Chapter 342

Lu Qing used his cultivation techniques to select rice seeds.

The villagers had never seen such a miraculous scene before, and they were all dumbfounded.

With the help of his spell, Lu Qing quickly picked out the best rice seeds from the entire batch of grains.

Looking at the full, golden rice seeds in the bamboo basket, Lu Qing nodded in satisfaction.

"Grandfather Zhang, I’ve made my selection. The rest can be taken back."

"Is this little bit enough for you? Shouldn’t you pick out more?"

Grandfather Zhang, still shocked by the spell Lu Qing had displayed earlier, was in a daze for a while before coming back to his senses and speaking hurriedly.

"It’s enough. Any more, and I wouldn’t be able to use them for now." Lu Qing smiled.

With his current cultivation, there was a limit to how much rice he could enlighten at a time.

Besides, the spiritual fields he was cultivating on the mountain weren’t very large. The rice seeds he had picked out were more than sufficient.

"Alright then. As long as you know what you’re doing. If it’s not enough, I’ll have everyone bring you more."

Grandfather Zhang nodded and didn’t push further.

"Oh, by the way, Grandfather Zhang, everyone worked hard to help me gather these rice seeds. I appreciate it a lot. Here’s some silver, could you help me distribute it to everyone as a small token of my gratitude?"

Lu Qing took out a pouch of money from his chest.

Before Grandfather Zhang could say anything, the other villagers began waving their hands dismissively.

"Ah Qing, what are you talking about? We’re all from the same village. What’s a little rice? There’s no need for silver."

"Exactly! Usually, when you treat us, you’ve never charged us for medical fees or medicine."

"Yes! And the spell you cast a few days ago to protect the village—we still haven’t even thanked you for that."

...

The villagers were not foolish.

Ever since that strange event occurred in the village last time, they could feel that changes had been happening around the village in the past few days.

They knew that Lu Qing must have done something for the village—something very good, in fact.

After all, everyone had clearly felt that they were not only sleeping better at night, but their bodies were gradually becoming more energetic and lively.

Some elderly villagers even noticed that the long-term ailments they had suffered from years of hard work were slowly improving.

It wasn’t difficult to deduce that these changes were all thanks to Lu Qing.

In this world, having a healthy body was a rare and valuable thing.

In comparison, giving Lu Qing some rice seeds was hardly worth mentioning. None of them wanted to accept silver for it.

In fact, afraid that Lu Qing might insist on giving them money, they quickly picked up their things and, with laughter and chatter, began heading down the mountain.

Most of their conversation revolved around the spell that Lu Qing had cast earlier.

Watching the villagers leave without giving him a chance to distribute the silver, Lu Qing: ...

A few moments later, he shook his head with a smile and put the pouch away.

Oh well, since it’s their heartfelt gesture, I’ll accept it.

"I told you they wouldn’t take your money," Grandfather Zhang said. "You’re too polite sometimes, which makes it easy for you to seem distant from everyone."

"Grandfather Zhang’s advice is right." Lu Qing humbly accepted the rebuke.

"Ah Qing, do you only want rice seeds? How about wheat seeds?"

At that moment, a voice spoke up from the side. It was Old Lin, who had finally found a chance to ask.

"Wheat seeds..." Lu Qing thought for a moment. "Does your family have good wheat seeds, Grandfather Lin?"

"Of course! I can’t speak for other things, but when it comes to wheat seeds, I can guarantee there’s none better! Not just in our village, but in all the surrounding villages!"

At the mention of this, Old Lin’s face lit up with pride.

Though Grandfather Zhang found Old Lin’s smug expression a bit hard to watch, he still nodded and said,

"It’s true. When it comes to growing wheat, no one in the nearby villages can match Grandfather Lin."

Hearing even Grandfather Zhang praise him like that, Lu Qing didn’t hesitate any longer.

"Since Grandfather Lin’s family has such good wheat seeds, I’ll take some if you don’t mind."

After all, when the weather cools, he could try cultivating some Spirit Wheat.

"Great! Wait here, I’ll go get the wheat seeds for you right away!"

Old Lin was overjoyed and immediately dashed down the mountain with surprising speed.

"Uh, Grandfather Lin, take it easy, I’m not in a hurry!"

Lu Qing quickly called out, worried that the old man might fall.

"Let him go," Grandfather Zhang said with a laugh. "That old guy’s legs were so bad before that he could barely get out of bed. You cured him completely after you came back, and now he’s so full of energy that he practically walks ten laps around the village every day."

