Rise of the Wang Clan: Starting with a Portable Farm

Their guess had been correct. Wang Hao and the others were standing right in the middle of a Pill Cauldron Sect Spirit Medicine Garden.

Finding it was largely thanks to Wang Hao. As they passed near the area, the edge of the garden had appeared on his internal map; otherwise, they would have missed it entirely in the dense overgrowth.

The Pill Cauldron Sect’s Spirit Medicine Garden wasn’t protected by any formation. The area was vast, and maintaining a barrier here would have required at least a Tier 2 array. Considering the rampage of demon beasts over the centuries, any original defenses had likely been destroyed long ago.

The land was fertile, practically humming with spiritual energy. The trees were exceptionally lush, forming dense, unmanaged forests. Many of the original spirit fields had lost their shape, their boundaries dissolved by time, leaving spirit medicines scattered wildly throughout the woods.

Who knew how many generations of plants had lived and died here? In quick succession, Wang Hao discovered several types of seeds he didn’t possess.

He hurriedly began picking. “Blood Lipid Grass, Ice Soul Flower… even these rare spirit medicines are growing wild here! It’s a pity their age isn’t high.”

Wang Wenmei sighed with emotion, looking around at the verdant chaos. “This Spirit Medicine Garden is at least ten times larger than our Wang Family’s! If only we could move it back home…”

Everyone chuckled. If it were just an acre, they might have shoveled up the spirit soil and taken it. But a garden of this scale? Even if they filled every Storage Bag to bursting, they wouldn’t make a dent. Besides, their bags were already packed with demon beast materials; they couldn’t exactly dump valuable loot for dirt.

“Red Cherry Grass, Yellow Pine Fungus… aren’t these the ingredients for the Nine-Elixir Golden Liquid?” Li Derong crouched to pick two plants. “They’re young, though. Mostly less than a hundred years old.”

“This is just the periphery. The seeds probably drifted here on the wind,” Li Dedao said, his throat bobbing with excitement. “Let’s go deeper. We might find thousand-year-old medicines inside!”

The group advanced, gathering as they went. Wang Hao managed to find several more supplementary ingredients for the Nine-Elixir Golden Liquid. These weren’t particularly rare, but finding them here saved time.

The real prize was the Golden Yuan Fruit. He hoped to find a tree within this garden. However, fruit trees had lifespans. After so many years without care, if no new saplings had taken root, the species might be extinct here.

“Spread out to gather, but stay within sight of at least one other person!” Wang Hao ordered. “Don’t wander off. Watch for demon beasts!”

Everyone nodded and split into small groups, heading in different directions.

Wang Hao took the central area. Under a towering tree, he spotted a cluster of plants shimmering with faint light.

He quickly walked over and carefully uprooted them. “Seven-Leaf Lotus! Another ingredient found. We’re only missing four now!”

These plants weren’t old, but Wang Hao only needed their seeds and roots. Replanted in the family garden, they would yield a harvest within a few years.

“Fifth Brother, look! Hundred-Fragrance Fruit!”

Wang Wenmei pointed excitedly at a white fruit tree, about two zhang tall. It was laden with over twenty unripe, green fruits, each the size of a pineapple.

When ripe, Hundred-Fragrance Spirit Fruits turned white and emitted a unique, pervasive scent. This fruit could enhance the cultivation of Foundation Establishment cultivators far more effectively than Qi Gathering Pills—one fruit was roughly equivalent to a whole bottle.

Of course, eating it raw was wasteful. Despite the name, the fruit tasted sour and astringent. Moreover, the massive amount of spiritual energy in a single fruit was difficult to digest safely. Typically, cultivators brewed it into Tier 2 Hundred-Fragrance Spirit Wine, which aided cultivation and restored Qi during battle.

The trees were high-yield producers. They bore fruit after three hundred years and matured in another hundred. A well-cultivated tree could produce over thirty fruits per harvest.

This was a Tier 2 top-tier spirit fruit. A single fruit could brew fifty jin of wine, with each jin comparable to a Qi Gathering Pill.

