Each name was accompanied by detailed information, including the date of joining. Clearly, Evan Yang and Leo Summer were the most recent arrivals, and their planting records were all zero.
Just then, a man walked over. He wore a purple robe, different from the herb farmer uniforms, but similar to Tanya Warren's clothing.
He looked Evan Yang and Leo Summer up and down and asked, "Are you two new here?"
"Yeah," Leo Summer replied honestly.
The man was secretly pleased. He found the new entry, checked it, and then sent a voice transmission to the two of them: "What I'm about to say is important. You must listen carefully. If anything goes wrong, don't blame me for not warning you."
Leo Summer was fascinated by the voice transmission, but Evan Yang acted naturally.
Seeing both of them paying attention, the man smiled and said, "Every year, you must hand over half your herb harvest to me. When you report your yield to the sect, you can only report half. Got it?"
"Why!" Leo Summer immediately protested.
Evan Yang instantly recognized this as yet another dark side of the cultivation world.
"There's no why. Just do as you're told, or you won't have a peaceful life here." The man smiled and sent another voice transmission, then left.
Leo Summer was left fuming at the man. Just then, an older mortal glanced around cautiously and walked over. "You two are the new arrivals?" he asked.
"Yeah," Leo snapped out of his anger and replied.
"You saw what just happened, right? That's the person in charge here, Barry Li. As for his real name, I don't know. He's been stationed here for decades. Everyone's been bullied by him, so you'd better go along with him—otherwise, after five years, you might not even be allowed to leave." Tom Li muttered quietly.
"Person in charge? What kind of manager is that?" Leo felt like he'd fallen straight into the hands of a thug, still unable to understand how such a big sect could have people like this.
Evan Yang wasn't surprised. The selfishness found among mortals is even more pronounced in cultivators, especially those who think they're powerful. They often bully those below them—after all, these are just mortals, and to them, a flick of a finger could wipe out everyone here.
That's how Barry Li has been able to bully people here for so many years.
But would Evan Yang let himself be bullied? He had no intention of staying here for five years. He planned to finish the quota in a single year and report the full amount.
The man who'd just spoken to Evan was Tom Li. He'd been here for ten years, yet still hadn't left. The reason? His herbs always grew better and produced more than anyone else's, so Barry Li used special tricks to keep him from leaving.
If the herbs grew well and yielded more, Barry Li was the one who benefited. Of course he wouldn't let Tom go.
That made Tom Li the oldest and longest-serving worker here.
Tom Li also explained the food and living arrangements to Evan Yang and Leo Summer. The canteen is on the second floor of this building, and you can eat three meals a day there.
With Tom Li's explanations, Evan Yang and Leo Summer gained a deeper understanding of the farm.
Leo Summer and Tom Li didn't have any big ambitions. They just wanted to earn some money here, send it home, and if possible, learn a bit of spellcraft.
The third floor of the building offers some body-strengthening and health-building exercises, so the herb farmers can practice there when they're free. This suited Leo and the others well.
Evan Yang, however, had no intention of living a mortal life here. He was determined to finish his assigned tasks within a year.
So in the days that followed, Evan Yang helped Leo Summer with planting during the day, and at night, after everyone was asleep, he began tinkering with the fields.
Besides that, Evan Yang would wander around the area at night, sometimes sneaking into other regions, though he was careful not to be too obvious, worried that hidden cultivators might notice him.
'Can't waste a whole year for nothing. First, I need to find where Purple Cloud Sect grows its precious herbs.' Over a few days, Evan Yang heard that there were several areas in Purple Cloud Sect where precious herbs were cultivated, but herb farmers couldn't enter those areas.
Only official disciples, or even senior disciples, could access them. Evan Yang wanted to sneak in, get some good herbs, and break through sooner.
So, besides helping Leo Summer, Evan Yang used his divine sense and Thousand-Mile Echo to search for information about the precious herb fields.
But after a month, he still hadn't found anything. It seemed even the herb farmers didn't know where the fields were. Evan Yang realized he needed to use more drastic methods.
Evan Yang found Barry Li, the person in charge here.
Barry Li was on the fourth floor of the management building, counting newly exchanged spirit crystals.
Unexpectedly, Evan Yang walked in, making Barry Li, who was counting spirit crystals, glare angrily. 'Kid, don't you know the rules? The fourth floor is off-limits!'
'I know,' Evan Yang replied.
'You know and you still came up? Are you looking for trouble?' Barry Li snorted and got up, approaching Evan Yang to teach him a lesson.
