Chapter 13: Effects of Spirit Rice
Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Effects of Spirit Rice
"Senior, I’m here to cast Rainfall for you."
Chen Mo knocked lightly on the door just as he usually did. Without waiting for a reply, he began casting the spell. Even when he was nearly finished, Wang Lixia didn’t step out of her house.
When the Spirit Rice Seeds were first sown into the earth, they didn’t require much water before germinating. During the first month, they generally only needed rainfall once every five to seven days. As a result, casting the Rainfall Technique didn’t consume much Spiritual Qi, and natural recovery was more than enough to replenish it.
Over the course of about a month, Chen Mo had only seen Wang Lixia once. Whether it was just his imagination or not, she seemed reluctant to leave her home. Plus, since someone was already helping her water and tend to her Spirit Field, she only showed her face once every week or two.
March arrived.
The seeds of the Spirit Yellow Rice finally sprouted, breaking through the soil. Specks of starlight green dotted the thousands of acres of Spirit Fields at the foot of Purple Cloud Peak. As the seeds germinated, weeds gradually began to grow alongside them.
Unlike ordinary weeds in the Mortal Realm, these weeds—nourished by the Spirit Vein and watered by Spiritual Rain—had far tougher root systems and grew much more vigorously. If they weren’t promptly cleared out during their budding stage, they would become impossible to uproot once fully grown. Furthermore, the rampant growth of weeds would severely stunt the stems of the Spirit Yellow Rice, let alone allow them to bear ears and produce grain!
Therefore, during the four to five months of spring and summer, uprooting newly sprouted weeds was just as crucial as regular watering.
Chen Mo stepped into the field, wrapping two fingers in flames. He gently thrust them into the soil, gripping a weed by its roots and pulling it up in one smooth motion. Even though he had channeled his Spiritual Qi, he still felt a trace of resistance. It was a testament to just how deep the roots went!
It took him nearly an hour to clear just about an acre of land. Since the weeds never stopped growing, it was completely impossible to eradicate them all at once. He could only do a little bit each day, persisting until summer passed and autumn arrived. Mastering the rhythm of weeding was the real key to success.
By the second month, Chen Mo—who was simultaneously tending to ten acres of Spirit Fields—finally felt an unprecedented level of pressure!
Not only did weeding cost him an hour every day, but because the Spirit Rice had entered a phase of frenzied growth, the watering frequency spiked from once every four to five days to once every two days! More often than not, even draining all the Spiritual Qi in his body wasn’t enough to finish watering the ten acres.
Consequently, Chen Mo had no choice but to start consuming large quantities of Spiritual Sand to rapidly replenish his failing Spiritual Qi. For half a month straight, he was so busy he was practically running in circles. Aside from his Rainfall Technique steadily gaining experience, his Qi Cultivation Technique and Flaming Palm showed almost no progress whatsoever.
It was only April, yet out of the twenty taels of Spiritual Sand he had traded for, he had already consumed so much that only eight taels remained! At this rate, the Spiritual Sand wouldn’t even last through the summer, let alone the rest of the year!
That evening, a somewhat exhausted Chen Mo had just returned to his small wooden cabin and laid down when a sound came from the door. KNOCK, KNOCK.
"Who is it?"
There was no verbal reply, only two coughs. However, just from those two coughs, Chen Mo immediately recognized who was outside.
Wang Lixia!
Since he transmigrated more than half a year ago, she was the only Cultivator he had interacted with frequently. Perhaps she could even be considered half a friend.
"Just a moment." Chen Mo hurriedly got up and opened the door.
In an instant, a rich aroma wafted into his nose. He looked down to see Wang Lixia’s withered hands holding a piping hot bowl of rice porridge. This was the source of the fragrance. Not only that, but a trace of Spiritual Qi was actually mingled within the scent!
"Senior, what is this?"
"Some broken grains of rice left over from last year."
Chen Mo took the bowl by reflex. Before he even had time to thank her, she placed one hand behind her back and leaned on her cane with the other, hobbling away.
