Yin Na jumped down the cliff just in time to see Song Ying Jie getting out of the hut for morning chores on the farm.

“Ah, Crow Bro! ‘Morning,” Song Ying Jie said. “Looks like a Daoist gets up even earlier than a farmer!”

Yina gestured like a monk with his one hand in greeting, and said: “Good Morning. You’re about to proceed with morning chores?”

“Yes. I have to sow the seeds, nurture already planted ones, and take care of weeds and pests.”

Yin Na’s benefits radar immediately began blipping.

Farming was another crucial pillar of the Jiang Hu. Almost every mortal is either a peasant or related to one with a farmer background, and even the most opulent of Martial Artists eventually had to rely on his natural intelligence and green thumb to survive at some point during a mission or respite.

Farming was much suited for those who needed a steady source of vegetables and herbs for seasoning and adding nutrition to martial artists who enjoyed cooking. Yin Na already had a passive income stream of endless taels that were getting harder and harder to transport without the aid of a horse or donkey (he allowed his current mount to graze, while hiding his spoils somewhere nearby). He technically didn’t need to farm, when he could simply buy vegetables instantly with the vast amount of silver he had on him.

However, there was one thing which farming as a skill was inextricably tied to in the world of Cultivation: the Earth and Wood elemental paths.

“Theoretically, the other skills in the Jiang Hu such as fishing correlate to the Water element. Mining and Blacksmithing can aid in Earth and Metal; (mortal) herbalism and artisanship lead to high aptitude in Alchemy; and so on.”

Yin Na said “theoretical” because the actual quantified translation of training hours spent devoted to each skill have not been precisely measured by Cultivation scholars yet. There were many things left unknown to even the most experienced and scholarly among the Immortal realm. There were also many more skills and subskills, and Yin Na had to prioritize what he felt were the most important to allocate his time towards.

“When you’re a mortal, time once again becomes your most precious benefit,” sighed Yin Na. “I will accompany Song Ying Jie in his farming chores.”

Yin Na spent the morning trying to learn the basics of farming.

Song Ying Jie was a caretaker and guardian of seeds and sproutlings. He and his Grandmother were too poor to own ox or mules to help with the farmwork, so he did everything by himself. His many hours and years spent toiling in the small field near his hut in place of his Grandmother taught him how to attain the most efficient posture to minimize back pain or any injuries.

“You need to know how to distribute these fertilizers,” Song Ying Jie said. “And use the appropriate pesticides when I tell you.”

Spoiled food from old leftovers, burnt duck feathers, night soil mixed with chicken shit, and other compost were strategically laid to encourage growth and nutrition in the soil.

Ground tomato leaves for warding off insects who could not stand the smell of them; a mysterious mixture with the strong scent of medicinal balm from a gourd. Yin Na did as he was told.

He couldn’t tell which was harder: farming with one hand or cooking with one hand. The issue with cooking was that one’s failure becomes imminent immediately, whereas in farming it takes several weeks to even years to see the consequence of a botched planting and care.

“You should use the tools, they’re by the shed.”

“No, I wish to learn the way you do it.”

“As you wish, Bro Crow. No, not like that. Try it like this.”

Yin Na was grateful that Song Ying Jie watched him so carefully in doing farmwork. He spoke and gave suggestions gently as if he expected great things from the learner, and corrected errors with great patience. They later engaged in the elimination of pests from invasive weeds to the extraction of insects and the chasing of the occasional bird. All in one morning!

When he was pouring with sweat; the fingernails on his one left hand were caked in dirt, Yin Na obtained a glint of inspiration. Song Ying Jie deliberately farmed with his bare hands because it aided in his gong fu training. He saw how the constant contact and interaction with the insects and worms of the soil, tugging at the roots and digging with bare hands increased his affinity with nature and also improved the forearm muscles for strength.

“Perhaps this is where a hick farmer’s strength comes from,” Yin Na thought to himself. “Farming engenders a natural state of endurance and persistence in the farmer’s very bones.”

In the cultivation world, mortal planting and raising of crops were unfairly sped up through the usage of magical ingredients such as medicinal fertilizers and spells. The growing of an apple tree could take merely the span of ten breaths in the Cultivation world if the Cultivator possessed the right skills and talents.

“Alright, we can go and eat breakfast now,” Song Ying Jie said.

Grandma Peng Ling gave no signs of any changes in emotion or attitude towards Wayseeker Crow during breakfast. They ate a really simple meal of pancakes wrapped around green onions and leftover bear meat.

“Okay, it’s time to go train,” Song Ying Jie said, as he began collecting the plates for washing.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Train, train, that’s all you know how to do!” Grandma Peng Ling said. “Your marriage is going to be in one year, and you’re not acting any different than you usually do!”

Yin Na observed Song Ying Jie ashamedly apologizing to his grandmother, and he had the sense that this scene had repeated many times before in this hut.

“Grandmother Peng Ling,” said Yin Na. “I can visit the Wang family with Song Ying Jie later after training. By the way, I finished skimming the Jumping Across Clouds manual last night, thank you for lending it to me. I’ve yet to take a glance at the other manual.”

He offered to proactively meddle in the affairs of the Wang family for her grandson. Yin Na also tactfully timed the returning back of the martial arts book, hoping to condition Grandma Peng Ling to be satisfied with future transactions.

