"Senior Brother seems very disappointed with our choice of 'Mind Nourishing Technique.'"
"It must have given him some wrong impressions before."
Lin Jing left the Scripture Pavilion, taking with him the jade slip of Mind Nourishing Technique, a few history books, and most importantly, the fundamental Alchemy (Herbs and Plants Edition)!
Mastering the effects of various Spirit Plants is one of the basic skills in Alchemy.
"After reaching success in Qi Cultivation, Outer Sect disciples may choose a basic technique, but to learn a second one, they must reach the fourth level of Qi Cultivation."
"However, since I have the privileges of an Inner Sect Disciple, I don't necessarily have to follow this rule..."
"Forget it, let's put the matter of techniques aside. The sect limits the number of techniques disciples can learn for good reason, as greed leads to lack of proficiency."
Lin Jing and the Pine Leaf Mouse both rubbed their stomachs.
"Squeak!"
Half a month of arduous cultivation.
They were almost out of Spirit Stones.
Even the bag of Spirit Rice was nearly finished, with only a little left.
Though the Outer Sect has a canteen that offers all sorts of delicacies infused with Spiritual Qi, they all cost money.
As for regular food, the Beast Taming Sect does not provide it. Disciples need to go to the towns surrounding the mountain gate to buy ingredients themselves, or go into the nearby forests to hunt wild beasts.
To speed up cultivation, it's actually best for cultivators to choose food that contains Spiritual Qi, but the canteen's meals aren't cheap, and Lin Jing and his group do not have enough resources from their cultivation effort to cover the cost.
From what Lin Jing understands, choosing a Pine Leaf Mouse has a certain benefit.
"We can buy some spirit rice seeds and plant them in the courtyard. With your talent, we should be able to achieve Spirit Rice self-sufficiency, right?"
"Squeak!!!" The Pine Leaf Mouse nodded. Among its kind, when they lived in pine forests, they produced their own food this way, finding edible plants and constantly accelerating their growth.
If one wants to quickly harvest food, there's no need to wait slowly like other species.
"But although Spirit Rice is delicious and very filling, it does get monotonous eating it for half a month straight."
"After buying the seeds, we'll head down the mountain to see if there's any cheap beast meat for sale or go into the forest to hunt some wild game." Lin Jing sighed.
Digging up some free preserved vegetables would also be fine.
......
Outer Sect, Harvest Pavilion.
Similar to the Scripture Pavilion, it's also a fundamental facility of the Beast Taming Sect.
It primarily sells agricultural products.
A chain across the whole sect.
Lin Jing and his group entered the store, where a frail and thin Outer Sect senior sister got up to greet them.
"What does Junior Brother need?" the senior sister slowly said.
Seems like another worker.
Before coming to the Harvest Pavilion, Lin Jing and the Pine Leaf Mouse passed by the Task Hall and took a loop around.
They found all sorts of sect tasks covering various aspects.
Besides mining, farming, and cooking... there were even matchmaking tasks encouraging disciples to find partners for their pet beasts.
Then breed high-quality second-generation spirit beasts, realizing a cycle of pet beasts within the sect.
But it seemed not many people took on this type of task.
And like Senior Brother Ouyang Hao, one could work at certain sect facilities.
These tasks are easy with generous pay, limited in number, and set certain requirements, which if you don't have enough strength, you won't have a chance to grab.
Most disciples can only go to the mines to earn a scant amount of Spirit Stones.
And the senior sister in front of them, being able to serve as the clerk of Harvest Pavilion, must have some skills to snatch such an easy task.
Just why do you all look so frail?
Lin Jing pondered.
"Hello, Senior Sister."
"I would like to buy some spirit rice seeds," Lin Jing spoke.
The senior sister glanced at the Pine Leaf Mouse and nodded, "You intend to plant them yourself, I see."
"Yes."
"Would you like to buy some fertilizer produced by Foundation Establishment Stage spirit beasts as well? Coupled with the Pine Leaf Mouse's Spiritual Power acceleration, it can make the spirit rice more productive," the senior sister suggested.
It seems that as long as one's cultivation level is high, everything on them is valuable.
But after feeling the few Spirit Stones in his pocket, Lin Jing shook his head.
