Chapter 123: Chapter 123: Five Fingers Covered in Storage Rings

With the addition of new members to the household, Chen Mo’s otherwise dull winter days gained a bit more joy.

The little Spirit Pigs were very affectionate. Every time he approached, the six little ones—whose genders were still impossible to distinguish—would crowd their heads together and lean against him. Usually, Chen Mo would casually scoop one up, take a seat on a nearby stone stool, and lay it flat on his lap. He would then start massaging it inch by inch, beginning from its little pig head. He wouldn’t swap to the next until the current one was sound asleep and snoring softly.

Repeating this process, he pacified all six piglets before heading to the sheep pen, letting the Spirit Sheep continuously rub their underdeveloped horns against his calves.

Whether he was massaging the Spirit Pigs or the Spirit Sheep, Chen Mo always incorporated his Sturdy Talent. As a result, in just a dozen or so days, they grew at a rapid pace visible to the naked eye! A 100% individual bonus, even when dispersed across their various growth stages, proved to be a terrifyingly potent Talent. If Chen Mo hadn’t deliberately suppressed it, Kang alone would likely have grown to over nine feet tall, beginning to take on the rudimentary form of a Demon Beast!

As for the Spiritual Ox, it was already massive when it arrived, so he didn’t intentionally accelerate its growth.

Winter passed, and spring arrived. His life of bitter cultivation, interspersed with farming and breeding, surprisingly offered a fair amount of enjoyment.

By the spring equinox, more than half of the fourteen Spirit Eggs laid by the Spirit Chickens had hatched, adding nine new members to Kang’s family. As for the five Spirit Eggs that never managed to hatch? Chen Mo discovered during a casual inspection that the chicks inside had died in their shells long ago, making hatching impossible.

As the Spiritual Beasts grew day by day, coupled with the new hatchlings among the Spiritual Birds, his once mountain-high pile of Successor Rice was depleting at a visible rate. In just one month, these Spiritual Beasts consumed six to seven hundred catties of Spirit Rice. On average, they devoured over thirty catties a day! And this was only their juvenile stage. Once they reached their prime, their daily consumption would likely double again.

The rapid consumption of Successor Rice made Chen Mo realize that breeding wasn’t as simple as he had imagined. Just penning them up and feeding them on schedule wasn’t enough. Often, there were many particulars regarding when and how much to feed them. Besides, what ordinary Spirit Nurturer would dare to raise so many Spiritual Beasts at once? They would likely eat themselves into bankruptcy long before the beasts were ready for slaughter!

Even though Chen Mo now possessed a vast fortune of forty Low Grade Spirit Stones, he couldn’t afford to subsidize his breeding operation out of pocket. It was one thing not to turn a profit, but he couldn’t possibly operate at a loss.

Time passed until all things revived and the spring flowers bloomed. Chen Mo, as always, plowed the earth and sowed his seeds. However, this time, out of his twenty acres of Spirit Fields, aside from the Giant Bone Spirit Rice under the Gathering Spirit effect serving as his unchanging foundation, he allocated five of the other fifteen acres to Successor Rice. The remaining ten acres were entirely dedicated to Cyan Leaf Orchids and Yellow Spirit Grass Flowers!

Given the current 200% growth boost, the per-acre yield of these two crops could reach an astonishing seven to eight hundred catties. Combined with their growth speed of four harvests a year, he could potentially reap around twenty to thirty thousand catties annually! This way, his Spiritual Birds and Spiritual Beasts could be fed a mixed diet, which would likely make their meat much more succulent once they matured.

It took Chen Mo nearly three days to complete the modification of the Spirit Fields and all the sowing. Next, he just needed to tend to the Spirit Fields while waiting for the first crop of Cyan Leaf Orchids and Yellow Spirit Grass Flowers to mature!

However, a problem arose—his Storage Space was running out!

With spring in full swing, Chen Mo finally finished his field work and freed up his time to make a trip to the White Snake Marketplace. Coincidentally, just as he arrived at the Master’s Mansion, Mei Hua stepped out, and the two bumped into each other.

