Chapter 589: Farming Rights

Many low-level cultivators had long been troubled by this issue: many items weren’t worth the cost of a whole spirit stone, yet they had no way to split spirit stones into smaller denominations. Often, they had no choice but to pool resources with others, which frequently led to complications.

Because of this, many low-level cultivators faced difficulties when making purchases.

The introduction of the Lingzhuzi in Xiushui City was like a solution tailor-made for them.

This simple yet effective system significantly boosted Xiushui City's reputation among low-level cultivators. For years, no one had addressed this problem across the entire mortal realm. But Xiushui City, with a Divine Transformation-stage cultivator overseeing it, had effortlessly provided a solution by creating Lingzhuzi specifically for them.

Now, Xiushui City had become a sacred place in the eyes of all rogue cultivators.

Here, they could find jobs that paid in Lingzhuzi, buy affordable cultivation resources, and didn’t have to worry about being robbed or killed within the city.

Even the more cautious rogue cultivators who hadn’t moved to Xiushui City were benefiting from its prosperity, as it brought about more job opportunities for earning spirit stones at sects and royal families across the land.

With the start of the new year, even the imprisoned cultivators in Fanlong Institute—who spent their days farming and refining items—were granted a holiday. The spiritual energy in the institute, which had been cut off, was briefly restored during this break.

This surprised the prisoners. They hadn’t expected Yuan Jinsheng, who seemed so harsh, to not only give them time off but also restore their spiritual energy during the break.

Suddenly, the cultivators' initial hostility toward Fanlong Institute and Xiushui City softened.

Especially for the low-level cultivators, they began to feel that working here wasn’t so bad after all. They were paid according to the amount of work they completed, which, though not a lot, was comparable to the paltry wages they had received under Wan Wantong, where they were constantly exploited by their superiors.

Here in Fanlong Institute, there were no oppressive bosses. The only difference was that the high-level cultivators were quicker in opening up new fields, but even they couldn’t do anything to the others once back inside the institute. The restored spiritual energy was restricted to each person’s room, and with the barriers in place, no one could enter another’s room.

Clearly, Fanlong Institute was designed to prevent gatherings and potential trouble.

As for the higher-level cultivators, they weren’t interested in the wages offered by Lingxian Sect. They were only biding their time, hoping that in a few years, the cultivation world would notice something was wrong and send help.

Because of this, after the holiday ended, instead of being sluggish or lazy, most of the cultivators returned to work even more diligently.

After a year here, many were beginning to feel that life in Fanlong Institute wasn’t too bad—especially if they could have a long-term, stable source of spiritual energy for cultivation rather than the intermittent supplies they currently received.

The vast wilderness behind the Beishan Mountain Range had been transformed into fertile farmland after being cultivated, irrigated, and tended by the cultivators. Beyond this, the endless mountain forest still stretched into the distance, but the spiritual field group had decided that they had enough land for now. Expanding further would take them beyond the maximum range of Xiushui City’s protective barrier.

The farmland area and the city shared the same protective barrier, and while Xiushui City's barrier was extensive, it was not limitless.

After completing the task of opening up new land, the cultivators at Fanlong Institute were assigned to farm these fields.

With more than ten thousand people working, it would be an enormous task for the spiritual field group to personally teach each of them how to farm. To simplify things, Yuan Jinsheng distributed a large number of farming manuals created by the spiritual field group, giving each prisoner a copy.

"These manuals are free of charge. Study them well, farm diligently, and your wages will depend on the yield and quality of the crops you grow," Yuan Jinsheng announced, standing with his arms crossed in the courtyard of Fanlong Institute, addressing the gathered cultivators.

As soon as they received their manuals, the cultivators eagerly began flipping through them.

Yuan Jinsheng continued, "Each of you only gets one manual. If you lose or damage it, that’s on you. The purchasing standards and prices for spiritual grains are listed in the book. These prices are competitive with those outside. Whether or not you earn spirit stones is up to you."

He added, "The spiritual fields you’ve cultivated are now yours to farm. The token you received earlier represents the restrictions on your individual fields, ensuring no one can steal your land."

In other words, the amount of land they had cleared would determine the size of the fields they would manage going forward.

Hearing this, many of the cultivators who had diligently worked to clear land felt a surge of excitement, especially the low-level cultivators.

They had already skimmed through the manual and realized that if they followed the purchasing standards listed, they could make a decent profit—provided their harvests weren’t terrible.

This was much better than working as a spy for Wan Wantong, constantly moving in the wind and rain, only to earn a meager, fixed salary with rare chances for rewards, all while being forced to curry favor with their superiors.

If they took care of the land they had now, their future seemed promising!

Many of the imprisoned cultivators began to fantasize about their future, imagining a better life ahead.

Seeing the joy on their faces, a few still wore expressions of disdain. Yuan Jinsheng’s voice suddenly turned cold and hard. "Don’t think that just because you’ve been given farming rights, you can do whatever you want with the land. If we find that someone has neglected their fields and failed to manage them properly, their land will be reassigned to someone more diligent."

"And anyone without fields will not be allowed to leave!"

Even the Golden Core cultivators among them didn’t dare to voice any objections.

After a year of being here, they knew what defiance would lead to. They had long since learned to submit, much like they had when working for Wan Wantong, where the first lesson any newcomer learned was obedience.

They couldn’t help but clutch their restriction tokens tightly, knowing that these tokens represented their livelihood in this place.

Some cultivators who had previously been sent back to Fanlong Institute for laziness or rule-breaking showed clear signs of regret and frustration on their faces.

If only they hadn’t cut corners or broken the rules earlier!

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