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Translator: Silavin & Danny
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
The old man was gloomy, “Since you also know that life is hard, why do you have to make it difficult for this Old Master?”
Yang Kai turned his head to look around and stretched out his hand to draw a big circle, “Sir, even if it’s not eighty acres of land here, I believe there should be at least sixty, yes?”
Without knowing Yang Kai’s intention in the sudden change of topic, the old man dared not to answer rashly, but just looked at him with a wary face.
“If you can easily take care of sixty acres of land, it doesn’t matter if there are an additional three, right? It must be a simple matter for Old Sir. If Old Sir refuses to help me with this simple matter, don’t blame me if anything happens in the future.”
The old man glared at him, “Do you want this Old Master to take care of your three acres of land too?”
Yang Kai grinned, “Of course not. As long as Old Sir can take some time out to teach me, I won’t bother you again in the future.” After a pause, he pressed on, “Don’t worry, I’m a quick study. I will probably master it within a few days.”
The old man looked helpless, “This Old Master is fine with teaching you, but remember what you promised. If you dare to cause trouble again in the future, don’t blame this Old Master for being impolite!”
“I wouldn’t dare!”
The old man puffed with rage for a while before finally waving his arm wildly, “Let’s go.”
“No rush, no rush…” Yang Kai hurried up to support him.
The old man swung his sleeves and snorted coldly, “Enough with your false pleasantries! If this Old Master knew you were such a cunning brat, he would not have warned you out of kindness!”
Yang Kai chuckled, “Old Sir, you said it yourself, how can someone as kind as you let this Junior suffer without at least warning him? Good advice doesn’t cost you anything anyway.”
Yang Kai walked together with the old man, smiling, and soon they returned to the three acres plot.
Although the old man was coerced into helping Yang Kai, since he had given his word, he did his job seriously. Of course, this was mainly because he was afraid of Yang Kai’s delinquent attitude. If a tree died on Yang Kai’s small plot one day, he might really come to sabotage his own territory.
For his own sake, the old man taught Yang Kai diligently.
Standing in front of a Fire Spirit Fruit Tree, the old man solemnly began, “Although we are mere Workers here in Fire Spirit Land, a Worker’s job is not easy at all. There are a lot of techniques and skills involved, especially in taking care of these fruit trees. It’s hard to master all kinds of details without immersing yourself in the job for three to five years, or even more. Let me tell you first, I will only teach you for one month. It’s your own business on how much you can absorb in that time. Don’t bother me again after that.”
“En!” Yang Kai nodded seriously.
The old man sneered. Obviously, he thought that Yang Kai had overestimated himself; however, he was glad that Yang Kai had agreed. And so, he pointed to the fruit tree in front and asked, “Look for yourself. What does this fruit tree require?”
Focused, Yang Kai examined it up and down with his Divine Sense, but after a long while, he replied, “No idea!”
The old man continued patiently, “Put your hand on it and feel it carefully.”
Yang Kai followed the instruction and placed his hand on the trunk. After a moment, he questioned with his head tilted, “Does this fruit tree need to be fertilized?”
The old man rolled his eyes, “This is a healthy fruit tree. You don’t need to do anything.”
Yang Kai was infuriated, “Since it’s healthy, why do you still ask me what it needs?”
The old man stroked his beard with a look of deep wisdom, “This Old Master just wants you to remember what the state of healthy fruit trees is. Based on this, you will know what to do compared to other fruit trees.”
Yang Kai pondered for a while and had to admit that his words were somewhat reasonable. Although the old man clearly intended to mess with him, Yang Kai could only endure it, taking it as a payback for scamming him just now.
“I’ll remember.” Yang Kai nodded.
“Then let’s move on!” The old man beckoned.
A short while later, they came to another fruit tree, and after examining it for a long time, Yang Kai came up with an uncertain deduction, “Compared to the fruit tree earlier, this one seems slightly parched, so it needs watering?”
The old man glanced at him and nodded, “En.”
Yang Kai grinned, “Old Sir teaches well. En, so about how to water it… let me see the instructions.” He took out his own token, surging his Divine Sense to connect to the Grand Array in the orchard. Without any strong effort, a cloud soon gathered on top of the fruit tree.
“That’s not enough, keep going!” The old man shouted, “This place is rich in Fire Element Power and the environment is hot. If you gather too little Spirit Water, it will evaporate directly and become useless.”
Without further prompting, Yang Kai increased his power and gathered a larger and richer cloud above the fruit tree.
“Better,” The old man nodded.
Hearing this, Yang Kai immediately stretched out his hand and pointed. The cloud immediately enveloped the fruit tree, and it obviously became much more hydrated than before.
Yang Kai asked eagerly, “How is it?”
“So-so.” Of course, the old man would never praise him and continued to lead him forward.
Taking care of the fruit trees was meticulous and difficult work, especially for newcomers like Yang Kai. A tiny mistake may cause disaster. While checking the fruit trees, he watered, fertilized, and extracted World Energy accordingly.
The three seedlings were the top priority, and were the toughest to take care of; however, under the guidance of the old man, Yang Kai did a fair job. Seeing him like this, the old man seemed to be quite satisfied, and even his manner eased slightly.
Soon, Yang Kai finished working on his thirty fruit trees, but it was not enough for him. It was not because he was fond of this kind of work, but rather because he was planning for the future when he would begin refining Open Heaven Pills. As an Alchemist, one could not refine a pill well without understanding the characteristics of its ingredients.
