The only reason his crop was better was that he'd put in more effort, watering it more frequently.
This meant the man spent nearly all his free time toiling away. He had worked desperately for half a year, all for the chance of earning an extra Spirit Stone or two.
The harvest was just around the corner, and now this had happened. No wonder the man was fighting so desperately.
Watching the three who were clearly at a disadvantage, Zhang Deming frowned. "Who found it first? Did anyone notify the Steward?"
A sect brother beside him answered, "Peng Tuan found it. He immediately notified Junior Brother Liu, and then he told everyone else. Several people have already gone to look for Steward Feng.
But it seems Steward Feng isn't in the courtyard today, and no one knows where he went.
They're still looking for him now."
Just then, a few more sect brothers moved in to surround it.
Zhang Deming shook his head. "Fighting so chaotically won't work. They'll just trample more of the Spirit Rice."
Hearing this, the sect brother beside him gave a bitter smile. "Demon Rabbits have tough hides and thick flesh. Besides surrounding it and waiting for the Steward, you really expect a bunch of us servants to kill it?
We're all just trying to stall until the Steward arrives. As for the trampled rice... you can only chalk it up to bad luck."
Zhang Deming's brow furrowed at his words, because his and Zong En's plot of land was right next to Liu Yahu's Spirit Field.
With five people now trying to corner it, the Demon Rabbit was starting to jump around even more frantically.
Seeing that many other sect brothers also looked ready to jump in, and watching the fight creep closer and closer to his own Spirit Field, Zhang Deming scanned his surroundings. There was still no sign of Steward Feng.
'I had originally planned to wait a while after entering the Outer Sect before revealing my Growth Technique, but it seems that is no longer an option.'
He wasn't about to let half a year's hard work—and the Spirit Stones almost in his grasp—just fly away. He might even face punishment on top of it.
Under the puzzled gazes of his fellow sect brothers, Zhang Deming stepped forward, tossed out a few seeds, and his hands began to flash through a series of gestures.
At his side, Zong En's eyes widened in shock. "Don't tell me it's..."
"Technique: Vine Growth."
As Zhang Deming's Spiritual Power surged, several vines burst straight from the earth. Before the astonished eyes of the crowd, they shot forward and entangled the Demon Rabbit in the middle of the circle.
The surrounding servants were all utterly amazed.
"Is that... the Growth Technique?"
"Huh? Didn't Brother Ming just learn the Little Cloud Rain Skill?"
"What the—a Dual Technique, before he's even entered the Outer Sect?"
"Whoa, Brother Ming... was he holding back this whole time, or did he really learn two Techniques in less than two months?"
"Hiss... Did you guys notice Brother Ming's Cultivation level?"
"He's an Intermediate Apprentice! Damn, I thought only Zong En was about to break through!"
"So the real hidden master in our Miscellaneous Affairs Courtyard was Brother Ming all along. He sure hid it deep."
"Yeah, after biding his time for ten years... he's the silent type, but when he acts, he astonishes everyone!"
Many of the people around him were stunned by his sudden Technique, but Zhang Deming was focused. He could feel the violent struggle through the vines and the rapid drain on his Spiritual Qi.
While tightening his control over the vines, he roared, "What are you all staring for? Hit it with your hoes!"
Next to him, Peng Tuan snapped out of his daze, lifted the deathly heavy Artifact hoe, and brought it down directly on the Demon Rabbit's head.
CLANG!
This Demon Rabbit truly had a head of iron; the blow from the hoe didn't even break its skin.
Peng Tuan's action snapped everyone else out of their stupor.
A few other sect brothers with hoes also struggled to lift them, smashing them wildly against the Demon Rabbit's head.
After a full minute of pummelling, just as the men were about to collapse from exhaustion, the Demon Rabbit finally convulsed, blood trickling from its mouth, and went still.
Only then did Zhang Deming release the Technique.
The vines withered instantly, dissolving into motes of light before vanishing.
