Baiji Plain

The place Lin Su was heading to was called Baiji Plain, located on the outskirts of Haining City, no more than five li from the city.

Why was he going there in person?

Not wanting to study behind closed doors was one reason; on the other hand, he had heard his second brother mention this river beach, specifically highlighting a certain crop that needed to be seen on-site.

Baiji Plain was a river beach.

In a feudal society, water conservancy projects were naturally out of the question. Thus, during the rainy season, the river beach would be flooded, making it impossible to grow grain crops. The locals cultivated a crop called Ting Rice, a plant that didn't exist on Earth. It was extremely peculiar—rice grew on the stalk, and flowers bloomed on the rice itself. It was moisture-resistant, flowering even when submerged in water for long periods, with a survival ability so tenacious it was almost infuriating, allowing it to thrive in the extreme conditions of the river beach.

What was Ting Rice used for?

Some might say, since it's rice, it must be for eating, but that wasn't actually the case.

The value of Ting Rice wasn't as a food crop; it lay in the flowers blooming at the top of the rice.

These flowers had an unusual fragrance, extremely long-lasting. Thus, cultivation sects used them to make secret-refined perfumes, selling them to the capitals of various countries, becoming an important channel for accumulating resources. This perfume was sold in Great Cang Capital City, with a small bottle priced as high as one hundred taels of silver.

At this point, anyone familiar with crossovers would guess that Lin Su was planning to make perfume, that great weapon.

Heh, wrong again!

The value of this perfume had already been exploited. How could a penniless, powerless kid like him snatch food from others' mouths?

Lin Su's target was the Ting Rice itself.

What was Ting Rice?

The locals called it "Yellow Springs Rice." Why that name? Because this rice was utterly detestable.

It had a hard outer shell that humans couldn't digest. Once eaten, it would swell in the stomach and couldn't be expelled at all.

It was rice, very small, and you couldn't possibly peel each grain individually.

If you pounded it into powder, the shells were still mixed in, inseparable. Eating it would still clash with your intestines and stomach, causing constipation that would inevitably lead to death.

So, the locals had no way to deal with this rice.

Starving to death, with rice right beside you, yet unable to eat it—not even fit for feeding dogs or chickens—imagine how tragic that was?

Thus, this rice had two uses. The first was to rot and become fertilizer.

The second was for poor souls who had never had a full meal in their lives: when their time came, they could eat their fill of it, not caring whether they could expel it or not, at least dying as a bloated ghost in the underworld.

That's why it was called "Yellow Springs Rice."

The people of this world had no way to handle this rice, but that didn't mean Lin Su was helpless.

He wanted to see if this rice could tie into his grand plan. If it really worked, the Lin family would have a stable and controllable source of income.

Five li out of the city, the official road and the path to Baiji Plain diverged here.

The official road was flat and wide, enough for four carriages to travel side by side, but the path to Baiji Plain was just a muddy trail overgrown with weeds. Lin Jialiang stopped: "Third Brother, give me the bag."

His third brother only had a Literary Root and hadn't yet entered the literary world. The path of literature had layers, each a new realm. Those in the literary world were far superior in strength and physical fitness to those with just a Literary Root.

"No need! Second Brother, let's race."

"Third Brother, you don't understand the gap between literary realms. If I really run, I'm ten times faster than you!"

"I don't believe it! Come on!"

Lin Su tapped his toes and shot through the grass, his speed like a galloping horse.

Lin Jialiang smiled slightly, his figure flickering as he followed. His toes skimmed over the grass without even touching the mud.

"Wow! Treading Snow Without a Trace..." Lin Su sped up, crossing the ridge ahead in the blink of an eye.

Silently, Lin Jialiang overtook him, appearing in front with a surprised expression: "Third Brother, your speed doesn't seem like someone with just a Literary Root!"

"Don't forget, I have Dual Roots of Literary and Martial Arts!"

As his words fell, his speed increased again.

Lin Jialiang was shocked. He pushed his literary realm power to eighty percent just to keep up. Dual Roots of Literary and Martial Arts—was it really this formidable? People with both roots were extremely rare in this world. Why? Because valuing literature over martial arts was the social trend. If you could have a Literary Root, who would choose a Martial Root?

Those who chose a Martial Root were almost always people who couldn't obtain a Literary Root.

It was like in modern society: if you could get into Tsinghua, why would you go to a vocational high school?

But Lin Su was an exception.

He came from a military family and initially chose a Martial Root, but it couldn't be activated. He planned to try his luck at a cultivation sect to see if he could open the Dao gate, but returned empty-handed.

Later, he exchanged a poem for a sage's direct gift, granting him a Literary Root. Who would have thought that the poem he wrote was a war poem? Through the war poem's feedback, the Martial Root that had never been activated suddenly awakened.

Thus, he had Dual Roots of Literary and Martial Arts.

The more Lin Su ran, the more exhilarating it felt. The tiny hairs on his Literary Root extended to his feet, essence energy spreading. On his Martial Root, true qi swirled, seemingly increasing as well. Unconsciously, his contact with the ground grew less frequent, each landing point farther than the last. Ahead was another bend; he suddenly lifted his toes, skimming over the grass and landing on the slope ahead.

With a whoosh, Lin Jialiang appeared before him, his face extremely excited: "Third Brother, I've used all my cultivation, and our speed is only evenly matched..."

Lin Su looked ahead: "The Ting Rice flowers have already been harvested? Not a single one left."

Ahead was the river embankment and tidal flat, stretching for a hundred li. A month ago, he remembered it was a sea of crimson, a blaze of flowers. But now, not a single flower remained, only heavy Ting Rice hanging on stalks half a man's height, unharvested.

"That is natural! How precious are Ting Rice flowers? They're the material for making perfume. From blooming to harvest, over a dozen experts from the Bishui Sect guarded the entire process, never allowing a single flower to fall into the hands of the common folk."

Bishui Sect?

A great cultivation sect?

Lin Jialiang shot him a glance. "Third Brother, do you know? The betrothal you were set up with—the Second Young Lady of the Zhou Family—she's in the Bishui Sect."

Huh? He had a wife lined up?

Lin Su felt a stir of excitement. "How come I don't know about this?"

"The match was made when you were just born. Where would you have heard of it?" Lin Jialiang's tone turned somber. "But after what happened to the Lin Family, the Zhou Family came calling. When Mother left, her face was awful. There might be some trouble."

"Changing their minds, kicking us while we're down—that sort of thing?"

Lin Jialiang shook his head. "Elder Brother doesn't know the full details. I'm afraid it might not have reached that point yet. Even if it has, with Third Brother's poetic talent, the Zhou Family will surely come back around. Don't worry."

"I really don't care about this!" Lin Su said. "Since I'm already betrothed, then Second Brother, are you betrothed?" Yu Lou didn't count as a proper engagement.

Lin Jialiang shook his head. "That's just the way of the world—chasing gain and avoiding harm is instinct. I don't mind it, actually. I'm almost relieved. With the engagement called off, at least Yu Lou won't be caught in the middle, struggling to be a person."

So he'd had one too, and it was also broken off.

Lin Su found these tidbits quite interesting. He turned the topic to their Elder Brother at the border. "What about Elder Brother? Is he engaged?"

Elder Brother... Lin Jialiang let out a deep sigh. He had originally fallen in love with a woman from a foreign land. That was already a thousand difficulties and ten thousand hardships. And now... it was even harder.