Chen Bo raised his teacup, gesturing for them to drink together. After taking a sip, he said, “By the way, there’s another matter you might find interesting.”

Jiang Chen held his teacup, feeling it was a bit too hot to drink, and asked curiously, “What is it?”

Chen Bo smiled. “In a few days, my cousin Chen Tian is celebrating his birthday. There will be a banquet held at the Rain Pavilion.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Chen gathered five Mid-grade Spirit Stones from his small storage pouch and handed them over. “Happy birthday to him,” he said.

Seeing this, Chen Bo did not accept them. Instead, he waved his hand. “That’s not what I meant. Don’t misunderstand.”

Chen Bo explained, “Since you successfully submitted eight hundred jin of Tier-2 Spirit Rice, it means you’ve officially joined our team. Therefore, you can also attend the birthday banquet.”

Jiang Chen blinked. “Since it’s a birthday, a gift should be given. Consider these five Mid-grade Spirit Stones as my gift.”

Chen Bo shook his head. “No. The eight hundred jin of top-quality Spirit Rice is your birthday gift. That is far more precious than Spirit Stones.”

Currently, under the monopoly of the five major powers, resources were becoming increasingly scarce.

Seeing the other party refuse repeatedly, Jiang Chen knew that persisting might affect Senior Brother Chen’s impression of him, so he reluctantly took them all back.

Of course, the main point was that he wasn’t some desperate sycophant; there was no need to go out of his way to curry favor.

Chen Bo showed a satisfied expression. “When the time comes, I’ll notify you with a communication talisman. We’ll gather beforehand and then head to the Rain Pavilion together.”

“Alright,” Jiang Chen nodded, then asked with some confusion, “Senior Brother, I heard that Senior Brother Chen Tian lives on Immortal Mountain. Why is his birthday being celebrated at the Rain Pavilion this time?”

Chen Bo put down his teacup and explained, “Firstly, my cousin’s master is the highest administrator of the Rain Pavilion itself.”

Jiang Chen gave an awkward smile. “I thought that compatible spiritual roots meant cultivating all three spiritual roots as primary.”

Chen Bo shrugged. “It is indeed possible to cultivate them all simultaneously as primary, but that requires significantly more time and vast resources. My cousin wants to participate in the Southern Radiance Secret Realm, which only opens once every fifty years. Only those who have reached the Golden Core stage can enter that realm.”

Jiang Chen understood.

Ordinary cultivators had limited time. Even geniuses typically chose to focus on cultivating one primary spiritual root. Any additional spiritual roots served more of an auxiliary role.

After that, their conversation no longer revolved around Chen Tian. They simply chatted idly, talking about whatever came to mind.

After all, both Jiang Chen and Chen Bo usually spent their time alone. Having someone to talk to was rare, so neither wanted to leave too quickly.

Jiang Chen glanced casually at the Spirit Farm behind them and asked, “Senior Brother Chen, would you like me to help you with the harvest?”

He offered a brief explanation: “I want to practice my harvesting skills further, but the Spirit Rice in my own field can no longer provide sufficient challenge.”

Chen Bo understood immediately. “You want to help me harvest the Colorful Orchids!”

Without any hesitation, Chen Bo agreed on the spot. “Fine. I’ll notify you next month.”

Jiang Chen was instantly satisfied and immediately cupped his hands in a respectful bow. “Thank you for your consideration, Senior Brother.”

By the time Jiang Chen returned home, it was already evening.

This conversation with Senior Brother Chen had covered many topics and lasted a long time. He gained a deeper understanding of the core Spirit Farm operations and also formed a general picture of the entire Azure Realm.

This Azure Realm had three top-tier immortal sects: Dragon Tiger Immortal Sect, Cloud Sea Sect, and Inviting Moon Immortal Sect.

Among them, the Dragon Tiger Immortal Sect had the most ancient lineage, spanning tens of thousands of years. The Cloud Sea Sect was somewhat younger but still had a history of over ten thousand years. As for the Inviting Moon Immortal Sect, it was more mysterious and had a majority of female disciples.

These three immortal sects were the supreme ruling powers of the entire Azure Realm.

Below them were the five great empires occupying the five domains:

Eastern Plains Domain — Moon Empire

Southern Tundra Domain — Heaven Empire

Western Mountain Range Domain — Fire Empire

Northern Desert Domain — North Empire

Central Battlefield Domain — Rust Empire

Further down were the more renowned cultivation clans. Among the famous ones were the Luo River Northern Clan, the Poria Cocos Ouyang Clan, the Southern Mountain Five Masters Clan, and others.

These cultivation clans’ lineages almost all exceeded a thousand years; some even spanned several millennia. Their connections with the three immortal sects and five great empires could be described as deep-rooted.

The Chen Clan of Chen Tian and Chen Bo was also a very famous cultivation clan. Similarly, Wang Hu and Wang Ze’s Wang Clan held considerable status outside as well.

Within the Cloud Sea Sect, each type of spiritual root had at least one large cultivation clan associated with it.

At the Rain Pavilion side, due to the emergence of the genius Chen Tian with his three compatible spiritual roots, the status of the Chen Clan had risen significantly. If Chen Tian could successfully break through to form an Earth-grade Golden Core, the Chen Clan would become overwhelmingly dominant.

As for the Spirit Farm area here, surprisingly to Jiang Chen, the number one clan was not the Wang Clan but rather The Zhao Clan.

However, up to now, Jiang Chen had never met a single Spirit Farmer from The Zhao Clan.

But it didn’t really matter. After all, no matter how ancient a cultivation clan or how long-standing a power, they would all eventually decline with the passage of time.

Only someone like Jiang Chen—standing above the river of time—could achieve true eternity.

In what seemed like a blink, several more days passed.

Jiang Chen was not idle; on the contrary, he was very busy these days, having excavated and prepared a cave beneath the stone mountain.

Combined with daily watering using spring water, although it still couldn’t compare to his external acre of Tier-2 Spirit Farm, it should be fine for planting Spirit Rice or Spirit Clover and similar things.

At this moment, Jiang Chen sensed spiritual energy fluctuations from his communication talisman and thus retrieved it from his small storage pouch.

“The birthday is today. Come over.”

The message was brief, but Jiang Chen’s eyes lit up. This was core disciple Chen Tian’s birthday; he would surely meet many impressive people.

Therefore, he made special preparations, even prepared evening food for the little yellow dog, and only then set off.

Following the same path, crossing three hillsides, and passing through the clear river water once more, he arrived again at Chen Bo’s fence gate.

The other party had been waiting patiently in the pavilion, sipping tea leisurely. Upon seeing him arrive, his first action wasn’t to leave but to let Jiang Chen rest first.

It was still early before the evening birthday banquet; there was no need to rush.

Chen Bo seemed to notice Junior Brother Jiang’s nervousness and advised, “Just follow me when we get there.”

As a Spirit Farmer who had joined the core Spirit Farm less than a year ago, to be able to attend a core disciple like Chen Tian’s birthday banquet… saying he wasn’t excited would be impossible.

There was even a bit of apprehension mixed in.