Fertilizer

Everyone had witnessed a Mountain Drum that weighed more than half a ton and knew what a spirit beast looked like.

However, they were still shocked to see the dead Palace Suppressing Noble lying there. It took them a while to digest what had happened, and they turned to look at Chi Qiaosong. They had finally accepted that the boy had grown up now.

Instead of a naive teenager, he was now someone who had the power and mindset of an adult.

"Qiaosong, what kind of martial arts do you even practice? It's different from what I heard." His uncle was still finding it hard to believe that his oldest nephew was now so powerful.

It had only been less than half a year since Chi Qiaosong had started learning martial arts.

Slaying a Mountain Drum and a Palace Suppressing Noble on his own was something that even a seasoned hunter, armed with all sorts of traps, couldn't do. It was even hard for a standard weapon to pierce through the spirit beast's thick hide.

"What did you exactly hear, uncle?"

"They said that martial artists are divided into different planes, right? I remember that you'll have to be in the Wrestler Plane to fight with a spirit beast."

"You didn't hear wrong then."

"I guess so. So, I guess you are at the Great Wrestler Plane now." The uncle chuckled, thinking that the Great Wrestler Plane was a level higher than the Wrestler Plane.

Naturally, no such plane existed.

Chi Qiaosong's family had already learned of him achieving the Wrestler Plane, but they didn't tell anyone about it yet since he wanted to keep a low profile.

"Hey, help me out here," Mr. Chi interrupted his brother. The father wanted to keep a lower profile than his son, and he didn't like other people talking about his son too. "The sun has almost set. Let's hurry and get this back home. Honey, can you grab the honey and head back with sister-in-law first?"

The black bear was left at home while Chi Qiaosong moved the dead Palace Suppressing Noble to the farmhouse.

Since there was no electricity at the farmhouse, he could only light the place up with oil lamps. After ensuring the young children finished their meals, Mrs. Chi and Chi Xiuyuan's wife brought the meal to the farmhouse, and they sat together to eat.

"We can't sell the Palace Suppressing Noble," Mr. Chi said in a serious tone. "I was already worried after selling the Mountain Drum last time. If people learn that Qiaosong can catch spirit beasts at such a young age, they might force him to join the army."

"But, doesn't he have to fight for Commander Zhu once he grows up?" Chi Xiuyuan asked.

"I'm not even convinced that Commander Zhu can stay in power for very long here. Think about it. How many commanders did we have in the past few years?"

"Dad, uncle, don't worry about me. I have my own plans," said Chi Qiaosong nonchalantly.

His potential was immeasurable with the farm. All he could do was pray that Commander Zhu would be able to keep Ink Ridge County safe for the next few years, at least until he was strong enough to move freely around the country without fear of getting killed.

"So, are we selling the Palace Suppressing Noble or not?" his uncle asked.

"No, we aren't." Chi Qiaosong decided.

"What are we going to do with it then? We won't be able to eat it before it rots, and we don't have a fridge."

"Well, let's cure it then. We'll get a few bags of salt and cure everything. It'll only take two days," Mrs. Chi said.

"The black bear and honey should be enough to pay for our loans," Chi Qiaosong interrupted. "We might need a little more to pay for the greenhouse, but I'll continue to hunt for more money. As for the Palace Suppressing Noble, I'm planning on taking some of the meat and the four paws to eat, and we'll make medicine out of the gallbladder. As for the rest, I plan to turn them into mince and use them as fertilizer for the bay tree."

"Fertilizer?" The aunt-in-law exclaimed, almost knocking her bowl over. "We can't afford to do that."

"Calm down, you crazy woman." Chi Xiuyuan scolded. "Don't knock your food over. What are you acting all surprised for?"

Chi Xiuyuan's wife immediately turned to glare at him.

Mr. Chi knocked on the table with his chopsticks and said, "Let's finish hearing what Qiaosong has to say."

The teenager was starting to become the one who made the decisions in the family.

"The bay tree is our family's foundation. The 2/15 hectare plot will affect the growth of the tree. If we want to plant fruits and vegetables that are of even higher quality than the jade lentils, we'll have to use higher-quality fertilizers."

"But, it still feels wrong to use the Palace Suppressing Noble as fertilizer..." The aunt-in-law hesitated. "C-can't we just use more droppings as fertilizer?"

"No, that won't do. And, can we not talk about those when we are eating?" Chi Qiaosong sighed. "Just trust me on this. I won't do anything dumb."

"Don't worry. I believe you," Chi Xiuyuan replied.

Mr. and Mrs. Chi nodded as well.

In the end, the aunt-in-law had no choice but to nod too.

As soon as dinner was over, Chi Xiuyuan's wife was in charge of the dishes. At the same time, Mr. and Mrs. Chi, Chi Xiuyuan, and the teenager began dissecting the palace Suppressing Noble's body.

They first cut down its paws, which weighed around 20 kilograms each. Next, they took the gallbladder out carefully, as it was an expensive ingredient for medicine. They also took down a part of the liver so that they could enjoy it while it was still fresh.

The next was the bear's hide. The quality of the hide was way better than marten pelt and crocodile skin since it was the hide of a spirit beast.

Even the Mountain Drum's hide was better than marten pelts.

"Look at how big this hide is. We could make a coat for everyone with it once we tan it!" The Uncle exclaimed as he touched the hide.

Chi Qiaosong had already agreed to make coats for everyone with it since he had no use for the hide anyway.

"I don't need one." Mrs. Chi shook her head.

"You should take it. It's Qiaosong's gift to you. That's a coat made out of a spirit beast's hide. There's no way a normal citizen could afford one," Aunt-in-law quickly persuaded. "We should consider ourselves lucky to be able to wear coats like that."

They continued to work until it was two in the morning.

The meat of the spirit beast was all minced up and scattered across the farm.

There were already a ton of vegetables growing inside the greenhouse, and they were all growing extremely fast. From watermelons to Chinese cabbages, cucumbers, cowpeas, and chives, Chi Qiaosong had planted every seed that he could come across.

"Why don't you guys go back and get some rest? I'll watch the farm tonight." Mr. Chi lit a pipe and was ready to rest in the farmhouse.

"Brother, you should go home and sleep. I'll guard this place," Chi Xiuyuan urged.

"It's fine. Don't you have to wake up early to dry food? You should dry more while the weather is still good."

"But..."

It seemed that Chi Xiuyuan had something to say, but after a moment of hesitation, he decided to keep his mouth shut.

They returned home and slept.

The next morning, Chi Qiaosong had woken up just before the rooster started crowing. It was hard for people to sleep well during the summer nights.

"I'll buy an AC as soon as I have some money!" Chi Qiaosong said but quickly corrected himself. "No, I'll get a fan first. Even if they sell AC at the mall, we won't have enough electricity for it."

Although the technological advancement of the Daxia Republic was decent, to the point where they had air conditioners, color televisions, and even fridges, these household items weren't popular yet. In all of the county, only the governmental buildings, the Grand Radience Mall, and a few other places had air conditioners set up.

Other places wouldn't have one installed even if they could afford one.

The main reason was that the electric cables had deteriorated and couldn't handle the current needed to run air conditioning. It would fry the circuit and cause a power outage throughout the street. Since most warlords only cared about ruling over more regions, they never thought of improving the infrastructures of their own regions.

However, there were rumors that Commander Zhu had made some improvements to the coal power plant and the Department of Energy. They were speculating that the commander was going to expand the use of coal power and that Ink Ridge County could have stable electricity in the future.

Chi Qiaosong was lost in thought when he arrived at the farmhouse.

He turned to look at the farm.