Spring gave way to autumn, and in the blink of an eye, three years had passed.
This year, Yan Lingyi's father, Yan Qiu, passed away. Li Ya returned with Yan Lingyi to arrange his funeral.
When Gu Yuan saw Yan Lingyi again, she was holding the hand of a young girl, her belly noticeably swollen with pregnancy. The innocence she once had was gone, and her entire demeanor had grown much colder and more distant.
After paying his respects to Yan Qiu, Gu Yuan left without speaking to Yan Lingyi.
One after another, the older generation of spiritual farmers on Qinglin Mountain passed away. There were very few, like Gu Yuan, who could take over the management of the spiritual fields. No one could guarantee that their children would be born with spiritual roots—and in that regard, Gu Shan had been lucky.
The Cangxuan Sect reassigned a number of outer sect disciples to Qinglin Mountain to serve as the new generation of spiritual farmers.
Not far from Gu Yuan's cave abode, a man was hard at work digging into the mountainside. The intense vibrations made it difficult for Gu Yuan to focus on his cultivation.
Stepping out of his cave, Gu Yuan walked over to where the newcomer was preparing to dig out his own cave.
"Senior Brother, why not spend a few spirit stones and have the Outer Sect Construction Hall help you carve out your cave? Even if you manage to dig it out yourself, living in a place you dug without proper reinforcement could be dangerous."
The man wiped the sweat from his brow. "I got swindled, that's why. I don't have a single spirit stone left on me."
After saying that, he turned his fierce gaze toward Gu Yuan. "Younger Brother, how about lending me some spirit stones? I'll hire the Construction Hall to dig out my cave for me, and it'll save you from the noise."
Gu Yuan couldn't help but laugh awkwardly. "Senior Brother, you think a bit too highly of me. I don't have a single spirit stone on me."
"Ah, everyone's got it tough. Just bear with me for a couple of days. I'll just roughly dig out a livable cave—after all, I won't be staying here for long anyway."
Seeing that he couldn't borrow any spirit stones from Gu Yuan, the man shrugged and turned back to his work, continuing to chisel away with the iron pickaxe in his hand.
Gu Yuan noticed that the man's arms were covered in dense scars. Given that, he couldn't understand why someone like him would choose to become a spiritual farmer.
Since he couldn't cultivate inside his cave, Gu Yuan had no choice but to go out to the spiritual fields to pull weeds. He'd just have to put up with the noise for a few more days.
A few days later, Gu Yuan and the man became more familiar with each other. Their caves were close to each other, so they would inevitably cross paths from time to time.
The man's name was Hu Yi. The reason he had come to Qinglin Mountain to work as a spiritual farmer was that he had been injured and had ended up spending all his spirit stones on a bunch of fake medicinal pills. Left with no other options, he decided to take on a season of spiritual farming—to recover from his injuries while also earning some spirit stones.
Hu Yi was quite powerful—he was a fifth-level Qi Refining cultivator. Although he had never planted spiritual rice before, his Minor Spirit Rain Technique, unleashed like a torrential downpour and sustained by his ample spiritual power, caused the spiritual rice in his fields to grow vigorously and healthily.
Gu Yuan watched with deep envy. The Minor Spirit Rain Technique he performed was more like a light drizzle, and it didn't last very long. It was nothing compared to Hu Yi's, which poured down relentlessly like a violent storm.
"Senior Brother Hu, why is your Minor Spirit Rain Technique so much more powerful than what others can manage?" Gu Yuan asked patiently as they sat by the edge of the field.
Hu Yi grinned broadly. "That's my secret technique. I can't teach it to you. And it's not just the Minor Spirit Rain Technique—this principle applies to other spells too. You can significantly boost their power with the right tweaks."
Seeing that Hu Yi wasn't willing to share the secret, Gu Yuan didn't press the matter further. Instead, he turned the conversation back to offering some pointers on caring for the spiritual fields.
Although being a spiritual farmer was safe and offered a degree of freedom, if the yield from the spiritual rice was poor, you'd end up with nothing to show for your efforts—or worse, in debt to the sect.
It was always better to get along with someone like Hu Yi rather than fall out with him. Given his personality, Hu Yi wouldn't stick with spiritual farming for long anyway.
This year, the Cangxuan Sect had assigned many new spiritual farmers. Most of them had no experience in the work. People like Gu Yuan, who had grown up here and were intimately familiar with farming, became highly sought after.
Every day, there was good meat and fine wine—Gu Yuan almost never went without. Hu Yi often tagged along behind him, joining in the meals and drinks. Gradually, the two grew much closer.
