Fruit Farmer In A Cultivation World

Having chased away two curious kids, Sen Lin walked into his hut. While he was super excited to get started with his plans regarding the stone berries, he'd have to wait for spring to arrive.

It would be a lie to say that his hands weren't raring to go but there was nothing he could do about the weather.

Instead of thinking about the stone berries, he decided to distract himself with the two books laying on his bed. The two were titled "10 Spells Every Cultivator Should Know" and "10 Techniques for Spirit Farmers."

Each of the book had cost five spirit stones and were it not for having saved the exact amount by approaching the servants directly, he wouldn't have thought of buying these expensive books.

Having confirmed that the energy inside him was indeed spiritual energy, Sen Lin decided to try his hands on the arcane arts recorded in the books. Besides, he also had a little interest in cultivation after watching Liang Zhi's impressive arrival and departure on a paper bird that could take to the skies carrying three people.

He didn't have too big of an ambition. It would be enough if he were able to retire Blacky and use a flying artifact to fetch water from the nearby stream. And if things looked better in the future, being able to transport heavy things like giant stones without relying on others would be a bonus.

Sen Lin enjoyed the beautiful imagery in his mind before flipping open the "10 Techniques for Spirit Farmers."

Compared to arcane spells, he was more interested in these techniques. Who knew, maybe they contained knowledge that would help him achieve better results with his stone berry plans. Furthermore, they might be of immense use to him in his journey of growing and tasting the world's most delicious fruits.

"Dear readers. You must know the difficulty in cultivating spirit plants. While they sell for a good price, the amount of time and effort one has to put in to grow a single plant is enormous. Not only does this cut down immensely on one's practicing time but it also leaves one exhausted, resulting in lower result from subsequent practices."

"In this book, I will outline 10 techniques every spirit farmer should know to save as much time as possible alongside tricks they can incorporate into their spirit farming practices to *(&(*^ *(^&^ (*^(*^&&^*^%^ ) &*&%^%&$^%."

"Blah blah blah blah *&^*%% *^&*%^&$& blah blah blah *&^$%$ (* (&^*%^%^&$% (^&*%^%^(*)(*$$ blah blah blah."

Sen Lin finished reading the lengthy and meandering introduction to the book. Instantly, he understood many things he had found confusing in the past.

For example, he now knew why he was only given 10 seedlings for the winter sunflowers. Unlike normal plants, spirit plants could only grow in environments rich in spiritual energy. However, those environments were rare and mostly occupied by major sects and powerful factions.

So, for other cultivators, they'd have to maintain a stable spiritual energy level around the spirit plants using a technique called spiritual irrigation. Doing so required either the use of spirit stones, spiritual treasures, or the spirit farmer's own spiritual energy.

No spirit farmer would use spiritual stone as the whole point of growing spirit plants was to sell them for spirit stones. Spiritual treasures were incredibly rare and valuable and ordinary cultivators didn't have access to them.

In the end, the only feasible option was to use their own spiritual energy. Unfortunately, doing so exhausted their energy reserves and slowed down their cultivation practice.

And it was for this reason that spirit farmers could only take care of a small number of plants at a time.

Sen Lin understood the concept but grew even more confused. How did he manage to grow the winter sunflowers when he didn't know about spiritual irrigation? He was sure that the land he planted them on didn't have any spiritual veins flowing through it.

He thought for a while more but eventually gave up. There were many things he didn't understand, like how he had suddenly become a qi condensation cultivator. Thinking about it when he didn't know even the basic knowledge was like trying to break down a steel door with a toothpick.

Instead of trying to figure out the answer, he decided to continue reading. The answer would come to him in the future if he was lucky. And if it didn't, that was completely fine too. He was but a farmer. Why did it matter to him why he was able to grow spiritual plants without the required techniques.

As far as he was concerned, it was a good thing.

Sen Lin dove back into the book, continuing his study.

*****

Liang Zhi paced back and forth nervously. He'd have never thought the plums he sold to the Silver Moon Emporium would land him in such a situation.

A month ago, old Lei, the manager of the emporium had approached him with a hefty gift, leaving him no choice but to agree to the latter's request to take someone to meet Sen Lin.

Remembering the plum's unforgettable taste, he had assumed it was most likely an employee of the emporium who wanted to make a deal with the farmer for the next harvest. But just an hour earlier, he had learned of the individual's identity – Xiang Lan.

Though she was only a few years older than him and a qi condensation cultivator not too far ahead of him in cultivation, he couldn't suppress his nervousness. She was Broken Sword City's most promising spirit chef.

Several elders of the Sky Sword Sect, including his own master, had praised her cooking in the past. If he were to get on her bad side, it would be worse than offending an elder in the sect.

At least his master would protect him if some other elder were to go after him. But if he somehow offended Xiang Lan, his master would be the first to beat him.

Thinking of how the stinky manager of Silver Moon Emporium had made up a story about an eccentric expert who grew the plums, Liang Zhi grew depressed. Wasn't he walking up to a noose by leading Xiang Lan to Red Rock village?

Alas, there was nothing he could do. He had already accepted old manager's "gift" and he had no way out.

Now all he could do was downplay Sen Lin's abilities and eccentricities as much as possible so that Xiang Lan wouldn't be too disappointed when she met the mortal farmer.

Time passed as he planned his future words and actions. There was no room for error and he pushed his brain to the limit.

A series of knocks sounded, bringing him out of his thoughts. Opening the door, he saw Zhang Xin standing there.

"What is it little Xin?"

"Manager Lei of the Silver Moon Emporium is here to meet you with a lady. Master's already entertaining them in his study."

Liang Zhi nodded once before rushing to his master's study. He absolutely couldn't let his master reveal the fact that Sen Lin was a mortal farmer.

He collected his bearing outside the study and knocked lightly, "Master, your disciple is here."

Receiving his master's approval, he walked into the study.

"Liang Zhi, why didn't you tell me you sold some plums to the emporium? If I'd known, I'd have let you sell some more from my share as well."

It's over.

Listening to his master's words, he knew he was in trouble. Because of the pressure of escorting Xiang Lan, he'd already forgot about the 10 spirit stones he'd pocketed by selling the plums to the emporium.

Back then, he'd lied to his master saying he'd haggled with the farmer for long before finally managing to buy 10 kilograms for him. Now, he'd have to face the consequences of getting caught lying.

Liang Zhi could do nothing but laugh dryly while listening to his master's sarcastic remarks.