Chapter 5: The First Scroll - The Abundant Water Plant, Like Clouds and Smoke

The bonfire gradually diminished, and Chen Huaisheng picked up a few pine branches, poked them into the fire, and the flames rose again.

"… The situation is like this. The Green Wood Sect mainly handles matters such as spiritual plants and taming beasts for the Tianyun Sect. The Tianyun Sect has many contiguous spiritual fields in Jijun County and numerous spiritual springs and blessed lands in Fanju Mountain, …"

"I've been growing Jiahe for two years, so I'm quite experienced. I only planted Yumai for half a season. I originally planned to go to Fanju Mountain to learn how to grow spiritual herbs, but someone else used connections and got the position, so I couldn't go. I just couldn't stay any longer, so I had to leave."

Chen Huaisheng smiled self-deprecatingly: "The outer sect of the Tianyun Sect, well, the Green Wood Sect is still quite righteous. When I left, they gave me twenty spirit stones. After nearly three years of work, that's all the reward I got, …"

"Why did Brother Huasheng want to learn how to grow spiritual herbs? After three years, you only got twenty spirit stones? Why didn't you focus on traveling and learning the Dao?"

Xuan Chimei was unclear about the other affairs of these major sects.

After joining the sect, she was always highly regarded and dedicated herself to practicing spells and Dao techniques, improving her spiritual realm. She didn't even learn the talismans and incantations that are usually required for new disciples.

As for mining, spiritual plants, taming beasts, hunting, alchemy, and crafting, she knew nothing about them.

Is this like not knowing what meat is?

Seeing Xuan Chimei's puzzled and somewhat disappointed expression, Chen Huaisheng was speechless.

"Sister Chimei, you are like a well-fed person who doesn't understand the hunger of the starving." Chen Huaisheng smiled bitterly.

"In the Green Wood Sect, the person in charge of spiritual plants is a Foundation Establishment cultivator, nearly a hundred years old. I've only seen him from a distance once. Below him are a few cultivators at the second or third level of Qi Condensation, mostly in their sixties or seventies, with no hope of further progress. They have no qualifications to teach Dao techniques. The entire Green Wood Sect probably only has that Foundation Establishment Immortal Master who can take on disciples, but I rarely see him, …"

"Every year, the Green Wood Sect has the right to recommend ten outstanding and promising disciples to the Tianyun Sect to participate in the Dao enlightenment guidance with other new disciples. Only two of these positions are for spiritual plants, and almost all of them are for those who have achieved exceptional results in growing spiritual herbs. Growing Yumai, Jiahe, and spiritual rice never gives you a chance. So, everyone who works with spiritual plants wants to grow spiritual herbs. Although the competition is fierce, there is always a glimmer of hope, …"

Xuan Chimei never imagined that even in a minor sect like the Tianyun Sect, the competition for tasks like spiritual plants, which she considered mere menial work, was so intense.

To get a chance to be recommended, one had to grow Yumai and Jiahe for years and then fight for the opportunity to grow spiritual herbs, completely颠覆了她的认知.

"Then what happened?"

"Then I went to the Xuanhuo Sect, …"

"The Xuanhuo Sect in Sui County? The one that had a conflict with the Dengyun Sect?" Xuan Chimei was surprised.

Sui County was not the core area of the Jiulian Sect, but the Jiulian Sect was a major sect nationwide in the Great Zhao, with personnel stationed in all counties to gather information.

The conflict and subsequent annihilation of the Xuanhuo Sect by the Dengyun Sect was widely known in the Great Zhao, and she never expected her savior to have almost been involved.

"Yes, that Xuanhuo Sect. When I saw the situation was not good, I quickly fled. You know what happened next, right? The Xuanhuo Sect was annihilated, and I barely escaped with my life."

Chen Huaisheng was quite calm, feeling no guilt about abandoning his sect.

He had only been there for less than two months, and to say he had any feelings was nonsense. He hadn't received any benefits from the Xuanhuo Sect, just two months of labor. Was he supposed to fight to the death for it?

Neither the Chen Huaisheng from before the穿越 nor the one after could do that.

There are at least a hundred major and minor sects in the Great Zhao, not counting those that are hidden.

The Xuanhuo Sect had only a few dozen disciples, and the sect leader was just a Foundation Establishment cultivator. The Dengyun Sect had two hundred disciples, and the sect leader was also a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but they had two more Foundation Establishment elders.

Since the Xuanhuo Sect didn't have the strength to conflict with them, the outcome was almost certain without the involvement of other sects or noble families.

Although it was called an annihilation, it didn't mean everyone was killed. Most of the disciples were killed, but some lower-level disciples were directly absorbed into the Dengyun Sect.

