Chapter 70

"Ah, I see!"

As Hu Donghan thought about it, he suddenly felt that Liu Yiqing and Lu Jianwen didn't seem to be spies sent by the Bu Yun Sect. If Bu Yun was worried about any issues with Hu Donghan, there would have been no need to assign him such a lucrative place. They could have just assigned him a remote area suitable for growing spirit herbs and sent two people to monitor him, which would have been enough! Moreover, even if they were to send people to monitor him, sending two people at the peak of the Qi Condensation stage would be unreasonable. It would be better to send a Golden Core cultivator to watch over Hu Donghan!

"It seems these two guys are genuinely here to help me... Perhaps I can trust them."

"Although Niu Ergen is quite good, his personality is more suited to taking care of my daily life. When it comes to external matters, Liu Yiqing is more suitable. I'll observe them for a while. If they truly want to follow me, having two more people to help manage things wouldn't be bad."

"After all, managing the old herb mountain in the future will be quite troublesome. I don't have the time to deal with these trivial matters!"

Hu Donghan thought about it and made a decision—his past experience as the abbot of Chongxu Temple had given him some management skills. Moreover, he believed that managing Liu Yiqing and Lu Jianwen wouldn't be too difficult. Even if they were unsuitable or tried to constrain him, as long as he found the right opportunity, a single word from him would make them lose everything!

Hu Donghan was clear about this, and Liu Yiqing and Lu Jianwen were even more aware. That's why they were so respectful in front of Hu Donghan!

Seeing Hu Donghan deep in thought, Liu Yiqing thought he was puzzled about why the Earth Fire Hall would give him such a good place. He quickly explained in a low voice, "Uncle Hu, the old herb mountain was indeed the main source of spirit herbs for the entire sect."

"However, during an incident, a disciple from another sect infiltrated the Earth Fire Hall and, seizing the opportunity, destroyed most of the protective arrays around the old herb mountain. He also planted two immortal worms, one named Chongshi and the other named Kuangcao, at the cost of his life. Since then, the old herb mountain has been infested with large numbers of insects and weeds every so often. Even with many laborers helping to manage it, the yield of spirit herbs has drastically decreased."

"Therefore, the sect had no choice but to abandon this old herb mountain and open a new one."

"Of course, even so, the benefits from this old herb mountain are still astonishing. With just a few laborers to manage it loosely, the spirit herbs harvested in a year would be enough for six alchemists to use..."

"Is that so?" Hu Donghan nodded, indicating his understanding. He thought about it and realized that if there were really such huge benefits, someone else would have taken it long ago. How could it fall into his hands?

However, Hu Donghan was even more delighted—could the problem with the old herb mountain be just insects and weeds?

This might be a headache for others, but for Hu Donghan, who had the Spirit Herb Ghost, it wasn't a problem at all. The Spirit Herb Ghost's aura alone could kill ordinary insects and weeds. Even if there were more serious infestations, the Spirit Herb Ghost's medicinal fragrance and yin energy would take care of them! In short, the old herb mountain was perfect for Hu Donghan!

"Ergen, Liu Yiqing, Lu Jianwen, since you three have come with me to the old herb mountain, you are people I trust. First, you three should check the basic conditions of the old herb mountain. I'm waiting for your report." Hu Donghan thought for a moment and had the three of them investigate the surroundings.

As for Hu Donghan himself, he began to wander around the old herb mountain.

Soon, Hu Donghan saw a cluster of houses within the old herb mountain.

Entering the cluster of houses, he found that everything was covered in dust, and there wasn't a single person around—clearly, the Yin Soul Sect had completely given up on this herb mountain and didn't even have a guard.

After patrolling around these houses, Hu Donghan left and continued to wander around.

The distribution of the herb fields here was similar to that of the spirit herb mountain. The sizes of the herb fields varied, but there was a house near each field.

However, these houses had been unoccupied for a long time and were already rotten. Hu Donghan only needed to push them, and they would collapse.

During this process, Hu Donghan also released the Spirit Herb Ghost, allowing it to sense the surrounding aura and estimate whether it could manage enough herb fields.

After about two to three hours, Niu Ergen, Liu Yiqing, and Lu Jianwen found Hu Donghan and reported the situation of the old herb mountain.

The old herb mountain was only slightly smaller than the spirit herb mountain.

Currently, there were over two thousand herb fields, and the total area of the herb fields was already 750 hectares! And this was just the area of the herb fields. The herb mountain could grow spirit herbs in many places, such as slopes, rocky areas, and tunnels. In short, any place where plants could grow could be used to plant spirit herbs.

If all these places were included, the area suitable for planting spirit herbs would be 2,500 hectares!

What a huge number!

2,500 hectares is equivalent to 37,500 mu of land. Even if each mu of land only produced two spirit herbs a year, it would be enough to make countless people envious!

Hu Donghan roughly calculated in his mind and then communicated with the Spirit Herb Ghost through the Soul Chart, asking how many herb fields it could manage.

Although the Spirit Herb Ghost was very skilled at growing spirit herbs, it was only a low-grade ghost and could control a very limited area.

Following Hu Donghan's instructions, the Spirit Herb Ghost quickly gave him an approximate number—

210 hectares!

Currently, the Spirit Herb Ghost could manage about 210 hectares of herb fields in addition to cultivating spirit herbs. When this number came out, Hu Donghan nodded in satisfaction.

The area the Spirit Herb Ghost could manage wasn't one where the annual yield was only one or two spirit herbs. As long as the Spirit Herb Ghost could manage it, the situation would be similar to the two large herb fields Hu Donghan had on Xiaocuiping. The yield of spirit herbs should be at least 100 per mu per year!