“Precisely.” “The Beast-Tooth Rice hasn’t fully matured yet, but it has been successfully planted.
Its harvest is only a matter of time,” Qin Ming stated calmly.
A look of delight surfaced on Daoist Ruan’s face.
“Since you can offer such a thing as a sweetener, the trade is certainly acceptable.” “However, ten catties is a bit on the low side; I need at least twenty catties of Beast-Tooth Rice.” Daoist Ruan pondered briefly before making his counter-offer.
Hearing this, Qin Ming knitted his brows, turned around, and walked straight toward the exit.
Was this guy trying to bully a newcomer?
Twenty catties of Beast-Tooth Rice?
That was simply a lion opening its maw wide to demand an outrageous price.
One had to know that even in normal times, the price of Beast-Tooth Rice was already ten times that of ordinary Gold Spirit Rice.
Now, with various cultivation resources skyrocketing in price across Qingyang Marketplace, the current cost of Beast-Tooth Rice was at least five spirit stones per catty, if not more.
As for the Hundred-Treasures Glazed Scripture, though it sounded impressive from the man’s oral description, no one had ever actually mastered it.
No one could be certain whether the original creator of the technique had simply exaggerated its prowess to high heaven.
Furthermore, once someone began practicing it, it meant a constant burn of spirit stones.
Even several generations of the Ruan family had only managed to reach the Third Level at most…
Although Qin Ming was somewhat interested in the technique, Daoist Ruan’s asking price had exceeded his acceptable budget.
Seeing Qin Ming head outside without a single word of negotiation, Daoist Ruan panicked instantly.
Feeling deeply regretful for starting with such a high ask, he scrambled over to stop him.
“Wait, wait, wait!
Daoist Qin, everything is negotiable!
Don’t be in such a hurry to leave, please hold your steps!” Daoist Ruan hastily blocked his path.
“How about I take a step back?
Add another fifteen catties of Spirit-Beast Rice?” Qin Ming didn’t utter a word, merely staring at him in silence.
Seeing Qin Ming’s stubborn posture, completely impervious to coaxing, Daoist Ruan felt utterly helpless.
‘Young people nowadays are so impatient…’ He knew that this was already Qin Ming’s firm bottom line.
Daoist Ruan let out a deep sigh.
After hesitating for a long moment, his lips trembled slightly as he spoke: “Sigh, forget it.
My Ruan family has guarded this technique for so long, yet no one has ever made anything out of it.” “Perhaps my Ruan family simply lacks the good fortune.” “Then we shall do as Daoist Qin proposed: one hundred spirit stones plus ten catties [5 kg] of Beast-Tooth Rice.” He put on a look of resignation.
A faint smile appeared on Qin Ming’s face: “Deal.” “May I ask when Daoist Qin will be able to deliver the Beast-Tooth Rice?” Daoist Ruan finally breathed a sigh of relief and asked slowly.
“Roughly…
another two years or so,” Qin Ming estimated after brief consideration.
“In that case…
how about this: Daoist Qin pays me one hundred spirit stones first, and I will copy the first five levels of the technique for you.
Once your Beast-Tooth Rice matures, you can come and retrieve the original scripture.” “What does Daoist Qin think of this?” Daoist Ruan thought for a moment and offered a middle-ground proposal.
“Agreed.” Qin Ming nodded decisively.
He then retrieved one hundred spirit stones from his storage pouch and handed them to Daoist Ruan.
Although he appeared silent, composed, and extremely generous on the surface when handing over the spirit stones, in reality, his heart was bleeding inside…
He had painstakingly saved up those spirit stones with great effort.
This single move had practically put all his chips on the table.
Daoist Ruan tucked away the spirit stones, then produced a jade slip and handed it to Qin Ming with a beaming smile.
Taking the jade slip, Qin Ming pressed it against the center of his brow and examined it carefully with his spiritual sense.
After repeatedly comparing it against the technique written on the animal hide in Daoist Ruan’s hands to confirm there were no discrepancies, the trade was officially completed.
After chatting casually for a few more sentences, Qin Ming took his leave from the Ruan compound.
Returning to the shantytown district, Qin Ming resumed his ordinary life of spirit farming.
