Protect one's shortcomings

  Understanding Tian Gongzi's meaning, Xu Ziqing's eyebrows furrowed even tighter, and he let out a bitter laugh. He was still too naive, thinking that coming here to do miscellaneous chores would just be hard work, but forgetting his lowly position in this clan, where anyone with a slightly higher status could take their anger out on him. Xu Ziqing had a gentle temperament and never wanted to make things difficult for others, but others might not necessarily feel the same way.

  Xu Ziqing didn't know that Tian Gongzi's name was Tian Liang, and he was the son of the head of the Tian family in Luotian Prefecture. He was born with a pair of spiritual roots, which were similar in thickness and had a medium to high quality, making him extremely rare.

  In the Tian family, Tian Liang was even more pampered by his clansmen and grew up with all kinds of resources at his disposal. Now that he had just passed thirty years old, he already possessed a cultivation base of five layers in Qi Refining, which could be considered as a genius! He was naturally extremely arrogant. A mere grass cutter like you, wanting to fight or kill him? That's not even worth mentioning!

  The Tian and Xu families were on par with each other in terms of social status, so they often visited one another. This time, Tian Liang was sent by the head of his household to deliver a gift to Xu Zifeng, the young master of the Xu family who had just laid the foundation for their new home three days prior. There, he met Xu Zifeng's younger sister, Xu Ziting, and was immediately smitten, becoming so enchanted that even after several days had passed, he still refused to leave.

  Xu Ziting is also a proud daughter of heaven, similarly a genius with dual spiritual roots. Her spiritual roots are one thick and one thin, with superior innate talent, similar to her older brother. Her older brother Xu Zifen just turned 25 this year and is already a high-ranking master in the foundation-building period. This kind of extraordinary cultivation talent can be considered a prodigy even in the entire vast world! His younger sister is not much worse off either. Clearly only over 18 years old, she has already broken through to the fifth layer of Qi Refining. Looking at their cultivation alone, it seems that Tian Liang is comparable to her, but looking at their ages again, one can tell that Tian Liang is far inferior to Xu Ziting.

  Tian Liang was fond of Xu Ziting, so he naturally restrained his arrogance in front of her and tried to please her in every way. Others couldn't get this kind of treatment from him. As for Xu Ziting, although she wasn't fond of Tian Liang, since he was the son of the head of the household, she had to give face to that fellow who was also a master at the foundation-building stage, occasionally humoring him.

  At this time, Xu Ziting heard Tian Liang mention that he wanted to take out his anger on the miscellaneous workers in Bai Cao Garden, and she sneered coldly in her heart. The steward He in Bai Cao Garden was not only cultivating himself at the 9th level of Qi Refining, but also said that as long as the spiritual grass he cultivated could improve by one or half a grade, it would be enough to make the patriarchs of the clan yield to him three points. In this garden, no matter how talented and prestigious the Xu family was, they did not dare to act recklessly. But Tian Liang didn't understand the situation and dared to let her take action against the miscellaneous workers in Steward He's hands.

  He Guanshi's vision has always been quite high, and Xu Ziting had heard that it was rare for this miscellaneous role to not be dismissed for more than half a month. It must have been someone who met his expectations. If she really wanted to try her whip on him, would she still be able to get the best spiritual grass from He Guanshi in the future? It's also unknown how the master of the Tian family managed to raise such an arrogant yet foolish son!

  Moreover, even if it wasn't because of He Guan's affairs, would Xu Ziting need someone from the Tian family to instruct her on what to do? How could the people of the Xu family allow a member of the Tian family to order them around!

  Xu Ziting's evaluation of Tian Liang was even worse, but her expression didn't show it. She just said lightly: "This person hasn't even caught his breath, he must have rushed here as soon as he heard the news. There's no need for punishment."

  Xu Ziqing was slightly surprised, he had originally thought that this meal would be a certainty, but unexpectedly, the woman did not seem as arrogant as the man.

  Only then did Tian Liang hear Xu Ziting's words, his face changed, and he immediately smiled: "Since Sister Ziting has spoken, let him off this time."

