Chapter 37

Wait!

Chen Shicheng suddenly recalled the healing skill he had just learned, "Doesn't anyone here know wood-element magic? Why not use it to boost crop growth?"

"You think these illiterate roughnecks could learn magic?" Wang Peng rolled his eyes and said bitterly, "And even those who know wood-element magic wouldn't care about our lives."

"Um." Chen Shicheng gave an odd look at the proficient skill on the interface, "I seem to know wood-element magic."

What?

Wang Peng sprang up from the ground, staring at Chen Shicheng in shock, "You said you know wood-element magic?"

Exactly.

Hold on, I'll go inform the general!

Before Chen Shicheng could finish, Wang Peng turned and sprinted toward the general's tent, disregarding the camp's ban, using a light-body technique that kicked up a puff of dust.

Chen Shicheng stared agape at Wang Peng's retreating back, helplessly lowering his half-raised hand.

Knowing you're anxious from going without food for so long, but could you at least wait? You haven't even finished speaking before you run off. Although he knows wood-element magic and is proficient, with his current qi and blood, making one mu of crops mature in a day would exhaust him to death.

According to ancient yields, even with magical enhancement, one mu of land produces at most 200 jin of grain; divided among the camp, each person gets only a few extra bites—utterly futile.

Forget it.

Having stayed in the camp for days to evade Yu Wei's pursuit, I must acknowledge this favor; I'll treat it as repaying the debt.

Chen Shicheng sensed his qi and blood levels, preparing himself to be drained over the next few days.

Soon, the young general who had never shown his face burst from the tent at a speed even greater than Wang Peng's, skidding to a halt before Chen Shicheng and asking nervously.

Do you really know wood-element magic?

I have no reason to lie to you, but I should warn you upfront: my power is modest, and I can only use the spell a limited number of times each day, so the harvest might disappoint you. Chen Shicheng gave this heads‑off to avoid later misunderstandings.

No problem; as long as you can make the crops grow, I'll handle the magic‑cost issue!

The general glanced at Wang Peng, who had just caught up and stood behind him with a look of eager anticipation, gritted his teeth, raised his right hand in a vague grasp at his dantian, and forced a red pearl out of his body.

If you can produce enough grain, I'll give you this pearl!

As his words fell, a new quest appeared on the interface.

【Discovered Quest: Grain Inducement】

【Quest Description: The general, long suffering from a staple shortage, hopes you will use wood‑element magic to help store a large amount of grain. Will you accept his request?】

【Quest Reward: Blood‑Slay Pearl】

Huh?

Chen Shicheng hadn't expected that, merely wanting to avoid owing a favor and intending to do something within his ability for these people, he would stumble upon a quest whose reward would dazzle him.

【Blood‑Slay Pearl】

【Quality: Divine Treasure】 【Description: A divine treasure refined from the inner core of a level‑25 boss, capable of storing vast amounts of true essence and converting it to one's own needs, with a capacity of 10,000/10,000.】

Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten‑thousands.

After counting the four zeros following the 1, Chen Shicheng nervously swallowed, never imagining that this tiny pearl could actually hold ten thousand points of true essence.

One must know that true essence is what a cultivator obtains after refining the body to its limit, then condensing and elevating essence, energy, and spirit through qi‑training methods.

His current qi attribute is 10, which translates to roughly one point of true essence; ten thousand points of true essence could fully restore his qi and blood power ten thousand times!

Chen Shicheng roughly estimated that, with his current qi and blood, using the Wind‑Sweeping Cloud skill would last about ten seconds.

If he had the Blood‑Slay Pearl as a supplement, then... "Holy shit!"

He ran the calculation four or five times in his head and arrived at an unbelievable figure: one day and eight hours!!!! Using the skill, a dozen or so blade bursts per second could mince the iron‑clad wooden dummy before him; if sustained for a day, it would seem he could carve a hole through the sky! Of course, Chen Shicheng knows that piercing the heavens is pure fantasy—his essence attribute couldn't sustain uninterrupted output for a full day.

Even if he could only last half an hour, and even though the blade bursts would be mere scratches against Yu Wei's armored gear, the sheer volume of attacks—ants can fell an elephant—would make that monster unable to remain indifferent! All fear stems from insufficient firepower.

With this equipment, Yu Wei becomes nothing; I could even take the offensive and hunt down that freak! "Come on, let's go—I can't stand seeing anyone suffer!"

At this moment Chen Shicheng was even more urgent than the general, hastily grabbing his arm and incessantly urging him to lead the way.

The general looked at the even more anxious Chen Shicheng, somewhat baffled, but seeing how seriously he took the matter felt a bit reassured, feeling his treasure hadn't been given away in vain.

The two, both in a hurry, agreed instantly, wasted no time, and went straight to the fields the soldiers had cleared themselves.

Upon seeing the field, Chen Shicheng immediately understood the difficulty Wang Peng had mentioned.

At the junction of the camp and the forest lies a long, worm‑like plot of farmland, winding back and forth to separate the two.

On the forest side, many soldiers are still swinging hoes, desperately digging up tree roots to expand the farmland.

Unfortunately, trees have deep roots; even a single root can sink ten or more meters into the ground, and its spread is absurdly wide—if any is missed, a sapling could sprout again in a few days.

Indeed, it's not easy.

After a simple sigh, Chen Shicheng took the Blood‑Slay Pearl from the general's hand and, following the special method he'd been given, poured his own qi and blood into it.

Feeling a faint connection form between the pearl and himself, he brought the Blood‑Slay Pearl to his dantian; with a thought, the pearl instantly sank into his body.

At the same time, a feeling of fullness spread through his body, as if he were being filled from inside out, prompting Chen Shicheng to let out a satisfied moan.

Awesome!

Feeling his body brim with seemingly endless qi and blood power, Chen Shicheng walked to the millet‑filled ridges, raised his right hand, and unleashed the skill with all his might.

Sweet rain descends upon all!

As his qi and blood were depleted, the yin‑wood essence of heaven and earth kept gathering within a 100‑meter radius, forming countless green raindrop‑shaped light specks. Under the control of mastery‑level power, they precisely avoided the weeds and seeped into the crops in the field.

(End of Chapter)