In his one-mu plot of Beast-Tooth Rice: [Name]: Beast-Tooth Rice [Trait]: Advanced Spirit Rain Art x5 (Maturity 35%) [Name]: Beast-Tooth Rice [Trait]: Quality Enhancement x1 (Maturity 32%) [Name]: Beast-Tooth Rice [Trait]: Ripening x5 (Maturity 40%) Observing these three traits step closer toward maturity day by day, Qin Ming felt reassured.
Over the next two years, Qin Ming already had a plan in mind.
Whenever a new [Ripening] trait refreshed in the spirit field, he intended to secretly transplant and ripen a small portion of the Beast-Tooth Rice to use for his own cultivation.
Transplanting a few hundred stalks wouldn’t be noticeable to outside eyes.
Naturally, the three stalks possessing traits had to be transplanted and ripened first.
There was still a [Ripening x5] trait within the Beast-Tooth Rice field.
With spirit seeds and traits in hand, he could continue to ripen them when the time came…
Had the surrounding environment not gradually turned unstable and turbulent, Qin Ming wouldn’t be in such a rush.
A mere two years was something he could well afford to wait out.
However, current circumstances no longer permitted him to keep waiting idly like this.
Even if he didn’t actively seek trouble, he couldn’t stop trouble from seeking him out.
The state of affairs in the cultivation world changed in the blink of an eye.
Now, the gambits and power struggles among the upper echelons of sects had even begun to spill over into this tiny Qingyang Marketplace tucked away in a remote corner of the Cloud Marsh Wilderness.
Qin Ming still preferred to hold the initiative over his own destiny firmly in his own hands.
…
A month later.
The final harvest season of spirit rice for the year finally arrived.
This time was different from before.
Deacon Gu of the Spirit Feather Sect and the supervisor Du Haifu were already waiting in the spirit fields early on, backed by numerous disciples maintaining security around the perimeter.
Under Deacon Gu’s watchful gaze, the crowd of spirit farmers began harvesting the spirit rice.
As the evening glow rose across the sky…
With the spirit rice harvest completed, Du Haifu began collecting the spirit rice taxes one by one.
Before long, he compiled all the statistics and respectfully handed the ranking jade slip over to Deacon Gu for review.
In this final season, Qin Ming’s Gold Spirit Rice yield experienced another surge, breaking past 10 shi and 90 catties [~545 kg]!
Furthermore, Deacon Gu had granted him a ten-percent spirit rice tax exemption for this season.
After paying his tax, Qin Ming was left with 320 catties [160 kg] of Gold Spirit Rice for himself.
Combining his yields across all three quarters of the year, his total rank successfully broke into the top ten.
When Du Haifu came to collect the spirit rice tax, his attitude was night and day compared to before, calling him “Little Qin” with an excessively sweet tone.
Naturally, being able to break into the top ten this time was also partially due to the recent Mad Howling Monkey raid, as only Qin Ming’s plot and a tiny handful of other spirit fields had managed to remain completely unscathed.
After reviewing the spirit rice production statistics, Deacon Gu’s rigid face showed not a single ripple of emotion.
He immediately announced in a cold voice: “The spirit rice yield rankings for this year have all been calculated; you may check them yourselves.” “The bottom thirty cultivators on the ranking list, step onto the vessel and come with me.” Even though the spirit fields had suffered a demonic beast attack, the Spirit Feather Sect still showed zero lenient accommodation toward these bottom-tier spirit farmers.
The thirty spirit farmers stared blankly at the light screen, each looking completely crestfallen and despondent.
They knew full well what kind of fate awaited them.
Gazing at these spirit farmers, Qin Ming felt a complex mix of emotions welling up within his heart.
Promptly, his gaze turned firm and resolute!
Turning his head, he patted Cai Old Jiu next to him and said, “Stop watching.
Let’s go.” “Qin Ming…
do you think one day, the two of us will also end up among those thirty?” Cai Old Jiu asked him suddenly, his voice sounding slightly raspy.
Qin Ming’s figure paused briefly.
He didn’t speak.
If he didn’t possess his cheat system, the scene just now might very well have been his answer.
The ultimate destination of an ordinary person: Beasts of burden in times of peace, cannon fodder in times of chaos—squeezed dry in daily life, and used as disposable meat in times of war.