Lin Yi was leisurely and joyfully harvesting the Spirit Rice. His Gold Finger spell at the Great Achievement Realm had become different. Previously, it was just a small stream of energy, but now, it could grow much larger according to his will.
Although it cannot be compared to the 40-meter long blade on Earth, where they let you run 39 meters first, the duration has become much longer. It's like a golden flying sword that he can control freely.
From morning until nearly dusk, he finally harvested all twenty acres of Spirit Rice. The view of the Spiritual Field instantly broadened, and he could see some lights from other Spiritual Fields nearby. Most likely, those Spirit Farmers who hadn't finished harvesting were planning to work late into the night.
After harvesting the last acre of Spirit Rice, a pop-up appeared before Lin Yi's eyes, "[Little Farmer] Experience +3."
A smile appeared on his face. Harvesting an acre of land granted him three experience points. For twenty acres, he gained a total of 60 points. The title of [Little Farmer] thus advanced to the second tier, increasing the effects of product quality and yield to 10%, and pest and disease resistance to 20%.
The Spirit Rice that he would plant in the second half of the year would increase his yield by 10% per acre, equaling 35 kilos. This meant a total of 700 kilos for twenty acres of land, which could meet the annual demand for spirit rice of a low-level Qi Refinement cultivator.
The harvested Spirit Rice had a yield increase of 5%, adding an extra 350 kilos for twenty acres, which equates to the yield from one acre. Of course, there was also an increase of 5% in product quality.
When the view became broad, Lin Yi saw Old Huang in the next field, constantly using his Gold Finger spell to harvest the Spirit Rice. Judging from the sword energy, it was estimated that Old Huang's Gold Finger had only reached the proficiency level.
Although he had been a Spirit Farmer here for several decades, it was still far from comparing to Lin Yi's skill proficiency panel. Let alone the bottleneck of leveling up, Huang had spent a lot of time in the Xun Fang Pavilion to upgrade his Gold Finger from Proficient Rank to the Great Achievement Realm.
Old Huang also saw Lin Yi and the cleaned-up spiritual field. He was rather surprised: "You sure are fast, kid. We both have twenty acres of land, but you've already finished harvesting while I still have five or six acres left."
He was an old Spirit Farmer with decades of experience, but he was slower than a kid who had only been farming for half a year. Thinking of this, he suddenly asked, "Did you ... Did your Golden Finger have another breakthrough. It doesn't even look like a finger spell anymore. It looks like a sword of energy."
"Yeah, I feel I have a talent for farming. Old Huang, do you want me to help you with the harvest?" Lin Yi admitted directly. Nobody would care about the spell for farming anyway.
Moreover, he also wanted to test if helping others to harvest would increase the experience of the Farmer title.
"You do have a knack for farming. Come help me. I'll take care of dinner," admired Old Huang, and then gestured for him to come over.
Lin Yi smiled and began to help Old Huang harvest with the Gold Finger spell. In a short while, they had finished harvesting an acre of land, but there was no experience notice. As expected, he would only get experience rewards if he planted and harvested himself.
After the harvest, Huang De Sheng specially steamed two large pots of Spirit Rice, which must have weighed about two kilograms. He handed them directly to Lin Yi, then took out a jug of fruit wine and poured two bowls. "Here, eat as much Spirit Rice as you like."
"Wait, Old Huang. You're eating Spirit Rice just like that? Don't you have any vegetables?" Lin Yi said, somewhat speechless. Although Old Huang was a bit sloppy in daily life, he shouldn't be so lazy as to have no vegetables accompanying his rice.
"Fussy. The Spirit Rice is already aromatic enough. It's a delicacy in the mortal realm. What else do you need? I never eat vegetables. Besides, I'm offering you dinner. Here, have a bowl of wine for your veggies." Old Huang irritably handed over a bowl of wine.
Lin Yi conceded, putting the pot of rice on the table, "Wait here. I'll make a couple of dishes."
He returned home, picked some vegetables from his yard, fetched a few eggs, and stir-fried two dishes with monster beast meat.
When he brought the two dishes over, Old Huang, who claimed he never ate vegetables, quickly scooped half into his bowl. "Delicious. I'll take care of dinner, you take care of the dishes. I'm happy with our cooperation."
"Old Huang, you really have some cheek," Lin Yi couldn't help laughing.
After dinner, he turned to Old Huang and said, "Old Huang, give me the remaining 2000 kilos of your Spirit Rice, I'll trade with you, and give you a good deal."
After some thought, he felt that there was no need to fuss over the 5% quality enhancement. It was simply too much trouble.
Moreover, the additional 250 kilos he can get from the supposed 5000 kilos of Spirit Rice he would be turning in, considering the 5% spiritual energy increase, would only fetch a few Spirit Stones at the purchase price in Qing Yun City Shops.
