Chapter 39: Plant a Few Hundred Years' Worth of Spirit Fields
Time flew by very quickly.
A year had passed since they arrived at the sect. They continued to add their Immortal Points into their Spiritual Energy.
One day, the restrictions on the medicine valley were lifted and Chen Xux, who was wearing a straw hat, walked out with the black ox in high spirits.
His storage bag was filled with spiritual herbs, all of which were the quota they needed to turn in—not one more, not one less.
They walked to the main hall of the sect with familiarity. They took their time to observe the pillars once more. Luckily, they didn't encounter Senior Le today, avoiding another round of preaching.
Stepping inside, they saw the same old man on post.
Chen Xun respectfully called out, "Senior Uncle, I've come to turn in the spiritual herbs." And the old man—who seemed perpetually half asleep—grunted lazily in response.
Chen Xun didn't dally and started emptying his storage bag, placing each spiritual herb carefully. The fragrance of the herbs filled the hall.
Eyes gleaming, the old man quickly counted the herbs then produced a token. With a swipe in the air, the token flashed lightly with spiritual energy before dimming.
"Not bad, kid. You are the first disciple to deliver all the herbs right on time."
"You may not know this, Senior, but my family specializes in cultivating spiritual herbs. And I have some insights of my own."
"Quite impressive." The old man was slightly more talkative today.
He produced an octagonal card and handed it to Chen Xun, who received it with great joy and held it tightly in his hand.
"A drop of blood to establish the contract and it's yours."
"Yes."
Chen Xun quickly turned to leave, pulling the reins of the black ox. They were headed to the Contribution Hall next. He had long since asked around for its location.
"Old ox, it's time to spend our contributions!"
"Moo!"
As they ran by, the surrounding disciples frowned, wondering who that straw hat wearing fella was and why he was making such a fuss.
It wasn't long before they reached the hall with their speed.
Chen Xun found an empty spot and hurriedly cut a small wound on his finger, and a drop of blood fell on the token.
Upon checking the token, he was surprised to see that he had 200 contribution points!
"Wuhu!" Chen Xun jumped up, shouting. He looked at the black ox and said, "Old ox, we have 200 contributions!"
"Moo!" The big black ox was startled. It stood on its hind legs, and peered at the token.
It was worth noting that the annual contribution requirement for outer disciples was to have at least a hundred points. They had twice that amount.
"Let's go inside! We are splurging today!"
"Moo!"
They stormed into the Contribution Hall side by side.
_Half a day later._
The pair came out of the hall downcast.
Chen Xun held a long sword in his hands, his eyes vacant, and his heart filled with hopelessness.
"Damn... What a rip-off." Chen Xun muttered to himself with a low voice, his mouth moving incessantly. "Rip-off Hall...."
"Moo!" The big black ox's eyes were also dull. Their hard-earned contribution points had been completely wiped out.
"A Heavenly Sword, a lower-grade yellow-tier artifact: 50 contribution points."
"A Pill Refining Furnace, a middle-grade yellow-tier artifact: 100 contribution points."
"Formula for the Fasting Pill: 50 contribution points."
Chen Xun looked at the big black ox, his voice rising to a shout. "We have no more contribution points? This is all we have got?"
"Moo!"
The big black ox bellowed angrily. It vowed to cultivate loads of spiritual fields when it returns to the valley, it will accumulate thousands of contribution points!
"Old ox, let's go back and work the fields! What, can't we even clear a measly Contribution Hall?" Chen Xun was furious, his ambition set ablaze. "Let's work hard for hundreds of years and empty that Contribution Hall!"
"Moo!" The big black ox stood up, its muscles bulging, and let out a bellow to the sky.
"What are you shouting for? No noise outside the hall!" Reprimanding voices came from inside the hall.
"Moo, moo!"
"Alright, let's go."
Chen Xun chuckled awkwardly and pulled the reins in a hurry. They left like a pair of sneaky thieves.
Along the way, they were stopped and questioned by disciples from the Enforcement Hall several times.
There were disciples everywhere they walked. They chatted in groups, and their discussions were filled with excitement.
"The sect's grand competition is about to begin. I heard that Senior Brother Bai Shi has come out of seclusion!"
"Oh, my, he's the pillar of our outer disciples. Senior Brother Bai Shi has been praised by the Sect Master as the one having the highest chance of reaching Foundation Establishment!"
"If he wins this year, the South Mountain expedition will reward him with a Foundation Building Pill within four years!"
"Yeah, but it's not possible for an outer disciple to take the title of champion. That's for the inner disciple to claim."
"But we can still participate and earn some contribution points to advance our cultivation."
A few disciples passed by Chen Xun, talking enthusiastically. They were completely unaware of the straw hat wearing, ox reining farmer eavesdropping.
"Excuse me, senior brothers," Chen Xun cleared his throat and approached them with the black ox, "How many contribution points can one earn by participating in the sect's grand competition?"
The three disciples were taken aback. This person seemed to appear out of nowhere, and he looked like a rustic farmer.
"Hehe, is this junior brother a newcomer to the sect?"
"Yes, yes, please enlighten me, senior brothers." Chen Xun accidentally placed three low-grade spirit stones into their hands.
"Oh!"
The three of them exchanged glances, not having seen such an upfront junior brother before. They stood up straight, laughed heartily, and said, "We are all fellow disciples."
"That's right, we're all brothers." Chen Xun smiled too.
"Junior brother, you may not know this," the three disciples began to explain, "The sect's grand competition is only open to Qi Refining stage disciples. If you rank within the top 500, you'll earn five hundred contribution points!"
"If you make it into the top 100, you'll get a thousand contribution points and the chance to be accepted as a disciple by an elder."
"If you rank within the top 10, you'll get two thousand contribution points, be promoted to inner disciples, and have the freedom to choose your master."
"And if you reach the top 3, now that's what I call extraordinary. It is without a doubt that you'd receive many rewards, but on top of that, there are more amazing rewards which we don't know about. Only those who reach that placement will know...."
The three disciples wore smiles, their eyes filled with longing. If they could enter the top one hundred, they would have a bright future ahead of them.
"How many participate?" Chen Xun asked casually, his heart slightly stirred. He only needed those five hundred contribution points.
He had checked earlier. The recipe for the Foundation Building Pill required three thousand contribution points and fifteen years of work, with no other exchanges allowed.
"Generally, around thirty thousand people participate."
"So many?!" Chen Xun was astonished.
In his previous life, he had never made it into the top five hundred in a competition of one thousand people.
"Of course, not only are there many inner disciples participating, but so are the descendants of the elders."
The three disciples shook their heads with a sigh.
"Those people have high-grade yellow-tier artifacts and various spells at their disposal. We can't compete with them."
"That's unfair. What's the point of competing?" Chen Xun furrowed his brows. The distribution of resources in the cultivation world was so unequal.
"Junior brother, you've got it wrong. Our outer disciples also have outstanding talents, like Senior Brother Bai Shi. He's at the Tenth Qi Refining Layer, a true talent!"
The three disciples proudly spoke, as if Senior Brother Bai Shi was one of their own.
"Hehe, you're right. I won't bother you, senior brothers."
Chen Xun led the black ox away with a slow pace. He was lost in thought.
Around them, disciples were constantly flying by on swords. The sect was bubbling with excitement for the upcoming event.