Chapter 2: Two Birds with One Stone
Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Two Birds with One Stone
"Increased Production? A twenty percent increase in yield?"
For a moment, Chen Mo couldn’t quite wrap his head around it. He froze for a moment before a self-deprecating, bitter smile surfaced on his face.
"Other people’s Golden Fingers are either immortality or life simulation. Why is mine just a twenty percent Increased Production? I guess I’m destined to farm!"
Forget it. It was better than nothing. If he could upgrade his Rainfall Technique to the Proficient Realm before the Spirit Rice matured, his three acres of Spirit Fields would yield an extra 120 catties. For the current Chen Mo, this would be a substantial income! After all, these 120 catties were tax-free and completely at his disposal.
"I just cast the Rainfall Technique once, and the experience directly increased by one. Does this mean as long as I keep casting, this Cultivation Technique can level up?"
For Chen Mo, Magic at the "Proficient Realm" was originally something he could only dream of. If casting it really added experience, then it was quite a good ability. Thinking of this, he formed hand seals again. However, as rain clouds gathered in the sky, he immediately realized something was wrong!
"Wait! Spirit Rice needs a Spiritual Rain once every three days after autumn begins. Doing it twice in one day will increase the moisture too much and rot the roots!
"One point of experience every three days means only thirty points in three months. That’s nowhere near enough to level up!"
Chen Mo was momentarily stumped. Torn over the dilemma, he walked toward the small wooden cabin next to his Spirit Fields.
This was his house, his only piece of real estate after renting the Spirit Fields. Inside, there was a Defensive Array set up by an Array Master from Purple Cloud Peak. With it, Chen Mo could enjoy the protection of the Ancient Dust Marketplace. As long as he didn’t make enemies with other Cultivators, the Marketplace could keep him safe. However, if he truly encountered a desperate Loose Cultivator willing to risk being hunted down by Purple Cloud Peak to strike within the Marketplace’s jurisdiction—just like what had happened to the original owner of this body—then if he died, he could only blame his own bad luck.
Returning to the room, there was a wooden bed, a wooden table, and two wooden chairs—and that was it. It was the very definition of destitution.
Taking off his bloodstained blue cloth gown and changing into ordinary short garments, Chen Mo sat at the wooden table and poured himself a cup of water. He picked up the cup and just as he brought it to his lips...
Suddenly, inspiration struck! He stood up abruptly, downed the water in one gulp, and pushed the door open to walk out.
"I can’t use Rainfall on my own Spirit Fields anymore, but I can do it for others!"
Chen Mo gazed out, and as far as the eye could see were endless Spirit Fields. Apart from the three acres he rented, there were other Spirit Plant Cultivators like him in the vicinity.
"Xiao Changhua to the north is a Cultivator of the Martial Dao. I think he’s already at the Qi Refining Second Layer. The original owner dealt with him twice; he has a dark expression and isn’t easy to talk to.
"What’s the name of the one to the south again? I think he rented fields around the same time I did, but he only took two acres. He might be worse off than me!"
Chen Mo thought it over, eliminating his neighbors one by one, until he finally zeroed in on a Female Cultivator located to his northeast! He set off. It was only the distance of a few acres of land. As a Cultivator, it took him merely half the time an incense stick takes to burn before he arrived at Wang Lixia’s Spirit Fields. It was similarly a lush green Spirit Rice Field, also planted with Tier One Spirit Yellow Rice. The ground of the rice field was already dry. It looked like Rainfall hadn’t been cast for the past two days.
Chen Mo walked up to her wooden cabin and knocked gently on the door, calling out, "Fellow Daoist Wang, are you home?"
He only asked for the sake of asking. As a Loose Cultivator and a Spirit Plant Cultivator in the Ancient Dust Marketplace, where else could she be besides in her fields?
"Who is it?" an aged voice called out from inside the cabin.
"It’s me, Chen Mo, your neighbor."
"Wait a moment."