Lu Qing: ...

The old man’s vitality was beyond Lu Qing’s expectations.

Old Lin soon returned with a sack of wheat seeds. When Lu Qing opened the sack, the wheat grains were full and plump. Old Lin hadn’t been exaggerating—they were truly top-quality seeds.

"See? I told you, no one within ten miles has better wheat seeds than I do!"

Old Lin said proudly.

"These are indeed excellent wheat seeds. Grandfather Lin, I’ll buy all of them."

Lu Qing could feel that the vitality contained in these wheat seeds was even stronger than the rice seeds he had picked earlier. He decided to keep them all.

"Buy? What’s this nonsense? I’m giving them to you! Those other guys didn’t take any money—do you think I, the old man, would lose to them?"

Old Lin glared at him, putting on a stern face as if to say that accepting money would be an insult to him.

Lu Qing paused for a moment and could only drop the subject of payment.

He knew that Old Lin was a bit of a solitary and stubborn person, and didn’t get along well with many families in the village. It was clear that he was now competing with the other villagers over this.

"Alright then, Ah Qing thanks Grandfather Lin for your generosity."

Hearing these words, Old Lin finally looked pleased.

After chatting with Lu Qing for a while longer, he and Grandfather Zhang headed down the mountain together.

"Young Master, your village’s people are quite simple and honest."

After everyone had left, a voice echoed in Lu Qing’s mind. It was "Yan," who had been able to sense everything that had just happened.

"Everyone’s always been kind to me and Xiao Yan," Lu Qing said with a smile.

He recalled the events from when he had first arrived in this world. If he had ended up in a different village, things for him and Xiao Yan might have turned out very differently.

"Yan" didn’t respond, but it was starting to understand why Lu Qing had gone to such great lengths to set up an array around this village.

"Senior Yan, is there anything else I should keep in mind before using the Spirit Activation Technique?"

Lu Qing asked as he carried the rice and wheat seeds back to his house.

"There’s nothing special to be aware of. Your mastery of the Spirit Activation Technique is already deep enough, and there shouldn’t be any problem enlightening some Spirit Grain."

As "Yan" mentioned Lu Qing’s previous practice with the technique, it still felt a bit shocked inside.

The difficulty of spells seemed to mean nothing to Lu Qing.

With just a bit of practice, he could almost completely master them.

His level of insight was terrifying.

Hearing this reassurance from "Yan," Lu Qing felt relieved.

Carrying the spirit grains, Lu Qing returned to his house. After making some preparations, he filled a wooden basin with clear water, then instructed Xiao Yan and Xiao Li not to disturb him. He went into the quiet room where his master usually refined medicine and went into seclusion.

Once inside, Lu Qing placed the wooden basin of water in front of him.

He focused his mind, gathering a trace of spiritual energy at his fingertip, and gently dipped it into the water.

As his cultivation technique circulated, a large amount of wood-element spiritual energy from the surrounding environment gathered around him, condensing into a vital force of life that fused into the water.

Before long, the water in the basin began to take on a faint green hue, containing the wood-element life energy.

Next, Lu Qing carefully poured the selected rice seeds into the basin...

While Lu Qing was concentrating on cultivating the Spirit Grain seeds, several figures appeared in front of the gates of Cang County.

“Cang County... According to our recent investigation, something significant happened here over two years ago.

Wang Cangyi, an elder from the Tian Cang Sect’s Precelestial Realm, led his disciples in besieging a small family here, supposedly to seize a treasure.

However, they were repelled by a mysterious master and disciple pair. The youth in that pair, despite only being at the Tendons and Bones Realm, managed to defeat one of Wang Cangyi’s disciples, who was at the peak of the Internal Organs Realm.

There are also rumors that a disciple from the Tianji Tower appeared in Cang County around the same time, preventing a Precelestial-level battle from breaking out.

All this evidence suggests that the youth could very well be the one called Lu Qing, who is listed on the Hidden Dragon List.”

The leader of the group, looking at the gates of the county town ahead, spoke in a low voice.

“Indeed. Also, it’s said that during the incident in the Sacred City where Xuan Ming and the others were killed, there was a master involved.

This means that Lu Qing could very well be the person we are searching for.” Another figure added.

“Elder You, what should we do now? Should we return to the secret realm to report this?” someone asked.

“Not yet. These are only our suspicions for now. We need further confirmation,” the leader, Elder You, shook his head and replied.

