Chapter 78: Cultivator

"Thank you, Big Xu Shixiong Xia, you are truly amazing and kind! Mwah!" Ji Wenyue was so excited she couldn't add anything more, couldn't help but hug Xia Daoming, and in a moment of emotion, even kissed him on the face.

"Cough cough!" Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen coughed violently at the sight.

Xia Daoming was so scared he hurriedly helped pat his back and soothe his qi, saying: "You girl, don't look at the time; your grandfather can't take the stimulation now!"

"Big Xu Shixiong! You're bullying me again, I'm ignoring you!" Ji Wenyue had been impulsive for a moment, and after the fact, her heart was pounding like a deer, not expecting Xia Daoming to add insult to injury, so she couldn't help but blush, stomped her feet, twisted her small waist, and flew out of the room.

"Do you two often do this?" Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen suddenly stopped coughing, his eyes shining as he looked at Xia Daoming, his previously golden-paper-like old face seeming to have a trace of radiance.

"Xu Shixiong, what do you take me, Xia Daoming, for? Wenyue is still young, and we have always been respectful to each other!" Xia Daoming said with a straight face upon hearing this.

"Wenyue is not young anymore!" Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen said seriously.

"Xu Shixiong, what do you mean by that?" Xia Daoming was slightly stunned.

"Benefactor, if there are flowers to be plucked, pluck them; don't wait until there are no flowers and just pluck the branches!" Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen said earnestly.

Xia Daoming looked at Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen silently.

This old silver coin!

Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen looked at him encouragingly.

Xia Daoming was defeated.

He felt his face wasn't as thick as this old guy's.

Selling his own granddaughter as soon as he could!

Soon, Ji Wenyue returned with the cooking utensils and told Xia Daoming that family head Seeing Ji Shouli Shouli and Zhuo Xingji had returned.

Zhuo Xingji was well-known in Li Cheng, and even if he covered his face, he might be recognized by people from the four major factions.

Xia Daoming was worried that if someone from the four major factions ran away, Zhuo Xingji and he might have their true identities exposed.

So when he took action, he specifically left Zhuo Xingji in the dark in the back.

Of course, Zhuo Xingji's average strength was also a reason.

Just now, Xia Daoming asked Seeing Ji Shouli Shouli to go to where Zhuo Xingji was hiding and call him.

"Please invite them in." Xia Daoming said.

"Can my uncle come in too?" Ji Wenyue hesitated and asked.

Although she wasn't very old, she knew that spirit rice was no small matter and must never be leaked.

"You were raised by your uncle since childhood and are as close as father and daughter, so naturally he can." Xia Daoming said without hesitation.

"Hmm." Ji Wenyue looked at Xia Daoming affectionately, her heart feeling as sweet as if it contained honey.

A master of the flower bushes!

Fortunately, he is a person with affection and righteousness, otherwise, if Wenyue were sold by him, she would probably still be counting money for him!

Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen saw Xia Daoming move Ji Wenyue to tears with just a simple sentence, and secretly sighed in his heart.

"Family Head Ji, Xu Shixiong, you came just in time. Help peel some rice, cook some for the old man to nourish his body, and also nourish yourselves." Xia Daoming saw the family head and his Xu Shixiong enter, grabbed two handfuls of spirit rice, spread them on a cloth, and wrapped the rest up again.

"This is..." Seeing Ji Shouli Shouli and Zhuo Xingji looked at the spirit rice on the ground, completely confused.

"This is spirit rice! If it weren't for the benefactor's generous gift, I'm afraid I wouldn't have survived tonight. Now, not only is my life safe, but there is hope for my cultivation to recover." Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen said.

"Spi, spirit rice!" Seeing Ji Shouli Shouli was shocked upon hearing this, his eyes widening.

"What spirit rice? Could it be the rice grown in the legendary immortal land?" Zhuo Xingji was stunned upon hearing this, then suddenly remembered some rumors he had heard while escorting goods, and couldn't help but be shocked.

