The Eternal Farmer: I Trade My Harvest for Immortality

Chapter 289: Treating All Equally

When it came to cultivating spirit plants, both innate talent and sheer luck dictated one’s fate.

Some cultivators possessed only average talent; they could toil in the dirt for a decade and still only produce standard, high-quality crops. Others, blessed by the heavens, could casually coax Top Grade spirit plants from the earth with minimal effort.

Jiang Chen was widely considered to be the latter.

During his first year at the core of the Spirit Farm—and in the dead of winter, no less—he had flawlessly completed his assessment. Of the three others who had been promoted alongside him, all had either given up or failed entirely. Over the following years, Jiang Chen maintained a flawless record. He never failed, never fell behind quota, and never made excuses. Every batch of Spirit Rice he submitted was undeniably Top Grade.

When he was eventually assigned to oversee the Outer Peak assessments as a Spirit Cultivator, he didn’t just break the seasonal records; he unearthed a gem of a disciple overflowing with talent, luck, and raw Potential.

It was precisely this track record that earned him the absolute trust of the entire Spirit Farm hierarchy. From the Grain Master and Elder Mu at the top, down to the lowliest Outer Peak disciple, everyone respected Jiang Chen.

“So… does he stay here in the core area?” Jiang Chen asked, breaking the silence in the administrative hall.

Miao Huayu’s breath hitched, his heart hammering against his ribs with a mix of terror and wild anticipation.

Elder Mu stroked his beard, pondering for a moment before shaking his head. “No. Send him back to the periphery of the Spirit Farm.”

Both Jiang Chen and Miao Huayu blinked in surprise.

“If we elevate him too quickly, he will be overwhelmed when he eventually faces the complexities of a Second-Rank Spirit Farm,” Elder Mu explained, his tone measured and wise. He then turned his gentle gaze toward the trembling youth. “Miao… Huayu, was it?”

The elder offered a warm, amiable smile. “I will officially grant you the status, monthly stipends, and full benefits of a formal disciple today. However, you must remain in the Outer Peak and tend your current plot until the summer ends. Are you willing?”

For the first time in his life, Miao Huayu felt the dizzying weight of being truly valued. “This disciple is willing!” he choked out, tears prickling the corners of his eyes.

Elder Mu nodded, thoroughly pleased. “You are a fine seedling. Build your foundation well, and you will undoubtedly shine brilliantly within the core of the Spirit Farm, just like your Senior Brother Jiang.”

Shine like Senior Brother Jiang? Miao Huayu couldn’t help but steal a glance at the man standing beside him. Outwardly, Jiang Chen looked profoundly unremarkable—a mild-mannered farmer with calloused hands. Yet, back in the Outer Peak, the disciples spoke of him with unvarnished reverence. There was never a single complaint about his management.

Miao Huayu hadn’t known what the core area was truly like, but hearing Elder Mu—the manager of the entire operation—praise Jiang Chen so highly confirmed it. Jiang Chen’s status, authority, and capabilities were entirely on another level.

Isn’t this exactly the kind of cultivator I should strive to become? Miao Huayu thought, his chest swelling with a newfound, burning ambition.

Shortly after, Jiang Chen escorted the boy back to the periphery of the Spirit Farm.

Initially, the surrounding disciples were bewildered by Miao Huayu’s quick return. Given his miraculous harvest, they had assumed he would be instantly swept away to the inner sect. But when the boy stepped off the Giant Leaf wearing the crisp, pristine white robes exclusive to formal disciples, a collective gasp rippled through the fields.

He had been promoted. He was just returning to finish his harvest.

It made for a bizarre, almost comical sight. Aside from Jiang Chen and Lin Ya, every single person in the mud was a gray-robed Outer Peak disciple. Miao Huayu stood out like a sore thumb—a fully-fledged formal disciple diligently tending to a barren, First-Rank Spirit Farm.

Jiang Chen pulled Lin Ya aside, his voice dropping to a serious murmur. “Keep a close eye on Junior Brother Miao going forward.”

Lin Ya tilted her head. “In what way?”

“I’ll handle his agricultural training personally,” Jiang Chen explained, his pragmatic nature taking the reins. “But as a Spirit Cultivator, I’m too busy to patrol the Outer Peak every single day. He’s naive and holding a very valuable crop. If you see anyone trying to deceive him, use him, or steal from him… you know what to do.”

