Name: Zi Linglong
Gender: Female
Cultivation base: 1st Extreme Golden Core Realm
Background: Disciple of Jiuyang Sect's Chuyang Peak.
Relationship: 95
Innate Talent: Nine stars (elementary phoenix bloodline)
Status: Cultivating at the sun pit in Taiyang Peak. Produced the first Daoist motif on her Golden Core.
Jiang Ming was delighted when he saw Zi Lilong's nine-star innate talent and elementary phoenix bloodline. He was not shocked by this. However, he was shocked that she was already at the 1st Extreme Golden Core Realm.
'It's only been a few short days, but she's already at the 1st Extreme Golden Core Realm! Why do I feel my junior sister is more powerful than I am?' Jiang Ming scratched his head.
He looked at his junior sister's innate talent and her cultivation base again. Nine stars and the 1st Extreme Golden Core Realm were not particularly difficult feats, but the speed at which she achieved these were truly terrifying.
He shoved the thoughts to the back of his mind for now and flipped to the next page.
Name: Gu Hai
Gender: Male
Cultivation base: Purple Mansion Realm (His sea of consciousness broke and damaged his Origin. He's doing his best to maintain his current realm)
Background: First Seat of Jiuyang Sect's Chuyang Peak.
Relationship: 85
Innate Talent: Eight stars
Status: Protecting a disciple near Taiyang Peak's sun pit.
"So that's why Master is weak! His Purple Mansion is damaged!" Jiang Ming froze briefly upon reading this. He knew something was wrong with his master, but he never knew what it was.
"He's lucky he's able to keep his current cultivation base considering his sea of consciousness broke…" Jiang Ming frowned as he pondered on this matter. He thought about how he could help his master. Unfortunately, in his current state, there was not much he could do.
"How did he hurt himself? I've asked him a few times but he never told me anything. I should ask Zhang Junbao about this. He should know…"
Gu Hai's innate talent was amazing. An eight-star innate talent meant he was just a level lower than Zi Linglong. It was a shame that he was affected by his injury.
Jiang Ming could not help but smile when he saw their relationship value had increased by a few points. "That old fart must feel bad for leaving me here to look after the peak while he's off taking care of Linglong whose strength is skyrocketing!"
After putting the Human Path Records away, he began to contemplate his future. However, soon after, he thought to himself, 'Why should I think about my future now? I should stay here and watch the clouds in the sky. This is much better than living a life filled with battles…'
He drank another pot of tea and continued rocking on the chair.
After a while, he finally decided to go downstairs. Since it was still early, he picked up his rake and went to the back of the mountain. He had seven Mu of farmland waiting to be tilled. This was part of his task as an ordinary person.
When he arrived at the back of the mountain, he surveyed his farmland. After playing the rake on the ground, he raised his hand. A surge of mana shot out as he cast the Rolling Earth Dragon spell and quickly tilled a Mu of land.
He kept channeling his mana until he was satisfied. Then, with a wave of his hand, it began to drizzle.
'Farming like this is too easy! It even looks aesthetic!'
[Ding! Congratulations on plowing one Mu of farmland. Reward: Six months' worth of cultivation]
"This is great!" Jiang Ming was happy.
He cast another round of spells, tilling the soil and watering it. However, he did not receive a notification from the system despite waiting for a long time.
'I knew it! There's no cheating the system,' Jiang Ming thought to himself. However, he was not bothered by it. He felt more secure now that he was in the Purple Mansion Realm so he was ready to experiment.
He walked toward another Mu of farmland and began to till the land manually. With his strength, this task was nothing. If he were not careful with his strength now, he could shatter the mountain peak with just a stab of the rake.
After a while, he stopped working and said, "Farmers who plow the land sure don't have it easy!"
He shook his head and cleared his mind of distracting thoughts before he continued to work the land. He intended to complete his task as quickly as possible. Soon enough, he was done with another Mu of farmland.
[Ding! Congratulations on manually plowing one Mu of farmland. Reward: Two years' worth of cultivation and a Basic Pills Almanac]
"I knew it. If I carried out the tasks without using mana, the rewards would be greater."
Whether he did it manually or used mana, the results would be the same. He wondered why the system encouraged him to work manually.
After he pointed his middle finger at the sky, he extracted some of the cultivation he had been rewarded with. In turn, the liquid mana in his Purple Realm increased again. He absorbed the information in the Basic Pills Almanac after that and decided to put the knowledge to use once his herbs were ready to be harvested.
"Continue!"
Jiang Ming picked up the rake and continued plowing the lands.
All of a sudden, he saw a streak of light shooting over from a distance before landing on the greeting platform.
Following that, a teasing voice rang in the air.
"First Disciple Jiang, aren't you going to welcome your guest?"
"Senior Brother Chang! When did you return?" Jiang Ming hastily looked for the token that controlled the peak's Grand Formation to deactivate it as he hurried over to greet the guest.
A fat man stood on the greeting platform at this moment. He was smiling widely, making his round face look very amiable. He was Chang Yiming from Laoyang Peak, and one of Jiang Ming's few friends.
"I returned yesterday!" Chang Yiming replied. He looked at Jiang Ming appraisingly as he walked over before he remarked, "Goodness! It's only been a year, but you've become even more handsome than I expected! If you were living in one of the mortals' cities, the rich ladies would fight among themselves over you!"
"Stop teasing me!" Jiang Ming said. Then, he rubbed his hands together as he asked, "Did you bring me anything to eat?"
"When have I not brought you anything good to eat?" Chang Yiming said, "My junior brothers on Laoyang Peak were talking about Linglong when I returned yesterday. She's barely eleven years old, but she actually cleared the Tower of Trials! I was almost shocked to death when I heard about it! I came here so early in the morning so I can ride on her coattails!"
"You can ride mine!" Jiang Ming said.
"Get lost!" Chang Yiming rolled his eyes.
"You don't know what you're missing," Jiang Ming retorted with a smile.
Swoosh!
The Human Path Records appeared and flipped open, displaying Chang Yiming's information.
Name: Chang Yiming
Gender: Male
Cultivation base: Golden Core Realm
Background: Disciple of Jiuyang Sect's Laoyang Peak.
Relationship: 73
Innate Talent: Seven stars.
Status: At Chuyang Peak.
There was nothing noteworthy.
Their relationship value indicated Chang Yiming considered him a good friend. Jiang Ming was satisfied with this.
When Chang Yiming first came to Chuyang Peak back then, he came to declare Laoyang Peak's stance to support Gu Hai. As time passed, both of them grew closer due to their characters.
After Jiang Ming led Chang Yiming to the courtyard, Chang Yiming brought plates of dishes from his storage ring and began to introduce them, "This tricolor prawn is from the East Sea. It was a Ninth Stage Qi Cultivation demon when I killed it. I asked someone to cook it for me. I knew you'd like it so I brought it back. This multicolor golden pheasant is from a mountain city. It's steamed with a special sauce. Then, there's this honeyed lamb from Qingyang Town…"
The stone table was filled to the brim in just a blink of an eye.
"Nice, Senior Brother Chang!"
The aroma that permeated the air whet Jiang Ming's appetite. He almost drooled as he looked at the dishes on the table. He had little to no resistance against delicious food. As the saying went, 'Food and lust are natural to men'.
At this moment, a voice rang from the distant sky.
"Something smells amazing!"
Then, a streak of light flew toward them.
Before the newcomer landed, he said with a smile, "As soon as I smelled this aroma, I knew that the fatty is back! You brought good food, and I brought good wine! If First Disciple Jiang dances for us, it'd be perfect!"