After a quick wash, Li Changsheng went out and walked into the beast pen.
Xiaohua was lying on the ground, snorting softly. In front of Big Flower, a row of piglets was suckling. Their adorable appearance made him want to pick one up and pet it.
But one look at their mother, and he immediately dismissed the thought.
’They haven’t eaten...’
Li Changsheng looked down at the wilted stinky ferns in the trough, his brow furrowed.
He did a quick cleanup and left the pen.
After picking some vegetables, he walked into the kitchen.
The first thing he did wasn’t to make breakfast for himself, but to prepare the feed for Big Flower and Xiaohua.
The pig feed was simple. The main ingredient was usually miscellaneous grains mixed with some vegetables from the garden, all stewed together until cooked.
Li Changsheng measured out the grain, but as he was about to chop the vegetables, he suddenly stopped.
’Since Big Flower and the others won’t eat them raw, why not try chopping up the Blood Essence Grass and stinky ferns and mixing them in to cook together?’
Li Changsheng hadn’t forgotten that the breeding requirements called for fifty jin of stinky ferns and one stalk of Blood Essence Grass per day.
’Might as well give it a try.’
No sooner said than done. Li Changsheng put down the kitchen knife and went back outside.
A short while later, he returned to the kitchen carrying about thirty-odd jin of stinky ferns.
After washing them clean, Li Changsheng started chopping.
CRUNCH...
The stinky ferns snapped cleanly at the base. Threads of dark green juice seeped from the cuts, accompanied by a smell like salted fish that had been fermenting for a long time—a scent of utter decay.
Li Changsheng had known about the smell of the stinky ferns, so he didn’t mind it at first. But by the time he was halfway through chopping, he couldn’t take it anymore and ran outside.
BLEGH...
Li Changsheng bent over with his hands on his knees, dry-heaving a few times, his face contorted.
He finally understood why Big Flower and Xiaohua would rather starve than eat the ferns.
On the outside, the stinky ferns looked fresh and vibrant green, but that reek of rotten salted fish was just too overwhelming.
He could tolerate it at first, but as he chopped more and more, the stench seemed to seep into his very soul, making him dizzy and disoriented.
Li Changsheng took a few deep breaths, and suddenly, even the faint smell of Tusked Pig manure in the air seemed somewhat pleasant in comparison.
’No way. I can’t cook them. If I boil these, forget about whether Big Flower and Xiaohua will eat it—I’ll be choked to death by the smell.’
The thought of the smell the stinky ferns would release when cooked made Li Changsheng shudder.
But when he remembered that the stinky ferns were essential for raising Big Flower and Xiaohua, he felt conflicted.
’Let me think... let me think...’
Li Changsheng paced back and forth a couple of times, then suddenly slapped himself hard across the face.
’I have a Golden Finger! What am I racking my brain for?’
Li Changsheng circulated his Magical Power to block his sense of smell, then turned and hurried back inside.
He stared at the stinky ferns on the cutting board, focusing his mind on removing the smell. Instantly, a piece of information appeared in his head.
[Insufficient information. Unable to analyze...]
Li Changsheng froze for a moment, then his face lit up with ecstasy.
’Unable to analyze’ just meant there wasn’t enough information. As long as he had enough information, didn’t that mean he *could* find a way to analyze and remove the stinky fern’s smell?
Realizing this, Li Changsheng’s gaze fell upon a pile of vegetables on the floor.
[Cucumber: Ordinary vegetable, crisp and delicious.]
[Tomato: Ordinary vegetable, slightly acidic, contains wormholes.]
...
He went through several vegetables, but found nothing that could neutralize the odor of the stinky fern.
Li Changsheng wasn’t discouraged. After all, besides vegetables, the mountain forests were full of all sorts of strange plants. He refused to believe he couldn’t find something.
As the sky grew brighter, Li Changsheng covered his hands with Magical Power and moved the stinky ferns, cutting board and all, to the side.
He started making the pig feed the old-fashioned way, adding miscellaneous grains and chopped vegetables into the pot.
Looking at the feed in the pot, Li Changsheng hesitated for a moment. He walked to a corner of the room, lifted the lid of a large jar, and used a wooden bowl to scoop out a serving of plump, golden-orange grains that looked like nuggets of gold.
This was Yellow Seed Spirit Rice, a Tier One Lower Grade Spirit Rice. Not only was it nutritious, but it also contained abundant Spiritual Qi.
It was also extremely expensive, costing one Spirit Stone for just ten jin.
