Early spring.
The spirit farmers in the shantytown all wore joyful expressions, some even donned rare new clothes as if attending a celebration.
Fang Xixing walked among the bamboo grove, casually waving his right hand.
The Green Grain Sword flew out, cutting off a section of bamboo.
He tapped the bamboo tube, listening to the solid echo inside, nodding in satisfaction, "The spirit rice is ripe."
In the next moment, Fang Xixing directly ignited a flame on the ground, roasting the bamboo tube.
As time passed, a fragrance mixed with rice and bamboo slowly diffused.
This was another way of eating spirit bamboo rice, made into bamboo tube rice.
During this period of time, he had been staying in the bamboo forest, guarding the hard-earned ripe spirit rice and preventing thieves and pests.
For this, he even missed the Grand Cooling.
Today, finally, there was a harvest!
Snap!
After a while, the bamboo tube burst open, revealing a full load of spirit rice inside.
The freshly ripe spirit rice grains were plump and evenly distributed, melting on the tongue like they were about to dissolve, especially with that refreshing fragrance, refreshing the heart and soul.
Paired with the cured meat Fang Xixing brought, it was a good meal.
After eating his fill, Fang Xixing felt the overflowing spiritual energy in his body, not daring to be negligent, he quickly circulated the Changchun Secret Technique.
Not only that, after circulating the technique, he also assumed a stance to hone his palms.
"Tsk tsk... Little Fang, are you tempering your body?"
After an unknown amount of time passed, Fang Xixing, who was immersed in martial arts, heard a teasing voice, quickly looked up, and saw a flying iron leaf boat artifact slowly descending from the sky, with a person coming down from it.
The other party was a male cultivator in his thirties, dressed in a sky-blue outer garment, with a smiling face, looking quite prosperous.
Seeing him, Fang Xixing stopped his martial arts practice, got up with a smile, "Steward Sītú, hello."
Seeing him looking at himself, he quickly smiled again, "Just idle, practicing some mortal martial arts, just for fun, just for fun..."
This chubby man in blue was named 'Sītú Yīng', a member of the Sītú family, in charge of a part of the spirit fields.
For many spirit farmers on the mountain, he was like a local emperor with the power of life and death.
"Well, the growth of the spirit bamboo here is good, you must have put your heart into it."
Sītú Yīng walked around the bamboo forest, observing the growth of the spirit rice, nodding slightly.
"Where, where, it's mainly because Qingzhu Mountain is blessed with talented individuals and spiritual energy, the spirit rice grows well."
While complimenting, Fang Xixing took out a small brocade pouch and handed it over.
Inside the pouch were the few spirit crystals he had left.
Sītú Yīng took it, without even opening it, he knew the exact number, his expression softened even more, "Good lad, on the right path... In that case, let's start harvesting."
This scene made Fang Xixing think of the records he had read in his past life.
When the landlords and tenant farmers in ancient times harvested, it was probably like this, right?
Because both of them were cultivators, the harvesting was done quickly.
Clatter clatter!
Sections of bamboo forest fell, turning into bamboo rice.
In the end, Sītú Yīng took out a special large measuring artifact from his waist pouch to weigh the harvest.
"A storage artifact?"
Fang Xixing stared at the gray and inconspicuous small bag at Sītú Yīng's waist, feeling envious.
He didn't have such a storage artifact...
"This year's harvest is good, harvesting two stones and forty catties of spirit rice... Half goes to the main family, which is one hundred and twenty catties!"
Sītú Yīng manipulated an abacus, "Now that the price of spirit bamboo rice has risen, if you sell your personal share, you can get four spirit stones..."
Fang Xixing calculated for a moment, reluctantly said, "I'll keep half..."
According to the land lease agreement, he was supposed to have half of the harvest, which was one hundred and twenty catties of spirit rice.
If he wanted to sell this spirit rice, he could only sell it to the Sītú family.
The Sītú family also had a rice shop in the market, so they could easily suppress the price and offer low spirit crystals.
Most spirit farmers also needed to cultivate, so most of the harvest had to be kept.
However, Sītú Yīng, who immediately wanted Fang Xixing to sell his share, was a bit greedy.
"Half is fine... I'll leave you sixty catties."
Sītú Yīng stored the spirit rice in his storage bag, then tossed a small bag of spirit crystals and left on the iron leaf boat.
Fang Xixing opened the bag and found only eighteen spirit crystals inside, couldn't help but curse under his breath, "A blood-sucking vampire, don't let me catch you in the future..."
After the harvest of spirit bamboo rice, it would need to be replanted in the summer.
The planting here was also peculiar, not needing rice seeds, just needing to stimulate the growth of spirit bamboo roots to produce bamboo shoots.
After the harvest in spring and replanting in summer, there would be a period of agricultural leisure.
Fang Xixing strolled back to his shack, considering whether to renovate his own home.
Just as he opened his own door, he saw that Old Maize's house already had a new occupant, which surprised him.
"Are you Brother Fang? I'm a new spirit farmer named Chen Ping."
Chen Ping looked to be in his twenties or thirties, also at the Qi Refining stage, with an ordinary appearance.
At this moment, he smiled ingratiatingly and handed over a low-grade 'Dust Removal Talisman', "Just a small gift, please accept it."
