Chapter 52

Chapter 52: Strike First
While harvesting the spirit rice, Zong Hao clearly felt that his technique proficiency fell short of Little Sister Yun Xi’s, especially when it came to threshing with spiritual sense. Little Sister Yun Xi could control ten spirit rice stalks at once to thresh them, while he could barely manage five.

“Little Sister Yun Xi, you’re amazing!” Zong Hao said.

Yun Xi smiled faintly. “It’s just practice.”

Zong Hao nodded and silently decided he would practice more in the future. He was also now certain that Yun Xi’s cultivation was higher than his, at the very least Qi Refining level eight. That realization crushed the pride he had just felt from reaching Qi Refining level seven.

The two of them worked through the afternoon and harvested all the spirit rice from Yun Xi’s three mu. Looking at the bulging storage pouch, they shared a knowing smile.

“Little Sister Yun Xi, we shouldn’t delay. Let’s go hand in the task right now,” Zong Hao said. “That way nobody will think about intercepting us halfway.”

Aside from Fan Si, no one knew two novices like them would spend spirit stones to speed-ripen spirit rice, so they needed to move fast.

Yun Xi agreed. The protective barriers could only confuse the other side for a short while. They were not a permanent solution.

So Yun Xi and Zong Hao both kept their protective barriers open and went to the task handover point to find Senior Brother Wang.

Seeing the two siblings again after three months, Senior Brother Wang was a little surprised. After all, it was not harvest time yet. Still, since they were generous, he smiled and asked, “You two came to find me. What’s the matter?”

Zong Hao stepped forward and clasped his hands. “Senior Brother Wang, we’re here to hand in the task.”

“Now?” Senior Brother Wang asked.

“Yes, now,” Zong Hao said.

“But it’s not time to harvest spirit rice yet,” Senior Brother Wang said, even more puzzled.

Zong Hao put on an expression of relief. “Ah, don’t even mention it. If it weren’t for Senior Brother Wang looking out for us, and Senior Brother Fan Si giving us a tip, my sister and I probably wouldn’t have been able to finish this sect task.”

Senior Brother Wang thought for a moment and understood. This kind of thing had happened to new disciples before. Every year, there were always a few unlucky newcomers who got targeted.

When Yun Xi saw Senior Brother Wang’s expression, she knew he understood the trick inside it. She deliberately scrunched her face and said, “Senior Brother Wang, you don’t know. People have been wandering near my spirit field and my brother’s spirit field lately, and it made us so scared we didn’t even dare cultivate at night. We were afraid something would happen to the fields.”

“In the end, we ran into Senior Brother Fan Si after he came out of seclusion, and he gave us a tip. Only then did we speed-ripen the spirit rice early. We burned through all the spirit stones we’d saved up, and we barely managed to harvest the spirit rice.”

“We’re timid. We thought we’d hand in the spirit rice first so at least we’d finish this three-month sect task,” Yun Xi said.

Senior Brother Wang nodded after hearing that. “You were decisive. Since that’s the case, hand in the task first.”

“Yes. That’s exactly what we meant. We have to secure something,” Zong Hao said.

Then the two of them handed their harvested spirit rice to Senior Brother Wang.

After weighing it and finishing the records, Senior Brother Wang imprinted the words indicating completion into their identity jade tokens. He took back the farming storage pouches and the items inside that had been issued to them, then told the two of them to leave.

Only then did Zong Hao and Yun Xi finally relax. They left the Outer Fifth Peak at top speed and went to the Task Hall to close out the task. Only then were these three months considered completely finished.

“Yun Xi, let’s go back and rest for a day first,” Zong Hao said. “Tomorrow we’ll come to the Task Hall and take a look again.”

“Alright,” Yun Xi said.

They returned to the outer peak disciples’ courtyard, and Yun Xi happened to run into Wei Yun Qing.

Wei Yun Qing had been full of smiles. When she saw Yun Xi, she did not even have time to hide the pride in her eyes. In the next second, her face went stiff, because Yun Xi had broken through ahead of her again and had already reached Qi Refining level five.

