A Modest Harvest

At the foot of Long Ridge Mountain.

As though they had agreed beforehand, many spirit farmers chose this day to harvest their Spirit Grain Rice.

Thus, early in the morning, many spirit farmers had already arrived in the Spirit Fields.

Old Xu in particular had practically mobilized his entire family.

With ten mu of Spirit Fields, how could they not be busy for quite a while?

Some spirit farmers who lived alone were also unwilling to spare the expense at such a time, specifically hiring one or two Innate Realm martial artists to help with the work.

Although the stalks of Spirit Grain Rice were tough, grass-cutting knives were already sharp, and the Innate true qi of martial artists was no weak thing either. Harvesting Spirit Grain was naturally no problem.

"Let's begin. We'll try to harvest all the Spirit Rice today."

Zhou Qiankun shouted in a low voice, grabbed a grass-cutting knife, and went straight down into the Spirit Field.

Naturally, Zhou Changwang would not slack off either. He took a grass-cutting knife and entered the field from the other side.

The spiritual power within him stirred slightly and flowed into the grass-cutting knife. Then, he grabbed a stalk of Spirit Grain and slashed hard.

The Spirit Grain was cut off. He casually set it aside and continued harvesting the next stalk. After cutting more than a dozen in succession, he paused briefly and gathered all the Spirit Rice stalks together.

However, compared to Zhou Changwang, his father Zhou Qiankun was far faster.

He merely stood where he was, turned the blade toward the Spirit Grain Rice, and as true qi surged, the knife flashed.

Pfft...

With a muffled sound, a swath of Spirit Grain Rice before him was cut down. He picked them up one by one, piled them neatly to the side, then stepped forward and swung his knife again.

One swing, one patch.

One patch, one pile.

Over and over again.

By the time Zhou Changwang had finished cutting one armful, there were already three more piles beside him.

That was only because picking up the Spirit Rice took some time. Otherwise, Zhou Qiankun would have been even faster.

Seeing this, Zhou Changwang hurried forward and said, "Dad, you cut them while I pick them up. That'll be faster."

At those words, Zhou Qiankun nodded. True qi surged, and he swept his arm forward.

Sshhk!

One cut felled a broad patch. He stepped forward again and swung another slash.

Zhou Changwang followed behind, swiftly gathering them up.

Working together, they moved extremely quickly.

In less than half an hour, one mu of Spirit Field had been fully harvested.

Then Zhou Changwang dragged over a threshing sled. Just as he was about to beat the Spirit Grain stalks to shake out the rice, Zhou Qiankun hurriedly stopped him. "No need to make things so troublesome."

As he spoke, he placed the Spirit Rice stalks into the sled, then gave his body a slight shake. As the force traveled through them, the Spirit Rice kernels clinging to the stalks fell straight off and flew away.

Looking at the Spirit Rice stalks again, aside from one or two shriveled grains, there was not the slightest residue left.

"Dad, what martial art was that?

"And the blade technique you used to cut the Spirit Rice just now seemed incredibly powerful too."

Zhou Changwang could not help asking curiously.

"That was Spirit Rhinoceros Shaking Force.

"By transmitting force and using the power of vibration, it shakes the Spirit Rice at the tips of the stalks loose. It's nothing remarkable. Almost any Innate Realm martial artist can master it easily.

"As for that blade technique, it is the Windward One-Blade Slash. It takes the intent of advancing against the wind and slashing against the current. If one's realm is profound enough, one can even harmonize with heaven and earth, making a single slash ride the wind.

"In other words, even if the wind blows directly against the blade, once the martial artist swings it, he can instead merge with it and borrow the wind's power to increase its might."

Zhou Qiankun had sounded rather pleased with himself at first, but after glancing at Zhou Changwang, he quickly changed his tone. "Those are all minor paths.

"Compared with spells, they are not worth mentioning at all.

"You needn't devote your mind to such things either. It would only waste your time for nothing.

