Chapter 3: Chapter 3 Truly Came Out on Top
"Disciple is willing to go, thank you both, Stewards." What a great chance to make money, it's too good to miss.
Jiang Tang hurriedly bowed and accepted the offer.
The two Stewards stood up, patted his shoulder, and then left.
With the agricultural fair only a few days away, Jiang Tang was going to be busy.
He got a batch of top-grade Spirit Grass seeds from the Immortal Sect's Farm Manager. After harvesting the previous batch of crops, he added some natural fertilizer to the soil. He then led the Little Blue Ox to plow the land, loosened the soil, and finally sowed the Spirit Grass seeds.
While eating a Spirit Fruit, Jiang Tang's hand, tired from raking, accidentally twitched, and the fruit fell to the ground.
He looked at the Spirit Fruit with some regret, then silently took out a white steamed bun, nibbling on it while watching the Spirit Grass seeds sprout and take root quickly.
Suddenly, he felt something moving under his feet.
Jiang Tang looked down and discovered that the Spirit Fruit had been buried in the soil and was sprouting branches on its own.
Moreover, it seemed to be of a better grade than the one he had just eaten.
After gobbling down the bun in two or three bites, Jiang Tang hurriedly found a shovel and carefully loosened the soil and fertilized it around the growing tree.
After watering it with Spirit Water, Jiang Tang noticed that the haze over an adjacent Spirit Field had become incredibly thin.
After doing some calculations, he realized he was about to enter the third heaven of Body Refinement and would soon be able to unlock this field.
With this thought, Jiang Tang quickly left the space, took some Spirit Grass that could absorb Spiritual Power, and began to cultivate.
Sure enough, by early the next morning, he had stepped into the third heaven of Body Refinement.
Jiang Tang looked at the surging Spiritual Power in the palm of his hand and silently teared up.
He really envied those big shots who had cheat modes activated to the max and could ascend effortlessly, unlike him, who spent three years just to reach the third heaven of Body Refinement.
The Cultivation Realms of this world are divided into Body Refinement, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Ocean Wheel, Spirit Mansion, Mahayana, Divinity Transformation, and the Nine Divine Realms. Cultivators in the Divinity Transformation Realm can be called Demi Gods or Demi Immortals. Beyond that, one must cross the Tribulation for Ascension.
Success in the Tribulation means becoming a Deity, while failure results in severe injury at best or the scattering of one's soul at worst.
This is a golden age of cultivation.
To be precise, this is a golden age of cultivation after the decline of the law when Spiritual Energy began to revive.
Because too many from the previous generations ascended, it led to the depletion of Spiritual Energy and resources couldn't keep up, causing many Major Sects, even including the number one Immortal Sect in the Mortal Realm, to nearly lose their legacy.
Latterly, The Upper Realm noticed this issue and opened the Spiritual River, channeling Spiritual Energy into the Mortal Realm, allowing people to tread the path of cultivation again.
Throughout ancient and modern times, countless have ascended, but the number of those who truly ascend to The Upper Realm is very few.
Better to farm diligently and cultivate earnestly.
After planting four or five batches of crops and collecting a vast array of things, the agricultural fair began. Guided by the two Stewards, Jiang Tang followed a few Outer Sect brothers to the fair.
Those doing business were all Outer Sect Disciples and Servant Disciples of the Immortal Sect, while those patronizing the stalls were some disciples from Noble Clans and ordinary folks.
The fair was bustling, selling Spirit Grass, Spiritual Medicine, and even Pills, featuring a wide range.
Jiang Tang found a quiet spot and started setting up his stall.
Before long, a few neatly dressed young men approached, picked up a few Spirit Grasses to inspect closely, then with delighted expressions, asked him for the price.
Jiang Tang glanced at the Spirit Grass and said with a slight smile, "The price is set by the imperial court, ten coins per kilo."
