The Rise of the Witch

The area within Xuan Su Valley is much larger than I imagined.

After entering the valley and turning a few corners, a large open space came into view, filled with rice. Each heavy ear of rice radiated a spiritual light, making the entire rice field glow and the spiritual energy was so dense that it was almost like mist.

Gui Ning's cold expression cracked, her eyes filled with horror. As the pillar of a middle-level clan, she could eat low-grade spirit rice every few days, and she also had an annual quota of middle-grade spirit rice.

But the rice on this large patch of ground was far more spiritual than any other spiritual rice she had ever seen... Could this be top-grade spiritual rice?

They actually planted so many?

Su Wenling was also somewhat surprised and asked, "Uncle Lou, is all this top-grade spirit rice?"

Lou Ju smiled and said, "Miss, Xuan Su Valley is not very large, and the planting area is limited, but the environment is excellent, so all the spirit rice here is of the highest quality."

"Exquisite?" Su Wenling and Gui Ning exclaimed at the same time.

Above top-grade spiritual rice, there was actually a premium variety, which they had never even heard of.

Lou Ju said with considerable pride, "This is premium spirit rice. There are only a handful of places in the entire Kunlun Mountains where it can be grown. This spirit field is arguably the most valuable one in Xuan Su Valley!"

Su Wenling asked curiously, "But Uncle Lou, how come I've never heard of this premium spirit rice before?"

Lou Ju shook his head and said, "Because this kind of premium spirit rice will never flow into the Nine Provinces. Once harvested, it will be divided up by various mountain peaks of Kunlun Mountain. Even Xuan Su Valley itself can only keep a very small quota."

Yu Xi was displeased and said, "Was it stolen by someone else? Who dared to steal it? I'll have my master beat them up!"

Lou Ju smiled and said, "We are able to establish ourselves in Xuan Su Valley only by relying on the Xuanyuan Clan. Therefore, half of the harvest in the valley must be handed over to the Xuanyuan Clan, and the rest must be traded with other mountain tribes to exchange for high, medium and low grade spiritual rice. The low grade spiritual rice is used by the valley itself, and after deducting a portion of the high and medium grade rice for bribes, the remainder will be transported back to the Yanzi Clan in the Nine Provinces."

After a pause, Lou Ju added, "Back then, the Mystic Maiden would keep a small portion for herself. Now that the Mystic Maiden has passed away and the young master is in charge of Xuan Su Valley, whether or not to keep a portion for him depends on the young master's word."

"So that's how it is." Su Wenling looked at the spiritual field in front of her, which was rich in spiritual energy, and felt a little unwilling.

After all that, it turns out this land was all for someone else to cultivate.

After crossing the rice paddies and turning a corner, we arrived at a mountain hollow.

  

Several large trees grew in the valley, laden with fruit. The shimmering light emanating from the fruit undoubtedly proved its extraordinary nature; it was definitely not an ordinary fruit.

Lou Ju explained, "This is an apricot grove. The apricots on the trees, though not as precious as the peaches of immortality or the plums of the Yellow Plum, are still remarkable spiritual fruits. Every single apricot on the tree is recorded..."

As they were talking, Lou Ju suddenly smiled when he saw Yu Xi's drooling expression. He looked up, picked a ripe apricot, carefully plucked it, wiped it on his clothes, and handed it to her, saying, "Eat it, but you can only have one."

Yu Xi looked troubled and asked, "Grandpa Lou, can I really eat this? Will it cause trouble?"

Lou Ju smiled and said, "If others can't eat it, you can."

Yu Xi asked, puzzled, "Why?"

Lou Ju gestured around the entire valley, saying, "The entire Xuan Su Valley is only preserved because your master is here. Otherwise, not to mention the other peaks of Kunlun Mountain, the demon race's raids alone would have wiped Xuan Su Valley clean, leaving nothing behind!"

"Master is amazing!" Yu Xi's eyes lit up, and she immediately picked up the apricot with a clear conscience and took a bite.

Immediately, juice overflowed, and rich spiritual energy burst forth. Su Wenling and Gui Ning beside them couldn't help but secretly swallow their saliva.

