Chapter 201: Starting Planting

The small garden was now ready, and the next step was undoubtedly to set up more branches as quickly as possible—only then could a large amount of high-grade spiritual materials be cultivated. However, there was still the issue of insufficient manpower for setting up these branches, so there was no rush. Fortunately, given the wealth of Autumn Wind City, even the wealthiest families could hardly afford high-grade spiritual materials that cost thousands or tens of thousands of taels. Moreover, the guard team hadn’t been formed yet. For now, the task of the small garden was to cultivate as many varieties of high-grade spiritual materials as possible and ensure there were enough for cultivation purposes.

Among the materials useful for cultivation, Lin Dong only knew about the Wanhong Fruit and the Qinglan Fruit. The Wanhong Fruit was available at the Wan Family’s estate, so it could be obtained in a few days. The Qinglan Fruit was grown in the plantation east of Yang Family City, so it could be obtained first.

In the past, Lin Dong had been troubled by figuring out how to obtain the Qinglan tree from the Yang Family or how to steal it secretly. But after learning that just a branch was enough for transplantation, this worry disappeared entirely. Although transplanting with a branch required a huge amount of spiritual stones, getting the Qinglan tree earlier was still worth it.

Glancing at Qiao Tianhao following behind, Lin Dong said, “Go back to Maple Forest Tavern first.”

“Go back to Maple Forest Tavern?” Qiao Tianhao was stunned, then hesitated. If he went back, he wouldn’t have to deal with Lin Dong anymore, but he’d also miss out on the rapid progress Lin Dong had promised.

Thinking quickly, Qiao Tianhao immediately said with a sad face, “Boss, why do you want to get rid of me again?”

Lin Dong smiled. He had said that on purpose to mislead Qiao Tianhao, just to see his reaction. This reaction clearly showed that Qiao Tianhao indeed wanted to join Lin’s Inn.

“It’s not that I want to get rid of you. You need to go back to Maple Forest Tavern and handle some matters,” Lin Dong said. “Remember, don’t cause any trouble. After finishing that, come to the inn early tomorrow morning.”

Qiao Tianhao breathed a sigh of relief and nodded eagerly. After thinking for a moment, he took out the black iron kitchen knife and reluctantly handed it to Lin Dong.

Lin Dong initially wanted Qiao Tianhao to keep it, but remembering the boy’s personality, he immediately took the knife and placed it back on the mobile counter. Then he snapped, “If I don’t see you tomorrow or if word gets around that you left Maple Forest Tavern, it’s best you never meet me again in this life.”

“Don’t worry, boss. I’ll gently ask them to let me leave Maple Forest Tavern,” Qiao Tianhao nodded repeatedly.

Lin Dong waved his hand. “Go!”

Qiao Tianhao felt as if he had been pardoned; he dashed off at full speed and vanished in an instant.
Lin Dong turned to look at the serene Yun Lan beside him and said with a smile, “We’ve done a good deed—how about doing something bad next?”
Yun Lan nodded and asked, “Where to?”
“To a plantation twenty li east of the city to steal something,” Lin Dong replied with a grin. “It’s quite far. To save time, I think it’s better if you take me there. Also, the city gates are closed—we’ll need you to help me climb over the city wall later.”
Yun Lan glanced at Lin Dong, took out a small porcelain bottle from her storage spirit ring, and handed it to him. With a slight smile, she said, “There are a few Spirit Restoring Pills inside. If your spiritual energy runs out, one pill will restore it completely in a short time.”
Slightly disappointed, Lin Dong took the porcelain bottle and nodded before stuffing it into his portable counter. Then, he channeled spiritual energy into his legs and, with a swift step, transformed into a green shadow, racing through the night.
After assessing Lin Dong’s speed, Yun Lan followed closely behind, and the two moved side by side toward the east of the city.
When they reached the city gate, Lin Dong’s spiritual energy in his dantian was completely depleted. He took out the porcelain bottle from a corner, poured out a Spirit Restoring Pill, and swallowed it. His empty dantian immediately began to fill with spiritual energy, restoring it to full capacity in no time.
“Great stuff!” Delighted by its effects, Lin Dong couldn’t help but marvel. With these Spirit Restoring Pills, he wouldn’t have to worry about running out of spiritual energy during a fight. He immediately decided that the materials needed to make them should be classified as essential spiritual materials.
Yun Lan glanced at the city wall and asked, “Up there?”
“Trouble you!” Lin Dong nodded, stretched out his arms, and smiled as he tried to hug her waist.
Yun Lan was stunned. She quickly grabbed Lin Dong’s shoulders with her right hand and leaped upward.
Lin Dong saw a blur before his eyes. By the time his vision cleared, he was already on top of the city wall. Another blur, and he was outside the city.
“Let’s go!”
With a sigh, Lin Dong waved his hand and sped ahead.
Upon arriving at the plantation, Lin Dong led the way confidently, taking Yun Lan into a storage room in a wooden building. First, they knocked out the person in charge of guarding the mechanism, then activated it.
With prior experience, Lin Dong wasn’t as cautious this time. He rushed through the cave at full speed and soon reached its end.
“A Cyan-Blue Tree?” Yun Lan suddenly exclaimed in surprise, looking at the tree, which was about two meters tall.
“You know the Cyan-Blue Tree?” Lin Dong was surprised.
“There’s a record of it in our Tianjian Sect’s catalog of spiritual materials and beasts,” Yun Lan said, glancing around before frowning. “If the records are accurate, this tree should have two main trunks—one cyan and one blue.”
“Indeed, there are two main trunks.”

