The Cannon Fodder’s Inner Thoughts Were Overheard by the Villain [Transmigration Into a Book] - Chapter 21

Jiang Minghuan felt puzzled. Pei Jingyuan was already seated in the Dao Discourse position, while Jiang Minghuan sat behind him. The distance between them made it easy to distinguish whether the gazes were directed at him or Pei Jingyuan.

The disciples were relatively restrained, occasionally stealing glances before quickly averting their eyes, showing some restraint.

But the Sword Masters were utterly brazen. If Pei Jingyuan hadn’t spoken up, Jiang Minghuan would have felt like he was being stared at until his hair stood on end.

He sat there for a long time, reflecting on his recent actions, but couldn’t figure out what he had done wrong.

After all, he had spent most of his time within the small area around the Old Sword Pavilion. Apart from his encounter with Mo Jing, he hadn’t seen anyone else and hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary.

Jiang Minghuan pondered for so long that he completely missed Pei Jingyuan’s discourse.

Of course, even if he had listened, he wouldn’t have understood a word. Forcing an average middle school student to listen to calculus would have the same effect on him.

Pei Jingyuan’s Dao Discourse, delivered with his Nascent Soul cultivation, wasn’t meant to lay a foundation for the disciples. Those who could understand it would benefit, while those who couldn’t should simply remember it for later comprehension.

After finishing his discourse, Pei Jingyuan turned to look at Jiang Minghuan.

At this, everyone openly and boldly turned their gazes toward him.

Jiang Minghuan sat there, completely composed. After all, he had been the Senior Brother for over twenty years and had given countless speeches as a student representative since childhood. This was just a minor occasion.

He continued his Dao Discourse from where he had left off, focusing on the principles of “The Dao Follows Nature” and “Following One’s Heart.” He emphasized the importance of promptly dispelling any impure thoughts that arose within the mind.

Surprisingly, his philosophy resonated well with the overall ethos of the Sword Pavilion.

After all, Sword Pavilion Disciples lived by the sword, speaking only through their blades. They drew their swords against injustice, against provocation, and against adversity. In short, any problem that could be resolved through force should not waste words.

During Jiang Minghuan’s discourse, Pei Jingyuan seemed to have urgent business and had to leave temporarily. Before departing, he instructed Duan Shui to escort Jiang Minghuan back.

However, just as Jiang Minghuan finished his discourse and they were about to leave, the three Sword Masters surrounded them.

Leading the group was the Tidal Sword Master, Wei Aotian.

Yes, this story didn’t have a Long Aotian, but it did have a Wei Aotian, and she was a female cultivator.

The Tidal Sword Master Wei Aotian was neither particularly beautiful nor possessed any gentle demeanor. Standing there, she resembled a sharp, unsheathed blade.

Having suffered betrayal, she had lost one of her eyes and vowed never to heal it until her enemies were dead.

Currently, she wore a black eyepatch over her left eye, standing before Jiang Minghuan and stroking her chin as she sized him up, looking every bit like a female bandit.

Wei Aotian pondered for a long moment before turning to the Hundred Refinements Sword Master and Flowing Cloud Sword Master beside him. “He doesn’t look like a fox demon to me.”

Jiang Minghuan stared at her in horror. “Tidal Sword Master, be careful what you say!”

The Cultivation World held an extremely hostile attitude toward demons and demonic races. Any encounter meant certain death, with no distinction made between “good” and “bad” demons or demonic races.

This was precisely why, after the Pei Family’s downfall, when Yun Heming falsely accused Pei Jingyuan’s father of colluding with demons, not a single person in the Cultivation World spoke out in the Pei Family’s defense.

The Flowing Cloud Sword Master, who appeared to be a young man, leaned in for a closer look. “Madam, how exactly did you manage to make the Pavilion Master so utterly devoted to you?”

Jiang Minghuan stared back, his face a mask of confusion. “What are you talking about?”

After asking, he realized the others didn’t seem to find the Flowing Cloud Sword Master’s question particularly absurd.

Even the notoriously lazy and detached Myriad Manifestations Sword Master had sidled over, pretending to be passing by while deliberately slowing his pace.

Besides him, many other Sword Pavilion Disciples lingered nearby, dragging their feet.

Jiang Minghuan’s lips twitched. He couldn’t help but think these people needed to enroll in acting classes.

