Zhou Yi had planted Spirit Rice for over a thousand years, having never stopped since he first entered the Cultivation World.
With the large quantity and long time, occasionally, some of the Spirit Rice plants underwent mutations. Most mutations were positive, but a few were negative declines.
In those days, such mutations were not considered strange in the Cultivation World. Similar phenomena occurred with the cultivation of Spiritual Medicine and the domestication of exotic beasts. To the cultivators, more Spiritual Energy and stronger medicinal effects were good things; otherwise, it was considered a bad deal.
Take, for example, the rice grain in Zhou Yi's hands—it was a typical case of decline. After maturing, it surprisingly did not contain any Spiritual Energy, fruitlessly wasting both the spiritual field and Mana.
Ordinary cultivators would certainly discard it like chaff, but influenced by his past life, Zhou Yi paid considerable attention to the mutated Spirit Rice.