In the blink of an eye, another half a month had passed. The spiritual fields of the Outer Sect of Liu Yun Sect had turned into a golden ocean. After half a year of careful attention, the spirit rice was finally ripe.
Many spirit farmers wore blissful smiles on their faces. Not only was the spirit rice needed for their cultivation in the second half of the year secured, but they also could earn a little bit of spirit stones.
For low-level Qi refiners, who didn't have much extra earning ability, the semi-annual harvest from the spiritual fields was their only hope.
Looking at the grains filled with spirit rice, Lin Yi showed a sense of emotion. When he was back on Earth helping his parents with the harvest, he didn't feel much. But now, in the Cultivation World, he had come to understand the joy of harvest, filled with a sense of accomplishment.
Throughout this half month, besides caring for the spiritual fields, Lin Yi spent his remaining time making talisman templates and advancing his cultivation levels. He hadn't wasted a single moment.
When he first went to Xun Fang Pavilion to use the Enlightenment effect for talisman making, he started by crafting some new talisman templates, successfully promoting his [Talisman Craftmanship Novice] title to the second tier, with all effects doubled.
His power increased by 10%, his success rate increased by 20%, and his production speed increased by 20%.
Now, his success rate of crafting Raging Fire Talismans almost reached 90%. Plus, with his proficient talisman-making skills at the proficiency level, the talismans he crafted were of superior quality, with an increased power, and consequently, a naturally increased selling price.
This time, he created two hundred finished talisman templates. For each successfully crafted template, he gained one experience point in talisman craftmanship. He was not far from the next level of Junior Talisman Craftmanship.
Although the quantity was slightly less than last month, these finished templates brought him a handsome income of one hundred spirit stones, nearly forty more than last month.
The cost of crafting each type of talisman was different, the papers were the same, but the rune ink used would vary slightly according to the type of talisman, requiring the addition of some special materials.
To save money, Lin Yi bought the rune ink from the small market, and then went to shops to purchase some special materials, adding them at a specific ratio.
For example, crafting a Raging Fire Talisman required adding some fire attribute powder, which would trigger the powerful fire in the talisman patterns.
These formula ratios, including the process of making the talisman paper, were open secrets in the Cultivation World. But many cultivators found it troublesome or lacked the strength to find these materials, so they could only buy them.
There was also the method he used: buying the rune ink from people who had failed at making talisman in the small market, then going to the shops in Qing Yun City to buy the special materials corresponding to each type of talisman to add in.
Over these days, Lin Yi gave Xu Zhi Wu other tasks, so he sold all of these talisman templates to the shops in Qing Yun City. Otherwise, he could have earned more spirit stones.
He invested more than half of these one hundred spirit stones into his cultivation, twice renting a cave mansion for a total of five days, which cost him seventy-five spirit stones.
The harvest, however, was tremendous. He had successfully broken through to Qi Refining Fifth Level. Cultivation was not easy. It was hard to get started, and it would only get harder. As his meridians expanded, the time needed to refine spiritual energy would gradually increase.
Luckily, he had the bonus of accelerated cultivation from his titles, which allowed him to progress much faster than others.
Due to the successful upgrade of the [Path of Survivor] to the second tier, all effects were doubled, and the hidden realm +1 was also activated. So, after his successful breakthrough to the Fifth Level of Qi Refining, this effect was activated. Therefore, he still appeared to be at the Qi Refining Three Layers to outsiders.
Lin Yi had been slightly worried before that he couldn't always be at the Qi Refining Three Layers for thousands of years. But when he saw that the experience of his [Path of Survivor] had also increased to 200, he finally felt reassured.
It was difficult to upgrade the Path of Survivor title. By the time he upgraded to the third level, he would have already broken through the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.
However, his future promotion speed might not be so fast.
In the two days when the spirit rice was ripe and ready for harvest, it was the most critical time. The spiritual energy diffused by the mature rice would attract more birds, so he had to keep a constant vigilance in the spiritual fields.
Thus, he had also taken the time to advise Yu Niang at the Xun Fang Pavilion that he would not be able to visit for the next few days as he had to harvest the Spirit Rice. At the same time, he also instructed Yu Niang to let Xiao He rest well and not to entertain any other guests, and that he would return in a few days.
At this moment, Lin Yi, like the other Spirit Farmers, had set up a high platform of mud in the Spiritual Field to observe the surroundings. If any bird were to approach, he could quickly drive it away or kill it.