"Thank you, let's interact more in the future."
Fang Xixing responded with a smile, returned to his room, and rubbed his chin, "In the past, spirit farmers would only give small gifts like snacks or spirit rice... This new friend seems to be quite wealthy... Could it be that he's a talisman maker?"
But then, he felt somewhat emotional.
Old Maize had been a spirit farmer for decades, but after his sudden death, there were few who remembered him, even his house and land were quickly transferred.
This was the reality of the cultivation world!
The lowest-level cultivators were like ants, like grass... easily cut, but they would always grow back.
"Yesterday it was Old Maize, tomorrow it might be me!"
Fang Xixing chuckled self-deprecatingly.
With his personality, there would probably be even fewer who remembered him when the time came.
"Well... it's just right to take advantage of this agricultural leisure time to cultivate well."
The Changchun Secret Technique's Qi Refining three-layer technique, Fang Xixing practiced it every day, but progress was not fast.
On the other hand, the White Cloud Palm martial art seemed to be making rapid progress.
...
Grand Cooling.
White Cloud Martial Hall.
"Senior Brother Fang!"
"Senior Brother, hello."
Fang Xixing, dressed in white armor, entered the martial hall, and the disciples in the outer courtyard all showed pleasing and admiring smiles.
If at first they were impressed by Fang Dayuan's wealth, now they were more admiring of a strong individual.
The reason was simple, Fang Xixing's progress was simply too fast!
Not only did he progress quickly, he completed the transformation of his Qi and blood at home, and recently announced a breakthrough to the second transformation of Qi and blood!
This made countless people secretly envious.
"But... what's the use of jealousy?"
Fang Xixing smiled slightly and entered the inner courtyard of the White Cloud Martial Hall.
"Senior Sister!"
After greeting Murong Miaomiao, he went to a mud stove in front of him.
This mud stove was built with green bricks, with an iron pot on top.
As soon as Fang Xixing arrived, a servant lit the stove and poured bags of medicinal herbs into the pot.
Looking closely, among the herbs, there were wriggling centipedes, spiders, and other poisonous insects, making one's scalp tingle.
"After entering the second transformation of Qi and blood with the White Cloud Palm's refining method, I will try to infuse poison into my palm!"
Fang Xixing looked at his palms.
After two transformations of Qi and blood, the skin of his palms was as tough and strong as cowhide, powerful and robust.
This was the foundation for practicing poison techniques.
After all, infusing poison into the palm would also damage one's body.
Even though the White Cloud Martial Hall had special antidotes, over time, the injuries would be terrifying.
The boiling liquid in the pot licked the bottom of the pot fiercely, making the soup inside thicker, turning dark green and fishy...
Fang Xixing's expression remained unchanged. After the water boiled, he directly inserted his palms into it.
Clatter clatter!
The boiling poison between his palms surged as he silently circulated the changes in his Qi and blood, absorbing the power of the toxin.
"Indeed, only with a powerful physique after the second transformation of Qi and blood can one slightly absorb toxins... Being too advanced in cultivation might just ruin my palms with poison!"
After half an hour of practice, Fang Xixing withdrew his reddened hands and looked at the palms of his hands.
In the center of his palms, whenever he circulated his Qi and blood, a gray mass suddenly appeared.
"Is this the Poison Palm? The Black Cloud level of the White Cloud Palm in the Wuyun realm? No... it should just be the beginning..."
The White Cloud Palm had three levels, White Cloud, Black Cloud, and Dark Cloud!
Among them, White Cloud was the first and second transformation of Qi and blood, with palms as white as jade.
Black Cloud was the third transformation of Qi and blood, where the palms turned pitch black, a minor achievement in poison techniques.
Fang Xixing was currently in the intermediate stage between the second and third transformations.
As for the final Dark Cloud level, it was truly mastering true power, with the Poison Palm reaching its peak!
It was said that when Murong Canglong truly used his power, his palms were as black as ink, and even the palm wind carried a potent poison!
"I have abundant financial resources, able to purchase various strange poisons and refine them into my palms, hence the rapid progress..."
Fang Xixing stood up, silently contemplating his progress in martial arts.
In addition, he could use his spiritual awareness to repair body injuries and expel toxins, which was also a major advantage!
With so many advantages combined, Fang Xixing's progress in the White Cloud Palm naturally advanced by leaps and bounds, surpassing even Wují. Although he remained warm and friendly in public, the looks behind his back were somewhat intriguing.
"Throughout the entire martial hall, in terms of martial arts, the only ones above me are Murong Miaomiao and Murong Canglong, right?"
Fang Xixing pondered to himself.
"Wují is not up to par, Liú Tāotāo lacks in temperament, in terms of simplicity and stability, perhaps Táng Xuán will surpass him in the future... It might be good to make some connections."
Just as he was thinking, the handsome Wují came to the backyard, with a friendly smile on his face, "Junior Brother Fang..."
"Senior Brother Wǔ, is there something you need?" Fang Xixing raised an eyebrow.
"Well... recently, due to cultivating martial arts, my pockets are tight, I wonder if Junior Brother..."
As soon as Wují spoke, he was asking for money.
"This friendship boat is about to capsize." Fang Xixing rolled his eyes secretly.
(End of Chapter)