Chapter 139

The next morning, Liu Shi came to the Qi Refining Room area. Taking advantage of the time when the students were washing up and getting up, she gathered all the Wood Class pupils together and said: “At the end of the Shen Hour this afternoon, all students report to the main gate of the Herbal Worker dormitory area—we’re changing locations for the task. If any student fails to complete the task on time, they will stay behind to finish it. I’ll come back tomorrow to pick them up.”

Liu Shi’s words immediately struck a nerve in some of the younger students.

Especially those who always struggled to finish their daily picking quota until dark.

They either dragged their feet while working, or slacked off and played while working; or because they rented Herbal Worker gear, they had to pick thirty jin extra every day.

This meant they’d been working deep into the night for the past two days!

When Liu Shi spoke, they grew tense.

Damn it—completing three hundred jin of picking before the end of the Shen Hour? That wasn’t something everyone could handle.

Immediately, some students burst into tears.

Liu Shi didn’t even glance at them.

She walked away.

The other students: “...”

“Get to work quickly—we need to finish early,” someone shouted, and others quickly echoed.

Even after putting on their gear, they skipped breakfast and rushed straight to the herbal fields.

As they left, the other students began stirring restlessly.

Of course, some had already washed up and went to eat breakfast.

Like Su Jin and Su Wuji.

While Su Jin ate breakfast, Qi Yi shuffled over nervously, lowered her voice, and said: “Help me pick thirty jin of fruit—I’ll give you thirty spirit stones. I’m really worried I won’t finish by the end of the Shen Hour.”

“Pay me thirty spirit stones first. After I finish my own task, I’ll pick you thirty jin extra,” Su Jin replied without hesitation. Earning spirit stones? No shame in that.

Qi Yi froze for a moment, then gritted her teeth and secretly handed Su Jin thirty spirit stones.

Su Jin immediately said: “Here, let’s exchange Qianli Transmission Talismans.”

“Okay,” Qi Yi nodded quickly.

“I’ll contact you once I’m done picking,” Su Jin said.

“Thank you,” Qi Yi said, her emotions unusually complicated.

Asking Su Jin for help made her feel psychologically inferior—as if she’d bowed her head to Su Jin.

But if she didn’t ask, she’d likely be left behind—and that would be even more humiliating.

The worst part? She’d been attending the clan school for some time now, yet still hadn’t made a single friend. Sigh!

After Qi Yi left, Su Qingniao crept over quietly. “What secret deal were you two making?”

“She paid me spirit stones to pick thirty jin of fruit for her. I agreed—but only after I finish my own quota,” Su Jin said.

“How much per jin to hire you?” Su Qingniao gasped, eyes wide. “I didn’t think even the top three in class would stoop to this?”

“One spirit stone per jin of fruit,” Su Jin replied calmly.

“So expensive?” Su Qingniao exclaimed. “Qi Yi is awful—this is wrecking the market rules! Yesterday, hiring someone else to pick fruit was still five jin per spirit stone!”

“I even helped Su Cheng arrange two other students’ jobs!”

“I’m top three in class—so naturally, hiring me costs this much,” Su Jin said, puffing out her small chest proudly.

Su Qingniao gave her a flat-out “you’re awesome” hand gesture.

To speed up fruit-picking, Su Jin decided to cheat outright—she summoned Xue Chiluo.

The girl and the plant chose a remote, uninhabited herbal field.

Then they each began picking fruit.

At first, Su Jin didn’t notice what Xue Chiluo was doing. She’d brought it along just hoping it could pick a few extra fruits—anything was better than nothing.

But when she finished half a basket of Jianghong fruit and suddenly turned around—

She was stunned.

Xue Chiluo had grown four thick, black, snake-tail-like slender branches.

These branches had no leaves—only long, swaying stalks resembling snake tails. And they’d grown taller than Xue Chiluo’s main stem.

Xue Chiluo’s main body bore a small basket. The four strange branches moved like arms, stripping ripe Jianghong fruit from surrounding vines and dropping them into the basket.

And it could simultaneously harvest four fruits at once—better than any four-armed puppet.

Xue Chiluo only needed to shift slightly to locate nearby ripe fruit and feed them into the basket.

Much faster than Su Jin.

No wonder ancient Great Witches kept Xue Chiluo as pets.

A true labor model!

“Xue Chiluo, how did you grow these weird branches—and all four at once?” Su Jin rushed over, touched the new branches, and asked.

The surface of these branches was covered in diamond-shaped scales resembling snake skin.

This kind of thing shouldn’t grow on Xue Chiluo at all.

Wasn’t Xue Chiluo supposed to be a plant?

Su Jin wasn’t even sure anymore.

“Last time humans killed that giant insect, while no one noticed, I sneaked into its nest. Inside, I found a piece of black, soft flesh—extremely, extremely fragrant. I ate it, and then these new branches grew.”

“So you stole and ate something tasty, and that’s why you grew these branches? Wait—yesterday, when we went to that place together, I didn’t see these new branches on you?” Su Jin asked suspiciously.

Xue Chiluo shook its four new branches.

Right before Su Jin’s eyes, the branches vanished.

What the hell? They can turn invisible?

What kind of ability is this?

Su Jin stared, dumbfounded.

“You can make your branches invisible?”

“I can only make these new branches invisible. The rest of my body can’t,” Xue Chiluo said.

“Still incredibly useful,” Su Jin said in amazement. “It seems insects and their nests hold great value for you. From now on, I’ll take on more tasks like this once I enter the sect.”

“Xue Chiluo helps Zuzu with tasks.”

“Good.”

Thanks to Xue Chiluo, the ultimate little labor model, Su Jin finished picking three hundred jin of Jianghong fruit before noon.

She also picked an extra thirty jin for Qi Yi.

Su Jin tucked the shrunken miniature Xue Chiluo into her left sleeve and hung a small basket on her right arm.

Then she walked toward the herbal field supervisor girl while activating her Qianli Transmission Talisman to contact Qi Yi.

Qi Yi received the message and felt like she was going mad.

She’d been pushing herself all day—skipped breakfast, planned to skip lunch too—just to pick as much as possible. Yet even after exhausting herself, she’d only managed one hundred and fifty jin. And now, before noon, Su Jin had already finished three hundred jin—and even completed the thirty jin she’d promised her.

How could she be so far behind Su Jin?