Chapter 237: No Plants Summoned

Once the teleportation array arrived at the Wildlands, everyone went to their respective fields to reclaim the land.

This day, Jiang Xu, Qin Yan, and Qin Tang did not come; as soon as Qin Bi arrived, she summoned rain, a very light drizzle. The Wildlands they visited last time had thin spiritual energy, but this Wildlands was simply devoid of spiritual energy.

With spiritual energy so scarce, summoning became difficult.

As Qin Bi held the small teacup and attempted to summon, she felt a stagnation, a heaviness, as if the summoning was being suppressed; thus, she could only summon a fine, dense drizzle, though even this constant drizzle would suffice.

She feared that even this light drizzle might not be possible.

Rong Juan, Qin Lang, Qin Xun, and He Zu all summoned vines; Rong Juan even hesitated to use his ancestral plant-summoning bean sprout, for that single small sprout would likely shed its leaves just from tilling the soil.

Rong Yang summoned, and a fine drizzle like cowhair fell; the child was surprised, as he had intended to summon plants.

"Can your small teacup summon plants?" Qin Bi asked the little bundle.

The small teacup bore no painted patterns, so its primary function was unknown.

The little bundle, Rong Yang, said, "It hasn't summoned any plants."

Qin Bi guessed perhaps it couldn't summon plants; Lin Yao came over, saw the rain summoned by Qin Bi and Rong Yang, and sighed. The rain was a bit light, but better than nothing.

"The Wildlands lack spiritual energy, and the land is arid," Lin Yao said. "Some low-level cultivators have come but cannot summon rain; you being able to summon even a light drizzle is already good."

"It is harder to reclaim than the Wildlands last time," Qin Bi compared.

"That patch of Wildlands has been mostly reclaimed," Lin Yao, who knew the situation, explained to Qin Bi: "Most of the Wildlands lack spiritual energy; perhaps because of this scarcity, it is extremely arid everywhere, with soil containing no moisture at all. Winter is somewhat better, but reclaiming land in summer is the most arduous, and summoning rain is truly difficult. The Princess Consort and the Young Master need not worry; just reclaim the land slowly."

Qin Bi naturally knew there was no rush to reclaim the land; she waved her hand: "Go attend to your duties."

Lin Yao went to greet Rong Juan, Qin Lang, and the others, then flicked his sleeves and departed.

Lin Yao had close friends reclaiming land together; their strengths were comparable. Confucian scholars found reclaiming land easier compared to people like Qin Bi, so there was little time for long chats, and Lin Yao needed to reclaim land himself.

Qin Bi looked at the tilled earth, about the size of two tables; it was too small.

Holding the small teacup in one hand, Qin Bi extended the other, gently guiding the rain with her hand, slowly moving a patch of fine, dense drizzle to an empty plot nearby; it wasn't heavy, but enough to wet clothes.

Everyone was busy and didn't notice.

The little bundle, Rong Yang, was also concentrating on summoning a cowhair-fine drizzle; when the child turned around, he grew anxious: "Mother, if your rain is too much, you can give me some; my field lacks water, how can you let it fall elsewhere?"

"I want to reclaim a bit more land; the soil is too dry to till," Qin Bi explained, but she still turned, extended her hand, and used the same method to guide a small patch of rain over there.

Immediately, a light drizzle fell over the child's field, no longer just a cowhair-fine drizzle.

Rong Yang grinned, holding his small teacup and summoning along; although he summoned only a cowhair-fine drizzle, the little one worked very hard. Qin Bi felt sorry for the child, and after a while, she gave him a spirit fruit to eat.

"Rest a bit," Qin Bi told Rong Yang.

Rong Yang ran over happily; He Zu summoned a tree for shade, a small tree about a meter tall with sparse leaves, just enough to shade the little one alone.

Qin Bi was not afraid of the sun and accompanied the child while eating.

After the child ate the spirit fruit, he happily ran off to summon again. Qin Bi planned to till the land; she didn't trouble others, took a hoe from her storage bag, and tilled the land again. Yesterday's plot was tilled a second time, while the newly reclaimed field was tilled once.

After tilling the field, Qin Bi saw it was about half a fen in size; she stood still, held the small teacup to summon, and moments later, a fine, dense rain fell. Rong Yang turned his small head, very envious.

Qin Bi smiled, tentatively put away the small teacup, yet the rain continued to fall.

He Zu and the others didn't notice; Qin Bi took a hoe to Rong Yang's field: "I'll till it for you once."

"Okay," Rong Yang said happily.

The table-sized plot had already been tilled once; Qin Bi tilled it again. Rong Yang, being young, only watched from the side. After Qin Bi finished tilling, she waved her hand to make rain fall on Rong Yang's field.

By this time, worried the child might be hot, Qin Bi took a spirit melon, cut it open, and held the child while watching him eat the melon.

Qin Bi held the child and held the small teacup; He Zu looked back, saw his eldest nephew wasn't overheating, and was slightly surprised that Qin Bi could go aside to summon.

"Don't drop the seeds," Qin Bi said, extending her hand to catch them near the child's mouth.

The little bundle, Rong Yang, spat out watermelon seeds; after eating two pieces of spirit melon, the little one, now full, ran off to summon rain again, switched to a different summoning artifact, and summoned a small vine to loosen the soil.

Qin Bi rose from the ground, observed the field she had reclaimed, selected a spot, took a rake from her storage bag and raked it, then used a hoe to dig furrows, placing the watermelon seeds aside to dry in the sun.

Qin Bi focused on making rain fall on this one spot; once the soil had absorbed the moisture thoroughly, she dispersed the rain and stopped it from falling there. After working for a while, the thoroughly watered ground was no longer wet; Qin Bi took the watermelon seeds and planted them one by one, covering them with loose, moist soil from the side.

After finishing planting the seeds, Qin Bi called the little bundle to eat melon again.

The little bundle gnawed two pieces of melon, spat out the seeds; Qin Bi let them dry a bit, then planted them in the dug furrows. The sun in the Wildlands was fierce, and the previously planted land had dried out again.

Qin Bi used the small teacup to summon rain; by noon, half the melon seeds had been planted.

At noon, everyone left one after another, finding a restaurant to eat; those with empty purses could eat whatever was available in the canteen, after all, some scholar families were of average means.

Qin Lang and his group went to a restaurant and ordered stir-fried dishes and steamed buns.

Qin Bi fed Rong Yang steamed buns and stir-fried dishes; the little one was still too small.

After the meal, many scholars and cultivators went to register the acreage of reclaimed land. Rong Juan said, "We don't need to yet; the fields aren't ready. Once the reclamation is mostly done, we'll go register the wasteland."

He Zu added, "The fields I'm reclaiming should be finished by evening."

Qin Bi held Rong Yang's hand; He Zu lifted the child, and the group departed. Lin Yao and the scholars chatted at the registration area, glanced at the group, then withdrew their gaze.

Back in the fields, everyone got busy, summoning plants one after another.

Qin Bi was not in a hurry; spirit melons, once cut, wouldn't keep. Qin Bi cut the spirit melon, let Rong Yang eat it all, gathered the seeds, accompanied the child to rest for a while, then got up to work.

Qin Bi stood by the field's edge, scanned the furrows with her eyes, and saw tiny sprouts breaking through the soil.

Qin Bi's eyes widened: "...Rong Yang!"

The little bundle ran over: "Mother."

Qin Bi signaled the child with her eyes; Rong Yang looked puzzled. Qin Bi pulled the child down into a squat, pointed at the green sprouts: "The spirit melon has sprouted."