In these past two weeks, Zhi Ling had trained with a desperate intensity. She had broken several wooden running wheels just from sprinting so much. The training had been very effective, as she could now successfully catch small birds that came to steal the Spirit Rice.
The Swift Movement Talisman could be used on Zhi Ling, a monster beast as well, but its costs would outweigh the benefits. A single Swift Movement Talisman required at least dozens of Spiritual Pearls, yet the Spirit Rice that could be obtained from Qing Yun City was only worth a few gems.
As the Spiritual Field Manager, Zhang Yuan Cheng had visited the spiritual field to review the situation. When he saw that Lin Yi's Spirit Rice was growing better than the one watched over by Huang De Sheng, he could not help but show a trace of surprise.
He really didn't anticipate that in these twenty acres of the Spiritual Field, combined with his tactics, not only did he fail to ruin this seemingly innocent youngster, but the lad had managed to grow the Spiritual Field even better instead.
This made him regret a bit. When the lad initially came to him through connections, he only had thirty Spirit Stones, while their standard fee was forty.
Nevertheless, thinking this lad was naive and easy to deceive, he tricked him into taking up the twenty acres of Spiritual Field, hoping it would allow him to rotate crops earlier and earn more Spirit Stones. He hadn't expected the youngster to be so resilient and managed to cultivate the Spiritual Field so well.
He probably portrayed himself as naive deliberately earlier. Hence, Zhang Yuan Cheng was filled with resentment, even if the lad did provide him with a tribute earlier, he didn't accept it; he felt a need to teach him a lesson.
"No. 38 of the Bing Characters, your Spirit Rice is growing quite well. I initially thought you didn't know how to cultivate crops," said Zhang Yuan Cheng, hinting at something while looking at the growing Spirit Rice.
"Manager Zhang, indeed I didn't know much about farming. But out of necessity, I was forced to learn. Now that I think about it, I really owe you for gifting me the twenty acres of Spiritual Field," Lin Yi thanked him with a smile.
"Good, good, not bad," Zhang Yuan Cheng nodded and then left. As he turned around, a trace of confusion could be seen on his face.
When he first came here, he was somewhat resentful, but now, he found that this lad seemed to be more pleasing to the eye than before, which was strange.
Watching Zhang Yuan Cheng's retreating figure, Lin Yi calmly continued to watch over the Spiritual Field. On a positive note, after the harvest of the Spirit Rice, the Spirit Farmers themselves could bring it to the Outer Sect Sinong Palace without passing through the Spiritual Field Manager.
"Chirp chirp." Suddenly, a small bird disregarded the scarecrow's deterrent and rushed straight towards the Spirit Rice. The Zhi Ling on his shoulder ran quickly, it jumped straight towards the small bird with its short legs and gently bit it with its beak, then it flew back.
Lin Yi laughed as he took the small bird from Zhi Ling's beak and fed it some ordinary White Crystal Rice. Previously, when Zhi Ling caught small birds, she always bit them to death. But later, under his command, she started to catch them alive.
Then, under the effect of his [Junior Dung Cleaner] badge, he fed it. Successfully feeding a unfamiliar animal granted him Dung Cleaner experience. After half a month, his Dung Cleaner title was successfully upgraded to the second tier.
His affinity with animals increased by +10, favorability increased by +20%, the success rate of feeding unfamiliar animals increased by +20%, and the most important factor; the chance of awakening the ancestral bloodline increased to 6%.
With his continuous feeding, there were now some familiar birds in the surroundings that didn't steal his Spirit Rice anymore. As a result, looking after the Spiritual Field became easier.
Two days later, when the Spirit Rice was fully mature and ready for harvest, the Spirit Farmers whistled cheerful tunes while using the Geng Metal Finger Technique to harvest the Spirit Rice.
Lin Yi also reaped the Spirit Rice with a smiling face while holding the Geng Metal Finger Technique. As these plants had been growing in the Spirit Field for half a year, their toughness was much greater than common weeds.
Due to the maturation of the Spirit Rice, the number of insects and birds increased, and his usage of the Geng Metal Finger Technique also increased, gradually reaching the proficiency level.
He utilized the "Color is Void" title's enlightenment effect to successfully advance the Geng Metal Finger Technique from Proficiency to the Great Achievement Level.
A lot of Spirit Rice that other Spirit Farmers found difficult to harvest, under his Great Achieved Geng Metal Finger Technique, released a Qi as sharp as a sword wave. These Spirit Rices then became as easy to harvest as leeks.