Chapter 99: Chapter 99: New Seeds and Planting Plan

"Then what is the point of these seeds existing?"

Guan Xingxiang explained, "Rumor has it that when Giant Bone Spirit Rice was first bred, the goal was to replace Profound Soaring Spirit Rice."

"Profound Soaring Spirit Rice? Isn’t that Tier Two Spirit Rice?"

"Exactly! Legend has it that a Great Power wanted to grow Spirit Rice comparable to Tier Two on Tier One land. You could say he succeeded, as the effects of Giant Bone Spirit Rice indeed matched the Spiritual Qi content of Profound Soaring Spirit Rice. However, the yield fell short by a massive margin. Even if bred by a Breeder with a ten-to-one seed conversion rate, it would still result in a net loss!"

Chen Mo kept his composure on the surface, but he was secretly thrilled.

Based on his three-to-one seed conversion rate, even if he planted five mu of Giant Bone Spirit Rice, he would only need 15 catties of Spirit Rice. Furthermore, from five mu of Spirit Fields, he could harvest 200 catties in a single crop! And that was with his Rainfall Technique yet to reach Great Success!

"By the way, does Giant Bone Spirit Rice also ripen once a year?"

"Yes."

Chen Mo nodded slightly and shifted his gaze to another type of rice. "What are these seeds?"

Guan Xingxiang knew that after hearing the introduction to Giant Bone Spirit Rice, no one would care about it, let alone buy it. After all, nobody would take on a guaranteed losing venture! Had it not been for the previous Pavilion Master’s fondness for its taste—willing to subsidize its cultivation out of his own pocket—the shop wouldn’t have kept them in stock.

"This is Successor Rice, commonly known as Brown Rice or Livestock Rice. It’s mainly used to feed Spiritual Birds. Ordinary Cultivators don’t consume it."

"How is the yield?"

"About 400 catties per mu. Its main advantage is volume! However, the Spiritual Qi it contains is about the same as rice husks, so eating it is less effective than swallowing a Fasting Pill."

Chen Mo nodded slightly. They were all good things!

"Please continue."

"No, no... Fellow Daoist, you can just call me Guan." Guan Xingxiang waved his hands repeatedly, as if he couldn’t bear the respectful tone.

Chen Mo let it go, not wanting to dwell on the matter.

"These two piles of grass-like seeds are Cyan Leaf Orchids and Yellow Spirit Grass Flowers. They are relatively common Tier One Spirit Plants with a growth period of about three to four months. Once mature, the leaves are the main part consumed. Cyan Leaf Orchids are crisp, plump, and juicy, while Yellow Spirit Grass Flowers are mainly grown for their mature flower buds."

After hearing the explanation, Chen Mo took out the Spirit Plant Atlas from his Storage Space. Turning to pages twelve and thirteen, he saw clear records of these two Spirit Plants. However, because there were no seeds illustrated, he hadn’t recognized them earlier.

"Are these the ones?"

"Yes!"

Chen Mo understood. These two types of Spirit Plants—one resembling leafy greens and the other bearing the essence of cauliflower—were very common in the Mortal Realm, though careful inspection revealed significant differences!

For a moment, a thought crossed his mind: "Perhaps the Spirit Plants in the Cultivation Realm were all bred from plants in the Mortal Realm!"

"What’s the yield ratio?"

"One mu of land requires about two mace of seeds. However, unlike rice, the seeds of these Spirit Plants only form after the stems and leaves wither and turn yellow. This means you must leave about ten plants unharvested and wait for them to naturally wither before collecting the seeds. Typically, one mu of Cyan Leaf Orchids yields about a hundred plants, roughly 80 to 90 catties. One mu of Yellow Spirit Grass Flowers yields about fifty plants, which is around a hundred catties.

"The prices for these Spirit Plants are quite good, though. A hundred catties can sell for about twenty taels of Spiritual Sand. Spirit Plant Cultivators who have some spare land usually plant a mu or two."

Chen Mo pondered for a moment. It seemed logical enough.