Everyone stared blankly at Zhang Deming, this at once familiar and yet completely foreign senior brother.
"Brother Ming, your Cultivation...?" one of them finally asked.
Zhang Deming felt his skin crawl under all the stares. "Oh, that?" he said. "I just broke through a moment ago."
Everyone: "..."
Zong En then spoke up. "And... that Magic?"
Zhang Deming paused for a second. "Isn't this the Growth Technique we picked out together before? I just so happened to have a moment of insight around noon and inexplicably succeeded in cultivating it."
'Hah, just so happened? Inexplicably succeeded?'
'Why is it that we've been cultivating for years and haven't succeeded with a single bit of Magic?'
'And you just happen to have two inexplicable successes in a single month?'
'Why can't I have just one of those 'just so happened' moments?'
A great many of them shot Zhang Deming resentful looks.
"Uh, why is everyone staring at me? Shouldn't you be tidying up the trampled Spirit Rice?" Zhang Deming said, feeling his skin crawl again.
His words snapped many of them back to reality. They turned to see Liu Yahu, all alone, silently cleaning up his rice paddy.
His expression was dejected and sullen, and he hadn't even tended to the wound on his shoulder.
Feeling a pang of sympathy, many of them went forward to help.
Because it had been discovered quickly, only his paddy had been ruined. Between what the rabbit ate and what was trampled, it added up to a little over two-tenths of his field.
The yield for Spirit Rice was already extremely low to begin with. With more than a fifth of his crop destroyed, his last six months of work were likely for nothing. Forget earning Spirit Stones; he'd be lucky to avoid punishment.
Zhang Deming shook his head but didn't go over to join the crowd.
Instead, he directed a few of the other servants to help him carry the Demon Rabbit—which was half a man tall and the size of a large dog—back to the Miscellaneous Affairs Courtyard.
Low-Level Demon Beast Flesh was considered Spiritual Food, reserved for the senior brothers of the Outer Sect. As mere servants, the most they could hope for was a few sips of bone broth during the New Year celebration.
Just as they carried the Demon Rabbit into the Miscellaneous Affairs Courtyard, Steward Feng Mingyou was finally found and hastily brought back by one of the servants.
From a distance, they could hear Feng Mingyou's frantic voice roaring as he rushed over.
"What are you doing? What are you all doing?! You little brats! Instead of cornering the Demon Beast and waiting for me to arrive, you're all just standing around here! Are you trying to raise hell? Don't you care about the Spirit Fields anymore? The rice... you don't... care..."
Feng Mingyou hadn't even finished his tirade when many of the servants who heard him stepped aside, revealing the massive carcass of the Demon Rabbit. Anyone who wasn't blind could see it.
"Uh... you killed it?"
Feng Mingyou had reached the plaza by now. He stared at the Demon Rabbit on the ground, a look of sheer astonishment on his face.
He then crouched down and began to inspect it carefully.
"A Demon Beast on the verge of advancing to the Intermediate Apprentice Tier... With its strength and tough hide, it's impressive enough that you little brats managed to surround it. How in the world did you kill it?"
Feng Mingyou asked as he examined the wounds on the Demon Rabbit's head.
When he received no answer, he looked up, only to be taken aback by what he saw.
Everyone was pointing at Zhang Deming, while Zhang Deming himself was pointing at Peng Tuan, who stood to the side.
Feng Mingyou paused, looking bewildered. "Zhang Deming, you tell me."
"Steward, Peng Tuan and a few junior brothers bludgeoned it to death with their hoes," Zhang Deming said, his face calm and his heart steady.
Everyone: "..."
Feng Mingyou's brow furrowed. "Hoes? Spiritual Hoes? You're telling me there are brats here who can actually chase down a Demon Rabbit while wielding one of those things and beat it to death?"
After he spoke, Feng Mingyou noticed everyone was giving Zhang Deming a strange look.
Feng Mingyou's expression darkened. After ten years together, he was all too familiar with this kid's slippery nature.