"Exactly." Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen said.

"Benefactor's great kindness, Shouli..." Seeing Ji Shouli Shouli quickly regained his senses, moved beyond words, and was about to kneel and thank Xia Daoming again.

"Family Head Ji, there is no need for this!" Xia Daoming hurriedly stopped Seeing Ji Shouli Shouli.

And Zhuo Xingji was already petrified on the spot, his mind constantly flashing with the two horses carrying the two large saddlebags, feeling as if his heart was about to explode!

Two large saddlebags, how much spirit rice must that be!

"However, the matter of spirit rice must only be known to the three of you in the Ji Clan and must never be spread, otherwise it might bring us a fatal disaster!" Xia Daoming stopped Seeing Ji Shouli Shouli and said in a deep voice.

"Benefactor, rest assured, if the Ji Clan leaks this news, this old man will definitely die to apologize!" Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen said with a serious expression.

"We are the same!" Seeing Ji Shouli Shouli and Ji Wenyue followed with serious expressions.

"Alright, hurry and peel the rice!" Xia Daoming said, picking up a golden spirit rice, his dark force surging, the rice husk cracked, and a white jade-like clean and moist rice grain rolled out.

Seeing Ji Shouli Shouli and the others saw this and hurriedly started helping to peel the spirit rice.

Under Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen's instructions, the peeled rice husks were all collected by Ji Wenyue, prepared to be ground into rice bran powder to boil porridge or enter medicine, to be given to the other clansmen who had taken secret medicine, which could also replenish some vitality.

Soon, the spirit rice was peeled into two small handfuls of spirit rice and put into an earthen pot, water was added, the lid was covered, and it was placed on the fire rack to boil.

Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen saw the spirit rice enter the pot, smelled the fragrant rice scent, and his thoughts drifted to the prosperous era of the Ji Clan.

"The rise of our Ji Clan is said to have started when our ancestor befriended a cultivator. What specific skills this cultivator had is hard to examine because the era is too distant.

However, some things have been passed down, and our Ji Clan has also specifically inquired about and collected information about cultivators over the generations, cough cough!"

"Old man, shouldn't you eat the spirit rice porridge first, adjust yourself, and then tell me slowly." Xia Daoming said with concern.

"Benefactor, rest assured, now that the Ji Clan has escaped danger, and I have received the benefactor's favor, granting me spirit rice, there is hope for me to pick up my life. Now my mood is very good, and my desire to live is very strong. Talking to you won't get in the way. If you don't let me talk, I'll feel suffocated." Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen said.

"Alright then, you speak." Xia Daoming nodded.

"It is said that the cultivator befriended by our ancestor came from Qingzhou. Qingzhou is located in the hinterland of the Great Liang Kingdom, a place of outstanding people and spirits, very prosperous.

A long time ago, the Ji Clan had the idea of moving to Qingzhou to see if we could continue our immortal fate. But on one hand, we couldn't bear to leave the foundation we had built in Li Cheng for generations, and it's hard to leave one's homeland;

On the other hand, the journey to Qingzhou is long, and we don't know how many hardships and dangers we would experience on the way. After arriving, we would have to start all over again, which inevitably made us feel timid, so we kept dragging it out and never went.

This time, the Xu Clan and the other four major factions wanted to drag our Ji Clan into their battle. If we made the wrong choice, it would be a disaster of extermination. Even if we made the right choice, the Ji Clan would inevitably suffer heavy casualties, and after that, we would have to completely become the slaves and claws of the winner.

So, I thought about it and decided to take this opportunity to move south to Qingzhou. I just didn't expect the Xu Clan and the others to be so cold-blooded, ruthless, and greedy. If it weren't for meeting the benefactor, our Ji Clan... cough cough!"

"Old man, let's not talk about these things; you should get to the point!"

"Good." Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen nodded and continued to tell what he knew about cultivators.