Chapter 56

[Ding!]

[+100 Farm Points]

[Ding…]

Jiang He plucked the remaining six bottle gourds and checked them one after another.

[Second Brother]

[All-seeing, all-hearing, adept at strategizing.]

[Usage: Blow to use.]

[Gentle reminder: Remember to charge before use. Put it under the sun to charge.]

[Third Brother]

[Body of steel, invincible against all weapons.]

[Usage: Blow to use.]

[Gentle reminder: Remember to charge before use. Put it under the sun to charge.]

[Fourth Brother]

….

“Just as I thought. These seven little bottle gourds are indeed the seven Bottle Gourd Brothers… In other words, I planted seven grandmaster-rank grandchildren with a single bottle gourd seed?”

“Blargh! What grandchildren? They are more like tools! That said, they do have a lot in common with the puppets in fantasy novels, although there’s no telling how long it takes to charge them and how long they can be used.”

Jiang He hence put all seven bottle gourds under the sun. He must say, doing that was a rather human method of charging.

He then turned towards the walnut tree. It had already matured, with walnuts growing all over its branches, each one looking average sized and showing nothing special.

[Ding!]

[+10 Farm Points.]

Jiang He plucked a walnut and looked at it.

[Walnut]

[Effect: Contains rich proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, as well as calcium, phosphorus, iron, and many other micronutrients or minerals. Able to resist aging and strengthen brainpower.

[Gentle reminder: Improved effects when eaten with walnut shell.]

“Why do I have the feeling that the System is becoming less and less serious?”

Jiang He fell into deep thought. ‘Resisting aging’ was easy to understand, as it meant extending longevity, whereas ‘strengthening brainpower’ clearly meant that it improves spirit, which was exactly what Jiang He needed.

But the important thing here was this: What did it mean by ‘improved effects when eaten with walnut shell’?

“Can the shell really be eaten?”

Holding the walnut in front of his nose, Jiang He took a sniff.

Weird.

The walnut which appeared unordinary actually had the scent of Dove’s almond chocolate. He took a bite. It was not as hard as he imagined, but was quite crunchy instead. The walnut shell melted in his mouth, thickening the almond chocolate scent.

‘The shell is so sweet!’ Jiang He exclaimed inwardly, even as he crunched down on the walnut, eating it entirely along with its shell.

Carefully feeling himself when he was done eating, he could actually sense his spirit clearly improving by a small notch, with the sea of blades in his head stirring slightly. In fact, the luminous sword that hovered over that sea became a little brighter too.

Beside him, Dumbo and Trumbo were staring blankly at him. Their master actually ate walnuts like that?

Soon, Jiang He plucked every walnut on the tree. There were 300 of them, earning him 3,000 farm points—a grand harvest!

Boom!

Both the walnut tree and bottle gourd vine crumbled together into a pile of ashes. And without a word from Jiang He, Dumbo ran up voluntarily, picking up the shovel to spread out the ashes.

Jiang He threw him a cucumber offhandedly. Nonetheless, Dumbo proved charitable. When it accepted the cucumber, it cut the vegetable in two with its claw and painstakingly handed the other piece to Trumbo. Of course, the other piece of cucumber was only a tenth of its original size.

Jiang He was speechless. Still, cucumbers would not be effective for Trumbo since it was now close to rank-four, so having a smaller piece would not matter.

“It’s a pity I finished all the qi pellets… I’ll plant another tree later to groom Dumbo and Trumbo, as well as earn some farm points.”

With that in mind, Jiang He turned to look at his System panel.

[Name: Jiang He]

[Cultivation: Rank-five advanced]

[Ability: Royal Sword]

[Martial Arts Cultivation: Indestructible Diamond (Initiate+), Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms (+), Blind Princess’ Eight Practices (First Practice+), Strengthened Nine Yang Technique (First Tier+)]

[Owned Land: 888m²]

[Farm Level: 3 (EXP 100/500)]

[System Backpack: 12 boxes]

[System Shop: Unlocked]

[Farm Points: 4,363 points]

“Oh? I’ve unwittingly gathered so many farm points? Still, that’s not enough. My current abilities are too weak, and I need to earn more farm points to improve.”

Suddenly inspired, he touched the ‘+’ symbol behind Indestructible Diamond.

[Ding!]

[Consume 2,000 farm points to improve Indestructible Diamond to Beginner?]

The System Notification sounded in his head, but Jiang He did not click ‘yes’.

He checked his Blind Princess’ Eight Practices instead, because physical arts were very important. In a fight, it would help him either flee or pursue his target, running circles around his opponent when his physical arts were up to standard.

[Ding!]

[Consume 5,000 farm points to improve Blind Princess’ Eight Practices to Second Practice?]

Jiang He promptly scowled.

5,000 points?

Why don’t you go rob a bank instead?

Moreover, if improving an intermediate martial art like the Blind Princess’ Eight Practices already needed 5,000 points, how many points would be needed to improve a high-level martial art like the Strengthened Nine Yang Technique?

He checked it. Just as he expected, it would cost him 10,000 farm points to improve the Strengthened Nine Yang Technique to the Second Tier!

“I’ll put aside the Strengthened Nine Yang Technique for now.”

Jiang He hence set a short-term target for himself—Beginner for Indestructible Diamond, and Second Practice for Blind Princess’ Eight Practices. He would then learn a few more styles from the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, before getting a cool sword and planting an awesome swordplay manual.

‘The first objective can be completed right now…’ thought Jiang He.

[Ding!]

[-2,000 farm points]

[Congratulations, Host. You have improved Indestructible Diamond to Beginner.]

In an instant, Jiang He felt a rushing sensation in his body, as if ten thousand horses were dashing away, and soon his muscles, blood, skin, and bones all strengthened rapidly. When he circulated his True Qi, the silhouette of a golden bell appeared, shrouding his whole body. He knocked on it. It gonged loudly and felt very solid.

Phew~~

Breathing out extensively, Jiang He muttered, “Just as I thought, it feels secure to have a strong defense. Now that I am a Beginner in Indestructible Diamond, I can sleep much easier… Next objective, Second Practice of the Blind Princess’ Eight Practices!”

Jiang He studied his System Panel. He now had 2,363 farm points left, meaning that he needed more than 2,600 more farm points before he could improve his Blind Princess’ Eight Practices to Second Practice.

With a turn of his hand, three qi pellets appeared in his palm, and he planted them. Since he could not leave the ashes of the walnut tree and bottle gourd vine unused either, he went to the edge of the village to buy a bag of pepper seeds and planted them too.