Soon, Gu Hai returned. He landed on the roof with his chin held high and chest puffed. He then swaggered toward his two disciples in a measured gait with the toes pointing outward.
He looked very pleased and proud of himself.
“Quack! Quack! Quack!” Jiang Ming quacked like a duck, causing Linglong to cover her mouth and giggle like a little girl.
Gu Hai staggered as he asked angrily, “What do you mean by that?”
“I just saw a duck!” Jiang Ming replied in a serious manner, “Did you see it, Master?”
“How dare you!” Gu Hai harrumphed. “You must be asking for a beating!”
He lifted his hand and hit the air with his palm, causing the wind to surge and the clouds to gather. He then raised his eyebrows, stroked his beard, and sat down. “In the past, although I was a First Seat, providing you two with a shelter was all I could do. However, things have changed. I can protect both of you now!”
“Master, have you forgotten that Junior Sister’s cultivation base is higher than yours?” Jiang Ming pitched his voice low and said, stumping Gu Hai.
“Other than the Sect Master, your cultivation base is still the lowest amongst the First Seats,” Jiang Ming added.
Gu Hai’s face turned dark. “Go prepare a meal. I want 32 dishes, and I’ll hit you if you can’t make them!”
“No way! How could you punish me like that? I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“I’m your Master!”
“You’re being unreasonable!”
“I’m your Master!”
“Alright, you’re the boss!” Jiang Ming sighed and went to do his Master’s bidding.
Gu Hui pulled out his wine guard and took a sip. Then, he exclaimed, “Gosh, this is so good!”
Linglong did not know what she should say.
Soon, all 32 dishes were served.
“Good, good, good. This is too good! One of my disciples is a genius, while the other is good at cooking. I bet no one in this world is luckier than me!” Gu Hai said as he enjoyed the dishes.
“They all taste really good!” Linglong commented with a smile on her face.
She really liked this kind of life.
Jiang Ming pouted but did not say anything.
Soon, they all finished all the dishes.
[Ding! You’ve successfully satisfied your Master and Junior Sister with a scrumptious meal. As such, access to the Training Zone has been activated!]
Jiang Ming let out a smile when he heard the notification.
After filling his stomach, Gu Hai rose to his feet and said, “You two stay here. I’m going out for a walk.”
“He definitely is going to show off to other people!” Jiang Ming muttered before reminding, “Master, make sure you don’t expose yourself!”
“Don’t worry. It’s my perseverance, wisdom, and knowledge that has brought me this far,” Gu Hai said as he waved his hand. “Even the heavens are on my side, and now that my Purple Mansion has recovered, I’m sure I’ll become stronger than other First Seats or even the Sect Master one day! Haha!”
He threw his head back in a burst of boisterous laughter and left.
“He just likes to show off,” Linglong said, smiling brightly.
Jiang Ming sighed. “It has been pretty hard for him in the past few years. He presumes his seniority and refuses to step down from the position of the First Seat in order to protect the two of us.
“Although nobody talks about it, I’m sure that there are some people who’re not happy with it. However, after you’ve proved yourself to be a prodigy and now that he has recovered from his injuries and has ascended into the next realm, of course, he would feel delighted!
“I guess that his first stop would be Jiaoyang Peak!”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Linglong smiled and nodded.
After cleaning the table, both of them came to the back of the mountain.
There were only five Mu of land left as he had used the rest of the land to grow some flowers and plants.
He decided to use one Mu to grow some vegetables while planting some spiritual medicine to the remaining four Mu.
Spiritual items were divided into two grades, namely normal grade, and rudiment grade.
Normal-grade spiritual items were food for junior disciples, such as spiritual rice and wheat. They usually ripened early and yielded high harvests.
As for rudiment-grade spiritual medicine, they were further categorized into low-grade, middle-grade, high-grade, top-grade, and medicine king.
A low-grade spiritual medicine would take at least a year to ripen, and some of the best quality would take at least 10 years. Middle-grade spiritual medicine took between 10 to 100 years, high-grade took 100 to 1,000 years, and top-grade took more than 1,000 years.
As for the medicine king, it would normally take 10,000 years and above.
This categorization was only usable under suitable growing conditions. It could be used as a general guideline, but it was not absolute.
What Jiang Ming grew was known as the Azure Silver Grass. It was a very common low-grade spiritual medicine. As long as the soil conditions and the concentration of spiritual essence in the air were favorable, it could be harvested in a little more than a year.
Jiang Ming planted one seedling per square meter, and there were a lot of them.
