Zhong Xuan had already found work and said, "The one who hired me is an outer sect steward called Granny Qian. She's very easy to talk to. She has a few acres of spirit fields on Tengshe Peak, where she grows a kind of spirit tree called the Cinnabar Persimmon Tree, which bears cinnabar persimmons."
"When the persimmon trees bloom, they attract hairy caterpillars. The caterpillars like to eat the flowers, and once the flowers are eaten, no fruit will grow. They don't have any other notable abilities, except that the hairs on their bodies break off easily, and when the broken hairs pierce your skin, it really hurts. But Granny Qian provides us with a set of clothes and a face mask, so there's no fear of getting pricked."
"We only need to catch one hundred caterpillars to earn half a spirit stone; two hundred makes one spirit stone. The more you catch, the more spirit stones you earn. It's very simple."
"After accepting the task, we go to Granny Qian's place. She's on Tengshe Peak among the outer sect peaks. After coming down from Gongde Peak, we still have to travel a while longer, and we must arrive before the hour of Chen."
The three of them first arrived at Gongde Peak, where the outer sect's main hall was located. It was just barely dawn. The outer sect disciple on duty held a storybook in his hands—Lin Donglai could see it was titled *The Peak of Nascent Soul*—and had probably stayed up all night reading it.
These storybooks were all popular in Qingmu Immortal City. Lin Donglai had seen some of them in the library of the schoolhouse on Xianmiao Peak, but he had only flipped through them briefly and wasn't interested.
Zhong Xuan, familiar with the procedure, handed over his identity token, accepted the task, and the others followed suit.
"You haven't even reached Qi Refinement First Layer, are you this batch's immortal sprouts? More than a hundred days since entry and still haven't drawn qi into your bodies. No wonder you're taking tasks like this—tedious, time-consuming, and without outer sect merit points."
"One more word of advice: you'd best reach Qi Refinement First Layer soon. Otherwise, once you're demoted to servant disciples, you won't even be able to do these tasks. You'll only be able to do work serving others, and cultivating will be even more impossible."
The three exchanged glances and expressed their thanks. Zhong Xuan said, "We all have five spirit roots of low-grade aptitude. It'll take at least a year before we can draw qi into our bodies. But Elder Qin of the outer sect said that if we don't manage it within two hundred days, we'll be demoted to servants... That's why we're doing these tasks, to earn a couple of spirit stones to use."
"Tsk tsk, Elder Qin, you say? I remember him being quite a decent fellow. He even recommended introductory cultivation methods to me back then. Surely it won't come to that."
"Still, your batch of immortal sprouts—even five spirit roots of low grade are being accepted. With standards like that, there really is some pressure on you."
"How come I remember that our Qingmu Sect's minimum entry aptitude used to be four spirit roots of low grade, and most entrants had three spirit roots of low grade... Could it be that a war is coming?"
He didn't think too much of it and went back to his storybook.
Lin Donglai and the others were long accustomed to being viewed with surprise at their terribly poor aptitude. Holding their task tokens, they hurried on their way.
Only upon arriving at Tengshe Peak did they understand why it bore this name.
The entire mountain peak looked like a massive serpent lying stretched out in repose, with layer upon layer of terraced fields covering it like snake scales.
And Granny Qian's few acres of orchard lay on a sunny slope at a remote corner of Tengshe Peak.
Zhong Xuan said to Lin Donglai and Ding Zhen, "You must be extremely careful on Tengshe Peak. Every spirit field here has an owner, and some are even protected by formations. We'll walk along the field ridges. Whatever you do, don't get itchy hands and pull up someone else's spirit herbs or spirit grain. Never mind that you couldn't afford the compensation—if you get killed by a protective formation, there'll be no justice to appeal to either."
Only after both of them nodded did they head up the mountain.
The moment he set foot on the mountain, Lin Donglai distinctly felt the Mysterious Dao Seed stir with activity, and he couldn't help but begin circulating the Peiyuan Breathing Art as well.
Tengshe Peak had a dedicated spirit vein used to nourish its spirit fields. The spiritual energy was dense, suitable for growing spirit plants—and naturally suitable for his Low-Grade Jia Wood Body's cultivation. What's more, the spirit herbs and spirit rice here were all so full of vitality that it practically overflowed from them.
In just a short while, Lin Donglai could feel a great deal of emerald-green plant vitality accumulating in his mind.
