Chapter 98: Chapter 98: New Variety, Giant Bone Spirit Rice!

Mei Hua had stood guard outside the Breeding Room for six whole days.

The matter of the seeds was a task personally assigned by the Pavilion Master; he had to treat it with the utmost importance. Thus, as the Chief Steward of the Song Mansion, Mei Hua dismissed the others and stood watch himself.

When the door finally opened, the somewhat drowsy Mei Hua instantly perked up. He went up to greet the man with a face full of smiles and asked, "Fellow Daoist Chen, are you finished?"

"Yes. Fellow Daoist Mei, I’ll have to trouble you to fetch the Pavilion Master!"

"Alright, alright, I’ll go right away. Thank you for your hard work, thank you." Mei Hua repeated his thanks several times before turning around and jogging off.

Before long, Song Yunxi hurried over with brisk strides. Without a word, he gave Chen Mo a bear hug and continuously patted his back. Chen Mo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his actions, but knowing the man was completely sincere, he simply let him be.

"Brother Song, here! These are the eight hundred pounds of seeds."

Song Yunxi took the Storage Ring and, without even looking at it, slipped it onto his index finger. At the same time, he handed over a payment of twelve Low Grade Spirit Stones to Chen Mo and excitedly said, "Let’s go! I’ll take you to our White Snake Marketplace’s Fragrance Pavilion to have some fun!"

He was in high spirits and his invitation was exceedingly generous, but Chen Mo still shook his head.

"Brother Song, I’d like to head back and rest for a day or two first. Spring plowing is right around the corner, and I can’t afford any delays! We can go to the Fragrance Pavilion anytime."

"You! You really are too responsible!"

Song Yunxi didn’t force the issue. After all, the other man was right; these past few days, many Spirit Plant Cultivators had come to their doors waiting to purchase Spirit Rice Seeds. If it weren’t for the fact that he was newly appointed and the other shops were still observing the situation, they would have already started selling Spirit Seeds at an exorbitant price!

"I’m a Spirit Plant Cultivator, after all."

After he spoke, the two burst into simultaneous, hearty laughter.

After bidding farewell to Song Yunxi, Chen Mo returned to his residence at the Spirit Fields, accompanied by Mei Hua. His sworn brother had originally wanted to escort him personally, but Chen Mo had declined.

It was still early in the day, and Chen Mo had no real intention of resting. He had already rested for two days inside the Breeding Room. Right now, what he needed to do was till the land as quickly as possible, set up the Memory Array, and plant the seeds!

He let Kang out and tossed it a rake, letting this Spiritual Bird—which was as good at eating as it was at running—burn off its seemingly boundless energy.

This wasn’t Kang’s first time doing this kind of work. Although it was a bit rusty, it still managed to do a decent and methodical job of it. At the same time, Chen Mo grabbed a shovel and divided his twenty acres of Spirit Fields into four sections using earthen ridges.

The land Song Yunxi had prepared for him was in one perfectly intact block; clearly, he had taken this into consideration as well. However, it was still a bit off from what Chen Mo had originally planned.

***

After the better part of a day’s busy work, Kang had tilled nearly ten acres of land, and Chen Mo had successfully finished dividing the fields.

As evening approached, and after seeing the constant, prying gazes from his neighbors disappear back into their houses, he finally took out the Spiritual Sand from his robes and began to set up the Mountain Gazing Shadow Retaining Array!

Across the four plots of land, Chen Mo set up a total of three Memory Arrays. For the five acres of Spirit Fields closest to his residence, he simultaneously activated [Gathering Spirit] and [Rapid Maturation].

The green [Gathering Spirit] Talent could only cover an area of five acres. Because of this, Chen Mo planned to plant something a little different here!

The next day, Kang was driven down into the fields bright and early, while Chen Mo found some free time to make a trip to the White Snake Marketplace.

By now, as the sworn brother of the Pavilion Master, his reputation in the area had skyrocketed. People continuously speculated about whose connections he relied on, and why he would go so deep into the fields to experience the lifestyle of a Spirit Plant Cultivator.

In short, absolutely no one believed that Chen Mo was a true, purebred Spirit Plant Cultivator!

