Chapter 83: Too Much Food Is Also a Problem
Chapter 83: Chapter 83: Too Much Food Is Also a Problem
BAM! BAM!
BAM!
Accompanied by an explosive sound of tearing air, a terrifying wave of heat blasted from Chen Mo’s palms.
BOOM!
The ground beneath his feet trembled slightly.
A pair of massive handprints was stamped into the earth. The surrounding weeds sparked until they finally withered.
Chen Mo retracted his palms and looked at his hands. The roaring flames emitted a strong, oppressive aura. If that strike had hit his own body just now, his Blue Python Robe would probably have been ruined.
Although Chen Mo had yet to reach the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, the power of a Great Success Stage Flaming Palm was already in a completely different league. Unlike the Geng Metal Finger, this Magic, renowned purely for its lethality, was much more effective in Magical Combat!
With this, the Magic that had accompanied Chen Mo for nearly five years finally hit a bottleneck. Now, apart from his lifestyle Magics, only the Spirit Snake Body Technique had yet to reach Great Success. However, under his hard and clever cultivation, a breakthrough in this Magic was imminent.
"Come! Attack me!"
Kang, who was about as tall as a human, stood eagerly to the side. The moment Chen Mo spoke, it turned into a blur and lunged at him.
With terrifying speed and immense agility, Kang incessantly pecked at its opponent’s chest. Chen Mo, meanwhile, dodged desperately, trying to evade its attacks.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
In quick succession, Kang’s beak struck Chen Mo’s chest. Although the bird wasn’t overwhelmingly strong and Chen Mo was protected by the Blue Python Robe, the sheer force of the impact still knocked his movements off balance.
Nevertheless, Chen Mo remained delighted. He watched the experience points, +1, +1, continually popping up before his eyes, putting him in a great mood.
Of course, for Kang, this sparring method where it could solely attack and vent its energy made it incredibly happy! Its chicken head bobbed and weaved, turning into a blur as it struck Chen Mo’s chest again and again. It pecked mercilessly, seemingly venting its inner dissatisfaction: Who told him not to buy it a hen!
Just as Kang was triumphantly unleashing its inner rebellion, its opponent’s body suddenly grew light, and his movements became erratic and elusive.
Kang, who had originally been able to land one hit for every ten pecks, suddenly found that it had lost its target! Even though the opponent was still right in front of it, no matter how it attacked or what method it used, it simply couldn’t land a hit!
SWISH!
With a flash of a silhouette, Chen Mo darted behind Kang. His large hand then clamped down on its chicken neck, holding down the head that had been bobbing like an electric motor.
"Alright, you’re no longer of use to me," he said, patting its comb with a smile on his face.
Ever since he discovered Kang’s utility, the progress of his Spirit Snake Body Technique had advanced by leaps and bounds. It had originally trailed his Flaming Palm by over 300 experience points, but it caught up in just a short month.
And all of this was thanks to Kang’s chicken head! Magic was just like martial arts moves; having a sparring partner to feed you moves naturally accelerated the speed of leveling up.
That sudden transformation just now was the sign that Chen Mo’s Spirit Snake Body Technique had reached Great Success!
Now, unless they used instant-cast Magic, Cultivators below the Qi Refining Third Layer could forget about getting close to him, let alone hitting him with Magic that was at most at the Mastery stage! It was completely impossible for them to strike him.
Not only that. The Great Success Stage Spirit Snake Body Technique also gave Chen Mo a certain degree of self-preservation capability when facing Qi Refining Fourth Layer Cultivators. The same would apply when he eventually broke through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.
Even if he couldn’t win, he now had the ability to flee!
"My Rainfall Technique will also break through in another two or three months, and my Qi Crossing Technique will require another batch of seeds to be nurtured. I just wonder if Song Yunxi will be back by the end of the year," Chen Mo estimated.
He really hadn’t expected that even with a massive amount of Spirit Rice, it would actually be somewhat difficult to dispose of! This also made him realize that the identity of a Spirit Plant Cultivator practically locked away their future.
