Chapter 33 - First Cultivation (2/2)

At that point, it was finally the turn to prepare the fertilizer for the soil. Without hesitation, Hei put the weeds on the pile of feces and then poured some buckets of water over it. Then he started to mix it all up.

The smell was sickening, but Hei had already experienced this and didn't mind too much. He continued his work, but without letting Ye and Xing help him because he didn't want them to get too dirty.

Eventually, he managed to get a mixture of manure and slurry, partly liquid and partly solid. His arms were entirely dirty, but since they were already so from the impurities that were taken out during cultivation, it didn't matter much.

When he finished getting the compound, Bao Bei had come near them with Lian, who was in the same condition as Hei, before he got dirty with buffaloes' feces.

Since she couldn't stand her son getting even dirtier, she took charge of spreading the mixture on the ground while sending Hei, Ye, Xing, and Lian to clean themselves at the river, under the supervision of Shui and the other buffaloes. The water they had collected wasn't enough to clean all the dirt from Hei and Lian's bodies.

To avoid problems, Bao Bei first ascertained that there were no strangers nearby, before letting them leave, and when they left, she used her spiderweb and her spirit power to cover the soil with the organic compound.

The distance between the house and the river wasn't so far away, and running on the back of the buffaloes, the four of them arrived at the river not long after. To make things more exciting, Ye asked Shui to charge with the other buffaloes in the water, so that they could use their running momentum as a springboard to jump into the water.

Shui accepted and did as requested. Hei, Lian, Ye, and Xing were, therefore, sent flying, and they dived with different poses in the water.

Fortunately, the water was warm because the sun's rays had heated it, and the four floated on the surface while the buffaloes were on the bank drinking and looking after them from afar.

Hei, Ye, and Xing had learned to swim when they were young because there was a lake near where they lived, and their mother thought it was vital that they learn how to do it. But in the situation's euphoria, Hei had forgotten to ask Lian if she could swim. When he emerged from the dive, he immediately glanced towards her, but it seemed that Lian knew how to swim since she remained afloat without sinking.

Ye and Xing, even though they were small, had learned how to balance their bodies. And now, they were swimming at high speeds in the water, without sinking. Hei instead decided to relax, remaining afloat while throwing glances from time to time at them to check that they were alright. Lian also stayed afloat near Hei, before being dragged by the two little spirit beasts to swim with them.

When more than an hour passed, Hei gestured for them to return. By now, it had become evening, and he didn't want to make their mother more than they should. Reluctantly, Ye and Xing took a last swim before going out with Lian.

Because they had dived with their clothes still on, their clothes were soaked, although they were finally clean. Since they didn't have a spare nearby, they kept them and climbed back up to the buffaloes' backs to go home.

Once getting home, Hei stopped a moment to take a look at the field. The organic compound made from the feces and the weeds joined to the water, had been spread evenly over the entire area designated for growing plants. As expected from his mother, it was an impeccable job.

Glad that things were progressing in the right direction, Hei entered the spiderweb house with the others while Shui escorted the other buffaloes back to the stable to rest. In the spiderweb house, the dinner had already been prepared and consisted mainly of fire-cooked insects plus some fruits.

Without being prayed, Hei and his two sisters quickly devoured their meals. Lian instead ate more slowly but made no complaints about it.

After they finished eating, they all lay down to watch the stars from the hole in the top of the spiderweb house. However, at one point, Bao Bei suddenly moved and hissed. She had noticed the presence of someone approaching the house.

Quickly, she went out to examine who it was. In the distance, a hooded figure was approaching at high speed in their direction. Intrigued by their mother's behavior, Hei came out but kept Ye, Xing, and Lian inside. Shui also came out of the stable. Then, it stood in front of Hei, waiting for the hooded figure to come.

Bao Bei remained close to her son while she was hidden in her petite form. Even if the person who was arriving had concealed its face, it had no evil intentions since it wasn't deliberately trying to conceal its presence, but was running linearly.

In a short time, the mysterious figure arrived at the house and was surprised that Hei was out with the albino buffalo at his side on alert. At this scene, the hidden figure couldn't help being stunned. Even though it was running linearly towards that direction, it was incredible that Hei had noticed that it was coming.

At that point, the hidden figure lowered the hood that hid its face and turned out to be none other than the sect leader. Her purple hair was waving in the evening wind after being released.

Hei then made a short bow to her. Even if he didn't feel fear or veneration like the other sect's members, she was still the cult leader, and therefore, he had to maintain a semblance of respect.

”Good evening sect leader, can I do something for you?”

The sect leader once again gave a slight look at the albino buffalo that was still on the alert. From inside the strange spiderweb house, she could sense the presence of another person. Probably the girl named Lian.

”Yes, actually, there is something you can do for me. I don't want to go around it, but I want you to enter into my faction.” The sect leader said in a determined tone.

Initially, she had decided with the other elders to wait after Hei and Lian had entered the inner sect to recruit them into their factions. But since Hei had decided to plant plants instead of raising animals, this had aroused the sect's leader interest.

She had no doubts about her judgment. She knew that the young boy was brilliant; surely, he wouldn't have made such a trivial mistake as trying to cultivate spirit plants in a place devoid of spirit veins. Intrigued, she decided to go personally and examine the situation.

Initially, she just wanted to take a look, but when she came to that place, she noticed that the surrounding weeds looked more vigorous and shiny than usual. At that point, the sect leader examined the soil, and she found out the cause. To her surprise, she noticed that there was spirit power flowing underground - the spirit vein was active.

That notion shattered her original plan, and she immediately took a decision - that evening, she would recruit both the youths in her faction, regardless of what cost she would have to pay.