The scorching sun blazed overhead. Mu Jiuxiao, under the fiery heat, bent low, harvesting the rice in the spirit field.
Heavy, golden rice weighed down the stalks, bending them over. Mu Jiuxiao, holding a crescent-shaped knife that gleamed with a cold light, moved through the paddy field, laboriously cutting down cluster after cluster of rice panicles, carefully placing them into a basket beside him.
This was the cultivation world’s unique Gold Spirit Rice. Unlike mortal world rice, its roots became as hard as metal upon maturity and could only be harvested at the most scorching high noon.
At this very moment, beneath Luoxia Peak, countless farmers toiled diligently, enduring the intense heat as they harvested the Gold Spirit Rice.
This Gold Spirit Rice was a Low Grade Yellow Tier spirit material. Its ripening period lasted only three days, and it could only be harvested for one hour at noon each day. If not collected promptly, its spiritual nature would greatly diminish.
Today was already the third day. Mu Jiuxiao looked up at the sky, a sense of urgency rising in his heart. He sped up his pace, disregarding his waning stamina. As he moved, he employed Meteor Steps, finally managing to harvest all the spirit rice just as the sun began to tilt.
“Dang~”
Just as he finished cutting the last stalk of spirit rice, a bell toll echoed from afar. His heart relaxed, his legs went weak, and he slumped to the ground. Looking at the blazing sun in the sky, he gasped for air in great, ragged breaths.
For a mortal, harvesting spirit rice was still too demanding. At this moment, he felt as if he had just fought a great battle; his body’s internal energy was depleted, and his meridians ached as if torn.
This Gold Spirit Rice looked ordinary, and even a mortal holding a sharp blade could cut it down. But this was a full acre of land. Cutting each stalk of rice was more exhausting than felling a tree in the mortal world. Mu Jiuxiao didn’t even know how he had managed to persevere!
After lying on the ground for a moment, Mu Jiuxiao sat up cross-legged. He swallowed a pill into his stomach and began to meditate to restore his energy.
The pill was an ordinary mortal pill. The cultivation technique he practiced was the common mass-market technique of the cultivation world-the Everlasting Spring Technique. Don’t look down on this ordinary technique. Only tenant farmers of the Seven Stars Sect were granted it. An ordinary mortal wishing to obtain it would find it extremely difficult.
“Brother Jiu! Brother Jiu!”
After cultivating for only a short while, Mu Jiuxiao was awakened by a voice. He opened his eyes and saw a delicate-looking young girl looking at him. “Brother Jiu, you’re too diligent! You just finished cutting the rice and you’ve already started cultivating again?”
“Xinyue, what do you need?” Mu Jiuxiao looked up and asked her.
Li Xinyue twisted the corner of her garment, looking somewhat embarrassed. “Brother Jiu, your family’s rice is all harvested, right? Tomorrow, could you lend me your Cold Iron Sickle?”
Her gaze shifted from Mu Jiuxiao’s face to the crescent-shaped knife in his hand. This knife had a plain design, but its blade gleamed with a cold, sharp light. At a glance, it was clearly not a mortal-grade item.
“Xinyue, it’s not that I’m unwilling to lend it to you. It’s just that this Cold Iron Sickle cost me my entire fortune to buy, so…”
Before Mu Jiuxiao could finish refusing, Li Xinyue urgently said, “Brother Jiu, our family’s spirit rice harvest period only has one day left. You absolutely must help. After the harvest, I’m willing to give you half a sheng of spirit rice.”
She knew the Cold Iron Sickle’s value. This Cold Iron Sickle was a magical artifact. Although only Low Grade Yellow Tier, among all the tenant farmers on Luoxia Mountain, only a handful could afford to buy one.
It was said that using this Cold Iron Sickle to harvest Gold Spirit Rice could increase the speed several times. She had once seen it at the market district. This kind of Cold Iron Sickle cost at least ten spirit stones. Her brother and she simply couldn’t afford it!
“Xinyue sister, although we are neighbors, half a sheng of spirit rice is not enough to compensate for the wear and tear on my Cold Iron Sickle.” Mu Jiuxiao tightened his grip on the Cold Iron Sickle and politely refused again.
“Then one sheng! Please, I’m begging you!”
Li Xinyue was almost crying with anxiety. “Our family still has two acres of land left to harvest. Without your Cold Iron Sickle, my family definitely won’t finish harvesting tomorrow. It’s all my brother’s fault! He went to the mortal world to find some so-called martial artists, claiming they were innate masters. Yet they couldn’t even cut rice properly!”