Chen Mo naturally ignored their stares. After walking a lap around the marketplace, he arrived at the largest grain shop in the area. It was originally called Zhou’s Shop, but it had now been changed to Song’s Shop! When it came to the business of buying and selling grain, the Pavilion Master naturally had to keep the lion’s share firmly in his own hands, leaving only a little soup for other well-connected Cultivators to sip on.

The moment Chen Mo entered the shop, the Steward here looked up and spotted him. Guan Xingxiang, who had been resting his chin in his hands looking somewhat bored, instantly jumped to his feet. He trotted all the way around the counter and arrived in front of him.

"Fellow... Fellow Daoist Chen, what brings you here?"

Guan Xingxiang had originally wanted to call him "Lord" or "Master," but thinking it sounded too much like street-thug slang and fearing it might displease the other party, he quickly changed his tune. Calling him "Fellow Daoist" was standard and couldn’t go wrong!

Chen Mo naturally didn’t know that in the brief moment they met face-to-face, so many thoughts had flashed through the man’s mind. He thought for a moment and said, "I’ve come to buy some seeds."

"How much do you need? I’ll go fetch them for you."

Buy?

What a joke! The Pavilion Master’s sworn brother still needed to buy things? A Cultivator from Purple Cloud Peak who was merely experiencing mortal life still had to pay?

"Aside from Spirit Yellow Rice, do you have any other seeds?"

As soon as those words were spoken, Guan Xingxiang, who had just been full of confidence, suddenly found himself in a difficult position. If it were Spirit Yellow Rice, he could still make the call, but as for other Spirit Plant Seeds, that was beyond his authority to decide. He had originally wanted to do a simple favor to get the Pavilion Master’s brother to owe him one, but he never expected that he had bitten off more than he could chew!

"We do have them, but I... I can’t make the decision on those."

"No matter. Tell me about them first."

Chen Mo walked up to the counter. Guan Xingxiang took the initiative to bring over a round stool, gesturing for him to sit down. He then scurried back behind the counter. From a row of cabinets similar to those used by apothecaries for dispensing herbs, he pulled open several drawers and used a silver scoop to take out a few seeds from each.

Guan Xingxiang poured the seeds onto a piece of oiled paper, lining them up in a row.

"Are these all of them?"

"Shall I introduce them to you?"

"Thank you!"

Guan Xingxiang’s face flushed red. "You’re too polite!" He stared at the different seeds on the table, gathered his thoughts, and began to explain.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, Song’s Shop has a total of seven types of seeds. The most common one, which is also the seed universally grown by Spirit Plant Cultivators, is Spirit Yellow Rice. As a tax grain, Spirit Rice is universally accepted whether it’s in Purple Cloud Peak, the Cyan Yang Sect, the Pingdu Continent, or even Wuchi Country. The growing conditions for this grain are simple, it yields many ears of rice, and it’s the Spirit Plant consumed by the vast majority of Cultivators."

Chen Mo nodded. Having grown Spirit Yellow Rice for over five years, he had pondered these matters before. Now, hearing it from the other man’s mouth, he had gained an even deeper understanding.

"Forgive me, but how should I address you, Fellow Daoist?"

Guan Xingxiang rejoiced in his heart. It seemed that starting with what the other party was familiar with had been the right move!

"I am Guan Xingxiang. You can just call me Guan."

Guan?

Chen Mo smiled faintly; the man was probably older than he was!

"Fellow Daoist Guan, please continue."

Guan Xingxiang nodded. Pointing to the two piles of seeds on his right, he continued, "These seeds, which are roughly the size of a thumb, are Giant Bone Spirit Rice, which are also Tier One Spirit Plants. As you can see, this type of rice is much larger; a single grain is as thick as a human finger. Precisely because of this, its yield has always been low. An acre of land requires about one pound of seeds, yet the harvest is often less than twenty pounds."

"The yield rate is that low?" Chen Mo was somewhat surprised.

"Right! With a thirty-to-one seed extraction rate, the cost of a single pound of seeds is equivalent to thirty pounds of Spirit Rice. Therefore, very few people plant Giant Bone Spirit Rice. Basically, planting it guarantees a loss!"

"Then what is the point of this seed’s existence?"

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