"Mastering spells and improving your cultivation are what matter most.

"As long as you reach Qi Refining, Fourth Layer, no matter what kind of martial artist they are, they'll be nothing but earthen chickens and pottery dogs—beneath contempt."

"I think the path of martial arts has its own unique strengths as well."

Zhou Changwang knew that his father's martial arts were in fact extraordinarily profound. He was a true peak expert of the Martial Dao.

It was only a pity that this was a world of immortal cultivation. With the road ahead cut off, even someone at the peak of martial arts could not contend with a Qi Refining, Fourth Layer cultivator.

Once a cultivator reached Qi Refining, Fourth Layer, their spiritual strength could merge with spiritual power and become Spiritual Sense. No matter what martial art one used, no matter how exquisite it was, nothing could hide before Spiritual Sense. Moreover, Qi Refining, Fourth Layer cultivators could freely control Dharma Artifacts, making them turn and dart about at will with tremendous power. Even Martial Dao Innate experts had true qi protecting their bodies, but they were ultimately flesh-and-blood mortals, unable to withstand such attacks.

That was why Zhou Qiankun had always opposed Zhou Changwang learning martial arts. He did not want him to waste his time on it.

"In the end, they are merely the skills of mortals. They amount to nothing."

Zhou Qiankun shook his head and sighed.

Zhou Changwang wanted to offer a few words of comfort, but in the end, he could only remain silent.

There were body cultivation methods in the immortal cultivation world as well, but even body cultivators needed Spirit Roots in order to cultivate.

Mortal flesh simply could not endure the cleansing of spiritual energy.

Perhaps among martial artists, there were peerless geniuses who could blaze a new trail, take that crucial step, and embark upon the path of entering the Dao through martial arts. But at least within Phoenix-Cry Cove Market, no such person existed.

Zhou Qiankun had searched for twenty years and had never even heard of such a figure appearing.

After that, Zhou Qiankun continued working.

With Zhou Qiankun using Spirit Rhinoceros Shaking Force to shake loose the Spirit Grain Rice, the speed was exceptionally fast.

Zhou Changwang only needed to take out burlap sacks and fill them with all the shaken-off Spirit Grain.

Very quickly, one mu of Spirit Field had been harvested. Three sacks of Spirit Grain had also appeared beside him.

"One sack of Spirit Rice weighs roughly two hundred jin. Three sacks make six hundred jin.

"After deducting the husks, that comes to about five hundred and fifty jin."

Zhou Changwang made a quick calculation and was fairly satisfied.

Five hundred and fifty jin had already exceeded his projected yield.

Everything beyond that was profit.

However, the second mu was the Spirit Field that had been ravaged by the Ironclad Boar. Though it had recovered somewhat afterward with the aid of the Withered Wood Renewal Technique, the Spirit Grain and Spirit Rice that had been eaten could not grow back.

In the end, the harvest amounted to less than two sacks, barely around four hundred jin. After deducting the husks, the Spirit Rice yield was approximately three hundred and seventy jin.

The third mu of Spirit Field, on the other hand, gave Zhou Changwang a small surprise. The Spirit Grain alone reached six hundred and seventy jin; after deducting the husks, he could harvest six hundred and twenty jin of Spirit Rice.

"All told, I harvested a total of one thousand five hundred and thirty jin of Spirit Rice.

"Even without taking into account the field ravaged by the Ironclad Boar, the average still reaches the standard yield of five hundred jin per mu.

"This can be considered a modest harvest.

"It hasn't let all my hard work these past days go to waste."

Looking at the sacks of Spirit Grain piled atop the Spirit Field, Zhou Changwang smiled as well.

As for that under-yielding mu of Spirit Field, he had received compensation in another way.

After Zhou Qiankun sold that Ironclad Boar, it had brought him an income of one hundred and ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

His total number of Spirit Stones had now reached more than eight hundred and eighty.

He was not far from the thousand-Stone mark.

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