Chapter 136: Zhao Wuji's Thoughts

Upon hearing this, Qin Ming pondered for a moment, then politely declined: "Thank you for your kind offer, Fellow Daoist Zhao, but Qin Mou is accustomed to staying on the island, living as an idle wild man."

"Moreover, my aptitude is limited; I fear my cultivation will stop at the early stage of Foundation Establishment in this life, and I dare not even hope for the great Dao of the Jin Dan."

Although Qin Ming held some contempt for the Zhao family's actions, as long as they did not trouble him, everything was negotiable.

Even if the other party had leaked some information about Wangyue Island to the rogue cultivators, now was absolutely not the right time to turn against them.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, will you really not reconsider?" Zhao Wuji asked, somewhat surprised.

Under normal circumstances, it was very difficult for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to resist the temptation of a Core-Forming spiritual treasure.

He truly had not expected that even with such conditions, he could not sway Qin Ming.

In fact, Zhao Wuji had come this time on the clan leader's orders, with the goal of tying Qin Ming to their side of the warship.

The Zhao family had long been drooling over Qin Ming's spiritual planting skills and his attainments in the Dao of pills.

What they valued was the immeasurable worth of Qin Ming's skills in the field of immortal cultivation.

As for his future potential in cultivation, as long as he could grow Spirit-Perching Rice, the Zhao family did not care at all.

If the war situation on the Spirit-Perching Islands were not so urgent, the Zhao family's original plan had been to slowly approach Qin Ming, showing goodwill step by step to win him over.

After all, they harbored some apprehension regarding Qin Ming's identity as an honorary Qin Keqing of the Mirror Jing Xue Ge, even if it was merely a titular position.

The Mirror Jing Xue Ge would not easily hand over a cultivator possessing dual specialized skills to others.

But now the situation was different; with the war underway, the Zhao family had been forced into a critical moment of life and death.

They could only resort to any means necessary.

Originally, Zhao Wuji had secretly leaked a message to the Evil-Faced Old Monster, intending to let that group of rogue cultivators set their sights on Wangyue Island.

Then, at the critical moment, he would intervene, subdue that group of rogue cultivators, and save Qin Ming's life.

In this way, the other party would owe him a significant favor, making it easier for him to control Qin Ming.

But who could have known that before he could even arrive, the Evil-Faced Old Monster and his group had mysteriously vanished entirely.

Zhao Wuji finally realized in his heart that the waters of Wangyue Island were likely quite deep, not as calm as they appeared.

This spiritual planter, Qin Ming, who appeared harmless to humans and beasts on the surface, was actually not simple.

He gradually set aside his attitude of underestimation.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao need not persuade me further; Qin Mou's mind is made up," Qin Ming rejected clearly.

Faced with the promise of heavy profits, this was already the second time Qin Ming had refused the Zhao family's attempt to recruit him.

Afterwards, Zhao Wuji, still unwilling to give up, proposed several more conditions to him, but Qin Ming agreed to none.

More than an hour later.

Zhao Wuji left Wangyue Island; his steady and capable expression instantly vanished, replaced by a gloomy look as he pondered something unknown.

Watching Zhao Wuji depart, Qin Ming's eyes flickered with uncertainty; he already knew that the Evil-Faced Old Monster and his group targeting his Wangyue Island had that person's shadow behind them.

But he could not act rashly for now.

As a prodigy of the Zhao family, one of the seven major powers in the Wei State Immortal Realm, Zhao Wuji not only had a profound background but also possessed unfathomable strength.

It was said that this person had few rivals among those at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, and even boasted an impressive record of fighting against late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators to a draw.

Before he broke through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment, he still needed to avoid confronting the spearhead.

"I must quickly create the third-tier illusion realm of the Misty Illusion Mushroom!"

"This surname-Zhao fellow keeps plotting against me every few days; who knows what bad schemes he is brewing in his belly."

After pondering for a while, Qin Ming immediately made up his mind.

Spring passed and autumn came; it was once again the harvest season.

However, it was not Qin Ming's spiritual fields that were harvesting; the second-tier high-grade spiritual plants he cultivated, even the fastest-maturing Spirit-Perching Rice, still needed some time.

The harvest this time was from the spiritual fields he had leased to the Wu family; early this morning, Wu Jiang had come to find Qin Ming.

