Chapter 100: The Storm Is Coming

Qin Ming received the news and furrowed his brow.

He then fell into deep thought.

“Didn’t expect it to come this soon.”

……

Mid-June.

Over the Yunhuang Marsh, dark clouds gathered thickly, as if brewing a violent storm.

Qingyang Marketplace, Juxuan Pavilion.

Qin Ming sat by the window, gazing outside, lost in thought.

“Hey! Did you hear?”

“We’ve searched everywhere, but still can’t find the last dragon-shaped token.”

“The Elders say it’s the most crucial one.”

“It’s strange—could someone have secretly hidden it?”

“Exactly! Who’s that bastard causing us to waste our lives here?”

“What do we do now?”

“We can’t just sit here doing nothing!”

“No choice—it’s said no force can break open that ancient ruin.”

At the Juxuan Pavilion’s wine tables, various cultivators debated the current situation.

“Waiter, settle the bill.” Qin Ming sat a while longer, then prepared to leave.

Shopkeeper Liao hurried over, smiling: “Comrade Qin, won’t you stay a bit longer?”

“Hmm, the weather’s about to change—I’ve got work in the spirit fields.” Qin Ming rose to pull out spirit stones to pay.

Liao immediately stopped him: “Comrade Qin, you’re too formal! You’re our esteemed guest—this meal is on me.”

With that, Liao warmly saw Qin Ming out of the shop.

……

Outside Qingyang Marketplace, in the second-tier spirit fields.

The sky suddenly erupted in gales, followed by torrential rain, flattening the spirit crops.

Within the fields, spirit farmers scrambled desperately, trying every means to save the crops.

“What’s going on?”

“Why has the field’s protective array failed?”

“If this continues, this year’s crops are all lost!”

The spirit farmers cried out in panic.

At that moment.

Qin Ming had just arrived at the fields.

He couldn’t fathom why the protective array, which had never failed before, had suddenly malfunctioned.

Suddenly—he sensed someone secretly watching nearby with his vast spiritual sense.

Behind a secluded grove near the fields.

Two Foundation Establishment Elders of Lingyu Gate stared coldly at the chaos in the fields.

One casually raised his hand and cast a soundproofing seal.

“Elder Gu, isn’t this… rather inappropriate?” Elder Zhuang Xiran frowned at the fields, hesitated, then spoke to his companion.

Elder Gu’s expression remained rigid and emotionless: “A mere spirit farmer—do you think I can’t control him?”

“He’s always had a rebellious streak, always wanting to escape our control—how easy do you think that is?”

“He refuses to submit to our sect, instead choosing to ally with Jingxue Pavilion.”

“If he won’t serve us, he’s dead.”

“When our sect recruited cultivators from immortal families, they signed contracts obligating them to six decades of labor—every single year counts.”

“If he dares to run, we’ll crush his family.”

After Elder Gu broke through to Foundation Establishment, his temperament changed drastically.

When he was still field overseer, he couldn’t stand the lowly spirit farmers he’d exploited.

Without realizing it, they’d risen to his own rank, standing shoulder to shoulder with him.

But now it was different.

Having broken through to Foundation Establishment, Elder Gu’s status in Lingyu Gate surged, and his mindset shifted again.

When he was still an outer sect overseer, he once tried to buy premium Beasts’ Fang Rice from Qin Ming.

But Qin Ming, hiding behind Jingxue Pavilion’s influence, flatly refused him, showing him not the slightest respect—he still harbored resentment.

“The other Elders in the sect agree: by any means necessary, stop him from advancing to second-tier spirit farmer.”

“Keep him here—make him till the soil for our sect his entire life.”

……

Qin Ming retracted his spiritual sense.

That level of soundproofing seal was useless against his powerful spiritual sense.

Learning the truth, his face turned icy, his fists clenched tightly. “That old bastard Elder Gu—he’s never let go of his grudge against me.”

He never expected the man to be so calculating, already plotting against him.

He exploited me for so long—wasn’t that enough?

Now he wants to chain me to Lingyu Gate, force me to till his fields for life.

Qin Ming’s eyes flashed with cold light.

He had already devised a plan.

He formed a strange hand seal and pointed at the sky above his fields.

A grayish barrier enveloped the five mu of his fields.

Instantly, all the rain and wind froze in midair, unable to enter his fields at all.

Good thing the courtyard's spirit herb patch recently spawned this [Still Wind Seal] entry.

“Otherwise, I’d have fallen right into his trap.”

……

Far away, in the grove.

Elder Gu’s eyes widened: “Huh? How is this possible?”

“How does that brat know such an obscure technique?” Elder Zhuang Xiran was equally stunned.

“Enough. Don’t lose sight of the bigger picture.”

“We’ll deal with him later.”

“Right now, the priority is to find the dragon-shaped secret key before other sects do.”

“Before Elder Yuwen breaks through to Golden Core, we mustn’t alert anyone.”

“We must maintain the current situation at all costs.”

“We cannot afford even the slightest mistake.”

Elder Zhuang Xiran said solemnly.

“Once our sect produces a Golden Core Ancestor, everything will change.”

Elder Gu understood priorities and the stakes—he nodded in agreement.

Yet his eyes flickered, as if harboring hidden thoughts.

The two then left without further delay.

Moments later.

Within the fields.

The previously failed protective array slowly reactivated, blocking out wind and rain once more.

Qin Ming looked up at the array, lost in thought.

He had heard every word of Elder Gu and Zhuang Xiran’s final exchange.

“What’s going on with Lingyu Gate?”

“It fixed itself?”

“Lucky we didn’t suffer major losses.”

……

Qin Ming returned to the marketplace.

He bought a small protective array from Gu Qingzhao and installed it around his fields as a precaution.

He secretly buried thorn-imbued spirit seeds around the fields—if any fool dared steal his crops again, they’d have no one to blame but themselves.

“Comrade Qin, starting next month, our pavilion will withdraw from Qingyang Marketplace and temporarily return to Yunmeng Mountain.”

“If the situation in Yunze Wilds doesn’t calm down soon, we may permanently abandon this place.”

“I’m letting you know in advance.”

Gu Qingzhao spoke to Qin Ming with solemn gravity.

“Then if that’s the case, could you please deliver this to Brother Su?” Qin Ming pulled out a jade box and handed it to Gu Qingzhao.

He had planned to wait a while before revealing this item, but now Jingxue Pavilion didn’t want to get involved.

He could only take it out early.

Gu Qingzhao took the jade box, opened it slightly, and her starry eyes widened in shock, “Second-rank Divine Essence Fruit!”

Inside the jade box lay five peculiar spiritual fruits, each the size of an egg, radiating a faint aura of spiritual energy.

No—it’s a top-grade spiritual fruit!

Gu Qingzhao snapped out of her shock and stared at Qin Ming, “Are these the fruits you cultivated?”

“That’s right. This was a promise I made to Brother Su before he left.”

Gu Qingzhao closed and put away the jade box, paused to think, then asked hopefully, “Your cultivation of spiritual plants is extraordinary—you’ve even succeeded in growing second-rank plants. Do you have any extra Divine Essence Fruits? My guild will buy them at Gao Jie prices.”

“I do still have some, but I’d like to propose a different trade condition,” Qin Ming said after a moment’s thought to Gu Qingzhao.

Gu Qingzhao, hearing there was room to negotiate, smiled faintly, a hint of delight in her eyebrows. “What is it you desire, Brother Qin?”

……

(End of Chapter)