But Evan Yang moved a few times, leaving Barry Li completely immobilized. Barry was stunned. Evan closed the door, set up a sound-isolating formation, and smiled at Barry Li. 'Usually you teach others a lesson—how does it feel now?'
'You—you’re a cultivator! How did you sneak in?' Barry Li cried out in fear.
Barry Li was only at the Fusion Realm, no match for Evan Yang. Evan easily subdued and sealed him, then smiled, 'I want to ask you something.'
'Senior, ask whatever you want. I’ll tell you everything I know.' Barry Li never imagined he’d see the day when a powerful cultivator would infiltrate as a herb farmer.
'Where are Purple Cloud Sect's precious herbs located?' Evan Yang asked.
'Precious herbs? Are you here to steal herbs?' Barry Li was shocked. He'd heard about experts sneaking in to steal herbs in other places, but his area only grew ordinary herbs, so it was unlikely to attract such people.
Evan Yang felt awkward at the word 'steal' and smiled, 'No, I just want to take a look.'
'Take a look?' Barry Li was confused. Only Evan Yang knew that he could absorb the medicinal essence and restore it afterward, so there was no need to steal or rob.
'Go ahead,' Evan Yang smiled.
'In a hidden cave at the easternmost part of Purple Cloud Sect. That's where the most precious herbs are kept. They can't be exposed to natural light, only special illumination, and there are guards at the entrance,' Barry Li explained. He knew about the place but was sure Evan Yang couldn't get in.
Evan Yang knew it would be hard to get the good stuff, but now he had a location and didn't need to search all over. He smiled, 'Thanks.'
'Can you let me go now?' Barry Li said gloomily.
'Don't worry, I'll come back and unseal you. Pray that I make it out safely,' Evan Yang smiled.
Barry Li panicked. If Evan Yang got caught and didn't return, he'd be in trouble. He quickly said, 'No, you'll definitely get caught that way.'
'Do you have any suggestions?' Evan Yang smiled.
'Well...' Barry Li hesitated, unsure if he should say.
'Go ahead. If I'm safe, so are you,' Evan Yang smiled.
'I heard that every night at midnight, the guardians go in to manage the herbs. That's the best time to sneak in, but don't alert them—they're very strong,' Barry Li said gloomily.
'How strong?' Evan Yang hadn't expected Barry Li to know so much and asked curiously.
'Spirit-Wandering, Out-of-Body—there are both,' Barry Li replied gloomily.
'Thanks. Stay here,' Evan Yang smiled.
After saying that, Evan Yang flashed away from the fourth floor. He wasn't worried about anyone coming up—Barry Li had already declared the fourth floor forbidden.
So no one would discover him. Barry Li could only lie on the floor, unable to call for help, looking extremely gloomy.
That night, Evan Yang left his room and snuck to the outskirts of the cave, hiding at a distance and locking onto the people with his divine sense.
A group stood at the cave entrance. At midnight, they entered. Seeing no one around, Evan Yang prepared to move, but suddenly a shadow slipped into the cave.
'Someone else?' Evan Yang wondered, hurrying to the entrance and activating his divine sense, but found it couldn't penetrate the cave. He had to sneak inside.
Inside, he saw six heavily injured figures lying there, surrounded by various herbs, their medicinal properties visibly emanating.
The six watched as the shadow searched frantically, seemingly looking for a particular herb.
The shadow crouched before a herb and smiled, 'Finally found it.'
After taking it, the shadow smiled at the six, 'Goodbye, everyone.'
One of the six, despite his injuries, shouted, 'You won't get away!'
'Oh, really?' The shadow smiled, then said to the back, 'Come out, stop sneaking around.'
Evan Yang was shocked to be discovered. The six saw him emerge from behind.
'Kid, it's your problem now,' the shadow said with an evil grin. Evan noticed a moon mark on his brow as he sped away—clearly very powerful.
Evan tried to stop him with a shout, but the figure vanished before everyone. Evan frowned at the six.
The six stared at Evan Yang. One asked, 'Who are you?'
'I'm a victim too!' Evan hadn't expected to be framed and now hated that guy. He'd planned to sneak in for herbs, but now everyone saw him—he couldn't kill them all.
The shadow had spotted Evan earlier, so Evan figured his cultivation was high—killing Evan would be easy for him.
The six didn't quite believe Evan. One asked, 'Why should we trust you?'
Evan Yang helplessly approached the six and began treating their injuries.
As the six felt Evan's spiritual power healing their wounds, they were shocked. Their attitudes toward Evan changed.
Just then, a group rushed in from outside. Seeing Evan, they assumed he'd injured the six.