This vitality stimulated the Mysterious Dao Seed, and soon another white root hair, about as thick as a mosquito's leg, grew out.
This root hair absorbed the green plant vitality, turning a faint azure-green, and sprouted many fine filaments even thinner than a mosquito's leg.
The two root hairs plunged together into the void, drawing in spiritual energy and, following the breathing rhythm of the Peiyuan Breathing Art, helping to nourish his body.
With this, he no longer needed to toil for spirit stones to buy spirit medicines in order to sustain his cultivation. Marrow Cleansing consumed far more than Tendon Transformation, since Marrow Cleansing also required condensing essence blood—a single drop of essence blood was worth eating a whole ox, an enormous expenditure.
For a moment, Lin Donglai felt refreshed throughout his entire body, a light sweat forming on his skin, and with every breath, it was as if a spring breeze gently drifted in.
"The vitality here is so rich!" Lin Donglai said, standing barefoot on the field ridge, sensing the emotions transmitted from the Dao Seed's root hairs. "The earthly qi is abundant, the spiritual qi is abundant."
As long as sunlight and rain were sufficient, the Dao Seed could produce even more of these tiny root hairs capable of running the Peiyuan Breathing Art.
"Once I become an outer sect disciple, if I have no better place to go, this will be my first choice."
But these thoughts passed in an instant, because Zhong Xuan had already led the two of them to Granny Qian's orchard.
Granny Qian's orchard was enclosed by thorny brambles, and a shed stood outside it. She was resting on a reclining chair in the shed, and beside her, a little girl of seven or eight was holding a storybook titled *The Immortal Travels of the Empress*, reading it aloud with great feeling.
"Le Nihuang sneered coldly: 'What kind of thing do you think you are? Even licking my shoes would be too filthy for you, and you wish to marry me?'"
"Ma Zhenyuan chuckled: 'My father is a Nascent Soul cultivator, and I am the foremost below Golden Core, at the peak of the Purple Mansion. For me to take a fancy to you, a mere early Foundation Establishment female cultivator, is already an honor. Others may respect you as a Golden Core disciple, but I certainly don't fear you!'"
"Le Nihuang thought to herself: 'My master and I have long been mutually in love, viewing each other as eternal dao companions. Now that Master is in seclusion attempting to break through to Nascent Soul, for him to act so arrogantly, he must be an enemy within the sect using me to disturb Master's dao heart...'"
Zhong Xuan didn't dare interrupt the reading, and could only watch eagerly, hoping the little girl would notice them.
"Grandma! Someone's here." Having read the storybook for so long, the little girl was thirsty too, and stopped her reading.
Granny Qian opened her narrowed eyes and looked at the group, her gaze finally settling on Zhong Xuan. "The clothes and face masks are all in the shed. But there are only two sets here, and you're three, so you'll have to take turns working. Same price as before—one hundred caterpillars for half a spirit stone. If you don't reach one hundred, I'll settle with you in spirit beads instead."
"Then I'll pass. You two go ahead." Lin Donglai now had the Dao Seed's root hairs to assist his cultivation and didn't lack the spirit stones to buy pills for a breakthrough. Moreover, with the plant vitality here so abundant, he didn't even need to buy herbs to draw vitality from—the Dao Seed's root hairs would be satisfied. Better to focus on practicing the Tendon Transformation and Marrow Cleansing Stake Art and fleece Tengshe Peak for all it was worth.
Ding Zhen gave Lin Donglai a grateful look, while Zhong Xuan said, "Granny Qian, do you have any other work here? My brother here is willing to do anything!"
Granny Qian chuckled. "Very well. The shed next door has a kitchen stove shared by several households, and this time it falls to this old woman to restock the firewood. The wood has already been bought. Why don't you split one of your group off to chop it? Once it's done, I'll give you half a spirit stone too."
Low-level Qi Refinement cultivators who didn't want to eat Bigu Pills every day still needed to build fires and cook. Although there were spells for making fire, keeping one sustained continuously wasn't cost-effective, so firewood was still needed for burning.
But since everything here touched on cultivation, everything carried the word "spirit"—so firewood became spirit wood. At least a Xiantian expert, someone who had achieved fetal breathing, could chop it with any ease.
Lin Donglai considered it. Chopping wood would work too—it wouldn't interfere with practicing the Marrow Cleansing Stake Art. Chopping wood might seem a small thing, but it too counted as cultivation, training the focused heart and the resolute heart.