Lin Dong smiled as he walked to the entrance of the cave and cleared out the gap that Xiao Tianchi had covered with soil.
“The other main trunk is on the other side of the wall,” he explained, then looked at Yun Lan, hesitating to speak further.
With a light laugh, Yun Lan stepped forward to the stone wall, placing her delicate palm gently on it before stepping back slowly. As if drawn by some invisible force, the huge rock slowly moved aside, revealing a smooth passage carved like by a knife.
The two entered the other end, where another blue main trunk came into view. Soon after, a faint creaking sound seemed to come from beneath the ground.
“There’s a spiritual beast called a Soil-Eating Rat down there. Just hold it off for me,” Lin Dong explained.
Yun Lan nodded. Though she didn’t take the Soil-Eating Rat too seriously, she still didn’t dare be careless. A blue sword appeared in her right hand.
The two approached the cyan-blue tree. Lin Dong reached out and grabbed a branch about the thickness of his thumb, intending to break it. Yun Lan spoke up, “If a branch of a high-tier spiritual tree is broken, there’s a over 50% chance the entire tree will die.”
“I know,” Lin Dong replied casually.
Yun Lan nodded silently. Since he knew this yet still did it, there must be another reason.
Lin Dong pulled hard, and with a snap, the branch broke.
“That’s it!”
Whether it was planting spiritual trees or spiritual flowers and herbs, the maximum number that could be planted in a small garden was equal to the level of the inn—meaning two inns combined could only grow ten spiritual trees or ten spiritual flowers. Plus, space needed to be reserved for exchanging high-tier spiritual materials with Wan Cui Lin. So Lin Dong declared it done after just getting one branch.
Not far away, a sharp head poked out. A blue light flashed from Yun Lan’s hand, sweeping across the head.
The Soil-Eating Rat clearly sensed the energy contained in the blue light and quickly retracted its head.
The two returned to the cave, replaced the stone, and repaired the gap. Lin Dong sighed in relief. He had chosen this cyan-blue tree to test its resilience—seeing if it could survive after having a branch broken off. If it could survive, since the Yang family had discovered it first, it would be as if nothing had happened. If not… well, it would just mean the Yang family wasn’t meant to possess even half of this tree.
Leaving the garden, the two continued on under the moonlight. By the time they reached the East City, Lin Dong had no other plans and let Yun Lan perch on his shoulder as they flew around.
They sneaked into the inn through the back yard. Lin Dong held up the cyan branch in his hand and asked Yun Lan, “Do you want to see the simplest way to plant high-tier spiritual materials?”

Yun Lan smiled bitterly. “You’re not planning to plant it in the inn, are you? If I remember correctly, this Qinglan tree prefers cool, shaded conditions, and its soil needs to be hard soil from deep underground.”
“Just wait and see!”
Lin Dong smiled, opened the storage room, took out a shovel, then opened the adjacent room.
The room was about twenty square meters, with a relatively flat floor, occasionally featuring small mounds the size of fists protruding outward. Under Yun Lan’s puzzled gaze, Lin Dong activated the inn’s system, designated this room as the location for the small garden, picked up the shovel, and dug aside the dark brown soil. He then inserted the branches of the Qinglan tree and piled soil around the base.
“That’s it!” Lin Dong clapped his hands, reopened the small garden, activated its mimicry function, and set the one-foot-long branches to grow 1,500 times faster.
“Is that all?” Yun Lan stared, dumbfounded, at the branches protruding outward, unable to understand Lin Dong’s childlike method of planting. Even for ordinary plants, unless they had extremely strong vitality, this method would surely yield nothing.
Lin Dong nodded. “In less than half a month, you’ll definitely see Qinglan fruits.”
“A spiritual array?” Anyone else would surely think Lin Dong was crazy. Though Yun Lan still couldn’t understand it, she had no choice but to believe him.
If there were spiritual arrays that could accelerate cultivation, that could travel thousands of miles in an instant, that could instantly send someone out of the inn regardless of their strength… then it made sense to have another array that could ignore the growth conditions of spiritual materials, allowing them to grow faster than ordinary vegetables.
Lin Dong smacked his lips and couldn’t help but praise her intelligence.
Yun Lan smiled bitterly. “Previously, you asked Feng Jingtang to steal branches from the Wanhong tree. Does that mean your spiritual array can grow more than one high-level spiritual tree?”
“For now, only five. It can grow both spiritual flowers and herbs,” Lin Dong said with a smile. “Since your Tianjian Sect is a major alchemy sect, do you know what pills can be made from Qinglan fruits and Wanhong fruits?”
After a brief pause, Yun Lan slowly replied, “Qinglan fruits are extremely rare, and there are no records in the Tianjian Sect of using them to make pills. If Wanhong fruits are combined with second-tier Qingbai Grass and third-tier Boneless Beast internal organs, they can be used to make Guangling Pills, which, once taken, can double the size of one’s dantian.”
“Well…” Lin Dong hesitated.

Yun Lan smiled and shook her head. “Due to the sect rules, don’t expect me to tell you the preparation method. But… if you can gather enough materials, I can help you craft it.”
“You know how to make pills?” Lin Dong was surprised. The Heavenly Sword Sect was indeed a pill-making sect, but he had heard Yun Lan mention before that she only liked spirit arrays and had no interest in pill-making. Yun Cangqiong also hadn’t forced her to learn it. Logically, she shouldn’t waste time on pill-making.
“I don’t!” Yun Lan shook her head to confirm Lin Dong’s guess. After a pause, she continued, “But I know how to make all the pill formulas of the Heavenly Sword Sect. With my abilities, I should be able to reach the level of a fifth-tier pill master in a short time.”
Lin Dong was overjoyed. If word got out that the inn could grow high-grade spirit materials, it would cause a huge stir, so not a single detail could be revealed.
Having a trustworthy pill master meant they wouldn’t have to rely solely on spirit materials as food in the future.