Immortality and cultivation: Heaven rewards diligence, and success is inevitable.

After Chen Tao left, Jiang Shi knew in his heart that he would have to start working tomorrow as well.

Today is the last day I can freely cultivate.

With this in mind, Jiang Shi quickly sat down on the pile of firewood and began cultivating the "Wood Spirit Technique".

Chen Tao came several times during his cultivation, but he never got up.

He would fill his stomach with the dry food from his bundle when he ate.

He was so exhausted by the time he woke up the next day at the hour of Chou (1-3 AM) that he finally fell into a deep sleep, using the firewood as a pillow.

At dawn, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, a rooster crowed, its crow echoing throughout the inner courtyard.

Chen Tao pushed open the door and walked in.

"Junior Brother Jiang, wake up."

"Senior Brother Chen, what's wrong?" Jiang Shi had only slept for two or three hours. He rubbed his eyes, still feeling a little groggy.

"Wash your face and wake yourself up. Senior Brother Liu from the C department wants to see you," Chen Tao said anxiously.

"Senior Brother Liu is the younger brother of a senior servant disciple in the First Academy. In our Second and Third Academies, Senior Brother Liu is a local tyrant. You must not neglect him when you meet him later."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Shi immediately got up, quickly washed his face, and followed Chen Tao toward Courtyard C.

He knew the saying that it was easier to see the King of Hell than to deal with his underlings.

Senior Brother Liu's cultivation level is higher than his, and he also has a senior servant as his backer, so he is not someone he can afford to offend.

Upon entering the C courtyard, Senior Brother Liu sat down imposingly on a stone bench in the courtyard.

Two followers followed behind, standing on either side of him.

"Senior Brother Liu, Junior Brother Jiang has arrived," Chen Tao said respectfully.

"You're Jiang Shi?"

"Greetings, Senior Brother Liu. Greetings, Senior Brothers." Jiang Shi clasped his hands in greeting and greeted Liu Jie and his two followers.

"What a handsome young man! Junior Brother Jiang must have some extraordinary abilities to be able to be accepted into the courtyard by Steward Lin when the courtyard is already full."

"Senior brother, I am in charge of the C and D courtyards and miscellaneous tasks. If you have any strengths, just tell me, and I will definitely help you find a good job."

Liu Jie's words implied that he wanted Jiang Shi to offer some benefits.

Jiang Shi entered the household yesterday, and everyone was talking about it, guessing that he must have given Manager Lin a bribe.

This is quite a benefit; otherwise, given Manager Lin's temperament, how could he possibly have allowed Jiang Shi to join the family?

Upon hearing this news, Liu Jie began to have an idea in mind, wondering if he could squeeze some benefits out of Jiang Shi.

Having lived two lives, Jiang Shi naturally knew what Liu Jie was thinking, but even a skilled cook cannot make a meal without rice.

He also wanted to give Liu Jie a gift in exchange for a good job, but unfortunately, he was penniless.

"Senior Brother Liu, I emptied my pockets yesterday and handed it all over to Manager Lin. I'm truly penniless now. If you could arrange a good job for me today, I would repay your kindness tenfold in the future!"

Liu Jie didn't say it outright, but Jiang Shi didn't dare to pretend to be stupid, otherwise offending Liu Jie would only bring harm and no benefit.

"So you're just a poor kid!" Liu Jie's expression immediately changed upon hearing this, and he said disdainfully:

"You have no money, yet you're thinking of getting something for nothing. I think you've lost your mind."

"Work? Since you live in the woodshed, you can work there. 2000 catties of firewood per month. If you're short even one catty, you'll regret it."

"2000 jin?!" Chen Tao, who was standing nearby, was shocked. He struggled to chop 1000 jin every month.

You should know that the trees of the Qingyun Sect are not ordinary trees.

This tree is called a hemlock, and its special characteristic is that it is as hard as iron and very heat-resistant.

The outer disciples use this tree for alchemy, weapon crafting, and cooking spiritual food.

