Old Huang stood at the edge of his spirit field, gazing at the rice grains glistening like jade, his heart full of satisfaction.
This mu of land, nurtured until it reached the rank of a first-grade spirit field, had consumed years of his effort, but in return, it had given him abundant harvests.
A pity, though. In just over a year, he would have to leave the sect, and this spirit field could not be passed down to his grandson.
At that thought, Old Huang let out a quiet sigh, and his cheerful mood dimmed by half.
"Senior Brother's Jadegrain Rice has had another bountiful harvest, I see."
Ji An walked over and stood beside him.
At once, he felt the difference of a first-grade field: that vigorous spiritual energy, mingled with the fresh fragrance of Jadegrain Rice, was invigorating to the mind.
"Haha! Cultivating this field until it reached ranked quality is the only accomplishment in my life worth boasting of."
"Senior Brother, you've planted so many fields. Aside from the rent and taxes owed to the sect, who do you sell the rest of your grain to?"
Ji An asked. Old Huang farmed ten mu. With his current skill, each season he would harvest at least two thousand jin.
But a talisman bird's carrying capacity was limited. At most, it could bear five hundred jin in weight. After accounting for the rider, it could only transport under four hundred jin of rice each trip.
Ji An himself now had sixteen hundred jin of Yellow Sprout Rice, and he needed to sell at least a thousand jin. Making multiple trips back and forth to the Administrative Hall was far too much trouble and a waste of time.
He knew there were people in the sect who made a business of buying and reselling spirit grain. Many older spirit farmers sold directly to such traders.
In the past, his harvests were too small to need these contacts. But going forward, his yields would only increase, and he would inevitably have to build those connections to make selling easier.
"Oh, plenty of families dabble in the spirit grain trade," Old Huang said.
"The profit margin on spirit rice is slim, but the daily transaction volume is enormous. Any family with a hand in it is no small clan. The ones I deal with are the Li clan of White Ape Mountain.
Selling to them is easy; the price is about the same as selling to the sect, only you can't exchange it for contribution points.
But for me, contribution points are of no use anymore."
Whether it was his age or simply the knowledge that he wouldn't remain in the sect much longer, Old Huang rambled on, never getting to the main point.
Ji An didn't press him, simply listening quietly, offering a word of agreement here and there.
"Ha, listen to me, rambling nonsense," Old Huang said at last, laughing.
"I've already arranged things with the Li clan. On the third day of every third month, they come to purchase grain.
If you want to sell your harvest, just let me know, and I'll speak to them. All you need to do is stay home that day."
"Many thanks, Senior Brother."
Ji An thought of Li Changfeng, who was also of the White Ape Mountain Li clan. Perhaps with the token he had given him, Ji An could bargain for a slightly higher price.
After chatting a while longer, Ji An excused himself and left.
Old Huang watched his departing figure, a glint flashing through his eyes.
Every morning, on his way back from extracting water essence at Bihai Lake, he passed by this junior's fields.
It hadn't escaped his notice that Ji An's fields had already been harvested.
He had once heard higher-ranked spirit farmers discuss that reducing the maturation time of Yellow Sprout Rice came from only two possible causes.
The first: the field itself had become ranked.
The second: the Minor Rain Technique cultivated to Perfection.
He had already inspected and confirmed that Ji An's fields were unranked. That left only one possibility.
"Could Junior Brother Ji have some sort of special constitution?"
Old Huang pondered, then sighed softly.
"If only my Feihu were half as talented as little An here, I'd wake up laughing in my sleep."
Bihai Market
At the Bihai Market, Wei Songnian suddenly slapped his thigh, glanced left and right, then lowered his voice:
"Junior Brother, your skill in making talisman paper has improved this much already?!"
He had just counted the talisman paper Ji An delivered. From a single mu of talisman grass, the total number of sheets one could produce didn't vary much. Yet this time, Ji An had delivered eighty-one sheets of mid-grade talisman paper, making Wei Songnian sit up in awe.
He thought of the many spirit farmers who could only afford to buy a pill or two at a time, and couldn't help sighing.
Same spirit farmers… but why is the gap so big? Why is it so easy for him to earn spirit stones?!
The sourness in his heart was hard to hide. Just those mid-grade talisman sheets alone were worth six whole spirit stones.
Among all the Foundation Establishment–less disciples not cultivating directly on a spirit vein, there probably weren't more than a handful who could achieve such income.
"Just honed my craft a bit," Ji An said with a simple grin. In truth, it wasn't that his talisman-making skills had improved so much; it was his farming technique that had grown sharper.
With better quality materials, the chance of producing superior talismans naturally rose.
"With skills like this, why worry about ever failing to build your foundation?" Wei Songnian sighed, then quickly finished counting the rest of the sheets.
"Talisman paper and ink together… a total of 970 spirit crystals."
Ji An nodded lightly and smiled.
"I still have some leftover Jadegrain Pills from last time. This time, fifteen will be enough. Add ten sets of ingredients for talisman ink as well."
"Done."
Wei Songnian's smile nearly split his face. This junior not only earned well, but also spent freely, never stingy. With such qualities, he was bound for greatness!
He quickly prepared the pills and materials, then said:
"Pills, 450 spirit crystals. Ink ingredients, 230. That leaves 290 spirit crystals. Junior Brother, want to buy anything else?"
Ji An shook his head.
"Not for now.
Next season, I plan to plant two mu of talisman grass. Senior Brother, keep an eye out for a Spirit-Draining Formation Disk for me.
When the spirit grain matures again, I'll come to collect it. Consider the leftover crystals just now as the deposit. What do you say?"
Still the same Junior Brother… never keeps any spirit stones in his pocket!
Where else could one find such a perfect customer?
Wei Songnian's smile grew broader, his voice booming with cheer:
"Good! No problem."
He coughed lightly, then explained:
"Spirit-Draining Formations come in different grades: ordinary, fine, and superior. The ones made in Falling Maple Valley are the best.
Ordinary disks may look cheaper, but their activation consumes more, and their efficiency at converting spirit stone energy into spiritual qi is lower.
From my experience, if you're planning long-term use, I'd recommend buying a fine-grade disk.
The upfront cost is higher, but it pays itself back quickly."
"Tell me the prices and differences. I'll decide from there," Ji An said. He never hesitated to spend spirit stones, as long as it truly benefited him.
Falling Maple Valley is famous for its formations; their disks are generally superior.
Ordinary quality: 22 spirit stones. Converts about 30% of a stone's energy. Holds three stones at a time, lasting around ten hours of cultivation.
Fine quality: 45 spirit stones. Converts about 35%. Holds five stones, lasting sixteen to seventeen hours.
Superior quality is beyond our reach. I hear it costs over a hundred stones; only Origin Ascension elders use those."
Hearing this, Ji An exhaled slowly, then said:
"Of course, I'd prefer the fine-grade disk. But I don't have enough stones right now. Senior Brother… would you be willing to lend a little?"
"No problem!" Wei Songnian thumped his chest in agreement. He privately kept a ledger of all his most lucrative clients and their skills. This junior was right at the top.
From his earlier calculations, he judged that Ji An could afford even a superior disk within a year, without falling behind on cultivation.
"Since Junior Brother still had 290 spirit crystals just now, I'll count that as a three spirit stone deposit."