Chapter 2 I really have no money
A medical inheritance? Bai Mengmeng was puzzled. This awakened talent, according to common sense, shouldn't it be alchemy, acupuncture, or medicine? At the very least, it should be cultivating spiritual plants and herbs, right?
But this porcelain bottle is stuffed full of... vegetable seeds?!
So... what is she? Nai Xiu?!
A sense of absurdity crept into her heart. But the next moment, an indescribable surge of joy dispelled that doubt—she was, at heart, a true descendant of the Chinese nation! That almost instinctive yearning for the land, for sowing and harvesting, was practically etched in her genes! Owning land, cultivating it with her own hands, and waiting for the harvest... The thought of it actually made her feel relaxed and happy, a sense of returning to nature.
Besides, she had just been pulled out of that maddening hospital quagmire. What "medical cultivation"? Ha, even dogs wouldn't cultivate! Isn't farming more enjoyable?!
As soon as the thought came to mind, a plan for planting automatically emerged in her mind: I can't plant these green vegetable seeds yet. I don't have a hoe, rake, or fertilizer at home. I have to go to town tomorrow to buy farm tools, plow the soil, and apply fertilizer... Bai Mengmeng's thoughts were free.
Suddenly, she shuddered violently, a chill running from the soles of her feet to the top of her head—wait! She clearly knew nothing about these farming tricks before!
But now, a vast array of planting knowledge rushed through her mind like a flood. Soil turning depth, sowing spacing, water and fertilizer ratios... It was so clear that it felt as if she had been working in the fields for hundreds of years!
Furthermore, she clearly sensed an indescribable, intimate connection between herself and the land beneath her feet, a seamless, almost inextricable connection. She seemed to naturally understand and be familiar with all the life that emerged from the soil.
It's just that... when her "perception" touches vegetables, fruits, information gushes out like a clear spring; but once it turns to rare medicinal herbs such as ginseng and Ganoderma lucidum, her perception becomes foggy, as if separated by a thick layer of frosted glass, blurry and elusive.
Regardless, this talent… is simply insane! Bai Mengmeng took a deep breath, trying to calm her turbulent emotions. Only then did she realize, with a start, that the sun had already set, the yard was deserted, and Xu Bo was nowhere to be found.
She followed the noise and saw that in the kitchen, Uncle Xu was lying on the rice jar in an extremely difficult position, with half of his body sticking inside, his hands clinging to the edge of the jar, and his face almost buried in the bottom of the jar.
"Oh my! It's really a ghost!" Xu Bo's voice buzzed in the jar, with an unbelievable anxiety, "I've only been down the mountain for three days! How come this rice jar is empty? Are the stomachs of these bastards connected to the Dragon Palace in the East China Sea? How can they eat so much!" He stood up suddenly, his face flushed with anger.
Bai Mengmeng was stunned. "Wait... 'These bastards'? Uncle Xu, are there other people living here?"
Xu Bo slapped his forehead and said in frustration, "Look at me, such a fool! I actually forgot to report this to the Sect Master! Besides you and me, we have three other disciples in the Qiongye Sect!"
Bai Mengmeng was genuinely surprised. She had always thought that she and Xu Bo were the only two commanders left in this dilapidated sect.
Xu Bo quickly introduced, "Our eldest disciple, Liang Cha, is the descendant of the sword master Liang Yu. He is also the only one in our sect, besides you, the Sect Master, who has truly awakened his talent! Right now, he is probably still practicing swordsmanship in the back mountains."
"My second disciple, Wang Hao, is a descendant of the weapon master Wang Tianshi. My junior sister, Hua Guduo, is descended from the great fortune teller Hua Min. What a pity..." Xu Bo sighed, "Neither of these two children has been able to awaken their spiritual roots. Like me, they can only be considered 'immortal cultivation enthusiasts'."
Bai Mengmeng's heart surged with emotion. After over a thousand years of vicissitudes, the descendants of the four founding masters had miraculously gathered in the Qiongye Sect! Among them was a genuine senior disciple who had awakened his natural talent for sword cultivation! This sounded incredibly impressive!
