WBICDPH Chapter 39 Part 1

Chapter 39: Putting on a Show and Selling Snake Oil

Lin Jin climbed to his feet and calmly brushed the dirt from his clothes.

Putting on an air of profound mystery, he waved his hand and began shamelessly showboating:

“Ah, I originally intended to keep a low profile, but alas—I’ve still been discovered by the young miss. Truly, Miss Hua is extraordinarily perceptive and insightful. I concede defeat wholeheartedly.”

Hua Nanzhi found his flattery extremely pleasing.

She lifted her chin slightly.
“I am a peerless genius of my generation. Of course, I have exceptional abilities—did you really need to tell me?”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Lin Jin replied smoothly. “To be honest with you, Miss Hua, what I’m doing here is cultivating the heart.”

He cast out a baitless hook and waited patiently for a curious little fish to bite.

Sure enough, Hua Nanzhi asked, feigning nonchalance,
“Cultivating the heart? What’s that? I’ve never heard of it.”

“Naturally,” Lin Jin said solemnly. “Although you come from the mortal world, Miss Hua, your status is exalted—so it’s perfectly normal that you haven’t heard of it. This method of heart cultivation is something I pieced together from rural folk practices. Don’t underestimate mortals—they may be weak individually, but even the most ordinary farmers can, with their own two hands, save an entire city. Isn’t that impressive?”

“Really…!”

Hua Nanzhi was momentarily stunned. She blurted out a word, then realized she sounded too eager—too unguarded—and quickly checked herself, worried she might fall into Lin Jin’s trap again.

She cleared her throat twice and asked coolly,
“Oh? That does sound somewhat impressive.”

Heaven knew how much effort Lin Jin had spent suppressing the grin threatening to crawl onto his face.

He nodded emphatically.
“Yes. What they use is precisely this method of heart cultivation. Of course, I haven’t grasped its true essence—this is just a small, preliminary practice. I hope I’m not embarrassing myself in front of you.”

Hua Nanzhi raised an eyebrow and glanced again at the half-turned soil on the other side of the courtyard, doubt lingering in her eyes.

“That’s it? Digging dirt with a Dengbao shovel? That’s all there is to it? And how would mortals even get their hands on a Dengbao shovel?”

“Of course, they don’t use Dengbao shovels,” Lin Jin replied smoothly. “Mortals have their own tools—plows, harrows, spades—things even more convenient. And heart cultivation doesn’t stop at this one step. There are many stages after this. I’ve only just begun.”

To keep Hua Nanzhi from seeing the expression he was barely holding together, Lin Jin turned his back to her.

To be fair, this wasn’t entirely a lie. Why did cultivators cultivate, if not to extend their lives? Those who truly attained the Dao and became gods were rare across all history—most people cultivated simply to live.

And why did mortals eat? Coincidentally—for the same reason.

If eating were about survival, then producing food would be just as fundamental as cultivation itself. Farmers toiled for half a year, planting in spring and harvesting in autumn; in times of famine, a few mu of grain could indeed save an entire city. Lin Jin even felt he’d understated it.

Rolling up his sleeves theatrically, he walked toward the patch of land he’d barely begun turning.

“All right, I must continue my cultivation now. Miss Hua, please be sure to keep this secret—if others learned of this method, it would cause trouble. Sigh… heart cultivation is exhausting, but the results are deeply moving. I can hardly imagine how joyful I’ll be one day, when I complete this path and reap its fruits—a truly blissful little Daoist.”

By now, Hua Nanzhi could barely contain herself. Still, she maintained a façade of indifference and asked casually,

“I’m not that curious—just asking. This heart cultivation of yours… does it have any special requirements? Does the soil matter? Can any patch of land do?”

With his back turned, Lin Jin covered his mouth and stifled a laugh before replying gravely,

“Ah! Not at all arbitrary! I calculated this in advance. Of all Yanyu Mountain, this one plot—by sheer coincidence—is the only land suitable for heart cultivation. Otherwise, why would I choose this courtyard when there are so many empty ones in our Beast-Taming Path territory—”

Before he could finish his sales pitch, Hua Nanzhi impatiently activated her Heaven-tier Spatial Domain, trapping Lin Jin in place. Like a gust of wind, she dashed past him and rushed to the unturned soil, grabbing the Dengbao shovel stuck in the ground.

Lin Jin covered his face with both hands, contorting himself into the pose of The Scream, wailing dramatically:

“Hey! Miss Hua, what are you doing?! Let me out! That’s my land—my cultivation ground! Waaaah, why, why must you steal it from me—ah, dig a little deeper, make sure every inch gets turned. I’m not teaching you, I just can’t bear to see you ruin such precious land! Since you’ve taken it, you’d better do it properly!”

Hua Nanzhi had no idea she was being used as an ox. She felt this trip had been entirely worthwhile—she’d exposed Lin Jin’s secret efforts, stopped him, and even seized a chance to cultivate herself. A huge win.

Following Lin Jin’s instructions, she dug diligently, shovel after shovel, while asking earnestly,

“Like this? Is it deep enough? Fine enough?”

“Yes, yes, exactly like that! Miss Hua truly lives up to being heaven’s chosen—so brilliant, so quick to grasp things! Just try to loosen the soil even more—rich, fluffy, crumbly soil is top-tier, premium quality!”

The moment she heard “top-tier, premium,” Hua Nanzhi forgot everything else.

She swung the small Dengbao shovel with such speed and force that Lin Jin had never seen a living person match the efficiency of fully automated machinery.

With someone else doing the work, Lin Jin relaxed inside the spatial domain. He even lay on his side, cracking melon seeds and admiring Miss Hua’s heroic plowing form.

Nearby, Qiuqiu had been basking in the sun atop a small table and watched the entire farce from beginning to end. He didn’t understand why Lin Jin was turning soil, nor did he understand this so-called heart cultivation—but he was certain of one thing:

Lin Jin was lying.

He just wanted to trick someone into doing work for him.

What Xiao Lanqi hadn’t expected was that such a clumsy scam would actually work. That foolish woman not only believed it—she dug with incredible enthusiasm.

It seemed humans, regardless of age or gender, were all equally stupid.

Xiao Lanqi lifted his chin arrogantly, no longer interested in the spectacle. He was about to roll over and take another nap when he noticed a black butterfly flutter into Lin Jin’s courtyard and land squarely on his nose.

Xiao Lanqi flew into a rage and snapped at it, but the butterfly deftly dodged his teeth. Worse still, it didn’t leave—it kept fluttering around his face, utterly shameless.