Cultivating In Secret Beside A Demoness

250  The Show Begins

It was early September. There were still more than ten days left until the sect's mission.

Jiang Hao stood in front of the peach tree. The peaches had already grown, but they weren't ripe yet.

He plucked a fruit and tasted it. It was sour but with a tinge of sweetness.

'I feel that the fruits will be extraordinarily sweet when they ripen this time.'

With each incarnation, the taste of the peaches improved.

Jiang Hao activated his Daily Appraisal ability. He wanted to see how many spirit stones were needed this time.

[Immortal Peach Tree: Related to the ancient Immortal Peach Tree. Possesses a trace of the divine tree's characteristics. The fruits are sweet. Leave a fruit on the tree and set up a Spirit Gathering Formation in the surrounding area with 14,700 spirit stones. It can activate the trace of the divine tree's characteristics and initiate an incarnation. After seven incarnations, it will turn into a true Immortal Peach Tree. Planting it beside a divine item will make the incarnations more successful.]

'14,700 spirit stones… it's a bit too much.' Jiang Hao frowned.

Although he had sold quite a few talismans, he only had around 10,300 spirit stones.

He was still short of four thousand spirit stones.

If he paid one thousand to the Law Enforcement Hall, he would be short of five thousand spirit stones for the incarnation.

'The rewards for the sect's mission are better. Maybe I'll get around three hundred spirit stones… it's still not enough.'

For Foundation Establishment Realm disciples, the rewards were usually a few hundred spirit stones.

Golden Core Realm disciples would get around one thousand. Those in the Primordial Spirit Realm would get even more.

However, nobody knew that he was in the Primordial Spirit Realm, and he couldn't tell anyone either.

Recruiting disciples fetched him more spirit stones. Last time, he received three thousand spirit stones from the Cliff Master when he went for recruitment. That was the kind of payment someone in the Primordial Spirit Realm received.

When the Corpse Realm Flower bloomed, he received five thousand spirit stones as a reward. He somehow needed to find a way to earn four thousand more.

He had no choice but to wait and see how things turned out. If he couldn't gather enough spirit stones, he would have to wait until next year.

He walked to the corner of the courtyard, where he had planted bamboo shoots. He had appraised them, too. They were ordinary bamboo shoots and needed to be watered occasionally.

There was a divine item and abundant spiritual energy at his place, so he didn't need to care for them too much.

"Master, I've noticed that the outside world is vast. Why don't you go out and explore?" asked the spirit beast as it hopped in front of Jiang Hao.

"I'll take you to even larger places in the future," Jiang Hao said with a smile.

"Will you go with me too, Master?"

Jiang Hao smiled but didn't answer the beast.

He watered the Heavenly Fragrance Dao Flower and left the house. He turned back and said to the beast, "You'll be a Golden Core demon soon."

The rabbit, who was about to reach the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm, was indeed getting closer to the Golden Core Realm.

"Master, you're joking! I'm just an ordinary demon."

Jiang Hao headed to the Spirit Herb Garden. On the way, he ran into Miao Tinglian.

"Junior Brother Jiang, I have something to discuss with you," she said.

"What is it, Senior Sister Miao?" Jiang Hao was puzzled. As far as he knew, the Corpse Realm Flower should be fine now.

"I wanted to give you something." She handed Jiang Hao two thousand spirit stones.

"What's this for?" Jiang Hao asked in surprise.

Two thousand spirit stones were not a small amount. Why would she suddenly give him so many spirit stones?

It would normally take him a lot of time to earn that much. If he only relied on the sect's resources, it would take him five years to earn that much!

"This too," said Miao Tinglian as she handed him some pills.

Jiang Hao was astonished. "Heavenly Revitalizing Pill?"

"Yes, I had Mu Qi especially prepare those for you. I thought you might need it," she said. "I would have given you more spirit stones but having pills is safer."

Jiang Hao was baffled. Why was she giving him spirit stones?

"It's because of the Corpse Realm Flower," said Miao Tinglian. "You told me how and where to transplant them to keep them alive. So many disciples now approach me to ask about it. I took a hefty sum from them. So, I wanted to give a fair share of it to you, Junior Brother Jiang."

