Chapter 154: Chapter 153 It’s Just More Self-Disciplined
 

Along the roadsides of Lotus University, new students came and went in an endless stream.

Some walked hurriedly, while others occasionally stopped, curious about everything on campus.

Jiang Cheng and Yue Linger were mingled in the crowd.

“Jiang Cheng, I’ve arranged the empty plot of land you wanted. However, a teacher from the Spiritual Planting Department wants you to personally come over and sign the rental agreement yourself,” Yue Linger said.

Jiang Cheng nodded, “No problem.”

Jiang Cheng planned to rent a piece of land in the Spirit Plant Garden of the Spiritual Planting Department at Lotus University, especially to cultivate the Blood Orange Tree.

The reason was that he found the Blood Orange Tree he planted on the balcony could indeed self-sufficiently change its soil and water itself.

But the problem was, even the most capable little tree needs soil to change into.

Jiang Cheng’s balcony naturally lacked soil.

If he kept buying new potting soil, it would defy his original intention of “keeping costs down,” after all, potting soil isn’t cheap.

So, Jiang Cheng planned to enclose a piece of land, directly letting his scrappy little trees grow free-range.

The Spirit Plant Garden of Lotus University was a perfect place, not only was the soil fertile, there was also no need to worry about security issues.

As long as the price was right, renting some land would be much more cost-effective than continuously buying potting soil.

Outside the Spirit Plant Garden, Jiang Cheng ran into Mr. Zhang of the Spiritual Planting Department.

Mr. Zhang shook hands with Jiang Cheng very warmly.

“Are you Jiang Cheng? I’ve heard about you. You did quite well in the freshmen assessment. A promising future you have, indeed!”

It was indeed complicated to rent out land in the Spirit Plant Garden to outsiders. If it weren’t for Yue Linger’s influence, coupled with Jiang Cheng’s reputation for achieving full marks, Mr. Zhang wouldn’t want to bother with it.

Jiang Cheng humbly replied, “You flatter me. I just have a bit of insight into talismans and was lucky to perform well.”

Mr. Zhang led Jiang Cheng to a neat plot of land and said, “This is it, twenty meters long and wide each, one thousand low-grade Spirit Stones per year. If you think that’s alright, you can sign now.”

The soil of the land looked good, but it was a bit small and pricey; suitable for experiments but not conducive to reducing the cost of Blood Orange Fruits.

Besides, it didn’t seem like it could accommodate many scrappy little trees.

Jiang Cheng said, “Mr. Zhang, is there any land that’s bigger and a bit cheaper? I don’t mind if it’s farther away or the soil quality is a bit poorer. My trees will strive to live on their own.”

Mr. Zhang: ? What does he mean, ‘Trees will strive on their own’?

He must mean that trees are very resilient, right?

After teaching for over a decade, Mr. Zhang had never heard such creatively anthropomorphic rhetoric comparing trees to people as Jiang Cheng had just done. It felt quite fresh to him.

After thinking for a moment, Mr. Zhang said, “There is actually a piece of wasteland, about twenty acres. It was originally planned to be left fallow to enrich the soil, but with the Spiritual Planting Department reducing admissions in recent years, we probably won’t need it later. You can take it if you need it, just pay one hundred Spirit Stones for the rental process.”

“Okay.”

Since there wasn’t much to do on the first day of school, Jiang Cheng took the opportunity to move his scrappy little trees to his newly rented wasteland while returning home to feed his snake at noon.

The scrappy little trees now had self-regulating watering, soil changing, sweeping, and weed removal functionalities.

Furthermore, they had been autonomously growing for five days. The growth period of the Blood Orange Tree was nearly over, with its size basically set; now all that was left was to wait for blossoming and fruiting, to see the quality and yield of the Blood Orange Fruits.

Although twenty-four days was the final harvest time for the Blood Orange Fruits, around the tenth day, the number and size of the fruits would be mostly set, and they could be harvested for use. Further growth would actually only serve to age them.

