Green Lotus Bears Lotus Seeds, Mutated Rice Matures

As the second day arrived,

Hu Man, on the other side, grew more anxious the longer he waited.

From the first day of injecting attribute spiritual power onward, it could not be interrupted.

He had thought Xu Changqing would yield, but unexpectedly, Xu Changqing did not say another word.

In the end, Hu Man could only compromise.

He revised the compensation again.

He had no choice but to change (1 point per day + 10) to (1 point per day + 100).

Then he changed the Spirit Stones from (daily compensation + 10 Low-Grade Spirit Stones) to (daily compensation + 1 Mid-Grade Spirit Stone).

He had already made up his mind.

Once this cooperation ended, he would never ask this spirit farmer for help again.

After receiving confirmation from the other party,

the first thing Xu Changqing did was head to the Spirit Field Core Administration Office.

He first reported the task modification to the staff inside.

Only after confirming there was no problem did he board a Flying Paper Crane and fly toward the Earth Vein.

With the experience from last time, both his speed and efficiency were much greater this time.

In less than two hours, he arrived once more at Hu Man's cave dwelling on the eighteenth level of the Earth Vein.

Compared with yesterday, the Earth-Spouting Lotus had faded considerably in color.

However, it still maintained the form of the wood-attributed Green Lotus.

Xu Changqing did not waste time and decisively sat cross-legged.

The wood spiritual power within his body slowly flowed into it.

At once, the faded Earth-Spouting Lotus brightened again.

It turned silently in a clockwise direction.

The speed was not fast, roughly one rotation every ten seconds.

With every turn, the lotus leaves and flower upon it became clearer.

This time, it also seemed larger than yesterday, as though it were growing.

And so, the days passed one after another.

Every day, Xu Changqing entered the Earth Vein and watered the Earth-Spouting Lotus.

At first, Shan Fei would follow along, but in the end, he simply could not be bothered to even glance at it.

Until the seventh day, which was also the final watering.

Xu Changqing circulated the Evergreen Formula.

The wood-attributed spiritual power within him continuously poured into the Green Lotus, which now seemed almost tangible.

As it rotated clockwise, it released a faint fragrance.

After seven consecutive days of watering, it had completely transformed from a gaseous form into a solid one.

Just as the final session ended, Xu Changqing's right hand trembled.

The Spirit Mark that had been born from cultivating the Wood-Spirit Entanglement Art

automatically emerged without being activated.

The character [Wood] radiated azure light.

For no apparent reason, it resonated with the Green Lotus before him.

The light flickered again and again.

Then, the spiritual power in Xu Changqing's body began to drain continuously.

Within only a few breaths, he lost one strand.

If he had not reached Late Qi Refining, possessed five strands of spiritual power,

and cultivated the Evergreen Formula to the fifth level, increasing his recovery speed,

he simply could not have endured such consumption.

As the Green Lotus absorbed strand after strand of spiritual power from within his body,

until only the final strand remained,

at last, the absorption abruptly stopped.

At the same time, the lotus pistil trembled gently, and a lotus pod actually grew from it.

Then, with a soft "pop," a blue lotus seed dropped out.

It was oval in shape, pointed at both ends.

Its surface bore extremely fine patterns.

Though it was only a tiny seed, it contained incomparably dense wood spiritual energy.

The [Wood] Spirit Mark flashed and directly absorbed the blue lotus seed.

"What's going on?" Xu Changqing was stunned.

Hu Man had never mentioned such a change.

Or was this something unexpected?

His thoughts stirred.

The blue lotus seed stored within the Spirit Mark appeared in his palm.

After he sensed it for a moment, information surfaced.

[Spiritual energy sufficient]

[Supreme-grade seed]

[Awaiting maturity]

Xu Changqing raised an eyebrow.

This was the first time he had seen the words [Supreme-grade] on a seed.

It showed that this thing was far from ordinary.

He looked again at the Green Lotus and found that it had not changed much overall.

After dropping one lotus seed, the lotus pod turned into vapor and dispersed.

But the pistil remained, only somewhat smaller than before.

By the look of it, the Green Lotus was still that same Green Lotus.

After some thought, Xu Changqing stored the Green Lotus Seed back in the [Wood] Spirit Mark.

Then he turned and walked out of the cave dwelling.

If Hu Man did not ask, he would absolutely not hand it over on his own initiative.

