Spirit Plant Entry: Immortality Begins with Farming

Before the morning mist had completely dissipated, Chen Yuan was already squatting in the corner of the yard.

He held a dark red stone fragment in his hand, its edges sharp and matte in the morning light—a piece of debris from the fire-attribute ore he had knocked off last time.

Before him were three newly sprouted yellow rice stalks, secretly transplanted from the spirit field, planted in a broken ceramic pot, their leaves drooping listlessly.

"Perilla can be used to generate entries with flint, but what about rice?"

Chen Yuan muttered to himself as he carefully scattered gravel around the rice roots.

He then pulled out a rough earthenware bowl from his bosom. At the bottom of the bowl was a shallow layer of rainwater—it was water drawn by him using the Spirit Rain Technique. It was water from the second level of Qi Refining, so thin that it could barely wet the soil.

He held his breath and made a hand seal.

Water droplets fell, mixing with mineral fragments and seeping into the soil.

One day, two days.

On the morning of the seventh day, when Chen Yuan opened the door, several lines of pale gold characters suddenly appeared on the tip of the rightmost ear of the three rice stalks:

【Name】: Yellow Sprout Rice (Contaminated with Heat)

[Entry]: Minor increase in yield (extractable)

[Status]: Grouting stage

Chen Yuan's heart skipped a beat. He crouched down, and the moment his fingertips touched the rice stalks, the entry transformed into a stream of light and entered his brow. In the gray mist space of his sea of ​​consciousness, next to the white leaf representing "weak spiritual energy," a pale yellow new leaf appeared.

[Slightly effective yield increase]: When used on one mu of Lingdao rice, it can increase the yield by about 10%, lasting for one season.

"One-tenth..."

Chen Yuan stared at the leaf in his mind, his brain calculating rapidly. His three acres of barren land could only yield a little over a hundred catties of rice per season at most. Adding 10%, that's ten catties more rice, which would be less than seven spirit stones.

too little.

But this is the first time an entry has been derived from rice.

He straightened up and looked towards the shed. The morning light pierced through the mist and fell on the crooked wooden roofs, and smoke was rising from Widow Li's chimney.

We need to try it out and see how it goes.

---

In the afternoon, Chen Yuan sat cross-legged on the wooden bed.

Twenty-one low-grade spirit stones were laid out in his arms, next to the "minor yield increase" rice plant he had dug up—it was already withered, and after the entry was extracted, it was no different from an ordinary weed.

He first grasped a spirit stone and activated the Long Breath Technique.

The spiritual energy seeped into his meridians in wisps, like streams flowing into a dried-up riverbed, only to stagnate halfway through. The bottleneck between the second and third levels of Qi Refining was like a stone wall; he had been banging against it for two years, but the wall remained unmoved.

Half an hour later, the spirit stone's luster dimmed.

Chen Yuan opened his eyes and sighed.

There are twenty dollars left.

He hesitated for a moment, then retrieved the white leaf with "weak spiritual energy" from his sea of ​​consciousness. With a thought, the leaf vanished, and a warm current surged up again—gentler than the spiritual energy in the spirit stone, requiring almost no refining, and directly merging into his dantian.

The warm current only lasted for a dozen or so breaths.

The bottleneck remains.

Chen Yuan frowned, his gaze falling on the tattered booklet of "The Long Breath Technique" on the corner of the bed. The pages were yellowed, and the corners were curled up; it was a common copy issued by the family five years ago, one for every person.

He suddenly remembered something and stared intently at the book.

In my field of vision, a few lines of small print slowly appeared at the top of the booklet:

[Title]: Manuscript of "The Art of Long Breathing" (Wood Genus)

[Entry]: Incomplete cultivation technique, Wood element, low efficiency

[Condition]: Old

Chen Yuan was stunned.

Cultivation techniques... can be appraised too?

He reached out and touched the page; the entries weren't extracted like those for spiritual plants, they just floated there quietly. It seemed the system couldn't currently manipulate these kinds of "abstract existences."

But the information is sufficient.

"Incomplete...no wonder."

Chen Yuan smirked and tossed the booklet back onto the corner of the bed. What good stuff could the family give to a collateral descendant? For the past five years, he'd been like an old ox, pulling a broken cart through the mud, always thinking it was his own fault.

Footsteps came from outside the window, followed by a knock on the door.

"Hey Chen, are you there?"

It was Old Zhao's voice.

Chen Yuan put away the spirit stones, got up and opened the door. The old man stood outside, holding a small bamboo basket containing several green mountain fruits.

"Old Zhao," Chen Yuan stepped aside, "come in and sit down."

Old Zhao waved his hand and handed over the basket: "I picked these in the mountains a few days ago. They're not worth much, but they're crisp and refreshing. Try them."