Because of this, for over a month, Gu Yuan spent nearly every day in the spiritual fields, helping the new spiritual farmers with guidance and sharing his experience.
The spiritual rice in the fields is harvested twice a year—once in spring and once in autumn. The spring harvest generally yields less than the autumn harvest. Hu Yi happened to be caught in this spring harvest season. In the end, the six acres of spiritual fields he had rented only brought in a little over forty spirit stones.
This left Hu Yi extremely frustrated. Grumbling angrily, he said, "I heard people say that being a spiritual farmer is a profitable job. Who would've thought that after busy months of work, this is all the yield I get? I could've earned more by hunting just two demonic beasts. What a loss—ugh, what a waste."
Gu Yuan, holding the forty-five spirit stones he had just exchanged, gave a wry smile. "Senior Brother Hu, who exactly told you that being a spiritual farmer is a money-making gig? Surely not when you saw others exchanging their spirit stones?"
"Heh heh," Gu Yuan continued, "Some spiritual farmers are entire families working the fields, but only one person goes to collect the earnings. The sect has long calculated how much spirit stones each acre of land can produce. It's just enough to let people scrape by and maintain basic sustenance—enough to keep cultivating, but there's absolutely no way to get rich from it."
Hu Yi sighed. "I'm done with being a spiritual farmer. Let someone else take over. My injury has healed, and I'm going back to hunting demonic beasts. Hey, brother, why don't you quit this spiritual farming business too and come with me? I promise you'll have Spirit-Gathering Pills to eat every day—none of this waiting three or five days just to take one, having to count every single pill."
Gu Yuan shook his head. "Senior Brother Hu, don't tease me. Aside from the Minor Spirit Rain Technique, I don't know any other spells. How could I possibly go hunting demonic beasts with you? Besides, I've lived here since I was a child. I'm used to this life."
"What's the point of cultivating like this your whole life?" Hu Yi said, genuinely puzzled by Gu Yuan's way of living.
"Everyone has their own aspirations. Everyone lives their life differently. If Senior Brother Hu wants to go out exploring and seeking opportunities, then I wish you a safe journey and hope you achieve Foundation Establishment soon."
Hearing this, Hu Yi gave an awkward chuckle. "Foundation Establishment? That's not so easy to come by. I'll give it a few decades of hard work and see how it goes. But if I ever do get the chance, don't worry—I, Hu Yi, won't forget you."
With that, the two parted ways at the outer sect of the Cangxuan Sect. Hu Yi never returned to Qinglin Mountain. The rough cave he had dug, however, often attracted wild beasts.
So, Gu Yuan set a few traps inside the cave that Hu Yi had excavated. Every so often, he'd manage to catch something and enjoy a satisfying meal.
Life as a spiritual farmer was extremely monotonous. Ever since Hu Yi left, Gu Yuan's days were filled with nothing but tending to the spiritual fields and cultivating.
The fourth level of Qi Refining was the threshold to the mid-stage of Qi Refining. For someone with Gu Yuan's ninth-grade spiritual roots, breaking through to that level was proving to be quite difficult.
After continuously taking Spirit-Gathering Pills to aid his cultivation, his body had gradually developed a resistance to the pills, and their effectiveness was diminishing more and more.
Because of this, Gu Yuan decided that after the next harvest of spiritual rice, he needed to switch to a different type of pill. Otherwise, even in another ten years, he might not be able to break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining.
Time flew like an arrow. In the blink of an eye, another five years had passed, and Gu Yuan was now thirty-nine years old.
On this particular day, as Gu Yuan was striving to overcome the bottleneck of the fourth level of Qi Refining, a miscellaneous attendant disciple from the Cangxuan Sect's outer sect came knocking on his door.
"Are you Gu Yuan… Uncle Gu?" the boy asked.
Gu Yuan looked at the visitor—someone who appeared to be only thirteen or fourteen years old. Not recognizing the youth, he asked, "I am Gu Yuan. Who are you?"
The boy's expression was somewhat frantic. "I'm a friend of Gu Xinghe. He said you're his uncle and asked me to come find you for help. He's been punished by the supervisor of the outer sect's miscellaneous duties and sent to guard the graves at Hounan Mountain. That place isn't somewhere someone like us—just a newly enrolled disciple—should have to live. Please, Uncle Gu, go save Xinghe quickly!"
"My uncle?" Gu Yuan murmured to himself, then suddenly remembered that he did indeed have two elder brothers living in the secular world.
"Could this Gu Xinghe be the child of my eldest or second brother?" he wondered.