In front of him, a jade box quietly held a grain of rice that seemed to be imprinted with tri-color spiritual light.
It was no more than an inch long, transparent, and lustrous. At a glance, it looked like a magnified grain of rice, but the tri-color hue on its surface lent it an air of mystique.
Song He pretended to cast a spell to sense it, but in reality, he was fixated on the panel—
[Name]: Three-Colored Spirit Rice Seed
[Class]: Class II high-grade (can reach Class III when mature)
[Status]: Seed (0%)
① Strong Foundation Building (Purple): The fruit has a higher probability of cleansing the eater's mortal body and building the foundation (upgrade requires 30,000 Points).
② Pure Spirit Qi (Excellent Selection/Blue): The fruit contains purer spirit Qi (upgrade requires 3,000 Points).
③ Adaptation (White): Capable of growing in certain special environments (upgrade requires 300 Points).
As the foremost among the grains, rice has always been a very special spirit plant, important in both the mortal realm and the cultivators' world.
Before entering the Golden Core Stage and completely abstaining from food, cultivators need to consume a large amount of food rich in spirit Qi—and Spirit Rice is the best choice.
To his knowledge, the sect had planted massive amounts of Spirit Rice, not only supplying the daily needs of its disciples but also selling to numerous other sects.
Many spirit planters focus on "Spirit Rice cultivation".
'Purple entry Spirit Rice Seeds... this.'
Song He's heart began to stir. If he chose this, it could be said that cultivating this one spirit plant alone would smooth out his early cultivation path.
Spirit Rice was in high demand.
No matter how much you have, the market can absorb it.
Not to mention that it was Class II high-grade, maturing into Class III Spirit Rice.
The sect's classification of spirit plants typically considered Class I to be Late Qi Refining Stage, Class II and III to be related to the Foundation Building Stage depending on the class.
Only those above Class IV reached the Golden Core level.
Class II and III spirit plants are the backbone class, very suitable for his type of cultivation.
Yet, upon closer consideration, there were pros and cons.
There was only one Three-Colored Spirit Rice Seed in the jade box, and it would not be easy to scale up its cultivation.
With the long growth cycle of Spirit Rice, cultivating just one plant... frankly, it would be very slow to see effects.
Volume is good, but he still planned to look at the other two seeds before making a decision.
He pondered for a moment, chose to restore and close the spirit box, then opened the second box.
The elder said nothing, just watched him quietly.
The second box contained a verdant Spirit Stone, within which seemed to be a barely discernible fluff-like substance, similar to catkins.
"This is..."
Still pretending to sense and scrutinize carefully, at least he made sure to keep up appearances.
He couldn't let the elder sense anything amiss.
[Name]: Clear Moon Mushroom Spores
[Class]: Class II high-grade
[Status]: Dormant (requires Moon Dew to awaken)
① Splitting (Purple): This spirit plant will split at every stage of its growth, creating an independent entity identical to the original. It can split ten times (upgrade requires 30,000 Points).
② Lunar Conversion (Purple): During its growth, this spirit plant will gradually transform the surrounding environment, "lunarizing'' it (upgrade requires 30,000 Points).
With two purple entries, this fungoid spirit plant, so rare in the cultivation world, would be extremely precious to a new spirit planter like himself!
But without hesitation, Song He chose to give it up.
The reason was: generally speaking, this kind of special spirit plant required an extremely demanding environment and a high level of skill and experience to nourish, which he could certainly not afford—let alone the need for something called "Moon Dew".
He had never even heard of it.
Even with the panel at hand, such difficult spirit plants were not something he could choose at this time.
It was better not to attempt too difficult tasks.
He carefully closed the box again and opened the last one.
Within the last box was a small gourd-shaped seed.
It was about the size of a baby's palm, with emerald green flowing light swirling on its surface, faintly outlining three patterns of natural creation.
[Name]: Wood Gourd Seed
[Class]: Class III low-grade (can grow to Class III high-grade)
[Status]: Seed (0%)
① Essence of the Yin Wood (Orange): Once mature, the fruit of this spirit plant will contain ten drops of pure Essence of the Yin Wood (upgrade requires 300,000 points).
② Spirit Transformation (Purple): During its growth, there is a 20% chance that the spirit plant will develop a spiritual nature (upgrade requires 30,000 points).
