Collecting Rent from Spirit Fields

Morning sunlight streamed through the cracks in the wooden window. Li Yuan opened his eyes, feeling fully refreshed.

Having cultivated for most of the night, the spiritual power within him was considerably fuller than the day before. That pure sensation of spirit qi entering his body remained vivid.

[Spirit Qi Filtration (White)]

[Permanent Progress: 13/100]

Today, Li Yuan was not patrolling Qinghe Market. He was heading to the Spirit Field District to collect rent.

A little over twenty li east of Qinghe Market lay a vast stretch of spirit fields, spanning several thousand mu. They were the property of the Wang Family.

The Wang Family did not farm the land themselves. Instead, they rented the spirit fields to nearby Rogue Cultivators, collecting a set amount of spirit grain as rent every year.

Patrol Inspectors like Li Yuan, aside from their daily market patrols, also took on rent-collection duties.

Collecting rent required a storage pouch. Such things were expensive, and Li Yuan naturally did not own one. They were usually kept at the Management Office, where they could be collected when needed and returned afterward.

A storage pouch with a capacity of one cubic unit cost roughly fifty or sixty Spirit Stones. In this world, one cubic unit was approximately one cubic meter from Li Yuan's previous life.

The storage pouch used to collect spirit grain was certainly larger than one cubic unit. Fortunately, as a storage pouch's capacity increased, its price did not rise proportionally. A ten-cubic-unit storage pouch would definitely not cost five or six hundred Spirit Stones.

The Management Office stood at the end of West Street in the market, a two-story wooden building with two guards stationed outside.

Li Yuan showed his identity token. The guards nodded and let him in.

The first floor was where business was handled. Several clerk-like cultivators sat behind desks, dealing with all manner of miscellaneous affairs.

Li Yuan walked up to the counter and handed over his identity token along with a pouch he had prepared beforehand. "I'm collecting a storage pouch, turning in part of the cultivators' stall rent, and going to the Spirit Field District to collect rent."

The clerk accepted the token and routinely asked whether anyone had failed to pay.

After receiving confirmation that everyone had paid, he checked the register, took out a palm-sized cloth pouch from beneath the counter, and handed it to Li Yuan. "Remember to return it when you come back."

[Detected equippable item]

[Item Affix Grade: Green]

[Note: Item does not belong to host. Cannot equip. Detailed information unavailable.]

Could equipping a storage pouch grant a Green Trait?

After Li Yuan accepted the storage pouch, the System Panel suddenly appeared before his eyes.

However, equipping a storage pouch was not something he needed to consider for now. Setting aside the Equipment Slot issue, he could not afford one in the first place.

Li Yuan had long expected the note saying items that did not belong to him could not be equipped.

Leaving the Management Office, Li Yuan headed east.

About half an hour later, he arrived at the Spirit Field District.

Before him stretched neatly arranged fields, their ridges crisscrossing one another. A kind of bluish-green rice grew in the fields, its heavy ears hanging low and giving off faint ripples of spirit qi.

This was Green Jade Rice. Its yield was not high, but it was easy to grow and did not demand overly strict spirit qi density, making it well-suited for planting in these outer spirit fields.

Several Rogue Cultivators were working in the fields. Li Yuan headed straight for a thatched hut at the very back.

An old farmer sat outside the thatched hut. His hair was grizzled, his skin dark, and he was weaving something out of straw. Seeing Li Yuan approach, the old farmer set down his work and rose to his feet.

"Inspector Li, you're here to collect rent again?"

"Uncle Wang." Li Yuan nodded. "Is this season's spirit grain ready?"

Uncle Wang was an old hand in the Spirit Field District. He had farmed here for more than ten years and was fairly familiar with the original owner of Li Yuan's body.

He was at the Qi Refining Second Layer, an honest and dutiful man who had never delayed his rent.

"It's been ready for a while. I've just been waiting for you people to come collect it."

Uncle Wang turned and entered the thatched hut. Before long, he pushed out a cart of Green Jade Rice. The ears were plump, the grains even, all top-quality goods.

Rice with spirit qi naturally could not produce yields as high as ordinary mortal rice. It required extremely fertile soil, and a yield of over a hundred jin per mu was already considered high.

"This year's harvest is good, twenty percent better than in previous years."

Uncle Wang said with a smile, then somehow pulled out a bundle of jade-white spirit grain and placed it in Li Yuan's hands.

"Inspector Li, you've been running all over the place, so you must be tired. Please accept this small token of thanks."

These were all unspoken rules among patrol inspectors, a small benefit of the job. Li Yuan naturally did not refuse.

The moment Li Yuan accepted the spirit grain and touched the ears of rice, translucent words surfaced before his eyes once more:

[Detected equippable item: White Jade Rice (requires 1 jin)]

[Equipment Slot full (1/1). Replace current equipment?]

[Affix Preview: Five Grains Nourishing Qi (White)—Stamina recovery speed increased by fifty percent; Vital Blood increased to a certain extent]

[Permanent Condition: Consume 10 jin of the same type of spirit grain]

Li Yuan's eyes lit up. Spirit grain could be equipped too. It seemed the range of things that could be equipped was broader than he had imagined.

And the Affix's effect was quite good. Stamina recovery increased by fifty percent, and it could also improve Vital Blood.

For a cultivator like him, who had to patrol, collect rent, and cultivate every day, stamina recovery was an extremely useful attribute.

White Jade Rice was of a higher grade than Green Jade Rice. It could nourish Vital Blood and could be considered Low-grade First-Order spirit grain.

Ten jin of White Jade Rice, going by market prices, was worth around five Spirit Stones. Li Yuan weighed the spirit grain in his hand. It was roughly one jin.

This kind of rice was mostly eaten by Body Refinement Cultivators to replenish Vital Blood. Compared to things like Blood-Qi Pills, it offered far better value for money.

A short while later, Uncle Wang pushed over several more large carts of spirit grain, all of them Green Jade Rice.

Li Yuan stored the spirit grain in the storage pouch, his expression unchanged as he asked, "Uncle Wang, do you know where I can find Qi-Gathering Rice around here?"

Uncle Wang was taken aback when he heard that, then shook his head.

"I only know that among the nearly thousand mu of fields near me, no Spirit Farmer is growing Qi-Gathering Rice for now."

"As for the fields elsewhere, I'm not sure."

Li Yuan was slightly disappointed, but he did not take it too much to heart.

This Qi-Gathering Rice was said to help cultivators break through their realms. Li Yuan wanted to see whether he could obtain a corresponding Affix to aid in breaking through.

"You've worked hard, Uncle Wang. Here's the receipt."

Li Yuan took out a prewritten receipt from his sleeve and handed it over. Uncle Wang accepted it, looked it over, and carefully put it away.

"Take care, Inspector Li."

Li Yuan nodded and turned to leave the Spirit Field District.