Before dawn, Wei Changsheng was already sitting cross-legged on the straw mat in the Servant room, holding the last remaining High Grade Green Spike Spiritual Rice seed in his palm. The seed glowed with a faint greenish luster, like a solidified drop of morning dew. It was the only High Grade item he had painstakingly picked out from his rations last month. He hadn't been willing to eat it, originally saving it as a life-saving measure for when his Spiritual Qi might run dry and he became too weak to move.
Now, it was going to be an experimental subject.
He closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the System space. A faint golden halo spread out into a neat acre of farmland, the soil moist, and Spiritual Qi like mist. He gently “placed” the seed into the center of the field. As his consciousness touched the System interface, a line of prompts appeared:
Crop Input: Green Spike Spiritual Rice (High Grade)
Estimated Maturity Time: 23 hours 47 minutes in the outside world
Acceleration Mode not enabled, Irrigation Mode: Basic Cycle
“Good heavens, it’s even more punctual than rice on Earth.” His heart stirred, and he subconsciously brought up a virtual record board in his mind, beginning to annotate data. “One day in the outside world equals one year in the System. Theoretically, a 365-day maturity cycle is compressed into 24 hours, but the actual time taken is 23 hours and 47 minutes, an error of 7 minutes… Could it be that my Spiritual Qi is too weak, and the energy supply is unstable?”
As he recorded, he stared at the seed in the field. It germinated as soon as it touched the soil, its roots penetrating the earth like silver threads. The stem grew taller, tillered, and headed, the entire process rapidly advancing in his consciousness, as if someone was holding down a fast-forward button. He watched without blinking, just like he used to watch for bacterial colonies to form under a microscope in the lab.
“This isn’t farming; this is growing a tech tree.”
At the third watch, the System prompt sounded punctually.
Ding! Green Spike Spiritual Rice has matured, Quality Rating: Premium (10% improvement compared to the same type in the outside world)
Harvest: Spiritual Rice ×127 grains, Cultivation Points +5
Wei Changsheng opened his eyes, a smile he couldn't suppress playing on his lips. He didn't move immediately. Instead, he first cast a Qi Concealment Art to confirm no one was peeking around, then he flipped out of bed, grabbed his small hoe, put on his outer robe, and quietly slipped out of the room.
The Outer Sect medicinal field was silent at this moment, with only the lanterns of the patrolling Disciples in the distance swaying in the wind. Using the faint moonlight, he found the withered seedling patch from yesterday, squatted down, and gently pried open the soil corresponding to the System area with the back of his hoe. The soil was loose, the root System well-developed, and a golden rice stalk stood prominently, its grains plump and full of Spiritual Qi. With a gentle touch, a faint fragrance wafted out.
“It smells so good I want to cook a bowl of Spiritual Rice porridge.” He chuckled softly, quickly dug up the entire stalk with its roots, stuffed it into the innermost layer of his Storage Pouch, and then scattered some ordinary Spiritual Grain husks to cover the traces.
After returning to his room, he cast a sound-insulating Talisman, plucked a grain from the harvested rice stalk, crushed it between his fingers, and put it into his mouth.
His tongue tingled slightly, and a warm, moist Spiritual current flowed down his throat, rushing straight into his Meridians. The Bottleneck of Qi Condensation Second Layer, which had been like an iron wall, now felt loose, as if someone had gently tapped it three times with a small hammer from within.
“One grain is worth three; this isn't an exaggeration, it’s a genuine level-skipping experience card.” He opened his eyes, his gaze burning brightly. “At this efficiency, in less than half a month, I’ll be able to break through to Qi Condensation Third Layer—by then, who would dare to make me kneel to hand in tasks?”
He wasn't greedy; he only tried one grain, quickly dividing the rest. One portion was wrapped in oil paper and tucked into a crevice in the wall, with an old brick pressing it down; the other was hidden in a corner of his Storage Pouch, covered with a few ordinary Spiritual Grains, perfectly disguised.
“Hiding grain is like hiding gold; showing off wealth invites disaster.” He patted the pouch, muttering softly, “Isn’t the Cultivation world about strength? Then I’ll secretly Cultivate first. When you discover that a Servant like me can Cultivate beyond his level, you’ll probably doubt your lives.”
As dawn broke, a long line had already formed in front of the Outer Sect granary.
Wei Changsheng was sandwiched in the line, head down, his sleeve covering half his face, looking just like a thief who had just stolen something. When it was his turn, he held out a bamboo basket filled with Spiritual Rice with both hands, his voice extremely low: “Reporting to Senior Brother, this junior… fortunately obtained a double-eared seedling yesterday, so the harvest is slightly more.”
