When the fragrant aroma of fried rice wafted from the pot, Jiang Heng suddenly realized something.
Immediately, her hands moved faster, increasing the speed of her stir-frying.
At last, she sprinkled in some freshly grown scallion, tossing it in the steaming hot pot for a couple of turns.
A delicious scent of scallion spread out—time to serve.
The overall light brown egg fried rice gave off a tempting fragrance.
Jiang Heng dug in with a spoon, taking big bites.
The rice grains were loose but not dry or hard, wrapped in tender, silky egg, carrying the savory aroma of soy sauce and the freshness of scallion.
Every bite was elevated by the crispness of shredded lettuce.
She hadn’t used much oil, so even toward the end, it didn’t feel greasy.
Jiang Heng finished eating in just a few mouthfuls, quickly tidied up the kitchen, and set out with two burlap sacks.
She walked at a normal pace into the forested mountains, confirmed there was no one around, then immediately channeled Spiritual Power into her legs.
Her steps became much faster, and in the blink of an eye she had delved deep into the mountains, arriving shortly at the spot where she had picked mushrooms yesterday morning.
Some of the mushrooms she left behind, after being watered with Spiritual Power, should, under normal circumstances, grow much faster in the next day or two.
After all, mushrooms themselves are among the fastest-growing organisms.
But at this moment, Jiang Heng looked at the rotten stems under which only a few mushroom spores remained, and even the tiny grass blades that had just started to grow nearby had been gnawed away.
She nearly forgot—Spiritual Energy is a precious thing in this world.
And there are no Guardian Beasts here.
Back in the Cultivation World, Jiang Heng always did this: defeat the Demonic Beast guarding the spot, harvest only the mature parts of the Spirit Plant, use Spiritual Power to nurture the rest, leave them for the Guardian Beast, and return the next year to pick again.
Usually, after her nurturing, the Spirit Plant’s quality would improve.
So, for some wild Spirit Plants she needed regularly, the Guardian Beasts all became familiar with her.
When they saw her coming, they’d even step aside for her.
That way, nothing in the wild would be lost.
But this world is different!
Without Guardian Beasts, mushrooms and grass imbued with Spiritual Energy are much more easily detected by instinct-driven animals and insects.
Yesterday, she used the Spiritual Rain Technique on each mushroom, harvesting some and leaving the rest.
Naturally, those would be eaten by the local wildlife.
Jiang Heng looked with amusement at the spot in front of her, clearly gnawed by sharp teeth.
It was even a carnivore that did the chewing.
Forget it.
It’s not like remembering the differences would help anyway, since mushrooms mostly grow in scattered clusters, not concentrated in one spot.
Just gathering a sack of mushrooms meant she’d trekked across two sizable hills.
With such a large area, she couldn’t possibly manage it all, nor could she set up a protective formation for every cluster—where would she get that much Spiritual Power?
Just consider it giving back to the forest.
Since she couldn’t pick here, she simply stood up, planning to head elsewhere.
Just as she moved, her Divine Sense clearly sensed something watching her.
This body hadn’t yet broken free from mortal limits, but instinctively she felt a sense of danger.
Yet the sense of crisis wasn’t very strong.
It only made the hairs on her arms stand up a little.
Probably not a particularly strong predator.
Still, Jiang Heng immediately used Spiritual Power to reinforce a Spiritual Shield over herself before turning around.
She saw, less than a hundred meters away, a wolf half-hidden in the darkness, its pupils glowing with a faint green light, staring at her warily.
Jiang Heng was surprised. So there really were wolves in these mountains?
But looking more closely, she realized it didn’t quite look like a wolf.
Its body was smaller and more agile, its face divided into black and white from the mouth up, yellow from the neck to the torso, then dark brown lower down.
Its ears were round, and its beady black eyes stared at her with vigilance.
Yellow-throated Marten!
A National Level II Protected Species!
Jiang Heng blinked, staying still.
The other side didn’t move either, seeming less like it wanted to attack and more like… it was wary of her?
Wary of what?
If it hadn’t shown up behind her, they’d never have crossed paths.
Jiang Heng wasn’t afraid.
With her current cultivation, even if a wolf came, it wouldn’t be able to do anything to her.
But since this was a National Level II Protected Species, she didn’t want to harm it, so she kept watching it, testing by stepping sideways a couple of steps.
She saw the Yellow-throated Marten’s gaze relax a little, as if it was letting its guard down.
Jiang Heng’s eyes sparkled.
She moved a bit closer to the Mushroom cluster, and immediately the marten’s gaze sharpened again.
So it was for the Spiritual Energy.
Well now, a ‘Guardian Beast’ had appeared!
Too bad it’s a National Level II Protected Species—better leave it be.
Jiang Heng didn’t tease it anymore and really left this time.
The Yellow-throated Marten kept its eyes fixed on her, but its aura became more and more relaxed.
Jiang Heng found it amusing. She’d left quite a bit of Spiritual Rain here yesterday.
It seemed that Yellow-throated Martens were social animals, hunting in groups.
Were there martens patrolling all those spots now?
Soon, Jiang Heng got her answer—it was true.
In less than three minutes, Jiang Heng ran into another Yellow-throated Marten.
There were also several Mushroom clusters nearby that she had watered with Spiritual Rain.
She didn’t get closer, just glanced from afar.
Within her line of sight, two Mushroom clusters, just like the previous one, had been gnawed to bits.
Looking closely, she saw ants and other bugs crawling at the roots, probably hoping for a share as well.
That Yellow-throated Marten seemed even lazier, half-lying there.
Noticing her presence, it only glanced her way.
Since she didn’t approach, it wasn’t on guard and didn’t seem hostile to humans who wandered in by accident.
