Lin Mo did indeed want to cheat, but not by having the elders go easy on him. He wanted to use the Treasure Gourd!
"Please calm your anger, Elder Yuan."
He cupped his hands and grinned. "This disciple was merely curious and meant nothing else. If you would rather not say, Elder Yuan, please pretend I never asked. I'll... take my leave now."
As he spoke, he began turning to leave.
"Hmph!"
Yuan Jingtu gave a soft snort and waved a hand. "There's no harm in telling you. For the final round of this Spirit Plant Grand Competition, the spirit plant to be cultivated will be the middle eighth-grade Purple-Patterned Rice Plant!"
Lin Mo's heart jolted, and delight followed immediately.
Purple-Patterned Rice Plants contained more abundant and purer spiritual essence than ordinary spirit rice plants. They were supplied exclusively to the Inner Sect's higher-ups and elite disciples, and were extremely expensive.
At the Sect Affairs Hall, one contribution point could only be exchanged for a single grain of Purple-Patterned Rice. In practice, however, even having contribution points did not mean one could get any.
Moreover, a bowl of rice contained a considerable number of grains-at least ten thousand.
The calculation made things perfectly clear. This was not something outer sect disciples could dream of obtaining. No matter how many contribution points they had, they could not afford it.
His own backyard spirit field produced plentiful, high-quality harvests, but he never had enough contribution points, and he had never even seen Purple-Patterned Rice Plant seeds.
Now he had an opportunity.
If he could get a seed or two during the competition and bring them home to cultivate, he would have an endless supply of seeds after the first harvest. His spirit field would gain another variety of spirit plant!
"A middle