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Li Qingshan's figure whistled through the air, attracting the attention of quite a few people. <
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A group of disciples of the School of Agriculture were currently working in the fields. They raised their heads and pointed at the sky.
"Look, what's that?"
"That looks like Li Qingshan!"
The disciples of the school of Agriculture all sighed in amazement. Their eyes were filled with indescribable envy. Before they knew it, Li Qingshan had already become an influential figure in the academy. The people he was usually on good terms with and his enemies were all renowned figures too.
Recently, there had even been rumours that the leader of the school of Military, Han Anjun, intended to take Li Qingshan in as a son-in-law, marrying the second senior sister of the school of Legalism to him. In just a year, he had gone from being the most embarrassing disciple of the school of Novels to where he was. He was basically a legend to cultivators who were also commoners.
"Oi, Li Long, isn't that your fellow villager?"
Li Long stood barefooted in a paddy field. The green seedlings were arranged neatly. This was not Longevity Island, but the island where the School of Agriculture grew crops. He had received a piece of land for himself when he distributed it to the new disciples.
He raised his head and watched as the faint blue streak vanished into the sky. He remembered his master saying that he would definitely become an impressive figure, but even his master probably did not expect him to make it to where he was right now!
He lowered his head and smiled. "Yeah, he's a great hero of our Crouching Ox Village."
During the spring test last year, his wood affinity had reached B-, so he passed the School of Agriculture's test and became a disciple.
Back then, the village head had sent him to the Iron Fist School to learn martial arts so that his son would no longer need to work in the fields. He never thought that he would still have to return to the land in the end. The School of Agriculture was indeed very suitable for a disciple with average talent and no background like him.
The crops with intelligence they grew could replace pills and improve a person's constitution bit by bit. They could eat what they grew, and they could also trade with other seniors and juniors. They could also be sold for spiritual stones.
Compared to other families, the life of the School of Agriculture was monotonous and boring. They would clear away the weeds repeatedly and use their true qi to nurture each seedling. Many people felt bored and often called for companions. He went to Clear River city to have some fun. The young sect master of the Iron Fist had also come to invite Li Long a few times.
Even Li Long had refused. He still had to return the one hundred spirit stones to Li Qingshan, as well as the next year's worth of spirit stones. He also had to work hard on his cultivation, so as to avoid doubling the tuition fee. He could not afford to slack off in the slightest.
Gradually, the Young Sect Master stopped coming. He worked from morning to night. Other than listening to the lecture, all he could do was lie on the ground with his face covered in dust. He would fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, and he would be suffocated by the heavy pressure.
When he was young, there was a drought in the year when he followed his father to fetch water. The water they brought back was poured into the ground, and it dried up in the blink of an eye. That situation was truly despairing. After a day, their hands and feet were full of bloody blisters.
Grandpa sighed. Farming was a struggle against the heavens. Yes, fighting for one's life with the heavens wasn't just a privilege of cultivators!
Perhaps it was because his ancestors had been farmers for generations, so the blood of farmers flowed through his body. He gradually experienced unprecedented joy from this primitive labour. He watched as the seedlings grew healthily day by day. When he nurtured them with his True Qi, they seemed to nurture him as well.
Before he knew it, his cultivation as a Qi Practitioner had broken through the natural barrier of regular people of the jianghu, surpassing protector Yan and reaching the third layer.
That day, he lay on the ground and cried in joy. As his tears fell on the ground, he thought of the time when the drought ended. It rained heavily, and he rolled around in the rain happily. That kind of joy was definitely not something that sleeping with a red lady downstairs could compare to.
From that day onwards, his heart settled down. He did not go and watch the free public performances of the school of Music. He did not go and watch the spectacle of Li Qingshan challenging the military disciples either. Only today did he suddenly discover that he was no longer jealous of Li Qingshan.
A disciple of the school of Agriculture said, "The test is about to begin. I heard he's skilled in the Spiritual Rain technique, so why don't you get him to water the ground for you?"
The school of Agriculture had its own competition as well, which was to see whose crops were taken care of better. The winner would be rewarded.
Li Long patted the dirt off his hands and smiled. "I'll go ask him and see if he's free or not." Over the past year, he had never gone looking for Li Qingshan even once. He felt slightly inferior, so he did not want others to think that he was trying to curry favor with him. Now, he no longer felt jealous, so he naturally did not feel inferior. Moreover, he could finally repay some of the kindness he had shown him in the past.
When he saw this fellow villager again, Li Qingshan was almost unable to recognise him. His face was tanned, his hands were rough, and he gave off a rustic aura. He no longer resembled the high-spirited prodigy of Crouching Ox village. His gentle eyes gave off a completely different aura from before.
When Li Long looked at Li Qingshan again, he felt the same way. He was composed and confident, and he looked around proudly. The name Qingshan had been mocked by the village for many years. Only now did he understand what the name meant.
Li Long took out a bag of spiritual rice. "I planted this myself. Try it! I still don't have enough spiritual stones on hand. If you're not in a hurry, you can wait for another year or so. "
"There's no hurry. It's fine to wait another three or five years. It's not like you can run away anyway." Li Qingshan opened the bag of rice. Every grain was the size of a peanut, and they gave off a fragrant spiritual qi. He praised, "Good rice. I think this rice is worth fifty spiritual stones. If you can take out three more bags, we'll be even."
