The two women were digging holes to plant the saplings, which would probably exhaust them. After finishing a pot of tea, he felt refreshed and intoxicated, but when he saw the third woman pausing to catch her breath, he shook his head, got up, grabbed a jacket, and joined in.

Farming tools like hoes, sickles, and spades are all available here, and in considerable quantities. However, the initial intention behind buying these tools wasn't for labor, but rather for entertainment. City women typically haven't handled these tools before; expecting them to actually use them for work is out of the question. It's already quite good if they use them occasionally out of interest.

"The pits you three dug aren't deep enough. Go deeper, and make the diameter smaller," Zhang Guodong pointed out the shortcomings as soon as he saw the several shallow pits dug by the three women.

The small pits were too shallow, easily killing the seedlings with frost or drought. A deeper burial method was needed for them to survive. Of the three women, Qin Lina was the better off, as she had done farm work as a child. Li Yun and Qingzhu's pits were even shallower.

Hearing Zhang Guodong's guidance, Qin Lina's face flushed a bright red, and she smiled happily. In contrast, Li Yun and Qingzhu looked dejected.

"Do you know why?" Zhang Guodong found it amusing. He was only a novice himself, yet he was instructing the three women. Fortunately, when buying the saplings, they had reminded him, and then there was another one. A booklet, describing the key points and precautions for planting trees, quite concise and to the point.

“Take a look at this booklet and you’ll understand. Planting trees is an experience-based job; it’s not as simple as just burying them in the soil and expecting them to survive! Qin Lina is right. We’re planting trees at the wrong time of year, so the survival rate might be even lower. We need to pay more attention to the effort we put into planting them.” Zhang Guodong tossed the booklet to Li Yun, letting them read it themselves.

With the guidance of the booklet, the three women became much more attentive. They dug the pits deep and to the right diameter. However, their pace slowed down. They treated digging the pits like crafting a handicraft, carefully tending to them to make them look nice, which slowed them down to a snail's pace. Zhang Guodong dug ten pits in one go, while the three women only finished one. By the time Zhang Guodong had finished digging around the perimeter of the small courtyard, spaced two to three meters apart, the three women had just finished their second pit, already exhausted and sweating profusely.

A classic case of putting in effort but getting no reward, haha!

"I never knew planting trees was so tiring!" Qingzhu complained, walking into the yard and throwing down her peg. This was pure physical and mental labor, clearly not suitable for someone like Qingzhu who only had a short attention span.

Li Yun and Qin Li were in a similar boat, both agreeing with Qingzhu's words. Especially Li Yun, who, upon seeing Zhang Guodong leisurely sitting in his recliner with a small jar of fruit wine on the table beside him, immediately snatched Zhang Guodong's jade cup and poured herself a drink. Quenching her thirst!

"Wow, what kind of wine is this? It's so beautiful!" Li Yun exclaimed upon seeing the shimmering purple liquid in the jade cup, its delicate sweet and sour aroma filling the air. Clearly, it was wine, not water, but its color had captivated her. The small jar, too, was brimming with spiritual energy—a truly exquisite fruit wine!

"Girl, seriously? This is my cup. If you want to drink, go back to your room and find another one!" Zhang Guodong said with a helpless smile.

"I won't!" Li Yun smiled smugly, closed her eyes, and started drinking.

"Delicious!"

"Li Yun, you're sneaking food all by yourself, not leaving any for your sisters! That's not fair! What would you like to drink? I want some too!" Qing Zhufeng rushed out of the room, holding a large water glass in her hand.

"Drink less. Although this is fruit wine and good for your health, you can't drink too much, or you'll get drunk!" Zhang Guodong was startled when he saw the large cup and quickly stopped Qingzhu's large water cup, making her pour just one cup. The whole small jar was empty. Was this still drinking wine? "Here, there are two more wine cups. If you want to drink colored wine, the jade cup is the best. See how beautiful it is? Drinking from it is a real treat!"

"Am I included too?" Qin Lina asked excitedly.

The jade cup had already been placed in her hand, so naturally she got her share. Zhang Guodong stood up and laughed, "You three drink up, it tastes pretty good!"

Qin Lina nodded and excitedly joined in.

