"Huh? You actually knew?"
Ye Yu had wanted to give Ye Hao a big surprise, but he had not expected that Ye Hao had already anticipated this.
Immediately after, he pulled a small pouch from his robes.
Facing their gazes, Ye Yu smiled and nodded. "You guessed right. Those final five jin of white spirit rice have indeed advanced in rank."
"Its quality is several times higher than First-Tier white spirit rice."
Saying this, Ye Yu grabbed a handful of Second-Tier white spirit rice.
The grains were plump and thick, smooth and round like pearls.
Translucent and milky white, delicate strands of spiritual veins could be seen swirling within them.
The fragrance was elegant and deep, far exceeding that of First-Tier white spirit rice.
"What a rich fragrance! As expected of Second-Tier white spirit rice."
Liu Siyu stepped closer and could not resist taking a deep breath. Her face washed over with intoxication, as if she were drunk, her cheeks even taking on a rosy blush.
When Liu Siyu snapped back to her senses, she noticed the expressions on Ye Hao's and Ye Yu's faces.
Flustered, her face flushed red, and she hurriedly stepped aside.
Ye Yu suddenly thought of something and quickly looked at Ye Hao, asking for confirmation, "Ye Hao, how did you do this?"
"Before, your Lesser Spirit Rain Technique could at most elevate it to the next quality grade."
"Now it has actually advanced in rank, rising a whole tier."
Ye Hao did not plan to hide it from them either. He gave a soft smile and said, "When the Lesser Spirit Rain Technique is cultivated to the Eighth Layer, there is a one-in-a-hundred-thousand chance for a First-Tier spirit plant to advance into a Second-Tier spirit plant."
"The probability is extremely low."
"It was just good luck that the white spirit rice advanced this time."
"So that's how it is."
Upon hearing this, both Ye Yu and Liu Siyu came to a realization.
"I just wonder what the price of Second-Tier white spirit rice is like."
Looking at those five jin of white spirit rice, Ye Hao was genuinely curious.
"Second-Tier white spirit rice is beneficial even to Foundation Establishment cultivators, so the price definitely won't be low," Ye Yu reminded him with a smile as he handed the five jin of white spirit rice to Ye Hao.
"True. I'll head to the market later to check and ask about the price, then I'll know for sure."
Ye Hao nodded.
Over the next few days, Ye Hao harvested the crops from his remaining two spirit fields one after another.
By relying on the spiritual energy tides drawn by the maturing white spirit rice, Ye Hao enabled Ye Yu and Liu Siyu to draw closer and closer to Third-Layer Qi Refinement.
These spiritual energy tides that he cared little for were monumental favors to Ye Yu and Liu Siyu.
Were it not for Ye Hao's help, it would have taken them at least another year or more to cultivate to Third-Layer Qi Refinement.
In the end, the three mu of spirit fields yielded a total harvest of 2,845 jin of white spirit rice.
Among this, 1,620 jin was First-Tier low-grade white spirit rice, 1,100 jin was First-Tier mid-grade, and 125 jin was Second-Tier white spirit rice.
After the sixty-fold yield multiplication:
Ye Hao obtained a total of 97,200 jin of First-Tier low-grade white spirit rice.
66,000 jin of First-Tier mid-grade white spirit rice.
7,500 jin of Second-Tier white spirit rice.
Safe to say, this crop of white spirit rice made Ye Hao thoroughly wealthy.
Setting everything else aside, just selling the First-Tier low-grade white spirit rice alone would bring him over 3,000 low-grade spirit stones.
Not to mention the full 7,500 jin of Second-Tier white spirit rice.
A few days passed, and Ye Hao helped Ye Yu and Liu Siyu harvest their white spirit rice as well.
One yielded 810 jin, while the other yielded 830 jin.
Though they could not compare to Ye Hao, their results were still head and shoulders above the rest.
Ye Hao's progress was even comparable to Senior Brother Wan Bao now.
The two of them also successfully advanced to Third-Layer Qi Refinement.
One after another, more and more spirit rice crops were harvested.
These terrifying yield figures appeared one by one.
