Ch 60: The Malevolent Monster Just Wants To Farm

Ao Ning was a half-dragon woman.

What does it mean to be a half-dragon? It means being a child born from the union of a dragon and another race. They inherit half of the dragon bloodline and often possess considerable strength.

The dragons of the Eastern Seas were quite interesting. They were notorious for their inability to control their lower instincts, having slept with most of the sea races, leading to the birth of countless new species mixed with dragon blood. However, while they couldn’t control themselves and would often bring attractive beings to their bed, they were paradoxically staunch believers in bloodline purity, looking down on the mixed-blood half-dragons.

But while the half-dragons might not be highly regarded by the pure-blood dragons, to the other sea races, a half-dragon with dragon blood and strong abilities was undoubtedly highly coveted.

Take Ao Ning’s mother, for example. She was originally an ordinary member of the jellyfish race, but during a visit to a sea market, her beauty caught the eye of a dragon. Not long after, she became pregnant with Ao Ning. The dragon, being as fickle as they were, lost interest before Ao Ning was even born, leaving behind a pile of treasures and disappearing without a care for the child.

Ao Ning’s mother, however, was pragmatic about it. She accepted the treasures, happily returned to her tribe, and gave birth to Ao Ning. The jellyfish race was known for their beauty, but they were also weak and often bullied by other races. But with Ao Ning, who inherited her father’s bloodline and formidable combat prowess, the tribe found a protector.

Her mother’s status rose as well, attracting the attention of many young suitors within the tribe, and she lived quite comfortably. This kind of scenario was common among weaker tribes, with many even offering up their beautiful daughters in the hopes of producing offspring with dragon blood.

Ao Ning was among the half-dragons with a relatively pure dragon bloodline and was very powerful. Dragons admired strength, so her father, who hadn’t bothered with her for centuries, happened to see her once and was pleased that she hadn’t disgraced him. He gifted her a large pile of treasures, along with several dragon cultivation techniques, and granted her the right to use the dragon family name. Then, just as easily, he disappeared again.

Ao Ning adapted well to this. She had long accepted that she didn’t have a father, so she saw the windfall as something not to be wasted.

She liked Sea City. Sea City was home to many humans from the mainland, as well as many mixed-bloods of sea and human ancestry. These people lived differently from the sea tribes and often ran small businesses in this vast city, where Ao Ning could always find something novel.

For instance, today, Ao Ning stood outside a newly opened, seemingly unremarkable shop.

The shop had a banner outside with a golden rice ear painted on it. It was so vividly painted that it looked as if someone had trapped a bundle of rice within the fabric.

Ao Ning had seen rice ears before and had eaten rice. It was a very expensive food in the Eastern Seas, with the cooked rice being white and glistening, soft and fragrant—something only the Southern Shen Nong tribe was said to be able to cultivate.

But that wasn’t what had made Ao Ning stop in her tracks.

The reason she had noticed and walked over to this shop from afar was the young owner inside.

He was an exceptionally beautiful man, with delicately handsome features. His long, black hair was tied behind his head, and as he looked down at something, his jade-like skin seemed to glow—or at least, it appeared to be glowing to Ao Ning!

Having inherited her father’s dragon bloodline, Ao Ning had also perfectly inherited the dragon’s instinctual love for beauty.

Such a beautiful and rare pure human man in this area made Ao Ning’s heart flutter. She didn’t care in the least what the shop was selling and stepped inside without hesitation.

“Good morning, beautiful customer,” Jiang Lin greeted her, not expecting to have his first customer so soon. He hadn’t even finished setting up all the goods for the day. Fortunately, with Huaiyin and Qingluo helping, he had the time to attend to this customer.

He glanced at the woman in front of him, realizing she wasn’t human. She had sky-blue curly hair, snow-white skin, and exquisite features—a stunning beauty of the sea race.

However, her appearance was entirely human, and Jiang Lin couldn’t identify her race. But the race wasn’t important.

Jiang Lin noticed the pearls and beautiful gemstones adorning her hair, the expensive shark silk she was wearing, and the natural confidence in her demeanor. He quickly sized her up: wealthy, easily persuaded, and ripe for the taking.

Ao Ning was also looking at Jiang Lin. Ah, the handsome shopkeeper looked even more attractive up close.

Jiang Lin sensed that this customer was looking at him with an overly bright gaze.

He politely asked, “Customer, is there anything you’d like to buy?”

Ao Ning stared at him, her large, beautiful eyes unblinking, and asked, “Can I buy the shopkeeper?”

Jiang Lin heard Huaiyin and Qingluo laughing in his mind.

He thought he might have figured out this girl’s race—according to Jiang’s memories, only the dragon race in the Eastern Sea had such behavior.

He replied helplessly, “The shopkeeper is not for sale.”

“Oh,” Ao Ning was a bit disappointed but persisted, “Where are you from? How long will you be staying in Sea City? Do you have a partner?”

Jiang Lin: “…”

He straightened up and said, “Sorry, I don’t answer personal questions. I’m from the southern Shen Nong tribe, and I’m selling rare specialties that only Shen Nong has. Would you like to take a look?”

Hearing “Shen Nong tribe,” Ao Ning became more interested.

The Shen Nong tribe was famous even in the Eastern Seas. Everyone knew that the southern Shen Nong tribe had many good things, especially since its leader, the god Shen Nong (Emperor Yan), was both a powerful sun god and an agricultural god.

