Chapter 38: Blood Killing Pearl Obtained

The next moment.

Centered on Chen Shicheng, all the millet within a hundred-meter radius shot up significantly, and the tops of the plants bore grains of millet out of nowhere.

"Good!" The general fiercely waved his fist, his excited expression showing plainly, "Chen brother, you're great—whether the brothers can eat a meal depends on you!"

At this moment he was completely different from before, no longer showing the pained look he had when he handed the Blood Killing Pearl to Chen Shicheng; aside from feeling guilty for not letting the brothers eat well, his mind was wholly filled with excitement.

Meanwhile, Wang Peng, who obviously loved staple food, knelt by the field without regard for image, his trembling hands holding up the greenish millet, tears in his eyes as he said, "Who the hell would eat meat when there's millet rice to eat?" slurp

The commotion here caught the attention of the soldiers reclaiming the land, who all stopped their work and climbed out of the pits.

At first they were a bit confused, not knowing what the general was doing or why he was so happy.

But upon seeing Chen Shicheng standing in the field and the crops beside him taller than elsewhere, they suddenly understood, threw down their hoes, and rushed over in delight.

"Long live, we have food to eat!"

"Long live the general!"

"Even that sorcerer, long live!"

Chen Shicheng felt his qi and blood replenish in less than a second, almost overflowing, as he pressed his hand down before the cheering soldiers; in their fervent gazes he used the skill again.

"Universal Rainfall!"

The previous use of the skill had brought the millet to the brink of maturity; this time it made the millet fully mature instantly, the plants like foxtail grass suddenly hanging full of plump millet, weighing down the stems.

"Quick, have the people below split into two teams—one to harvest the crops, one to replant—make sure you keep up with Young Hero Chen's speed!"

The general looked at the abundant crops and felt thrilled, but in front of the soldiers he barely kept up his persona, firmly patting Wang Peng's shoulders twice.

"Quick, have the people below split into two teams—one to harvest the crops, one to replant—make sure you keep up with Young Hero Chen's speed, and also call out everyone from the army camp to come down to the field!"

Wang Peng rubbed his swollen shoulder, wryly splitting the restless soldiers into two teams; following behind Chen Shicheng, they orderly carried out the harvest work, then he called in the rotating rested soldiers from the army camp to join them.

Amid another round of cheers, the task of producing food finally got on track.

Chen Shicheng walked ahead, using the skill twice in a row per hundred square meters, then shifting position.

The harvesting team behind immediately swarmed forward, began cutting the mature crops, and to keep up with the pace their sickles practically wanted to throw sparks.

The team further back responsible for turning the soil and sowing seeds, as soon as the harvesting team finished work, rushed forward to till the land—using hands if hoes were insufficient—since the soft soil meant nothing to these high-level soldiers.

Soon a perfect cycle was achieved, and the speed was so fast it felt like playing Age of Empires with an accelerator.

"This place seems like a game too, so it's fine."

Chen Shicheng kept activating the skill while his mind wandered.

This plot of farmland isn't large—at most about 100 mu, roughly sixty-six thousand square meters.

According to his rate of generating a hundred-meter range per skill use, 1,320 uses would mature the whole plot; each use takes about two seconds, and his qi and blood recover so quickly that by the time he moves to the next spot they're already overflowing, basically negligible.

At that rate, maturing the hundred mu of farmland once would take 44 minutes; adding his movement time—even if he sacrificed some crops to move at full speed—after one full cycle the time elapsed was already an hour.

When he returned to the starting point, that initial hundred square meters of farmland had already finished harvesting, tilling, sowing, watering, and other preparatory work, ready for the next round of maturation.

However, Chen Shicheng didn't start work right away; instead he glanced at the condition of the Blood Killing Pearl.

{True Essence: 8650/10000}

As expected of a magic treasure, releasing such high-intensity skill consumed less than a fifth of the stored True Essence!

"The yield is in—23,000 catties of millet!!!"

Just as he was checking the remaining True Essence, Wang Peng, who was in charge of weighing on the other side, also confirmed this round's yield.

Although it's only about half of modern yields, to these soldiers it was an enormous haul—especially since it was just an hour's hard work, and there was still plenty of time; if they kept working into the night, or even went all out for two days, they couldn't even imagine it. These soldiers had never seen so much food, ignoring the sweat drenched from the sun, they each consciously stood behind Chen Shicheng.

"Let's go!"

Chen Shicheng didn't disappoint their expectant gazes, immediately beginning the next round of maturation.

He hadn't forgotten that the Blood Killing Pearl still wasn't his; not knowing how much food the general would need to be satisfied, he just kept working away.

One wanted a magic treasure, a crowd wanted food—thus, like men who'd eaten crazy dogder, driven by desire they worked from day to night and then night to day.

The True Essence in the Blood Killing Pearl was exhausted; the soldiers behind stepped forward one by one to transfer True Essence, then continued the mechanical work.

After who knows how many rounds of maturation, the glassy-eyed Chen Shicheng was finally called by Wang Peng: "Chen brother, that's enough—the granary can't hold any more, even the barracks need to be piled full."

"Is that so?"

Wang Peng's words seemed to flip a switch; Chen Shicheng's mind went blank and he sat straight down on the ground, the soldiers behind him all collapsing limp, some even starting to snore as soon as they touched the ground.

"So the food is enough, we don't need to continue, right?" Chen Shicheng asked, a little wary.

"That's right, the general said you've completed the task; that food is enough for us to eat for ten years!" Wang Peng said with a look of yearning.

"Good, good!"

{Task completed, you obtained the Blood Killing Pearl (magic treasure), the soldiers of Iron Refining Town's favor greatly increased. }

Chen Shicheng touched his dantian, feeling the magic treasure now his own, his heart filled with emotion.

He still realized for the first time how strong his patience and willpower were—just for a magic treasure he could push himself to this extent.

At first his mind could still think of other things to stay basically clear, but as the mechanical motions repeated over and over, his consciousness began to blur, then entered a state of emptiness.

If it weren't for the magic treasure sustaining him, plus the boost to his divine attribute, he would have likely given up long ago.

"If I had this perseverance back then, how could I have only gotten into a third-tier college? In the country, all the schools would be mine to pick!"

(End of chapter)