3: Chapter 3 Building Farmland

"Kid, haven't you heard of entering into a contract with your body?"

Entering into a contract with your body?

Li Qing's mouth twitched slightly—what was meant to come had finally arrived.

Although he was mentally prepared, he still felt a wave of revulsion deep down.

"Bring the contract."

At Boss Scar's order, The Bald Man immediately took a blank spirit paper from his Storage Pouch.

Boss Scar exerted a trace of Qi at his fingertips, and with a few swift strokes, wrote lines of small, runic characters on the paper.

"Imprint your spirit seal, and the Spirit Stones are yours."

The spirit paper fluttered down in front of Li Qing, his pupils constricting slightly.

"A Spirit Contract?"

"It's just borrowing a few Spirit Stones; is there a need to use a Spirit Contract?"

Li Qing had only heard of the term Spirit Contract; this was his first time seeing one in person.

He hadn't expected that the first time he saw one, he would be forced to enter into one himself.

He knew very well that once the spirit seal was imprinted, the contract would be bound by the Laws of Heaven and Earth, leaving no room for regret.

Unless the Spirit Stones were repaid on time, there would be no release for eternity.

Li Qing forced himself to remain calm and scanned the contents of the Spirit Contract.

Good heavens, no wonder they needed to use a Spirit Contract—this was essentially a slave contract!

It clearly stated the amount of Spirit Stones borrowed, the repayment deadline, and the consequences of defaulting.

Once the spirit seal was imprinted, if he failed to fulfill the contract upon maturity, he would be immediately demoted to a slave, never to rise again.

"This amount of Spirit Stones..."

Li Qing feigned confusion.

"You are worth at most ten Spirit Stones, and that's only out of respect for your late father."

Boss Scar interrupted him directly, his tone cold.

"To tell you the truth, your corpse would only fetch twenty pieces if sold to the Corpse Valley. If I lent you thirty, I wouldn't be making a profitable deal."

His calculation was extremely shrewd: if he lent three Spirit Stones and Li Qing happened to pay them back, he wouldn't be able to hold anything over him. Ten was the perfect threshold that Li Qing couldn't repay even if he tried his hardest.

The essence of the loan sharking business was making it easy for people to borrow but impossible to repay, thus maximizing profits.

"Borrow ten Spirit Stones, pay back thirteen in a month... that interest is not low."

Li Qing was silent for a moment.

Ten Spirit Stones was exactly his bottom line.

But he didn't agree immediately, instead showing a look of struggle and hesitation on his Face.

"What? Not borrowing? Are you playing with me?"

Seeing Li Qing remain silent for a long time, Boss Scar's expression turned somewhat sinister.

The lackeys beside him also glared at Li Qing.

"I... I..."

"Little Qing, what are you still thinking about? Ten Spirit Stones is plenty; not only will it solve your current predicament, but there will be extra Spirit Stones left over. Perhaps if you go out and gamble a bit, you'll have everything."

Before Li Qing could finish, Old Man Liu said temptingly in his ear.

"Fine, I'll borrow!"

Li Qing gritted his teeth, looking as if he had staked everything.

...

Li Qing left Pingan Gambling Den with the Spirit Stones.

"Send someone to keep an eye on him."

Boss Scar said casually.

"Don't worry, Boss Scar, I know the drill."

The Bald Man replied.

Watching him wasn't just about preventing him from running away; it was also to prevent others from harming him. If he died, both the person and the money would be lost!

To be honest, everyone who came here to sign a Spirit Contract not only got Spirit Stones but also enjoyed unique protection.

The Bald Man thought these people were getting a great deal!

"Congratulations, Boss Scar, the Spirit Contract is successful, may wealth pour in."

Old Man Liu congratulated him with a fawning smile.

"You old man, you harmed the big one, now you're harming the small one. Being your neighbor is truly the worst luck in eight lifetimes. However, I like it!"

"Thanks for the praise, Boss Scar, this..."

Old Man Liu rubbed his thumb against his index finger.

"Take it."

Boss Scar threw two Spirit Stones to Old Man Liu.

"Thank you for the reward, Boss Scar, I'll take my leave!"

With these two Spirit Stones, Old Man Liu saw hope for a comeback.

...

Leaving Pingan Gambling Den, Li Qing now had nine Low-Grade Spirit Stones on him.

The contract stated ten Spirit Stones, but Li Qing only received nine, and in a month, Li Qing would have to return thirteen Spirit Stones.

It was euphemistically called: nine out, thirteen back!

"Pah, wanting to make me a slave? In your next life!"

