Chapter 34 The Fungus Spirit's Little Helper

"Gurgle..." The mushroom spirits made soft sounds.

Li Chang'an came to his senses and subconsciously looked at his waist.

But he didn't bring his fanny pack today, so naturally he didn't have a water bottle either.

"Are you here for water?" Li Chang'an asked uncertainly.

The mushroom spirits stood together, their caps turning left and right, seemingly looking at each other.

Li Chang'an simply couldn't understand what they meant.

He scratched his head, went back to the bamboo house courtyard, picked up a bucket, fetched a bucket of water from the Ningjing River, and then placed it directly in front of a cluster of mushroom spirits.

"Drink it."

The mushroom spirits walked over with tiny feet, but each one was still less than the height of the bucket.

"Gurgle..."

Li Chang'an slapped his forehead, hurriedly went back into the house to get some plates, and poured the water into the plates.

The mushroom spirits then gathered around and drank all the water in the plate. Li Chang'an poured water out several more times until the entire bucket of water was finished, and only then were the 120 mushroom spirits satisfied.

They really did come looking for water.

Li Chang'an smiled helplessly, picked up his hoe, and went to the field.

A new acre of rice has been planted, and a new batch of vegetables has also been planted in the cabbage and bok choy fields.

The spirit-grade cabbage seeds had actually already sprouted, but since there wasn't much low-quality spirit soil available and they needed to supply vegetables to Xiaoping'an Supermarket, Li Chang'an simply stored the spirit-grade cabbage seeds away without planting them immediately.

After the sacrificial ceremony, the land that was originally planted with wheat and four other grains was left empty. Li Chang'an sowed some spirit-grade purple clover seeds, which have now sprouted and grown into seedlings.

Pumpkins, sweet potatoes, and half an acre of cabbage grown in ordinary soil have all matured. The yield is high, and the taste is slightly better than those grown outside, but only slightly. The quality is completely inferior to the Chinese cabbage and cabbage grown in inferior soil.

Neither its appearance, taste, nor texture is anything particularly amazing.

Since the goal is to build up the brand of Xianshan Farm, Li Chang'an does not intend to supply ordinary pumpkins, sweet potatoes, and cabbages to Xiaoping'an Supermarket.

Looking at the large pumpkins in the field, Li Chang'an was somewhat worried.

Pumpkins and sweet potatoes were originally grown to feed pigs, but now all three pigs have been used for sacrifices, and there are no more pigs in the sacred mountain...

Wait, a sacrificial ceremony.

Li Chang'an suddenly remembered something, took out the basic manual, and brought up the map of Xuanling Immortal Mountain.

Across the river from Wolu Mountain, the sacred mountain lit up, with golden particles forming the words: Jiarong Mountain.

Then, the conditions for the sacrifice were given: five catties of spirit-grade tea, two jugs of fine wine, one demon core of the Out-of-Body stage, and five catties each of immortal-grade grains.

Once the ritual is completed, the seal on Jiarong Mountain will be broken, and one can receive the blessing of the mountain god.

Note: All sacrificial items must be prepared by Li Chang'an himself.

Li Chang'an carefully read through the sacrificial conditions several times.

A demon core at the Nascent Soul stage, five grains of immortal grade...

But where in the Cangxuan Realm can you find a demon at the Nascent Soul stage? That's an existence whose cultivation is several times higher than that of a Seven-Star Alliance member.

He is currently only at the Foundation Establishment stage, and if he wants to defeat a demon in the Nascent Soul stage, he will have to cultivate even more diligently.

At the very least, one must train to the point where they can wield a black sword.

As for the five grains of the Immortal grade, they require at least good quality spiritual soil to grow.

The conditions for worship at Jiarong Mountain seem to be much more difficult than those at Wolu Mountain.

Li Chang'an sighed, waved his hand, and the golden particles of the basic manual immediately dispersed.

He is not the kind of person who gives up easily when faced with difficulties, and besides, he has already come this far, so he cannot give up halfway.

It'll just be a little slower; we can take it slow.

The most urgent task is to work hard in farming and pay off the debts.

