2 Contract and Initial Value

Cold Wave Cave.

…

"Under the witness of the Spring Autumn Cicada and the Transient Life Butterfly, I, Chen Qing, will form this contract with you!"

"With my body, I will nurture your body!"

Chen Qing raised his bleeding index finger, and drew a contract rune on the jade altar. Blood covered the entire jade altar, forming a faint fluorescent light that enveloped the jade altar.

The fluorescent light gradually lit up, and the blood on the surface of the jade altar seeped in as if it was being sucked into the altar.

Two hours gradually passed. Chen Qing picked up another spirit stone to replenish his spiritual qi.

Another hour passed, and the bloodstains finally fused into his body. Chen Qing suddenly felt a weak consciousness exploring his body.

It was like a curious little immortal spirit wandering in his body.

Chen Qing opened the lid of the jade altar, and placed a spirit exuvia fragment inside.

A green worm the size of a soybean slowly crawled up, and began to eat the spirit exuvia fragment.

The green worm was a little like a caterpillar, but it was more like a worm in driftwood. It was tender and soft, just like a jade silkworm that had come to life.

Chen Qing stretched out his hand. Grass Spirit Gu climbed up, and gradually fused into his body.

Cheng Qing felt a somewhat unusual feeling. He could feel an additional consciousness in his Niwan Palace1, but this consciousness was very weak.

This consciousness was completely open to him. It was transparent, and did not have any special thoughts.

Eat, sleep, and work.

Simple thinking. Nothing else.

It was quite clean.

After feeding the spirit exuvia to the Gu, Chen Qing clearly saw some changes in the interface.

[Mortal-grade Grass Spirit Gu]

Quality: Rank seven

Lifespan: 42/65

Effect: Takes care of the Gu spirit grass within five mu of land, and increases its growth speed and quality.

Growth Requirements: earth spirit crystal, ocher Rehmannia, spirit exuvia

Growth Rate: 11/100

Advancement Requirements: Rank nine, 10 drops of earth origin spirit liquid, one soul-snatching flower

Did his growth speed increase as soon as he ate it?

Chen Qing took out one qian2 of ocher Rehmannia and threw it in. Grass Spirit Gu climbed up, and took a small bite, but did not continue eating.

'I think he's full.'

At the moment, this little guy had no intention of eating or sleeping. Instead, he really wanted to go out and work.

Thinking about it, it made sense. After the sect caught it, they let it sleep in the jade altar and sealed it. It had probably slept for too long.

Chen Qing stretched out his finger and rubbed it. It was soft.

"What a diligent little fellow.

"From now on, we can only rely on each other."

The next morning, Chen Qing looked at the changes in Grass Spirit Gu again. Its growth rate had changed from 11 to 18.

It should have finished digesting. It seemed that spirit exuvia could increase its growth progress by eight points3.

After trying the spirit exuvia, Chen Qing picked up the remaining one qian of ocher Rehmannia from yesterday, and began to feed the Grass Spirit Gu.`

Someone rang the bell outside the cave abode. Chen Qing pushed open the door, and saw that it was Li He, who lived at the foot of the mountain like him.

He carried a small pot of wine and a bundle of roast goose to the door. When he saw Chen Qing, he congratulated, "Fellow Daoist Chen, I heard that you chose a Grass Spirit Gu?"

Chen Qing opened his hand, and green fluorescent light lit up. The Grass Spirit Gu lay in his hand and rolled around.

"Oh, that's the little guy."

Grass Spirit Gu was not a secret. It would appear in the sect's collection records. This was almost an open secret, and was not worth hiding.

In fact, Chen Qing hoped that the more people knew, the better.

After all, this was a production-type Gu insect, and if he wanted to find work, the more people knew, the better.

The wine that Li He brought was spirit wine. It helped to increase and stabilize one's cultivation after drinking it.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist!"

After eating some wine and roasted goose, Li He explained his intentions. "Fellow Daoist Chen, I'll have to trouble you for my three acres of spiritual fields. Many Gu spirit grasses are a little yellow now."

Chen Qing agreed generously. "Sure, I'll go in the afternoon."

Having achieved his goal of coming here, Li He was also beaming with joy. "Fellow Daoist Chen, when I heard that you were at the third layer of Qi Refining, I was afraid that you would choose some kind of battle-type Gu insect."

He whispered, "Have you heard? Senior Sister Li at the foot of the mountain has fallen."

Chen Qing was slightly shocked. "That Senior Sister Li is a great expert at the fifth layer of Qi Refining. She had two Gu insects, and both of them died?"

