The morning mist hadn't even cleared when chaos broke loose in Willow Village.
Bai Xuexin had spent the night sprawled at her family's entrance, covered in dust and leaves after Lianhua's kick of justice. But like a cockroach after a flood, she reemerged the next morning, cheeks pink with faux innocence, clothes perfectly pressed, and her tears already locked and loaded.
She trotted to the village square, wobbling just enough to earn sympathy, a bandage wrapped unnecessarily around her forehead.
"Hua hua beat me!" she cried. "She even cursed me and sent me flying! I only wanted to help her!"
A collective gasp rippled through the villagers like ducks startled from a pond.
"That jinx again?"
"Bai Xuexin only ever shows care and kindness, why would Hua'er hurt her?"
"It's unnatural strength I tell you, demon-like!"
"I heard she returned from the mountains with strange glowing herbs! What if she's possessed now?"
From her courtyard, Lianhua sat sipping watery porridge, head resting on one hand as she stared at the rising smoke and shouting in the distance.
"System, they're gossiping again, aren't they?"
[Affirmative. The village's current hostility level is 72%. Congratulations, you've unlocked: 'Public Enemy No. 1' title.]
"Oh shut up," she muttered, slurping louder out of spite.
Just then, she heard running footsteps outside.
"Hua hua!" It was Bai Xuexin again. "Come out! I forgive you for attacking me, but we need to make peace for the village!"
"Peace? I'll give you pieces." Lianhua stood up, wiping her mouth and cracking her knuckles.
The villagers had gathered in front of her courtyard. Some held pitchforks. Some had brooms. One uncle had brought a chicken for some reason.
In the middle of the crowd stood Bai Xuexin with exaggerated tears and a forced pout.
"Everyone," she began in a trembling voice, "I've been wronged, but I still want to believe in sisterhood."
Lianhua stepped forward. "Can you stop calling me sister? I already told you—I'm not your damn friend."
More gasps. Some dropped their brooms. The chicken clucked in distress.
Xuexin's eyes widened. "You… you said we'd be friends forever."
"Lies," Lianhua said coolly. "Fabricated lies. Just like that time you 'accidentally' dropped the soup pot on my foot and said I slipped. Or when you gossiped to the village aunties that I was cursed."
"I was only trying to help!"
"By telling everyone I attract death and bad fortune?"
Silence.
Bai Xuexin blinked. Her lip trembled. "Y-you misunderstood…"
"I understood perfectly." Lianhua turned to the villagers. "Let me make something clear. I am not friends with this woman. I do not wish to be. If you see her near my house again, kindly help her fly again. For free."
A stunned silence.
Then one brave old woman in the crowd, Auntie Wen, who never liked Xuexin anyway, muttered, "Honestly, the girl has a point."
Uncle Zheng chimed in, "Yeah, didn't Xuexin borrow five coppers from me in spring and never returned it?"
Another whispered, "And didn't she say I smelled like tofu once?"
The tide began to turn. Villagers side-eyed Bai Xuexin like she was a goat that had farted in the temple.
Bai Xuexin's expression cracked. She looked from one person to another, her performance faltering. "Y-you're all believing her over me? She's a jinx!"
"Better a jinx than a liar," Lianhua snapped. "And don't let me catch you scheming again. I still owe you a second kick."
With that, Lianhua turned on her heel and walked back into her courtyard.
Behind her, Bai Xuexin's facade finally shattered. Her hands clenched at her side as she watched everyone disperse, many shaking their heads or chuckling.
The White Lotus had wilted.
—
Back inside, Lianhua flopped onto her bed, triumphant.
"System, give me something good. That whole thing was exhausting."
[You gained +500 reputation in Grandma's Heart, +5 villager suspicion, and +2 battle experience for verbal combat.]
"I'll take it. Oh, and plant something for me, I'm too lazy."
[Host, please use your limbs. This is farming, not imperial delegation.]
"Spoilsport."
—
That night, the village was unusually quiet. Bai Xuexin didn't show her face. The village square was peaceful. Chickens actually stayed in their coops.
Lianhua, feeling unusually energetic, decided to prepare her plot of land behind her house.
She took out a few herb seeds, feeling oddly nostalgic. There was something meditative about pressing seeds into soil, like each one was a hope, a tiny rebellion against the madness around her.
The snake slithered nearby, basking in moonlight, occasionally hissing in approval.
"System, I've planted something. Update my quest."
[Quest Progress: 3%… Good start. Keep going, Farmer Catwoman.]
Lianhua snorted. "Don't start."
—
Meanwhile, at the edge of the village, Bai Xuexin sat in her room, her hands trembling.
"That girl… she ruined everything today." Her eyes were wild. "Fine. If kindness doesn't work, I'll show her something else."
She opened a drawer and pulled out a black scroll. Something she'd hidden for years. Something forbidden.
Her lips curled into a smile that was no longer sweet.
"Let's see if she can still kick me after this."
—
Back in the courtyard, Lianhua sneezed.
"System, someone's cursing me again, aren't they?"
[Statistically probable.]
"Figures."
She sighed, leaning back and looking at the stars. In spite of everything, she felt… alive.
And that was enough.
For now.
As the moonlight blanketed the courtyard, Lianhua lay on the flat wooden bench outside, hands behind her head, staring at the cloudless night sky.