“Xinyue sister, don’t panic. It’s not that I’m being heartless. It’s just that the Cold Iron Sickle is valuable, and I dare not entrust it to others. How about this: you offer another half sheng of spirit rice, and tomorrow I’ll personally go help you harvest. What do you say?”
“Another half sheng is no problem. I agree!”
The situation turned around. Li Xinyue, satisfied, left. Mu Jiuxiao also picked up his basket and headed towards Luoxia Peak’s Secular Affairs Hall. Along the way, he encountered many others also coming to submit their spirit rice.
All of them worked for Luoxia Peak. They more or less knew each other. Some familiar faces saw Mu Jiuxiao and greeted him.
“Little Jiu, your spirit rice ripened so early this year? Looking at you, this year’s harvest must be good.”
“Hah, we’re all working for Master Fan. How could we dare not be wholeheartedly diligent?”
Mu Jiuxiao replied bashfully and followed them to Luoxia Peak’s Secular Affairs Hall.
Luoxia Peak was the dao-field of the Seven Stars Sect’s Master Fan. These people were all mortals attached to Master Fan, making a living by tending spirit fields for Luoxia Peak.
Arriving at the Secular Affairs Hall, several people were already lined up ahead of Mu Jiuxiao, waiting to submit their spirit rice. The yield of spirit rice wasn’t high. About one acre of paddy field could produce three hundred jin of spirit rice. Luoxia Peak would collect two hundred jin.
This spirit rice required meticulous care. If, in any year, it wasn’t properly tended, tenant farmers could even suffer losses. If they couldn’t submit the full quota of spirit rice with guaranteed quality and quantity, they would be stripped of their right to tend the spirit fields and driven down the mountain!
Similarly, if the harvest was good and the yield per acre exceeded three hundred jin, Luoxia Peak still only collected two hundred jin. The surplus was yours.
Don’t look down on Mu Jiuxiao being at the bottom of the cultivation world, existing like a servant. But placed in the mortal world, he immediately stood a cut above. How many innate masters from the mortal world wanted to farm land for immortals but had no path to do so? They could only work for tenant farmers like him.
Merely being on a path close to cultivators was already a tremendous honor.
“Audacious! How dare you submit spirit rice with greatly diminished spiritual nature as good rice! Are you trying to fool Master?!”
Just as it was almost Mu Jiuxiao’s turn, Manager Meng, sitting behind the counter, suddenly roared, his expression stern as he glared at the tenant farmer before him.
“Manager Meng, this humble one doesn’t know what happened!”
The tenant farmer ahead shifted his eyes evasively and bowed, pleading.
You don’t know what happened? Hmph! Clearly, you were lazy and negligent, delaying the harvest time. Yet you still have the audacity to dare mix this substandard spirit rice in with the normal spirit rice. Do you look down on me, this manager?
Manager Meng thundered in fury. “Men! Drag him away! Reclaim his spirit field, cripple his meridians, and expel him from Luoxia Mountain!”
“No! Manager Meng, this humble one was wrong! This humble one admits his mistake! Please, give me another chance!”
The man was so frightened he immediately knelt down, kowtowing and begging. However, Manager Meng didn’t even bother to look at him, just coldly waved his hand for people to drag him away.
Ignoring that man’s cries and pleas, Manager Meng stood up and admonished those behind. “You mortals, what immense honor is it to be able to farm land for a Master? Do not learn from this person! Do not fail to cherish this opportunity, and do not attempt to deceive the Master!
The Master is benevolent. If you miss the harvest time, you can submit double the amount of substandard spirit rice. But if you try to pass off inferior goods as superior, he will be your example!”
All the tenant farmers below bowed deeply, claiming they wouldn’t dare. Looking at the dragged-away man, they couldn’t help but feel a sense of mourning for the death of a fellow rabbit.
Mu Jiuxiao actually knew this man too. Everyone called him Big Ge. Not long ago, he had welcomed a new son. Mu Jiuxiao had even gone to his house for a drink. Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, he would be driven down the mountain?
Regarding his actions, Mu Jiuxiao could somewhat understand. In the past, when he couldn’t finish harvesting the rice on time, he too had harbored such thoughts.
The rent demanded by the immortal sect was too high. Spirit rice was also too difficult to tend-catching pests, praying for rain… A single slip-up could reduce the yield. Wanting to save a little bit was truly a thousand-fold difficulty. If the harvest was poor in any year, one would have to beg and plead, borrowing spirit rice to pay the rent. Passing off inferior goods as superior was also a move born of desperation.