Spirit Plant Entry: Immortality Begins with Farming

The next morning, Chen Yuan got up very early.

He didn't go directly to Lingtian, but instead went to the general merchandise street on the outskirts of the market first.

The street wasn't long, and both sides were crowded with makeshift stalls selling cheap trinkets.

There were wild fruits picked from the mountains, inferior pills that he had refined himself, and fragments of old magical artifacts that he had found from who-knows-where.

On this street, Chen Yuan first exchanged his extra fourteen catties of spirit rice for nine spirit stones.

We stopped in front of an old woman's stall.

On the stall were several broken ceramic pots, each containing some drooping plants. In the pot on the far right, there were a few small, pale purple grasses with thick leaves and finely serrated edges.

"Grandma, how much is this perilla leaf?"

The old woman raised her head, her cloudy eyes scrutinizing him: "Three plants, one spirit stone."

"Too expensive." Chen Yuan shook his head. "With this quality, half a spirit stone would be the most you'd pay."

"Buy it or not, it's up to you." The old woman lowered her head and continued weaving the straw rope in her hands.

Chen Yuan squatted down and carefully examined the few perilla plants. This was a low-grade spiritual herb, not very useful, usually used to refine the most basic "Grain-Clearing Pill". Its advantage was that it was easy to grow and did not require much spiritual energy.

More importantly, it's cheap!

Chen Yuan reached out and touched the leaf, but no inscription appeared. This was expected; it would be strange if any random spiritual herb had an inscription.

"I'll take the whole half of the spirit stone." Chen Yuan took the spirit stone out of his pocket.

The old woman glanced at him, took the spirit stone, dug out the three perilla plants along with the soil, tied them with straw rope, and handed them over.

Chen Yuan carefully accepted the package, browsed a few more stalls, and spent a spirit stone to buy a bag of "rotten soil," which was fertilizer made from monster excrement and withered leaves, and had some effect on improving the soil.

Back in his own yard, Chen Yuan first spread the compost evenly on the vegetable garden, and then watered it again with the Spirit Rain Technique.

The Spirit Rain Technique at the first level of Qi Refining has limited effects, only able to attract a thin layer of water mist, but it's better than nothing.

After planting the perilla grass, Chen Yuan stepped back a few paces and observed quietly.

No entry.

He wasn't disappointed. This was a long-term process, and it would be easy to generate entries. This cheat code was simply too worthless.

For the next two weeks, Chen Yuan would go to work in the spirit field in the early morning, return to the courtyard in the afternoon to take care of the perilla grass, and meditate and cultivate at night.

The spiritual energy provided by that golden thread grass had long been absorbed. Although his cultivation level had not broken through, the spiritual energy in his dantian was indeed thicker.

The perilla grass is growing well; nourished by the Spirit Rain Technique, its leaves are gradually becoming fuller. However, no entry has yet appeared.

Chen Yuan wasn't in a hurry, continuing to water, fertilize, and observe the plants daily as usual. He began to try to record the growth details of each plant, the color changes of the leaves, the thickness of the stems, and even how much it grew each day...

The day for tax collection arrived quickly.

Fan Datong arrived in the afternoon, piloting a green-leaf flying boat. The boat was only about ten feet long, entirely emerald green, with simple wind-elemental runes engraved on its surface, and emitted a soft buzzing sound as it flew.

For cultivators like Chen Yuan from the lower levels, this was already an extraordinary magical artifact.

"Chen Yuan, how's the harvest this season?" Fan Datong jumped off the flying boat and walked over with his belly sticking out.

He was dressed in the blue and white robes of an outer sect steward of the Flying Feather Sect, with a storage bag hanging from his waist and a jade thumb ring on his hand—things that an ordinary spiritual farmer could never afford in his entire life.

"Reporting to Steward Fan, a total of eighty-two catties of yellow sprout rice have been collected," Chen Yuan said respectfully.

Fan Datong grunted in agreement, walked to the bag of spirit rice, grabbed a handful, and watched the rice grains roll between his fingers, making a soft rustling sound.

"The quality is so-so," he said casually. "According to the rules, you should pay fifty-seven catties."

Chen Yuan's heart sank. Seventy percent of the tax should have been fifty-six catties and four ounces, but Fan Datong rounded it down, asking for an extra catty. This catty of yellow sprout rice could sell for half a spirit stone in the market.