Li Changsheng had spent most of the Spirit Stones he earned from selling Tusked Pig manure on this Yellow Rice. He was incredibly frugal with it, only allowing himself half a bowl every seven days.
And that half-bowl of Spirit Rice was equivalent to seven days of his own cultivation.
Staring at the nearly empty rice jar, Li Changsheng hesitated again, then poured half the bowl back. He returned to the stove and mixed the remaining rice into the pig feed.
He was only doing this because Big Flower had just given birth and needed Spiritual Qi to recover. Otherwise, he would never have parted with his precious Spirit Rice.
「Soon.」
Waves of fragrance wafted from the pot. Li Changsheng couldn’t help but swallow his saliva as he stirred it vigorously with a wooden stick, then ladled the feed into two wooden buckets at his feet.
After cleaning the pot, he added two scoops of water and some plain white rice. He hesitated, then added a small half-bowl of Yellow Seed Spirit Rice for himself.
’I’ll just call it a celebration for Big Flower’s new litter.’
A smile appeared on Li Changsheng’s face as he heaved up the two buckets and walked out the door.
At this hour, smoke from kitchen chimneys curled up throughout Hundred Beasts Valley.
Another day had begun, and it was time to feed the beasts.
Li Changsheng glanced around before entering the beast pen.
OINK! OINK! OINK!
Xiaohua shot up at the sound and darted to the front of the trough.
"Xiaohua, you’re really benefiting from Big Flower’s good fortune. I mixed in a lot of Spirit Rice today."
Li Changsheng muttered as he lifted the wooden bucket and poured its contents in.
SNARF, SNARF...
Xiaohua was completely engrossed in gobbling down her food, her little tail wagging furiously.
"All you know is how to eat!"
SNARF, SNARF...
After emptying one bucket, Li Changsheng carried it over to Big Flower’s pen. Seeing the row of adorable piglets suckling inside once again, he couldn’t help but feel his heart bloom with joy.
’If I raise all of these, that’s at least fifteen hundred Spirit Stones...’
’And if they have piglets, and those piglets have piglets...’
’Pig King... heheh...’
Of course, he was just daydreaming. Not to mention his small pen couldn’t support that many pigs anyway.
Even if he could, it wouldn’t be possible this year. He still hadn’t submitted this year’s quota.
The thought that ten of these eleven piglets would soon be taken away made his heart ache.
As he poured the feed, Li Changsheng comforted himself, ’It’s alright, it’s alright. At least I get to keep Big Flower and Xiaohua. Things will be better next year.’
As he poured, Big Flower smelled the food, slowly got up, and ambled over. She began to eat with loud snarfing sounds.
After a night’s rest, the Little Tusked Pig piglets were in high spirits. The whole litter of little ones was running around the pen, full of life.
Seeing this, Li Changsheng felt relieved. He picked up his buckets and left the pen.
He casually picked two cucumbers from the vegetable garden and returned to his house.
He washed his hands and lifted the pot lid. A cloud of hot steam rose up, carrying with it the rich aroma of grains.
Li Changsheng used a spatula to scoop out a third of the contents, then put the lid back on.
He sat down on a small stool and began to eat slowly, taking a mouthful of rice, then a bite of cucumber.
Soon, the bowl of rice mixed with Yellow Rice was finished. He felt completely full, a pleasant warmth spreading through his stomach.
Li Changsheng knew this was the Spiritual Qi released from digesting the Yellow Rice. Not daring to waste it, he sat cross-legged on his bed, closed his eyes, and began circulating the Spirit Guiding Technique to refine it.
「A moment later.」
Li Changsheng opened his eyes, a fine, starry light glinting in their depths.
[Cultivation: Qi Cultivation First Layer (86%)]
Just one bowl of rice had increased his cultivation progress by a percentage point.
’When will I be able to live a life where I can eat Yellow Rice for every meal...’ Li Changsheng felt a pang of bitterness amidst his happiness.
He was filled with regret. If only he had chosen to be a planter back then. ’They probably get to eat a full bowl of Spirit Rice with every meal,’ he thought.
’Sigh, I should focus on the important stuff first.’
Li Changsheng shook the distracting thoughts from his mind and began preparing his tools to go into the mountains.
His main purpose for entering the mountains this time was to find something that could eliminate the stench of the stinky ferns. His secondary goal was to have his Eye of Nurturing record more information.
「Soon.」
Li Changsheng slung a basket on his back, walked out the door, and followed a well-trodden path toward the great mountain.