Druid Fairy

Chapter 24 Ancestral Tree
After a fresh rain in the mountains, the earth is moistened, and the peach orchard has regained its luster, with its lush green leaves swaying pleasingly in the breeze.

The rain and dew sent down by the immortals are not ordinary rain and dew, but heavenly water imbued with spiritual energy. Therefore, it can not only dispel heat and toxins, but also enhance people's physical condition and increase the nutrition of fruit trees to a certain extent.

Li Ping'an held Li Pingcan's little hand as they walked through their family's peach orchard, observing the thriving peach trees. "Look," he said, "the little peach seedlings Dad planted in the spring have grown so strong after this rain. What amazing magic!"

His eyes sparkled with excitement, envy, and a hint of regret.

Without spiritual roots, the path to immortality is severed, and from then on, humans and immortals are separated.

However, the sadness and pain of childhood have now transformed into a purer motivation.

"Even if I can't become a celestial official, I will still study hard and take the imperial examination to become a celestial official, to protect my family and bring blessings to the people."

Li Ping'an clearly remembers the expression of both joy and sorrow on the village chief's deeply lined face when the rain poured down.

That was a helpless compromise with reality.

The gray-clad official brought the sweet dew, but also took away the harvest from every household ahead of time, leaving only two or three tenths of the harvest, barely enough to keep the villagers alive.

If he were to become a celestial official, he would never treat the people so harshly!

……

"This year is sure to be a bumper harvest."

Countless villagers wore expressions of anticipation.

When the autumn harvest season arrived, just as many farmers had predicted, the yield was bountiful. Every household carried baskets up the mountain, their faces beaming with excitement.

Li Pingfu stopped practicing martial arts, Li Pingan stopped reading books, and Li Pingcan even ran up the mountain like a little bee diligently carrying crisp, green and red peaches.

After the harvest, baskets of crisp peaches were carried down the mountain, leaving the whole family exhausted and unable to lift their arms.

All this hard work went unrewarded.

Thanks to the sweet dew, Peach Blossom Mountain was bountiful. Apart from the juicy and delicious flat peaches, most of the crisp peaches were sold at low prices. The only family in the village that grew flat peach trees was the Li family, who made a fortune.

"Father, this is such a loss!"

Li Pingfu said in a strained, hoarse voice.

The yield was double that of last year. Four acres of ripe peach orchards only earned twenty taels of silver. After deducting the apportionment fee of "fifteen taels" from the original Ganlu, there was basically no profit.

He wasn't envious of how much money Li made, but rather felt sorry for his father's year of hard work, which was not commensurate with his reward.

Cheap peaches hurt farmers!
Li Ping'an then speculated, "Isn't Li the wealthy man's cousin a county official? Perhaps he planted the peaches because he knew that the drought would be followed by rain."

"Second brother, your guess is a bit far-fetched."

Li Pingcan thought to himself, "This is ridiculous."

The main problem is that flat peach saplings are too expensive, difficult to raise, and have high maintenance costs, making it unprofitable for ordinary farmers to grow them.

Li, the wealthy man, planted peaches to deliver as gifts to his cousins.

He looked at the peach grove and tried to think positively. At least these peach trees were still alive and could still bear fruit next year. If they hadn't withered and died without the dew, the loss would have been devastating.

Autumn is a busy season.

After finishing with the peach orchard, we still have to harvest the rice.

Li Pingcan's father, elder brother, and second elder brother used sickles to cut the rice, while Li Pingcan picked up the fallen rice ears from behind. Sometimes he would also pinch off the husks and feed the rice grains to Xiao Hei.

"Pingfu, how about we have a rice-harvesting competition?"

Li Rongzhou, shirtless and unconcerned about the rough rice stalks scratching his body, started a fight with his eldest son.

"Compare." Li Pingfu remained as concise as ever.

Li Ping'an acted as the referee. With a command, sickles flew, rice rippled, and ears of grain flew everywhere.

Li Pingcan stopped picking up rice and watched the battle with his chin propped up.

"After taking the Purple Centipede Ointment for more than half a year, my father and eldest brother's strength has increased a lot, especially my eldest brother's."

