A String of Great Meritorious Deeds

When Jiang Yuan had previously sampled the seeds of foxtail grass, he discovered that their greatest use wasn't to neutralize Sha Qi, but like fierce beast meat, consuming them could boost cultivation.

Although the increase was minuscule, almost negligible, it was because Jiang Yuan had eaten so little, only two or three grains.

If he were to eat twenty to thirty thousand grains, or even two to three million, the boost in cultivation would not be negligible, but rather quite substantial.

Not only that, but consuming foxtail grass seeds to improve cultivation had another benefit: it was safer than eating fierce beast meat. No matter how much was consumed, there was no need to worry about Sha Qi poisoning.

"These grass seeds are less like grass seeds and more like natural spirit stones, crystallized innate spiritual energy."

This was Jiang Yuan's assessment of foxtail grass seeds: they were natural spiritual energy crystals that could be used as spirit stones, directly absorbed and refined by people.

If they could be cultivated on a large scale, just harvesting the seeds they produced annually could bring immense profits to the Human Race.

And this was just foxtail grass. If it could be domesticated and cultivated into a better form of ji, or millet, then not only would the yield greatly increase, but the innate spiritual energy contained within each seed would also rise.

In this way, cultivating this plant would be highly profitable, even becoming a major source of income for the Human Race.

Who said Primordial Beings didn't need to eat and therefore didn't need food? This kind of food, containing pure innate spiritual energy and capable of boosting cultivation, was precisely what Primordial Beings needed most.

For their sake, Primordial Beings could develop the good habit of eating.

Moreover, foxtail grass seeds also possessed a mild Sha Qi neutralizing effect. It was likely that after domestication and cultivation into better millet, this Sha Qi neutralizing effect would also be strengthened.

Fierce beast meat, cooked with spices, had already had seventy to eighty percent of its Sha Qi neutralized. Consuming it with millet rice that could neutralize Sha Qi would undoubtedly completely eliminate the remaining Sha Qi.

This way, no matter how much fierce beast meat was consumed, there would be no more worries about Sha Qi poisoning, effectively resolving the issue.

With the hidden danger of fierce beast meat completely removed, the beings of the Primordial World would have no reservations, and their desire to slaughter fierce beasts would only grow stronger.

This action would undoubtedly effectively reduce the number of fierce beasts, thereby lessening their destruction of the Primordial World.

If this wasn't a great deed, what was? Therefore, according to this logic, after Jiang Yuan cultivated foxtail grass into ji, he should receive a great amount of Merit.

Furthermore, this Merit was different from the Merit Jiang Yuan had obtained before. This was not the Merit of education, but the Merit of saving the Primordial World, carrying more weight, and thus deserving more Merit.

Another point to clarify: since ji was equivalent to natural spirit stones, it meant it possessed certain monetary properties.

At the same time, not only the Human Race could cultivate ji, but all races could.

With these two factors combined, wasn't ji a natural currency? Its appearance perfectly filled the void of a lack of currency in the Primordial World.

And to develop trade, a unified currency was indispensable. Among many treasures, ji might not be the most perfect, but it was the most suitable at present.

If ji could truly become the legal currency of the Primordial World, wouldn't that earn another portion of Merit? The Merit of promoting the development of the Primordial World!

The emergence of currency would undoubtedly promote exchange among all races, thereby promoting the development of the Primordial World. This was also a contribution to heaven and earth, deserving of Merit.

And this was not the end, but a new beginning. Following this line of thought, the next thing to perfect would be the system of measurement.

After all, when ji matured, it would eventually need to be weighed. How else could it be measured if not by the grain? Since weighing was necessary, a standardized system of measurement was essential.

And perfecting the system of measurement would also promote the development of the Primordial World. Would this also warrant a portion of Merit?

It was these thoughts that led Jiang Yuan to shift his attention from the meat in the clay pot to the foxtail grass in his hand.

Compared to these grand ideas, merely inventing the clay pot and pioneering the cooking method of boiling was nothing.

Even perfecting the culinary arts would yield far less benefit than these grand plans.

This was truly a feat of unprecedented merit!

"The ji is of great importance, and I must find a way to cultivate it. Only by cultivating ji can I verify whether these ideas of mine are feasible."

Clenching the foxtail grass in his hand, Jiang Yuan silently made up his mind. His main tasks from now on, besides cultivation, were to cultivate ji as quickly as possible.

Later generations referred to the world as she ji, where she represented the earth and ji was the millet cultivated from foxtail grass. From this, one could see how important this plant was, equivalent to half the world.

Jiang Yuan did not worry about his inability to achieve this. If later generations could cultivate foxtail grass into better ji, he naturally could too. After all, unlike later generations, he had a cheat.

Just as Jiang Yuan was envisioning the future, Tao arrived with tribesmen suffering from Sha Qi poisoning, not one or two, but hundreds.

"Come, line up, one bowl per person, no pushing or shoving."

Jiang Yuan snapped back to reality. Without a word, he picked up the pre-fired spoons and bowls and served each of them a bowl of thick meat broth.

Just smelling the aroma, their symptoms had already eased considerably, making them quite expectant of the broth's effects.

Thus, as soon as they received the broth, they didn't mind that it was hot and drank it all in one go.

Seeing this, Jiang Yuan quickly released his divine sense, carefully observing the changes in their bodies, wanting to understand how effective the broth was at neutralizing Sha Qi.

The result was, of course, not very good, because the broth neutralized the Sha Qi from the fierce beast meat within it, and the Sha Qi within their bodies was not in the broth, so how could it be effective?

However, although the Sha Qi neutralizing effect of the broth was not strong, its effect on strengthening the physique was immediate.

Jiang Yuan could clearly feel that after drinking the broth, the physical fitness of these Post-Heaven Realm tribesmen had significantly improved.

This allowed them to endure the erosion of Sha Qi for a few more days.

"It was my mistake, I shouldn't have added meat. I should have just stewed these spices into a soup for them."

Knowing he had made a fool of himself, Jiang Yuan quickly corrected his approach. The moment he spoke, Merit descended from the sky.

It was not the Merit of education, but the Merit of saving the Primordial World. Firing pottery itself did not yield Merit, but with the appearance of pottery, the cooking method of boiling became widespread, which brought considerable Merit.

Fierce beast meat, after prolonged stewing, not only had its Sha Qi content reduced, but the Innate Vitality it contained also became easier to absorb.

This undoubtedly strengthened the desire of the beings of the Primordial World to hunt fierce beasts, causing considerable harm to the fierce beast race.

Fierce beasts were a great scourge to the Primordial World; killing them was not a transgression but a meritorious deed. The more they were killed, the more Merit was gained.

The cooking method of boiling could inflict continuous damage on the fierce beast race. Jiang Yuan, who invented and popularized it, naturally deserved a portion of Merit.