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Chapter 34 - Life On Eldorin

Life Of A Spirit Farmer

As a loose cultivator, Jabar is only living a life slightly better than a mortal. Before embarking on the cultivation path, he was just a humble hunter. If not for the fact that he had stumble on an abandoned cultivator cave when he was sixteen, he would have remained a hunter for the rest of his life. With only a grade nine cultivation talent, even the worst cultivation sect in the lower realm will never give Jabar a second glance.

With a cultivation manual in hand, Jabar assumes that he will be able to turn his life around and enjoy a carefree life, traversing the different worlds as an almighty cultivator. He had come to term later the romantic and adventurous lifestyle filled with freedom told by storyteller is in fact a beautiful lie. Sure, there is a lot of freedom but his life is now even more dangerous than when he was just a hunter. The cultivation is not only treacherous and filled with danger, it is also ridiculously expensive! For someone with only a grade nine cultivation talent, progressing his cultivation is so excruciating slow that each cultivation session is not even worth the attempt without the support of cultivation resources. Whether it is alchemy pills, spirit potions, cultivation chamber or any other auxiliary materials, none of these cultivation aids are ever cheap.

The grand adventures and travelling the vast worlds told by storytellers are true but cultivators didn't do it out of choice and passion. It was out of necessity to obtain cultivation resources. This is especially true when it comes to loose cultivators. Without a base of their own to generate income, these loose cultivators can only blindly pursue whatever rumor of a hidden treasure trove and hope to strike it rich. In most cases, loose cultivators will live such a life until they come to term that they will never make it big in the cultivation world. At that time, they will use their meagre savings to buy a plot of land to start a family. 

Jabar life was no different than any other loose cultivators until his life drastically changed six months ago. He was on another one of those typical journeys seeking the next possible treasure trove. What was supposed to be another normal stopover at a mortal town before venturing into the depth of the wild seeking treasure turned into what he had preliminary thought was a poor decision leading to a catastrophic disaster. He should never have stopped at the town in the first place. Not ever two hours after entering the town, the town was suddenly besieged by a mysterious group. This was never a good sign and all the stories he had heard while travelling the world, only evil cultivators will use such a sneaky approach sieging a town. If an orthodox sect wants to take over a town, they can just do it openly.

Thinking back, the decision to stay at the town is now the wisest choice Jabar now proudly claims he has ever made. The first few hours after being captured is scariest as hell, with his imagination running wild how miserable his ending will be. The first surprise came when he was brought over a portal and being lined up to be registered. It was there and then that he came to discover that he is now in a world controlled by Immortal Ascension Pavillion. However, he was half suspicious with what he had learn. According to some old cultivators, Immortal Ascension Pavillion used to be the most powerful merchant sect in the cultivation world with branches spread throughout all known worlds in both immortal realm and lower realm. Rumor has it that Immortal Ascension Pavillion is at the last leg of its lifespan. With the sect under siege and it means to replenish it cultivator base cut off, the sect demise is just a matter of time. If this is truly a world controlled by Immortal Ascension Pavillion, the entire cultivation world definitely didn't got all their facts right. No matter how he sees it, it doesn't seem like a sect that will be facing demise anytime soon.

Most of Jabar's worldview and common sense was shattered in the first month living in this brand new world. Just a few days after arrival on this world, he was transported to a new town surrounded by vast field of crops. Taking on part time jobs is nothing new for all loose cultivators especially when it comes to casting spells to nourish spirit fields. Small loose cultivator family always have a need for extra help when it comes to taking care of their spirit fields. It is one of their few guaranteed incomes travelling the vast cultivation worlds. However, the crops grown in this world are totally different from how it was done everywhere else he had ever travelled pass. The farming here is done using strange spirit artefacts that even a mortal can use. Not only that, farming is also significantly faster and more efficient allowing each farmer to grow ten times more crops. Ploughing the land, sowing the seeds, watering the crops, spreading fertilizers and harvesting can all be accomplished using those strange spirit artifacts operated by mortals. His only responsibility on the farm is to cast spells to nourish the spirit fields and spells to eliminate pests whenever there is an infestation. Even these two responsibilities of his is done unconventionally.