Their physical strength is as powerful as a surging river, flowing endlessly, but when their skin and flesh are taut, even a sharp knife has difficulty penetrating their muscles.

It's likely that in three to five years, my eldest brother will advance to the "Muscle Realm," starting far ahead of our father. As for the outcome of this match, there's no suspense; my eldest brother can't beat our father yet.

Seeing that no other farmers were approaching his house, Li Pingcan secretly used his thorn whip to automatically send bundles of rice home, like a conveyor belt on an assembly line, to be threshed later.

Why work so hard if you can save your energy?
After Li Rongzhou and Li Pingfu finished their competition, the once mountainous pile of grain was completely empty.

The three exchanged glances, and Li Pingcan put on an innocent expression, their unspoken understanding remaining.

……

A late-night snack.

After a long day of hard work and with empty stomachs, the family enjoyed a hearty meal, indulging in meat to their heart's content.

We can't overwork ourselves at this time, because we still have to thresh the grains next, which is also hard work.

After the meal, Li Rongzhou announced regretfully, "The placer gold in the stream has been panned out. From now on, we'll have to rely on ourselves."

The amount of gold in the exposed streambed was small to begin with; otherwise, it would have been discovered much earlier.

Without this subsidy, people will need to work hard to make money in the future.

The family nodded, indicating that they understood.

"Brother Li, are you home? I'm coming in!"

Suddenly, Li Fang's honest voice came from outside the door. He was beaming with joy, his face unable to hide his smile, "I have some fantastic news!"

"What good news?"

Li Rongzhou laughed and said that after more than half a year of investigation, he had seen through Li Fang's character and found him to be a stubborn and honest man.

Li Fang said, "The village is about to select a 'lucky boy' to pay respects to the tree ancestor!"

This has been a long-standing tradition in Peach Blossom Village.

On Peach Blossom Mountain, there is an ancient peach tree that is a thousand years old. The villagers worship it and six "lucky children" chosen by the villagers can receive blessings from the tree ancestor!
“The ancient tree has a spirit that has protected our Peach Blossom Mountain through countless storms over the years. If you can gain the tree's approval, your child might have a greater chance of awakening their spiritual root!” Li Fang said excitedly.

Li Pingcan immediately became interested.

A thousand-year-old peach tree might have developed sentience. Even if he, as a druid, didn't awaken any plant-related skills, could he still converse with the peach tree, gain some "divine affinity," and glimpse a mysterious corner of the cultivation world?
However, it depends on what his father thinks. He looked at Li Rongzhou.

Noticing his young son's gaze, Li Rongzhou asked calmly, "How does the village select the 'lucky child'?"

"First, we ask the Peach God; second, we ask our ancestors; and third, we gain the villagers' approval."

Li Fang said sincerely, "Brother Li, I will never forget the kindness of you in saving my life. If you want this spot, I am willing to persuade our branch to recommend your child."

Li Rongzhou pondered for a long time.

If you don't agree, nothing will happen. But when it comes to good things like receiving blessings, it's always better to believe it exists than not to believe it doesn't.

Secondly, as a member of the Li family outside the family, if they can obtain the title of "Lucky Child", it can be considered as recognizing their ancestors and returning to their roots!
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Brother Li Fang," Li Rongzhou decided.

…………

After Li Fang left.

Looking at the three children, Li Rongzhou was in a difficult position.

Both are precious, but you can only choose one "Lucky Boy"!
Selfishly speaking, it would naturally be better to choose the youngest son with the most potential to maximize the family's interests, but the fear is that it might hurt the feelings of the eldest and second sons and create discord.

This bowl of water is just too hard to keep level.

"If all else fails, let's draw lots!" he thought, at least that would be fair.

"Father, don't be in a difficult position. Give this opportunity to my younger brother."

Sensing his father's hesitation, Li Ping'an said earnestly, "My younger brother hasn't had his spiritual root tested yet, but he's the most promising person in our family to become an immortal. Once he's accomplished something, would he possibly look down on his older brother?"

His smile was completely genuine as he patted Li Pingcan on the shoulder, saying, "I'm giving up voluntarily."

Li Pingfu nodded and said in a deep voice, "Me too!"

(End of this chapter)