Spirit Rice Harvest (Seeking Recommendations)

Early spring.

Every spirit farmer in the shantytown wore a delighted smile. Some had even changed into rare new clothes, as though they were heading to some kind of celebration.

Fang Xi walked through the bamboo grove and casually waved his right hand.

The Green Grain Sword flew out, slicing off a section of bamboo.

He knocked on the bamboo tube. Hearing the substantial echo from within, he nodded in satisfaction. "The spirit rice is ripe."

The next moment, Fang Xi directly lit a fire on the ground and began roasting the bamboo tube.

As time passed, a fragrant aroma mingling rice and bamboo slowly wafted through the air.

This was another way to eat Spirit Bamboo Rice: Bamboo Tube Rice.

During this period, he had remained in the bamboo grove to guard the hard-won mature spirit rice and prevent petty thieves—or even pests—from getting at it.

For this reason, he had not even gone to Daliang.

Today, at last, there was a harvest!

Crack!

After a while, the bamboo tube burst open, revealing spirit rice packed inside.

The freshly ripened grains were plump and evenly distributed. The moment they landed on the tongue, they seemed to melt away, especially with that clear fragrance that refreshed the heart and lungs.

Paired with the cured meat Fang Xi had brought himself, it made a decent meal.

After eating his fill, Fang Xi felt the Spiritual Energy within him brimming over. Daring not to slack off, he hurriedly circulated the Evergreen Art once.

Not only that, after circulating his cultivation method, he struck a stance and tempered both his palms.

"Tsk, tsk... Little Fang, are you body-tempering?"

No one knew how much time had passed. Fang Xi, somewhat lost in the martial arts, heard a teasing voice and hurriedly raised his head. He saw an Iron Leaf Boat slowly descending from the sky, with someone stepping down from it.

The newcomer was a male cultivator in his thirties. He wore a sky-blue yuanwai robe and had a smiling, round face that made him look extremely prosperous.

When Fang Xi saw him, he hurriedly stopped practicing and rose with a smile. "Greetings, Steward Situ."

Seeing him looking at him, Fang Xi quickly smiled again. "I was merely bored and practicing a little mortal martial arts. I've made a fool of myself, made a fool of myself..."

This fat man in blue was named Situ Ying. He was a member of the Situ Family and oversaw part of the Spirit Fields.

To many of the spirit farmers on the mountain, he was practically an earthly emperor who held their lives and deaths in his hands.

"Mm, these spirit bamboo plants are growing well. You must have put in a great deal of effort."

Situ Ying walked through the bamboo grove, inspected the growth of the spirit rice, and nodded slightly.

"Not at all, not at all. It's mainly because Green Bamboo Mountain is blessed with outstanding people and beautiful scenery, with excellent Spiritual Energy. That's why the spirit rice grew so well."

While flattering him, Fang Xi took out a small brocade pouch and handed it over.

Inside the pouch were the few Spirit Crystals he had left.

Situ Ying accepted it. He did not even need to open it to know the exact amount, and his expression grew even gentler. "Good lad, you know how things work... Since that's the case, start harvesting."

This scene made Fang Xi think of something recorded in a book he had read in his previous life.

When those ancient landlords and tenant farmers harvested their crops, it was probably just like this, wasn't it?

Since both men were cultivators, the harvesting went very quickly.

Rustle, rustle!

Patches of bamboo grove fell one after another, transforming into bamboo rice.

At the end, Situ Ying took out a large weighing artifact from the Storage Bag at his waist and began measuring the weight.

"A storage artifact?"

Fang Xi stared at the gray, unassuming little bag at Situ Ying's waist and grew envious again.

He did not possess a storage artifact like that...

"This year's harvest is pretty good. The spirit rice comes to two dan and forty catties... The principal gets half, which is one hundred and twenty catties!"

Situ Ying fiddled with his abacus. "The price of Spirit Bamboo Rice has risen now. If you sell your private share, I can give you four Spirit Stones..."

Fang Xi calculated for a moment and said reluctantly, "I'll keep half..."

According to the land-rental contract, he should have received half the harvest—one hundred and twenty catties of spirit rice.

If he wanted to sell this spirit rice, he could only sell it to the Situ Family.

The Situ Family also operated a rice shop in the market, so they could drive the price down mercilessly. The number of Spirit Crystals they offered was not high.

Spirit farmers often needed to cultivate as well, so most of them had to keep their share.

Still, for Situ Ying to immediately demand that Fang Xi sell his portion was rather insatiably greedy.

"Half, then. So be it... I'll leave you sixty catties."

Situ Ying put the spirit rice into his Storage Bag, tossed down a small pouch of Spirit Crystals, and left on the Iron Leaf Boat.

Fang Xi opened the pouch and found only eighteen Spirit Crystals inside. He could not help cursing inwardly. "A bloodsucking ghoul that plucks a goose bare as it flies past. One day, don't let yourself fall into my hands..."

After Spirit Bamboo Rice was harvested, it could not be planted again until summer.

Planting here was also quite peculiar. Rice seeds were unnecessary; all that was needed was to stimulate the roots of the spirit bamboo until bamboo shoots grew.

Harvesting in spring and planting again in summer left a period of agricultural idleness.

Fang Xi slowly walked back to his shack, wondering whether he should renovate his own place.

Just as he opened his front door, he saw that Old Mai Tou's room already had a new occupant. He could not help being startled.

"You're Fellow Daoist Fang, right? I'm a newly arrived spirit farmer, Chen Ping."

Chen Ping looked to be in his twenties or thirties. He was also at the early stage of Qi Refining, with an utterly ordinary appearance.

He smiled ingratiatingly and handed over a low-grade Dust Removal Talisman. "It's just a small gift. I hope you won't find it too humble."