Yun Xi looked at the heroine’s slightly twisted expression and felt very pleased. She even greeted her warmly. “Sister Yun Qing, aren’t you on duty at Outer Sect Pill Peak? Why do you have time to come back today? Did you know I’d be here today, so you came to wait for me?”

Wei Yun Qing rolled her eyes inwardly at Yun Xi’s shameless words, then returned to a calm expression. “I haven’t been back to the disciples’ courtyard in a long time. Senior Brother Ye allowed me to come back and stay two days. Seeing your cultivation break through again, it seems you’ve been doing pretty well on the Outer Fifth Peak.”

Yun Xi nodded at once. “Thank you for thinking of me, Sister. Growing spirit fields is hard, but it really trains a person, and it helps a lot with improving cultivation. If I hadn’t guarded those three mu day and night, I might not have broken through so quickly.”

Wei Yun Qing was tempted, but she did not ask more. Farming was a lowly task, and she would never take it. Besides, because she had grown her spirit herbs well, Senior Brother Ye had even given her a pill to help with a small breakthrough. She had come back to show off, but Wei Yun Xi beat her to it.

The two of them exchanged a few more bland words, then each returned to her room.

After Yun Xi returned, she set up a protective array plate in her bedroom. Ever since Wei Yun Qing tried to force her way in last time, and after the incident in the spirit field where Chen Feng ambushed her with an Earth Escape, she had spent a fortune to buy this third-grade protective array plate.

Buying the array plate had almost emptied all the spirit stones she had saved up, but she felt it was worth it. Nothing mattered more than her safety. If someone interrupted her while she was cultivating or recovering spiritual power, it would be a miracle if she did not suffer qi deviation. This kind of protection was necessary.

After she opened the protective barrier, she slept peacefully through the night. She had no idea that same night, something happened on the Outer Fifth Peak. All the spirit rice that had not been harvested in time was ravaged by a spirit insect called Bai Mi, and it was not just one spirit field, but every single spirit field on the Outer Fifth Peak.

Before dawn, someone reported the matter to the sect. This was not a tiny loss, but the loss of every spirit field on the entire Outer Fifth Peak. Some disciples even cried. They could not afford a loss like this.

After that, Law Enforcement Hall disciples went to the Outer Fifth Peak to inspect the site and search for the culprit. The Law Enforcement Hall concluded it was not an accident, but something done on purpose.

Fan Si’s face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. He had just advised the two disciples beside him to harvest their spirit rice early, yet he delayed a day himself, and all his effort went down the drain.

After the Law Enforcement Hall finished their inspection and saw how serious the loss was, they began a detailed investigation.

Yun Xi and Zong Hao were also summoned for questioning. Because they had perfectly avoided the insect disaster, some people turned their suspicious eyes toward them.

The two of them looked completely wronged and told the truth. They explained that they were new to farming, and it was their first time growing spirit rice. They explained how nervous they had been, and how they had noticed disciples secretly coveting their results and grown even more worried.

After that, they said they followed Senior Brother Fan Si’s advice, used spirit stones to speed-ripen the spirit rice, harvested early, handed in the task, and left. They even swore they would never take another farming task again.

The Law Enforcement Hall listened to two half-grown kids speak with such certainty, then separately verified everything with Fan Si and the steward disciples. Only then did they shift their suspicion away from the two of them.

However, the disciples who had been wandering around the spirit fields entered the Law Enforcement Hall’s sight.

With that lead, the investigation traced back to Tang Ru. Tang Ru felt like she was just sitting at home when disaster fell from the sky. She had only spent spirit stones to hire people to look for someone, so how did it end up being traced to her?

Tang Ru was invited to the Law Enforcement Hall for questioning. Only then did the Golden Core Master she relied on learn that his concubine had her own schemes. She had actually taken from his storage pouch to support her lover, and he was so furious that he directly kicked her out of his cave dwelling.