“Who doesn’t know you all use Sword Flight after the Sword Dao Discourse?” Wei Aotian said bluntly. “You’re all lingering here, pretending you’re not gossiping? Do you think I can’t see through that?”

Jiang Minghuan felt a headache coming on. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

Pei Jingyuan doting on him? He wanted to ask these people if they had eyes! It was clearly him who had to swallow his anger and dare not speak his mind in Pei Jingyuan’s presence!

The Flowing Cloud Sword Master crossed his arms. “Everyone knows by now. The Pavilion Master even moved the Old Sword Pavilion for you.”

Ah, this…

Jiang Minghuan froze, realizing this was a colossal misunderstanding!

He quickly explained, “This isn’t about me. It’s about Master Mo Jing. You all know Master Mo Jing from Three Treasures Temple, right?”

Wei Aotian looked surprised. “Master Mo Jing? What happened to him?”

Jiang Minghuan patiently explained, “Master Mo Jing came insisting I was some ‘Buddha’s Son’ and tried to take me away. The Pavilion Master fought him off. Later, Master Mo Jing claimed the Pavilion Master was mistreating me and that I wasn’t comfortable living on Golden Goose Peak, so the Pavilion Master moved the Old Sword Pavilion there.”

So, it was just Pei Jingyuan and Mo Jing getting into a heated argument. While Jiang Minghuan wasn’t entirely uninvolved, he wasn’t really the main cause either.

The Flowing Cloud Sword Master looked puzzled. “Why was the Madam on Golden Goose Peak?”

Jiang Minghuan casually explained. He knew that even if he told these people how terrible Pei Jingyuan was, they wouldn’t take his side. But… he couldn’t help but say it anyway.

Beside him, the Myriad Manifestations Sword Master Gu Xuanli looked utterly shocked. “The Pavilion Master actually fought someone over you?”

Jiang Minghuan slowly turned to look at him. Did you even grasp the main point here?

The Flowing Cloud Sword Master clenched his right fist and slammed it into his left palm. “I get it now! The Pavilion Master initially kept you there to hide you away like a precious treasure, all to prevent Master Mo Jing from finding you!”

Wei Aotian suddenly understood. “So that’s why the Old Sword Pavilion moved so easily! It was all because of a moment of impulsive rage for a beauty.”

Jiang Minghuan closed his eyes briefly and turned to Duan Shui. “Stop watching the show. Let’s go, let’s go. We still have things to do!”

There’s no reasoning with these brain-addled sword cultivators!

Duan Shui stood beside him, his face now wearing an expression of dawning realization. Surprisingly, he seemed reluctant to leave.

He had always sensed that the Pavilion Master treated Jiang Minghuan differently, but he had never understood why. Now, it finally made sense.

Later, he would need to have a serious talk with the Sword Masters. He couldn’t let their ignorance jeopardize his Pavilion Master’s plans.

Jiang Minghuan completely disregarded their misunderstandings.

He wanted to ask them if they had forgotten that Pei Jingyuan and “Jiang Minghuan” were enemies.

On his first night at the Sword Pavilion of the Years, Pei Jingyuan had personally asked him if he remembered their past.

Clearly, whether Jiang Minghuan remembered or not was irrelevant; what mattered was that Pei Jingyuan remembered.

Though he still couldn’t fathom Pei Jingyuan’s motives, he had long concluded that everyone in this book had a screw loose. He had no desire to understand them.

Back at the Old Sword Pavilion, Duan Shui said, “The disciples have delivered the supplies. Do you want to go inspect them?”

Jiang Minghuan immediately snapped out of his thoughts and asked, “Where are they?”

Duan Shui led him over a mountain. Jiang Minghuan gazed at the piles of bones, peanut bran, and wood ash before him and asked slowly, “Are you planning to cultivate this land?”

Duan Shui said earnestly, “This is the closest possible distance.”

Jiang Minghuan looked around at the vast empty space and asked incredulously, “With all this open land, you’re telling me this is the closest?”

Duan Shui grew agitated. “Absolutely not! How could we put such trash near the Old Sword Pavilion?”

Jiang Minghuan scoffed. “Trash? Just wait until these ‘trash’ materials sprout wheat seedlings. Then we’ll see if you still call them trash.”

Duan Shui crossed his arms. “But they haven’t sprouted yet, have they?”

And they probably won’t, he thought. After all, countless high-level Wood-Attribute cultivators had failed to achieve this before.

