Great Li, Baiyun Sect, outer sect handyman disciple quarters.
“It’s finally ripe.”
Looking at the mature white spirit rice in the spirit field, Ye Hao felt a flicker of joy cross his face.
The white spirit rice in the spirit field stood about three chi tall, its stalks a translucent white shimmering with a faint glimmer.
The rice ears were plump, the grains milky white, their surfaces surrounded by a very faint, hazy spiritual energy.
Once cooked, the rice gave off an elegant fragrance and curling wisps of white steam.
Consuming this white spirit rice could slightly increase a Qi Refinement cultivator’s cultivation speed and nourish their meridians.
Though it could not compare to pills, its advantage lay in having no pill toxins.
For Qi Refinement cultivators who had not yet achieved inedia, it was quite a good choice.
“Ye Hao, quite a good harvest of white spirit rice you have here. You haven’t forgotten the rules we talked about before, have you?”
Before Ye Hao could enjoy his happiness for long, a voice that disgusted him rang out from behind.
Ye Hao turned around and saw several people walking over.
The man leading them was burly and clearly not someone to be trifled with.
Upon seeing who it was, Ye Hao’s brows furrowed tightly, but in the blink of an eye, a smile appeared on his face as he hastily replied, “Boss Zhao, the ten jin of spirit rice I promised you—I’ll deliver it right to your door as soon as I finish harvesting.”
At present, Ye Hao was in the outer sect’s Area B, where the steward in charge was Old Zhao, who had already reached the Ninth Layer of Qi Refinement.
Boss Zhao had not originally borne the surname Zhao. Through unknown means, he had become Old Zhao’s godson and even changed his own surname.
With his connection to Old Zhao, Boss Zhao walked with swagger in Area B. Even though he was only at the Fifth Layer of Qi Refinement, those with higher cultivation did not dare cross him.
Those with lower cultivation dared not make a sound.
Much less Ye Hao, who had only recently become a handyman disciple.
“Sensible of you.”
Boss Zhao was thoroughly satisfied with Ye Hao’s attitude. He clapped him on the shoulder, then strutted off with the lackeys trailing behind him.
White spirit rice could be planted two seasons a year.
For each spirit field, 350 jin of spirit rice had to be turned in every year.
Any yield exceeding 350 jin belonged to oneself, serving as extra income for the handyman disciples.
However, the requirements to meet such a quota were far from low.
Although Boss Zhao threw his weight around Area B relying on his connection to Old Zhao, he did not demand too much, taking only a cut of ten jin of white spirit rice from each person.
He was not driving people to death, after all.
Still, this was the first time he had seen someone achieve such a harvest on their first attempt at growing white spirit rice.
If Ye Hao failed to meet the minimum requirement, he would have no choice but to borrow from Boss Zhao.
Boss Zhao’s interest rate was not excessively high, yet it was enough to reduce a low-level cultivator’s spirit field earnings to essentially zero for their first few years.
After watching them leave, Ye Hao picked up the sickle beside him and began harvesting.
An hour passed, and Ye Hao had only managed to harvest a fifth of the field, his back already aching too much to straighten.
When he looked up, he saw a senior brother not far away condensing a faint white glow at his fingertips. Spiritual energy turned into countless slender spiritual threads that spread outward, gently twining around the rice ears of the entire field.
“Gather.”
The senior brother merely uttered that single word.
With a gentle tug of the spiritual threads, the mature rice ears neatly separated from the stalks and gathered together on their own.
This technique was called the Ear-Gathering Technique.
Harvesting white spirit rice with this technique would not damage the root system of the stalks, facilitating the plants’ continued growth the following year.
Watching this, Ye Hao could not help looking on with envy.
Unfortunately, only upon reaching the Third Layer of Qi Refinement was one qualified to visit the Scripture Pavilion to learn a technique for free.
He had only just stepped into the First Layer of Qi Refinement; who knew how long it would take him to reach the Third Layer.
The sun was almost down by the time Ye Hao finally finished harvesting all the white spirit rice in the entire spirit field.
Perhaps because he was a transmigrator, even though it was his first time growing white spirit rice, he was remarkably skilled at it, easily rivaling veterans who had been farming it for years.
When everything was finally harvested, the white spirit rice nearly filled four sacks.
Each full sack weighed over one hundred jin.
Only the fourth sack was slightly short of full.
In other words, Ye Hao’s spirit field had yielded at least 380 jin of white spirit rice.
“Ye Hao, is all this white spirit rice yours?”
A youth came walking over, pushing a wooden cart.
He brought it to a steady halt beside him.
When he saw four whole sacks of white spirit rice on the ridge, his face was filled with shock.
He wondered whether he would have such a bountiful harvest once his own white spirit rice was harvested.
Seeing the youth, Ye Hao nodded. “It’s all mine. Thanks for helping me with the cart.”
“Don’t mention it. We come from the same village, so of course we should help each other.”
Ye Yu scratched his head, looking simple and honest.
He and Ye Hao both hailed from Ye Family Village.
Of course, they were not the only ones from Ye Family Village, but they were the only two who possessed spiritual roots and had passed Baiyun Sect’s test.
Though they were only handyman disciples, they were already far ahead of ordinary people.
“Yeah.” Ye Hao nodded slightly.
He then began lifting the white spirit rice before him, and Ye Yu did not idle either, quickly stepping forward to help.
Both had already stepped into the First Layer of Qi Refinement, their physical bodies having undergone transformation under the baptism of spiritual energy.
A hundred-jin sack of white spirit rice naturally posed no challenge in their hands.
“Let’s go.”
Seeing that the white spirit rice was loaded, Ye Yu began pulling the wooden cart forward.
Ye Hao pushed from behind.
Before long, the two arrived in front of Old Zhao’s door.
It was a standalone courtyard.
Usually, they would come here to submit their task quotas.
Naturally, for such a trivial matter, Old Zhao would not usually show himself.
“Harvested already?”
In front of the courtyard gate sat a long table along with measuring tools such as a spirit scale.
A middle-aged man sat beside it.
Hearing the sound, the middle-aged man looked up. When he saw the two youths pushing the cart toward him and checked the cargo on the wooden cart, he immediately understood their purpose.
He was just somewhat curious why someone was harvesting so soon.
Under ordinary circumstances, it would be at least another week or two before the first batch of spirit rice was harvested.
“Senior Brother, I have indeed finished harvesting. All the white spirit rice is here.”
Ye Hao promptly straightened up, cupping his hands in salute.
“All right, let’s start weighing.”
Seeing this, the middle-aged man did not delay either. He promptly stood up and began weighing.
“102 + 105 + 103 + 105 = 415.”
“A total of 415 jin of white spirit rice. This yield of yours isn’t any lower than that of spirit farmers who have been here for three years.”
After confirming the final weight, a trace of surprise appeared on the middle-aged man’s face. He remembered that this handyman disciple had only just joined Baiyun Sect.
In other words, this was the boy’s very first batch of white spirit rice, yet he achieved such a harvest.
“Good grief, Ye Hao, isn’t your harvest a bit too much?”
Hearing this weight, Ye Yu was stunned as well.
Rate on N.U.