So… could one really fly across 30,000 miles of sword energy, soaring through the heavens and earth?! Bai Mengmeng's eyes lit up, immersed in a martial arts fantasy—
Xu Bo rubbed his hands together, a very attentive and slightly ingratiating smile on his face. He leaned in closer and said, "Hey... Master, look, this rice jar... it's empty. Could you please... give me some money so I can buy some rice?"
"Oh, okay." Bai Mengmeng responded subconsciously.
Before she could finish her words, she was struck by lightning and froze in place!
No rice?
What do you mean by no rice?!
Depend on!
An extremely ominous premonition, like ice water, instantly poured through her head. Could the so-called "inheriting the sect" be what she imagined?!
She turned her neck stiffly, her eyes moving back and forth between the empty rice jar that could reflect a person's reflection, and Xu Bo's rough hand stretched out in front of her, with the words "wait for money to eat" written all over it.
Her throat tightened as she struggled to squeeze out a sound, trying to grasp at the last straw: "Could this...this sect...be out of money? Hahahaha...that's impossible. They should have enough money to buy rice...right? We're all adults...hahaha...you can't expect me to...support you, right?"
The laughter was as dry as sandpaper.
The smile on Xu Bo's face froze for a second, then replaced with a bewildered and innocent expression. He spread his hands and said, "Ah? Money? This... how would we understand this? It used to be managed by the former head of the sect—your grandfather. He... he left all his inheritance to you."
He deliberately put emphasis on the word "all".
Bai Mengmeng's vision went dark, and she felt a wave of despair. "But I... I just quit my job and I don't have much money saved!"
"It's okay! It's okay!" Xu Bo immediately clasped his hands together, his posture extremely humble, his eyes filled with humble pleading, "Just give us something to eat." "Master, just make sure we have enough to eat, don't worry about anything else!"
Bai Mengmeng looked at the bottomless rice jar that could be emptied in three days, and then looked at the hungry old man in front of her. She felt a chill rushing from the soles of her feet to the top of her head, and her whole face became numb.
It turns out...the Qiongye Sect...is really a 'poverty-oriented sect'!
Her eyes were blank as she murmured, "How about...we try fasting?"
…………
Bigu? Obviously, it is an impossible task.
Bai Mengmeng shook her head vigorously, trying to dispel the huge financial shadow. She tried to comfort herself: since she had inherited her grandfather's inheritance, enjoyed this small courtyard and forest, and awakened this magical talent, she had to shoulder this responsibility.
Well, now that I'm here, I might as well make the best of it. She sighed resignedly.
At this moment, a clear, youthful voice came from the gate behind him: "Uncle Xu, I'm back."
Xu Bo's eyes lit up, as if he had seen a savior: "Liang boy! You're back just in time! Come, come and meet our new leader!"
Bai Mengmeng's heart trembled! She believed that her hearing and eyesight were far superior to those of ordinary people at this moment, but until this voice sounded, she had not noticed the sound of someone approaching!
She turned around suddenly and saw a young man, who looked to be about fourteen or fifteen, walking into the yard with a sword on his back.
The young man hadn't fully grown yet, with the thin frame typical of youth, but the sword on his back was remarkably conspicuous—broad and long, almost half his height, its blade simple and heavy, its weight evident at first glance. Yet, the young man's steps were as light as if he were treading on clouds, landing silently, as if the greatsword were merely a part of him.
Bai Mengmeng looked closely. The young man was incredibly handsome, with sharp eyebrows slanting down into his temples and deep, piercing eyes. Even with a simple crew cut, his features couldn't hide their superiority. But at that moment, his brows were slightly furrowed, his lips tightly pursed, and his face carried a cold, impatient air that kept strangers away. The words "Don't mess with me" were written all over his body.
"Oh." The young man glanced at Bai Mengmeng coldly upon hearing her voice, nodding his head imperceptibly as a greeting. The next second, without stopping, he headed straight for the stairs, leaving only a stiff sentence: "Call me when it's time for dinner."
