"Indeed."
"The Beast Fang Rice has yet to mature, but it has successfully been planted. It's only a matter of time," Qin Ming said calmly.
A hint of joy appeared on Fellow Daoist Ruan's face.
"Since you have this as a sweetener, the transaction is certainly feasible."
"However, ten jin is a bit too little. At least twenty jin of Beast Fang Rice is needed," Fellow Daoist Ruan considered briefly and offered.
Upon hearing this, Qin Ming furrowed his brow and turned to leave.
This person wants to take advantage of me?
Twenty jin of Beast Fang Rice?
It's just daylight robbery.
It must be known that even before, the price of Beast Fang Rice was already ten times that of ordinary Golden Spirit Rice.
Now, with various cultivation resources skyrocketing in Qingyang Market,
the price of Beast Fang Rice is at least five Spirit Stones per jin and rising.
The "Hundred Treasures Glaze Scripture" sounds pretty good from his introduction, but no one has ever successfully cultivated it.
It's uncertain if the creator of this technique exaggerated its benefits.
Moreover, starting to cultivate it means burning through Spirit Stones continuously.
Even generations of the Ruan Family only reached up to the 3rd Layer at best...
Although Qin Ming has some interest in the technique, Fellow Daoist Ruan's asking price has exceeded his acceptable range.
Seeing Qin Ming walking straight out without a word, Fellow Daoist Ruan became anxious, regretting having set the price so high.
"Hey, hey, hey, Fellow Daoist Qin, let's talk it over! Don't rush off; please stay!" Fellow Daoist Ruan hurriedly stopped him.
"How about I step back and add fifteen jin of Beast Spirit Rice?"
Qin Ming didn't respond, just quietly watched him.
Seeing Qin Ming's expression of indifference, impenetrable like iron, Fellow Daoist Ruan felt helpless.
'Young people today are so impatient...'
He knew that this was Qin Ming's final threshold.
Sighing deeply, mulling over it for a while, reluctantly, he said, "Fine, this technique has been with my Ruan Family for so long, and no one has managed to succeed with it."
"Perhaps my family lacks the fortune."
"So, let's go with what Fellow Daoist Qin proposed - a hundred Spirit Stones plus ten jin of Beast Fang Rice."
He appeared to have resigned himself to it.
A slight smile appeared on Qin Ming's face as he said, "Deal."
"When do you expect Fellow Daoist Qin's Beast Fang Rice to be deliverable?" Fellow Daoist Ruan finally breathed a sigh of relief and asked softly.
"Probably... around another two years," Qin Ming considered briefly and said.
"If that's the case... how about this, Fellow Daoist Qin pays me a hundred Spirit Stones first, and I can copy the first five layers of the technique for you. When your Beast Fang Rice matures, you can come and take the original technique."
"What does Fellow Daoist Qin think?"
Fellow Daoist Ruan pondered and offered a compromise.
"Agreed."
Qin Ming nodded decisively in agreement.
He then took a hundred Spirit Stones from his storage pouch and handed them to Fellow Daoist Ruan.
As he passed the Spirit Stones over, although outwardly silent and generous,
inwardly, it felt like his heart was bleeding...
He had struggled greatly to save those Spirit Stones.
This was practically all-in.
Fellow Daoist Ruan put away the Spirit Stones, then took out a jade scroll, handing it to Qin Ming with a smile.
Qin Ming accepted the jade scroll and placed it against his brow, using his Spiritual Sense to carefully inspect it.
After repeatedly comparing it with the beast skin technique in Fellow Daoist Ruan's hand and confirming there were no errors,
the transaction succeeded.
After a brief chat with the other party, Qin Ming left Ruan Mansion.
...
Returning to the shantytown.
Qin Ming resumed his ordinary farming life.
In one acre of Beast Fang Rice Spirit Field.
[Name]: Beast Fang Rice [Entry]: High-Level Spirit Rain Technique x5 (Ripeness 35%)
[Name]: Beast Fang Rice [Entry]: Quality Enhancement x1 (Ripeness 32%)
[Name]: Beast Fang Rice [Entry]: Ripening x5 (Ripeness 40%)
Qin Ming observed these three entries daily, gradually approaching maturity, feeling assured.
In the next two years, Qin Ming already had a plan.
If the 'Ripening' entry refreshed in the Spirit Field, he planned to secretly transplant a small portion of the Beast Fang Rice for cultivation.
Transplanting a few hundred plants would be barely noticeable.
Of course, the three with entries must be taken and ripened.
There's another 'Ripening x5' in the Beast Fang Rice Spirit Field, and with Spirit Seeds and entries in hand, it can continue ripening...
If not for the increasingly unstable surrounding environment, Qin Ming wouldn't be in such a rush.
A mere two years, he could still afford to wait.
But circumstances now don't permit him to wait any longer.
Although he doesn't court trouble, trouble can find him.
The situation in the Cultivation Realm shifts quickly.
Now the higher echelons' maneuvers in the Sect have started affecting even the remote corner of Yunze Wilderness and a small Qingyang Market.
Qin Ming still hopes to firmly grasp the reins of his destiny in his own hands.
...
A month later.
The final harvest of Spirit Rice for the year finally arrived.
This time, unlike before.
Steward Gue from the Spirit Feather Sect and overseer Du Haifu were already waiting early in the Spirit Field, accompanied by many disciples on guard around the Spirit Field.
Under Steward Gue's watch, the Spirit Farmers began harvesting the Spirit Rice.
The evening glow rose.
Once the Spirit Rice was completely harvested, Du Haifu began collecting the Spirit Rice tax.
Soon, he completed the statistics and respectfully handed the ranking jade scroll to Steward Gue for review.
In the final season, Qin Ming's Golden Spirit Rice yield increased once more.
It surpassed ten dan and ninety jin!
Additionally, this season, Steward Gue waived a tenth of the Spirit Rice tax for him.
After paying the tax, Qin Ming received 320 jin of Golden Spirit Rice.
His total ranking across the three seasons this year entered the top ten.
When Du Haifu came to collect the Spirit Rice tax, his attitude starkly differed from before.
Calling him "Little Qin" so sweetly.
Of course, this breakthrough into the top ten was partly due to the Mad Howling Monkey demon beast's disturbance not long ago.
Because only Qin Ming's and a few other Spirit Fields remained unscathed.
After checking the Spirit Rice yield statistics, Steward Gue's stern face showed no emotion whatsoever.
He immediately announced coldly, "This year's Spirit Rice yield rankings are all compiled, and you may view them yourselves."
"The bottom thirty cultivators get on the ship with me."
Even though the Spirit Field suffered from demon beast attacks,
the Spirit Feather Sect showed no leniency toward these low-level Spirit Farmers.
The thirty Spirit Farmers stared blankly at the light screen, lost, fully aware of the fate awaiting them.
Watching those Spirit Farmers, Qin Ming felt a mix of emotions.
Then, his expression suddenly became resolute!
Turning, he patted nearby Cai the Ninth, saying, "Stop looking; let's go."
"Qin Ming, do you think one day we might also be among those thirty?" Cai the Ninth asked in a slightly hoarse voice.
Qin Ming paused.
Said nothing.
If he didn't have the Golden Finger,
that previous scene might very well be the answer.
The final destination of an ordinary person.
Beasts of burden in prosperous times, cannon fodder in chaos, squeezed for labor in peace, expendable in wartime.