Now, it wasn't just Ji Ruo and Liang Shixian who were stunned. Even Liu Neng and Zhang Quan, the two obvious dead-last students, were dumbfounded.
"Is this... Blood Rice?" Liang Shixian asked hesitantly.
By any ordinary measure, this stuff could already count as a low-grade natural treasure. Its grade was just very, very low.
Its main effect was to strengthen the blood, and there were no restrictions on its use. Martial artists of any rank could eat it.
It was especially effective for Martial Apprentices like Ji Ruo and the others, practically an experience potion for Martial Apprentices!
Normally, Blood Rice grew in Secret Realms, because it needed to absorb the blood and qi of powerful creatures. Its roots extracted the essence of flesh and blood to nourish the plant, producing crimson grains that strengthened the blood.
People died in Secret Realms every day, so it was reasonable to occasionally come across one or two Blood Rice plants.
But the problem was, the Blood Rice in front of Ji Ruo and the others wasn't just one or two plants. It was an entire field.
What's more, the field was laid out with striking precision, a square plot measuring about fifty meters on each side. It was plainly a Blood Rice field someone had planted!
How could there be something like this in the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Secret Realm?
If it had been growing wild, that would've been one thing, but this clearly wasn't wild!
Just as the group hesitated, a shrill conversation suddenly came from the other side of the Blood Rice field.
"Stay hidden!"
Ji Ruo and Liang Shixian reacted at lightning speed. In a flash, they shoved Liu Neng and Zhang Quan down onto the ground.
The lush grass concealed all four of them. They didn't dare breathe too loudly, lying motionless among the weeds.
The voices coming from the other side clearly didn't belong to humans.
"Ugh, the chief is such a @#￥@. I can't understand why he insists on making us bring meat to @#@#￥, when we never even get to eat this stuff."
"How can you talk about the chief like that? How are we not getting anything to eat?"
"We only get to drink Blood Rice soup. You call that @#￥ eating?"
"Forget that. We'd better @#￥ head back. The Great Demons at the mountaintop seem to be @％@# lately. Things aren't exactly peaceful."
Ji Ruo and the others lay quietly in the grass, not moving a muscle as they listened to the two creatures outside.
They understood most of what was said, but there were still parts they couldn't make sense of. Those parts weren't human language at all.
One of the creatures was complaining, and the other tried to talk him down. Then came the sound of something heavy hitting the ground.
The two creatures didn't seem inclined to stick around. Their voices gradually faded into the distance.
Ji Ruo cautiously raised his head until his eyes were level with the Blood Rice, then peered out.
"Goblins?!"
Staring at the two not-so-tall green figures walking away, Ji Ruo was dumbfounded.
How could such low-level Demonic Beasts talk like people?!
Once the two Goblins had gone, Ji Ruo told the others everything he'd seen.
Liang Shixian frowned deeply, while the other two looked completely baffled.
"Is it strange for Goblins to talk?" Zhang Quan asked, looking confused.
Liang Shixian explained, "Goblins are low-level, group-dwelling Demonic Beasts. They do have a language of their own, but it's really just a series of roars that express their emotions.
"Normally, their intelligence is incredibly low. Human language is far too complicated for them, so in theory, there's no way we could understand them talking, and they shouldn't be able to speak our language either."
Ji Ruo added, "And it looks like the Goblins planted this Blood Rice field. Our teacher said that, in terms of intelligence and civilization, Goblins are barely at the level of early Stone Age humans.
"They might think of fastening a sharp stone to a handy stick, but they'd never think of growing crops. That's way too advanced for them."
Liu Neng asked blankly, "So what do we do now?"
The two Goblins had already left. Ji Ruo brushed off his backside, stood up, and pulled the Small Wooden Stick from his waist. "What do we do? Eat, of course! Aren't you hungry?"
"Huh?"
Ji Ruo swung the Small Wooden Stick, using nothing but the Basic Sword Technique taught at school to perform a dazzling series of flourishes.
The boy holding a wooden stick suddenly said, "To be honest, when I was little, I was famous for helping out during harvest in all the villages around. Every autumn, the villagers had to find me first before they could start cutting the crops."
Liang Shixian blinked. "Why?"
"Because—"
Ji Ruo glanced at the prey the Goblins had tossed into the rice field, picked it up, and used the wristwatch issued by the school for the Martial Exam to record it. The watch wasn't just for calling for help; it could record information, too. The prey the Goblins had brought had now become Ji Ruo's exam score.
Once he'd finished, he stood in the middle of the field, scowling as he pointed his stick at the rice, and started practicing some kind of nameless sword technique, going "hiya" and "ha!" In truth, he was just swinging it around wildly.
"If they didn't find me, they might not be able to relax and get the harvest in."
As Ji Ruo swung his stick, swathes of Blood Rice fell one after another. A peculiar sense of accomplishment welled up inside him.
Liang Shixian: "???"
Isn't this just a badly behaved brat? What are you so proud of?!
The delight on the boy's face grew brighter and brighter. A system notification appeared before him—
[Congratulations, young host! You have unlocked the Sword Dao achievement: If a Boy Wields This Stick, Ten Miles of Rapeseed Bow Their Heads!] [You have obtained the BUFF: Sword Dao Favor (First Glimpse of the Path)] [Sword Dao Favor: Increases comprehension related to swords. The increase is equal to the current level's maximum. (That is, at the First Glimpse of the Path level, comprehension of every sword-related application rises to the maximum of that level. If it exceeds the limit, comprehension returns to normal.) Note: This ability can be upgraded by unlocking achievements.] [Remark: Wasting food isn't what a good child should do~]
Ji Ruo was delighted. He swung the Small Wooden Stick with even more gusto, and before long, he'd wrecked the entire Blood Rice field.
"Come on, take as much as you can! We're having a feast today!"
He didn't feel guilty at all. Wasting food was shameful, sure, but he wasn't going to let it go to waste. He was going to eat it.
Besides, Goblins had planted this field, and these Demonic Beasts had a blood feud with humanity. If he could make life difficult for them, of course he would.
Of course, killing them would be even better.
The others exchanged glances. They were famished, too, so they hurriedly gathered up the Blood Rice Ji Ruo had knocked down. Each of them ended up with a huge bundle.
"Wait, we can't carry much like this." Ji Ruo rubbed his chin, then pulled the Standard Tang Dao from his back, cut off the ears of rice, and bundled them into his school uniform, leaving the stalks behind.
Ji Ruo said seriously, "Don't take the stalks. Let them rot here and enrich the soil, so they can keep planting this stuff later. We're being so considerate of those Goblins. If they knew, they'd be moved to tears."
The others: "..."
There were so many things wrong with that, they didn't know where to start.
Still, they knew what the situation was. Taking just the ears of rice was much more convenient than hauling away the stalks too.
So they followed his example, taking off their school uniforms and using them to carry the rice.
The tension of the Martial Exam seemed to vanish. Even Liang Shixian and the others cheerfully enjoyed the thrill of the harvest.
They were all boys, after all. It didn't take much to make boys happy.
Besides, they really were starving, and Blood Rice was known as an experience potion for Martial Apprentices. It wasn't something an ordinary family could afford to buy regularly. Now they'd practically gotten it for free. How could they not be happy?
Before you continue