"Hehe! Fellow Daoist Qin, the spiritual rice in the fields my Wu family rented from you has ripened."

"Let me take you to see them, and I will also pay the rent I promised you back then."

Qin Ming smiled and nodded.

Subsequently, Wu Jiang led him to the spiritual fields below the island.

Within the hundred-plus mu of Golden Spirit Rice fields, a rich aroma of spiritual rice wafted out, with golden light shining brilliantly, glittering and sparkling.

Besides that, there were the five mu of Beast-Tooth Rice that Wu Jiang had cultivated himself; although the yield was not that high, they had successfully been grown.

Under Qin Ming's supervision, Wu Jiang instructed the members of the Wu family to begin harvesting the spiritual rice.

After a whole day of busy work, the magic power of the spiritual farmers below was completely exhausted.

In the end, Wu Jiang delivered to Qin Ming more than ten dan of Golden Spirit Rice, as well as over one dan of Beast-Tooth Rice.

At that time, Qin Ming could resell them to the Mirror Jing Xue Ge, which would be another substantial income.

Qin Ming also experienced the feeling of being a landlord; recalling the days when he used to pay rent himself, he felt quite emotional in his heart.

He patted Wu Jiang on the shoulder, saying, "Fellow Daoist Wu, you did well; keep up the good work next year. There are still many vacant spiritual lands on the island; strive to rent more spiritual fields, and the Wu family has hope of rising!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Jiang was filled with shame; just cultivating these hundred-plus mu of spiritual fields had nearly exhausted all their efforts, but...

For the Wu family, it was not a loss; after all, besides the family generating income, they also enjoyed the protection of Wangyue Island.

After collecting the rent, Qin Ming returned to his cave dwelling to cultivate.

During this period, the battle situation between the Seventy-Two San Alliance and the Zhao family remained very deadlocked.

Every so often, Qin Ming would have Wu Jiang go out to scout for the latest news from the outside world.

However, it was always the same old story; both sides had been unable to launch large-scale conflicts, though small-scale clashes continued unabated.

The Lingyu Sect and Lei Yuanzong, standing behind the scenes, had no intention of entering the fray themselves, manipulating the situation from the shadows.

On this day.

Qin Ming arrived at the rear mountain of the main peak, gazing upon that vast expanse of Mist Illusion Mushrooms emitting pink mist.

Subsequently, using over a dozen 【Ripen】 traits he had refreshed by normally planting low-grade spiritual herbs, he fully ripened those three Mist Illusion Mushrooms that possessed traits.

Within Qin Ming's sea of consciousness, three blue trait leaves instantly appeared.

【Soul Power Crystal】 x5, 【Space-Time Leaf】 x5, 【Spirit Plant Symbiosis】 x5; gazing at these three powerful traits in his sea of consciousness, Qin Ming's spirit immediately surged.

He immediately sat cross-legged on the spot and used the 【Soul Power Crystal】 traits to continue strengthening his divine soul.

Boom! The instant the traits were used, it remained extremely painful; a tearing sensation in the brain was something ordinary cultivators could not endure.

Fortunately, however, Qin Ming could clearly feel his divine soul constantly growing stronger.

Accompanying this was a massive increase in Qin Ming's divine sense power.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Sounds resembling shattering glass constantly rang out within his mind.

After Qin Ming consecutively used five 【Soul Power Crystal】 traits, his divine soul once again rose to an inconceivable level.

At the same time, his divine sense also broke through to the late Foundation Establishment stage; now, when his divine sense left his body, it could cover an area of about ten li in radius.

Qin Ming immediately released his divine sense to test it; not only could he clearly perceive the scene of the Wu family members below the island diligently plowing the fields, but he could also detect that seven or eight li beyond Moon-Watching Island, at the bottom of the lake, a Black Water Crocodile was lurking behind a reef, squinting its eyes and dozing off.

Just at this moment.

The Black Water Crocodile's eyes suddenly opened; it looked around in confusion, found nothing unusual, and squinted its eyes shut again.

"This blockhead actually dares to slack off."

The corners of Qin Ming's mouth faintly curved upward.

He did not bother with it, because next he prepared to use the Space-Time Leaves and Ripen traits to ripen a large patch of Mist Illusion Mushrooms around the entire Moon-Watching Island, forming the legendary Mist Illusion Realm.

(End of Chapter)