A moment later, he and the Pine Leaf Mouse, having spent all their Spirit Stones, returned with a bag of "spirit rice seeds" and "spirit bean seeds."
The former can produce Spirit Rice...
The latter is a spirit plant similar to peanuts and is one of the Pine Leaf Mouse's favorite foods.
"Now we're completely out of money..."
Soon, Lin Jing and his group returned to the courtyard.
Upon hearing Lin Jing's soliloquy, the Pine Leaf Mouse felt like crying, knowing those Spirit Stones were saved since it was just a newborn!
"Don't worry."
"Once our farming works out, not only can we be self-sufficient, we can sell the excess Spirit Rice and Spirit Beans, and it won't be long before we earn back the Spirit Stones we used..."
Lin Jing wasn't sure how long this "won't be long" would last, but he comforted them nonetheless.
"Squeak?"
Hearing these words, the Pine Leaf Mouse quickly wiped away its tears and became filled with anticipation for the future again.
Seeing this, Lin Jing was deeply moved.
"This kid is like me, optimistic!"
......
When it comes to farming, Lin Jing is not familiar, but the Pine Leaf Mouse is an expert.
Handing all the seeds to the Pine Leaf Mouse, it began to search for a vacant spot.
As the Pine Leaf Mouse buried the seeds, using its large tail to touch the soil and input its verdant Spiritual Power to accelerate the seeds' growth to maturity, Lin Jing also picked up the three history books he brought from the first floor of the Library Pavilion.
"A Brief History of the Celestial Essence Continent"
"History of Ancient Countries"
"The Development History of the Beast Taming Sect"
He started with "A Brief History of the Celestial Essence Continent."
"In ancient times, the Celestial Essence Continent was one of the lower realms of the Immortal Palace forces in the Immortal Realm, ruled by the 'Immortal Palace.' "
"A hundred thousand years ago, due to an unknown turmoil in the Immortal Realm, the Immortal Palace was caught in war, and the ascension passage of the Celestial Essence Continent disappeared. From then on, the Celestial Essence Continent could no longer contact the Immortal Realm, and no cultivators could ascend again."
"At that time, it was still the forces of the 'Celestial Essence Immortal Palace' in the Celestial Essence Continent that ruled the continent, with all races submitting to the Immortal Palace's rule."
"Fifty thousand years ago, unable to contact the Immortal Realm for a long time, the Immortal Palace in the Celestial Essence Continent weakened over time. To maintain its ruling position, the Immortal Palace intended to forcibly break the realm, excessively exhausting the resources of the Celestial Essence Continent, leading to widespread suffering."
"At this time, four major sects united to overthrow the absolute rule of the Immortal Palace over the Celestial Essence Continent, thus ending the Immortal Palace era."
"Afterward, the four major sects formed the 'Immortal Alliance,' replacing the rule of the Immortal Palace. The Immortal Alliance became the new hegemon of the Celestial Essence Continent, marking the continent's entrance into the Immortal Alliance era."
"History is a cycle, and although the Cultivation Realm of the Celestial Essence Continent flourished under the Immortal Alliance's rule at the beginning, ten thousand years ago, the Alliance ultimately couldn't avoid the old path of the Immortal Palace."
"And towards the end of the Immortal Alliance era, another extraordinarily talented cultivator emerged, who not only successfully destroyed the Immortal Alliance but also established the 'Celestial Essence Ancient Country,' developing the 'True Dragon Secret Technique,' binding his cultivation to the infinite domain. As the land flourished and the people prospered, his battle power became stronger."
"He called himself the Ancient Emperor, and by breeding a Luck True Dragon using the True Dragon Secret Technique, he became the most powerful being in the Celestial Essence Continent."
"The Celestial Essence Ancient Country now occupies the core, largest area, and the most fertile central region of the Celestial Essence Continent."
"Besides the Celestial Essence Ancient Country, there are surrounding areas like Qingzhou, Martial Emperor City, Water Moon Immortal Island, and Snow Plain not under the ancient country's control, each with a powerful cultivator in command."
"And the place where I am now is one of the nine domains of the Ancient Country, the Great Wilderness Domain...where Spiritual Qi is relatively scarce, with the highest being Nascent Soul Cultivators active."
Lin Jing finished reading.
It truly is a brief history; you didn't even record which four sects formed the Immortal Alliance!