Lin He sprinted until sweat beaded on his forehead, returned to Golden Lake Village, and kicked the courtyard gate open.
"Wifey! Look what good stuff I got!"
In the courtyard, Su Qiuran was sitting in that battered wooden wheelchair, teasing Goudan with a twig.
Hearing the commotion, she raised her head, her peach-blossom eyes looking Lin He up and down with a hint of suspicion.
"With that thief-like look on your face, anyone who didn't know better would think you'd robbed the money house in town." Su Qiuran curled her lip and tossed the twig aside.
Goudan let out a "gah," wagged his short, thick tail, and trotted over to circle Lin He's trouser legs.
Lin He chuckled, strode over to Su Qiuran in a few quick steps, and carefully took the yellow paper packet from inside his clothes.
"What's so impressive about robbing a money house? This is what you call snagging a hidden bargain."
As though presenting a treasure, he placed the yellow paper packet on the courtyard's wooden table and peeled it open layer by layer.
Su Qiuran leaned forward for a look, and her delicate brows instantly knotted.
Wrapped in the yellow paper was a small handful of shriveled, yellowed old grain.
"This is the... good stuff you were talking about?" Su Qiuran drew a deep breath, her voice brimming with the urge to hit someone.
"Lin He, has water gotten into your brain? I wouldn't take this junk for free. It'd just take up space. You paid for it?"
"One low-grade spirit stone." Lin He held up one finger, looking thoroughly pleased with himself.
Su Qiuran nearly sprang out of her wheelchair. "Holy shit! You spent a spirit stone on one tael of dead seeds?! Do you think our household has so many spirit stones we can skip them across the water?"
"Easy, easy." Lin He quickly held her shoulders down and lowered his voice. "Have you forgotten our 'cheat'?"
Su Qiuran paused, then caught on. "You mean... the Little Green Bottle?"
"Smart girl." Lin He pulled over a bench, sat down, poured himself a bowl of cold water, and drained it.
"Think about it. If essence of the moon can cleanse the marrow, even bring your withered spirit root back to life, what if we used it on these seeds that have lost their spirituality?"
Su Qiuran's eyes instantly lit up.
She stared at the packet of yellowed seeds, her mind racing. "You want to... restore them and resell them?"
"Not just resell them. If we can grow spirit rice at the lowest possible cost, wouldn't you be able to cross the threshold into Qi Refinement First Layer?"
Lin He rubbed his hands together, his gaze burning. "Are we doing this?"
"Yes!" Su Qiuran slapped her thigh. "Hurry up and get a bowl!"
Lin He immediately ran to the kitchen, fetched a large bowl, and filled it halfway with clean water.
Then, with a thought, he activated the Jade Gourd.
A barely perceptible wisp of silver mist flowed along his fingertips and silently merged into the clean water in the bowl.
A faint ripple spread across the surface, and the ordinary well water began giving off a subtle, crisp freshness.
Lin He picked up the handful of shriveled Azure Jade Spirit Seeds and dumped them all into the water.
Two people and one dog, three pairs of eyes, stared fixedly at the large bowl.
Ten breaths passed.
Twenty breaths passed.
Nothing happened in the bowl. The seeds still floated on the surface like dead fish.
"Lin He, did you just crash and burn?" Su Qiuran asked frostily.
"That shouldn't happen..." Lin He scratched his head. "Was the dose too small?"
Just as he was about to add a little more essence of the moon, a few tiny bubbles suddenly rose in the bowl.
Then, as though parched earth had welcomed a spring rain, the shriveled, yellowed seeds began visibly swelling.
Their withered yellow color gradually faded, replaced by a faint emerald hue.
In less than half an incense stick's time, a full layer of seeds had settled at the bottom of the bowl, each round and plump, even gleaming faintly like jade in the sunlight.
"Holy shit..." Su Qiuran couldn't help swearing. "They really fucking came back to life!"
"I told you it'd work!" Lin He smugly crossed his legs.
"Cut the crap and start planting!" Su Qiuran ordered.
Lin He immediately rose, grabbed the short-handled chopping knife, and went to the abandoned patch of dirt behind the wooden house.