It was bad if they couldn’t get resources, and equally bad if they could. The more Spirit Rice they possessed, the higher the likelihood of being plundered if they couldn’t get rid of it.
It perfectly echoed what Chen Mo had said back then: "Stockpile grain without stockpiling weapons, and your home is just a granary for others."
Three years after the great disaster, everything was relatively peaceful.
Aside from the summer being exceptionally hot this year and the Spirit Plant Cultivators being busier than usual, there were no major surprises. Every early morning, a group of Spirit Plant Cultivators could be seen standing at the edges of their fields, enduring bodies drained of Spiritual Qi to forcibly cast the Rainfall Technique.
A minor disaster struck every three years.
Minor disasters weren’t inherently terrifying, but they indirectly delayed the cultivation of the Spirit Plant Cultivators. Just like Chen Mo in previous years, when all his Spiritual Sand was used to replenish Spiritual Qi, how could he have the time to cultivate and improve?
But now, Chen Mo was different. Not to mention the Low Grade Spirit Stones in his possession, the nearly endless supply of Spirit Rice alone was enough for him to squander lavishly. He had even processed the Spirit Rice into rice cakes. Every half hour of casting Rainfall, he would pull one out from his Storage Ring and chew on it with pleasure.
However, the unexpected drought still disrupted his plans.
Breaking through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer was originally supposed to take just over three months, but it was forcibly delayed to four months. He probably wouldn’t break through until the second crop of Spirit Rice was harvested.
Since last year, Chen Mo had stopped consuming Fasting Pills. By eating Spirit Rice every day for a year, he had gained a dozen or so experience points from food alone. If he switched to eating Tier Two Spirit Rice, his cultivation speed would probably double again!
Time slipped by day by day. The sweltering summer finally passed, and the so-called drought didn’t cause too much trouble.
The Spirit Plant Cultivators all breathed a sigh of relief. They had survived this year.
Everything was back on track. The day of the harvest would be the day they started living a good life. However, they might never know that this endless cycle was exhausting their very last ounce of potential.
The Cyan Yang Sect wanted a herd of diligent beasts of burden who could never escape their status, rather than Spirit Plant Cultivators who relied on cultivation to gradually grow into threats against their own disciples!
After all, a Spirit Plant Cultivator at the Qi Refining Seventh and Eighth Layers would still be stronger than a genius at the Qi Refining Third and Fourth Layers, wouldn’t they?
Autumn arrived.
The surroundings of the Ancient Dust Marketplace were dyed a golden yellow.
The heavy ears of rice bent the stalks, and the Spirit Plant Cultivators were in good spirits. Beasts of burden would always be happy simply because they had a bite to eat.
Chen Mo wiped the sweat from his forehead. Having finished harvesting the second crop, he dispelled the illusionary projection concealing his secrets under the cover of night.
Two thousand one hundred catties of Spirit Rice were neatly stacked beside the chicken coop. Even with such an exaggerated amount, no Spirit Plant Cultivator dared to covet another’s Spirit Rice at this time.
These were meant for paying taxes and rent. He still had five thousand catties left, which, along with the seven thousand catties from half a year ago, sat quietly in his Storage Ring.
The space, measuring twenty feet on each side, was already half full. This meant that with just another ten thousand catties of grain, the Storage Ring he bought for five Low Grade Spirit Stones would run out of space!
Fortunately, the end of the year had arrived.
Chen Mo could sell grain once again.
However, even so, a problem still lay before him.
Seventeen acres of Spirit Fields, at absolute maximum capacity, could yield 3,400 catties. After deducting taxes and rent, a person would have at most around 1,700 catties left.
In the entire Ancient Dust Marketplace, excluding the Yi Er San Grain Station, there were only five grain shops.
Even if he sold 1,700 catties to each shop, he could only sell a total of 8,500 catties!
What was he going to do with the remaining 3,500 catties?