Shortly after, the door opened. An old woman in coarse clothes with a hunched back appeared before Chen Mo. This was Wang Lixia. It was said that she was over eighty years old. In her early years, she had contracted five acres of Spirit Fields in the Ancient Dust Marketplace and had been farming them for decades. But despite her advanced age, she was the only Cultivator at the Qi Refining Third Layer within a radius of a hundred acres. The other Spirit Plant Cultivators all had to show her some respect.
"What is it?" Wang Lixia leaned on her cane. Her eyes were already somewhat cloudy. It seemed she might pass away from old age before long.
"Fellow Daoist Wang, I was hoping to ask for three Fasting..."
"I don’t have any!"
Before Chen Mo could even finish speaking, she rejected him with a cold face. Fasting Pills, as necessities for a Bottom Layer Cultivator, were considered hard currency just like Spirit Rice and Spiritual Sand.
Seeing that Wang Lixia was about to shut the door, Chen Mo hurriedly continued, "I won’t borrow them for nothing. From today onward, I’ll handle the Rainfall for your five acres of Spirit Fields until the Spirit Rice matures. How about that?"
"Hmph!" To his surprise, she still scoffed coldly. "You think you can exchange three Fasting Pills for mere Rainfall? What? Do you think I’m easy to deceive just because I’m old and frail?"
Although Cloud Formation and Rainfall was no small burden for a Spirit Plant Cultivator, the depleted Spiritual Qi would take at least a day to recover naturally. If one wanted to recover faster, they had to use Spiritual Sand! Therefore, for a Spirit Plant Cultivator, the vast majority of their Cultivation time and Spiritual Qi were wasted on tending to the Spirit Fields. But what else could they do? Having food to eat was better than going to the Black Mine Pit to mine!
"No, no, no. Fellow Daoist Wang, I said I’m borrowing them, not trading!" Chen Mo quickly explained. "Once the Spirit Rice in my fields matures next year, I’ll pay you back. How about that?"
Hearing this, Wang Lixia’s expression immediately softened. She looked Chen Mo up and down, fell silent for a moment, and asked, "Are you giving up on your Cultivation for the next three months?" She knew very well that at his Realm, tending to eight acres of Spirit Fields was already his absolute limit. Aside from meditating to recover every day, he wouldn’t be able to do anything else. It was well-known that Cultivation was like rowing upstream against the current. Over time, he might never be able to break through to the Qi Refining Second Layer!
"What other choice do I have?" Chen Mo sighed. "I’m out of Fasting Pills. I can’t just starve to death, can I?"
He didn’t mention the fact that he had been robbed. This wasn’t something to be spoken of lightly. If other Spirit Plant Cultivators found out, they would avoid him like the plague. Who knew if he had offended someone? These Spirit Plant Cultivators, who only looked out for themselves, wouldn’t want to get involved in that kind of karma.
Wang Lixia hesitated for a moment before saying, "Deal. After nine days, I’ll give you a Fasting Pill. Then, every month thereafter, I’ll give you another."
"Thank you for your help, Fellow Daoist!" Chen Mo cupped his hands and bowed, finally breathing a sigh of relief. The problem with the Fasting Pills was solved, and the issue of practicing the Rainfall Technique was solved as well. It was killing two birds with one stone.
"COUGH!" Wang Lixia coughed drily. Trembling, she leaned on her cane, pointed to the Spirit Fields in front of her door, and said, "It just so happens that the rice in the fields needs watering."
Chen Mo nodded, walking briskly to the center of the Spirit Fields before forming hand seals. Rain clouds gathered, bringing Harmonious Wind and Rain. Half an hour later, as the Spiritual Qi in his Dantian hit bottom, the five acres of Spirit Fields had completed this round of rainfall.
[Rainfall Technique +2]
"Not bad, not bad. Come back in three days."
With her hands behind her back, Wang Lixia looked at Chen Mo with a complex gaze. Only after a long while did she return indoors and casually close the door behind her.