Staring at her retreating back, Chen Mo was momentarily at a loss for words. A lavish meal rewarded by a wealthy man couldn’t compare to a bowl of porridge saved and shared by a fellow sufferer. He watched her quietly, intending to see her off with his eyes.
Suddenly, Wang Lixia turned her head and scolded, "Are you going to eat it while it’s hot or what?!"
"Oh, right!" Chen Mo raised the bowl and downed the steaming Spirit Rice Porridge in one gulp.
The moment it hit his stomach, a current of warmth surged through his entire body. It was completely different from the Medicinal Power of the Fasting Pills. While it provided a sense of fullness, it also carried the comforting sensation of nourishing his meridians and enriching his Dantian!
Soon, his depleted Dantian Spiritual Qi began to accumulate. After about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, his previously parched Dantian instantly became brimming with energy.
"A single bowl of porridge contains at most one tael of rice, yet it has such a powerful effect?!" Chen Mo exclaimed in surprise.
He estimated that while a hundred bowls of porridge might not equal the Spiritual Qi Amount contained in a single tael of Spiritual Sand—making it incredibly extravagant to cultivate by constantly eating—the recovery effects brought by this Spiritual Food were completely unmatched by Spiritual Sand!
No wonder the Cultivators from major families and Sects purchased Spirit Rice in massive quantities! This was only the most inferior Tier One Spirit Yellow Rice; if it were other types of Spiritual Food, the effects would be simply unimaginable.
A single bowl of porridge could account for a whole day’s worth of Spiritual Qi recovery. In other words, he could rely entirely on Spirit Rice to restore his Spiritual Qi and then depend on his Spiritual Sand to cultivate.
"I still have fifty catties of Spirit Rice, which should yield about thirty catties after polishing..." he thought.
He estimated that, calculating at a rate of one catty every ten days, thirty catties would last a full three hundred days! By doing so, the remaining eight taels of Spiritual Sand could be completely dedicated to cultivation.
Of course, if he went with this plan, a single bowl of porridge a day wouldn’t be enough to sustain his physical exertion. This meant that the remaining fifty catties of Spirit Rice couldn’t be counted towards his daily sustenance. He only had three Fasting Pills left on him, while winter was still six months away!
"Does this mean I have to go borrow another three pills?" he wondered.
For a moment, Chen Mo found himself in a difficult position. However, he still had three months of rations left, so it wasn’t an urgent crisis just yet.
With his Spiritual Qi restored, Chen Mo practiced the Flaming Palm a few times in his room. The experience bar, which had been stagnant for half a month, finally increased by two points, reaching eighty-two. Disregarding the latter three months, if he maintained his current pace, this Magic would reach the Mastery Realm before autumn! In Wang Lixia’s words, that meant he would be able to project the flames from his body to attack his enemies!
Another month passed.
With the assistance of the Spirit Rice, Chen Mo’s cultivation speed increased by another margin. His Qi Cultivation Technique advanced by three points, growing at a rate of one point every five days. His Flaming Palm made an even bigger breakthrough, jumping to one hundred and eighty points, and even his Rainfall Technique reached one hundred and fifty points!
Weeding, watering, meditating, and cultivating—everything proceeded in an orderly manner.
One day, Chen Mo arrived at Wang Lixia’s field as usual. To his surprise, however, he spotted a neighbor. It was a neighbor he saw often but had never spoken to.
"Xiao Changhua? Why is he here?" he wondered.
This was the Spirit Plant Cultivator who lived north of Chen Mo’s Spirit Field. He had entered cultivation through the Martial Dao, reaching the Qi Refining Second Layer last year. Whether he had broken through to the Third Layer yet remained unknown.
Originally, the two of them were standing at the edge of the field, seemingly discussing something. But upon seeing Chen Mo approach, Xiao Changhua instantly shut his mouth, glaring fixedly at him with an unfriendly gaze!