"Next year. I'll either eat or sell the rest!" Li Long nodded gratefully. It was not because of the spiritual stones, but out of respect. He glanced past the bamboo forest on Cloudwisp island. "It's quite a pity about this land and these bamboo shoots."
The land allocated to each disciple of the school of Agriculture was limited. Among the hundred schools, the school of Novels had the highest land per capita.
As one of the main islands, Cloudwisp Island was an excellent spiritual land. Naturally, it was much better than the island where Li Long grew rice. If it was used to grow crops, it did not need to be so meticulous. With a little care, there would be a good harvest every year. The bamboo shoots that broke out of the ground were also rich in spiritual qi.
Li Qingshan became more and more aware that Cloudwisp Island was a truly treasured land. He definitely could not give it to others. "If you like it, you can cultivate it. You can pick as many bamboo shoots as you want. I don't have time to take care of them anyway."
Although the spiritual bamboo shoots could be used as a substitute for pills, their effects were limited. It was not worth it for him. He might as well learn alchemy from Ru Xin.
Li Long felt rather regretful that he had not visited Cloudwisp Island earlier, but he was unwilling to take advantage of the situation for nothing. In the end, he made an agreement with Li Qingshan. He would provide the labor, and Li Qingshan would share half of the crops and bamboo shoots he harvested.
Li Qingshan was happy to be able to help his fellow countryman and obtain many things for free. Even if he did not eat these things, it would be good for Milliped to recover his vitality.
Speaking of which, that guy's hibernation should be over by now!
Just as he was thinking this, he felt the bug sack at his waist tremble. He agreed to Li Long's request to water the plants.
"I still have some matters to attend to. You go back first. I'll be there in a bit!"
After Li Long left, Li Qingshan let out Milliped and fed him a pouch of spiritual rice. "Don't be in such a hurry. There'll be bamboo shoots soon. Just bear with it a little longer. I'll take you underground very soon."
After pacifying Milliped back into the bug sack, he went to help Li Long cast the Spiritual Rain technique a few times. Once Little Ann returned from dealing with the matters at the school of Buddhism, the two of them passed through the Formation of Dragons and Snakes together and left the Hundred Schools of Thought.
They arrived in the prefectural city of Clear River first. Li Qingshan wanted to take the paintings Chu Danqing had given him on a tour around the city. If he could complete some missions along the way and earn some merit, that would obviously be for the best.
The envoy in charge of issuing missions dared not slack off. He took out a list of missions and gave them to Li Qingshan to choose from.
Li Qingshan picked through them carefully. He happened to see a mission that was in progress, and the person in charge was Qian Rongzhi. He asked, "Has Qian Rongzhi returned?"
"Madam Qian has returned twice. She immediately accepted another mission and left."
All three missions were to a remote region far away from the prefectural city.
Li Qingshan thought, Not only is this woman vicious to others, but she's vicious to herself as well. It's like she's basically looking for death.
After choosing his mission, just when Li Qingshan was about to leave, the envoy in black suddenly said, "Madam Li, madam Han is upstairs right now."
Nothing in the world spread faster than gossip and gossip. Although the two people involved were completely clueless about it, it had already caused quite an uproar in the Hawkwolf Guard. The Han family's son-in-law selection was no small matter.
Li Qingshan said, "Senior sister Han is here too? I'd like to pay her a visit. "
"Madam Li, be careful. Madam Han has been in a very bad mood recently."
Li Qingshan knew this was probably related to him, so he felt rather guilty. He had to give her an explanation.
The warm spring sun shone into the room diagonally.
Han Qiongzhi currently frowned as she sat in Hwa Seung-zan's seat, handling official business. Her shoulder-length hair had been dyed a golden brown, but her face was as bleak as the winter sun. Suddenly, there were a few knocks on the door. She said coldly without even raising her head, "Come in."
Li Qingshan made Little Ann wait outside while he pushed open the door and entered. "Senior sister Han!"
Han Qiongzhi immediately became furious when she saw Li Qingshan. After that night, she originally thought their relationship had progressed, so she was just waiting for him to come find her. However, after waiting and waiting, she did not see him. Only after asking around did she learn that he had gone into secluded cultivation again, but he did not even tell her.
A layer of frost immediately formed on her face. She barked, "Get out!"
Li Qingshan sighed softly and retreated.
"Come back!" Han Qiongzhi suddenly stood up. She did not expect that he would not even be willing to explain.
Li Qingshan said, "Is there anything else?"
"You, you're pissing me off!" Han Qiongzhi bit her lip. Her heart was filled with bitterness. That night's situation was still vivid in her mind. She had never lowered herself to please a man, but she was treated with such disdain and perfunctory disdain.
Li Qingshan could not bear it. This was the first woman in his life who liked him. Moreover, compared to Gu Yanying, who was so far away, she seemed more genuine and lovely.
If possible, he did not want to betray her feelings. However, since they were not fated, there was no need to be entangled. He could only apologize. "Let's go, Little Ann!"
In the long corridor, Li Qingshan frowned as he walked in front. Little Ann followed closely behind. Suddenly, he raised his hand and pulled on Li Qingshan's sleeve.
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