Fruit Farmer In A Cultivation World

The Great Firmament World, a world full of cultivators where even the most ridiculous stories come to life. Nothing is too far from the realm of possibilities; even bringing the dead back to life.

But that was all in the past. Back before the great world shattered into thousands of fragments at the end of the War for Heaven. 

Now that a million years had passed since the conclusion of the great war, cultivators were slowly making a comeback. At least that was the case in Nine Desolate World, one of the tiny fragments of the once boundless Great Firmament World.

Some remnants of sects were unearthed six hundred years ago and the Nine Desolate World, which was populated by nothing but mortals for as long as they could remember finally saw cultivators walk among them once again.

But even though it had been six hundred years since the resurgence of cultivation, cultivators were still a rare sight in the remote Red Rock village. Seeing a young man and little girl both carrying swords and wearing sect uniforms, many villagers followed the pair with curiosity.

"Senior brother, why are they looking at us with such a strange expression? Could it be that they have bad intentions?" The young girl, who was no older than 12 asked while clutching her sword.

The group of villagers had been following them and making a ruckus ever since they entered this small settlement. Their stares made her feel uncomfortable and confused.

Liang Zhi, the young man answered with a smile on his face, "No need to be so nervous. They're just curious since cultivators never make their way to this place. You might not know since you've never left the sect but cultivators are very rare, especially in places like this."

Listening to his words, Zhang Xin bobbed her head to show that she understood. 

The duo made their way to hunter Wei's house under the watchful eyes of the entire village.

"Is hunter Wei in?" Liang Zhi spoke loudly, "I have some matters to discuss with you."

Wei Mao, who was polishing arrowheads for his hunt walked out. 

Upon seeing the young man's garment and the sword, he immediately put on a respectful expression. "Might I know what business young immortal has with me?"

"I'll get straight to the point. I am here under the orders of an elder from Sky Sword Sect to recruit hunter Wei. If you head back to the sect with us, you'll be appointed as an outer disciple immediately."

Wei Mao had a surprised expression when he heard the young man's words. This was the first time he had heard of sects recruiting disciples in this manner. He didn't mince his words and expressed his confusion.

"Of course. How could I expect you to just follow us. Please address me as Liang Zhi. I am an inner sect disciple of the Sky Sword Sect." Liang Zhi spoke while showing a jade token from the sect that proved his identity. "Many sects in the Green Wind Empire are currently recruiting disciples in a large scale. I made my way here after an elder from my sect learned of hunter Wei hunting a first-grade spirit tiger from a merchant."

A flash of realization finally made its way to Wei Mao's face. His feat of killing a tiger which was already a spirit beast had made him popular in the surrounding villages. A rich merchant had even paid him a hefty sum to buy the beast's hide, which was tough enough to withstand arrows from a war bow.

He didn't have any family and hadn't married yet as he was still young. Thinking of how he could actually embark on a cultivation journey, he couldn't help but let his happiness show.

"Young immortal Liang, I don't have much to settle before I can leave with you. However, I have to visit farmer Sen before I can set out. I already received advance payment from him yesterday and I just have to deliver some goods to him."

Liang Zhi smiled as the hunter's words implied that the latter had agreed. 

"You can refer to me as senior brother Liang from now on. After all, we're all disciples of the same sect. Please show us the way junior brother Wei, we will accompany you to farmer Sen's place. After you're done with your business, we'll head out immediately, we don't have much time."

As soon as his words ended, Liang Zhi took out a paper bird, which grew in size until it was big enough to accommodate him, Zhang Xin, and Wei Mao.

The three alighted the paper bird under the sparkling eyes of the villagers. After Liang Zhi asked Wei Mao for direction, the paper bird flapped its wings and took to the skies.

Wei Mao felt his heart almost jump out of his chest when he looked at the village that was slowly growing small. Watching his reaction, Zhang Xin couldn't help but giggle.

"You don't have to be scared junior brother Wei. You'll get used to it soon enough. And when you step into the qi condensation stage in the future, you'll be able to operate similar flying artifacts as well." Liang Zhi spoke while controlling the paper bird to head towards the direction Wei Mao had provided.

Soon, the three landed in front of a small farm on top of a hill. The farm was far from the village, and if they had walked, it would have taken them over an hour. 

Wei Mao jogged to the small cottage in the middle of the farm and knocked. "Brother Sen, are you in? Please come out. I have something to discuss with you."

"Coming."

An answer came from within the cottage as a man in his early 20s walked out.

"Brother Wei, you're early. I didn't think you'd come here until the evening like always."

Wei Mao retrieved a goatskin bag and handed it to Sen Lin. "Brother Sen, this will be the last time I'll be running errands for you. I'll be joining the Sky Sword Sect as an outer disciple and exploring a bigger world."

Sen Lin took the bag giving off a strong smell and directed his sight at the giant paper bird that was slowly shrinking. Watching a young man with a sword putting away the paper bird calmly, he understood the situation roughly.

"Congratulations brother Wei. I always knew you're destined for something greater. I wish you all the best on your cultivation journey."

"Haha, it's nothing that grand. If you still need someone to run errands for you, I'd recommend old lady Xuan's 3rd son. Though young, he is very hardworking and I can vouch for his character. That's all I wanted to say. Thank you for taking care of me all these years. If you ever run into a problem you can't solve, you can look for me at the Sky Sword Sect. I'll be sure to repay the kindness you've shown me all these years."

Seeing that Wei Mao was in a hurry, Sen Lin didn't say much. "Wait for a while brother Wei. The road ahead must be long, I'll pick some fruits for you. Some of them have already ripened."

Very quickly, he handed Wei Mao a basket full of sweet plums.

The two exchanged a few more words and Wei Mao and his fellow disciples flew away on the paper bird.

As Liang Zhi watched the lonely farm grow smaller and smaller, he couldn't contain his curiosity anymore and posed a question.

"This farmer Sen, is there any chance that he is a cultivator?"

Wei Mao was stupefied by the question. "As far as I am aware, he is just an ordinary farmer. He was an orphan and grew up in the same village as me. No one has ever said anything about brother Sen being a cultivator."

"I see," Liang Zhi didn't dig further. But looking at the plums that were exuding a faint trace of spiritual energy, he made up his mind to consult his master about the matter when he got back to the sect.

Back on the ground, Sen Lin watched the paper bird disappear in the distance and sighed in amazement.

"This world really has cultivators. Who knew I'd run into one after 20 years in this world. All this time, I thought everyone talking about cultivation were talking non sense."

He pushed the matter to the back of his head and turned to his farm. As the four plum trees all full of almost ripe purple plums entered his sight, a smile full of satisfaction bloomed on his face.

"The yield this year is the best. I should be able to earn a lot of money when I sell these plums at the pop-up market during Autumn festival. But I'll have to make more baskets to transport all these fruits. The ones I have aren't enough."

Sen Lin made a mental note to buy some bamboo to weave into baskets and loaded a pannier full of ripe plums.

After making sure the fruits had no problems with them, he brought a donkey out of the barn and attached the pannier to the beast.

"Let's go Blacky. Today we'll sell these plums and buy some bamboo. Maybe we should get some chickens too. Having eggs to eat would be nice."

And so, a man and a donkey made their way down the hill side by side. Every now and then, they would stop by to wash a few plums in a stream that ran down the hill and feast on the fruits with smiles on their faces.