"Fellow Daoist Chen! You’re here! The Pavilion Master was just thinking of sending me to invite you over!"

"Oh? Brother Song was looking for me too?"

"Yes! This way, please."

Over the course of a year, this Steward—who had followed Song Yunxi since the Yi Er San Grain Station—had vastly improved his speech, demeanor, and interpersonal skills. In the past, when interacting with Cultivators, he would show hints of timidity and occasionally reveal dissatisfaction. But now, he flawlessly embodied the smooth diplomacy of a seasoned businessman. Even when facing Song Yunxi, he maintained a poised and composed attitude. This was the power of a strong backing!

Chen Mo followed Mei Hua into the inner chamber. Song Yunxi, who was originally flicking the beads of an abacus, looked up and instantly revealed a surprised expression.

"That fast?"

"Pavilion Master, I bumped into Fellow Daoist Chen outside the door. He was just coming to see you!" Mei Hua explained.

"Brother Song, it’s only been a month since we last met, but your complexion looks even rosier. It seems the Fragrance Pavilion really has something going for it!" Chen Mo teased.

"Haha! Brother Chen truly understands me!" Song Yunxi beckoned with his hand and continued, "Come, come! Those three thousand catties of seeds you prepared for me are completely sold out!"

"Oh? Did it go smoothly?"

"Smoothly? What do you mean smoothly? They were fighting tooth and nail over it! You don’t know what it means to sell a catty of seeds for four taels of Spiritual Sand! Before my seeds sold out, the other shops couldn’t sell a single thing!" Song Yunxi grew increasingly excited as he spoke. Earning Spiritual Sand this way was far too easy.

Chen Mo wasn’t swept away by the other’s joy. Instead, he asked, "How did the Pavilion Masters of the other marketplaces react? I recall there are thirty-four marketplaces on Purple Cloud Peak. Selling a hundred or so catties in each shouldn’t have been a major issue."

"React? What reaction could they have? Don’t worry about them."

He thought, "Sell one or two hundred catties per marketplace? How much time would that waste? Aren’t Xia Wan and Yun Rou waiting for me?"

"Brother Song, I think..."

"Oh, right, what did you come to see me for? If it’s nothing, let’s head to the Fragrance Pavilion for a drink!" Song Yunxi sending Mei Hua to invite Chen Mo over—that was his real business! Now that he had earned Spirit Stones, how could he leave out his good brother?

"Two things. First, I wanted to ask Brother Song for help in acquiring one or two more Storage Rings."

"Don’t you already have one?"

"I’m raising some Spiritual Beasts and need to stock up on a massive amount of Successor Rice. I’m afraid it’ll spoil if I just leave it outside," Chen Mo explained, though he naturally didn’t disclose everything.

"Are you really planning to be a Spirit Plant Cultivator and Spirit Nurturer for the rest of your life?"

"What else would I do?"

"You! Fine! How big of a space do you need?" Song Yunxi really couldn’t do anything about this brother of his. However, just as he enjoyed listening to tunes at the brothel, Brother Chen enjoyed farming and raising chickens. In essence, it was the same thing, so he wouldn’t emulate those preachy old men who liked lecturing others on what to do.

"If there’s one with a larger space, I want one that’s three to five times bigger. If not, then please buy four more of the same kind I have now."

"Four rings? Plus the one you already have? What, are you planning to wear them on every single finger?"

"Haha, that wouldn’t be impossible," Chen Mo laughed, raising both hands before his eyes and flipping his palms back and forth to gesture.

"Alright, alright, leave it to me!" It was just a Storage Ring. He could easily get it done with a quick trip to the Purple Cloud Marketplace.

"Sorry for troubling you, Brother Song."

"No need to be so polite with me!" Song Yunxi waved his hand and continued, "Right, what was the second thing you mentioned?"

"The second thing? I wanted to ask how Fellow Daoist Ban’s grand competition is going. When is he expected to return?"

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