Chen Yuan accepted the gift and thanked him. The old man didn't leave; he squatted on the threshold, took out a pipe, took a couple of puffs, and suddenly asked, "Has your cultivation been going poorly lately?"

Chen Yuan's heart stirred slightly: "It is somewhat hesitant."

"You're not the only one." Old Zhao exhaled a puff of smoke, which swirled in the morning light. "Several people in the shantytown have been stuck on the second floor for three years, and they can't get through this year. I heard... it's because the 'spiritual energy tide' is unstable."

"Spiritual energy tides?"

"Yes, that's what they say from above." Old Zhao lowered his voice, "In the Southern Wilderness, the laws are chaotic, and the spiritual energy is chaotic too. Sometimes it's as thick as porridge, and sometimes it's as thin as water. In the last two years, it's been thinner more often."

Chen Yuan recalled the night the perilla grass mutated; the spiritual rain under the moonlight did indeed seem thinner than usual.

"What should we do then?"

"What can we do?" Old Zhao chuckled, his wrinkles deepening. "What can we, at the bottom of society, do? Just tough it out. But let me give you a heads-up..."

He paused, then tapped his pipe on the threshold.

"If things really get chaotic, cultivation level is meaningless; having food, medicine, and heavy weapons is what truly matters. Look at those pioneers on the front lines; countless people at the fourth or fifth level of Qi Refining have died, while many of the stronger mortal soldiers have survived."

Chen Yuan remained silent.

The old man patted his pants and stood up: "That's all I have to say. Think about it yourself. By the way, the perilla grass in your yard... it's growing quite well."

After he finished speaking, he swayed and walked away.

Chen Yuan stood at the door, watching his figure disappear into the mist, the mountain fruit in his hand still damp with morning dew.

---

For the next two weeks, Chen Yuan worked in the spiritual fields during the day and meditated at night to break through to higher levels.

One spirit stone after another was used up, and the leaf with "weak spiritual energy" in his sea of ​​consciousness had long been used up. He tried to identify the perilla grass in the yard and the rice plants that had been moved back, but no more entries came out.

The probability is so low it's disheartening.

Until late on the ninth day.

The stagnation in his dantian suddenly eased, like a long-blocked ditch being cleared, and spiritual energy surged into his third meridian. Chen Yuan shuddered, fine dirt seeped from his skin, and his aura suddenly rose a notch.

Qi Refining Level 3!

He opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing within them before quickly concealing itself.

The joy of the breakthrough lasted only a few breaths before being suppressed by reality—the third level of Qi Refining was still the lowest level in the outer sect of the Flying Feather Sect, and still cannon fodder on the front lines.

But at least... the system has changed.

Chen Yuan focused his mind and looked inward. In the gray mist space in the center of his sea of ​​consciousness, the originally faint "word stardust" had become brighter, as if a thin halo had been added.

The storage space has increased from three to four slots, currently containing [Minor Yield Increase] and another [Slightly Sour] piece extracted from a wild fruit yesterday—completely useless.

The scope of identification seems to have expanded as well; now we can clearly see the veins of the locust tree leaves three zhang away.

But it still couldn't identify living creatures.

He tried to look at the gecko that had crawled across the corner of the wall, but his field of vision was blank.

"We still have to wait..."

Chen Yuan got out of bed and pushed open the wooden window.

As night deepened, most of the lights in the shantytown were turned off, except for Widow Li's house, where the lights were still on. Two figures were reflected in the window paper, sitting opposite each other and drinking.

He withdrew his gaze, pulled a rough pottery jar from under the bed, and poured out the spirit stones inside.

Originally twenty spirit stones, eight were used for the breakthrough, leaving twelve spirit stones.

There are still twenty-three catties of yellow sprout rice left over from the last tax payment. I can't bear to eat it and am waiting to exchange it for money.

"Twelve spirit stones..."

Chen Yuan weighed the warm, smooth stone in his hand.

The "Detailed Explanation of the Cloud and Water Technique" sells for thirty yuan in the market, which is far too expensive.

However, if we buy some fertilizer to fertilize those three acres of barren land, and combine it with the "micro-yield increase" feature, the next harvest might yield an extra twenty or thirty catties.

Thirty more catties of rice can be exchanged for nineteen and a half spirit stones.

But the fertilizer isn't cheap either; a packet of "Fertile Soil Powder" costs two spirit stones, and its effects only last for one season.

He stared at the spirit stone in his hand, then looked at the pale yellow leaf in his sea of ​​consciousness.

The barking of wild dogs came from outside the courtyard, and the sound of a speedboat whizzing through the air could be heard in the distance—it was the patrol team, time for their night patrol.

Chen Yuan blew out the oil lamp and lay back down on the bed.

His eyes were open in the darkness.

Poor, really poor

Twelve spirit stones, one yield-increasing entry, and three acres of barren land.

We have to choose a path.