"What kind of advantage can I have from you? Although your Spirit Rice looks a bit fuller, that's an increase in yield, not a mutation," Huang De Sheng asked curiously.
Lin Yi directly took a rice ear and threw it to him, "Taste it yourself."
Huang De Sheng rubbed off a grain of rice, without even removing the husk and popped it straight into his mouth. After chewing it, the spiritual energy in it was stronger than he expected. "Feels like, feels like there's more spiritual energy in here."
He had been a farmer for many years and he knew exactly how much spiritual energy each and every spirit rice grain held.
"Yes, I reckon that a hundred pounds of rice could increase by a few pounds," Lin Yi nodded in agreement.
"You truly have a knack for farming, kid. I have been planting for decades and my harvests haven't improved, let alone have a quality as high as yours," Huang De Sheng scrutinized Lin Yi closely with a sigh.
After examining the spiritual energy in the rice grain, he exclaimed surprisingly, "This must be at least four or five pounds more. If we continue like this, these twenty acres of yours will produce an additional three hundred pounds or so, it's indeed a waste to hand it over directly."
"Indeed a waste, but it's too bothersome to exchange with others, it wouldn't earn much spirit stones either. So, it's better to let you have them at a cheaper price," Lin Yi shook his head, conceding.
Huang De Sheng pointed at Lin Yi, cursing, "The five thousand pounds you paid probably would have given an additional two hundred and fifty pounds of spirit grain, but after dehusking, that's close to a hundred and seventy-eight pounds of spirit rice."
"You're acting like a spendthrift. Let's get these spirit grains threshed, then I'll help you exchange them."
Just then, two martial artists came by. Seeing that the harvesting was already done, they immediately asked if they should start threshing the spirit rice. It would only cost two spirit pearls for ten acres of land.
This was one of the ways the stewards of the Outer Sect made money. During the harvest of spirit rice, some martial artists were willing to exhaust themselves for spirit stones, offering to help with the harvest.
However, not everyone was capable of harvesting spirit rice. Only Innate Martial Artists had the strength for such work. Post-innate martial artists could only do tasks like threshing the spirit rice. These martial artists had verified identities upon entering the outer sect and therefore were required to pay a nominal fee.
"Fine, my twenty acres of spirit rice are over there. You guys help me thresh them. And Lin, let them do yours as well. Meanwhile, we can have a little chat," Huang De Sheng immediately agreed and indicated the location of his Spiritual Field to them, then suggested it to Lin Yi.
The reason he harvested himself was also to save money for visiting Xun Fang Pavilion. Now, with the cost of threshing spirit rice being relatively low, there's no need to save.
"No need. I can do it myself," Lin Yi thought for a moment, threshing spirit rice was also part of farming, he might as well earn some experience points for his farmer title.
Hearing Lin Yi's response, the two martial artists looked disappointed. They eventually decided to work together on threshing Huang De Sheng's twenty acres of spirit rice.
Lin Yi also stood up and began threshing his spirit rice. Recently, he had been busy with his cultivation and did not practice much body refinement. However, his Diamond Sutra had reached the proficiency level, and his body had become much stronger. So, this physical labor was essentially nothing to him.
During the threshing process, he also employed some of his spiritual power. In no time, he had transformed all twenty acres of spirit rice into spirit grains, filling twenty-one large bags. Each bag held three hundred and fifty pounds, specially provided by Sinong Palace in advance.
After threshing twenty acres of spirit rice, his experience towards the Farmer Title had only slightly increased, which at least made his hard work worth it.
A little later, the twenty acres of spirit rice cultivated by Huang De Sheng were all processed. He paid four spirit pearls as wages.
After the two martial artists left, he casually grabbed a handful of spirit grains from Lin Yi's bag, "Kid, wait here, I'm off to exchange this for you."
"Hey, just say you produced it. And, exchange about three thousand pounds. Keep the rest for yourself," Lin Yi hastily instructed him.
In less than an hour, Old Huang drove a cart over, loaded with fourteen large bags. After unloading them, he tossed Lin Yi two spirit stones, "Here, I managed to swap these for two spirit stones. Every little bit helps, right? This should sustain your visits to Xun Fang Pavilion for quite some time."
"Old Huang, thanks a lot," Lin Yi tossed him a spirit stone.
Old Huang laughed and cursed, shoving the spirit stone back to him, "Why are you being so formal? Just start loading the spirit grains."
Lin Yi didn't refuse this time. After collecting the spirit stone, he loaded the fourteen bags of spirit grains into the cart. Old Huang quickly drove off again.
Watching Old Huang leave, he looked down at the two spirit stones in his hand and shook his head with a smile. He marveled at how accustomed he had become to riches. Back when he had just arrived in this world, he had to ponder how to make the most of his one and only spirit stone when shopping.
Now he didn't think much of it anymore. Oh, how easily he had forgotten the hard days after tasting a little wealth.