Lou Ju pretended not to see it and continued to lead the three forward.

Xuansu Valley is surrounded by several large mountains, resulting in several mountain hollows in addition to the central valley.

The second mountain hollow was filled with spiritual mist, and its interior shone with spiritual light. Just standing at the entrance of the hollow and smelling it made one feel refreshed and relaxed.

This was a field of medicinal herbs. The three women were not very knowledgeable and did not recognize many of the herbs, but they did know about things like Solomon's seal, ginseng, and Ganoderma lucidum.

But the three herbs they recognized were planted only on the very edge, as if they were just scraps from this field of medicinal herbs.

A delicate, fair-skinned baby, wearing only a bib and a straw hat, was swaggering around the medicinal herb field, her small legs swaying confidently.

Upon seeing the group of people at the mouth of the mountain pass, the fair-skinned baby disappeared into the ground with a "whoosh."

The next moment, it appeared directly in front of the four of them, tilting its head back. Although it was clearly a child, its voice was unusually old and hoarse: "Is the head steward on an inspection tour?"

When he looked up, Su Wenling and the others could finally see his face under the bamboo hat. It was wrinkled like old tree bark, with a full beard, but his eyes were clear and bright, without any impurities.

"Elder Ginseng!" Lou Ju bowed respectfully and introduced to Su Wenling and the others, "This is Elder Ginseng, a ten-thousand-year-old ginseng that has awakened its spiritual wisdom and has always been in charge of the spiritual herbs of Xuan Su Valley."

Monster Race!

The truth is clear in the hearts of many.

Lou Ju then introduced the elder to Shen Lao: "This is the eldest daughter of Xuan Su Valley, Su Wenling, the successor designated by the Mysterious Maiden."

The old ginseng looked up at Su Wenling and said, "I am a demon, and I don't have much fighting power. However, my body is a ginseng that is very nourishing. If I don't have protection, I will be devoured by other creatures in this wilderness at any time."

"The Goddess of Mystery is merciful and willing to protect me. I am eternally grateful. You are the future master of Xuan Su Valley, and I will rely on you for survival from now on. If you need any help, as long as it doesn't involve eating me, you can simply give the order!"

Su Wenling steadied herself and said solemnly, "Elder Shen, rest assured, Xuan Su Valley will always be your home!"

"Hehe, that's great!"

Elder Shen chuckled, then suddenly turned to look at Yu Xi and said, "Little human girl, the way you look at me seems so familiar... Who is that particularly fierce human outside to you?"

Yu Xi had been staring at Elder Ginseng since earlier, and asked in confusion, "Who are you talking about?"

Lou Ju whispered from the side, "He's talking about your son-in-law, who is also your master."

Yu Xi immediately glared at him and retorted, "My master isn't fierce at all!"

"fart!"

Elder Shen was exasperated, his voice filled with terror: "He's not fierce enough? I've roamed the Great Wilderness for ten thousand years and have seen countless demons, humans, and ferocious beasts, but I've never seen one more ferocious than him!"

Even the few ancient demons who had the good fortune to see him were no match for him! When he stood in the valley, his fierce aura made the old ginseng dare not move!

"He's only good because he knows his place and doesn't usually come to the valley. Otherwise, do you think the old ginseng would dare to come out and cause trouble?"

Yu Xi was also enraged, her large eyes glaring, her double pupils radiating an inexplicable pressure: "My master isn't fierce! Say that again, and I'll eat you up!"

The old ginseng was shocked and shouted, "It really is his apprentice! He's fierce, and you're fierce too... Don't come here again!"

After saying that, he disappeared into the ground with a "whoosh" and never reappeared.

"You old bastard, come out here, or I'll eat you up!" Yu Xi refused to give up and immediately squatted down to dig a hole.

Fortunately, Gui Ning stopped him.

Su Wenling also grabbed her other hand and gently comforted her before dragging her away from the herb field.

After everyone left, Old Ginseng poked his head out of the ground and muttered to himself, "Two vicious people... vicious as they may be, at least Xuan Su Valley is safe now."

After saying that, he disappeared without a head.