“How will we confirm it?” another person inquired.

“According to the information we’ve gathered, there’s a small Wei family in Cang County with close ties to that master-disciple pair.

After nightfall, we’ll infiltrate the town and capture a couple of important members of the Wei family. A little interrogation will give us the answers we need.”

“That’s a good plan,” the others immediately agreed.

After all, they had grown quite skilled at this sort of thing over the past few days.

With that, the group refrained from entering the town and instead quietly lay in wait outside, ready for nightfall.

The people of Cang County were completely unaware that a group of terrifying Precelestial Realm cultivators was lurking just outside their walls.

Time passed slowly. As dusk approached and the gates were about to close, an elderly figure carrying a bamboo basket on his back appeared outside the gates.

“Old man, it’s late. Are you still planning to enter the town?” one of the city guards asked in surprise upon seeing the elderly man.

The old man smiled kindly and replied, “I’m a doctor. I’ve been visiting nearby villages to treat patients, but I’ve run out of herbs. I need to enter the town to buy some more.”

The guard glanced at the herb basket on the old man’s back and the herbal hoe hanging at his waist. Without suspicion, he said respectfully,

“So you’re a doctor. Please hurry in; we’re about to close the gates. If you’re any later, you won’t be able to enter.”

The old man nodded and walked slowly into the town.

He passed through several streets until he arrived at a large mansion.

The gatekeeper of the mansion rubbed his eyes when he saw the old man’s figure. After confirming he wasn’t seeing things, he trembled and quickly ran over.

"Doctor Chen, why have you come?"

The old man, Chen Lao Dafu, smiled and replied, "I was passing by the county town and had some business here, so I thought I’d stop by. Is your master home?"

"Yes, yes! The master and madam are both at home. Please come in, Doctor Chen," the gatekeeper said respectfully, quickly inviting the old doctor into the mansion while the other gatekeeper hurried inside to report.

Within just a few moments, Wei Xinghe, wearing a face full of joy, rushed out from the back courtyard to greet him.

“Doctor Chen, what brings you to visit us today?”

Chen Lao Dafu laughed warmly, “I’ve been out providing free medical consultations recently, and I happened to be near the village, so I thought I’d stop by.”

“I see! Doctor Chen, your heart is truly that of a healer!” Wei Xinghe said, his respect for the old doctor deepening.

He knew that Doctor Chen’s cultivation was already profound, far beyond what even a Precelestial Realm cultivator like himself could fathom.

Yet, despite being such a high-level expert, the old doctor still took the time to go out and treat the common folk in rural villages. Such selflessness was truly admirable.

“I’m merely fulfilling the duties of a healer,” Doctor Chen replied. “By the way, Master Wei, I’ve come here today to ask for a favor.”

“Doctor Chen, whatever you need, please say the word,” Wei Xinghe responded quickly.

“I’ve encountered some rather tricky cases in the nearby villages recently. Some of them are urgent, but I’ve run out of herbs over the past few days.

I’m worried I won’t have enough time to gather more herbs, so I’ve come to you to see if I could purchase some.”

“That’s too much, Doctor Chen! There’s no need to be so polite over a few herbs. Whatever you need, just let me know, and I’ll have someone fetch them for you immediately,” Wei Xinghe said without hesitation.

“I’ve written down the herbs I need on this list. Please see if you can gather them,” Doctor Chen said, taking out a prescription from his sleeve.

Wei Xinghe took the list, glanced over it, and handed it to Wei Dazongguan.

“Ah Hai, go to the storeroom immediately and fetch these herbs for Doctor Chen.”

Wei Dazongguan hurried off with the list.

“By the way, where is young Lu Qing? Didn’t he come with you?” Wei Xinghe asked.

“Ah Qing has other matters to attend to. He didn’t come with me this time,” Doctor Chen replied.

“Have you had dinner yet, Doctor Chen? Why not join us?” Wei Xinghe offered.

“That sounds good,” the old doctor nodded. He had been busy with consultations these past few days and hadn’t been eating properly.

Today, he had only had a small meal in the morning.

Wei Xinghe immediately instructed the kitchen to prepare a banquet.

Before long, Wei Xinghe’s wife also came out from the back courtyard, exchanging pleasantries with Doctor Chen.

As Doctor Chen waited for the meal, the sky outside gradually darkened.

Outside the town, several figures quietly emerged in the shadows.

Table of content