“Hey~ You haven’t taught me how to use the array yet!” Jiang Chen was dumbfounded. This was a first for him.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly.

Before Tie Xin hit the ground, he manipulated the surrounding weeds, causing them to grow wildly and weave into vines to catch her.

Then… he tossed her into the nearby flying shuttle.

Just kidding. How could I let someone reeking of alcohol into my house?

“Dog, come here!” Jiang Chen called toward the doghouse on the other side.

Da Huang quickly ran to his feet. It smiled obsequiously while rubbing its body against his leg.

Jiang Chen pointed at Tie Xin, who had passed out drunk in the flying shuttle. “Keep an eye on her. If she makes any moves or if anyone approaches, remember to call me.”

Da Huang blinked, looking as if it half-understood.

Jiang Chen took the portable array and walked toward the stone mountain on the other side.

Da Huang, curious about the person in the flying shuttle, cautiously approached.

As soon as it poked its head in, a pungent, sour smell rushed over.

As everyone knows, a dog’s sense of smell is forty times that of a human’s. Moreover, this was a spirit beast.

Upon smelling this pungent odor, it immediately retched a few times. Covering its nose with its front paws, it staggered back. The curiosity in its eyes was gone, replaced only by intense disgust.

On the other side, Jiang Chen had already arrived at the foot of the stone mountain.

He didn’t immediately install the portable [Concealment Array]. Instead, he scouted the area.

Looking here and there, he estimated the approximate range. Finally, he dug a small pit in the middle of the cave passage.

He placed the [Concealment Array], worth 50 Mid-grade Spirit Stones, inside.

Of course, this wasn’t the end. Since Tie Xin hadn’t explained how to use the jade disc, he tried activating it himself.

He attempted to inject his own Wood-attribute Spirit Qi into it. Although the energy was absorbed, the array didn’t activate. Clearly, that was useless.

Suddenly, Jiang Chen noticed a depression in the center of the jade disc.

He pondered, Could it be that to activate the [Concealment Array], I need to insert a Spirit Stone?

He immediately took out a Low-grade Spirit Stone and placed it in the slot.

Whoosh!

The jade disc generated a powerful suction force, latching onto the Low-grade Spirit Stone and beginning to absorb the trace Spirit Qi within it.

At the same time, an invisible aura spread out from the core.

Standing within the field, Jiang Chen could still smell the fragrance emitted by the Mutated Spirit Rice.

He thought for a moment before turning and walking out of the cave.

Once outside and beyond the range covered by the [Concealment Array], the unique fragrance of the Mutated Spirit Rice vanished.

Even at the cave entrance, nothing could be smelled unless one went inside.

Jiang Chen had already taken precautions against physical entry by blocking the cave mouth with large stones. He would only move them aside when he needed to enter.

Since his location was remote, apart from Jin Fugui visiting occasionally when it rained, few people came by.

After confirming that the array was functioning perfectly, Jiang Chen went back inside.

The Low-grade Spirit Stone held by the [Concealment Array] was consuming its internal Spirit Qi at a slow rate. It seemed like it could last for several days.

This pleased Jiang Chen greatly. After all, while he would be reluctant to burn through Mid-grade Spirit Stones, he had dozens of Low-grade Spirit Stones left. If necessary, selling some Spirit Rice would suffice.

Currently, his stash of Low-grade Spirit Stones could easily sustain him for a year without issues.

Jiang Chen buried the jade disc and the Spirit Stone under the mud before proceeding deeper into the cave to check the one hundred Mutated Spirit Rice plants again.

Although they received limited sunlight, they were nourished by rich black soil, occasional spring water irrigation, and the “forcing growth” effect from the Green Lotus Domain. They were growing well, and each plant was robust.

The mutated mother rice still had nine ears.

The mutated offspring rice all had six ears.

Since they were still in the growth stage, the grains inside were rather small. Looking at them was like seeing tiny specks of gold dust.

Regarding the mutated mother rice: There was basically no change. Even if changes were to occur, it would likely take a very, very long time.

As for the mutated offspring rice: There were no problems so far; they were still growing steadily.

With everything settled, Jiang Chen left the cave, satisfied.

Once outside, he immediately blocked the entrance with stones. This way, there was no visible entrance and no smell. Even if someone passed by, they wouldn’t suspect anything was inside.

The only possible concern might be spirit beasts with keen senses like Da Huang.

Time flew to the latter half of the night.

Feeling an itch on her nose, Tie Xin slowly opened her eyes.

Her view was filled with a brilliant Milky Way, countless stars twinkling above. Occasionally, she could see meteors streaking across the sky.

The large moon released cool moonlight. Like a giant’s eye, it gazed indifferently at the world below.

The sounds of crickets chirping and frogs croaking reached her ears, adding vitality to the silent night.

It was only then that Tie Xin’s gaze slowly shifted downward to look at her itchy nose.

Unexpectedly, a firefly was resting on the tip of her nose. Its yellow-green light was not harsh, but rather dreamlike.

“Am I sleeping outdoors?”

In her eyes, which had gone cross-eyed from focusing on the bug, there was now boundless anger.

She shook her head to drive away the firefly quietly perched on top. Then she got up from her flying shuttle and quickly looked toward the wooden house near the Spirit Farm.

The dog was asleep.

The chickens were asleep.

The person was asleep.

All was peaceful and tranquil.

Tie Xin immediately started cursing, “You heartless Jiang Chen! I came all the way from the Earth Vein to deliver the portable array, and you dared to make me sleep outdoors?”

Soon, the window of the wooden house next door opened.

Jiang Chen poked his head out, resting both hands on the windowsill with a smirk. “Men and women should maintain propriety.”

Upon hearing this, Tie Xin gritted her teeth. “You… you have to compensate me for this!”

Jiang Chen blinked. “Compensate for what?”

Tie Xin blurted out, “New variety Spirit Wine!”

Although she had only tried it once, the flavor was still fresh in her memory. The sweetness seemed to linger in her mouth. Just thinking about it made her crave it, and she subconsciously swallowed some saliva.

“Look at your feet.” Jiang Chen had anticipated this.

Tie Xin looked down and saw a wineskin. She excitedly picked it up, but as soon as she felt its weight, her face fell.

Based on her experience as a long-time wine lover, judging by touch alone, this new wine weighed at most 5 kg.

Before she could get angry, Jiang Chen immediately explained, “Although this new variety of Golden Wine has higher quality, its production is quite low. I’m reluctant to drink it myself.”

Tie Xin hummed a few times before grinning widely.

She promptly opened the stopper of the wineskin. Taking a big swallow of the new Golden Wine left her feeling exceptionally refreshed.

Watching this, Jiang Chen couldn’t help but shake his head. “You’d better head back early.”

Tie Xin put down the wineskin and stared fixedly at Jiang Chen in the wooden house.

Her eyes filled with greed as she licked her red lips and said fiercely, “I really want to tie you up and take you to my cavern mansion to make wine for me every single day!!!”