Chapter 238: Spirit Melon Sprouts in the Barren Lands

Rong Juan held her small hands on her legs, staring blankly at the little sprout.

She squatted down and took a closer look.

The child opened her mouth wide in surprise: "Spirit melon sprout??????"

Regarding cultivation, Rong Juan knew more than Qin Bi.

Qin Bi exclaimed with joy: "Is it a spirit melon sprout?"

Rong Juan stretched out her chubby little hand and poked the sprout, saying, "It has only a little spiritual energy."

Qin Bi was puzzled, and the child was puzzled too; the barren lands were clearly lacking in spiritual energy, as shown by the inability to summon heavy rain, and even ordinary watermelon sprouts failed to grow in the unprepared fields, let alone spirit melon sprouts.

"How could the spirit melon seeds sprout?" Qin Bi asked the little bundle.

"Yes," Rong Juan said. "What is going on?"

Mother and daughter squatted there for a long while without figuring anything out, until Qin Bi realized that after a whole afternoon, the field where the sprouts had emerged was already dry, and the melon sprouts would soon lack water.

Qin Bi took a small tea bowl and summoned rain; fine, dense drizzle fell.

The melon sprouts, watered by the rain, grew sturdy one by one; in such a short time, they had already sprouted several leaves, and the rain made them grow even faster, clearly indicating they had ample nutrients.

Mother and daughter fell silent and counted; there were fully thirty sprouts.

Rong Juan was extremely envious: "I don't even have spirit melon sprouts."

Qin Bi got along very well with Rong Juan; being her own child, she found her adorable in every way: "I'll dig a few up for you. All of mine are yours. When the spirit melons grow, our whole family will eat enough, without spending spirit stones."

Rong Juan nodded vigorously: "Okay."

Qin Bi handed the small tea bowl to Rong Juan: "You continue summoning the rain while I build ridges for your field. Once they're ready, I'll irrigate them. Spirit melon sprouts can grow into spirit melons, so they must be tended carefully."

Rong Juan nodded, happily holding the small tea bowl and taking over the summoning.

The rain summoned by the child was usually fine as ox hair, but after taking over the small tea bowl given by Qin Bi, the summoning continued without weakening from rain to fine drizzle just because it wasn't Qin Bi summoning.

Qin Bi, excited, quickly built the ridges for Rong Juan and summoned rain to irrigate them.

Rong Juan's field was too small; a little rain was enough. The field Qin Bi had opened up later was now ready for planting; the soil was no longer so damp, even a bit dry.

Qin Bi quickly planted the remaining watermelon seeds. Knowing they might sprout into spirit melon sprouts, she was more careful this time. Spirit melons were rare; if her family could grow them, they would save the cost of buying.

He Zu glanced over curiously a few times, saw Qin Bi and Rong Juan together, and decided not to approach.

Qin Lang, Rong Yan, and Qin Xun were also busy; the soil quality in this part of the barren lands was too poor. The vines they summoned were losing leaves, requiring two wood-element spirit stones to recover, which pained them greatly.

Wood-element demon beast spirit stones were scarce and hard to buy.

Fortunately, the summoning artifact had been snatched from the small space in the demon beast realm, so they didn't mind much. Otherwise, if it had been Rong Yan's ancestral bean sprouts, Rong Yan would have preferred not to reclaim the wasteland at all rather than let his own bean sprouts lose their spiritual energy.

"I'll plant the watermelon seeds and then transplant them to you," Qin Bi said, patiently coaxing Rong Juan, who seemed anxious.

Rong Juan held the small tea bowl, very well-behaved, and nodded her little head: "Mm."

After Qin Bi finished planting the seeds, she transplanted six into Rong Juan's field; there wasn't room for more due to the tiny reclaimed area. Qin Bi was somewhat excited; in just this short time, the watermelon sprouts had grown another segment.