The Outer Sect Disciple in charge of registration glanced up, frowning: “Double-eared? Your basket has at least twice the yield. Everyone in the Servant Area knows Spiritual Rice is harvested once a season. Did you perhaps secretly dig up someone else's field?”
Wei Changsheng's shoulders slumped, and he lowered his head even further: “This junior wouldn’t dare! It’s just that last night, while turning the soil, I followed the ‘three turns and nine pounds at the third quarter of the Yin hour’ method passed down by my ancestors in a dream, and somehow it just grew vigorously…”
“Heh.” That person sneered. “Ancestors appearing in dreams? Is your ancestor an Immortal of farming Reincarnation?”
Several other Outer Sect Disciples also gathered around, their gazes like knives.
“A Qi Condensation Second Layer waste, growing double the Spiritual Rice, who would believe that?”
“Could it be that he stole Spiritual Fertilizer from Dan Peak?”
“I say, check his room; he might be hiding forbidden medicine.”
Wei Changsheng’s fingertips trembled slightly, but he still kept his eyes downcast, holding the bamboo basket even steadier with both hands: “This junior is willing to be searched, I only ask Senior Brother to be discerning… This junior just wants to do his job well and dare not have any extravagant thoughts.”
That person stared at him for a few breaths, then finally didn’t pursue it further, waving his hand: “Alright, note it down. Don’t let it happen again.”
Wei Changsheng let out a sigh of relief, retreated to the side with his empty basket, and was about to leave when he suddenly heard a cold remark from behind him.
“A Servant dares to produce double the Spiritual Rice?”
He paused.
The voice came from an Outer Sect Disciple at the end of the line named Li Mang, a Qi Condensation Fifth Layer Cultivator, who usually loved to bully newcomers. At this moment, he leaned against the wall, playing with an iron nail, his eyes dark.
“Be careful of being ‘gnawed by beasts’ at night.” He bared a yellow-toothed smile. “In our Outer Sect, there’s no shortage of stray dogs and cats, who specialize in eating dishonest mice.”
Wei Changsheng didn’t turn back, merely patted his Storage Pouch lightly, and replied in a low voice: “Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother. This junior will definitely lock his doors and windows tonight.”
He quickly left the granary, walked through the alley of the Servant Area, his steps quickening.
Just as he turned into the narrow path in front of his room, he suddenly felt a weight in his sleeve. Looking down, the small hoe was subtly hot, and the runes on its handle flickered, as if warning him.
His heart tightened, and he quickly scanned his surroundings—no one was following him.
But just as he raised his hand to push the door open, the corner of his eye caught a glimpse of a half-burnt Talisman paper smoking in a pile of discarded medicinal dregs in the corner of the wall. The Talisman patterns were incomplete, but he could vaguely make out that it was a low-level Talisman for “tracking and positioning.”
“Good heavens, I just showed my face and someone’s already targeting me?” He narrowed his eyes, kicked the Talisman paper into the gutter, and sneered, “Li Mang? Or someone else?”
He pushed the door open, closed it behind him, didn't light a lamp, nor did he set up a formation. Instead, he squatted down and dragged out a loose floorboard from under the bed. Beneath it was a small cloth bundle, containing the white fox cub he had saved last night.
The little creature was curled up on the cloth, breathing steadily, its fur silvery and bright, the silver ring on its tail tip faintly glowing in the dimness. It heard the movement, its ears twitched, and it slowly opened its eyes, its glass-like vertical pupils reflecting Wei Changsheng’s face.
“Awake?” He gently stroked its head. “You’re my first ‘fixed asset’; I need to take good care of you.”
The cub whimpered, rubbing against his palm.
Wei Changsheng smiled, took out a flake of Ninglu Grass from his embrace, and placed it near its mouth. As the grass flake touched its nose, a faint blue light appeared, then vanished in an instant.
“That light again…” His pupils constricted slightly. “System crop residual energy. Ordinary people can’t see it, but a Cultivator’s Spiritual Sense would likely detect the abnormality.”
He stared at the disappearing trace of blue light, then suddenly whispered: “I need to find a way to wash away this ‘Spiritual Aura’… Otherwise, every time I use it, it’s like writing ‘I have a Golden Finger’ on my forehead.”
As he was pondering, footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door.
They approached from a distance and stopped at his doorway.
Wei Changsheng instantly held his breath, shoved the cub back under the bed, and then lay down on the straw mat, closing his eyes and feigning sleep.
The door was gently pushed open.
A dark silhouette stood at the doorway, neither entering nor speaking, just standing quietly.
A moment later, the door was gently closed again.
The footsteps receded.
Wei Changsheng opened his eyes, staring at the crack in the ceiling, slowly tightening his grip on the small hoe.
The runes on the hoe handle were still hot.