Cultivation begins with harvest.

"Please, have a seat, both of you."

Chen Guang brought out stools and invited the two to sit down. He slowly calmed himself down and asked, "You've come here about harvesting the spirit rice, haven't you?"

"Yes and no," Cao Fang said, sitting down gracefully to the side with her legs together. "Junior Brother Lu should be more anxious, so let him speak first."

Lu Da glanced at Cao Fang, then at Chen Guang, before saying, "Actually, I wanted to ask if Brother Chen is interested in helping someone harvest spirit rice?"

"I want to know the specifics," Chen Guang said, avoiding making any absolute statements.

In truth, Chen Guang didn't want to do this; he had many other things he could do. But on the surface, as a mere Qi Refining Level 1 cultivator, it wouldn't make sense for him to completely ignore this business.

Lu Daxian spoke almost without hesitation: "Helping to harvest one fen of land earns five jin of spirit rice. It started a few days ago and will last for about ten days. Many people harvest their own land and then help harvest others' land. This time may be even shorter than what I said."

"Secondly, there aren't that many spirit farmers in a branch building. They are mainly from the second to fourth level of Qi Refining. The number of spirit fields at this level is actually slightly beyond the capacity of spirit farmers. Above that level, cultivators have their own better methods to handle it, so they don't need the help of others. Taking the branch building as the boundary, our branch building can only help harvest about 30 acres of spirit fields at this time of year. This year, I heard that someone broke through and has a higher cultivation level, so there may be fewer fields that need our help to harvest."

"Only five catties of spirit rice for one acre of land?" Chen Guang pondered.

"Yes, one mu of spirit field only yields a little over two hundred jin of spirit rice. You can't just use wet rice, can you? Plus, the owners will cooperate. On average, helping someone with one mu of land only helps them harvest about six-tenths of their land. In reality, the person helping with one mu of spirit field can earn about thirty jin of spirit rice." Lu Da sighed first, though he didn't say it aloud, but he meant that he hoped Chen Guang would be lenient. "In the past, Senior Sister Cao Fang harvested the most, doing more than 60% of the business. Then my wife and I could take about 30%, and the remaining 10% was done by Zhou Ge and others. Earth Power Technique is quite special, putting a lot of pressure on the physical body and meridians. He can handle his own few mu of spirit land, but he's powerless to help others."

This business has a profit of about a thousand catties of spirit rice. Lu Daxian is undoubtedly the one who desires it the most. He just had a child and has high hopes for his son. He puts all his hopes on his child. He is determined to get these profits. He is accumulating and preparing for the next generation. More accurately, he does not want any other people to interfere with his existing interests.

A business selling several hundred kilograms of spirit rice is quite substantial, and it's pure profit. For spirit farmers, putting in some effort and time is hardly a cost.

Cao Fang slowly said, "If Junior Brother Chen is interested, he should be able to gain something. After all, for the spirit farmers, being able to harvest spirit rice in time is naturally more important."

"Brother Lu, do you want an answer right now?" Chen Guang asked.

Lu Da forced a smile: "We hope you won't participate this year, Junior Brother. After all, disrupting plans abruptly isn't good for anyone, is it? Observe first, and with a definite plan in place, it will be more effective to participate next year, right?"

"Brother Lu is right. After all, I still have some spirit fields to manage," Chen Guang thought for a moment, then smiled. "But I'm also short of money."

Lu Da hesitated for a moment, then finally cupped his hands in greeting: "Then I hope Brother Chen will consider our friendship. We've already discussed those families in the east; they have about ten acres of land. I hope you won't consider farming in that direction for the time being."

Cao Fang glanced coldly at Lu Daxian without arguing.

Chen Guang naturally brushed it off in a friendly manner and saw Lu Daxian to the door. Before parting, Lu Daxian said very seriously, "Brother Chen, there's something I still have to tell you: each branch has its own business—if Cao Fang tells you to compete for business in other branches, don't listen to her."

Chen Guang was taken aback, and said yes, but after seeing Lu Da off, he didn't quite agree with it.

If they really have the ability to work in other areas of the building, it won't be a big deal. After all, hiring people to harvest is the Ling Farmer's own business. The only thing to worry about is whether they can free up the time in just one or two weeks.

Back in the courtyard, Cao Fang remained quietly seated. When she saw Chen Guang looking at her, she greeted him with a smile.

"Senior Sister Cao, now it's just the two of us. If you have something to say, please speak frankly," Chen Guang said.

"Junior brother is quite straightforward," Cao Fang sat up straight. "I would like to exchange inheritances with you. I also once obtained a freelance cultivator's inheritance, which is about sword control techniques. I am very interested in your body-refining techniques and hope to exchange them with you."

Sword control technique?

Seeing Chen Guang deep in thought, Cao Fang confidently puffed out her chest. No cultivator would be uninterested in this secret technique. Soaring through the air on a sword, shoulder to shoulder with the Azure Sky, how unrestrained and carefree!