So, in just five more days, Jiang Cheng would be able to give He an answer and determine whether Tongbao Pavilion could indeed compete for the Qi Blood Pill order.

Having fed his snake in the evening and fearing she might change her mind and not let him stay in the dormitory, Jiang Cheng deliberately moved the Portable Spirit Gathering Array to the living room.

Essentially, he used the break in his cultivation to spend some more time with her.

While one diligently cultivated, another snake lounged barefoot on the sofa, munching on snacks.

Having devoured plenty of snacks, the snake even figured out how to lick her fingers on her own, a skill that saved a trifling amount of food. Yet the sight of her earnestly licking her fingers and the frequent sticky strands somehow seemed likely to cause malnutrition in onlookers.

Perhaps because of the excellent security, Lotus University had no curfew, but Jiang Cheng didn’t want to return to the dormitory too late and disturb his roommates’ rest.

At around nine-thirty, Jiang Cheng stopped cultivating, bid farewell to Liu Qing, and went back to his dormitory.

Liu Qing was quite trustworthy and not prone to reneging like many female cultivators. She had allowed Jiang Cheng to stay in the dormitory and indeed let him go, but she watched him eagerly as he left the complex, leaving behind a sense of guilt in Jiang Cheng’s heart.

“Strange, why do I feel such a sense of tragic separation, just going back to school a couple of streets away?”

Jade Lake Ming’an wasn’t far from Lotus University, half an hour on foot, just over ten minutes by bike.

Jiang Cheng returned to his dormitory before ten o’clock that night.

However, the atmosphere in the dormitory was a bit off.

The three roommates looked at Jiang Cheng as if they were grieving widows.

Jiang Cheng: ?

“What’s with those looks? What happened?”

Zhu Hongcai, who came to Lotus University in search of a wife, said sourly, “Jiang Cheng, is that senior you went to see your girlfriend?”

“No,” Jiang Cheng answered immediately.

The other three didn’t seem to think he was lying.

Zhu Hongcai asked again, “Then do you have a girlfriend?”

“No.”

“So you were just hanging out with the senior?”

“Didn’t hang out.”

“You don’t have a girlfriend and weren’t with the senior, so where did you go today?” Zhu Hongcai’s tone was noticeably poor.

Ding Guangming quickly pulled Jiang Cheng to sit down, explaining, “1016, no, Jiang Cheng, it’s like this, today our dorm went to the cafeteria to eat, and you weren’t there; we were only three, but the other dorms were in groups of four. Hong Cai tried to explain that you were busy, but accidentally got mocked by the guys next door. They said that you, uh, might look down on us a bit.”

“Why would I look down upon you?” Jiang Cheng was puzzled.

He had never looked down on anyone. Except for Cao Wang.

Song Junsheng had his own strength and was, of course, not afraid of rumors.

With a teasing smile, he said, “Isn’t it just because we three got in through connections and Spirit Stones, while you were the top of the new students’ assessment? It’s quite normal to have such rumors.”

“I really didn’t mean it that way,” Jiang Cheng said.

“You didn’t mean it, just out of sight for a day and then not joining us for meals,” Zhu Hongcai said bluntly.

Jiang Cheng felt Zhu Hongcai seemed to have some complaints about him, but he didn’t know why. He didn’t remember offending Zhu Hongcai.

Dormitory unity truly is an art.

Jiang Cheng took the initiative and suggested, “The night market outside Lotus University is pretty good. How about I treat you guys to a late-night snack?”

Ding Guangming’s eyes lit up, and Song Junsheng had no objections either.

Zhu Hongcai sniffed an opportunity to show off and immediately produced his membership card for an off-campus restaurant.

“Guys, I’m a member, I’ll treat, it’s cheaper when I pay.”

“Let’s go.”

No sooner had the four of them left the building than Jiang Cheng received a talisman communication from Mr. Zhang Wen.