A first major realm cultivator ability to cast spells is limited. Take Jabar as an instance, his cultivation at the proficient stage of the first major realm only allows him to cast four or five basic spells before running dry. After that, unless he took a spirit recovery pill or other equivalent supplement, he will need a full day rest to fully recover his spirit energy reserve. Jabar has been able to cast more than thirty spells nowadays thanks to a spirit tool the farm owner gave him called a power bank. This spirit tool is filled with spirit energy and it helps to refill his internal spirit energy whenever he runs dry. With supply to unlimited spirit energy, mental fatigue is the only factor limiting the number of spells he can cast each day now.

Jabar's life on Eldorin has been good. He might have lost the freedom of traversing the cultivation world but this freedom is always fraught with danger. Even if he is given a choice now, he will happily trade away this so called "freedom" to continue working on this farm. As a hidden world cutoff from outsiders, public security is top notch. He will never have to be wary of encountering evil cultivators or made to "disappear" for whatever reason by other cultivators. More importantly is the drastic improvement in the quality of life.

As a spirit farmer working for others, Jabar is only given a fixed income and it was definitely much less compared what he earned in the past. However, the higher income from the past comes from putting his life at risk. What truly matters is the significant improvement in his purchasing power despite the reduced income. Most of the things on Eldorin is way cheaper than any place he had ever visited. Take alchemy pills as an example, it only cost a fifth of the price out in the cultivation world. Not only that, there is no limit to the alchemist pills he can purchase. Alchemy pills are something that are always in short supply and a loose cultivator like him can only buy a small amount with each trip.

Jabar's cultivation has benefited greatly from the cheaper cultivation resources. With the increased cultivation speed, he now sees the possibility of achieving the second major realm in this lifetime.

*****

Life Of A Pharmaceutical Factory Worker

Life has been good for Hinata ever since the cultivators relocated her entire village to this world three months ago. Although she has been fortunate than most being born into a family with loving parents, life is never easy for a serf household in a feudal society. Her parents had to toil in the farm for the village lord yet after each harvest, the lord left barely enough food for their family to survive. If not for her constant effort to forage wild edible plants in the nearby forest with her two younger siblings, the family of five might not have remained intact surviving the harsh winters of the past years.

Even with their family's limited knowledge, it appears that the new liege they now serve are wealthy, powerful and most important of all, exceedingly benevolent. The sect doesn't seem to practice any form of permanent slavery any men and women pass the age of fifteen is considered adult and should be part of the workforce. The two younger siblings, not yet an adult, even gets to attend a school. Something that is unheard of. Aside from that, their entire family is now living in a housing complex. Built from unknown materials, not only is their new home well insulated from both wind and rain, it has all sorts of facilities that might not even be found in homes of the rich and powerful. Most important of all, their family never has to go hungry again since arriving in this world. In fact, they probably ate better than some of the noble families back in their old world. 

Since she is sixteen, she is considered an adult along with her parents and thus oblige to work. Unlike back in the village, their new liege gave its vassal a lot of freedom to choose their own profession. Since her parents had endured a life of hardship farming their entire life, they had decided to try something new to earn a living. Following her parents' example, she had ended up working at a place a mighty cultivator had inform her is a pharmaceutical factory.

Work at the factory took quite sometime to learn but once Hinata had it figured out, it all comes down to hard work and attention to details. Work is from Monday to Friday with the option to work on Saturday. All workers get a day off on Sunday. Although working on Saturday is an option, who will say no to extra pay? For the first time in her life, she is getting paid for work done. Her parent's had already told her that whatever she saves will be personal wealth, to be brought over when she gets married in the future. This will be the right time to amass her own personal wealth.

The pharmaceutical factory Hinata is currently working is even more of a miracle. According to her supervisor, who came from a loose cultivator family, this factory is a monstrosity. What this factory is mass producing is in fact alchemy pills. Something that only alchemist can produce in the past. Her supervisor explains the existence this factory is one important reasons why alchemy pills are sold cheaply in this world. Even for a small time mortal family like hers, her supervisor claims that theoretically their family should accumulate enough savings to raise a cultivator by the time she is a mother or grandmother.

Hinata's marriage is something she nor her parents had a say in the past and is fully decided by the lord of her village. Given how callous her previous village lord is, there is no chance he will have her best interest in mind when choosing her future husband. Now, she can choose her own husband subject to her parents approval, which is a significant improvement. Hinata is currently experiencing a beautiful life and her future holds endless possibilities.

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