Li He shook his head sadly. "That's right. When we go out on an adventure, there are not only wild beasts and poisonous creatures, but also demon beasts."

He spoke even more carefully. "Besides, people's hearts are unpredictable.

"Staying on this Carefree Mountain, you are still safe. Everyone knows clearly what's going on at whose place.

"So, no one dares to do something bad openly.

"But once we leave Carefree Mountain, it won't be so easy."

Chen Qing drank his wine leisurely, and once again understood the dangers of this world.

'You can't even go out when at the fifth layer of Qi Refining. I'm at the third layer of Qi Refining, and I have a Grass Spirit Gu. It's better not to go out and court death.'

Being alive was better than anything else.

Furthermore, he had to cozy up to the sect. The days of the wandering cultivators4 outside were even more bitter.

The next morning, Chen Qing woke up early, and arrived outside the spirit plant garden. He asked a servant boy to report to the spirit plant elder and explain his intentions.

"Elder, I already have Grass Spirit Gu, I specially came to take care of the spirit field."

The spirit plant elder looked to be in his seventies, his eyes bright. "You're quite sensible. The first thing you do when you have the ability is to contribute to the sect."

The reason why it was said to be a contribution was because only half of the spirit stones were used to manage the sect's spirit field. The other half was converted into contribution points.

Chen Qing smiled, and said, "This is what disciples should do."

Hearing this, the spirit plant elder snorted coldly. "Hmph, there are always some people who don't know what's good for them. Once they get a Gu insect, they forget the immensity of heaven and earth, and go out to fight to the death!"

It seemed that the spirit plant elder was very disgusted with cultivators who walked the path of battle.

Thinking about it, it made sense. They just reached the third layer of Qi Refining, and could be of some use to the sect, but they never returned.

Not only did they lose his life, they even lost the sect's Gu insects.

The more the spirit plant elder thought about it, the angrier he became. He got the servant boy to bring Chen Qing to the spirit field and left by himself.

Chen Qing took out a bag of candied plums, and handed it to the boy.

In the beginning, the boy did not dare to take it, but Chen Qing said that he was no longer at the age where he liked to eat it. The boy was a glutton, so he accepted it.

As soon as he accepted it, he opened his mouth, and said, "Senior Brother Chen, let me tell you. The reason why the elder is so angry is because of his granddaughter."

Chen Qing asked, "There's such a thing?"

The spirit plant boy said, "The elder's granddaughter walks the path of a sword cultivator. She's already at the sixth layer of Qi Refining."

The boy said no more.

Chen Qing nodded to himself, and roughly understood the reason.

It was probably that nonsense stuff where the child's aspirations and the parents' thoughts did not match.

Walking to the spirit field, Chen Qing chose two acres of land that looked deficient, wanting to test the ability of his Grass Spirit Gu.

Grass Spirit Gu flew out from his fingers, and sank into the spirit field, as if it was submerging in water.

Sensing that the Grass Spirit Gu was working on its own, Chen Qing looked at it for a while, and gave it a scope to work with.

The spiritual qi in his body began to slowly decrease. That was because the Grass Spirit Gu was absorbing the spiritual qi in his body.

The Grass Spirit Gu passed through the spirit field. Chen Qing did not know what this fellow was doing. After observing for a while, he could not figure it out, so he gave up.

The only thing that could be seen was that this little guy was very passionate about his work!

It had probably stayed in the jade altar for too long, waking up from a long slumber, and feeling the joy of the entire world again.

Since he had nothing to do, Chen Qing simply sat on the ground and meditated, beginning to cultivate.

Two hours later, Grass Spirit Gu flew back to Chen Qing's side, and fused into his body.

Chen Qing stood up and looked at the Gu spirit grass in the spirit field. He could tell that it was better than before.

Although no direct changes could be seen with the naked eye, this previously lifeless area had now become full of vitality when probed using spirit.

After finishing his work, Chen Qing received a low-grade spirit stone and some contribution points. He was prepared to return home and go to Li He's place after having a meal.

It was already afternoon when he returned from Li He's place. He had only been in this world for a year, and did not have many friends. Other than meditating, he had nothing else to do.

Now that he had the Grass Spirit Gu, Chen Qing weighed the three low-grade spirit stones in his hand. 'I might as well expand my business today.

'Yes, let's go to the Bright Moon Hotel to listen to music. There are many people there!

'If no one knows that I have Grass Spirit Gu, how can I take on any jobs?

'I, Chen Qing, am not a spendthrift who spends money recklessly and listens to music all day.

'It's all about life.'