As the spiritual grain reaches the elongation stage, the spiritual farmers along the banks of Jade Water Lake become busy.
In the past, it was rare to see a few figures in the spirit fields in one day, but now every field has someone attending, applying rain, killing pests... busy beyond measure.
These spirit fields are not built on spiritual veins, and if they only rely on the spiritual power dispersed from the veins for planting, it's impossible to achieve a good harvest.
Those spirit fields established on spiritual veins belong solely to the sect.
The role of spiritual farmers is to use various methods like applying rain, arranging the earth qi, and extracting wood element essence qi to supplement spiritual power, to bridge the spiritual qi gap for the vigorous growth of the spiritual grain.
Ji An understands that they are the 'fertilizing' machines for the spiritual grain.
He is currently at the very bottom of the sect's hierarchy, but one day he will see whether the view from the top of the tower is worth the chill.
Busy days always seem to pass quickly, and two months flashed by.
In the days leading up to the harvest, Ji An squatted in the spirit fields all day, not daring to leave for a moment.
Thousands of birds gathered around Jade Water Lake, and whenever people weren't paying attention, they flew into the spirit fields to peck a bit.
If these little creatures were allowed to stay in the fields for a while, who knows how much spiritual grain would be lost.
Some wealthier spiritual farmers purchased puppets to guard the spirit fields; Old Huang has one. Without such financial resources, Ji An can only be the watchman for his fields.
"Finally, it's over," Ji An wiped his sweat, hoisted the harvested spiritual grain on his back, and returned to his bamboo loft.
He tied up the cloth sack with a rope and took out the borrowed large scale from behind the door, hooked the rope, lifted the wooden pole of the scale with his right hand, and moved the weights with his left.
"One hundred, one hundred and one, the spiritual grain weighs one hundred and twenty-one pounds, not bad!"
Ji An smiled with satisfaction.
With good management and second-tier planting techniques, an acre of spirit field in the best case would yield two hundred pounds of spiritual grain per season, which is the ideal situation.
Ji An has the third-layer Small Cloud Rain Technique, Thick Earth Technique, and Life and Death Technique; an ideal situation would yield one hundred and thirty pounds of spiritual grain from half an acre.
The sect's purchase price for first-tier spiritual grain is one spirit crystal per pound, with slight variations based on quality.
The appearance of this batch of Ji An's spiritual grain is quite good; if sold completely, it should fetch over one hundred and twenty spirit crystals, making a hefty sum, probably thirty spirit crystals more than other spiritual farmers who entered the sect at the same time.
However, such a harvest is only possible in the first year; in a year, he will have to pay field rent and taxes, plus other additional costs.
For one acre of spirit field, by the season, purchasing grain seeds requires about twenty spirit crystals, field rent sixty pounds of spiritual grain, and a 'personal tax.'
The annual contribution points for the First-Layer Qi Refining is ten, and twenty for the Second-Layer, and so forth; contribution points are directly deducted from the jade token.
If taxes cannot be fully paid for two consecutive seasons, you will be sent to the mines for three months of labor and then expelled from the sect.
Old Huang said that if you want to save on grain seeds, the harvest would humble spiritual farmers, as cultivating grain seeds is a sect's secret method. Field rent suddenly increased from fifty to sixty pounds of spiritual grain three years ago, making life even harsher for many spiritual farmers.
Ji An sighed; even though the sect's taxes are high, it is much better than being a loose cultivator. His father said sometimes, at the early-stage Qi Refining, a year's harvest was less than two spirit stones.
He pulled out a chair to sit in the yard, contemplating whether to get a rocking chair.
At dusk, placing a rocking chair under the big tree, brewing a pot of spirit tea, sitting comfortably, raising a spirit beast to lie beside the chair.
Clicking his tongue, thinking of it brings a sense of transcendence.
He closed his eyes, connecting his mind to the Stone Turtle.