Lin Ya nodded firmly, understanding the unspoken weight of the command.

Meanwhile, a swarm of gray robes had completely engulfed Miao Huayu.

“Miao Huayu—no, wait, we have to call you Senior Brother Miao now!”

“Senior Brother Miao, you’re incredible! Promoted before the quarterly assessment even finished!”

“I’m going to follow your exact methods!”

Surrounded by a tidal wave of flattery and fawning praise, Miao Huayu looked entirely overwhelmed, yet a foolish, thoroughly satisfied grin plastered his face. He was eating it up.

Watching from afar, Jiang Chen just shook his head. Still just a kid. Far too simple-minded.

Instead of leaving, Jiang Chen rolled up his sleeves and began a comprehensive patrol of the Outer Peak fields. Since he was already here, he figured he might as well check on the progress of the First-Rank Spirit Farms.

For the most part, the veteran disciples who had survived the spring quarter were managing fine. Their crops were stable.

The problems lay entirely with the freshly recruited Novice disciples. Likely due to their shallow comprehension of their cultivation techniques, their plots were a mess. Crops were either severely dehydrated or planted so densely they were choking each other out.

Whenever Jiang Chen spotted an issue, he didn’t just jot down a demerit. He called the responsible disciple over, stepped directly into the mud, and gave them a hands-on demonstration.

He broke down complex agricultural theories into digestible, bite-sized lessons. Many of these Outer Peak disciples were commoners with no formal education; if he used high-minded Xianxia jargon, they would only pretend to understand and ultimately ruin their harvests.

“I’ve warned you about this before,” Jiang Chen scolded mildly, pointing at a clustered patch of green. “You cannot plant the seeds this close together! They will fight each other for water and nutrients. You’ll end up with stunted, low-grade stalks. How do you expect to increase your yield if they’re strangling each other?”

Further down the field, he stopped another struggling youth. “The ambient earth Qi in a First-Rank Spirit Farm is incredibly thin. If you don’t have a Water Spirit Root to cast the Minor Rain Spell, or an Earth Spirit Root to properly aerate the soil beforehand, you have to compensate with sheer meticulousness! You can’t just throw seeds in the dirt and pray for a thousand-pound yield!”

He paused, snapping his fingers at a disciple who was just staring at him blankly. “And you! Stop standing there grinning like an idiot. Watch my hands and memorize the spacing!”

Wherever Jiang Chen walked, a trailing crowd of eager Outer Peak disciples followed, hanging onto his every word.

By the time he finished correcting the worst of the plots, evening had fallen. The sun dipped below the horizon, taking the sweltering, oppressive heat with it. A cool, tranquil breeze swept over the Spirit Farm, signaling the end of a grueling day.

Wiping a smudge of dirt from his hands, Jiang Chen looked at the exhausted, mud-caked faces surrounding him.

“Listen to me,” he said, his voice carrying clearly in the quiet dusk. It was entirely devoid of the usual haughty arrogance expected of a superior. “I have walked the exact path you are walking now. I understand the grind, the exhaustion, and the doubt. But I genuinely want to see every single one of you pass your assessments and become formal disciples.”

He met their eyes, offering a stark dose of reality. “Because let’s be honest with ourselves. Gritting your teeth and surviving this is a hell of a lot better than washing out, crawling back to some third-rate mortal sect, marrying into a petty family, and living a thoroughly mediocre life until the day you die, isn’t it?”

Silence hung over the fields. Then, quietly, several Outer Peak disciples wiped away tears.

They were moved beyond words. Before arriving at the sect, the rumors they had heard from older ‘Seniors’ painted formal disciples as cruel, aloof tyrants who suppressed and mocked the weak. If you offended them, they would ruin your life from the shadows. To a formal disciple, an Outer Peak worker was barely human—someone to be ignored, never taught.

But Jiang Chen utterly shattered that perception.

He wasn’t just a formal disciple; he was a Spirit Cultivator, a man of high status who had his own premium crops to tend. Yet, he still carved out hours of his day to stand in the mud with them, offering genuine guidance and treating every single one of them equally!