Next to the low-lying land, he allocated a five-acre plot. First, he evenly scattered all the rice seeds on this plot. This step was called seedling cultivation, which was entirely different from the planting method of spiritual rice. For ordinary rice, Fang Yun followed the conventional methods he had learned in his past life.
This approach effectively increased the seedling survival rate. After finishing sowing the rice seeds, Fang Yun moved on to another area to start planting soybeans. Planting soybeans was relatively simpler; he just needed to dig holes, place the soybean seeds in them, and cover them with soil.
Fang Yun completed the soybean planting on nearly a hundred acres in just three days. At this moment, the rice seeds he had sown began to sprout and take root. Eagerly, Fang Yun checked his panel to see if there were any changes.
Fang Yun
Cultivation Level: Qi Refinement Stage 1 (Disabled)
Spiritual Power: 10
Control over Plants: Spiritual Rice (63), Ordinary Rice (830,000)
Seeing that the panel had indeed shown new changes, Fang Yun became invigorated.
It seems that my experiment has been half successful; the remaining half will depend on whether there are any changes to my golden finger after these crops mature. As for the exaggerated number of seedlings displayed on the panel, Fang Yun didn't find it strange. After all, he was not planting spiritual rice, and over a hundred acres of land was not that much in total.
Walking over to the seedling area, he could clearly sense the emotions emitted by the rice seedlings in that land. However, the emotions transmitted by individual rice seedlings were much weaker compared to spiritual rice. Additionally, the range was shorter; while spiritual rice could convey its feelings to him in the cave, here the ordinary rice could only be sensed when he was close.
Even so, Fang Yun felt particularly pleased. As long as he could verify that his golden finger had an effect on ordinary crops, that was enough for him. So, apart from healing and checking on the spiritual rice every day, he added another task to his routine: monitoring the rice seedlings whenever he had some free time while working.
This wasn't a difficult task for him; he simply needed to glance at them occasionally while he worked. After finishing the soybean planting, Fang Yun immediately began planting the medicinal herbs. The cultivation of medicinal herbs was somewhat more complex; some were seeds, while others were roots or rhizomes. Different planting methods needed to be chosen based on the specific conditions.
However, these herbs were all common varieties such as Huangjing, Huangqi, and Yam. Fang Yun had some understanding of planting these herbs. After finishing the medicinal herb planting, he then moved on to planting the vegetables along the creek.
Once he completed all these tasks, the rice, which had originally been in the seedling stage, was now ready for transplanting. He carefully selected the vigorous seedlings and meticulously transplanted them into the spacious rice fields, discarding the rest.
The number of rice seedlings on the panel decreased from 800,000 to 500,000 after the transplanting was completed. Soon after, the soybean seeds he had sown began to sprout, and not long after that, the medicinal herbs started to take root as well.
Fang Yun
Cultivation Level: Qi Refinement Stage 1 (Disabled)
Spiritual Power: 10
Control over Plants: Spiritual Rice (63) Ordinary Rice (500,000) Ordinary Soybeans (700,000) Huangqi (2,536) Huangjing (1,561) Yam (1,862)
Leafy Vegetables (50,000) Root Vegetables (10,000) Melons and Fruits (500) Bean Vegetables (600)
All these plants were grown by Fang Yun himself and fell under the influence of his golden finger, naturally reflecting on the panel.
Seeing the numerous types of plants on the panel filled Fang Yun with a sense of accomplishment, making the fatigue of his hard work over the past period seem to vanish completely. Based on what Fang Yun sensed, the vitality of the vegetable plants was the weakest, while the vitality of the soybeans was slightly stronger than that of the rice. The medicinal herbs exhibited even more vitality than the soybeans.
Of course, at present, the most vibrant life force was still that of the spiritual rice. After all, spiritual rice belonged to a different category of spiritual entities, incomparable to ordinary crops.
After a month of busy work, Fang Yun finally completed the planting tasks for this piece of land in the canyon. Now, he could only wait for the crops to mature. During this stage, Fang Yun couldn't exert too much effort; the most he could do was weed, which was an unavoidable task in all types of planting.
He also considered adding some fertilizers to help these crops grow more robustly during their growth process. However, for the crops in the canyon, there was no need for additional fertilizer at the moment because the original soil fertility was already quite sufficient.
Moreover, the ashes from the burned trees had been evenly mixed into the soil. The nutrients provided by these materials were enough to meet the growth needs of the crops in the canyon. So, besides healing and observing the growth of the spiritual rice every day, Fang Yun stayed in the canyon, carefully tending to these crops.
He not only had to guard against pests but also needed to keep an eye out for any weeds that might grow in the soil, preventing them from stealing nutrients from the crops and affecting their maturity.
Time passed quickly, and another month slipped by. Perhaps due to the rich soil fertility and Fang Yun's meticulous care, the crops in the canyon were growing exceptionally well. After a month, the leafy vegetables, which had the shortest growth cycle, were now mature.
Once Fang Yun noticed that these vegetables had stopped growing, he felt an instinctive sense that it was time to harvest them. So, after finishing his healing and thoroughly checking on the spiritual rice, he headed to the creek in the canyon.
Looking at the lush, vibrant vegetables in front of him, Fang Yun couldn't help but swallow. For a while now, he had been eating the dry rations left by the previous generation of cultivators. Although nutritionally, they were indeed much richer than ordinary food and beneficial for cultivation, their taste was bland and unappetizing.
Fang Yun had previously focused all his attention on planting, healing, and his special abilities, neglecting the issue of his diet. However, seeing the vegetables before him made him acutely aware of his body's intense craving for fresh produce. He quickly moved his hands to start picking the vegetables.
After harvesting a few, though, Fang Yun suddenly stopped. He felt a cool aura emanating from the vegetables, gently flowing over him. The sensation was so faint that he initially thought it might be his imagination. So, he opened his panel; if there were any new discoveries, it would show up there first.
Fang Yun
Cultivation Level: Qi Training Level 1 (Incomplete)
Spiritual Energy: 10
Plant Control: Spirit Rice (63), Ordinary Rice (500,000), Ordinary Soybeans (700,000), Astragalus (2,536), Polygonatum (1,561), Yam (1,862) …
Unknown Energy: 0.0001
Everything else on the panel seemed unchanged, but there was now an entry for unknown energy. This stirred excitement in Fang Yun; he had suspected that his abilities would change after his crops matured. After all, the most important phases of farming are planting and harvesting; it didn't make sense for there to be a response during planting but not during harvesting.
Indeed, there were still many functions of his abilities that had yet to be developed. With an exhilarated heart, Fang Yun spent two hours harvesting all the mature leafy greens by the stream. Ignoring the vegetables he had just picked, he concentrated on sensing the cool aura at his dantian. Meanwhile, he noticed the amount of unknown energy on the panel had reached 0.01.
Although the quantity was minimal, it was undoubtedly a great start for him. He just didn't know what role this cool aura would play.