He dared not voice his doubts, fearing Jiang Minghuan would report him in anger. Even if Jiang Minghuan didn’t complain, the Pavilion Master might notice. What if he was ordered to meditate against the furnace wall in the Sword Forging Furnace as punishment?

He recalled a saying among mortals: Fear not the storm, but the pillow talk.

These two slept together every night. What if…? He’d better watch what he said.

Jiang Minghuan rolled up his sleeves. “Just you wait.”

Without another word, he raised his hand and extracted the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium from the materials.

Peanut bran belonged to the Wood Attribute, wood ash was considered Earth Attribute, and bone was Water Attribute—all cultivation manuals he had hastily studied, or rather, the Five Elements he now felt most familiar with.

However, when he actually used them, he found that neither the Earth nor Water Attributes could match his effortless mastery of the Wood Attribute.

Gradually, luminous particles emerged from the bone, wood ash, and peanut bran, drifting slowly into Jiang Minghuan’s palm to form a small ball of light.

Duan Shui stared in astonishment at the glowing orb. “What… what is this?”

Jiang Minghuan didn’t explain what it was, only saying, “Perhaps something that can make wheat seedlings sprout.”

Duan Shui blinked. He glanced at the chaotic pile of materials, initially skeptical that such random things could be useful. But now, Jiang Minghuan had indeed extracted something he had never seen before.

Jiang Minghuan sighed, cradling the small ball of light. “There’s so little of it. It probably won’t last long.”

The main problem was that he was starting to feel dizzy again.

Whether farming is resource-intensive or not is a separate matter, but it’s certainly labor-intensive.

Jiang Minghuan said, “These are all used up. You can dispose of them. If any new ones arrive, be sure to call me.”

Duan Shui immediately acknowledged and led him back to the Old Sword Pavilion.

After dismounting from Duan Shui’s small cloud, Jiang Minghuan clicked his tongue, thinking he should really learn Sword Flight himself. Constantly relying on others wasn’t ideal.

Previously, he’d worried that showing too much fear would expose him. Now that he was less afraid, he could finally put this on his agenda.

Jiang Minghuan found the plot of land he’d cultivated and slowly pressed the glowing specks into the soil.

Of course, he needed to apply base fertilizer before planting.

But as soon as the glowing orb dispersed into specks and drifted into the soil, he noticed they were rapidly disappearing.

“Disappearing” might not be the right word. It was more accurate to say the specks were being absorbed by other plants.

Almost instantly, tiny blades of grass sprouted from the earth.

Jiang Minghuan showed no mercy toward these weeds. No farmer would tolerate wild plants stealing fertilizer meant for crops.

He gently clenched his fist, gathering all the “fertilizer” that had drifted into the soil, and simultaneously drained the “fertilizer” from the weeds.

The weeds contained such meager amounts of fertilizer, their vitality barely discernible—otherwise, Jiang Minghuan would have noticed them sooner.

During this process, he suddenly realized a brilliant method to eradicate all the weeds in this patch of soil while they were still seedlings.

First, he would provide them with “fertilizer” to stimulate their growth. Once they sprouted, he would systematically drain their vitality, one by one. Repeating this process several times would not only eliminate all the dormant weed seeds in the soil but also yield a bit of extra “fertilizer.”

Even if the amount was small, it would accumulate over time.

After dealing with the various weed seeds in the soil, Jiang Minghuan began sowing his crops.

As he sowed, he couldn’t help but marvel at the advantages of the Cultivation World. With supernatural powers at his disposal, he merely needed to use his Dao Essence to guide each seed to its proper location, maintaining a spacing of 15-20 centimeters between rows. Then, he used his Earth Essence to cover the seeds with fine sand.

This process also honed his control over Dao Essence.

After finishing, Jiang Minghuan pretended to wipe sweat from his brow and declared, “Alright, let’s go clear another plot of land.”

Duan Shui couldn’t help but protest, “You should rest first. The seedlings haven’t even sprouted yet.”

Jiang Minghuan retorted, “You don’t understand. That first plot was a seedbed, specifically for nurturing seedlings. Once the wheat seedlings grow large enough, we’ll transplant them into the fields. If we wait for the seedlings to sprout before clearing more land, we’ll never finish in time.”

Duan Shui stared at him with a mixture of confusion and admiration. “How do you know so much about this? Does the Cloud Sect even study these things?”