Jiang He planted the pitch-black bottle gourd, but only after having redeemed a pack of Mysterious Soil and pouring everything into the hole.
With that done, Jiang He turned to glance at the spot where he had planted Unnamed Sword Array. There, he found a small jasper shoot had grown, and it was just three inches and far from maturing and blooming fruits.
Jiang He whipped out his phone to check the time then, and sighed. “Somehow, I’ve been farming overnight.”
“Still, it’s labor. I should not keep at it—all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
Hence, Jiang He re-enlarged his farm and put it back where it was.
Sora came greeting him with a smile as he returned to the mansion, asking, “What do you want for breakfast, master?”
“Cook some porridge.”
Jiang He replied. “I’ve been feeling a little heated since all I’ve been eating recently are either Feral King meat or Feral Emperor meat. So, let’s have some mung bean porridge to quell the heat.”
“Master…”
At those words, Sora lowered her head and bit her lip. Tugging at her own sleeves, she murmured under her breath, “I can help you cool down too.”
“Cool down, my foot!”
Jiang He was rather speechless. ‘Why does she always obsess about that every single day?
‘And why aren’t you off to make breakfast?’
Sora shot Jiang He a pitiful look and went to the kitchen miserably. Still, she soon returned with three mung beans in her hand, saying, “Master, there are only three mung beans left.”
“It’s fine, three is enough.”
Jiang He took the three mung beans, called out to Dumbo and passed it the three beans, saying, “Go plant these beans at the farm and come to me when they mature. I’ll harvest them myself.”
“Got it, master. Aren’t you confident about my performance even now?”
With that, it darted away.
Jiang He then turned around. “Sora, get me my laptop from upstairs.”
Sora nodded and quickly went to Jiang He’s bedroom to do so. Plugging it to a power socket and connecting it to the internet, Jiang He logged on to Warrior Home and began browsing.
His ‘want-to-buy’ post for mutated plants, Orirocks, and immortal arts before had now received many replies.
“Eh?”
Jiang He’s eyes lit up even as he read.
One of the replies from a username Zhou alleged that she knew the location of a batch of mutated mushrooms, and even left what appeared to be the number… for a landline.
His post about purchasing immortal arts received a reply too—a user’s whose ID was the ‘Senior Disciple of Xishan’s Wanshougong’ claimed that there was an ancient text available in the scripture chamber of Wanshougong, of which an immortal art could have been recorded.
After some thought, Jiang He searched the web about the Wanshougong of Xishan.
“Located atop Mount Xiaoyao of West Mountain City in the Nanchang district, Xishan is a sacred place for Daoism, founded by Xu Xun, the True Lord of Godly Arts and Wondrous Healing…”
Jiang He then searched about Xu Xun.
There was much information about the True Lord of Godly Arts and Wondrous Healing available online: he was the founding master consecrated by the Mount Lu Path, and was honored with titles such as True Lord Xu, Celestial Master Xu, and the Loyal Immortal. He also held great influence in Daoism, and was one of the four Celestial Masters alongside Zhang Daoling of Mount Longhu, Ge Xuan the Hermit Sage of Taiji, and Sa Shou, the True Lord of Praise and Grace.
Indeed, the many stories about Xu Xun were painted mythically, and examples include True Lord Xu slaying the drake and purifying the river, as well as forging the octagonal well to still the dragon’s soul.
Jiang He’s interest was certainly piqued.
The founding master of Xishan’s Wanshougong was quite something, although there was no telling if the rumors were true. Still, it was very likely that an immortal art could be found there if they were real.
After some thought, Jiang He whipped out his phone and dialed the number of Senior Disciple of Xishan’s Wanshougong’, but the dial tone continued for thirty seconds with no one answering.
“He might be busy. I’ll just have to call back later.”
Jiang He then dialed the number of the person who self-alleged to have found a batch of mutated mushrooms.
This time, the call got through in seconds.
“Hello, Chang’an Jingwu Dojo. Whom might you be looking for?”
The voice was crisp and sounded like a cute girl.
Nonetheless, Jiang He had no intention of flirting and went straight to the point, “I’m looking for a woman named Zhou.”
“Mrs. Zhou?
There were seconds of silence from the other end before the crisp voice asked, “Sir, may I ask if you’re an acquaintance of Mrs. Zhou?”
“No.
“She gave me this number when she replied to my forum post at Warrior Home, about buying seeds of mutated crops.”
Jiang He spoke earnestly, but laughter could be heard from the other end. “Sorry, sir, but there’s no Mrs. Zhou in this dojo… that said, there is a Miss Zhou—I’m the one who replied to your post.
“…”
That cute girl proved quite mischievous.
Jiang He then asked pointedly, “You’ve mentioned that you know about the location of a mutated mushroom cluster. Is that true?”
“Of course it’s true!”
The cute girl seemed displeased at being doubted by Jiang He, although she continued, “I used to live at the village, and my parents farmed mushrooms. One night, around a month ago before we moved to Chang’an, explosions could be heard from the mushroom greenhouse back home. I was curious so I went for a look, and found a fully-black mushroom.”
“Are you sure the mushroom mutated?” Jiang He replied. “From what I know, many types of mushrooms turn black under excessive exposure to sunlight.”
“Would I lie to you?”
The girl was rather furious after being doubted twice, and Jiang He could hear her smacking her own chest even from across the phone as she declared, “I, Zhou Xiaolan never lie. I messaged you because I read that you are buying information about mutated crops at a high price—I’m hanging up if you doubt me again.”
Oh?
The cute girl actually was bold, but also harsh and unreasonable?
And what’s with that loud smacking of your chest?
Asserting dominance?
Nonetheless, Jiang He flatly replied, “That’s not what I meant. I’m just confirming if those were really mutated mushrooms.”
“I’m very sure!”
Zhou Xiaolan exclaimed. “You don’t know what happened then… it really spooked me out!”
“That pitch-black mushroom even had two red eyes that shoot flames. Then, after breathing several jets of flames, the mushroom suddenly expanded and I heard a bang…”
“It blew up.”
“It was a huge explosion. I was knocked unconscious by the shockwave even though I was outside the greenhouse, but like the saying goes: every cloud has a silver lining, I awakened superpowers thanks to that explosion.”
Jiang He: “…”
What do you mean, every cloud has a silver lining? Who even asked about that?
I’m asking about the mutated mushrooms!
Moreover…
Pitch-black?
Two little red eyes that shoot flames?
Blowing up after expanding?
Isn’t that the Doom Shroom from Plant Vs Zombies?!
