The little yellow dog immediately wagged its tail excitedly.

“Starving, aren’t you?” Jiang Chen crouched down and patted the dog’s head.

“Woof! Woof!” It was unclear if it was responding or not.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you something to eat right now.” Jiang Chen stood up and walked toward the kitchen.

This harvest was quite good. The only pity was that he couldn’t go to Wang Ze’s place anymore.

But even though he was dissatisfied with Wang Hu, Jiang Chen remained patient. He wouldn’t make a move until he was absolutely certain.

At the very least, he needed to wait until his own cultivation realm reached Foundation Establishment. If possible, it would be best to acquire another technique as well. Movement techniques were preferable. Defensive ones came next. Offensive techniques didn’t matter much, as he already had the high-level Vine Bind (Third Layer).

Before long, dinner was ready. Man and dog happily ate their fill.

After eating and drinking his fill, Jiang Chen efficiently washed the dishes. Then he took a hot bath. Once everything was done, he finally climbed into bed. The little yellow dog skillfully settled down beneath the bed.

Lying on his side, Jiang Chen gazed through the open wooden window at the star-studded night sky.

Although this world lacked things like phones and computers, making it seem dull and boring, to be fair, the scenery was quite beautiful, and at night you could see countless stars. A gentle night breeze drifted in, making the atmosphere inside the room even more tranquil.

Soon after, Jiang Chen fell asleep.

The night passed without incident, and time moved to the next day.

Since the Spirit Rice had already been harvested, the concentration of Wood Spiritual Energy in the Spirit Farm was very thin. Therefore, Jiang Chen did not cultivate as usual.

Bored with nothing to do, he began exploring the area around his home as a center point. Come to think of it, he had been here for almost a year but didn’t know much about the surroundings.

“If I remember correctly, there’s an abandoned cave nearby?” Jiang Chen stood on high ground, scanning his surroundings.

On the other side of the Spirit Farm, about a hundred meters away, there was a small hill. Not very tall, at most a few dozen meters high from top to bottom. It was all rock, looking completely bare and barren.

“Let’s go!” Jiang Chen called out and headed over with the little yellow dog in tow.

Before long, man and dog arrived at the hill. First, they climbed up to get a high vantage point and look into the distance.

To be honest, it was just a rocky hill. Just a pile of large and small rocks stacked together, nothing special about it. Fortunately, the air at the summit was fresh, and he could see much farther away.

Jiang Chen stood on the highest rock, gazing into the distance.

He was immediately surprised to discover that, far off in the distance, there seemed to be a Spirit Farm. Moreover, many spirit plants were growing inside it.

It’s important to know that the end of spring marked the end of the first quarter’s planting season. The vast majority of spirit plants would be harvested, then everyone would wait for the start of summer (Lixia). If they weren’t harvested, there were only two possibilities:

One: The managing Spirit Farmer forgot.

The other: Their growth cycle was longer.

Forgot? That seemed unlikely.

That left only one possibility: a longer growth cycle.

If that were truly the case, it meant that Spirit Farmer in the distance had a cultivation realm of at least Foundation Establishment. If one hadn’t reached a certain level of cultivation, or if one’s techniques like the Evergreen Art or Cultivation Art weren’t high-level, the best choice really was only Spirit Rice.

“Living even more remotely than I do… this person is interesting.” Jiang Chen pondered thoughtfully.

“Is Senior Brother Jiang here?” At that moment, someone called out from the direction of his home behind him.

“Woof! Woof!” The little yellow dog immediately started barking.

“He’s calling for me; why are you responding?” Jiang Chen rolled his eyes.

“Let’s go back.” Jiang Chen had originally planned to take a look at the cave below. Since someone had come looking for him, he could only temporarily abandon that idea.

Subsequently, he led the little yellow dog back along their original path. As they got closer, he saw that the visitor was Tie Zhu, the Earth Spiritual Root disciple who helped with soil loosening.

“Junior Brother Tie.” Jiang Chen smiled slightly.

“Senior Brother is in good spirits; you’re actually mountain climbing.” Seeing him appear, Tie Zhu felt relieved.

Jiang Chen smiled and took out Spirit Rice from his small storage pouch. “You came just in time. This is the promised fifty jin of Tier-2 Spirit Rice.”

There had been an agreement between them. Each time soil loosening was completed, payment would be received at the end of the quarter.

For others, especially formal Earth Spiritual Root disciples, they would absolutely not help for less than a hundred jin of Tier-2 Spirit Rice. But who asked him to be cheap? Besides, they had known each other since their time in the outer sect.