Even some of the disciples in charge were willing to trade with Cao Fang, and she didn't believe Chen Guang wouldn't be tempted.

"I admit that flying on a sword is really cool, but what use is it to me right now? I still need a spirit weapon sword. As a spirit farmer, I'm better off with just some seeds. Flying on a sword isn't my goal at this stage."

Chen Guang admitted that he was tempted, but only for a moment.

Sword control is useless to me now. Spiritual weapons are out of the question. Spiritual weapons are most susceptible to wear and tear, and their power is limited. I'm afraid I'll be crushed by the money to buy a spiritual weapon before I even learn how to use one.

Spiritual artifacts, then they're expensive.

My first goal is to buy my own spiritual tea tree so I can enjoy tea and moon-viewing. I have a moon-colored dress, which looks beautiful when the moon is bright, and I can also pursue the realm of a romantic scholar. My first choice right now is the Dingzhen tea tree.

My second goal is to become a disciple of the steward. That is my desire for higher realms. With more magical power and more recognition from the sect, I can do more things.

If there's a third goal, it would be to become a Spirit Plant Master. However, Chen Guang isn't entirely sure about this third goal. Becoming a Spirit Plant Master requires special inheritance, and whether he can achieve it by relying solely on the reward orb is still unknown. If not, it's a distant goal. Being too ambitious might make Chen Guang worry that he lacks the perseverance to achieve it. He needs to complete small goals one by one to solidify his belief. Then, even if he achieves the Golden Core or Nascent Soul stage, Chen Guang dares to do what he says.

The art of sword control offers no significant help to either of these current objectives.

So Chen Guang slowly said, "Senior Sister, why don't you go to the Scripture Pavilion or find someone else? Body-refining techniques shouldn't be that scarce, right?"

"Huh, huh?"

Cao Fang's eyes widened, as if she were doubting herself: "You're not going to trade with me? This is the art of sword control! The Scripture Pavilion only has simple object manipulation techniques, which are completely incomparable to a secret art like sword control."

"Senior sister, may I ask how you obtained your spiritual weapon? If I want a spiritual weapon, how many spirit coins would I have to pay? I think it would be better for you to go to the Scripture Pavilion, where there are cultivation techniques as well," Chen Guang said.

Cao Fang frowned and carefully examined Chen Guang: "The Scripture Pavilion requires the seventh level of Qi Refining to enter. How can I possibly get in now? Junior brother, are you really not going to reconsider? This is the Sword Control Technique, a secret art!"

Chen Guang spread his hands: "As you can see, I may have to compete with you and Brother Lu for business. Low-grade spiritual artifacts cost at least 800 catties of spiritual rice to obtain, but they can only be the kind of standard spiritual artifacts used by the Flame Hall Fire Workers for practice. They are actually very crude. A truly good low-grade spiritual artifact costs at least 1,200 catties of spiritual rice, which I can't afford."

In Yantang, there is a profession called "fireworker." Their work involves various odd jobs. As long as they are diligent, they can get a chance to refine weapons once a month. Once they produce a qualified finished product, they can become an apprentice from a fireworker.

The Flame Hall and the Earth Hall are somewhat different. It may take more than ten years or even decades for a fire worker to become an apprentice. As their cultivation level improves, they only have more choices of miscellaneous tasks. More complex miscellaneous tasks, leaning towards weapon forging, become fire workers, and leaning towards alchemy, become medicine workers. The Earth Hall's counterpart is spirit farmers. The difference is that spirit farmers are entrusted to the Xingfeng Hall for management. The most direct change in their cultivation level is that they manage more spirit fields. Fire workers and medicine workers are directly under the control of the Flame Hall. As their cultivation level improves, they only receive a slightly higher monthly allowance, and their lives become more difficult.

"But you can have the secret technique first. Are you willing to farm for the rest of your life, Junior Brother? Even if you do, after becoming a steward's disciple, there are still five years of small competitions. If you don't pass, you can't even become a steward's disciple. You still need to have enough strength. The sword control technique can make you stand out," Cao Fang said quickly, but seeing that Chen Guang was still unmoved, she hurriedly said, "I only have one more chance to trade my secret technique. Many steward's disciples want it. If you miss it, Junior Brother, you will really miss it."

Chen Guang smiled. He genuinely didn't know, but that didn't stop him from scrutinizing Cao Fang and saying in a deep voice, "Senior Sister, you've kept this from me for so long. It turns out that the opportunities and inheritances we received have a limit on the number of transactions."

Cao Fang snorted coldly. She had said it on purpose, but her expression was icy and she was very unhappy: "Of course, the Xingfeng Hall will restrict non-disciple transactions of cultivation techniques and secret arts. If you abide by these rules, the sect will value you more. If you don't, it won't cause any problems, but it will affect your future promotion to become a disciple. You will know tomorrow."

"Then why didn't Senior Brother Jiang tell me?" Chen Guang immediately grasped the key point.