“Senior Brother, why are you growing the Azure Silver Grass only?” Linglong asked incredulously.
“The maturation time for each spiritual medicine is different, so if we grow one type at a time, we can harvest them all together!” Jiang Ming said with a smile, “Do you want to try to harvest them all together? It’s a lot of fun!”
Of course, he also wanted to try to raise an Azure Silver Grass King.
“Do you think that the most common spiritual medicine like the Azure Silver Grass can become human?”
Hugging his arm, Linglong walked in the farm and said, “Become human? That’s a demon! It’s extremely difficult for a plant to become a demon, especially a common plant like this one. Not only does it require opportunity, but it also needs to absorb essence from the universe.”
The wind was breezy, and the sun was warm.
In the afternoon, Linglong started her cultivation.
Jiang Ming opened up the Human Paths Record and took a look. He noticed that Bai Zizai had gone to another place after he turned around the Jiuyang Sect, and he heaved a sigh of relief.
Just when he was about to continue his cultivation, Chang Yiming and Zhang Junbao arrived.
Jiang Ming threw two bottles of wine at them.
“Although you rarely come out of the mountain, your wine is the best in the world!” Zhang Junbao said. He took a big gulp from the bottle of wine and went to the gazebo.
“I must bring some spiritual items for you to make into wine one day!” Chang Yiming chimed in.
“Sure!” Jiang Ming laughed. “How come you’re not in seclusion?”
“I was about to go into seclusion when I heard something that made my scalp tingle. Thus, I figured I should come and let you know as well,” Zhang Junbao said. Then, he stretched his arm forward.
It went without saying that Jiang Ming knew what he wanted. He took a big bottle of wine out of his storage ring and threw it to him.
“Hahaha! You know me the best!” Zhang Junbai said as he stored the wine bottle away.
“How about me?” Chang Yiming stretched his arm out as well.
“Are you two here just for my wine?” Jiang Ming said exasperatedly.
That being said, he still gave a bottle to Chang Yiming.
“You’re the only winemaker here, so of course, we would come to you!” Zhang Junbao said. Then, he pitched his voice low and continued. “I received two messages today.”
“I thought we’ve shut down all the connection to the outside world?”
“As a cultivation sect, that is just a show to the outside world. How could you not know about it since you’re the head disciple?” Zhang Junbao said, “Two martial art experts from the Infinite Alchemy Pavilion in Zhong Province have come to Eastern Region. They attacked the Qingyun Sect and stirred up a ruckus across the world some time ago.
“It’s only until very recently that I learned the Holy Son of the Infinite Alchemy Pavilion was killed by someone in Eastern Region! All the evidence is pointing toward the Qingyun Sect, and this is big news!”
“The Infinite Alchemy Pavilion is a Sacred Land, and they take pride in their Holy Son. Does the Qingyun Sect really have what it takes to kill him?” Jiang Ming asked, his voice filled with shock. “Why do I have a feeling that this is just a fake rumor?”
“Honestly, I don’t believe it either.” Zhang Junbai continued. “Although all the evidence is pointing toward the Qingyun Sect, I can almost assure you that the murderer is someone else!”
He paused for a moment before adding, “The Holy Son of the Infinite Alchemy Pavilion is a powerful being. I heard that his guardian is a Great Monarch in the Primal Spirit Realm. To think that a person like him would be killed by someone in silence. It’s just… Unbelievable!
“Yeah, right!” Jiang Ming added, “I can assure that whoever killed the Holy Son, they must be an admirable figure with an imposing demeanor! We should make them our model!”
“Yes, they’re truly our model. I don’t even dare to kill a Holy Son in my dreams!” Chang Yiming licked his lips and said, “My dream is getting a Holy Daughter as my wife!”
“Well, keep dreaming!” Zhang Junbai laughed. “But a lot of things have been going on Eastern Region lately. You see, the Qingyun Sect will certainly pour in every punch of their resources in investigating the matter about the Holy Son’s death, the devil sects have started to move again, and a genius from Zhong Province is coming to Eastern Province. I’m sure something big is about to happen in Eastern Region!”
“Well, it’s none of our business since we’ve already cut off our connection to the outside world for the time being,” Jiang Ming said. “What about the second message?”
“The Bishui Sect was annihilated last night!” replied Zhang Junbai. “They’re definitely not weaker than us, yet all of them were killed in one night! I nearly jumped when I heard the news! First, a Holy Son was killed, and now a sect was destroyed. Hell, this is too much. I don’t even feel safe anymore staying in the sect!”
The corner of Jiang Ming’s lips quivered..