It was said that the Shen Nong tribe had all kinds of beautiful and magical delicacies. In recent years, it was rumored that Emperor Yan’s youngest son had inherited the agricultural god’s bloodline, and even more new foods had appeared in the Shen Nong tribe.

Unfortunately, the Shen Nong tribe was very far away, and many of their delicate foods, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, couldn’t survive such a long journey. Bringing seeds was also useless—the climate of the Eastern Seas was simply unsuitable for growing many of these foods.

Therefore, products from the Shen Nong tribe were always rare and expensive in Sea City.

But none of that was a problem for Jiang Lin.

Setting aside the fact that his Jade Space allowed items to be stored indefinitely, his cultivation techniques —despite the system’s constant complaints about his wastefulness—was a super cheat for planting. From planting to maturity, it took just a blink of an eye.

Not to mention that his current body had inherited the agricultural god’s bloodline. Farming had become incredibly efficient, with the plants practically leaping up to grow in his presence.

“Oh?” Ao Ning blinked, reluctantly tearing her gaze from Jiang Lin’s face to look around the shop. “So, what are you selling here?”

Jiang Lin smiled and said, “Specialties from the Shen Nong tribe, the freshest and most popular ones. I guarantee you won’t find them anywhere else.”

He led Ao Ning to the left side of the shop, where Huaiyin had just finished placing a bunch of sparkling grapes.

Ao Ning looked at Huaiyin in admiration. “You’re so beautiful.”

Remembering Jiang Lin’s instruction to be as warm as a spring breeze toward customers, Huaiyin smiled politely and said, “Thank you.”

The next moment, Ao Ning asked, “You don’t seem to be human, are you a beast in human form? How long are you planning to stay here? Do you have a partner?”

Huaiyin: “…”

Jiang Lin: “…”

So it turns out you not only love beauty, but you don’t even care about gender?

That’s pretty outrageous!

Huaiyin retracted her smile and said, “Not interested. Give up.”

Ao Ning: “…”

She awkwardly shifted her gaze from the beautiful face to the grapes at hand. “These are grapes, right? I’ve had them before.”

Jiang Lin nodded, cut down a bunch, and handed them to her. “Try these. I guarantee they’re better than any you’ve had before!”

Ao Ning picked one and popped it into her mouth, her eyes widening instantly.

Sweet!

“Delicious!” Her eyes sparkled. “How much are these?”

Jiang Lin exchanged a glance with Huaiyin and then smiled. “No need to rush. As our shop’s first customer, you’re entitled to a unique offer. Today, all products in the store are free for you to sample.”

He led Ao Ning around the shop.

Today, the shop mainly sold fruits—since fruits are visually appealing and can be tasted directly. Plus, in the Eastern Seas, they’re incredibly rare.

The quality and appearance of the items in Jiang Lin’s shop were top-notch.

By the time Ao Ning finished browsing the fruit section, her mind was consumed with the desire to buy everything.

She was particularly fond of lychees, which looked like small, vibrant red lanterns, pleasing to both the eyes and the heart. Peeling away the skin revealed the translucent white flesh inside, and with one bite, the fragrant, sweet juice burst forth, making her eyes narrow in pleasure.

“This, this, this, and this…” Ao Ning pointed out a lot of items all at once. “I want them all!” She had initially planned to buy everything, but Jiang Lin reminded her that fruits are perishable and best eaten fresh. It would be better to buy more when she finished what she had.

After some reluctant deliberation, Ao Ning finally settled on her favorites, ordering over ten pounds of each, which Jiang Lin packed for her.

She had a storage artifact, so taking them home wouldn’t be an issue.

“How much does this all cost?” She finally remembered to ask about the price.

Jiang Lin had been waiting for this moment. “I’m from the Shen Nong tribe and have a keen interest in things from the sea. You can trade items with me.”

Barter was a common tradition in Sea City.

Ao Ning promptly pulled out a small bag of lustrous pearls. “Is this enough?”

Pearls were quite valuable outside the Eastern Seas.

But Jiang Lin shook his head.

Ao Ning then took out a small bag of gemstones. “How about these too?”

Jiang Lin smiled at her without saying a word.

Frustrated, Ao Ning exclaimed, “These could buy an entire ordinary shop!”

Jiang Lin leisurely replied, “An ordinary shop wouldn’t have the things I’m selling.”

Besides, he knew very well that while pearls and gemstones were precious elsewhere, in the Eastern Seas, they were practically worthless.

Especially for a dragon like this young lady, who probably received thousands of such items as tribute from her followers.

Although Ao Ning appeared a bit rough around the edges, she wasn’t dumb.

But Jiang Lin was well-prepared, having already thoroughly researched the local prices.

Realizing she couldn’t fool him, Ao Ning scratched her head and rummaged through her storage bracelet before pulling out a shimmering bolt of cloth. “This is a bolt of shark silk, a trophy from a fight I had. It’s extremely valuable, even among the sea tribes. I’ll give it to you, and in exchange, double the amount of lychees and grapes you were going to give me.”

This piqued Jiang Lin’s interest.

He accepted the shark silk and gave her a gentle smile. “Deal!”

Thandar: Just curious, if I offer advanced chapters for 5 star ratings on NU, would you be interested? 😁