20: Third Miss

If humans can gain nourishment from eating meat, why can't plants gain nourishment from eating plants?

This was the most basic principle of his experiments.

Jiang Hanwen looked at the fruit in his hand; this was the "fertilizer" he had grafted using gourd vines, rotten sprouts, and spirit-gathering grass.

The cost was a large consumption of fertile soil, but the result was that it could provide excellent plant essence to some precious Spiritual Plants, ensuring their growth.

With the results clear, Jiang Hanwen did not rush to the Council Hall to report the good news.

Instead, he returned to his room, reviewed the more than one hundred grafting experiences, and then burned them!

In the flames, the bag of seeds he had just used was also completely burned.

After clearing all traces of grafting in the backyard, Jiang Hanwen, carrying the "fruit" which only had nourishing effects but no seeds, leisurely walked towards the Council Hall.

In this world, instances of 'kicking away the ladder after crossing' are always numerous.

A secret is only a secret when it is in one's own hands; if spoken, it becomes the sharpest knife against oneself.

In the afternoon, in the central courtyard of the Council Hall, Du Qingfu was leaning back in a rocking chair, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Opposite him, another old man was also seated.

The difference was that the old man was dressed in white, with a thin face, neat black eyebrows, and bright, spirited eyes; he didn't look like a farmer, but rather like a scholar.

"What's wrong?" Du Qingfu looked up, through the archway, at Jiang Hanwen who was walking towards them.

In over two years, this was the first time he had come to see him not for submitting items.

Seeing someone approach.

"You stay busy," the old man in white said, standing up.

"Why leave?"

Du Qingfu waved to Jiang Hanwen.

"Speak, what is it? He's an old friend of mine, so just say whatever you need to say."

The old man in white smiled slightly, like a gentle spring breeze, as Jiang Hanwen looked over.

"Elder Du, this is something I just discovered in the field..."

The three of them went to the Medicine Field behind the Council Hall. After some experimentation, Du Qingfu nodded in approval, a complex emotion spreading in his eyes, openly displaying his admiration.

"This thing of yours is indeed very good."

Du Qingfu, nearing a hundred years old, knew what this thing signified.

Jiang Hanwen, who had been planting medicine for almost three years, certainly knew the disruptive nature of this item.

He could have directly submitted the item to the Zhuang family and made demands, which the Zhuang family would surely have agreed to.

However, this young man didn't; instead, he showed it to him first.

This was both a sign of trust and a way of repaying a favor.

Du Qingfu saw it, and Shang Zian, the old man in white beside him, also saw it.

"Are you still going to hide it?" Shang Zian, the old man in white, had a playful look on his face, his gaze shifting back and forth between him and Du Qingfu.

Jiang Hanwen was completely bewildered, hide it?

Listening to this, it seemed the old man was hiding something from him, and it was something very important.

"Xiao Xin should have told you about Spirit Planters. Do you know how true Spirit Planters water their plants?"

After speaking, without waiting for Jiang Hanwen to answer, a wisp of misty water vapor appeared in Du Qingfu's hand.

Jiang Hanwen, being close, could smell a faint sweetness permeating the air.

Du Qingfu then waved out the misty water vapor, which diffused and instantly covered a two-meter-square area of soil.

Immediately after, crystalline water droplets drizzled down from the mist, nourishing the Spiritual Plants.

Although the rainfall was light, lasting only thirty breaths, it was visibly apparent that the dozen or so bloodline grass plants beneath the rain became vibrant and energetic, no less effective than his own fertilizer fruit.

Jiang Hanwen was stunned; it seemed he had chosen the wrong tech tree?

Thinking back, this was a Xuanhuan world, and Spiritual Qi was a panacea; what need was there for grafting? He had even treasured it immensely, burning all records, a typical small-minded commoner's mentality.

At the same time, Jiang Hanwen gained a deeper understanding of Du Qingfu's transcendent status.

Being able to cast Spells meant that Elder Du was at least in the Qi Induction Realm!

The Qi Induction Realm could extend one's life by thirty years, already transcending the ranks of ordinary people.