③ Five Elements Resonance (Purple): The attributes of this spirit plant can combine with four other different attributes to evolve into the higher-class "Five Elements Abundance" effect (upgrade requires 30,000 points).
④ Rapid Growth (Blue): Growth speed increases by 20% (upgrade requires 3,000 points).
An orange attribute! It's actually a spirit plant with an orange attribute.
Song He couldn't help but feel excited in his heart, yet he maintained a calm exterior; the least he could do was not let this mentor think him too frivolous.
But truthfully, even the best disguise can't fully contain bursts of excitement.
And yet, this reaction is genuine.
It is the reaction a low-level cultivator should have upon seeing a treasure—excited, yet self-controlled.
He had already decided to select this spirit plant.
But... could he really grow it properly?
And why was the elder testing him like this, presenting him with so many rare spirit plant seeds?
It wasn't that he was overly suspicious; he just couldn't believe his luck was so good to encounter such a benevolent elder who selflessly nurtured juniors.
'I'll try to probe a little later on,' he thought.
He lifted his head, looked at the elder with a slightly hesitant expression, and said,
"Mentor, this spirit seed... should be of a gourd-type spirit plant, its surface graced with natural spirit runes, and its insides containing an extremely pure Wood Spiritual Energy.
If the disciple isn't mistaken or looking incorrectly, this should be a Wood Gourd seed, right?"
"Correct."
The elder didn't play the enigma but nodded directly, "This seed is indeed that of the Wood Gourd from the Five Elements Gourd, it seems you've also read no small number of books.
So, what do you think the first two plants are?"
Here it comes, as expected, a question. Fortunately, I can see their names and attributes on the panel, so making some educated guesses should be feasible.
Song He pointed to the box and answered,
"This one should be the Three-Colored Spirit Rice, and as for this one... Please forgive my limited perception; I can only vaguely sense that it seems to be some kind of fungus related to moonlight."
The elder nodded, then asked,
"Then why did you not choose the items in the second box?"
"Because the disciple knows nothing about that spirit plant. Even if it might be an exotic spirit plant, it wouldn't be suitable for the disciple to cultivate."
"You're quite straightforward."
The elder chuckled softly, his estimation of Song He rising just a bit—he was simply a Little Qi cultivator, yet having read so many texts, able to identify the names of spirit plants, was indeed no easy feat.
Opting to give up the spirit plants he didn't understand, while showing less of an adventurous spirit, was at the same time more prudent.
He had intentionally presented three completely different spirit plants.
He wanted to test and see which kind of person Song He really was.
Now, it seemed that Song He had forsaken the stable yet slow-progressing Three-Colored Spirit Rice and also ignored the most unique Clear Moon Mushroom. Instead, he chose the Wood Gourd, the highest class but less difficult to grow among the options.
All in all, it could be considered a smart move.
Greedy, yet aware of his own limitations.
'Different from that guy indeed... But now is not the time,' thought the elder, feeling a moment of emotion. He looked at Song He and asked,
"So, you are prepared to choose this Wood Gourd seed?"
"Yes," Song He replied respectfully, bowing his head.
With a sweep of his large sleeve, the elder put the two other jade boxes away, leaving only the one with the Wood Gourd seed.
"Here, 525 Spirit Stones for one seed of a Class III spirit plant. You've made quite the profit."
Indeed, he had profited, as such rare spirit plants were priceless in the market. For someone of his Cultivation Level, obtaining the seeds would indeed prove difficult.
With a smile in his voice, and without waiting for Song He to respond, the elder thoughtfully proposed something surprising that made Song He feel exhilarated—
"Cultivating the Wood Gourd requires an environment rich in Wood Spiritual Energy. Having completed twelve months of planting tasks, you are indeed eligible to rent a cave."
At this, Song He looked at the elder with eyes filled with gratitude and excitement—what sort of good person was this? Not only offering seeds, he had even taken the initiative to bring up renting a cave?
To know that the caves within the sect were in high demand, scarce and sought after, so much so that even Cultivators at the Foundation Building stage might not be able to rent one.
Amidst gratitude, his curiosity and unease grew stronger.
Why? Why would he, a mere Little Qi cultivator only slightly better than a mortal and at the bottom of the Cultivation World, deserve such attention and favor from a Sect Elder?