"What? You want to chop 2000 jin too?" Liu Jie threatened.

"I will certainly obey what you say, senior brother," Jiang Shi replied, accepting the task.

Liu Jie is powerful, and even if we resist today, it will be futile and will only implicate Senior Brother Chen Tao.

Since we can't change anything anyway, we might as well just agree and then figure things out gradually later.

Due to their busy schedules, Chen Tao had a simple breakfast with Jiang Shi.

He then took his axe and went to the nearby hemlock forest.

"Junior brother, let me teach you how to cut down trees first."

After Chen Tao finished speaking, he took his axe and went to a hemlock tree.

He stood with his feet shoulder-width apart on the side of the tree trunk.

Hold the axe handle with your right hand at the end and your left hand at the lower middle part of the handle.

Then Chen Tao moved, raising his axe high and swinging it like a crescent moon, slashing diagonally at the trees below.

A mark was left on the tree trunk, and with each swing of his sword, Chen Tao aimed at that mark, deepening it little by little.

When you get tired, stop and rest for a while, or sit on the ground to practice.

[Ding! Watching a tree-felling tutorial. Proficiency +35.]

[Tree felling (Beginner: 35/500)]

Jiang Shi, who had just started learning how to chop trees, picked up an axe and tried it himself.

[Proficiency +1, Proficiency +1]

Each swing of the axe increases your skill level by one point.

As his skills improved, Jiang Shi became more and more adept at felling trees.

When he got tired of chopping, he sat down and began to cultivate the "Wood Spirit Technique".

The proficiency of the "Wood Spirit Technique" increases slowly, gaining only one point in half an hour.

However, Jiang Shi patiently cultivated without the slightest impatience.

After practicing for a while, Jiang Shi started chopping down trees again.

Before long, Jiang Shi had swung his axe 500 times.

[Ding, Tree-felling breakthrough - Minor success.]

[Tree felling: (Minor achievement 0/1000)]

Having broken through to the minor mastery level, Jiang Shi gained many more techniques for felling trees.

I also learned how to exert force more efficiently and effectively.

Chen Tao represents the tree-felling ability of this stage.

Keep in mind that it took him three months, while Jiang Shi reached the same level in just one hour.

[Proficiency +1, Proficiency +1]

Jiang Shi continued his efforts, chopping at the hemlock tree again and again.

Two hours later, the hemlock tree fell.

[Tree Cutting: Da Cheng (12/3000)]

Having mastered his tree-felling skills, cutting down trees was no longer so strenuous for him; it was much easier.

After cutting down a tree, Jiang Shi immediately sat down and began to cultivate.

[Proficiency +10]

"Huh?" Jiang Shi found that cultivating this "Wood Spirit Technique" was much simpler than usual.

Proficiency can only increase by 1 point every half hour.

But at this moment, his cultivation level actually increased by 10 points.

"What's going on?" Jiang Shi was filled with doubt. He thought about what was different from his usual cultivation.

Finally, their gaze fell upon the tree that had just been cut down.

"Felling down trees can actually accelerate the cultivation of the Wood Spirit Technique."

It turns out that the hemlock tree contains wood spirit power. The wood spirit power is released the moment it is cut down. If you cultivate at this time, you can also absorb a part of the wood spirit power.

Furthermore, since the "Wood Spirit Technique" is a wood-based cultivation method, the cultivation speed is naturally much faster than usual with the support of wood spirit power.

This is similar to taking elixirs or cultivating with a spirit stone in hand.

It will increase the speed of cultivation.

Of course, once the trees are felled, their wood spirit energy quickly dissipates, turning them into dead wood. Once they are cut into firewood, no wood spirit energy remains.

Therefore, even with so much firewood in the woodshed, Jiang Shi's cultivation speed was not increased.

Jiang Shi was naturally unaware of the existence of wood elemental power, but he had already guessed that felling trees could accelerate his cultivation speed.