By the time she had completely left the area where she’d picked Mushrooms before, Jiang Heng had encountered five Yellow-throated Martens in total.
Who knew how many there were in the whole marten group?
Now, the vegetables in her field had only just sprouted.
Though she’d soaked the seeds in Spiritual Liquid ahead of time, they didn’t contain much Spiritual Energy yet.
But in a few days, she’d definitely water them with Spiritual Rain.
Once the Spiritual Energy increased, it would surely attract some wild animals down the mountain.
If it’s just rabbits or wild chickens, that’s fine.
But if predators like Yellow-throated Martens come down, that would be trouble.
She needed to cultivate quickly and set up a concealment formation to hide all the things with Spiritual Energy at the foot of the mountain.
Thinking this, Jiang Heng arrived at another hill.
Maybe it hadn’t rained last night, or maybe mushroom hunters had already come by, but there weren’t many Mushrooms here.
She only picked a few before moving deeper into the forest.
This area was a broad-leaved forest, and soon, in a spot clearly untouched by people, she found something good—Boletus!
Last night, while out selling, Jiang Heng had also looked up what mushroom varieties might appear here.
Wild Boletus could sell for over one hundred fifty per jin, the most expensive she’d found so far!
She quickly picked them and carefully used a round of Spiritual Rain to water the remaining spores.
After harvesting, she continued searching.
She trekked across four hills, filled two burlap sacks, and as always, before each harvest, she used a small round of Spiritual Rain so the Mushrooms could grow bigger.
She only picked the large Mushrooms, leaving the smaller ones behind.
Whether they got eaten by wild animals and insects or she came back to pick them later, nothing would go to waste.
After picking everything, before leaving, Jiang Heng thought for a moment and decided to cast a large-scale Spiritual Rain Technique.
The gradually gathering dark clouds covered several hills around her.
With a thought, “shuaa—” rain fell, carrying threads of Spiritual Energy, showering the plants below.
Every plant stretched its body, eagerly receiving the gift.
Her power was limited, so the Spiritual Rain only lasted about ten seconds, consuming more than half the Spiritual Power stored in Jiang Heng’s dantian.
This way, there would definitely be more Mushrooms tomorrow.
All the plants and animals in the area would benefit.
For example, herbivores that ate grass with Spiritual Energy would also carry some Spiritual Energy themselves—not much, but it would add up over time.
That way, the Yellow-throated Martens could hunt normally and wouldn’t have to guard Mushroom clusters that wouldn’t continue to gain Spiritual Energy.
Feeling she’d done a good deed, Jiang Heng walked lightly down the mountain.
Carrying two burlap sacks, each weighing about fifty or sixty jin, she still moved with ease and agility.
In the blink of an eye, she’d left the depths of the forest and reached the outskirts, on a hill near their Village.
This time, she took another route, and in a sparse birch grove on the mountain, she found several Mulberry trees just starting to bear fruit!
The Mulberry Fruit hanging high on the branches was still tinged with green, but most had already turned purple.
In at most two days, they’d be ready to pick.
If she used Spiritual Power to accelerate their growth, she could harvest twenty or thirty jin immediately.
Just as Jiang Heng was about to act, she suddenly remembered—this was close to the Village.
If she did it, she might attract other wild animals.
She’d have to set up a concealment formation first.
Besides, maybe the Mulberry trees belonged to a villager. If she picked them, the owner would surely scold her.
Forget it. Better go back and ask first.
At the foot of the mountain, Jiang Heng finally slowed down.
Back at Home, it was exactly ten o’clock.
Still a while before lunch, so it was just the right time to process all those Mushrooms.
She brushed off the dirt at the roots with a soft brush.
Any with damaged caps from being packed in sacks were set aside to dry—they’d make good gifts for relatives later.
As for the ones with good appearance, most would be sold, with a small portion kept for herself.
Jiang Heng could neglect anyone, but not her own stomach.
While she was busy, her aunt Chen Aying called.
“Xiao Heng, don’t cook lunch today. Your cousin is back. I’m slaughtering a chicken to stew with Mushroom. Just come over and eat.”
Jiang Heng’s eyes lit up.
To be honest, she’d been craving her aunt’s free-range chickens for ages.
These chickens were raised free-range from young, running wild all over the Village, especially in the nearby fields.
They ate grass seeds and bugs, were hardly ever fed, and every evening, when her aunt called, the flock would return to their coop on their own.
They really were pure, all-natural chickens that never ate feed.
Though they hadn’t eaten Spirit Plants or Spirit Insects, the taste was definitely better than store-bought meat.
But she was too embarrassed to ask.
Now that her aunt invited her, she immediately said, “Okay! Auntie, wait for me. I just picked some fresh Mushrooms—let’s use mine for the stew!”
Chen Aying sounded wary, “You went up the mountain again? How far did you go?!”
Jiang Heng laughed it off, “Not far, just wandered around.” Then she changed the subject, “By the way, Auntie, who owns the Mulberry trees on the right side of that hill? The Mulberry Fruit is almost ripe.”
Chen Aying didn’t remember at first. After Jiang Heng described it in detail, she realized, “No one owns them—they just grew there on their own. The Mulberry Fruit isn’t tasty. Last year Xiaodao tried it, said it was so sour it was unbearable.”
Jiang Heng felt reassured and smiled, “Maybe this year they’ll be delicious.”
After hanging up, she sped up her work.
There were a lot of Mushrooms today, filling every bucket and container at Home.
The tender, plump Mushrooms looked delightful.
Once everything was sorted, Jiang Heng packed the Mushrooms with damaged caps into a bag and set off to mooch a meal!