chapter 22 Cultivation

Zhang Jian had previously tilled the land at the far front of the hut and had decided to sow seeds later with the help of Wang Yan.

He had come to believe that the slave girl might have been expert help that he had been neglecting so far. As such Zhang Jian decided that he would employ Wang Yan's help in further cultivating the farm land.

"Wang Yan, we will be cultivating today. I know you must have been doing your best before coming here, so I have a lot of expectations from you."

Wang Yan was filled with excitement upon hearing Zhang Jian say this. She had been looking forward to the day her master would teach her something about cultivation. Of course the cultivation in her mind was way too different to the cultivation in Zhang Jian's mind.

Seeing her excitement Zhang Jian couldn't help but soften a little. He thought that the slave girl might have been so used to working hard previously that she was unable to enjoy the peaceful days at his hut. Her excitement at the mention of hard labor clearly indicated how badly she must have been treated before.

He could clearly see that Wang Yan was a hard working girl from her demeanor so he decided to treat her even better in his heart from that moment onwards.

They had to soften up the land before sowing seeds so Zhang Jian handed her a hoe and asked her to do the job alongside him. They started to dig narrow furrows and shallow trenches all across the fields in order to plant the seeds afterwards.

Wang Yan was unable to understand what Zhang Jian wanted to teach her by handing her a hoe and having her farm like a common peasant but she decided to follow his command since he was such a powerful cultivator. His way of teaching was bound to be profound.

"Cultivation is as profound as the vast universe. There is limitless chaos and absolute order at the same time. We as cultivators need to assess each aspect of every method before deciding to use it." Zhang Jian decided to preach to her the various aspects of agriculture that must be taken into account in order to prevent the crop from being ruined.

Her ears immediately perked up at the mention of the profundity of cultivation and she immediately became attentive like an obedient student.

"There are numerous paths that one can take in cultivation. Some follow the path to the end to be successful in their endeavors while some end up destroying everything midway. In the path of cultivation even the slightest deviation from the right path can lead to an irreversible disaster. Only the true insights passed down since the ancient times are able to bring out the most juicy and delicious fruit. Focus and follow my movements as precisely as possible. You must have done this before as well but now that you are here, you will do it the way that I do it. You must forget all that you knew before about cultivation." Zhang Jian slowly revealed all his insights about cultivation. He also decided to teach her properly by asking her to forget about the various farming practices used in this world. This way she would be able to survive without any hardship in the future even if she was alone.

As Zhang Jian was thinking to himself if he had missed out on any instruction, Wang Yan was up in the clouds of fantasies. She thought that Zhang Jian was going to teach her his own cultivation technique. She was incomparably excited at the thought of learning such a domineering technique and was pondering everything Zhang Jian had said about cultivation.

When she saw Zhang Jian lift his hoe and strike the soil with some force, she tried to imitate his movement but was unable to because that old voice had forbidden her to use any of her strength and cultivation as long as she was there.

She was desperate to learn but her body refused to listen to her. Her posture was all over the place and she always managed to miss her mark somehow leading to awkward and weird furrows.

Seeing that she was struggling so much, Zhang Jian was unable to comprehend her behavior. It was only logical that a slave girl should have known how to cultivate and do household chores at the very least. Not only did she not know how to farm properly, she had even started sweating so profusely without having done any work at all.

"Is it that hard for you?" Zhang Jian suddenly became concerned that she might have had some injury or illness that had yet to heal.

"N…No, it's not. It's just that I am forbidden from using my own cultivation technique and it is a little hard following yours." Wang Yan tried to cover up her own inability shamelessly and her face turned blood red simultaneously.

Cerberus sneered at her feeble attempt at covering her weakness and went right back to sunbathing lazily.

Wang Yan was embarrassed that she couldn't follow Zhang Jian's movements at all. To her defense she had been feeling extremely uncomfortable without her cultivation and strength for as long as she had been here.

Zhang Jian after hearing her answer was a little ashamed. He had asked her to forget everything she knew previously and was still expecting her to perform seamlessly. He decided to teach her from scratch from there onwards.

As Zhang Jian was teaching her the right posture and correct method of holding the hoe, he couldn't help but notice that her hands were free from any calluses that he expected. Instead her hands were white as snow and as soft as flower petals. There were no signs of her having undergone harsh labor at all.

Zhang Jian thought that he was thinking too much. Maybe Wang Yan was a girl who cared about her appearance too much seeing as she was so beautiful despite having lived a life of a slave previously.

"Just taking care of your appearance is not enough. You need to take care of your body as well. You have to build up some stamina and endurance. You have already started sweating after barely getting any work done." Zhang Jian advised seeing as the girl had a weak endurance. If she were to survive on her own in the future, she would need a high endurance.

Wang Yan was so embarrassed after being criticized by her master that she wanted to hide herself somewhere far away.

She thought that Zhang Jian was criticizing her for taking care of her appearance more than her cultivation as her bodily strength was very weak.

Wang Yan suddenly came to a realization about the reason she had been forbidden from using her cultivation strength; it was because her body was too weak without it and her Master wanted her to improve herself.

She was very touched and ashamed at the same time that her Master had been looking for her betterment ever since she had come to him and she had been slightly resenting him for not allowing her to use her cultivation at all.

She resolved that she would work even harder and will build up her bodily strength so as to never again make her master dissatisfied with her progress.

Seeing the new vigor, strength and resolution in her eyes, Zhang Jian was very satisfied. He taught her patiently and overlooked her progress for some time until she got the hang of all the movements.

As the both of them continued to work silently afterwards, an unwanted party was spying on them from afar. As Cerberus was still recovering from its injuries, it was unable to sense any threat in the vicinity and continued to enjoy its lazy evening under the sunlight.

This third party was none other than the succuba-Lin Xi who had been looking for an opportunity to make contact with Zhang Jian in order to continue with her plan.

Lin Xi refused to believe that the two people were in fact only farming daily use vegetables like commoner peasants and the dog lying at the side was in fact just dozing like normal lazy household dogs. The reason was that she knew how horrible both Cerberus and Zhang Jian were in reality.

Both Zhang Jian and Wang Yan continued to work until evening after which Zhang Jian called the day off and all of them returned home to have their evening meal.