He was now a brawny man whose body had been tempered twice with essence of the sun, and his strength was frightening.
He wielded the chopping knife like a hoe, turning the earth loose and soft in just a few strokes.
"Soil alone won't do. Mortal soil has no spiritual Qi. It can't grow spirit rice," Su Qiuran reminded him from nearby.
Lin He took two low-grade spirit stones from inside his clothes.
Though it pained him, he knew he couldn't catch a wolf without risking a child. He placed the spirit stones on a large bluestone and struck them hard with the back of his knife.
With a dull bang, the two spirit stones shattered into fine crystalline powder.
Lin He mixed the powder evenly into the turned soil as a base fertilizer.
Then he carefully sowed the soaked Azure Jade Spirit Seeds and covered them with a thin layer of soil.
"Time to witness a miracle." Lin He drew a deep breath, drew a glittering golden drop of essence of the sun from the Jade Gourd, and dripped it into a bucket of clean water.
Carrying this bucket of diluted "Jinkela," Lin He scooped up a ladleful and watered the spirit rice seeds evenly.
Last time, the green spike grass had matured in just ten breaths. What about this time?
Lin He stared at the soil, full of anticipation.
One breath.
Three breaths.
Ten breaths.
The soil stirred slightly, and tiny emerald shoots shakily poked their heads out. Then... nothing else happened.
"That's it?" Lin He was dumbfounded. "Why did they only sprout?"
Su Qiuran frowned and pondered for a moment. "Green spike grass is only a mortal herb. Spirit rice is a spirit plant. The energy and spiritual Qi it needs to grow definitely can't be compared to ordinary herbs."
Realization dawned on Lin He. "You mean I have to keep watering?"
"Keep going. Don't stop!"
Lin He gritted his teeth, scooped up another ladleful of diluted essence of the sun, and poured it over them.
This time, the shoots rapidly grew taller, becoming green rice stalks about half a foot high.
With the third ladleful, the stalks began forming ears and bearing tiny grains.
With the fourth ladleful, the ears rapidly filled out and grew heavy. A faint, fresh fragrance even drifted through the air.
"It worked!" Lin He wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a long breath.
In the backyard, a small patch of Green Jade Spirit Rice swayed in the wind.
Though there had only been one tael of seeds, the yield was quite substantial.
Every grain was two sizes larger than ordinary rice, translucent green throughout, as though truly carved from green jade.
Both people and the dog pitched in.
Lin He handled the harvesting, Su Qiuran gave instructions, and even Goudan helped flatten a few rice stalks while squawking.
After all their busy work, they threshed out nearly five jin of fresh Green Jade Spirit Rice.
Without pausing, Lin He started a fire to cook.
The husked spirit rice went into the pot, and as the water heated, rich spiritual Qi spread through the wooden house along with the aroma of rice.
One sniff made every muscle in Lin He's body feel so comfortable he wanted to groan.
"Wifey, food's ready!" Lin He carried a steaming bowl of spirit rice over to Su Qiuran.
The grains in the bowl were crystalline and translucent, giving off an enticing sheen.
Su Qiuran swallowed, picked up her chopsticks, and brought a small bite to her mouth.
The spirit rice melted on her tongue, without the coarseness of mortal grain. Instead, it flowed down her throat like a gentle, clear spring.
The next second, Su Qiuran's expression abruptly changed.
"How is it? Is it poisonous?" Lin He was startled.
"Shut up!" Su Qiuran took several more large bites, then closed her eyes.
The instant the spirit rice reached her stomach, it burst apart, transforming into countless strands of pure, gentle spiritual Qi.
This spiritual Qi slowly flowed through Su Qiuran's damaged meridians, finally gathering toward the spirit root in her dantian that had only just recovered a little.
The withered spirit root greedily absorbed this pure energy, giving off a faint hum.
Time passed, second by second.
Half an incense stick later, Su Qiuran suddenly opened her eyes.
A faint glimmer of spiritual light flashed in her peach-blossom eyes.
She looked at her hands, her voice trembling slightly. "Lin He..."
"I've reached Qi Refinement First Layer!"