Tian Xiaobao walked briskly through the bustling streets and soon returned to his small courtyard. He pushed open the door, and the familiar surroundings made him feel especially at home.
Stepping into the courtyard, Tian Xiaobao took a deep breath, savoring the freshness and tranquility in the air.
As usual, after dinner, he began to Cultivate.
He did not dwell much on what Tian Xing had told him.
He merely let Tian Xing's words go in one ear and out the other, not taking them to heart.
He was only a little excited when he heard there were three mu of Spirit Rice fields.
Even if Tian Xing really brought the Spirit Rice field token as collateral, at worst, he could just exchange contribution points for Spirit Stones.
...
Time passed by unnoticed.
Ding District, Spirit Reef Island, Spirit Rice Field No. 59.
The Spirit Rice field was already a golden expanse, like a golden ocean, this was the world of Spirit Rice.
This was because Spirit Rice was significantly different from ordinary rice.
An ordinary rice plant usually produced a handful, but Spirit Rice was unique, with only one stalk per plant.
This unique growth pattern made Spirit Rice particularly eye-catching in appearance.
Spirit Rice was called 'Spirit Rice' because it contained Spiritual Qi.
This Spiritual Qi not only gave Spirit Rice its unique properties but also made its plants much taller than ordinary rice, reaching a height of half a zhang.
Due to the height of the Spirit Rice and its unique growth method, harvesting Spirit Rice required extra effort.
It could not be harvested in handfuls like ordinary rice, but had to be carefully harvested one stalk at a time.
Time was crucial for harvesting Spirit Rice.
If the Spirit Rice could not be harvested quickly, and the time dragged on for too long, the roots of the Spirit Rice would begin to absorb the Spiritual Qi from the rice grains.
As a result, the Spiritual Qi in the rice grains would gradually decrease, and might even disappear completely.
Although the yield might not decrease, the quality of the Spirit Rice would be greatly compromised. When the Spiritual Qi of the Spirit Rice decreased, its selling price would also be correspondingly lowered.
After all, buyers valued the Spiritual Qi contained within the Spirit Rice more.
Furthermore, after the Spirit Rice roots absorbed the Spiritual Qi, their strength would be greatly enhanced.
This brought great difficulty to the tilling work after the harvest.
The originally relatively easy tilling work became extremely difficult when facing Spirit Rice with strong roots.
What was worse, because the Spirit Rice roots contained Spiritual Qi, they would also attract some insects.
These insects might cause pests for the next season's Spirit Rice, thereby affecting the entire planting and harvesting of Spirit Rice.
...
Tian Xiaobao stood by the Spirit Rice field, looking at the Coming Soon mature Spirit Rice, his heart filled with anticipation and joy.
After a long period of hard work, these Spirit Rice were finally about to usher in the harvest season.
Tian Xiaobao specifically chose a sunny and pleasant day to harvest the Spirit Rice.
He walked into the Spirit Rice field with light steps, holding a sharp sickle tightly in his hand.
Tian Xiaobao stood among the Spirit Rice stalks, carefully grasping a stalk with one hand, while gripping the sickle with the other, pressing the blade close to the ground, and then swinging it back and forth with force.
It took Tian Xiaobao about three minutes to successfully cut one stalk of Spirit Rice.
Just then, he suddenly heard a voice in his mind:
"You have completed the Spirit Rice harvest, experience +0.01."
Tian Xiaobao was startled and couldn't help but murmur in confusion:
"What was that? Did I imagine it?"
He looked around but found nothing unusual.
Tian Xiaobao stood in the Spirit Rice field, his expression becoming extremely complex.
"Host, hello."
These words appeared before Tian Xiaobao's eyes like a ghost, without any warning, startling him.
Immediately after, the second line of text,
"Agricultural System is pleased to serve you,"
also appeared.
Tian Xiaobao's eyes widened as he stared at these two lines of text, and before he could react, they gradually dissipated into the air as if blown away by a gentle breeze.
However, at the moment the text completely disappeared, a familiar translucent panel slowly emerged from the Void Realm.
Tian Xiaobao fixed his gaze and saw his personal information clearly displayed on the panel:
"Name: Tian Xiaobao"
"Age: 16"
"Cultivation: Qi Condensation First Layer (80/100)"
"Cultivation Technique: Hou Tu Technique (Beginner 36/100)"
"Spell: Spirit Rain Technique (Proficient 15/500)"
"Experience: 0.01"
"It seems I hadn't activated the System before, and the previous panel was probably just a secondary function of the System!"
"This Tian Xing family wasted a year of my time! Otherwise, I would have been able to activate the System last year!"
...
Tian Xiaobao stopped thinking about so many things; anyway, it had already happened.
Then he fixed his gaze on the words after "Experience," especially the "0.01"; his eyes instantly turned red, as if they were about to spew fire.
However, when he saw the "0.01" after the "Experience" column, his mood instantly plummeted.
"The experience from this Spirit Rice is too little! And, will I only get experience from harvesting the first stalk of Spirit Rice?"
"Please, no, please no..."
Tian Xiaobao muttered to himself, filled with doubt and prayer.
...
"Please don't let it be what I'm thinking! Please, System God, give me some strength!"
Tian Xiaobao, feeling a bit unsettled, began to cut the second stalk of Spirit Rice.
This time, in less than three minutes, the Spirit Rice was cut.
"Spirit Rice harvest completed, experience +0.01."
Tian Xiaobao heard the voice he wanted to hear, and the big stone in his heart finally dropped.
"I'll harvest the Spirit Rice first, and see how much I can harvest in a day."
Tian Xiaobao secretly pondered, and his movements became faster, full of vigor.
"Spirit Rice harvest completed, experience +0.01."
"Spirit Rice harvest completed, experience +0.01."
"Spirit Rice harvest completed, experience +0.01."
"Spirit Rice harvest completed, experience +0.01."
...
Listening to the pleasant sound, Tian Xiaobao was completely immersed in the work of harvesting Spirit Rice, oblivious to the passage of time.
Tian Xiaobao tirelessly worked from morning directly until evening.
It wasn't until his stomach growled several times, and he really couldn't cut any more Spirit Rice, that he reluctantly stopped wielding his sickle.
"System!"
The panel slowly reappeared, and Tian Guang carefully looked at it.
"Name: Tian Xiaobao"
"Age: 16"
"Cultivation: Qi Condensation First Layer (80/100)"
"Cultivation Technique: Hou Tu Technique (Beginner 36/100)"
"Spell: Spirit Rain Technique (Proficient 15/500)"
"Experience: 3.5"
"Why is it so little? I only cut over three hundred stalks in eight hours!"
He exclaimed, then thought:
"When I planted one mu of Spirit Rice field, I probably planted around four thousand stalks of Spirit Rice, so five mu of Spirit Rice fields would be around twenty thousand stalks, which means about two hundred points of experience, not bad!"