Gu Tianle was up with the dawn.
The salt and cloth he'd gotten for free the day before had put him in a fantastic mood.
With salt, he could preserve meat much longer.
With cloth, he could make himself a decent set of clothes.
But water was the most pressing need right now.
Filtering the murky water seeping from mud puddles was too much of a hassle. It was clear his top priority was to dig a well first.
So he slung his shoddy hoe over his shoulder again, circled his farm, and finally stopped at a low-lying spot in the west.
"The land here is low-lying—there must be groundwater."
Gu Tianle rubbed his hands together, raised the hoe, and got to work right away.
Thanks to his body-refined strength, each swing of the hoe tore up a huge clod of earth.
When he'd dug halfway to his height, the soil started to grow damp. Digging deeper, the hoe struck a hard, compacted layer laced with dark red stains that looked like dried blood.
"Could this be a layer of demon blood contamination?"
Gu Tianle muttered to himself, his mind racing as he tried to figure out how to make the water drinkable once he hit it.
Got it!
He stopped digging, squatted at the edge of the pit, and pressed both hands against the damp soil. Then he closed his eyes and channeled the Life Essence within him.
This time, instead of pouring it out in a violent burst like he had when accelerating the sweet potatoes' growth, he let the Essence seep slowly and steadily into the ground beneath him, like a fine spring rain.
Through the perception of All Things Resonance, he saw that deep underground, there really was a murky water vein flowing sluggishly—one filled with the violent remnants of demon energy.
His Life Essence snaked through the cracks in the soil and gently pierced the water vein.
Sizzle...
An invisible clash unfolded in the darkness. The demon energy, as if meeting its natural enemy, dissolved and scattered instantly.
Everywhere the Life Essence passed, the murky water cleared up at a visible rate, turning crystal clear. Even more amazingly, Gu Tianle felt that as his Life Essence purified the demon energy, it seemed to... grow just a tiny bit stronger?
Could purifying contamination actually feed back into my own power?
Joy surged in his heart,
and he increased his Essence output. As the purification deepened, water began to seep slowly into the bottom of the pit.
At first, it was a bit murky, but it quickly turned crystal clear, shimmering enticingly in the morning light.
Gu Tianle cupped some in his hands and took a sip.
Refreshingly sweet!
There was no trace of an odd taste—instead, it carried a faint, subtle aroma of plants,
and drinking it made his entire body feel relaxed and invigorated.
[Ding! Successfully dug and purified an underground water vein! Obtained a stable water source!]
[Energy Points +5.]
[Farm Infrastructure Completion Rate increased!]
"It worked!"
He straightened up, wiped the sweat from his brow,
and stared at the clear well he'd dug with his own hands,
filled with a deep sense of accomplishment.
With a stable water source, his farm finally had a real foundation.
Meanwhile,
behind the bushes at the edge of the farm, Su Wan lay prone on the ground, a delicate monocular held to her eye, her blue eyes fixed unblinkingly on the scene.
She had watched the entire process—from Gu Tianle digging the pit,
to him stopping to perform some kind of secret technique, to the well water turning clear.
In the energy vision mode of her monocular, what she'd just witnessed was nothing short of breathtaking.
Centered on the young man's hands, a vast, pure surge of green energy had crashed into the earth, clashing violently with the pitch-black demon energy hidden deep in the water vein—annihilating it completely!
That was no gentle purification.
That was... suppression!
Plunder!
Forcibly transforming the filth of the Abyss into the purest form of Life Energy!
What shocked her even more was that after doing all that, the young man had merely wiped the sweat from his face and broken into that kind of... simple,
down-to-earth smile that said
"Lunch is sorted today"?
"He's siphoning demon energy from the earth's veins and converting it for his own use..."
A young subordinate behind Su Wan said, his voice trembling so much he could barely hold his notepad steady.
"Lady Saintess, this is definitely the ancient forbidden art 'Yellow Spring Summons'! He's creating a 'Nine Nether Spirit Spring' to cultivate demon plants!"
Su Wan didn't say a word.
She just stared fixedly at Gu Tianle—watched him cup the water, take a sip, and then light up, a look of contentment spreading across his face like a child's.
Then he turned, walked over to the pile of sweet potatoes, picked out two big ones, rinsed them in the well water, and squatted down by the well to gnaw on them noisily.
He ate with abandon, juice dripping down his chin.
Su Wan's throat moved involuntarily.
Not out of fear. But out of... craving.
She'd been on this reconnaissance mission for two days.
Her rations had run out long ago, and last night she'd only had some rock-hard jerky.
And now,
the Life Energy emanating from the sweet potato the "Demon Lord" was gnawing on was so strong that even from hundreds of meters away,
it made the Light Energy within her resonate with longing.
What was even more incredible was that the old wound on her shoulder—inflicted by demon energy three months ago—had started to tingle faintly when she felt that Life Energy, as if it was showing signs of healing!
"Lady Saintess, should we make contact as planned?"
the subordinate whispered.
Their original plan had been for Su Wan to approach openly as a Templar Purifier to test the waters.
But at that moment,
Su Wan hesitated. She looked at the young man squatting on the ground, eating without a care for his appearance,
and thought back to how clumsy yet earnest he'd been when building his cabin.
He was nothing like the sinister, cruel, overbearing ancient Demon Lord she'd imagined.
"Let's... observe a little longer,"
Su Wan said hesitantly.
Her words had barely left her mouth when—
Crack.
She'd accidentally stepped on a dry twig underfoot. The sound was soft, but in the quiet of the early morning, it was startlingly clear.
By the well,
Gu Tianle's sweet potato-gnawing came to an abrupt halt.
His ears twitched slightly, and he slowly turned his head, his gaze locking onto the bushes with pinpoint accuracy.
He found us!
Su Wan's heart skipped a beat,
and she cursed silently. But she was an elite trained by the Templar Order,
and she quickly quelled her panic.
She shot her subordinate a look to stand by, then stood up cleanly, pushed aside the bushes, and stepped out into the open.
The morning light shone on her silver hair and exquisite silver armor, casting a cold, sharp glow.
Her face was expressionless, her blue eyes fixed calmly on Gu Tianle, and her hand rested casually on the hilt of the sword at her waist.
"Who are you?"
Gu Tianle set down his sweet potato and tightened his grip on the hoe beside him, his eyes wary.
The woman in front of him was stunningly beautiful, but his mom had always said the prettier a woman was, the more dangerous she was.
The energy emanating from her was far more powerful than that of the scouts who'd come earlier.
"Templar Order. Su Wan,"
she said, her voice cold and emotionless.
"I'm here to investigate the abnormal energy fluctuations in this area."
Templar Order?
Sounds like a local official organization.
Gu Tianle's heart sank.
The gift-givers had just left, and now the investigators were here?
"Abnormal energy?"
Gu Tianle feigned ignorance.
"What abnormal energy? I'm just a farmer."
Su Wan's gaze flicked from the sweet potato in his hand, to the clear well, and finally back to his face.
"A farmer?"
She took a step forward.
"Growing crops brimming with pure Life Energy on wastelands soaked in demon blood? Digging a spirit spring that can be drunk directly?"
Her tone was clearly skeptical, but Gu Tianle keenly noticed that her gaze had lingered on the sweet potato for an extra half second.
There's a chance!