If Chen Huaisheng had stayed in the Xuanhuo Sect and survived the battle, he would likely have been absorbed into the Dengyun Sect.

But even if he had been absorbed into the Dengyun Sect, the outcome would not have been good. He would have been sent to plant spiritual fields or dig for spirit stones, doing hard labor and learning nothing.

Chen Huaisheng casually poked the bonfire, recounting his experiences over the past few years, leaving the young girl sighing and feeling sympathetic.

"Brother Huasheng, I feel you've changed a lot." After a long pause, the girl said softly.

After being rescued, her whole family had gone to thank him, and she had visited again during the New Year.

In her memory, Brother Huasheng was a very open and simple young man, more cheerful and sincere than the other disciples who had been recruited. But now, he seemed somewhat despondent.

"Can I not change? I left home at fourteen, and now I'm twenty. I've been wandering for six years, unable to enter the Dao. Maybe I'll spend the rest of my life in Yuanbao Village, or, with a bit more ambition, in the county, just getting by."

Chen Huaisheng self-deprecatingly said, "I want to strive and work hard, but heaven doesn't favor me."

Chen Huaisheng was speaking the truth.

In Liaoxian County, the number of Dao seeds like himself is not small, at least a thousand, but only a few can enter the Dao.

What about those who can't enter the Dao? They still have to live, right?

Especially compared to the hard and bitter lives of ordinary people.

At least being a Dao seed means having a body that can sustain itself, with little chance of illness, and a lifespan thirty years longer than ordinary people.

Moreover, they are strong and healthy and can carry some magical power, making them elite figures in the region.

However, compared to those who enter the Dao and can live over a hundred years, with the power to move mountains and ride the wind, it's a world apart. Who wouldn't yearn for such a wondrous realm?

The girl had no words to respond to Chen Huaisheng's lament.

It's not that one must enter a sect to enter the Dao. There are hundreds of thousands of independent cultivators in the Great Zhao, and even many Purple Mansion cultivators.

But compared to sects and noble families, the chances of an independent cultivator breaking through to the Dao are much lower.

For the same innate Dao seed, if they enter a major sect or are from a noble family, the chance of breaking through to the Dao might be thirty percent.

For medium and small sects or medium and small noble families, it might be ten percent.

For independent cultivators, it's probably less than five percent, even with a master's guidance.

If they rely solely on their own insights, like Chen Huaisheng, the chances are one in a hundred.

That's why many innate Dao seeds, if they can't enter a major sect, would rather become part of a noble family to get such an opportunity, as the chances are much greater.

"Brother Huasheng, don't give up. There's always a way out. Maybe one day you'll encounter your own opportunity."

The girl was a steady person and wouldn't tell Chen Huaisheng about her conversation with Yu Xianxian until she was sure.

This was still uncertain, and if she gave Brother Huasheng hope too early and it didn't come true, it would be too hurtful, and he might not be able to bear such a blow.

Chen Huaisheng didn't think too much. Meeting Xuan Chimei here was already a stroke of luck.

The Chen Huaisheng from the other world was much more pragmatic than the one in this world.

Honestly, he was somewhat relieved to have been reborn as this innate Dao seed.

At least he could live to seventy or eighty, and be healthy and strong all his life, with little chance of illness, comparable to an ordinary person in his previous life.

Unlike the ordinary people in this world, who rapidly age after forty-two and usually die by forty-five, with forty-nine being the limit for all mortals.

Without being a Dao seed, one can't live past forty-nine unless they take rare and precious herbs to improve their constitution.

In his previous life, he was already in his forties, with high blood pressure, gout, baldness, and diabetes, and had only managed to become a deputy county magistrate.

He was still thinking about whether he could become a county party committee member before fifty, but it was difficult. The trend was to promote younger officials, and his age was not an advantage. They were advocating for officials born in the 1980s.

Those born in the late 1970s had an advantage ten years ago, but now it's a disadvantage, and they would likely end up in the People's Congress or the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference to retire.

And now, in this life, he was suddenly a twenty-year-old handsome young man?

Of course, people can never be satisfied, no matter which world they are in.

Now that the two souls have merged, Chen Huaisheng, of course, doesn't want to be stuck as an innate Dao seed who can't enter the Dao, which is why he is so actively talking to the girl in front of him.

If it were the original Chen Huaisheng, he might have been too proud and insecure, even maintaining a certain aloofness, unwilling to lose face in front of the girl he once saved.

It is said that recommendations and follow-ups are closely related, and follow-up data is available earlier, so I have changed the update time to 7:00 AM and 5:00 PM daily. I also ask my fellow readers to keep following, as this affects the new book's recommendation position.

(End of Chapter)