For an ordinary Spirit Plant Cultivator, harvesting 200 catties of Spirit Yellow Rice from one mu meant paying about 120 catties in taxes and rent. Across five mu, that amounted to 600 catties. Given these circumstances, planting three or four mu of Spirit Rice and filling the rest with Cyan Leaf Orchids and Yellow Spirit Grass Flowers was a solid choice.

However, after doing the math, it seemed there was still no profit to be made!

Calculating all this made Chen Mo realize just how wicked the evil landlords truly were. They gave Spirit Plant Cultivators absolutely no chance to break free! After going in circles, the cultivators could only scrape together a bare subsistence, destined to accomplish nothing of significance in their lifetimes.

There were only two types of Spirit Plants left. Through Guan Xingxiang’s introduction, Chen Mo gained a general understanding of them—they were mainly used as spices for flavoring.

Logically, growing spices should be profitable. But once again, the wicked landlords had a vice-like grip on the prices. By inflating the cost of the seeds, the final profit margin was whittled down to a mere break-even point. This meant that after half a year of hard work, it would be better to just sell grain for Spiritual Sand and use it to buy spices.

Besides, did Spirit Plant Cultivators even need spices?

After getting a general idea of the functions, yields, and cultivation guidelines for these seeds, Chen Mo made his decision.

"Do you sell Giant Bone Spirit Rice here? I want to buy 15 catties to try. Additionally, give me five taels each of Cyan Leaf Orchid and Yellow Spirit Grass Flower seeds, and 10 catties of Successor Rice."

Seeing that he actually wanted to buy them, Guan Xingxiang looked a bit conflicted. "Fellow Daoist Chen, should I go ask for permission?"

Chen Mo frowned slightly. "Do you normally sell them?"

"We do!"

"At what price?"

"How about this? We’ll go with the acquisition price." Guessing that the customer didn’t want to alert the Pavilion Master over such a trivial matter, Guan Xingxiang offered, "Giant Bone Spirit Rice is one tael per catty, so 15 catties is 15 taels. Let’s say two taels total for the Cyan Leaf Orchids and Yellow Spirit Grass Flowers. How does that sound? I’ll throw in the 10 catties of Successor Rice for free, since that type of rice isn’t worth much anyway."

Chen Mo nodded. The latter prices were roughly what he had expected. But the price of Giant Bone Spirit Rice was actually identical to Profound Soaring Spirit Rice! By that logic, a single catty of seeds would probably cost thirty taels! No wonder nobody was willing to plant it!

"That works."

Taking the sachet from his clothes, Chen Mo poured out seventeen taels of Spiritual Sand and pushed it across the counter.

The process of buying the seeds went incredibly smoothly. Guan Xingxiang answered his questions with absolute transparency, fully resolving all of Chen Mo’s lingering doubts.

Returning home, he found Kang still diligently plowing the fields with a rake clamped in its beak. Chen Mo tossed it some rice husks for food before heading inside the house.

When Song Yunxi built this house, he had specially prepared a secret room for Chen Mo. After all, he knew Chen Mo was a Breeder.

Chen Mo entered the secret room, poured out the Giant Bone Spirit Rice, and carefully cast the Qi Crossing Technique.

Sure enough, Tier One Spirit Rice was Tier One Spirit Rice—the seed conversion rate remained at three to one! The 15 catties of Spirit Rice were successfully converted into 5 catties of Spirit Seeds.

After expending a bit more effort, the Successor Rice was also fully converted.

With the seed problem resolved, the next step was figuring out how to plant them!

The foundation of Spirit Yellow Rice couldn’t be abandoned, so he planned to allocate ten mu for it. Giant Bone Spirit Rice might fetch a high price, but selling it on a massive scale would inevitably attract unwanted attention. Furthermore, with his Breeding ability as a safety net, there was absolutely no need for him to take that risk! Therefore, he decided to plant only five mu and keep it entirely for his own consumption!

As for the remaining five mu, planting some Cyan Leaf Orchids and Yellow Spirit Grass Flowers—selling a portion and eating the rest—seemed like a solid plan.

Having made up his mind, Chen Mo hoisted his rake, headed down to the fields himself, and gave Kang a swift kick in passing.

"It’s been two days! You still haven’t finished plowing the land! Do you still want to lay eggs or not?!"

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