the two men caught up in the situation didn’t think so. Instead, they thought what he said made perfect sense, and both replied with serious expressions, “Understood.”
A few steps away, White Fox pressed her lips together and turned her head to smile secretly.
Yue Qianchou carefully unwrapped the cloth bundle. Inside lay nine small porcelain bottles. He picked up one and handed it to Chen Feng, “Chen Feng, there should be ten seeds inside. I don’t know which spiritual herb this is either. Try planting one seed first.”
‘These are spiritual herb seeds for refining Foundation Building Pills!’ Chen Feng’s hands couldn’t stop trembling slightly. Yue Qianchou rolled his eyes and cursed, “Damn! Useless thing, what are you shaking for? What if you drop it? Can you afford to compensate? Guan Yu, what are you spacing out for? I’m talking to you! Don’t just stand there watching the show – help Chen Feng with the trial planting.”
Seeing him gesturing and cursing so enthusiastically, White Fox, who had just turned her head back, turned away again.
“Mm! Got it.” Guan Yu immediately recognized his mistake and quickly brought over a bucket of water. He crouched down and dug a small hole in the loosened soil, then untied the bamboo tube from his waist, ready at all times.