We need to raise more pigs to use the sweet potatoes and pumpkins as feed, otherwise it would be a waste for them to rot in the ground.

Li Chang'an gathered his thoughts, roused himself, and began weeding with the hoe.

After clearing away the visible weeds, he went to the field, wielding his hoe to avoid the vegetable leaves and dig up the smaller weeds.

"Coo coo..."

Several mushroom spirits followed behind him, tilting their umbrellas as if to look at the weeds.

A mushroom spirit glanced at Li Chang'an's back, then turned and walked towards the edge of the field.

Its two tendrils on its shaft lengthen as it attempts to lift a hoe several times its own size.

However, as soon as the hoe moved, it uncontrollably fell backward and sat on the ground.

The mushroom spirit looked at the hoe, then at Li Chang'an.

Its canopy drooped slightly, then the pole and canopy inflated like a balloon until they reached the height of Li Chang'an's knees, as if they had reached their limit.

The fungus continued to extend its elongated tentacles, and this time it steadily picked up the hoe.

It stepped out of the field with its two black roots, holding a hoe, and began to swing it around like Li Chang'an.

Li Chang'an caught a glimpse of a large white creature appearing in the ground, moving around. He quickly turned his head and saw the mushroom spirit, now enlarged, intently weeding.

"Hey—" Li Chang'an stepped forward and was slightly taken aback when he saw the weeds lying between the two rows of cabbages.

"Gurgle..." The mushroom spirit tilted its cap, seemingly looking at Li Chang'an.

"...It's alright, you did a great job." Li Chang'an came back to his senses and reached out to pat the mushroom spirit's cap.

He could tell that the little guy wanted to help him with the work.

Moreover, this fungus spirit can distinguish between weeds and seedlings, so he doesn't need to worry about it.

Li Chang'an smiled slightly, picked up his hoe, and went to the other side of the field.

Several more fungi grew larger and joined the weeding team.

It wasn't that the other mushroom growers were unwilling to help, but rather that there weren't enough hoes available.

But after seeing Li Chang'an pile up the weeds and burn them, they followed behind him, picking up the weeds and piling them up together.

With the help of the fungi, the weeding work on several acres of land was completed in less than half an hour.

Li Chang'an's smile grew gentler, and he went to Ningjing River to fetch a bucket of water for them to drink.

After the mushroom spirits finished drinking the water, Li Chang'an filled a bucket with water, carried a basket on his back, and let the mushroom spirits crawl inside before heading up Wolu Mountain again.

Following yesterday's route, he found the Xuan Tang tree—the place where those mushroom spirits grew.

"Hmm? You're here again." The Xuan Tang tree shook its crown and greeted Li Chang'an.

Good afternoon, senior.

Li Chang'an put down his basket and let the mushrooms out. "This morning, these little guys somehow ran to my place and even helped me with some work."

"Haha, I'm so grateful that you went out of your way to bring them back." The Xuan Tang Tree laughed. "The Spirit Clan believes in repaying kindness, and repaying kindness is part of our cultivation. The water you gave us contains spiritual energy, which can help us cultivate. I gave you my thousand-year-old branches as a way of repaying you. Their cultivation is too weak to repay you, so they can only do a little something for you."

"So you don't need to be polite, just use them as you please. Don't worry, these little guys will hide their toxins and won't affect you."

Li Chang'an wasn't worried about that. These fungal spirits were intelligent, and he could tell that they wouldn't release toxins on their own.

He smiled and poured the bucket of Ningjing River water under the mushroom spirits, under the Xuan Tang tree, and under the surrounding trees.

"Thank you for your help today. If you want to help me again in the future, I will still fetch you water."

Li Chang'an patted the cap of a nearby mushroom spirit and said, "In our mortal world, this is considered an employment relationship, and the river water is your payment."

The mushroom spirits huddled together, making gurgling sounds.

"They said it was a good idea," the Chinese tallow tree explained with a smile.

Li Chang'an laughed again, watched the fungus spirits return to their original forms, and then bid farewell to them and the Xuan Tang tree before leaving.