Plan

"Exactly."

"The Beast Fang Rice has not matured yet, but it has been successfully planted. It is only a matter of time," Qin Ming said calmly.

A trace of delight appeared on Daoist Ruan's face.

"Since there is such an extra thrown in, then we can certainly make a deal."

"However, ten jin is a little too little. I need at least twenty jin of Beast Fang Rice." After some thought, Daoist Ruan named his price.

Qin Ming frowned at this and turned to leave.

Was this man trying to take advantage of a newcomer?

Twenty jin of Beast Fang Rice?

That was simply a lion opening its jaws.

One had to know that even in the past, Beast Fang Rice had already cost ten times as much as Common Golden Spirit Rice.

Now, all kinds of cultivation resources in Qingyang Market had gone madly up in price.

At present, Beast Fang Rice cost at least five Spirit Stones per jin.

From Daoist Ruan's introduction, the Hundred Treasures Glazed Scripture sounded quite good at first glance, but after all, no one had ever successfully cultivated it.

No one knew whether the person who created this technique had simply boasted about it until Heavenly Flowers Fell in Chaos.

And once one began cultivating it, it meant constantly burning through Spirit Stones.

Even after several generations of the Ruan Family's exploration, their greatest achievement had only been cultivating it to the Third Layer.

Though Qin Ming was somewhat interested in this technique, Daoist Ruan's asking price had already exceeded the range he could accept.

Seeing Qin Ming leave without another word, Daoist Ruan immediately panicked and secretly regretted naming such a high price right from the start.

"Hey, hey, hey, Fellow Daoist Qin, we can discuss this! Don't be in such a hurry to leave—please stay!" Daoist Ruan hurriedly stopped him.

"Then I'll take a step back and add another fifteen jin of Beast Spirit Rice. How about it?"

Qin Ming did not speak. He merely looked at the other man quietly.

Seeing Qin Ming's unyielding stance, as though neither oil nor salt could get through to him, Daoist Ruan was helpless as well.

Young people these days are just so impatient.

He knew this was already Qin Ming's final bottom line.

Daoist Ruan let out a deep sigh. After hesitating for a long while, his lips moved slightly as he said, "Sigh, fine. My Ruan Family has guarded this technique for so long, yet no one has managed to make anything of it."

"Perhaps my Ruan Family's blessings and fortune are not enough."

"Then let us go by Fellow Daoist Qin's terms: one hundred Spirit Stones, plus ten jin of Beast Fang Rice."

He put on an air of having let it go.

Qin Ming smiled faintly. "Deal."

"When will Fellow Daoist Qin be able to deliver the Beast Fang Rice?" Only then did Daoist Ruan breathe a sigh of relief and ask slowly.

"Probably... in around two years," Qin Ming said after considering it for a moment.

"In that case... how about this? Fellow Daoist Qin can pay me one hundred Spirit Stones first, and I can copy the First Five Layers of the technique for you. Once your Beast Fang Rice matures, you can come back and collect the original copy of the technique."

"What do you think, Fellow Daoist Qin?"

After giving it some thought, Daoist Ruan proposed a compromise.

"Fine."

Qin Ming nodded crisply in agreement.

He then took out one hundred Spirit Stones from his Storage Bag and paid Daoist Ruan.

When he handed over the Spirit Stones, he kept silent on the surface, appearing generous and forthright.

Yet inwardly, his heart was practically bleeding.

He had worked so hard to save up those Spirit Stones.

This time, he had truly gone almost all-in.

Daoist Ruan put away the Spirit Stones, then took out a jade slip and handed it to Qin Ming with a smile.

Qin Ming accepted the jade slip, pressed it to his brow, and carefully examined it with his spiritual sense.

After repeatedly comparing it with the technique inscribed on the Beast Hide in Daoist Ruan's possession and confirming there were no discrepancies,

the transaction was complete.

Qin Ming exchanged only a few idle words with him before leaving Ruan Mansion.

Back in the Shantytown,

Qin Ming returned to his ordinary farming life.