After all, this thing looked extremely rare and was likely worth a fortune.

He then left the Earth Vein and the pit.

He returned to the Spirit Fields at top speed.

Only when he saw his home, the yellow dog, and the Pearl Chickens did he finally let out a breath.

His entire body relaxed completely.

As he drew closer, Xu Changqing suddenly caught a scent.

The closer he got, the stronger it became.

It smelled somewhat like Spirit Rice Wine, yet it was not intoxicating.

"Could it be..." Xu Changqing's heart jolted, and he hurriedly flew toward Stone Mountain.

The moment he entered its interior, the sight before him left him stunned.

The Mutated Spirit Rice had already grown to two meters tall.

From top to bottom, it looked as if it had been cast from gold, radiating dazzling light.

Every grain on its rice ears was plump and full like fruit.

The fragrance was emitted by it—or rather, by them.

Because Xu Changqing had been tending to the Earth-Spouting Lotus these past few days, he had not paid much attention to the Mutated Spirit Rice.

He had never expected it to mature silently at this time.

Fortunately, there was no one nearby, or it would surely have been exposed.

Immediately, he circulated the Evergreen Formula to inspect its exact condition.

[Mutated Spirit Rice]

[Matured]

[Undamaged]

[Spiritual energy sufficient]

[Supreme-grade today]

[More Children, More Blessings]

[0.25 jin]

The attributes were still there, and several more had appeared.

It had already matured completely.

Even its quality had reached the supreme-grade level.

At that moment, Xu Changqing's breathing became heavy.

He had thought unexpectedly obtaining a Green Lotus Seed was already good fortune.

Yet he had not expected one stroke of luck to follow another.

The Mutated Spirit Rice he had waited so long for had finally matured today.

He took out a sickle from his small storage pouch. Just as he was about to harvest it, he suddenly stopped.

His attention focused once more on the attribute [More Children, More Blessings].

If he understood correctly,

then this so-called More Children, More Blessings should distinguish between a mother and its children.

If the spirit rice grains on the ears were the "children,"

wouldn't this golden Mutated Spirit Rice plant be the "mother"?

Thinking this, Xu Changqing extended his sickle, yet he did not harvest the Mutated Spirit Rice plant.

Instead, he cut off the heavy ears of rice.

After carefully counting them, he discovered that the seeds from the nine rice ears totaled exactly 999 grains.

Then he took out an equal amount of Second-Grade Spirit Rice for comparison.

He found that the Mutated Spirit Grain was larger, heavier, and plumper.

The same quantity.

Second-Grade Spirit Rice was in his left hand.

Mutated Spirit Grain was in his right hand.

He could clearly feel that his right hand was heavier.

After the rice ears were cut away, the light upon the Mutated Spirit Rice plant dimmed.

It was still golden, but no longer dazzling.

Even the fragrance in the air gradually dispersed.

"How about... trying a little?" Feeling the astonishing spiritual energy within the Mutated Spirit Grain, Xu Changqing swallowed.

He forcibly suppressed the urge and first watered the Mutated Spirit Rice with spring water.

Although he did not know whether it would mature a second time, he was in no rush to harvest it.

After all, one could never be too careful.

Only after everything was settled did he rush into the kitchen.

Naturally, there was not much Mutated Spirit Grain.

Thus, he only took out a small portion and mixed it into the Second-Grade Spirit Rice.

Before long, a bowl of fragrant rice was brought to the table.

Most of it was Second-Grade Spirit Rice.

It was white as snow, without the slightest impurity.

The Mutated Spirit Grain stood out distinctly, like golden particles scattered among it.

The rich fragrance even drew over the yellow dog and the Pearl Chickens.

They stayed nearby, staring fixedly at the spirit rice giving off its aroma.

A great deal of drool even flowed from between the yellow dog's teeth.

"Don't rush. Let me have a taste first." Xu Changqing picked up his chopsticks and put a little into his mouth.

The Second-Grade Spirit Rice was springy and chewy.

The Mutated Spirit Grain was even more so.

The instant he chewed, saliva flooded his mouth.

The dense fragrance, mixed with a great amount of spiritual energy, flowed down into his belly.

At once, the spiritual power Xu Changqing had previously expended rapidly recovered.

Then he could no longer stop, eating more and more.

His spiritual power continued to grow, and in the end, with a pop, it actually rose from five strands to six!!!