The next day, early in the morning, Li Mu was in the yard processing the spirit rice stalks he had harvested yesterday.
He placed a wooden roller in the center of the yard, spread out a large piece of burlap, and took a handful of spirit rice stalks, forcefully beating them against the burlap. The grains of spirit rice immediately detached from the plants and fell onto the burlap.
He repeated this process.
Around noon, Li Mu had harvested seven large baskets of Spirit Valley, weighing approximately two thousand catties.
After hulling all two thousand catties of Spirit Valley, he would likely obtain one thousand two hundred to one thousand three hundred catties of spirit rice. At that time, after paying the Sect's land rent of 700 catties of spirit rice, the remaining spirit rice would belong to him.
This harvest was considered good. Under Li Mu's meticulous care, one mu of Superior Spiritual Field yielded an extra three to four hundred catties of spirit rice. For other spirit rice farmers, a harvest of 1,000 catties of spirit rice per mu of Superior Spiritual Field was already considered excellent. Some spirit rice farmers focused too much on their daily Cultivation, neglecting the care of their Superior Spiritual Field, resulting in a harvest of less than 700 catties of spirit rice, which meant they would have to pay Spirit Stones to the Sect.
However, Qingxuan Sect was not overly harsh on its 'leeks' below. Renting Superior Spiritual Field was based on annual rent payment. After planting one season of spirit rice, spirit rice farmers who rented Superior Spiritual Field had six months remaining to plant other Spiritual Plants to increase their income.
After eating lunch, Li Mu rested for a while, then began to hull the Spirit Valley.
In the rural areas of his previous world, farmers typically hulled rice by first drying the grains to remove moisture, then placing the Spirit Valley into a sturdy container and pounding it with a wooden stick to separate the hulls, or by using a machine with a drying function to mill the grains and remove the hulls.
In this world, the process of hulling Spirit Valley was somewhat different. The value of spirit rice valley lay in the Spiritual Qi it contained. Exposing spirit rice valley to direct sunlight would cause its internal Spiritual Qi to evaporate along with the moisture, which would be a net loss.
Li Mu brought a sealed wooden grain hulling box, poured in tens of catties of spirit rice valley, then closed the lid and injected spiritual power into the array stone on the lid to activate the hulling array inside the box.
The grain hulling box buzzed, and a large amount of hull powder sprayed out from the nozzle.
When the hulling box stopped operating, he opened the lid to reveal more than ten catties of plump, Spiritual Qi-rich, crystal-clear spirit rice.
Li Mu quickly poured the more than ten catties of spirit rice into a beast-skin spirit rice bag, sealing the opening to prevent Spiritual Qi from dissipating.
Hulling tens of catties of Spirit Valley at a time, Li Mu tirelessly repeated the busy process.
After hulling the seven large baskets, over two thousand catties of spirit rice valley, they filled twelve beast-skin bags. There was still some spirit rice that had no beast bags to store it in. Li Mu emptied a water vat to store the spirit rice and also filled two rice jars, which would probably be enough for him to eat for more than half a year.
The amount of hulled spirit rice was a hundred catties more than Li Mu had estimated.
After paying the Sect's land rent of 700 catties of spirit rice, keeping some spirit rice for himself, and selling off a portion of the spirit rice, he could probably earn thirty to forty Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
After half a year of hard work, he only earned this much in Spirit Stones. The profession of a spirit rice farmer truly had no future!
Unless he could rent the Sect's Superior Spiritual Field and plant Spirit Medicine for Alchemy, only then could the profit increase.
However, to rent the Qingxuan Sect's High Grade Superior Spiritual Field and medicinal fields, one not only needed to improve their Cultivation but also had to participate in the Sect's Grand Competition, pass the competition assessment, and advance from a Utility Disciple to a formal Outer Sect Disciple.
Li Mu moved the twelve bags of spirit rice into the warehouse, planning to take seven bags of spirit rice to Qingxuan Sect's outpost in Qing'an Town tomorrow to pay the land rent. The beast-skin bags for storing spirit rice were issued by Qingxuan Sect, and one full bag weighed exactly one hundred catties.