"Thank you. Let's visit each other more often from now on."

Fang Xi exchanged a few smiling pleasantries with him before returning to his room and stroking his chin. "In the past, when spirit farmers gave gifts, they sent no more than some pastries or spirit rice... This newly arrived fellow Daoist seems to have quite substantial assets... Could he be a talisman maker?"

But immediately afterward, he sighed with emotion.

Old Mai Tou had been a spirit farmer for several decades, but once he died, there were not many who remembered him. Even his house and fields were quickly transferred away.

This was the reality of the Cultivation World!

The lowest-level cultivators were ants, weeds... They could be harvested at will. In any case, they would always grow back.

"Yesterday it was Old Mai Tou. Tomorrow, perhaps it'll be me!"

Fang Xi gave a self-mocking smile.

Given his personality, even fewer people would probably remember him when the time came.

"Forget it... I might as well take advantage of this period of agricultural idleness to cultivate properly."

Fang Xi practiced the third-layer Qi Refining cultivation method of the Evergreen Art every day, but his progress was not fast.

The White Cloud Palm, on the other hand, showed signs of advancing by leaps and bounds.

Daliang.

White Cloud Martial Arts School.

"Senior Brother Fang!"

"Greetings, Senior Brother."

Fang Xi entered the martial arts school in a white martial outfit. The outer-courtyard disciples all revealed ingratiating, admiring smiles.

If, at the beginning, they had merely been won over by the wealth of Master Fang, now they also held a few more traces of reverence for the strong.

There was no other reason than this: Fang Xi's rate of progress was simply too fast!

Not only had he entered the school extremely quickly, he had completed his Blood Qi Transformation One cultivation at home, and not long ago announced that he had broken through Second Transformation of Qi and Blood!

This had left who knew how many people green with envy behind his back.

But... what use is jealousy?

Fang Xi smiled faintly and entered the inner courtyard of the White Cloud Martial Arts School.

"Senior Sister!"

After greeting Mu Piaomiao, he went straight to a clay stove.

The clay stove had been built from green bricks, with an iron pot set atop it.

As soon as Fang Xi arrived, servants immediately lit the stove and poured sack after sack of medicinal ingredients into the iron pot.

Looking closely, one could see venomous creatures such as writhing centipedes and spiders mixed among the medicinal ingredients, enough to make one's scalp crawl.

"After using the calcination method to advance my White Cloud Palm into Second Transformation of Qi and Blood, I have to try tempering poison into my palm force!"

Fang Xi looked at his palms.

After undergoing two transformations of qi and blood, the skin of his palms had become as tough as cowhide, strong and powerful.

This was the foundation for practicing poison arts.

After all, tempering poison into one's palm force would damage one's own body as well.

Even though the White Cloud Martial Arts School had a special antidote, the accumulated injuries over time would still be terrifying.

Roar!

Flames fiercely licked the bottom of the pot, making the liquid inside increasingly thick and turning it blue-black and foul-smelling...

Fang Xi's expression did not change. Once the water boiled, he plunged both palms straight into it.

Splash!

The boiling poison swayed between his palms as he silently circulated the changes in his qi and blood, drawing in the power of the toxins.

Indeed, only after reaching Second Transformation of Qi and Blood, with a powerful physique and qi and blood, can I absorb even a little of the toxins... If I cultivate too far ahead of schedule, I might poison my own palms into uselessness!

After half an hour of cultivation, Fang Xi withdrew his reddened hands and gazed at his palms.

He saw that whenever he circulated his qi and blood, a gray mass would suddenly appear in the center of each palm.

"Is this the Poison Palm? The Dark Cloud stage of White Cloud Palm? No... It should only be the beginning..."

White Cloud Palm had three levels: White Cloud, Dark Cloud, and Black Cloud!

The White Cloud stage encompassed Blood Qi Transformation One and Second Transformation of Qi and Blood, during which the palms were as white as jade.

The Dark Cloud stage came with Three Changes of Qi and Blood. When the technique was circulated, the palms turned pitch-black, marking the initial mastery of the poison arts.

Fang Xi was currently between the second and third transformations.

As for the final Black Cloud stage, that was when one truly refined true force and brought the Poison Palm to great mastery!

It was said that when Mu Canglong truly circulated his technique, both palms were black as ink, and even the wind from his palms carried deadly poison!

"My financial resources are abundant enough to purchase all kinds of rare poisons and temper them into my palms, so my progress is extremely fast..."

Fang Xi lowered his palms and stood there, silently considering his martial progress.

Besides that, he could use his own Spiritual Awareness to examine his insides, mend bodily damage, and expel toxins. This was another major advantage!

With so many advantages stacked together, Fang Xi's progress in White Cloud Palm naturally advanced a thousand miles a day. He had even surpassed Wu Ji. Though Wu Ji remained extremely enthusiastic in public recently, the looks he cast behind Fang Xi's back had become rather intriguing.

In the entire martial arts school, when it comes to martial arts alone, only Mu Piaomiao and Mu Canglong should be above me, right?

Fang Xi thought to himself.

Wu Ji is going nowhere, Liu Taotao's temperament is flawed, and when it comes to honesty and composure, Tang Xuan might well overtake them later. I can afford to cultivate a slightly closer relationship with him.

As he was thinking, the handsome Wu Ji arrived in the rear courtyard with a kindly smile. "Junior Brother Fang..."

"Senior Brother Wu, is something the matter?" Fang Xi raised an eyebrow.

"Well... I've been short of money recently because of my martial cultivation. I wonder if Junior Brother..."

Wu Ji opened his mouth by asking to borrow money.

This little boat of friendship is about to capsize. Fang Xi rolled his eyes inwardly.