"Oh…" Jiang Hao hesitated. "Can I exchange them for spirit stones instead?"

Miao Tinglian was speechless.

"The current market price for the pill in the sect is four thousand, but I'll give you five thousand spirit stones," she said.

Miao Tinglian hesitated. "Junior Brother Jiang, don't let anyone know that you earned so many spirit stones. It might be dangerous for a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator to carry around so many spirit stones. You might be attacked… or worse. You better spend them soon."

"Thank you for the warning, Senior Sister Miao." Jiang Hao nodded gratefully.

He also knew that it was not safe to have too many spirit stones as a late Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.

It was just as well that not many people knew his master had given him five thousand spirit stones.

Many people would be envious.

Jiang Hao sighed in relief as he received five thousand spirit stones from Miao Tinglian.

In total, he received 7,000 spirit stones from Miao Tinglian. After deducting the four thousand that he needed for the peach tree from the spirit stones he just received, he would have three thousand left. He could pay one thousand spirit stones to the Law Enforcement Hall and still have two thousand left.

He could use that to buy more talisman-making materials. It would be safer that way.

It was already mid-September when Jiang Hao finally went to the Law Enforcement Hall.

This time, he met Liu Xingchen, but there was a difference in his aura from before. His aura was an amalgamation of a dark aura and the aura of a dragon.

The remnants of a True Dragon's soul and the sorcerer's soul seemed to be teaming up.

"Hello, Junior Brother Jiang. I heard you specifically requested the sect's mission?" said Liu Xingchen.

"Yes." Jiang Hao nodded.

He activated the Daily Appraisal on Liu Xingchen.

spy to keep an eye on the sect. He was killed outside the sect not so long ago," said Liu Xingchen.

"We are searching for the main body of the person who used him as a clone and a spy. We haven't [Liu Xingchen: True Disciple of the Heavenly Faction. Born with the aura of a dragon. The remnants of the True Dragon's soul and the sorcerer's soul within his body have sensed a mortal threat. They are exerting their influence and summoning another remnant soul to seize control of his body. The three intend to work together and completely take over his body. Aware of this, he has been loitering around the Devil's Den and the mines to find another remnant soul to boost their courage. The reason he is on good terms with you is to get close to the Heavenly Fragrance Dao Flower to watch it carefully. He suspects that the deaths of Du Yong and another unknown Primordial Spirit Realm cultivator are related to you. His interest in you had grown.]

Jiang Hao didn't know what Liu Xingchen was thinking. But he knew that Liu Xingchen was extremely confident in his abilities. Wasn't he afraid of causing trouble?

Perhaps that was the arrogance of a True Disciple.

If the remnants of the True Dragon's soul and the sorcerer's soul knew that Liu Xingchen was aware of their plan, Jiang Hao didn't know what they would do.

Jiang Hao had no way of knowing what kind of mortal threat they sensed.

It was fascinating that Liu Xingchen was trying something like that. However, the latter information worried him a bit.

Du Yong's death had been investigated, but no one had approached Jiang Hao to question him yet.

'Was it because he died outside the sect?'

"I heard that there will be another junior next year who will be going for the recruitment missions," said Liu Xingchen.

'There goes my opportunity to earn three thousand spirit stones.' Jiang Hao sighed inwardly.

"By the way, Junior Brother Jiang, do you remember Du Yong?" Liu Xingchen suddenly asked.

"I remember. He used to come to the Cliff of Broken Hearts often to see the Spirit Herb Garden," Jiang Hao said calmly.

"We investigated and found out that he was an undercover agent… or rather, he was replaced by a spy to keep an eye on the sect. He was killed outside the sect not so long ago," said Liu Xingchen. "We are searching for the main body of the person who used him as a clone and a spy. We haven't found them yet. You were quite close to Du Yong, so you are obviously placed under observation."

After talking for a while, Liu Xingchen bid farewell and headed to the mines. "I'll get going now. I have important matters to attend to."

Jiang Hao suspected that the "important matter" was to find another remnant soul in his body for possession. He was both shocked and impressed by Liu Xingchen.

However, Du Yong's case made him somewhat concerned.