[Master: Ji An]
[Dao Rhyme: 0]
[Spiritual Mechanism: Kan Spirit 23.4, Kun Spirit 7.2, Xun Spirit 0.1]
[Magic Technique: Small Cloud Rain Technique (Minor Achievement 92%)]
Thick Earth Technique (Minor Achievement 97%)
Life and Death Technique (Minor Achievement 52%)
Flame Fire Spell (Entry 1%)
Sharp Gold Technique (Mastery 12%)
In two months' time, Ji An practiced diligently on his own, and with a little help from the Stone Turtle, his Small Cloud Rain Technique and Thick Earth Technique were catching up to the realm Old Huang cultivated arduously for years.
The only not-so-good news is despite two months without missing a single pill and practicing diligently, he still hasn't advanced to Third-Layer Qi Refining.
If not for worrying that his current cultivation couldn't handle too high a realm of magic techniques, his Small Cloud Rain Technique and Thick Earth Technique would have already reached the Great Success Level.
"Brother Xiao'an, how's the harvest?"
His thoughts were interrupted as Ji An opened his eyes to see Old Huang standing outside the fence, smiling.
He hurriedly got up, smiling:
"Please come in, senior brother, thanks to you, the harvest isn't bad."
He pointed at the cloth sack on the ground:
"Senior brother, weigh it, you'll be amazed!"
"Oh, I must take a good look."
Old Huang grabbed the rope tied to the sack and guessed, revealing an expression of understanding in his eyes:
"Around one hundred and twenty pounds, Brother Xiao'an is indeed a natural spirit farmer!
If I had your talent back then, I might be a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator by now."
He sighed, feeling nostalgic.
"Senior brother's sensing power is impressive!"
Ji An praised, amazed that Old Huang could gauge the weight without using the scale.
"Alas, I calculated carefully, and starting to pay sect taxes after a year, this harvest barely feeds me."
Working hard for three months on an acre of spirit field, ending up with only over a hundred spirit crystals in hand, not daring to consume pills freely.
Half the refined magical power is fed to the grand Stone Turtle, fearing that it would be hard to accelerate cultivation to advance to Mid-stage Qi Refining without popping pills.
He is also deep in debt, needing to repay some after a year, or lose credibility.
Ji An moved a step closer, saying:
"Senior brother, how much more yield can your cultivated first-tier spirit field produce?"
"I don't know."
Ji An frowned slightly, unwilling to disclose trade secrets?!
Old Huang burst into laughter: "Brother Xiao'an, nonranked spirit fields can only grow Yellow Sprout Rice.
But the yield of Yellow Sprout Rice on an acre of spirit field is barely three hundred pounds."
"Even if you practice planting techniques like Small Cloud Rain Technique, Thick Earth Technique, and Life and Death Technique to Perfection Level, you cannot break the limit.
But a tier one lower-grade spirit field can grow Jade Corn, haha, which is the main ingredient for refining mid-stage Qi Refining pills, Jade Pill.
No one would use a first-tier spirit field to plant Yellow Sprout Rice."
"Then you're making a lot, senior brother!"
Old Huang's face paled:
"Brother Xiao'an, don't you think the field rent is settled with Yellow Sprout Rice? Whatever you plant must be used to settle.
The cost of Jade Corn seeds accounts for almost twenty percent, and the boost in yield from planting techniques at the Great Success Level improves Jade Corn's yield substantially less."
"Life isn't easy."
Ji An sighed.
Old Huang nodded in deep agreement, opened the sack, grabbed a handful of spiritual grain, and after de-shelling, praised:
"The quality is excellent, should fetch a few more spirit crystals."
"Not bad," Ji An smiled, he wasn't planning to sell it, choosing to keep it for himself.
Yellow Bud Pill can't be consumed daily, fearing the accumulation of difficult-to-clear pill poison, but spiritual grain can be eaten every day, every meal.
For him, with higher cultivation, more options become available.
Others need to painstakingly comprehend magic techniques, but he does not need that; this is his greatest advantage.