A few days ago, there was a spy in Nanming City, and it seemed to be the work of the Patrol Envoy.
Moreover, the case of demons killing people had not been solved.
Currently, external threats were far less terrifying than internal strife.
As night deepened, Ah Jiu's family arrived at the mountaintop only to discover a large contingent also camped there.
"Jiu'er, look, there's a large group," Cai Lihua was so parched she could barely speak. She had only drunk a little of Ah Jiu's spiritual spring water along the way.
"Jiu'er, give me a water skin, and we can go trade for something to eat."
Ah Jiu lowered her head and dug at the soil, then casually took out a water skin from her embrace and handed it to her mother.
Cai Lihua happily ran towards the crowd.
"Daughter, what shall we plant?" Meng Shaode was also too weak from hunger to speak.
"We'll plant whatever we can find, sigh..." Wang Shi sat on a rock, sighing for the first time. What kind of dog-eat-dog world was this, that she couldn't even find a geomantically auspicious spot to break through her cultivation?
"Mm, understood, Grandma," Ah Jiu rummaged through her embrace and found seeds for a three-season watermelon and a peach tree.
After planting, Ah Jiu watered them one by one, "Dad, we'll have food soon."
But looking at Grandma, Ah Jiu felt worried. Grandma had said that the third season seeds had little spiritual energy, and she had likely depleted a lot of it when she conjured rain to put out fires in Nanming City.
She leaned against a tree trunk, closed her eyes, and entered her space.
A disciplinary ruler, an extra reward for healing Liu Chenglin, was still suspended on the screen. Ah Jiu clicked to claim it and held it in her hand, examining it.
This was no ordinary ruler; it was inscribed with the "Disciples' Rules." Good heavens, she wasn't a teacher, what use did she have for this thing?
She simply stored it in her storage bag, opened the second-level item slots, and searched meticulously: "Seeds, seeds, where are they?"
She remembered seeing them the first time she looked.
After flipping through several pages, Ah Jiu suddenly flipped back. Hey, this was good, a bag of ginseng seeds.
Ah Jiu quickly took them out and pulled the drawstring. Wow, they were bright red little granules, each plump. Ah Jiu instantly emerged from her space.
She suddenly realized Meng Shaode was no longer beside her. Ah Jiu hadn't even noticed when he had left.
"Grandma, I'm inexperienced. I'll plant two for you to try first." Ah Jiu had only ever tried soaking ginseng in spiritual spring water. She didn't know if these seeds, planted in ordinary soil outside and watered with spiritual spring water, would grow as quickly as crops.
Wang Shi's eyes snapped open: "Whoa, such potent spiritual energy, let me have a look."
Ah Jiu extended her palm.
Wang Shi quickly grabbed them, brought them close to her nose, and peered intently, her eyes instantly turning cross-eyed. "Whoa, ginseng seeds, the spiritual energy is truly strong."
"Hey, hey, hey!" Before Ah Jiu could react, her grandmother popped the two ginseng seeds into her mouth.
"They were meant for planting," Ah Jiu frowned. Couldn't she curb her gluttony? They were prepared for her, after all.
"They're all for me anyway. The spiritual energy in these seeds is pure essence."
Wang Shi closed her eyes and quickly began to meditate and absorb energy. Ah Jiu watched in astonishment as a faint blue aura flickered around her grandmother's body, yet it remained concentrated.
"This works too?" Ah Jiu looked at her empty palm. If she planted ginseng, harvested the seeds, would it also work like this?
With that thought, Ah Jiu took out two more seeds and planted them.
These seeds had cost her one hundred and eighty points. Her total points were now three hundred and seventy.
"Ghost! Oh my heavens!"
A shocked cry came from a distance. Ah Jiu jumped up and looked, only to see Cai Lihua collapsing in the distant woods.
Fortunately, Meng Shaode caught her.