"You, young man, are not like the others who only think of taking advantage. The quality of this Spirit Grass is not bad either, so give me one quintal," said the young man holding the Spirit Grass, nodding at once.
Seeing this, the others also began to pick up Spirit Grass they liked and asked him for the price.
Jiang Tang accepted their money and handed over the goods. After watching them leave, he realized that he had made a thousand taels of silver from his first transaction.
"Junior brother, you're really lucky. Those were sons of the Ten Great Clans, and they were willing to give your business a shot," a Servant Disciple who was selling Spirit Grass under a nearby awning said enviously when he saw that Jiang Tang had made so much silver on his first sale, his words tinged with a hint of sourness.
"The Ten Great Clans?" Jiang Tang was taken aback.
"Yes, the top ten noble clans in the Mortal Realm. Little brother, you really are ignorant. The first one who bought your Spirit Grass was a disciple of the Medical Gate Hua Clan. The ones behind him were also disciples of the Ten Great Clans." Seeing this, the man couldn't help but shake his head.
Jiang Tang realized then.
He had long heard of these top ten peak cultivation clans in the Mortal Realm from stories.
Since they each specialized in certain areas, they were crowned with exclusive household names.
Take the Medical Gate Hua Clan for example—they were known throughout the Mortal Realm for proving the Dao through medicine.
Oh, those were the great figures he had to look up to.
Jiang Tang didn't have time to reflect on this because a few more buyers approached for his Spirit Grass—they had seen the rich family's sons buying here, showing satisfied expressions, and out of curiosity, they came to take a look.
Once they saw it, they were pleased.
The quality was excellent.
When they heard Jiang Tang's asking price, they were even happier, promptly paid him in silver, took the Spirit Grass, and left.
Thus, Jiang Tang's business gained momentum like a rolling snowball.
In less than half a day, he had earned a full basin of shiny silver coins, even causing the steward elder in charge of counting the money to be somewhat flabbergasted.
Good lad, all the members of the agricultural conference together didn't earn as much as he did alone.
Without surprise, Jiang Tang dominated the conference, winning the top spot.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Jiang Tang smiled silently to himself as he collected a thousand taels of silver.
Indeed, the happiest thing was having silver in hand.
Back in his courtyard, Jiang Tang suddenly remembered that he hadn't yet cultivated the second plot of land that appeared in his space.
Because he had been busy preparing for the agricultural conference the past few days, he had put off this task.
Now recalling it, Jiang Tang quickly bought a batch of Spirit Grass seeds and immediately entered the space.
He carefully examined the second plot of land.
It had a slight color difference from the first plot, with one plant that had already borne white fruits.
Jiang Tang walked over and picked one. The fruit immediately split open, and the core fell to the ground, transforming into a three-foot-long longsword.
Stunned for a moment, Jiang Tang realized that this was probably the other layer of meaning in the ancient texts about every planted thing being a treasure.
Picking up the longsword with all his might, Jiang Tang examined it closely.
The quality was upper third grade, an excellent treasure for him.
Given this plot's slight color difference, he figured that the crops grown here would all be weapons of this sort.
Thinking this, Jiang Tang brought over Little Blue Ox to plow the Spirit Field.
After a while, Jiang Tang looked at the divided five furrows of Spirit Field and scattered the first batch of seeds.
The first-planted Spirit Grass quickly grew mature, bearing large fruits.
Jiang Tang used a sickle to cut one down, and the fruit immediately split open, with the core falling to the ground and turning into a harrow.
A harrow?
Jiang Tang, munching on the flesh, picked up the harrow and found it abundant in spiritual energy. He went to the first plot of land and used the harrow on the empty field, discovering that the loosened soil's spiritual power grew even more intense, revealing a look of delight.
The wooden harrow was no longer needed. Using this harrow for farming, the soil would likely nourish even finer crops.
Jiang Tang collected the ripe fruits from the second plot of land into his newly purchased Qiankun Bag and suddenly remembered something.