Zhang Guodong gave a wry smile and walked towards the fruit tree saplings in the yard. Most of the bundles of saplings were about 1.3 or 1.4 meters tall, with very little moisture inside and weak resistance. However, when Zhang Guodong bought them, he had chosen the smallest ones.

“Soaking them in space water will surely kill even the most difficult-to-grow fruit seedlings, right? The seedlings will grow to be even better in color!” Zhang Guodong glanced at the three women whose faces were flushed, and went upstairs alone.

A moment later, Zhang Guodong came downstairs carrying a bucket. It was filled to the brim with a dark green liquid—this was the spatial water. Just then, Xuan Qingban, having likely finished his day of cultivation, also emerged.

She spotted the bucket Zhang Guodong was carrying, looked at it with a puzzled expression, and then walked over.

Zhang Guodong was somewhat surprised. Did Xuan Qingbo have something to discuss with him? So he stopped in his tracks.

"Senior Sister, is there something you need?" Zhang Guodong asked with a smile.

"Where did you get the water from that bucket?" Xuan Qing nodded slightly and pointed at the bucket with her jade finger.

"You mean this? It's a little water I collected before. A sapling can usually survive soaking in it, it's a real treasure!" Zhang Guodong said, feigning ignorance. He naturally knew that spatial water was extraordinary; it contained abundant spiritual energy, though he didn't know how. How much spiritual energy could ordinary water hold? Very little.

"Could you lend me some spiritual water? The seeds of the Jade Spring Vine will grow faster with this spiritual water!" Xuan Qing asked excitedly.

Zhang Guodong was taken aback. Spiritual water? Borrowing it was no problem at all. After all, this was his land, and whatever was planted here naturally belonged to him; there was no issue whatsoever. It was simply adding something to his own property.

“Of course, no problem. How can I refuse if Senior Sister wants to borrow it? But Senior Sister, you just said this is spiritual water? What is spiritual water?” Zhang Guodong asked, seizing the opportunity.

That name is really fitting.

Xuan Qingji, having likely obtained this precious spiritual water, answered his question on the spot. Spiritual water truly is a combination of spiritual energy and water. Generally speaking, water is "infused with spiritual energy," but this spiritual water is an exception, possessing a concentration less than a thousand times greater.

However, there is a difference between spiritual water and spiritual liquid. The latter is the liquefaction of spiritual energy and is much more precious. However, the spiritual water that Zhang Guodong carried was also extremely precious, worth at least six thousand low-grade crystals.

Upon hearing that the bucket was so valuable, Zhang Guodong immediately felt a pang of regret. He'd been too generous; he should have asked for something in return.

"Since I've used your spiritual water, I won't use it for nothing. Here, take this basic black iron sword, a material attack magic weapon!" Xuan Qingbo patted his storage bag, and a foot-long, slender black sword was handed over without hesitation.

Zhang Guodong was flattered and accepted the gift. He hadn't expected Xuan Qingbai, this cold-faced celestial being, to be so generous. This was a magical artifact, albeit only a low-level one. But to him, every single one of these magical artifacts was a treasure; having more meant having more ways to protect himself. He had only managed to rob one red iron sword so far, and that was also only a low-level one.

"Thank you, Senior Sister, but I can't accept this!" Zhang Guodong said embarrassedly. But he immediately put the sword away. Since he'd already taken it, there was no reason to return it.

Xuan Qingying glanced at him indifferently, took the bucket of spiritual water, and walked towards the room. However, a voice in Zhang Guodong's ear said, "This is a female magic artifact, but you can use it too!"

What?!

A female-style magical artifact? This can't be fair! Zhang Guodong examined the weapon and, sure enough, there was a "Xuan" character on it. The artifact looked rather delicate. Holding this slender weapon, the man definitely felt a little uncomfortable.

"Damn it, you're ruthless!" Zhang Guodong swallowed it tightly. This basic magic weapon was probably crafted by Xuan Qingban himself. But why not take it? He had a bunch of wives and kids; it wouldn't be enough to give them all away later.

"Li Yun, come on, let's go upstairs!" Zhang Guodong called out to Li Yun, who was slightly drunk. Qingzhu and Qin Lina, who were standing nearby, both rolled their eyes at Zhang Guodong, making Li Yun blush and fidget.