They finally caught the attention of the higher-ups—specifically, Old Zhao, the actual controller of the entire Area B.
...
The next morning, before Ye Hao even got out of bed to wash up, he heard someone knocking on the door. Filled with confusion, he sensed outward and detected an unfamiliar aura.
It was someone he had never encountered before.
Ye Hao immediately got up and opened the door. When he heard the visitor's purpose, he was thoroughly bewildered.
"You mean to say Old Zhao wants to see me?"
Ye Hao had never met this mysterious Old Zhao, as the person normally responsible for management was his godson, Boss Zhao.
Ye Hao was full of doubt as to why the man would seek him out at this moment.
Could it be because of the previous array disc incident, which caused heavy losses among the handyman disciples, and now he was being held accountable for compensation?
However, that incident could hardly be blamed on him.
It was that group of guys who had initiated the trouble with him in the first place.
"Just follow me," Li Cheng snorted cold and said.
"Senior Brother, lead the way then."
Ye Hao nodded.
He could hear the dissatisfaction in the other's tone, but he had no idea when he had offended the guy standing before him.
Li Cheng said no more. Guiding Ye Hao, he headed toward the courtyard where Old Zhao resided.
It was a small courtyard built against the mountain slope, considerably more spacious than the quarters of ordinary outer disciples.
Enclosed by low stone walls, the courtyard entrance was fitted with a simple low-grade protective restriction.
Inside stood a main house flanked by several side rooms.
A small spirit garden was cultivated in the yard, planted with a few First-Tier spirit herbs that released a faint swirling mist of spiritual energy.
At this moment, a middle-aged man stood in the courtyard.
He appeared around forty years old, with a sturdy, upright build and abundant vitality radiating from him, lacking any sign of the decline and fatigue seen in mundane middle-aged men.
His complexion was slightly brown, his skin tanned to a bronze hue by the mountain sun. He wore short, stiff stubble on his chin, and his eyes were calm and sharp.
He wore the robes of a Baiyun Sect outer sect steward—a blue-gray Daoist robe with a faint silver pattern embroidered on the lapel, representing his status as a steward.
"Old Zhao, I have brought Ye Hao."
Li Cheng had not expected Old Zhao to be waiting out in the courtyard to greet them.
However, he possessed self-awareness; the person Old Zhao was waiting for was not him at all, but Ye Hao beside him.
"Handyman disciple Ye Hao greets Old Zhao."
Ye Hao looked at the middle-aged man and hurriedly bowed in greeting.
He had originally assumed that someone referred to as Old Zhao would be an elderly man advanced in years.
He had not expected him to look so young, merely middle-aged.
Furthermore, the abundant vitality within the man's body proved that his remaining lifespan was plentiful, giving him a very good chance of successfully achieving Foundation Establishment.
"You are Ye Hao?"
Zhao Yunlan looked at Ye Hao, observing the little guy before him with keen interest.
This was the little guy.
Less than a year after joining the Baiyun Sect, he had turned all of Area B upside down.
Any spirit farmer who interacted with him saw their yields soar dramatically, far surpassing previous years.
It felt as though he had stumbled upon a true treasure.
Ye Hao hastily cupped his hands and responded, "I am."
"You are very interesting. Are you interested in becoming my disciple?"
Zhao Yunlan looked straight at Ye Hao and asked without mincing words.
Before summoning Ye Hao, he had already investigated his background.
The youth hailed from a small village under Baiyun Sect's jurisdiction named Ye Family Village.
His background was completely clean.
His parents were alive and well, earning their living through farming.
No cultivators had ever appeared in his lineage.
It was purely by stroke of massive luck that this generation produced Ye Hao, a youngster possessing spirit roots.
In less than a year since joining the Baiyun Sect, he had already broken through to Third-Layer Qi Refinement.
He could even cultivate spells to such high realms.
On top of that, he possessed great fortune, coming across a spirit plant like Dew Condensation Grass just taking a casual walk outside.
All of this had sparked the desire in Zhao Yunlan to take him on as a disciple.
Rate on N.U.