Mr. Zhang’s panicked voice transmitted through the talisman: “Jiang Cheng, I just happened to pass by the wasteland you’re renting. Did you plant a Blood Orange Tree there?”

“Yes.”

“Your Blood Orange Tree doesn’t quite fit with how I remember them to be. It’s grown almost taller than a person!”

Jiang Cheng explained calmly, “It’s always had a big appetite.”

“I think I just saw it running on the ground.”

“No worries, it must be getting some exercise.”

“Are you sure? How can a tree move about?”

“Compared to other trees, it’s just more disciplined. Don’t worry, teacher, it knows its limits and won’t cause any trouble.”

Trees don’t have brains, how can it know its limits?

No, why am I suddenly accepting the fact that trees can run?

Mr. Zhang was now somewhat regretting renting the land to Jiang Cheng.

It wasn’t that the rent was too little, it was mainly that a fruit tree running around in the middle of the night was too frightening.

Despite being less famous than the neighboring Alchemy Department, the Spiritual Planting Department couldn’t just pursue any kind of fame!

“Holy shit! It’s started digging holes in the ground!” Mr. Zhang exclaimed.

“That’s normal. It gets hungry after running and needs to eat,” Jiang Cheng reassured.

Mr. Zhang: Why do I feel like what he’s saying makes sense?

“Jiang Cheng, I haven’t left yet, could you come over and take a look?”

“Alright.”

Jiang Cheng could prioritize urgency and importance. When serious matters called, dining had to wait.

Jiang Cheng apologetically said to his roommates, “Sorry, but a tree I planted is acting up, and a teacher from the Spiritual Planting Department asked me to come over.”

Ding, Song, and Zhu: ?

Ding Guangming asked, “What tree bark?”

Song Junsheng queried, “Spiritual Planting Department? Aren’t you in the Talisman Department like us?”

Zhu Hongcai asked, “Teacher? A man or a woman? Pretty or not?”

“I’m really sorry, let’s reschedule our meal for another time,” Jiang Cheng said sincerely.

“I want to see your tree,” one said.

“I want to broaden my horizons,” added another.

“Ah? You’re all going?” Zhu Hongcai was surprised.

“Brother Hong Cai, are you coming with us?” Ding Guangming asked.

Zhu Hongcai had zero interest in the tree; he wanted to go to the night market to see long legs, but with no roommates around, his showing off would have no audience, and that wouldn’t do.

“Let’s go, let’s go.”

The Spirit Plant Garden was a good distance from the student dormitories.

But Lotus University had a mini train on campus, with a service running every ten minutes directly to the Spirit Plant Garden.

Forty minutes later, the four roommates arrived at the wasteland Jiang Cheng had rented.

The Spirit Plant Garden was eerily quiet at night, save for the sound of the wind rustling the leaves.

“Mr. Zhang, I’m here,” Jiang Cheng called out.

Mr. Zhang wiped sweat from his brow and said, “Jiang Cheng, I risked my life to check on your tree just now. Why is there a talisman attached to it?”

Jiang Cheng answered, “I drew an Autonomy Talisman. It helps plants achieve autonomy.”

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Plants? Autonomy? How on earth could you connect those two?

Ding Guangming turned to Song Junsheng and asked, “Junsheng, have you ever heard of an Autonomy Talisman?”

Song Junsheng shook his head in confusion.

Although born into a Liang Kingdom Talisman family, he could swear he had never heard of a talisman that could help plants achieve autonomy in this life, the life before, or even the life before that.

Zhu Hongcai was even more perplexed, scratching his head, “I have a question, Jiang Cheng. If plants can be self-disciplined, does that mean plant people can be too?”

Not to mention the newcomers; even Mr. Zhang Wen, the teacher from the Spiritual Planting Department, had no idea that plants could be “self-disciplined.”

Mr. Zhang couldn’t help but sigh internally: It’s no surprise that Jiang Cheng is the one who scored full marks in five subjects. He’s only been at Lotus University for a day, and he’s already challenging the understanding of plants I’ve built up over decades.