Chapter 16: 50% Increased Production, Ownership of Wang Lixia’s Spirit Field
Chapter 16: Chapter 16: 50% Increased Production, Ownership of Wang Lixia’s Spirit Field
The Drunken Aphid incident turned out to be nothing more than a brief interlude. It didn’t cause much of a stir, nor did it spark any panic among the Spirit Plant Cultivators. After all, in such a vast expanse of Spirit Fields, finding a few bugs was perfectly normal. No one would associate a few weak insects with a terrifying plague.
Perhaps, the only exception was Wang Lixia, who had lived here for decades and had long seen through the Cyan Yang Sect.
The days of tending the Spirit Fields alongside Immortal Cultivation were incredibly dull. Facing the exact same Spirit Field all year round could easily drive a person mad. Fortunately, Chen Mo had been an avid gamer in his past life, accustomed to endless grinding. Repeating the exact same tasks for over a year surprisingly didn’t bother him much.
As time passed, the Spirit Yellow Rice in the fields sprouted ears day by day, yielding increasingly plump grains. However, there was still no sign of Wang Lixia returning.
Chen Mo knew all too well that she had likely already died in that so-called "Pocket World Blessed Land." She knew full well it was a suicide mission with no chance of survival, yet she stubbornly went anyway... Perhaps this was the sorrow of being a Bottom Layer Cultivator.
As the raindrops gradually fell, the final acre of the Spirit Field became moist. Crystal-clear water droplets hung from the stalks, which stood over half a person tall, sparkling under the morning sun. The rain clouds on the horizon began to dissipate.
As the last drop of rain fell, two lines of bright yellow text flashed before Chen Mo’s eyes.
[Rainfall Technique +2]
[Rainfall Technique Leveled Up!]
Standing in the Spirit Field, he willed his interface open:
[Name: Chen Mo]
[Profession: Spirit Plant Cultivator (Unlocked), Spirit Nurturer (Locked)...]
[Lifespan: 29/76]
[Cultivation: Qi Refining First Layer]
[Cultivation Technique: Qi Cultivation Technique (81/100)]
[Magic:]
[Rainfall Technique (Mastery): 1/400]
[Flaming Palm (Mastery): 33/400]
[Talent: Increased Production (Blue)]
Just as he had hoped, the Rainfall Technique had finally broken through the proficient stage and reached the Mastery Realm! Just like the Flaming Palm, the required experience points had doubled, and the difficulty of Cultivation had instantly spiked by the same margin. However, to Chen Mo, it was completely worth it!
His gaze focused on his current, and only, Talent:
[Increased Production (Blue): Absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi into Cloud Formation and Rainfall Skill to increase Spirit Plants production. This Talent can be integrated into techniques such as the Rainfall Technique, increasing Spirit Field yield by 50% (Already integrated with Rainfall Technique. Can toggle integration when casting. As this technique levels up, the Talent will also level up).]
The production boost had skyrocketed from 20% to a massive 50%! This meant that each acre of the Spirit Field would yield 300 catties of Spirit Rice! Out of that, 180 catties would belong entirely to him! This year’s harvest alone would be enough for him to earn 90 taels of Spiritual Sand.
Exactly a year ago, he had been forced to borrow a Fasting Pill just to survive. Now, he was poised to harvest nearly a hundred taels of Spiritual Sand in a single year. Such a feat was simply unimaginable for any ordinary Spirit Plant Cultivator! Even for Qi Refining Third Layer Cultivators like Wang Lixia and Xiao Changhua, during a bumper harvest year, they would only net about 400 catties at the absolute maximum.
It was obvious that as he farmed more fields, his final net harvest would only continue to grow!
Amidst Chen Mo’s joy, a sudden thought popped into his head. "Wang Lixia isn’t coming back. What’s going to happen to the Spirit Rice in her fields?!"
At that moment, a bold idea surfaced. When a Spirit Plant Cultivator died, their respective Spirit Fields would naturally revert to the sect’s management. By logic, the Spirit Rice wouldn’t be allowed to mature under their name, let alone be subjected to a single grain of tax! Seeing that those five acres were on the verge of ripening, letting them go to waste would be a massive shame.
However, with Chen Mo’s current strength, it was impossible for him to secretly harvest those five acres without drawing the covetous eyes of the surrounding Spirit Plant Cultivators!
