Fruit Farmer In A Cultivation World

Sen Lin wore a happy smile as he checked the giant gourds that had just been completed. The bee's wax had settled in nicely, making the interior completely water proof.

The cork was a bit loose on one of the gourds but it was manageable.

They might not look as good as the gourds they sold on the market – the ones that were polished with oil to give the product a premium feel, but to Sen Lin, the ones he made seemed even better.

After all, the bed at your house always feels the most comfortable.

"Blacky, come here." Sen Lin called for his donkey and equipped it with the newly woven panniers he had made to hold the gourds.

Now, he'd no longer have to carry the water himself. With his new pannier and gourds, he'd be able to load the vessels onto Blacky and have it transport the water.

After two trips to the nearby stream, all of his gourds were completely full. Suddenly, Sen Lin was at a loss for words. Three years… for three whole years he had toiled for hours to fetch water when he could have solved it so easily.

'Forget it. I didn't have the gourds dried or bamboo to weave into panniers. Besides, I was too busy trying to survive and work on my farm.'

The young farmer spoke to himself to escape the ache that was settling in his chest.

Thankfully, he didn't have to sit with his failure for too long. Gao Xuan, a young boy of around 16 years of age came to Sen Lin while sporting a nervous look.

Often times, Sen Lin would have Wei Mao run errands for him when the latter went out to hunt. Now that the hunter had embarked on a journey of cultivation, he needed a replacement.

Remembering how Wei Mao had recommended lady Xuan's third son before departing, Sen Lin had asked a villager to relay his intention to the kind woman who had recently sunk into poverty.

"Big brother Sen, I heard you were looking for a helper?"

"That's right. You don't have to be so nervous. Wei Mao vouched for your character and I trust in his judgment. Tell me, how familiar are you with the forest?"

Gao Xuan perked up at the words and answered, "I've never been to the depths of the forest but the outer areas are no problem. I know that place as good as my own backyard."

Sen Lin nodded to show he understood and asked the young man to accompany him to the forest. Though he hadn't been there in quite some time, he was still familiar with it and wanted to take the opportunity to observe Gao Xuan.

Soon, the two found themselves in the forest by the Red Rock village. Though rich in resources, the forest saw few villagers come here as many believed the place was inhabited by demonic beasts.

While Sen Lin agreed that the rumors were most likely true, he had never caught a glimpse of one in the many years he had frequented this place. Still, that didn't mean he could let his guard down.

After all, it was exactly in this forest that Wei Mao had encountered a tiger that had already turned into a spirit beast.

Spirit beasts were animals that had evolved past their race's natural boundaries by guiding spiritual energy inside their body. Fundamentally, they were completely different from demonic beasts that had been influenced by evil energy and had grown bloodthirsty.

But regardless of which of the two Sen Lin and Gao Xuan ran into, they'd have no other option than to run away.

Thankfully, what greeted the two wasn't a bloodthirsty beast but a tuft of chicken mushroom.

"Looks like our luck isn't bad. These mushrooms should be enough to last us for at least four meals."

Gao Xuan walked up to the cluster of mushrooms and picked them up efficiently. Like its name suggested, the chicken mushroom tasted like chickens and was a rare treat for poor villagers like him and Sen Lin.

They quickly split the mushrooms among themselves and headed deeper into the forest. Sen Lin led the way while Gao Xuan followed behind.

The duo finally stopped after they reached a spot where many tall trees grew.

It was a strange place. The trees that grew here were the same ones that grew everywhere else. However, the ones growing here were clearly a lot taller than their counterparts.

There were quite a few villagers who were curious about the reason and there were also many imaginative speculations about it.

The spot being haunted, a divine beast being buried underneath, and it being a blessed land were just some of the few that were popular.

Initially, Sen Lin had been curious about the reason too but not anymore. He had already concluded that the reason why the trees here grew larger to be the rich nutrient present in the soil below.

He had originally wanted to take some of the soil back and grow his fruits on top of it. Sadly, the result it yielded didn't differ from normal soil at all after the first few days.

Still, it didn't mean that his efforts were in vain. While he couldn't transport soil from here as the labor required would be too high, it didn't mean he couldn't take other things.

He often had Wei Mao bring back some fallen leaves form this area to use as mulch on his own farm.

Once he used the dead leaves and bark as mulch for his trees, they had shown astonishing levels of growth. He had since made it a habit to enrich the soil at his farm using materials from this area.

"This is the job I was thinking of entrusting to you. You just need to bring back fallen leaves, small twigs, and the bark you peel from dead trees over here to me."

Gao Xuan studied the surroundings and asked with a little hesitation. "The work is easy enough. But big brother Sen, how much will I get for it?"

"The price will remain the same as it had with Wei Mao." Sen Lin handed a sack to the youngster and continued, "I'll pay you two ricetalons for a sack full of materials."

Listening to the remuneration he'd receive, Gao Xuan received the sack with great enthusiasm. The two made some small talk as they collected fallen leaves and stripped the bark off a dead tree.

The bag was soon filled to the brim and the two returned back to the village.

Back at his farm, Sen Lin got to work immediately. He sorted the contents of the sack, manually separating the bark from the rest.

Once he had all the barks in one place, he sorted them by size. He left the smaller pieces as they were and broke down the bigger pieces using a small axe. After they were reduced to smaller manageable sizes, he beat the bark fragments with a wooden mallet until they were broken down into finer pieces.

Finally, he soaked the bark in water to let it soften for a few days before he could use it as mulch.

Massaging his sore back, Sen Lin retrieved a previous batch of bark he had already soaked and mixed it with the leaves he had brought back today.

As the rough bark and soft leaves mixed together, they formed a more balanced mulch that was ready to use.

He carried the new mixture over to his plum trees and spread them in a circle around them after clearing the older mulch that had already done its job.

Sen Lin was done with mulching as the sun began its descent. He arched his back to loosen his bones and put on a smile.

"Another fulfilling day. It's good that I found the secret to making use of the materials from the area in the forest with tall trees. The weeds have stopped growing completely since I started mulching with materials from that area. The trees are also growing very well."

He took one more look at the purple plums dangling on the trees and walked into the house while talking to Blackey.

"Come here Blacky. I got some good grass for you on my way back. I got some chicken mushrooms too but they're only enough for me."