Neither Grandma Peng Ling nor Song Ying Jie thought anything special of the action. No martial artist could make sense of the simplest martial arts manual within a night, not even a Daoist. Besides, if Yin Na really was a Daoist, Jumping Across Clouds was too simple for him, since all Daoists had various means to jump, glide and twist through the air. As far as they were aware, Yin Na was simply glancing through the pages out of a dutiful, scholarly interest.

“Yes, you can do that!” Grandma Peng Ling exclaimed excitedly. “Go with Song Ying Jie, and speak with the Wang Family personally.”

Yin Na understood that Grandma Peng Ling hoped for a Daoist to appear alongside Song Ying Jie before the Wang family in order to lend further credibility and value to the young man as a spouse for one of the Wang’s three daughters.

“There is a sense of insecurity, and that his marriage to Wang Jin Lian is not guaranteed yet,” thought Yin Na. “But out of genuine curiosity I wish to interact with another family in this village. I’m very near Spring Wind village, I have enough time to play another errand. If I do well perhaps I can goad Grandma Peng Ling into lending me the third martial arts manual.”

“We can go after Song Ying Jie finishes training,” Yin Na said.

Song Ying Jie looked momentarily relieved with Wayseeker Crow’s approval, and rushed outside the hut to train.

Yin Na followed after.

“Did you really train all by yourself?” Yin Na asked, while Song Ying Jie was in the middle of pumping kicks through the air using Jumping Across Clouds.

“Huh? You mean if I ever trained under a shifu? Well, when my father died when I was young, a few of his friends came over to visit our hut and offered me pointers in my training.”

“The vast bulk of your training came from the reading of the manuals?” Yin Na asked.

“Pretty much,” Song Ying Jie said. “I dreamed about the manuals in my sleep. I read the manuals until I could memorize them backwards.”

“Oh?” Yin Na was not fond of braggarts.

“‘Gate, dragon’s, over, jumped, carp…”

“!” Yin Na was caught off guard. This whelp was actually reciting the ending of Jumping Across Clouds backwards, he recognized the lines as he was finishing them himself last night.

“This kind of talent…maybe Song Ying Jie really is an idiot!”

Sometimes idiots can make talented martial artists.

“Alright, that’s really good,” Yin Na praised. “It is exactly as I skimmed the pages last night. What about the 6 Zodiac Animals?”

Yin Na had not read the contents of the second manual, but Song Ying Jie began to recite the contents backwards again, flawlessly and without pause while he was holding a wide horse stance.

“Outstanding! You are destined to be a true hero of the Jiang Hu. Hmm, but just how deep does your memory actually extend to? What about, say, the contents of the third manual?”

Suddenly, Song Ying Jie appeared hesitant. “I don’t think we lent you the third manual, did I?”

Yin Na was rejected so openly! The tact of peasants truly was abrasive as raw rice. Of all times Song Ying Jie could act like a fool, he had to think straight now. He thought nothing about Yin Na’s attempt to trick him, rather, he was simply being filial and obedient to his Grandma’s secretiveness about the manuals.

Yin Na sighed in his heart. “It was worth an attempt,” he thought.

Yin Na watched Song Ying Jie perform the Bladed Palms and Elbows dance, which was one of the forms in the 6 Zodiacs Animal manual.

“I haven’t learned any actual martial arts forms from the Jiang Hu yet,” he thought. “As a cultivator, the physical forms we performed are almost a diluted form of their mortal counterparts. The forms in the Cultivation world put an emphasis on group formations. With the addition of magical techniques and weapons, cultivators view forms as simply an extension of the common gong fu form.”

Yes, why waste time to look pretty when the force emitted by one finger could blast a hole through a mountain? Cultivators fought using almost pure firepower, the clash of shins, forearms and limbs meant little to enemies who could shoot energy or create explosions at will.

“Crow Bro, don’t just watch me train. Train alongside me!” Song Ying Jie said. “Maybe we could spar again!”

Yin Na shook his head. “I’m fine with just watching this time. We’ll have to visit the Wang family soon.”

Yin Na saw how his words seemed to immediately take the wind out of Song Ying Jie’s sails. The young man’s enthusiasm and energy were momentarily stifled, before he resumed training again fervently.

When about two hours passed, Grandma Peng Ling shouted from inside the hut: “When are you going to the Wang family?”

“Yes, Grandma, don’t worry, we will go!” Song Ying Jie said.

He doused himself with water from a jar and dried himself with rags.

Yin Na asked for a change of clothing. He got the closest thing he could find from their limited wardrobe to long robes, something that Daoists would like to wear.

Yin Na massaged the cheekbones underneath his bandages.

“Astounding! The Golden Core hidden within my inactivated Dan Tian accelerates the rate of regeneration even for chronic and permanently-scarring injuries…except the stump of my right arm, which just tickles. I can feel that my nose is beginning to mend itself, and that my jaw is slowly beginning to invert itself back to normal appearance. Without the consumption of healing pills or elixirs, I feel like I can regain my old appearance within a time of a month!”

This discovery put Yin Na in a happy mood.

Yin Na abandoned his bandages, and now wore a piece of cloth over his face like a face veil. His eyes were now visible, but as his cheeks were still slightly dented-in they looked quite ugly above his mask. Wearing drab, long robes also made his one-armed appearance slightly less menacing as it was harder to tell that he was a cripple through the drapes of the clothing.

“Let’s pay your girlfriend a visit!”