Chapter 60

Shi Mian maintained his composure. "Since Young Friend Shan puts it this way, let's proceed with this plan. The situation with the Clear Source Grass on the east side is more serious, so I'll start by trying the easternmost fifty acres."

Shan Heyuan: "The Clear Source Grass on the west side isn't growing very well either, so I'll choose fifty acres on the west side."

The two made their agreement in front of everyone, nodded to each other, and then went their separate ways.

The supervisor and his men left with Shi Mian, Bi Jinying followed Shan Heyuan.

Once they were far enough apart, Bi Jinying said apologetically to Shan Heyuan, "I didn't know that Manager Zhao had invited Master Shi Mian over. Please forgive my rudeness."

Shan Heyuan: "Senior Bi, you flatter me."

Bi Jinying smiled and said, "Luckily you're so magnanimous, otherwise I would have offended someone today."

Shan Heyuan and his two companions went to the westernmost part of the region to see the Clear Source Grass.

The Clear Source Grass on the edge was indeed not growing as well as in the middle. Shan Heyuan pretended to be calm on the outside, but he was already starting to worry inside.

He spent the whole afternoon watching, and when he returned to the big wooden cabin in the evening, he complained to Shen Duheng, "They not only threw out a difficult problem, but they also invited someone to challenge me. If I don't succeed this time, I'll definitely lose all face and dignity."

Shen Duheng patted him on the back to help him catch his breath. "Shi Mian has been immersed in the planting industry for many years, it's normal that you don't have as much experience as him."

Shan Heyuan slumped onto the bed. "That's true, but if we lose this time, the outside world's evaluation of me and Sword Reverence Academy will definitely drop. They used to praise me as a rising star in planting, but that probably won't happen anymore."

Shen Duheng: "Is the situation with Clear Source Grass rather complicated?"

"Actually, it's not that great. If I didn't care about the cost, I could transform them in a few days. But that wouldn't make sense. Bi Jinying hired us because she wants to earn more Spirit Stone from this batch of herbs."

Shan Heyuan said, "Since Shi Mian and I appeared here at the same time, there must be many planters watching this place. Everyone should know what methods we used and how much we spent. Whether this matter was resolved well or not, everyone will have their own evaluation."

Shen Duheng: "It seems you already have a plan in mind."

"It is a bit much, this time it will take a lot of effort," Shan Heyuan muttered. "Oh well, I'll just treat it as practice on his Clear Source Grass to gain experience."

Chapter 60

The situation with Clear Source Grass is quite complicated and cannot be resolved in a short time.

Shan Heyuan specifically asked Bi Jinying to speak to their dean and secure a ten-day vacation.

He will catch up on the lessons he missed in the past ten days when he goes back.

The news of his duel with Shi Mian has already spread.

The college was very supportive of him and even sent him a message telling him not to rush and to resolve things here before going back.

With the support he received, Shan Heyuan felt much more confident and officially put aside all distractions, devoting himself wholeheartedly to the care of this batch of Clear Source Grass.

The maintenance of these poorly growing forests and grasslands follows the same logic: replenish nutrients, promote development, and make them grow stronger.

The elixir and the Fertilizer Pill were used at this time.

Shan Heyuan is quite experienced in refining spiritual liquids and Fertilizer Pill, and he also has some insights into cost reduction.

On the first day of cooking, Shan Heyuan prepared the spiritual liquid and used the technique of "Spring Breeze Turns to Rain" to create artificial rain over the fifty acres of land he was allocated.

"Spring Breeze Turns to Rain" was the third technique he learned, and he had become very proficient at it after using it for so many years.

When it was used, the entire Clear Source Grass was shrouded in mist and rain. The rain, formed from the spiritual liquid, enveloped the Clear Source Grass, fully nourishing every inch of its stems and leaves.

The Clear Source Grass frantically absorbed the spiritual liquid rain, growing rapidly within it.

Shan Heyuan could almost see them grow taller and more vibrant with the naked eye.

Shan Heyuan has always been the type of player who performs better under pressure.

It's clear that his performance this time was better than any he's ever done before.

In the past, when using the Spring Breeze Turns to Rain technique, the Spiritual Power rain was not as delicate, nor was its aftereffects as strong.

His progress has been tremendous; his performance was simply amazing.