"Hahaha, kid, don't just look at how easy he makes it seem; even with this Spirit Rain Technique, he can only cast it twice a day.

Any more, and this old fellow's body couldn't handle it."

The old man in white, Shang Zian, laughed as he exposed Du Qingfu's secret; Du Qingfu's cheeks flushed slightly, and he glared at him, as if to say, 'You talk too much, showing off your abilities.'

Du Qingfu looked at Jiang Hanwen seriously:

"The Spirit Rain Technique, currently in the Zhuang family, only I can cast.

So, this thing of yours is of great use to the Zhuang family, but you shouldn't narrow your path.

For a Spirit Planter, the Realm is very important; don't go astray."

"Yes." Jiang Hanwen nodded obediently.

Being useful to the Zhuang family was enough. Jiang Hanwen's goal had always been singular: to use this as a bargaining chip to negotiate with the Zhuang family and bring his cheap father over to enjoy a comfortable life.

As for his own future, Jiang Hanwen wasn't worried at all.

If, after endless years, he still couldn't reach the peak, then what kind of old bookworm would he be?

"Knock, knock, knock~"

As they were speaking, the door outside was knocked. A steward in a brocade robe stood at the entrance, carefully looking into the room.

"Elder Du, the wedding banquet is about to begin. Would you like to move over there first?"

"I know, I'll be there!" Du Qingfu said coldly, his expression not very good.

"Yes." The steward smiled awkwardly and quickly left.

"Alright, you go." Shang Zian waved his hand:

"I'll rest here in the courtyard; we can talk when you get back."

"Elder, you're busy; I'll also leave first." Jiang Hanwen turned around sensibly.

A wedding banquet, to join in the excitement?

He had no interest. As the old saying goes, 'those who can endure loneliness and resist temptation will eventually see gold ingots.'

What if there was a wedding crash or a broken engagement?

A young man, cigarette in mouth, coolly scans the entire venue, uttering, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river."

Should he run or not?

"Stop!" Du Qingfu called out to Jiang Hanwen.

"You're coming with me to the wedding banquet; it's a good opportunity to hand over your item."

"Elder Du, why don't you go? As a subordinate, it wouldn't be appropriate according to etiquette." Jiang Hanwen said with a bitter smile, 'Damn it, I didn't check the almanac today.'

"What, do my words no longer count?" Du Qingfu glared, grabbing Jiang Hanwen's shoulder. His iron-hook-like fingers dug into his shoulder blade, forcibly pulling him away.

Watching the two leave, Shang Zian stood in place, a smile on his lips, a joy that came from the heart.

"Old friend, you've finally found an heir to your legacy."

Jiang Hanwen was dragged out of the Medicine Field by Du Qingfu, feeling utterly resigned.

Leaving the flat expanse of fields with small black-earthed huts, neat flagstone paths came into view, red walls and black tiles, housekeepers and guards, as if entering another world.

Large red '囍' characters were pasted along the walls, one every five meters, all the way along the path.

Bright brocade ribbons were tied into dense sun-flowers, secured with red threads, and bound to the street lamps, extending like two long Dragons.

As they neared the wedding banquet site, the festive atmosphere, with its red-themed decorations and lanterns, spread out.

Stewards, deacons, those in red robes and purple brocade—none were ordinary individuals.

"Elder Du, who is marrying whom today?" Jiang Hanwen asked curiously.

This scale was quite grand.

"Marrying?" Du Qingfu scoffed.

"The old Zhuang family is marrying off a daughter, the Third Miss of the main branch, to the captain of the city's Patrol Guard."

Third Miss?

Jiang Hanwen was surprised. Two years ago, he had an unexpected encounter with Xiao Cong, who had extorted him.

Later, occasionally, the two would chat with Mu Qiancheng in the kitchen courtyard, and he had heard quite a bit of gossip.

Among it was the Zhuang family's most talented woman—the Third Miss, Zhuang Minjie.

At merely twenty-four years old, she had already Cultivated to the eighth stage of Mortal Transformation, and a Breakthrough to the Qi Induction Realm for extended life was a certainty.

It was even possible for her to Breakthrough Qi Induction and become a powerful figure in the Spring Condensation Realm!