Within one mu of Beast Fang Rice Spirit Field:

Name: Beast Fang Rice
Affix: Greater Spirit Rain Technique x5 (Maturity 35%)

Name: Beast Fang Rice
Affix: Quality Enhancement x1 (Maturity 32%)

Name: Beast Fang Rice
Affix: Accelerated Growth x5 (Maturity 40%)

Every day, Qin Ming watched these three Affixes gradually approach maturity, and his heart settled.

Over the next two years, Qin Ming had already made plans.

As long as an Accelerated Growth Affix appeared again in the Spirit Field, he planned to secretly transplant and accelerate the growth of a small portion of the Beast Fang Rice for cultivation.

Moving only a few hundred stalks would not be noticeable to anyone.

Of course, the three stalks carrying Affixes had to be transplanted and accelerated.

There was also an Accelerated Growth x5 Affix in the Beast Fang Rice Spirit Field. Once he had Spirit Seeds and an Affix, he could continue accelerating their growth then.

If not for the increasingly turbulent situation around him, Qin Ming would not have been in such a rush.

He could afford to wait a mere two years.

But the current situation would not allow him to keep waiting like this.

Though he did not go looking for trouble, trouble could not help coming to find him.

The situation in the Immortal Cultivation World changed in the blink of an eye.

Now, even the struggles among the upper ranks of the sect had begun to affect a tiny Qingyang Market in a remote corner of the Cloud Marsh Great Wilderness.

Qin Ming still hoped to keep the initiative of his fate firmly in his own hands.

One month later,

the final harvest of Spirit Rice for the year finally ripened.

This time was different from before.

Elder Gu of the Spirit Feather Sect and the overseer Du Haifu were already waiting in the Spirit Fields. Many disciples followed behind them, standing guard around the fields.

Under Elder Gu's watchful gaze, the Spirit Farmers began harvesting the Spirit Rice.

The evening glow rose.

Once the Spirit Rice had been harvested, Du Haifu began collecting the Spirit Rice tax one by one.

Before long, he had finished all the calculations and respectfully presented the ranking jade slip to Elder Gu for review.

In the final season, Qin Ming's Golden Spirit Rice yield rose again.

It broke through ten dan and ninety jin!

Moreover, Elder Gu exempted him from one-tenth of the Spirit Rice tax this season.

After paying the tax, Qin Ming received three hundred and twenty jin of Golden Spirit Rice for himself.

His combined overall ranking across all three seasons this year had even entered the top ten.

When Du Haifu came to collect the Spirit Rice tax, his attitude was worlds apart from before.

Every other word out of his mouth was "Little Qin," spoken with sickening sweetness.

Of course, Qin Ming's ability to enter the top ten in one stroke this time was also due to the Howling Mad Monkey demonic beasts' disturbance not long ago.

Only Qin Ming's Spirit Field and a handful of others had remained intact.

After Elder Gu finished reviewing the Spirit Rice yield statistics, there was not the slightest emotional fluctuation on his stern face.

He immediately announced coldly, "This year's Spirit Rice yield rankings have all been calculated. You may check them yourselves."

"The bottom thirty cultivators, board the ship and leave with me."

Even though the Spirit Fields had suffered demonic beast attacks, the Spirit Feather Sect still showed not the slightest leniency toward these low-level Spirit Farmers.

The thirty Spirit Farmers stared blankly at the light screen, each looking utterly lost. They knew full well what kind of fate awaited them.

Qin Ming looked at these Spirit Farmers, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

Then, his gaze suddenly turned resolute!

He turned and patted Cai Lao Jiu beside him. "Stop looking. Let's go."

"Qin Ming, do you think that one day, the two of us might also become two of those thirty?" Cai Lao Jiu suddenly asked, his voice somewhat hoarse.

Qin Ming paused.

He said nothing.

If he did not have the Golden Finger,

then what had just happened might have been the answer.

The final destination of an ordinary person.

Beasts of burden in prosperous times, cannon fodder in chaotic times; their bodies squeezed dry in peace, their lives spent in war.