The men were taken aback for a moment, but Lü Guo was the first to react. "It must be the three from Senior Brother Peng's courtyard," he replied.
Zhang Deming paused for a moment before suggesting thoughtfully, "Well, since we're all awake, why don't we go take a look?"
Lü Guo and the others exchanged a glance, nodded, and said, "Okay."
With that, the group headed straight for the Spirit Fields.
A few moments later, they arrived at the Spirit Fields.
Peng Tuan and his group were just shooting the breeze to pass the time. "What's up, Brother Ming? What brings you all here?"
In the dead of night, Peng Tuan's group had spotted Zhang Deming and the others from a long way off.
Zhang Deming spoke up, "A Mouse Demon appeared in our rooms. We were worried about the fields, so we ran over to check. Have you noticed anything unusual?"
Peng Tuan and his group exchanged a look. "We just finished a patrol," one of them said. "Everything's fine."
Upon hearing this, they nodded, each checked their own Spirit Fields, said goodbye to Peng Tuan, and turned to leave.
While the others returned to their rooms to sleep, Zhang Deming and Zong En stood in their respective rooms, staring blankly at the huge holes torn in their walls.
After a long moment, Zhang Deming finally said, "We'll have to find a carpenter to fix this tomorrow."
Zong En nodded. "A hole this big… I guess that's all we can do. Let's get back to sleep."
With that, he turned and went straight to bed.
Zhang Deming picked up the small wooden box from the corner, placed it in a corner on his bed, and then lay down.
He closed his eyes once more and drifted off to sleep.
「Early the next morning.」
The community at Little Qing Mountain was small, and by early morning, everyone in the Rice Courtyard had heard about what happened last night.
During the morning roll call, Feng Mingyou looked at Zhang Deming and asked, "What happened last night?"
Zhang Deming replied, "It was nothing major. A Mouse Demon appeared out of nowhere, dug a hole in the corner of the wall, and got into the courtyard."
Hearing this, Feng Mingyou gave him a pointed look and advised, "Some foodstuffs are safer if you hang them up in a box."
Zhang Deming's eyes lit up. 'He really is a seasoned veteran,' he thought. He had been worrying about how to hide his Spirit Rice. After all, he couldn't possibly spend Spirit Stones to custom-order a Spirit Wood box just for four pounds of it!
"Thank you for the advice, Steward. I understand," Zhang Deming said gratefully.
Feng Mingyou nodded. "I'll report this Demon Beast incident to the higher-ups again today. Hopefully, they'll send someone to conduct a patrol.
The rice is already filling out, and the harvest is just a few days away. We can't have any accidents.
Alright, let's begin the roll call."
Roll call, breakfast, casting—Zhang Deming began his daily routine.
...
In the evening, Zhang Deming made a point to exhaust his Spiritual Power whenever he was casting.
With three times the Spiritual Power of a Junior Apprentice, and by casting once each in the morning, noon, and evening, the effect on his grain-filling Spirit Rice was clear: the grains were much plumper.
Barring any surprises, his Spirit Rice should yield a bountiful harvest, and two days earlier than expected.
Of course, the trade-off was that his Spiritual Qi, which normally took two hours to fully recover, now required about four.
As a result, when Zhang Deming arrived at the Spirit Fields for his final casting of the evening, there was no one else around.
Everyone else had already finished work for the day and were gathered under the banyan tree in the square, chatting idly.
Zhang Deming walked over to his field and began to cast the Little Cloud Rain Skill.
As his hands flashed through a series of gestures, a wide cloud formed above his head.
Compared to that of a Junior Apprentice, the Little Cloud Rain Skill he cast using twice the Magical Power was not only saturated with Spiritual Qi, but the resulting cloud was also significantly larger and denser.
As he watched the Little Cloud Rain Skill finish forming, Zhang Deming waited. He still had a third of his Magical Power remaining.
Once the Little Cloud Rain Skill's downpour was over, he planned to cast the Growth Technique one more time to completely exhaust his Spiritual Power before leaving.
"Aah… aah…"
As Zhang Deming waited for the rain to end, he suddenly heard a series of loud, rhythmic shrieks.
He looked around, confused, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
"Aah… aah…"
But the sound didn't stop; in fact, it seemed to be getting closer.
'This sound?'
'It sounds like… it's coming from overhead?'
The moment Zhang Deming realized this and looked up, a dark shadow plummeted from the clouds and smashed right into him.
The cloud from his Little Cloud Rain Skill was under his control, hovering only about twenty feet above his head.
So when the dark figure burst through the cloud layer, Zhang Deming could only stare in utter shock, with no time to react.
There was a dull THUD.
"AAAAHHH—"
Zhang Deming was struck by the dark figure, letting out a pained cry even louder than the one from the sky moments earlier.
"Huh? I fell from so high up, but it doesn't hurt at all?"
A sweet, girlish voice rang out, a mix of dorky, ditzy, and pleasantly surprised.
Just then, a voice suddenly sounded from underneath the girl. "Have you had your fill of sitting? If so, Senior, would you mind getting up?"
"Ah! I'm so sorry!"
Hearing the voice, the dazed girl finally realized she was sitting on a person.
She scrambled to her feet, looking even more clueless and flustered as she apologized to Zhang Deming.
'My poor back… it damn near snapped.' Clutching his lower back, Zhang Deming staggered to his feet with his head bowed and said, "This rice farmer servant of the Little Qing Mountain Servant Institute pays his respects to the Duality Ancestor!"
The ditzy, flustered girl's expression froze, then turned strange. "Ancestor? Haha, Junior Brother, you're hilarious!
You don't really think I'm a Great Cultivator at the Duality Stage who can fly on her own, do you?!"
The Celestial Spirit Sect largely divided its members into three generations based on cultivation level.
There were Apprentice Disciples, Masters of Tai Chi, and Duality Ancestors.
Of course, this seniority ranking applied to most members.
There were a few exceptions.
For example, someone taken in directly by a Duality Ancestor as an Inner Disciple would be considered part of the Master generation, even if their cultivation was only at the Apprentice level.
...
'Junior Brother?'
After being knocked down by the person who fell from the sky, Zhang Deming had kept his head bowed. Hearing her words, he finally looked up at her in astonishment.
At first glance, Zhang Deming froze. It was a young girl, and for some reason, she looked a little familiar.
She looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old.
Her face was round and pretty, with full cheeks like a soft, steamed bun.
Hers was not a cold or glamorous beauty, but a sweet, friendly, and adorably dorky kind.
Right now, a faint blush colored her round cheeks, and she was looking at Zhang Deming with a smile.
She wore a deep, cyan-colored, traditional-style long dress, which was slightly disheveled from her fall.
Her waist-length hair, mussed from flying and then falling, was even more tousled, but it didn't detract from her beauty. Instead, it only added to her dorky charm.
She was the very image of a classic, adorably clumsy beauty. The only thing that broke the aesthetic was the backpack she was wearing.
Yes, a backpack with a very modern design.
Zhang Deming couldn't discern her cultivation level. 'She's not an Intermediate Apprentice, at any rate, but she doesn't give off an overwhelming sense of pressure either. Most likely, she's an Advanced Apprentice.'
Seeing Zhang Deming's dumbfounded expression, the girl seemed even more delighted.
With a sweet smile, she said, "Hello, Junior Brother. I'm an Outer Disciple from Little Hui Peak. Everyone calls me Ling'er."
Zhang Deming, still rather stunned, replied, "Ah, hello, Senior Sister. I'm Zhang Deming. Senior Sister, were you just…?"