  Xu Ziqing had not yet let out a breath of relief when he received a malicious glare from Tian Liang. He knew that this matter was far from over, but he didn't know what Tian Liang was going to do next. Shaking his head, Xu Ziqing also felt a bit helpless. Although Tian Liang's character was despicable, his status and power were far above his own, so he could only wait until the situation developed further before making any plans.

  However, through this incident, Xu Ziqing suddenly had some epiphany. In the Xu family, even a remote place like Bai Cao Yuan couldn't become a utopia. He wanted to live a peaceful life... but it wasn't easy to achieve.

  Xu Ziqing turned around and naturally led the way forward.

  Tian Liang looked at his back, and a hint of venom flashed in his eyes again.

  In Xu Ziqing's view, Tian Liang was just looking for trouble and it was his own bad luck that he ended up in a conflict with him. However, from Tian Liang's perspective, finding fault with Xu Ziqing made perfect sense.

  However, it was only a humble servant, yet Xu Ziting, this stunning beauty, treated him with special favor, how could Tian Liang, who had tried every way to please the beauty in vain, not feel extremely resentful?

  Indeed, if Xu Ziqing were ugly and old, it would be one thing. But he was young and dressed in simple attire, yet his appearance was elegant and refined. His demeanor was calm and composed, even when facing punishment, he didn't cry or beg for mercy like ordinary people. This made Tian Liang's heart fill with resentment. He thought to himself, "I am of such high status, how dare this lowly servant not show respect and fawn over me? This is an unforgivable crime!"

  Like a thorn on his back, Xu Ziqing's pace remained normal. Fortunately, Tian Liang still had some rationality and did not use his cultivation to intimidate him in front of Xu Ziting, but even so, it made Xu Ziqing break out in a cold sweat.

  Perhaps very soon or perhaps very slowly, they finally arrived at the spiritual grass field. Xu Ziqing looked up and saw He Lao's busy figure working hard. His mood also gradually calmed down a bit.

  Xu Ziqing said: "He Guanshi, the person has already been brought here."

  He Lao Tou patted the mud off his hands and said: "You keep an eye on this Dragon's Claw Flower, don't take your eyes off it for two incense sticks."

  Xu Ziqing responded with a "yes", took over a bamboo skewer and squatted down to follow suit.

  After cultivating the soil of Dracaena, it may attract root-eating insects within two days, and bamboo sticks are needed to pick them up.

  Xu Ziting didn't rashly go forward, seeing He Lao's instructions to Xu Ziqing, she quietly stood aside and waited. Tian Liang didn't know what was respectable about this old man, but since the beauty wasn't moving, he endured for the time being.

  He Lao Tou finished speaking and looked at Xu Ziting: "What do you want?"

  Xu Ziting made a polite gesture, then said: "My elder brother Xu Zifeng successfully laid the foundation a few days ago, but now he is suffering from severe loss of vital energy, so I came to ask for a stalk of Thousand-Acres Grass."

  Agastache grows in dry places, does not bloom, each plant has 100 leaves, falls off after being full, and then grows again, after ten times, it is mature. Mature Agastache is the main medicine for Qi-supplementing pills.

  Xu Zifeng spent a lot of energy building the foundation, and if he sat still for a year or two, he could recover. However, during this period, his realm was unstable. But if he could take a Replenishing Qi Pill, within ten days, he would be able to stabilize his realm.

  After the Qianji grass was picked, the sooner it was put into the Dan furnace, the higher the success rate of refining the Buzhi pill. Xue Zifeng, being naturally talented, was highly valued by his clan, so he had invited a Taishang elder who was skilled in alchemy to take action. Xue Ziting and her brother were very close, so she personally came to ask for the Qianji grass, and when she returned, they could start firing the furnace.

  He Lao Tou grunted: "Wait."

  Xu Ziting had no opinion: "Yes, senior."

