"Half a step into the Heaven Immortal Realm. That's still too weak."
Ancestor Sui thought it over and agreed. Jiang Yuan wasn't even a Heaven Immortal yet. In the current Primordial World, he really wasn't someone who could hold his own—he was no different from a child who'd only just learned to walk. It wasn't suitable to make a grand announcement about him.
"Then we can wait until you become a Heaven Immortal before announcing your identity."
Ancestor Sui wasn't hung up on the matter. He could tell that Jiang Yuan was only three to five years away from becoming a Heaven Immortal. Though he was eager to enter seclusion, he could wait another three to five years.
"Good. Once I've planted the Profound Yellow Grain, I'll begin breaking through to the Heaven Immortal Realm. I don't think it'll take long."
Jiang Yuan thought the same way. Becoming a Heaven Immortal posed no difficulty for him now. If he hadn't been in a hurry to plant the Profound Yellow Grain and obtain more seeds, he would already have begun breaking through.
"I don't know much about the Profound Yellow Grain, so you can make the arrangements yourself. You may call on anyone in the clan."
Ancestor Sui waved a hand, indicating that Jiang Yuan could decide these matters for himself. There was no need to seek his approval for everything.
With Ancestor Sui's support, the clansmen showed tremendous enthusiasm for planting the Profound Yellow Grain, even though they had no idea what it was.
Near the Trade Zone, patches of undeveloped wasteland were reclaimed and turned into top-grade spirit fields.
Then, the clansmen began planting the Profound Yellow Grain seeds in the soil according to Jiang Yuan's instructions.
Farming was exhausting, even for the people of the Primordial World, where everyone had magical power.
How to put it? People in later generations might not have magical power, but they farmed ordinary land. Even with mortal bodies, they could dig it up with ease.
The land in the Primordial World, however, had formed from the flesh and blood of Great God Pangu mixed with innate turbid qi. Every inch contained astonishing spiritual energy. As a result, it was incredibly hard, and only cultivators of the Pre-Heaven Realm could break it open by exerting their full strength.
Those words, "full strength," said it all. No matter how high your cultivation was, how many times could you give it everything you had? Two or three times might be manageable, but after twenty or thirty, even a Sage would be panting with exhaustion.
That was why Jiang Yuan said farming in the Primordial World was tiring. At the very least, they had to send out Void Refinement Realm cultivators. Even they couldn't work for long stretches at a time; they had to alternate between working and resting, just like ordinary people in later generations.
Fortunately, Jiang Yuan had plenty of people at his disposal, so they could take turns working. Otherwise, just reclaiming the wasteland would have cost him a great deal of time.
"If only I knew how to forge magical artifacts. Then it wouldn't have come to this!"
Watching everyone toil in the fields, Jiang Yuan sighed helplessly.
The clan's Heaven Immortals were all occupied, so he could only ask the Void Refinement Realm clansmen for help. But their strength was limited, and reclaiming land and farming were pure physical labor—exhausting work.
If Jiang Yuan knew how to forge magical artifacts, he could make all kinds of farming tools, even heavy machinery.
With those tools, they could not only reclaim the wasteland more efficiently but also ease their burden. It would be the best of both worlds.
Unfortunately, Jiang Yuan didn't know how.
Ordinary people could accomplish things with technology, and cultivators could do the same with Daoist arts.
But just as ordinary people needed years of study to develop technology, cultivators needed years of study to develop Daoist arts.
Jiang Yuan hadn't even been exposed to the knowledge of artifact forging. How could he learn it? He simply didn't know how, and couldn't make farming tools or mechanical magical treasures to lighten the clansmen's workload.
"You never know what you need until you need it!"
Jiang Yuan flipped through the inheritance Lady Nuwa had left behind and did find plenty of knowledge related to the art of artifact forging. But it was all too profound. He couldn't understand any of it.
There was no helping it. Lady Nuwa was on a far higher level. Her research into artifact forging focused on how to forge Innate Spiritual Treasures after the fact. Jiang Yuan only needed to know how to forge acquired spiritual treasures.
Their aims were completely different, and their levels were worlds apart. It was no wonder Jiang Yuan couldn't understand it.
In fact, figuring out how to forge Innate Spiritual Treasures after the fact was the mainstream of artifact forging in the Primordial World.
The art of artifact forging had only recently come into being, and those studying it were all powerful figures of the Primordial World. They shared one thing in common: they looked down on acquired objects.
Since they scorned acquired objects, naturally they wouldn't spend much effort studying how to forge acquired treasures. They devoted all their energy to figuring out how to forge Innate Spiritual Treasures.
As a result, their methods of artifact forging were far too advanced. Even if they gave them to Jiang Yuan, he wouldn't understand them.
Since he couldn't get help from those who came before him, Jiang Yuan would have to find a way to research the magical treasures needed for farming himself.
This was no challenge for Jiang Yuan, who had a cheat—but it would take time. And time was exactly what he lacked right now. So he chose to put the matter aside for the moment and research it after becoming a Heaven Immortal.
There weren't many Profound Yellow Grain seeds yet, and manual farming would be more than enough for some time. That left him plenty of time to research.
Jiang Yuan had reclaimed the wasteland near the Trade Zone on purpose. He wanted to attract the attention of the Ten Thousand Races.
He achieved his goal with ease. Quite a few outsiders were drawn to the strange actions of the Human Race. They began asking around: what was the Human Race up to?
Those who were asked kept their lips sealed. They only said it was a secret and that the outsiders would find out in time. No matter how much the outsiders pressed them, they wouldn't say a word.
The Human Race's unusual behavior didn't dispel the outsiders' curiosity. If anything, it made them even more interested.
Whenever they had free time after that, they watched the fields not far away, hoping to discover what secret was hidden there.
The more curious they were, the more satisfied Jiang Yuan became.
As the saying went, scarcity made things precious. In his plan to promote the Profound Yellow Grain, it wouldn't be used as currency at first. Instead, it would be a scarce resource, provoking the Ten Thousand Races to compete for it.
That way, the name of the Profound Yellow Qi would quickly spread, and more people would come to know of it.
Once it became well-known, the Profound Yellow Grain would draw the Ten Thousand Races' eager pursuit even if Jiang Yuan did nothing. Then, for the sake of profit, they would all plant it in large quantities.
As the Profound Yellow Grain grew plentiful, it would no longer be scarce. Its value would gradually fall to a normal level, and its function as currency would slowly emerge.
Then Jiang Yuan would have achieved his goal: reaping vast amounts of Merit and Destiny, and perhaps even rising to become the Primordial World's God of Wealth.
Though the plan was sound, it couldn't be accomplished overnight, so Jiang Yuan couldn't wait around forever.
Once he had planted all the Profound Yellow Grain, he left and returned to the temple, where he began cultivating in seclusion to break through to the Heaven Immortal Realm.
He had already delayed long enough. He couldn't afford to put it off any longer. Of course, the delay hadn't been entirely bad; it had given him more options.