While harvesting the spirit rice, Zong Hao quickly noticed something: his technique with spell formulas was clearly less refined than Yunxi's. Especially when it came to using spiritual sense for threshing, Yunxi could control ten stalks of spirit rice at once, while he could barely manage five.
"Little Sister Yunxi, you're amazing!"
Yunxi smiled lightly. "Just a matter of practice."
Zong Hao nodded seriously, making a mental note to practice more often. He was also forced to admit that Yunxi's cultivation level was higher than his—at least at the eighth level of Qi Refining. That realization instantly deflated the pride he had felt from just breaking through to the seventh level.
The two of them spent the entire afternoon harvesting all the spirit rice from Yunxi's three mu of land. Looking at the bulging storage pouch, they exchanged a satisfied smile.
"Little Sister, there's no time to waste. Let's turn in the mission now. We don't want to get intercepted on the way."
Aside from Fan Si, no one else knew they had used spirit stones to speed up the harvest. They had to act quickly before anyone caught wind of it.
Yunxi agreed. Keeping the protective barrier raised would only mislead prying eyes for a while, not forever.
So just like before, they left the barrier up and went straight to the task handover point to find Senior Brother Wang.
It had been three months since they last saw him. Senior Brother Wang was a bit surprised to see the two of them again, especially since it wasn't yet harvest season. Still, seeing how generous they had been before, he smiled and asked, "You two looking for me? Is something the matter?"
Zong Hao stepped forward and cupped his fists. "Senior Brother Wang, we're here to submit our task."
"Now?"
"Yes, now."
"But it's not yet time to harvest spirit rice."
Now it was Senior Brother Wang's turn to look puzzled.
"Ah, don't mention it. If not for your help earlier, and a timely reminder from Senior Brother Fan Si, we might not have completed the mission at all," Zong Hao said with feigned relief.
After thinking it over, Senior Brother Wang seemed to understand. Something like this did happen to new disciples now and then. Every year, a few unlucky ones would end up being targeted.
Yunxi saw the change in his expression and knew he understood what was going on behind the scenes. She deliberately furrowed her brow and said, "You don't know, Senior Brother. Lately, people have been lingering around our fields. We were so anxious we didn't even dare cultivate at night. We were afraid something might happen to our land.
It wasn't until we ran into Senior Brother Fan Si after he left seclusion that we learned we could use spirit stones to speed up the rice's growth. We used up everything we had just to get the rice harvested in time. We're timid, so we thought we'd better submit the mission early. At least then these three months of effort wouldn't be wasted."
Senior Brother Wang nodded. "You made the right call. Let's get it done."
"Yes, that's exactly what we're thinking. Better to be safe than sorry."
The two of them handed over their harvest.
After weighing and registering everything, Senior Brother Wang marked their identity jade tokens as complete, reclaimed the farming storage pouches and their contents, and dismissed them.
Only then did Zong Hao and Yunxi let out a breath of relief. They left Outer Peak Five as quickly as they could and headed to the Mission Hall to finalize the task. At last, their three-month assignment was complete.
"Little Sister Yunxi, let's rest up today and come back to the Mission Hall tomorrow."
"Alright."
When they returned to the Outer Sect disciples' courtyard, Yunxi happened to run into Wei Yunqing.
Wei Yunqing had been smiling, but upon seeing Yunxi, her face froze. The smug look in her eyes hadn't even faded before she realized that Yunxi's cultivation had already broken through again—she was now at the fifth level of Qi Refining.
Looking at the slightly twisted expression on Wei Yunqing's face, Yunxi felt especially pleased. She greeted her cheerfully, "Big Sister Yunqing, weren't you stationed at the Outer Sect's Pill Peak? What brings you back today? Did you know I'd be here and came to wait for me?"
Wei Yunqing rolled her eyes inwardly at Yunxi's shameless words but quickly regained her composure. "It's been a while since I returned to the courtyard. Senior Brother Ye gave me permission to stay a couple days. I see your cultivation has improved again. Looks like things are going well for you at Outer Peak Five."
Yunxi nodded with a bright smile. "Thanks for the concern. Tending spirit fields is tough work, but it really sharpens your abilities. It's helped me improve a lot. If I hadn't stayed out there guarding those three mu of land day and night, I might not have advanced so quickly."
Wei Yunqing was a little tempted, but she didn't ask more. Farming was still a low-status task in her eyes. She had just received a breakthrough pill from Senior Brother Ye for her success in tending spiritual herbs. She had come back intending to flaunt it, only to find Yunxi had already pulled ahead.
After a few more polite, lukewarm exchanges, the two parted ways and returned to their rooms.
Back in her room, Yunxi immediately activated a high-grade defensive formation. After Wei Yunqing's previous attempt to barge in, and the time Chen Feng tried to sneak into her field using Earth Escape, she had spent nearly all her spirit stones to buy this third-grade formation plate.
It had cost her dearly, but she believed it was worth every stone. Nothing was more important than her safety. If she were interrupted while cultivating or restoring spiritual energy, she could easily go astray. This level of protection was absolutely necessary.
Once the barrier was in place, she finally felt at ease and got a good night's sleep. What she didn't know was that trouble had erupted at Outer Peak Five during the night. All the unharvested spirit rice fields had been ravaged by a type of spirit insect called White Honey. Not just a single field, but every plot on the entire peak.
Before dawn, someone had already reported the incident to the sect. This wasn't just a minor loss—it was a total disaster. Some disciples were in tears. The losses were far too great for them to bear.
The Law Enforcement Hall soon dispatched a team to inspect the scene and investigate the culprit. After examination, they determined this was no accident—it had been deliberate.
Fan Si's face was dark as coal. He had advised the two neighboring disciples to harvest early, but delayed his own harvest by a single day. Now, all his efforts were gone, just like that.
As the Law Enforcement Hall continued their investigation, they eventually summoned Yunxi and Zong Hao for questioning. Since they had completely avoided the infestation, suspicion naturally fell on them.
The two of them looked completely innocent and told the full truth. They were first-time field workers, terrified of messing up the task. When they noticed someone lurking around their fields, their anxiety spiked.
Following Senior Brother Fan Si's advice, they had used spirit stones to force the spirit rice to mature and quickly harvested it before submitting their task. They even swore never to take on another farming mission again.
The Law Enforcement Hall disciples found their story coherent and verified it separately with Fan Si and the task steward. Only then did they shift suspicion away from Yunxi and Zong Hao.
However, the disciples who had been loitering near the fields had now entered the Discipline Hall's sights.
Through further investigation, they followed the trail back to Tang Ru.
Tang Ru was dumbfounded. She had just been sitting at home and somehow got caught in the mess. All she had done was spend a few spirit stones to look for someone. How had it ended up pointing back to her?
She was summoned to the Law Enforcement Hall for questioning. Only then did the Golden Core cultivator she was attached to learn what she had done. Furious that she had been sneaking resources from his storage pouch to support her lover, he immediately kicked her out of his cave residence.