Wei Yunxi immediately followed up, saying,
"Senior Brother, doesn't the sect have a Law Enforcement Hall? How could something like this be allowed to happen?"
Fan Si replied with a meaningful look,
"The cultivation world respects the strong. Just the outer sect alone of Haoran Sect has thirty to forty thousand disciples. The Law Enforcement Hall disciples can't be at your side every hour of the day. There are bound to be gaps in their watch.
If you're lucky, maybe nothing will happen this time, or the Law Enforcement Hall might step in to help you avoid disaster. But can you guarantee your luck will always hold?"
Wei Yunxi and Wei Zonghao exchanged a glance, understanding the unspoken message in Fan Si's words. Although the Wei family disciples had some backing, distant support was no help in a crisis. Worse, their uncle had recently taken on an external mission and already left the sect.
Perhaps those lurking in the shadows had chosen this moment precisely because of that. It could even be a test—to see whether the Wei family's elders would intervene. If no one stepped in, the trouble aimed at them would only escalate.
At the end of the day, this was all about competing for cultivation resources. The Wei family had some foundation—not as deep as the major cultivation clans, but still better off than those with no support at all. That made them ideal targets for ambitious disciples who wanted shortcuts to power.
After they understood the situation, the siblings sincerely thanked Fan Si and returned to their thatched hut to discuss what to do next.
Fan Si had offered his advice partly because he saw that Wei Zonghao was on the verge of breaking through to the seventh level of Qi Refining. He figured it would be good karma to lend a hand. Besides, the siblings were smart—he had only casually mentioned wanting to connect his fields together, and they immediately offered to move next season. That was enough to earn his goodwill.
Back on her own, Wei Yunxi activated the protective shield over her spiritual field to secure the nearly mature spiritual rice, then went to find Wei Zonghao at his field.
"Little Sister Yunxi, looks like we'll have to act on both fronts. If we wait any longer, I'm afraid we'll end up being played."
"You're right. Let's start now.
You go back to the hut and use spirit stones to break through to the seventh level of Qi Refining. Once your cultivation rises, we'll at least be able to defend ourselves.
I'll handle the array in the field and use it to accelerate the rice's growth. Once it matures, I'll harvest it immediately."
Wei Zonghao's round face twisted with pain. "It'll take ten low-grade spirit stones to accelerate the growth. And if you focus on my field first, what about your own?"
Wei Yunxi waved a hand.
"Now's not the time to be stingy. Like Senior Brother Fan said, if we hesitate to spend a few spirit stones, all our hard work will end up in someone else's storage pouch.
That would mean three months of effort down the drain. Worse, we'd fail the sect task and be punished. No matter how you look at it, it's a loss.
Besides, once we hand over the required amount of spiritual rice, we can make back our losses. Just treat it as earning ten fewer spirit stones this season."
Wei Zonghao thought it over and agreed. Without another word, he entered the hut, activated an isolation array, then sat cross-legged with a spirit stone in each hand and began his breakthrough.
Wei Yunxi waited until he was immersed in cultivation, then took out the control array for the spiritual field. She inserted ten low-grade spirit stones and activated the acceleration function. She watched as the array channeled spiritual energy into the rice, hastening its maturity.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, she stared at the tall rice stalks, almost level with her own height, and began planning their next moves.
Fan Si's words had made one thing clear—just because they were cultivating inside the sect didn't mean they were safe. First there was Chen Feng, who dug a tunnel into her field in the dead of night. Then others began snooping around. She had to be even more careful. Until she could protect herself, she had to lay low.
Once Wei Zonghao broke through to the seventh level of Qi Refining, she planned to raise her publicly displayed cultivation to the fifth level. A higher realm could make a big difference in avoiding trouble.
As for whether they should continue farming spiritual fields next season, she would have to discuss that with Zonghao.
Wei Yunxi watched as the ten spirit stones crumbled to ash in the array. Her heart ached, but she still gritted her teeth and fed ten more into the array.
Fortunately, she didn't have to wait much longer. By the time the moon reached its zenith, the rice was fully mature. She retrieved the remaining power from the array and stored it away.
The hut remained quiet. Zonghao hadn't stirred, which meant his cultivation was going smoothly. Relieved, Wei Yunxi began harvesting the rice using her artifact control technique. With her spiritual sense, she guided the rice through threshing and collected the plump white grains into her storage pouch. Only then did she feel secure.
By dawn, all three mu of land had been harvested. She was glad she hadn't really been at the fourth level of Qi Refining—otherwise, she would've been lucky to harvest even a single mu overnight.
When the work was done, she sat with a spirit stone to recover her spiritual power, occasionally checking the hut. She figured Zonghao should be finishing soon.
Sure enough, as the sun rose, Wei Zonghao walked out, footsteps light and face beaming with pride. But in the next breath, his smile froze.
"Yunxi, what... what happened here?"
He had already seen the now-barren field. Had someone raided it overnight?
Wei Yunxi stood and smiled when she saw his cultivation had stabilized at the seventh level.
"Don't worry. I used the array to speed up the rice growth. Since you hadn't come out, I harvested it for you. It's not yours until it's in your pouch, after all."
She tossed him the storage pouch as she spoke.
Wei Zonghao peeked inside and his smile returned.
"Thanks, Little Sister Yunxi. Come on, let's not waste time. Now it's your turn. We'll go to your field, accelerate your rice, and this time you break through while I harvest."
"Alright!"
Wei Yunxi didn't stand on ceremony. Right now, mutual support was everything.
Wei Zonghao, now radiating seventh-level Qi Refining cultivation, accompanied her to her field.
And, following Yunxi's firm suggestion, Zonghao left the shield over his now-empty field active. Even though not a single grain remained, the shield stayed up, burning spirit stones, just to fool any lurkers.
When they reached Yunxi's field, they switched roles. Wei Yunxi pretended to retreat into the hut to cultivate, while Zonghao stayed outside to manage the field. He held a spirit stone in hand, using it to consolidate his newly advanced cultivation.
Inside the hut, Wei Yunxi activated the isolation array, then adjusted her outward cultivation level to the fifth level of Qi Refining. But instead of immediately coming out, she took out blank talisman paper and began drawing symbols.
She made it a habit to draw twenty talismans a day. Thanks to her divine sense being at Foundation Establishment level, she could now draw second-tier talismans, though limited to low-grade versions due to her current cultivation realm.
Instead of focusing on second-tier talismans, she poured her efforts into perfecting first-tier ones, making sure they were consistently high-quality. This way, she could sell some for spirit stones and stockpile the rest for personal use.
Just as she finished her daily drawing task, she sensed movement—Wei Zonghao had begun harvesting the spiritual rice using artifact control.
She quickly packed up her talisman tools, put away the array, and stepped out of the hut to help with the harvest.