After mulling it over, there seemed to be only one solution. It had been a month and a half since Wang Lixia left, and there were just over two months remaining until the Spirit Rice fully matured. Gritting his teeth, Chen Mo recalled the advice she had given him before her departure. He braced himself and went to seek out Xiao Changhua.
According to Wang Lixia, this Cultivator who had embarked on the Martial Dao had already broken through to the Qi Refining Third Layer. If Chen Mo didn’t settle things with him, he could forget about ever touching those five acres of Spirit Fields!
As Chen Mo walked along the ridges of Xiao Changhua’s fields, he quickly caught the man’s attention. Notice him he did, but given Chen Mo’s lowly status, it certainly wasn’t enough to make the older man rise to greet him.
It wasn’t until Chen Mo stood directly in front of him that Xiao Changhua slowly opened his eyes and spoke. "You looking for me?"
"Greetings, Elder Xiao!" Chen Mo cupped his hands in respect.
"Spit it out if you have something to say!"
"Will Elder Wang be returning from her trip?"
Xiao Changhua stood up, staring at him for an extra moment. "What do you think?"
"I’m afraid she’s likely met with disaster."
"A place that even the Immortal Sect can’t handle, and a bunch of Spirit Plant Cultivators think they can? What can they even do?" he chuckled contemptuously. He seemed incredibly disdainful of Wang Lixia’s blatant overestimation of her own abilities.
Yet, ironically enough, he was the very one who had delivered this fatal news to her in the first place!
Naturally, Chen Mo had no intention of confronting him about that. His objective today was clear. "Elder, if it is certain that Elder Wang cannot return, what will happen to her five acres of Spirit Fields?"
Xiao Changhua turned his head to look at the nearby acres. The rice ears were turning yellow, already showing signs of maturation. It was quite obvious that this kid standing before him, who was merely at the Qi Refining First Layer, had spent a lot of time secretly tending to them.
"You want to harvest this batch of Spirit Rice?"
"There are only two months left. It would be a pity to let them go to waste."
"As far as I know, you already have five acres of Spirit Fields of your own, don’t you?" As Xiao Changhua said this, a peculiar expression crossed his face, and his tone carried a hint of mockery.
"Yes. Tending to ten acres of Spirit Fields these past days has already stretched me past my limits. Thankfully, you gave me a few taels of Spiritual Sand, Elder, which allowed me to barely hold on," Chen Mo continued. "My Cultivation has come to a complete halt, but I figured that working hard for a year to save up a sum of Spiritual Sand would make it all worth it."
"Hah." Xiao Changhua sneered.
In his eyes, this kid was childish to the extreme! He was in his prime youth, yet he was actually willing to halt his Cultivation just for a little extra harvest. Little did he know that Cultivation was like sailing against the current. With this stagnation, it would be extremely difficult for him to ever make another breakthrough!
"Purple Cloud Peak doesn’t care who the Spirit Plant Cultivator is, as long as the grain quota is met," Xiao Changhua said, deliberately leading the kid on. Since the brat in front of him was being an idiot, he was more than happy to reap the benefits!
"Really?" Chen Mo’s eyes lit up. "Then how about this, Elder? For the remaining two months, I will continue to tend to Elder Wang’s five acres. Once the Spirit Rice matures and is harvested, after handing over the 500 catties to Purple Cloud Peak, you and I split the remaining 500 catties fifty-fifty. What do you think?"
"Seventy-thirty. I want 350 catties," Xiao Changhua blurted out almost instantly, as if he had already thought it through long ago.
"Elder, this..."
"What? Do you honestly think that without me, the other Spirit Plant Cultivators would let you peacefully finish farming and harvesting the fields once they find out Wang Lixia is dead?" Xiao Changhua sneered.
The kid was truly naive. But naivety was fine. If he weren’t so childish, he wouldn’t be doing such a counterproductive thing in the first place!
"150 catties! This bastard is truly ruthless!" He wanted to take the lion’s share without doing a single thing.
"Fine! 150 catties it is. Thank you, Elder!" Chen Mo gritted his teeth and agreed.
He knew full well that, unless something unexpected happened, these five acres would belong to Xiao Changhua next year. And this year was his very last chance!