  Next to Tian Liang, who had a mind to support the beauty, was about to scold him when the beauty shook her head at him first. Xu Ziting was also very helpless, she originally wanted to fight quickly and decisively, but unfortunately met Tian Liang who was wandering around blocking her way down the mountain, and had to bring him along. Although she got a low-grade peak artifact, wasn't it enough that the sender was scarce? Now she just hoped to stop this guy from being foolish, so she could safely get the Thousand Grain Grass.

  Tian Liang saw the beautiful woman's attention fall on himself, and he became even more diligent in speaking with her. Xu Ziting responded casually, sentence by sentence, but his mind was entirely preoccupied with Old He who had already left.

  On the other side, Xu Ziqing was carefully observing the Dragon's Claw Flower, completely ignoring Xu Ziting and his three companions. It wasn't that he harbored any resentment, it's just that during this period of time when he was taking care of the Dragon's Claw Flower, he really couldn't afford to be distracted.

  Old He's guess was correct, and after just a moment, a black insect emerged from the soil. The insect's body was about as thick as a grain of rice and as long as a small finger, and because its color was similar to that of the Lingzhi mushroom cultivation soil beneath the Dragon Claw Flower, it was very difficult to spot.

  Xu Ziqing saw it, his right hand holding the bamboo skewer quickly hooked downwards, and then his wrist turned, the insect was picked up on the bamboo skewer struggling. Time was of the essence, the bamboo tube held in his left hand immediately covered the bamboo skewer, and the insect entered the tube.

  This worm is most afraid of the smell of bamboo, once it enters the tube, it immediately becomes obedient and still, not moving at all.

  The first earthworm was caught, and then three or four more came out. Xuzi Qing followed the same procedure, his wrist movements even faster than before, and finally put them all into the bamboo tube. The last one almost got away by burrowing into the soil, but fortunately, a bamboo skewer pierced its tail, preventing all previous efforts from being wasted.

  After that, no more worms came out, Xu Ziqing wiped the thin sweat on his forehead and let out a sigh of relief.

  At this time, a voice came from above: "Your eyesight is still good, but your movements are too slow."

  Xu Ziqing looked up and saw that it was Old Man He, so he smiled: "Yes." In this life, his physical strength was much better than in his previous life, and he didn't have any illnesses or pain. However, he was still just an ordinary person. Earlier, he had read many medical books and knew how to handle some spiritual herbs, but after all, it was his first time personally catching a food insect, and he was quite satisfied with what he had achieved.

  He Lao obviously felt that he still had room for improvement, but didn't say much to him. He just said, "Come with me to see someone."

  Xu Ziqing respectfully said: "Yes, He Guanshi."

  Xu Ziting saw Old He coming back from afar, but then stopped halfway and stood behind the young servant boy. She felt a bit anxious in her heart, but didn't dare to urge him on, and could only wait.

  Later, Old He brought the young servant over, and she finally felt a bit more at ease.

  He Lao looked at Xu Ziting and pointed at Xu Ziqing, saying: "This is a miscellaneous worker in my Baicao Garden, you should recognize him."

  Xu Ziting nodded: "The junior understands." This was to tell her that the old man He knew about the previous incident at the garden gate. At the same time, Old Man He's reaction also let her know that he wasn't dissatisfied with her performance.

  He Lao Tou finally raised his hand and handed over a box: "What you wanted."

  Xu Ziting took it over, opened it immediately, and after seeing the appearance of the spiritual grass, her face couldn't help but show a few happy colors, and she couldn't help but say: "Thank you, senior!"

  It seems that lowering her posture earlier was useful after all. This stalk of chrysanthemum is much better in quality compared to the ones she had seen before!

  Author's note: Recently, JJWXC has been acting up, so please take note that my updates are at 11am sharp every day. Unless I specify otherwise, it will always be this way. If you find that the front page doesn't show new chapters, just change the chapter number in the URL. novelid=1662397&chapterid=6

  Just change the "in" to "my", and then change the 6 to the correct chapter number, such as 7 or 8, and you can go in directly.

  Additionally, thank you Bottle Gourd Little Grass for 3 landmines ~ hugs =3=

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