Looking at the small warehouse piled high with spirit rice bags, Li Mu wiped the sweat from his forehead, his face full of joy, feeling no fatigue at all.
After all, it was a world of Cultivation, with abundant spiritual power. Li Mu's current Qi Refining fifth-layer body was immeasurably stronger than his previous Mortal body.
After a day of hard farm work, Li Mu felt no discomfort in his body.
After cleaning and tidying the yard, Li Mu returned to his house and began to look for books to read.
Li Mu flipped through the 'spirit rice farmer's Basic Guide' issued by the Sect, which introduced Spiritual Plants suitable for continued planting in the Superior Spiritual Field after harvesting spirit rice plants.
Li Mu hesitated between Wind Spirit Grass and Emerald Spirit Fruit, these two types of Spiritual Plants.
First-tier Wind Spirit Grass was a type of pasture-like Spiritual Plant. It could be harvested after three months of planting and then sold to the Sect's spirit animal husbandry farm to feed spirit animals. It was easy to manage, grew quickly, and would not delay the planting of the next season's spirit rice valley, making it the choice of many spirit rice farmers.
However, precisely because of this, Wind Spirit Grass did not sell for a high price; one hundred catties were only worth one Low-Grade Spirit Stone, and a yield of three to four thousand catties per mu of Superior Spiritual Field was already remarkable.
Additionally, there was another issue: planting Wind Spirit Grass would deplete the fertility of the Superior Spiritual Field, requiring significant effort to fertilize the Superior Spiritual Field when planting spirit rice later.
Switching to Emerald Spirit Fruit was different. Emerald Spirit Fruit was also a first-tier Spiritual Plant, but it was a fruit-type Spiritual Plant. Its growing season was longer, requiring nine months. The mature fruits could be eaten directly or sold to a winery to refine cuiling wine. It was a Spiritual Plant with higher economic value; three to four catties could sell for one Low-Grade Spirit Stone.
Planting Emerald Spirit Fruit would not damage the fertility of the Superior Spiritual Field; however, it would miss the season for planting spirit rice. In addition, Emerald Spirit Fruit was relatively delicate, and its cultivation and management were more difficult. Many spirit rice farmers who had planted it ended up losing all their capital.
These two Spiritual Plants each had their advantages and disadvantages. Li Mu almost wore out his 'spirit rice farmer's Basic Guide' and could not find a third Spiritual Plant suitable for him to plant.
With the virtual panel, he could check the attribute status of the Emerald Spirit Fruit at any time. Li Mu was not afraid of failing to grow the Emerald Spirit Fruit. Even if he didn't plant spirit rice then, he could still earn a considerable amount of Spirit Stones.
However, the effect of the Heavenly Talent - Plant Spirit Absorption was too strong. Li Mu very much hoped to continue to improve his Cultivation. If he planted Wind Spirit Grass, he could harvest another wave of Plant Spirit Absorption after three months, which greatly tempted him.
Weighing the pros and cons, Li Mu made a heartfelt decision and chose to plant Wind Spirit Grass.
This world was too dangerous; improving Cultivation and enhancing strength were the most important things. If the Plant Spirit Absorption from Wind Spirit Grass was powerful enough, Li Mu planned not to plant spirit rice anymore and continue to plant Wind Spirit Grass, even renting a few more mu of Superior Spiritual Field to plant Wind Spirit Grass.
This way, he could harvest several more waves of Cultivation in a year.
As for Spirit Stones, if they were not enough, he could earn Spirit Stones through Symbol Making Art.
The management requirements for planting Wind Spirit Grass were slightly lower, and he would spend less time in the Superior Spiritual Field in the future. This way, he could have more time for Symbol Making.
As his proficiency increased, the success rate of Symbol Making would also increase, and he could also refine higher-grade spirit talismans. In the future, he would definitely be able to earn enough Spirit Stones to pay the land rent.
That settled it. Li Mu pondered for a while, made up his mind, and prepared to plant Wind Spirit Grass.
The next day, early in the morning, Li Mu pushed a wooden wheelbarrow, carrying ten bags of spirit rice, and headed to Qing'an Town to pay the land rent and also sell off the other three bags of spirit rice.