At this moment, Li Qing's eyes were sharp, his expression resolute, sweeping away all traces of submissiveness.

Unfortunately, Li Qing didn't have a Storage Pouch, so he could only keep them close to his body, walking cautiously all the way, terrified of running into the clan of master thieves!

"With the Spirit Stones in hand, I can build the Spirit Well. I hope it can produce spirit dew within a month."

Li Qing prayed silently along the way, pinning all his hopes on the Immortal Cave.

...

"Five Spirit Stones to build the Spirit Well, three Spirit Stones for the residence fee, and the last Spirit Stone exchanged for silver to use as living expenses."

Li Qing went over the use of the Spirit Stones.

"Sigh, the Spirit Stones are gone before they've even warmed up."

Li Qing sighed.

Arriving at the trading market, Li Qing exchanged one Spirit Stone for ten taels of silver and purchased some daily necessities.

He prepared to leave, but a conversation caught Li Qing's attention.

"The Zhou Family has released news that they will be recruiting matrilocal sons-in-Law tomorrow."

The Zhou Family was a cultivation Family founded by a Loose Cultivator, with a Clan Chief at Qi Refining Perfection; they were considered a formidable force in Anping Market.

"A matrilocal son-in-Law? Perhaps it was a way out in the past."

Li Qing muttered.

Being a matrilocal son-in-Law meant food and housing were provided, and there was a certain allocation of Cultivation resources every month; it was countless times happier than those "Mountain Chasers."

The only thing to do was to have children. Those cultivation Families would arrange for some mortal women to be wives and concubines for the matrilocal sons-in-Law, ensuring at least one child per year. The more children, the more one would get, and if the child born possessed a Spiritual Root, there were additional rewards depending on the attributes of the Spiritual Root.

In short, while they were called matrilocal sons-in-Law, they were actually just stud pigs.

The reason why the matrilocal son-in-Law system was popular among these cultivation Families was said to be because when a person with a Spiritual Root combined with a mortal, the offspring produced had a higher probability of possessing a Spiritual Root compared to offspring from two mortals.

Of course, if two people with Spiritual Roots combined, the offspring produced had an even greater chance of possessing a Spiritual Root, just like Li Qing, whose parents were both cultivators.

However, women with Spiritual Roots were considered Prodigies to Loose Cultivators like them. These women were all prepared for the Prodigies of the Sect; how could they be wasted on these stud pigs?

The path of cultivation was ethereal; fighting against Heaven, Earth, and people. For those Loose Cultivators with no other way out, being a matrilocal son-in-Law was indeed a good way out.

Not lacking food, not lacking clothing, and having women, wasn't that joyous!

If it weren't for the sudden appearance of the Portable Cave Abode, Li Qing, who couldn't pay the residence fee, would have truly intended to find a cultivation Family, comfortably be a matrilocal son-in-Law, and end his life there.

Now, regarding this goal, he could only chuckle.

In the past, due to the limitations of his Aptitude and Spirit Stones, Li Qing just muddled along. Now that he had the building panel, Cultivation, I am going to be serious!

Packing everything up, Li Qing returned to his residence vigilantly.

He entered the Portable Cave Abode immediately and built the Spirit Well.

"Low-Grade Spirit Stone × 5, the conditions for building the Spirit Well have been met. Build?"

The phantom image of the farmland appeared randomly on the empty ground of the space. Li Qing could adjust its position at any time.

"Yes... build."

At this moment, Li Qing's voice was trembling with excitement.

A white light flashed, the Spirit Stones disappeared, and the phantom image of the farmland turned into a solid entity, about sixty square meters, which was the size of one fen of land.

Li Qing opened the control panel, and the attributes of the farmland came into view.

[Spirit Well lv1]

[Effect: Condenses one drop of spirit dew per month]

[Upgrade conditions: Qi Refining Stage 4, Low-Grade Spirit Stone × 50]

Good heavens, the Spirit Stones for a level 2 Spirit Well increased tenfold!

The Spirit Well was successfully built; all that was left was to wait.

Li Qing wiped the sweat from his forehead, gazing at this well of hope before him.

He knew that his future destiny was deeply bound to this Immortal Cave building.

Li Qing placed the purchased daily necessities in the stone cave one by one, and as for the odds and ends in the yard, he tidied them up simply as well.

Afterward, he made himself a sumptuous dinner.

After finishing his tasks, Li Qing entered the Immortal Cave, sat cross-legged on the stone bed, and as usual, silently operated his Qi Refining Cultivation Technique, Thick Earth Art, beginning his Cultivation for the night.