Thinking this scoundrel was about to do something bad, Li Yun, her face flushed, followed Zhang Guodong upstairs in a very cute manner.

"Honey, it's broad daylight, can we not?" Li Yun whispered as she entered the room. Her heart was pounding like a deer, beating even faster.

She knew this day would come, that she would lose her virginity and become a young married woman, but she didn't expect it to come so soon.

“No way!” Zhang Guodong said.

"Then, then be gentle this time, it's my first time!" Li Yun suddenly became a little scared.

Zhang Guodong was taken aback. Seeing the girl's timid appearance, he couldn't help but laugh and say, "Girl, what are you thinking? Don't worry, I'll take your body when you're ready. Right now, I'm here to give you something!"

"Ah?" Li Yun's face flushed red, and she patted her proud chest with her small hands, letting out a sigh of relief. "You scared me to death! You're so naughty!"

"Haha, clearly that woman misunderstood. Alright, take out your little storage bag!" Zhang Guodong teased her, then got down to business.

Li Yun's storage bag was a small one, only one-tenth of a cubic meter, the kind that didn't require a soul imprint; whoever obtained it could keep what was inside. "This girl treats it like a treasure now; she still has a hundred low-grade crystals inside that she hasn't used," Li Yun said, troubled. The things Zhang Guodong gave her were naturally all good stuff. Unfortunately, the storage bag's space was very limited.

Zhang Guodong smiled slightly and took out a purple storage bag—a mid-level storage bag!

"Look what this is?"

"A mid-level storage bag?!" Li Yun exclaimed, then snatched it away, eager to see what it was all about. Qingzhu and Xuanqingwen naturally answered all of Li Yun's questions, and Li Yun, having studied diligently, was familiar with the description of mid-level storage bags in her knowledge.

"I gave it to the girl, but this storage bag is too precious, so it can't be shown off normally, otherwise it will cause big trouble! Usually, the small storage bag is on the outside, and the medium-sized storage bag is on the inside. Important things are all stored in this!" Zhang Guodong said with a smile.

It feels great to be rich and powerful. After the murder and robbery, Lei Xuan's death was unjust, and the three mid-level storage bags filled with spoils naturally ended up in Zhang Guodong's hands. He set aside one to give to Li Yun, also inspired by Xuan Qingji's use of this low-level attack magic weapon—a female magic weapon—to stimulate him!

Li Yun nodded happily and earnestly, looking as if she couldn't bear to part with it.

“There’s a female-style physical attack magic weapon inside. It’s a basic one, but you can’t use it yet, so work hard to cultivate and try to reach level ten as soon as possible. Oh, and starting today, you can come up and stay at night when I’m here!” Zhang Guodong said.

Seeing his serious expression, Li Yun blushed slightly but nodded nonetheless. Although her family disapproved of their relationship, she was determined to go all in. She had a younger brother and sister; once her cultivation level was high enough, she'd see what they had to say!

After binding her with blood and teaching her to imprint her own soul mark, the intermediate-grade storage bag would be entirely Li Yun's. She transferred one hundred low-grade crystals into it, then took out the black, beginner-level magic weapon sword and played with it for a while before happily going downstairs.

Zhang Guodong didn't explain why he wanted her to come upstairs that night. Actually, Zhang Guodong was innocent when he said it; he just wanted to tease her. His main intention was to take Li Yun to Peach Blossom Spring for cultivation. Although there was a thirty-fold area downstairs, compared to three thousand times, it was like comparing heaven and earth—one underground, the other above.

After meeting Xingmu Laoguai and Lei Xuan, Zhang Guodong changed some of his ideas and tried to help the people around him grow as much as possible.

"Oh dear, I forgot something. I need to remind Senior Sister!" Suddenly, he slapped his forehead, remembering that he had forgotten to mention the matter concerning Old Monster Xingmu and Lei Xuan, and immediately went downstairs again.

Update 1: The first update is here. The second update is being revised and will be available later. I'd like to shamelessly request again that while I don't require donations, subscription support is absolutely necessary. Of course, I am extremely grateful to those who donate; their support is genuine! Thank you!