But he dared not argue, and simply bowed his head and replied, "Yes."

Fan Datong nodded in satisfaction and took out a bucket-shaped magic artifact from his storage bag. The artifact was pitch black and its surface was engraved with complex runes. It could directly absorb spiritual rice into the storage space.

The fifty-seven catties of spirit rice were quickly taken away.

Fan Datong weighed the storage bag in his hand and suddenly said, "I heard you've been planting spirit herbs in your yard lately?"

Chen Yuan's heart skipped a beat, but he remained outwardly calm: "Yes, I planted a few perilla plants to try it out."

"Perilla grass..." Fan Datong smiled faintly, "That stuff isn't worth much. If you really want to grow spirit herbs, why not try blood vine? It's expensive in the market; one plant can sell for two spirit stones."

"Bloodvines require an intermediate-level Spirit Rain Technique to survive, and my cultivation is too low..."

"That's true." Fan Datong waved his hand. "Just focus on growing your yellow rice. By the way, the sect will be tallying this year's harvest next month. The bottom ten will have to go to the front lines to clear land. Think about it carefully."

After saying that, he jumped onto the flying boat and transformed into a streak of blue light, disappearing into the distance.

Chen Yuan stood there, his palms sweating.

Frontline reclamation...

That was a true death trap. It is said that of the hundred spirit farmers sent there last year, only thirty-odd returned, and all of them were injured. The Flying Feather Sect claimed that it was an attack by demonic beasts, but rumors circulated in the shantytown that there was something even more terrifying there.

We must increase production and achieve a breakthrough as soon as possible.

Chen Yuan did not cultivate at night.

He sat in the courtyard, looking at the few perilla plants. The moonlight shone on the leaves, giving them a faint purple glow.

After nearly half a month of care, these grasses have adapted to the soil and are growing well.

But not enough.

I need more spiritual energy, and I need to break through to the third level of Qi Refining.

Chen Yuan closed his eyes, recalling the feeling of touching the golden thread grass. That grass grew on the edge of the spirit field, constantly nourished by spiritual rain, and had just undergone a mutation...

"Mutations......"

He opened his eyes and his gaze fell on the perilla grass.

What if we actively create mutations?

Once the thought appeared, it could no longer be suppressed.

Chen Yuan got up and went back to his room. He pulled out a wooden box from under the bed. The box contained the odds and ends he had accumulated over the years: a few tattered cultivation manuals, some dregs from failed alchemy attempts, and a few pieces of unknown ore.

One of the stones was a dark red one that I found in the mountains last year. I thought the color was unusual, so I kept it.

Chen Yuan picked up the stone and examined it closely in the moonlight. The stone had fine lines on its surface and felt warm to the touch, as if it contained some kind of faint fire-attribute spiritual energy.

He walked to the edge of the vegetable garden and buried the stone at the base of the perilla plant.

Then he cast the Spirit Rain Technique.

The water mist falls and seeps into the soil.

Chen Yuan could sense that the fire elemental energy within the stone was being activated, mixing with the water elemental energy of the spirit rain, resulting in a subtle change.

The leaves of the perilla plant trembled slightly.

Chen Yuan held his breath, his eyes fixed straight ahead.

Time passed little by little.

Just when he thought he was about to fail again, a line of small characters slowly appeared above the central perilla plant:

[Name]: Perilla Grass (Fire Attribute Mutation)

[Entry]: Faint Fire Spiritual Energy (Extractable)

[Status]: Mature

Become!

Chen Yuanqiang suppressed his elation and reached out to touch the leaf.

The entry transformed into a glimmer of light and entered his brow, and he immediately saw a red leaf appear in his sea of ​​consciousness.

[Weak Fire Spiritual Energy]: After use, you will gain fire-attribute spiritual energy for three hours.

Fire attribute...

Chen Yuan seemed to be deep in thought. The "Long Breath Technique" he cultivated was a wood-attribute technique, and fire spiritual energy was not very useful to him. But what if he sold it?

There are quite a few cultivators practicing fire-attribute techniques in the market, so this kind of pure spiritual energy that can be directly absorbed should fetch a good price.

He dug out the mutated perilla plant, wrapped it in cloth, and kept the remaining two plants, which, although they had no entries, were growing well and could be kept for further observation.