Chương 23

"Everyone, get to work. All mature spirit plants must be harvested and loaded aboard the field-inspection vessel by half past three this afternoon. Once everything has been accounted for, the harvest will be transported back to the Moonwatch Sect." At Elder Voss's command, the thousands of cultivators assembled outside the spirit fields surged forward, streaming toward the growing districts controlled by their respective factions. Dawnmere Trading House and its Spirit Gardeners were no exception.

Garrick led his apprentices straight to the Mindveil Grass fields. Caught up in the excitement, Alistair and the others rolled up their sleeves and prepared to enter the fields. Alistair even remembered to call out to Elara.

"Boss, just watch! I've gotten a lot faster at this kind of work lately."

"You won't need to trouble yourselves. I can harvest the whole field from here." The answer came not from Elara, but from Garrick. Normally, simple tasks such as harvesting Rank One spirit plants were left to the apprentices. Certified Spirit Gardeners like Garrick were responsible for collecting Rank Two plants and ensuring that the more valuable crops were handled properly. Ever since the Flamewyrm Fruit infestation had been resolved several days ago, however, Garrick had been in an excellent mood.

Whenever he encountered one of his apprentices, he greeted them with a broad smile.

"Pay attention," Garrick said, stopping beside the raised boundary of the field.

"This is an elementary art, not one of the basic gardening arts you use every day." He began forming a complex sequence of hand seals. From the way he made certain every apprentice was watching, it was obvious that he intended to give them a proper demonstration. An elementary art? Elara's interest sharpened at once. Since arriving in this era, she had yet to see one of the elementary arts used by professional Spirit Gardeners. Seed of Ascension had contained quite a few elementary arts suited to harvesting crops.

She wondered which one Garrick had mastered. To qualify as a certified Rank One Spirit Gardener, a cultivator had to demonstrate proficiency in at least five basic gardening arts and successfully perform one elementary art.

"Call the Wind!" Garrick completed the final seal and released his qi. A tremendous gale swept across the entire one-third-acre plot of Mindveil Grass. Robes snapped and hair whipped wildly in the wind. Even those standing beyond the field could feel its force. The Stormcalling Art? So Garrick specializes in an advanced form of Raincall... Elara recognized his intent from the hand seals alone. The Stormcalling Art had also been extremely common in Seed of Ascension during her previous life.

It had two distinct stages. The first summoned powerful winds. The second gathered storm clouds and unleashed torrential rain. Spirit Gardeners who also specialized in lightning-aspected arts could weave techniques such as Spring Thunder into those clouds, dramatically increasing the Stormcalling Art's destructive power. It had been a well-known trick among experienced players. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Garrick clearly hadn't developed the art that far. For now, he was using only its first stage and pouring in additional qi to strengthen it. Under his precise control, the gale at the center of the field sharpened into countless blades of wind. Entire swaths of Mindveil Grass were sheared cleanly at the roots, swept into the air, and deposited beside the raised boundary. The process flowed seamlessly from beginning to end. Garrick had clearly harvested crops this way many times before.

"So this is what a Rank One Spirit Gardener can do?" Alistair watched with open excitement.

"Master Garrick is incredible! Those wind blades would be just as effective against an enemy." For a mere Spirit Gardener apprentice, Alistair possessed an almost inexplicable obsession with offensive arts.

"Master Garrick, I'll pay you one hundred Spirit Stones. Could you teach me that technique?" Alistair swallowed and looked at Garrick hopefully. Before Garrick could respond, Elara frowned and tapped Alistair on the shoulder.

"That art is part of how he earns his living. Are you asking him to hand over the secret of his trade? Besides, one hundred Spirit Stones wouldn't even buy an elementary art manual."

"Right... I'm sorry. That was presumptuous of me." Between Elara's warning and Garrick's displeased stare, even Alistair realized how inappropriate his request had been. Garrick gave a slight nod, then issued the same instructions he normally gave the apprentices.

"Sort the Mindveil Grass and carry it to Dawnmere Trading House's collection area. Someone there will show you where to put it." After leaving the remaining work to them, Garrick hurried toward the Rank Two Flamewyrm Fruit grove. That was his true responsibility during the assessment.

"I really do want to learn a few offensive techniques," Alistair said with a long sigh. Elara, however, saw an opportunity. She had already planned to teach the others the modified application of Soften Earth she had used to bury them. Now, it seemed she might be able to earn something from it. I'm short on money, and I still need to buy an elementary art manual. He wants a combat technique, and I happen to have one...

To take the Rank One Spirit Gardener certification exam, Elara needed to master only one elementary art. She had already learned all five of the required basic gardening arts. If she earned the certification, she had heard that she would also receive a monthly stipend from the Valehaven Spirit Gardeners' Association. It was one of the city's ways of keeping skilled professionals from leaving. After considering the matter, Elara approached Alistair.

"Alistair, do you really want to learn the technique I used to bury you?" His face immediately lit up.

"Are you really willing to teach me?" Before Elara could explain, he hurried to demonstrate his sincerity.

"As long as you teach me that technique, I'll pay fifty Spirit Sto—no, I'll offer the same price I offered Master Garrick. One hundred Spirit Stones!" His casual generosity once again left Elara marveling at the lives of wealthy cultivators. Then again, many of the elementary gardening arts available in Valehaven had little or no direct combat value. It was hardly surprising that Alistair had become so obsessed with a technique he could actually use against an enemy. Still, one hundred Spirit Stones...

Elara had never imagined that a modified application of Soften Earth could be worth half the price of an elementary art manual.

"If you're that sincere, then of course I'll teach you my burial technique." After accepting the full payment of one hundred Spirit Stones, Elara promised to write down the essential principles and hand seals when they returned. Once the instructions were ready, she would give them to him. With Alistair's current command of gardening arts, he should be capable of learning the technique. Even then, he would probably notice only that it bore some resemblance to Soften Earth.

He was nowhere near skilled enough to grasp the deeper principles behind it. That suited Elara perfectly. It left her plenty of room to profit from the technique's value.... With Garrick handling the actual harvesting, the apprentices only needed to sort the mature plants and carry them to Dawnmere's collection area. The entire task took less than fifteen minutes. Several thousand cultivators were working at once, and their efficiency was astonishing.

Within two hours, every mature spirit plant had been harvested, separated by variety and growing region, and stacked within the marked collection area belonging to its faction. Elder Voss stepped forward with a purple-robed disciple and began recording the totals. The disciple stood out sharply among the outer disciples in their white garments. Even the purple robe itself appeared to be a Low Basic-grade artifact. That must be the inner disciple Garrick was hoping to ingratiate himself with.

I didn't expect a mere inner disciple to have already reached Foundation Establishment... Elara quietly studied the purple-robed figure. The Moonwatch Sect may be far stronger than I thought. From the look of things, it might even have reclusive experts in the Soul Transformation Realm.