The figure flashed and the person disappeared around the corner of the stairs.
Xu Bo quickly tried to smooth things over with a smile: "Master, please don't mind. This kid has a bad temper! He's very withdrawn, like a rock. I haven't seen him get friendly with anyone in all these years."
Bai Mengmeng shook her head to show she didn't care, but she felt a little confused. She asked hesitantly, "He... doesn't look very old. Doesn't he need to go to school?"
The smile on Xu Bo's face instantly faded, turning into a heavy sigh: "Alas... Master, you've made a mistake. Xiaoliang... he's not even two years younger than you! The reason he's become like this 'immature' is all... all because of something wrong with his cultivation! It's been like this for over ten years..."
"Because of this, he rarely goes out, and his temperament has become even more withdrawn and eccentric."
Bai Mengmeng was truly shocked this time, gasping in shock! That boy looked no more than fifteen or sixteen, but he was actually around the same age as her?!
After Xu Bo's detailed explanation, she finally understood the whole story. It turned out that this Liangcha was an extremely rare prodigy who had successfully awakened his heavy sword talent at a young age!
However, in today's world, spiritual energy has dried up, and the inheritance has been severed. The spiritual scrolls that recorded the core mental techniques and skills from centuries ago have long since crumbled to dust. The younger generation relies solely on the vague intuition in their bloodlines, along with a mix of guesswork and groping, simply crossing the river by feeling the stones.
But Liangcha's talent was truly astonishing! Even in this situation of almost "blind practice", he actually... somehow succeeded in building his foundation!
Bai Mengmeng suddenly remembered the record in her grandfather's notebook: Although the modern realm of cultivation still uses the ancient names (Qi training, foundation building, golden elixir, and Nascent Soul), its essence is the leap in the level of innate power.
Most people, even if they have ancestral magic weapons in their hands, cannot awaken their talents if they do not have spiritual roots, and can only be considered "enthusiasts".
If one has the talent of awakening spiritual roots, he or she is considered to have entered the stage of "Qi training", like her now.
The first time a talent undergoes a qualitative change and upgrade is called "Foundation Building"—a rare existence in the world! Because the vast majority of awakened people will never be able to cross this hurdle in their entire lives.
The talent has undergone a second or third qualitative change and upgrade, which corresponds to "Golden Elixir" and "Nascent Soul".
Since the generation of Bai Mengmeng's grandfather, it has basically become a legend.
Liang Cha was able to establish his foundation at such a young age; he was definitely a genius among geniuses! But clearly, something went terribly wrong during this forced breakthrough.
Because successfully building a foundation doesn't guarantee eternal youth like in xianxia novels. It simply significantly slows down aging. But over a decade has passed since Liangcha established his foundation, and his appearance and figure have actually remained frozen at that moment, unchanged in the slightest!
"The previous head, your grandfather, took him to visit many talented people, performed countless tests, and tried every possible method..." Xu Bo's face was full of regret, and his voice was low. "In the end, we can only confirm that it was a terrible sequelae caused by an incomplete talent upgrade. As for how to restore him to normal... Alas, there is nothing we can do!"
Miserable! So miserable!
Bai Mengmeng felt a pang of pain in her stomach when she heard this. This cultivation had become a real-life "Tianshan Child-Grandmother"! It would have been worse if she hadn't established her foundation in the first place!
Although she was the nominal head of the sect, she was a complete outsider in terms of cultivation. Faced with Liangcha's bizarre predicament, she felt completely bewildered and had no idea how to help.
Seeing Bai Mengmeng's frown and serious expression, Xu Bo quickly cheered up and tried to change the heavy topic: "Master, there's no rush with Xiaoliang. We need to think of a solution slowly. The most pressing issue right now is... what are we going to do with dinner?"
Bai Mengmeng opened her mouth and was about to speak——
Boom!!!
Outside the courtyard wall, there was a sudden earth-shaking roar, accompanied by an angry roar that almost blew the roof off!
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