Outside, these fruits sold for exorbitant prices. If Wang Hao could cultivate a batch on his farmstead, it would become a massive source of wealth. Items like the Essence Condensing Fruit required secrecy, but the Hundred-Fragrance Fruit was common enough among major forces that selling it wouldn’t draw undue suspicion.

Wang Hao touched the trunk. System confirmation: seeds obtained.

He smiled. “This tree seems only about four hundred years old; it has a long life ahead of it. We can transplant it back to the family!”

The lifespan of spirit fruit trees varied. Typically, Tier 2 trees lived around a thousand years. If they advanced in grade due to rich spiritual veins, they could live longer, but age alone wasn’t enough for evolution.

Wang Hao and Wang Wenmei carefully harvested the unripe fruits. Although they were only eighty years old and less effective, leaving them on the tree during transplantation would just cause them to rot and fall off. It was better to harvest them now.

They finished picking the fruits and raised their spirit shovels to dig up the roots.

Suddenly, a jolt of instinctual dread hit Wang Hao.

Without thinking, he shoved Wang Wenmei hard to the side, throwing himself in the opposite direction.

Thwip!

A red silk thread shot from the canopy above, piercing straight through the trunk of the Hundred-Fragrance Fruit tree right where they had been standing. Thick smoke billowed from the impact point, and moments later, the wood burst into flames.

If Wang Hao hadn’t dodged, that thread would have skewered them both.

“What was that?”

Wang Hao scrambled up. A massive red spider hung from a nearby branch, hissing maliciously. It swung its two front legs, unleashing a volley of foot-long fiery bristles toward them.

Wang Hao’s expression darkened. He flicked his sleeve, and a cyan talisman shot out. It glowed briefly before expanding into a zhang-high curtain of water.

Puff puff puff!

The burning bristles struck the water wall, causing ripples and steam, but failed to penetrate.

“Tier 2 mid-grade demon beast! Wenmei, be careful!” Wang Hao shouted.

Wang Wenmei nodded, activating a golden defensive talisman that formed a shield of light around her. “Fifth Brother, I’ll hold it off! You finish it!”

Wang Hao stepped back swiftly, seizing the chance to draw his Child-Mother Green Light Sword while condensing Red Lotus flames in his palms.

The red spider dropped from the tree and charged. Its sickle-like front legs slashed through the water wall effortlessly, shattering it into mist. Seeing the golden shield around Wang Wenmei, it screeched and lunged.

Wang Wenmei’s Tier 2 low-grade Golden Shield Talisman held firm for the first strike, but against a mid-grade beast’s relentless assault, it wouldn’t last long.

BANG!

The spider struck again. The golden shield shuddered violently, light flickering ominously.

The spider hissed, eyes gleaming with savage hunger. It raised both forelegs high and brought them down in a crushing blow.

CRACK!

The golden shield shattered into sparks.

“Get clear!” Wang Hao roared.

He swung both hands forward. Two blazing fire lotuses flew out in pincer arcs, intercepting the spider before it could strike Wang Wenmei.

The spider dodged the left one, but the right Red Lotus struck it squarely on the flank.

WHOOSH!

A towering inferno erupted. The scalding flames engulfed the red spider instantly.

As a fire-attribute beast, the spider initially ignored the attack, assuming it was immune to fire. It was a fatal mistake. The Red Lotus Fire burned through its protective spiritual light in a split second, igniting its carapace and searing into its flesh.

Screeching in agony, the spider abandoned its attack on Wang Wenmei. It thrashed wildly, trying to flee to find water.

But Wang Hao wasn’t about to let it escape.

The Child-Mother Green Light Sword flashed, flying out with the speed of a lightning bolt.

“Slash!”

A massive cyan sword shadow cleaved through the sea of flames, parting the fire.

RUMBLE!

A deafening roar accompanied a shrill, mournful cry. The red spider collapsed to the ground, twitching weakly, its body nearly cleaved in two.

Wang Wenmei didn’t hesitate. Her sword followed immediately, piercing directly into the creature’s brain. The spider gave one last shudder and ceased all movement.