Working hard to care for the Fire Spirit Fruit Trees today laid a solid foundation for the Alchemy he would perform in the future; therefore, Yang Kai was quite enthusiastic about it.
“Come on, let’s go to your side.” Yang Kai beckoned.
The old man raised a brow and asked, “What are we going to this Old Master’s side for?”
Yang Kai rubbed his hands in excitement, “So I can help Old Sir take care of his fruit trees!”
The old man was appalled, “It’s alright! Many thanks for your good intentions Little Brot…”
“Enough nonsense! Let’s go!” Yang Kai did not wait for him to finish talking and dragged him towards his own plot directly.
Begrudgingly, the old man followed Yang Kai with a worried face. Yang Kai shuttled through the old man’s several tens of acres, honing his own skills. Whenever he made any mistake, the old man would tremble with rage…
“Old Sir, this tree is infested. Is it a Jade Fire Silkworm?” Yang Kai suddenly peeped into a hole on the tree trunk. Seeing the hole, he instantly remembered that he had promised Ruler of the Dawn Great General five Jade Fire Silkworms.
“Is there a worm in it?” The old man suddenly became interested and pushed Yang Kai aside before continuing eagerly, “Let me see, let me see…” He checked the small hole and beamed, “There really is one!”
Head tilted, Yang Kai looked at him with a frown, “Why are you so happy?”
“You know nothing,” The old man was too busy to explain to Yang Kai as he took out a green box, and drew an incense fragment out of it. He lit the incense and gently waved it in front of the wormhole.
Looking at his posture, he should be attempting to lure the worm out. He was even well-prepared with the special tools. This was certainly not his first time doing this given his skilful action. A burning scent followed after igniting the incense. Yang Kai had no idea what material it was made of, but it was extremely strange.
Yang Kai had many questions, but he was afraid of disturbing the old man, so he simply held his tongue and observed quietly.
Given that the old man cared so much about this Jade Fire Silkworm after being here for many years, there must be some important reason for it. Moreover, Dié You mentioned before that if he ever caught a Jade Fire Silkworm in the orchard, he needed to keep it, so it must be of some value.
Needless to say, the old man was skilled at catching these worms. Just after burning the incense for a short while, a small scarlet head popped out of the wormhole. Yang Kai saw the Jade Fire Silkworm too, and he immediately recognized that it was the same worm Dié You fed Ruler of the Dawn Great General before.
After all, the Jade Fire Silkworm was only a worm. It was baited by the scent of the incense to crawl out of the wormhole, and was immediately captured by the old man into the box.
The old man extinguished the incense and smiled delightfully at the box in his hands.
Only then did Yang Kai question, “Old Sir, what’s the use of this Jade Fire Silkworm?”
The old man glanced sideways at him, and shook his head, “I can’t tell you…”
“Do you think I won’t uproot your tree!?” Yang Kai grabbed the Fire Spirit Fruit Tree in front of him.
“You…” The old man’s air of superiority was immediately snuffed out when he saw Yang Kai’s big hand grab the tree, “Let go first.”
“I’ll let go when you explain to me.”
“Alright, alright!”
He waited for Yang Kai to withdraw his hand before he began to explain, “This worm is useless to us, but do you know Ruler of the Dawn Great General? Jade Fire Silkworms are his favourite food.”
“I know, so what? Is a chicken worth your flattery?” Yang Kai looked at the old man with disdain.
The old man shook his head, “Ruler of the Dawn Great General is not an ordinary chicken, he is Venerable’s pet. In this Fire Spirit Land, he stands at the highest position other than Venerable.”
“So what? Will it speak good words for you if you feed it? Can it help you to get rid of your status as a Worker?”
“Of course not…” The old man chuckled, “But it’s always wise to have a good relationship with the Ruler of the Dawn Great General.”
“That’s all?” Yang Kai looked at him suspiciously.
“What else can it be?”
Yang Kai looked at him seriously for a while, and then he grabbed the Fire Spirit Fruit Tree again, “Do you really think I won’t uproot your tree!?”
“Stop, stop!” The old man shouted loudly, his beard trembling violently. Yang Kai was unmoved, however, and gradually increased the strength of his grip.
“Good, you win!” The old man wanted so badly to slap Yang Kai to death, but with a hostage at stake, he resisted the urge and explained, “Great General has Open Heaven Pills, and if he is in a good mood, he may give you one. Why else do you think we catch these worms?”
“That damn chicken has Open Heaven Pills?” Yang Kai could not believe what he just heard.
“Can you keep your voice down?” The old man looked around and continued, “Great General is not an ordinary chicken. If anyone hears you defaming him, you will not end well!”
“Fine, fine, I’ll be quiet…” Yang Kai accepted the old man’s advice and immediately lowered his voice with a sinister look on his face, “Has anyone ever gotten Open Heaven Pills from that dam… from Great General?”
Yang Kai asked because last time, when Dié You fed the chicken, he did not give her any Open Heaven Pills.
Okay question, where does a chick keeps his valuables?
“Yang Kai was infuriated, “Since it’s healthy, why do you still ask me what it needs?”
How the hell did YK survive for two centuries with this childish petulance and learning capacity of a horny duck? He should’ve started by establishing baseline and checking out his trees himself, before rushing over to harass a neighbor for tips. MoMo is being dramatic dumbass again
Uh oh, RUN GREAT GENERAL!
So those pills will be the reason that Yang Kai will befriend the Great General with the worms,