In just one day, Clear Source Grass showed significant changes.

Shan Heyuan was very satisfied with his results.

When Bi Jinying came to see him in the evening, she didn't look too good.

Shan Heyuan has only been here for two days, and he has already discovered that there is discord among the farm's employees.

Bi Jinying is clearly an outsider, and not even the one who is out of favor.

Seeing that Bi Jinying's expression was a little strange, Shan Heyuan just assumed that Bi Jinying had lost an argument with someone and didn't pay any attention. He even invited Bi Jinying to look at the Clear Source Grass he was taking care of that day.

It would have been better if this hadn't been mentioned, Bi Jinying's expression became even more bitter. "Instructor Shan, it seems that Master Shi's progress is faster than ours."

Shan Heyuan hadn't spent the entire day loitering around the opposing side, and upon hearing this, he asked in surprise, "What's going on? Our progress is already fast enough, how can they be even faster?"

"Really." Bi Jinying took out a shadow stone to show Shan Heyuan, "They started working early this morning, and in just one day, the Clear Source Grass they've been tending has caught up with the growth rate of Clear Source Grass that normally takes ninety years to grow."

That's amazing?

Shan Heyuan suspiciously immersed his Divine Sense into the shadow stone to take a look.

The shadow stone contains records of how Shi Mian and his companions cared for the Clear Source Grass.

As can be seen from the footage, just as dawn was breaking, they mixed the elixir into the water and used a flood irrigation method to directly apply water and fertilizer to fifty acres of Clear Source Grass.

A large amount of Spiritual Power and nutrients were frantically nourishing the Clear Source Grass.

The Clear Source Grass turned green and became upright at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Is that even possible?

Shan Heyuan's expression changed slightly.

He continued reading.

The shadow stone recorded the actions of the Shi Mian that day.

Although it was just a few snippets from different time periods, it was still clear that in just one day, the Clear Source Grass had rapidly differentiated new leaves and grown several inches taller.

If the Clear Source Grass they cultivate are sold, the price per plant might be one-third higher than yesterday.

Shan Heyuan stared at the shadow stone. "Didn't you say you wanted to control costs? With them using spirit liquid to flood the area like this, how much higher will the cost be?"

Bi Jinying sighed, "They didn't take any resources from the farm; instead, they used their own Spiritual Power to refine the spiritual liquid. Apart from their own Spiritual Power, they didn't consume many resources, so there's no such thing as cost."

"This works?" Shan Heyuan's eyes widened. "Isn't this cheating?"

Bi Jinying: "Using one's own Spiritual Power certainly doesn't qualify as cheating. Moreover, even if we factor in the cost of cultivators, hiring a Nascent Soul Cultivator to do these daily tasks would only cost an average of five high-grade Spirit Stone per day. The total cost wouldn't increase much, but the value of their Spirit Plant would be significantly higher."

Shan Heyuan was speechless.

In the world of cultivation, strength is indeed paramount.

They have the ability to guide their disciples and grand-disciples in concocting spiritual elixirs using their own Spiritual Power, so strictly speaking, there's nothing wrong with that.

He can use it if he's capable.

The problem is he doesn't have the ability.

He's only in the Late Core Formation; even if he drains himself completely, he couldn't possibly output that much Spiritual Power to directly replace materials for refining spiritual liquid.

Even finding Shen Duheng won't work; Shen Duheng is a sword cultivator, and his Spiritual Power contains a sharp edge, which cannot be used to concoct spiritual liquid.

There are only two of them on his side. He can't do it, and neither can Shen Duheng. It's impossible for them to defeat Shi Mian with spiritual liquid.

Unless he fully utilizes the essence of the Breathing Earth, relying on Breathing Earth unique divine power to promote the growth of the Clear Source Grass.

However, this won't work either, because besides revealing his trump card, the Spiritual Power energy contained actually wasn't that much of the essence of the Breathing Earth.

Fifty acres of Clear Source Grass is almost the size of five football fields, with more than 100,000 Clear Source Grass. He simply cannot support them all with his Spiritual Power alone.

As he lay in bed that night, Shan Heyuan was still thinking about it, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

The two have already entered the arena, and Shi Mian will definitely try his best to gain the upper hand. If this continues, he might lose.