"System," she murmured, "when do I start cultivating?"
[Host, your body is not yet prepared for cultivation.]
She scrunched her nose. "I figured that much. So when will it be ready?"
[You must complete your farming initiation. That means reaching 100% on your farming quest progress bar. Only then will your physical body and spiritual meridians be awakened properly for cultivation.]
"Wait, wait, wait." Lianhua sat up, groaning. "You mean I have to plant all that stuff by myself? Like, with my hands?"
[Yes. Farming progress must be earned physically. System manipulation or shortcuts will not initiate the required spiritual alignment.]
"Agh, so stressful!" she groaned, flopping back down dramatically.
[Reminder: You must achieve beginner cultivation level—designated "Spiritual Root Initiate"—before the end of the year if you wish to attend the Qingxuan Academy of Spiritual Agriculture.]
Lianhua blinked up at the stars. "Qingxuan Academy? That sounds like some big fancy place…"
[Correction: Qingxuan is only a mid-tier cultivation academy located in Luliang City within the Ping Dynasty's interior provinces. It is accessible but competitive. It is not to be compared with the elite academies in the Ping Capital or realms beyond.]
"Realms beyond?" she repeated, tilting her head. "You're saying there's more than just Ping?"
[Affirmative. Beyond the Ping Dynasty lies other realms, greater dynasties, spiritual clans, floating empires, and cultivation worlds.]
She stared. "Ah. So I'm basically in the countryside of cultivation."
[Precisely.]
"Well then…" Lianhua chuckled dryly. "If I have to claw my way out of the cabbage patch to see the stars, let's get these limbs moving."
She swung her legs off the bench and stood up. Her eyes turned toward the dark mountain in the distance.
"Hey, about the mountain—didn't you say I had to 'touch the ground' to purify the mountain soils since it was burnt?"
[Affirmative. You did so the day before yesterday. As a result, I activated my purification process. The burnt soil is now in a rejuvenated state, ready for cultivation.]
"So it's usable?"
[Yes, with light tilling and water. However… planting anything on that mountain will draw attention. Once vegetation begins to thrive, villagers may grow suspicious or greedy. Despite your current land deed, envy breeds ambition.]
Lianhua narrowed her eyes. "You're right. Those villagers are nosy enough already. They'll try to 'share' my land the moment they see even one sprout."
She began pacing the courtyard slowly, fingers tapping her chin.
"What can I do to stop that… What can I… Aha!" She snapped her fingers with a grin.
"System, what if I get a higher seal than the village chief's? Something that'll shut everyone up permanently."
[Host, do you mean an official seal from County Magistrate Zuo Minhai, known as the 'Ruler of Luliang' and head administrator of all surrounding villages within his domain?]
"Yes, exactly him!" she said, eyes lighting up. "He's higher up the food chain, right?"
[Indeed. A stamped land title from Magistrate Zuo would make your claim undeniable within all village territories under the Ping Dynasty's local jurisdiction. However, if a powerful noble, merchant guild, or someone with royal or cultivation authority were to challenge it…]
"I'd be weeded out like a dandelion."
[Precisely.]
Lianhua sighed. "Well, one step at a time. Let's secure the land from the small-time rats first. Big snakes, I'll handle later."
She grabbed a hoe from the shed, tied a cloth around her head, and lit a paper lantern.
"Don't tell me you're going up there tonight," the system said, a bit disbelieving.
"Yes, I am. If I wait till morning, some nosy auntie will see me. Night is quiet. The mountain is mine. And I have you to detect threats and possibly incinerate them."
[Correction: I do not kill.]
"Ignore mode activated," Lianhua said sweetly as she trudged off, tools over her shoulder.
—
By the time she arrived at the mountain foot, the stars had shifted slightly in the sky. The lantern swayed gently in the breeze, casting flickering light on the once-charred soil. Now it shimmered faintly, like soft embers hidden in earth.
Lianhua knelt, fingers brushing the soil.
"…It's warm," she murmured.
[Residual spiritual energy remains from your system's purification. This land will now support crops at an accelerated growth rate.]
"Nice."
She set to work, rolling up her sleeves and stabbing the hoe into the earth. It took effort—her arms protested, her back complained, but she gritted her teeth and worked the land.
Chop. Turn. Pat. Water.
Repeat.
Each motion echoed under the stars, and with every turn of the soil, something inside her stirred. The ache in her limbs started to hum. The air around her seemed to thicken with something electric—unseen but present.
[Farming Quest Progress: 9%]
Only 9%?!
"You stingy system!"
[This is only the beginning, Host. But consider this: The body that tills the land with effort builds spiritual foundation. Your fatigue now is your power later.]
"Words," she huffed, wiping sweat off her brow. "But I'll remember that when I'm tossing people with my pinky in the future."
She worked deep into the night, the lantern's light flickering as the mountain slowly awakened under her care.
By the time the first traces of dawn painted the sky pink, Lianhua stood back and admired her patch of soil. It was small, but neat. Purposeful. Ready.
"System… mark this day," she whispered. "The day the mountain started to live again."
[Marked. Initial Farming Stage 1 complete. Spiritual resonance activated.]
"Good," she whispered, stretching. "Now, let's get that magistrate's seal."
She smiled to herself, eyes glinting in the early sun.