Chapter Three The Little Yard (1/2)

Fang Xiang’s chapter titles are very descriptive… … I’ve added a bit of information to the Cultivation terms and Info page (here). Most of it is directly translated from the Baidu page on 修真世界.

In the words of a Chinese reviewer on the story, Zuo Mo’s first “gold finger” has arrived. I don’t consider this Zuo Mo’s true “gold finger” but this one does play a significant role at this point in the story.

Proofread version: Chapters One to Five

Chapter Three The Little Yard

Making rain for fifty mu[1] was not an insignificant amount of work for even someone like Zuo Mo who had the cultivation of lianqi seventh level.

Wiping the sweat on his forehead, Zuo Mo expressionlessly said: “Alright, this is killing me.”

Old Black cheerfully gave a thumbs up: “Mo ge’s [Little Art of Cloud and Rain] is just as rumoured!” Finishing, he squatted down with a face full of joy to check the growth of the ling grain.

Zuo Mo calmly accepted the flattery. Old Black’s ling grain had been sturdily planted. Based on how it looked to his eyes, this year’s harvest would be good. Adding on the rain he made, it would increase the harvest by twenty something percent easily. As payment, he would take ten percent which wasn’t insignificant.

But when he saw the devoutness and joy that Old Black had when he stared at the ling grains, for some reason, he himself wasn’t happy.

Old Black had been an outer sect disciple at Wu Kong Sword Sect for twenty years. His cultivation was low and he had planted ling grains in the sect for twenty years.

The rent for the ling fields could be converted to being paid using ling grains. Each year, one had to give ling grains to the sect and receive contribution points before they were given continual qualifications to stay and be an outer sect disciple in the sect. If one wanted to learn new spells, then keep increasing the contribution to the sect.

Roughly calculating, the amount that would land on a person’s hand was pitiful. The ling grains that were harvest, Old Black were reluctant to even eat.

It wasn’t easy being an outer sect disciple. Zuo Mo knew that better than anyone.

But even like this, even though Wu Kong Sword Sect was a small sect, there were still countless people that broke their heads trying to get in. Even if it was hard, they could learn something. When they went out later, they could find a good job. To someone like Old Black who didn’t have any savings, it was a very steady job.

Zuo Mo’s days were much better. Even though he was an outer sect disciple, but he had been taken in by the sect leader. No one dared to bully him. His innate skill and comprehension were high. After comprehending the third level of [Little Art of Cloud and Rain] by himself, his days were increasingly comfortable.

Zuo Mo had no great ambitions. There were no clues to his history and birth. Other than living more comfortable days, he didn’t have any other wishes.

After the labor, he slowly walked back to his own residence.

There was only Wu Kong Swords Sect on Wu Kong Mountain. There was plenty of space. The entire western peak was sectioned for the residential area of the outer sect disciples. How big one wanted to live, they could pick and construct themselves. But most people would choose the yards that former outer sect disciples had left. Even though people hadn’t lived in them for a long time, a good cleaning was all that’s needed.

Zuo Mo’s yard took up a great amount of space. He might be thin and weak but he liked large things so at the beginning, he had picked the biggest yard on the western peak. It was a seventh entry compound. Half a mu of fish pond, about five mu of ling fields. The shixiong[2] that had built this yard definitely would have been a fanatic about farming. There were no fake mountains, no flowerbeds and courtyard, no other decorations. This shixiong had changed it all to ling fields.

Other people had no interest in a yard without any sense of beauty, appeal, and incomplete seal formations. Zuo Mo liked it very much.

He didn’t raise anything in the fish pond. Just using the pond to bath in the summer was a refreshing luxury. Ling fields were good. Zuo Mo calculated it well. The ling fields that had to be rented from the sect, you had to pay rent. You didn’t have to pay rent on the ling fields in this yard. Other than that, there was a cold spring in the yard.

There were considerations in building a residence. Normally, it was best to build on top of a ling vein. Living constantly in places thick with ling energy would increase the speed of increasing cultivation. That was the reason those Secret Paradises were so expensive. But there weren’t many places with ling veins at all, so how would it be given to the outer sect disciples like him?

But who could have thought that under this neglected yard, there was a ling vein!

When he had moved in, Zuo Mo had searched everywhere for a place to meditate. He found a secluded room. When he pushed open the door, a rotten smell had rushed at him. There were many praying mats lying on the ground which all had decayed into a bunch of rotten grass. There was only one mat that had generally kept its shape.

After Zuo Mo put in tremendous effort into cleaning up the seclusion room, only the one mat had been left alone.

When Zuo Mo sat on the mat for the first time, he had frozen in shock.

The spot of the mat, the ling energy was much thicker than anywhere else!

Zuo Mo, whose heart had been beating frantically, had first though it was due to the mat. But very quickly, he found the real reason – under the mat there was a small side branch of ling vein! This section of ling veins was extremely small. It couldn’t be detected even one step away from the mat.

At this time, he finally understood why that nameless shixiong had built such a large yard. It was most likely to disguise this little section of ling vein.

This nameless shixiong quickly became Zuo Mo’s idol.

To be able to find this little section of ling vein on the gigantic western peak and to clear an area for ling fields himself. Such ability, he didn’t seem like an outer sect disciple.

After finding the secret of the ling vein, Zuo Mo became even more low-key. He knew the logic of not showing off one’s wealth. If this bit of ling vein was found out by anyone else, there would be plotting against him. The best result would be it would be taken away by the sect.

In one breath, he put down thirty something mats on the floor of the seclusion room. Other than that, there were seventy or so mats piled in the corners. The colors of the mats varied, and the shapes were all different. All of them were woven by him. The strange habit of Little Zombie Mo of weaving mats was known throughout the outer sect disciples. Some people, when they wanted to find him to ask for help, they would go out and buy some exquisite mats as gifts. This caused the number of mats to increase and fill the entire seclusion room.