Qin Bi didn't know what to say. In this fictional cultivation world, the soil wasn't poor; what was lacking was rain. Normally it wasn't noticeable, but after Qin Bi summoned rain several times in the fields, she realized it.

As long as there was enough rain, the crops would grow vigorously, throwing themselves into it.

Changing appearance every moment, changing appearance every moment; it would almost make the people of Great Yan drop their jaws in shock.

By the time Qin Bi finished, the thirty spirit melon sprouts had already grown half a meter tall. Looking back, those planted in the afternoon had also sprouted. Rong Juan ran to count them and then dashed back.

"Mother," Rong Juan said, her small face flushed with excitement: "Sixty-two."

That made ninety-two sprouts. Qin Bi was also happy. She decided to do nothing else and kept summoning rain. Thinking of the spirit fruit seeds Rong Juan had eaten before, Qin Bi regretted not collecting them.

Lin Yao, worried, came over. From far away, he saw the Hereditary Consort and the young Hereditary Prince summoning rain.

Summoning rain nonstop consumed a lot of spiritual power. Lin Yao intended to offer some advice later, but when he approached and saw a small patch of lush green spirit melon sprouts, he blinked and froze.

"This, this..." Lin Yao pointed at the melon field with a trembling hand: "...what is going on?"

Seeing Lin Yao, Qin Bi was pleased and called out to the First Strategist: "Lin Yao, check if the melon sprouts still have spiritual energy. Don't let them lose it as they grow and turn into ordinary watermelon vines."

Lin Yao suppressed his excitement, stepped carefully into the melon field to inspect, and said joyfully: "They are all spirit melon vines."

Qin Lang, Rong Yan, and Qin Xun heard the commotion and came over. He Zu also looked puzzled, but when they saw the small patch of melon field, their eyes immediately widened in disbelief.

"Sister," Qin Lang, being impulsive, pointed at the melon vines and asked an absurd question: "Did you conjure them?"

"Nonsense," Qin Bi said. "They grew on their own."

Qin Xun, excited, checked back and forth: "These are spirit melon sprouts! How could spirit melon sprouts grow in the barren lands? This, this, Qin Bi, you're amazing. Tell us how you planted them."

Qin Bi explained: Rong Juan had eaten a spirit melon, and she had planted the seeds. That was all.

Everyone's expressions were complex. Rong Yan was extremely envious, having almost become Qin Bi's little follower. He Zu felt a mix of emotions. Lin Yao glanced at the sky and hurried away.

Shortly after, Lin Yao obtained a defensive formation from a familiar official in the Ministry of Revenue. When they left, the formation could be activated to cover the farmland, preventing anyone from digging up the spirit melon sprouts.

Two other officials and curious onlookers followed.

Several Confucian scholars did not believe Lin Yao's nonsense and came along. They knew the Hereditary Consort, wife of Hereditary Prince Rong, was a concubine-born daughter, and that her cultivation had just begun. How could she reclaim wasteland and grow spirit melon sprouts? Building a reputation wasn't done this way.

What? Just because she had the young Hereditary Prince, was the Hereditary Consort's status being raised like this?

Even if you were going to lie, you should make it believable. Several Confucian scholars strolled over leisurely, but upon seeing the ground covered in green, not a single one spoke. Were their eyes dazzled by the sun? Otherwise, how could there be a field full of spirit melon sprouts?

One Confucian scholar squatted down, touched a spirit melon vine, and stammered: "It, it really is a spirit melon vine???!!"

"How could this be?" another Confucian scholar, also incredulous, said: "Only wood-element cultivators from the immortal sects could grow such a patch of spirit melons. Besides, this is the barren lands, where spiritual energy is scarce."

The Confucian scholars were excited and envious, wishing they could dig one up.

Lin Yao silently blocked them. He Zu stood aside in silence, his gaze falling for a moment on Qin Bi holding Rong Juan, then lowering his eyes. This woman should have been the Hereditary Consort of the Yan Marquis Prefecture.