Small Harvest

At the foot of Long Ridge Mountain.

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

Thus, many spirit farmers had arrived in the spirit fields early in the morning.

Old Xu in particular had practically brought his entire family into the fields.

Ten mu of spirit fields—wouldn't that keep them busy for quite a while?

Some spirit farmers who lived alone also stopped being stingy at times like this, specifically hiring one or two Innate Realm martial artists to help with the work.

Though Spirit Rice stalks were tough, sickles were naturally sharp, and the innate true qi of martial artists was no weak thing either. Harvesting Spirit Rice was naturally no problem.

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

Zhou Qiankun gave a low shout, grabbed a sickle, and stepped directly into the spirit field.

Zhou Changwang naturally would not slack off either. He took a sickle and entered the field from the other side.

With a slight stir of spiritual power within him, he poured it into the sickle. Then he grabbed a stalk of Spirit Grain and sliced hard.

The Spirit Grain was severed. 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.

But compared to Zhou Changwang, his father Zhou Qiankun was much faster.

He merely stood where he was, turning the blade toward the Spirit Rice. As true qi surged, the blade flashed.

Pff...

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

One swing, one patch. One patch, one pile.

Again and again.

By the time Zhou Changwang had finished cutting one bundle, three piles had already appeared beside his father.

That was only because gathering the Spirit Rice took some time. Otherwise, he would have been even faster.

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

At that, Zhou Qiankun nodded. True qi surged through him, and he swung forward.

Shhk!

One cut felled a huge patch. He stepped forward again and sent out another slash.

Zhou Changwang followed behind him, quickly gathering the stalks.

Working together, they moved extremely fast.

In less than half an hour, one mu of spirit field had been harvested.

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

As he spoke, he placed the Spirit Rice stalks into the cart, then gave his body a slight shake. As the force traveled through them, the Spirit Rice grains clustered on the stalks fell away directly, scattering through the air.

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

"Dad, what martial art was that?

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

Zhou Changwang could not help asking curiously.

"This is Spirit Rhinoceros Shaking Force.

"It transmits force and uses the power of vibration to shake the Spirit Rice grains from the tips of the stalks. It's nothing much. Almost any Innate Realm martial artist can easily master it.

"As for that blade technique, it's called Windward One-Blade Slash. It draws upon the intent of facing the wind and slashing against the current. Someone with profound attainments can even harmonize with heaven and earth, making one slash ride with the wind.

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

Zhou Qiankun had initially looked somewhat proud, but after glancing at Zhou Changwang, he quickly changed his tone. "These are all minor paths.

"Compared to spells, they are nothing at all.

"You needn't spend your thoughts on such things. It would only be wasting time for nothing.

"Mastering spells and increasing 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 more than chickens and dogs made of clay, not worth mentioning."

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

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

But unfortunately, this was a world of cultivation. With the road ahead cut off, even a Martial Dao peak expert was powerless against a cultivator at Qi Refining, Fourth Layer.

Once a cultivator reached Qi Refining, Fourth Layer, their spiritual power could merge with spiritual energy 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 magical artifacts, making them turn and dart at will with tremendous power. Even Martial Dao Innate experts, protected by true qi, were ultimately still flesh-and-blood mortals, unable to resist.

That was why Zhou Qiankun had always opposed Zhou Changwang practicing 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 cultivation world as well, but even body cultivators needed spiritual roots to cultivate.

A mortal body simply could not withstand the cleansing of spiritual energy.

Perhaps among martial artists, there were peerless geniuses who could carve out another path, take that crucial step, and walk the road of entering the Dao through martial arts. But at the very least, there was no such person within Phoenix-Cry Cove Market.

Zhou Qiankun had pursued it for twenty years, yet he had never even heard of such a figure appearing.

Afterward, Zhou Qiankun continued working.

With Zhou Qiankun using Spirit Rhinoceros Shaking Force to shake down the Spirit Rice, the speed was astonishing.

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

Before long, another mu of spirit field had been harvested, and three sacks of Spirit Grain had appeared beside him.

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

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

Zhou Changwang made a rough calculation and was fairly satisfied.

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

Everything beyond that was profit.

But 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, it yielded 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, however, gave Zhou Changwang a small surprise. The Spirit Grain alone reached six hundred and seventy jin, and 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 reached the standard yield of five hundred jin per mu.

"It can be called a small harvest.

"My efforts over this period haven't been in vain."

Looking at the sacks of Spirit Grain piled in the spirit field, a smile appeared on Zhou Changwang's face.

As for that underperforming mu of spirit field, he had been compensated in another way.

After Zhou Qiankun sold the Ironclad Boar, it 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 one-thousand mark.

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