“This is… Top-quality Spirit Rice?”

Feeling the dense spiritual energy within the rice grains, Tie Zhu’s eyes widened. He took it over quite excitedly; his voice even trembled slightly. “Senior Brother Jiang!”

Fifty jin of Tier-2 Spirit Rice might not seem like much, but if converted to Tier-1 Spirit Rice, that would be two hundred jin! For one person to eat alone, it could definitely last half a year without issue.

The key point was that this was Top-quality Spirit Rice with the highest spiritual energy concentration. Its value was even more astonishing, and its exchange rate was also higher.

Jiang Chen then asked, “How is Lin An doing?”

The smile on Tie Zhu’s face froze. He shook his head. “Because he didn’t fulfill his contract… he was taken away by the Punishment Hall. I don’t know if he can come back.”

“Taken away?” Jiang Chen was quite shocked.

Tie Zhu hurriedly explained, “With Senior Brother Jiang’s help… I’m not too worried. But that Water Spiritual Root female disciple wouldn’t let it go; she even reported it to the Punishment Hall.”

Jiang Chen frowned. “If not for the Formal Disciple Grand Competition… Fellow Daoist Lin probably wouldn’t have ended up in this situation. What a pity.”

But that Water Spiritual Root female disciple wasn’t wrong. When it concerns one’s own interests… one must fight for them. It’s important to know that Lin An didn’t owe just one or two hundred jin… but several hundred jin! Especially since his cooperation method with that Water Spiritual Root female disciple involved her taking a forty percent cut!

Tie Zhu felt helpless about this. “I don’t even know if I should pursue accountability…”

Jiang Chen nodded. “Of course you should pursue accountability; it’s your right.”

“But…” Tie Zhu looked at him hesitantly.

Jiang Chen understood perfectly well. He immediately waved his hand. “Although my relationship with Lin An is good… it hasn’t reached an exceptionally close level.”

In fact, his relationship with Lin An improved starting from Wang Ze. Back in their outer sect days, they basically didn’t interact. Moreover, this matter itself stemmed from Lin An being in the wrong.

This statement was exactly what Tie Zhu wanted to hear, so he stopped dwelling on it. He planned to pursue accountability against Lin An after returning, thereby obtaining compensation.

Jiang Chen suddenly remembered the Red Leaf Valley market, so he asked again, “How is market pricing now?”

During the New Year period, the Tier-1 Spirit Rice ratio had been 1:7.

Tie Zhu replied, “The Tier-2 Spirit Rice price has stabilized… still at 1:1.5… although it occasionally drops to 1.4… but it rebounds within a few days…”

“As for the Tier-1 Spirit Rice ratio… it has changed to 1:8…”

“Of course… Senior Brother’s Top-quality Spirit Rice here is different… the ratio is lower… and also more expensive…”

After listening, Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow. “How did it go up again?”

Tie Zhu glanced around, seeing only two people and a dog present, and lowered his voice. “Because prices inside the Immortal Sect are too high… many people go to buy from rogue cultivator markets outside…”

Jiang Chen immediately looked amused. “It seems the Harvest Alliance is feeling external pressure… hence maintaining this ratio…”

Tie Zhu deeply agreed. “Exactly! Rogue cultivator markets are cheaper! I went once before… bought a lot of Spirit Rice! That’s how I managed to withstand the pressure!”

“Wait…” Hearing this made Jiang Chen surprised. “Since you can buy cheaper Spirit Rice outside at rogue cultivator markets… why didn’t Lin An go?”

Tie Zhu twitched the corner of his mouth. “Tried! Just arrived at the teleportation array and got caught by Punishment Hall people!”

Jiang Chen was speechless.

Tie Zhu glanced at the nearby Spirit Farm, then tentatively asked, “Senior Brother… then I can come next time during soil loosening?”

He didn’t want to miss the chance to obtain Top-quality Spirit Rice, even though it was only fifty jin.

But Jiang Chen beckoned, signaling him to come closer.

Tie Zhu was puzzled but still stepped forward.

Jiang Chen again took out fifty jin of Tier-2 Spirit Rice from his small storage pouch, handed it over, and seriously said, “Help me look in the rogue cultivator markets for suitable Wood Spiritual Root cultivation techniques…”

“Movement techniques or defense are best… Offensive techniques are also okay… This is a deposit… later we settle the difference—more refund, less supplement…”

“Okay.” Although puzzled, Tie Zhu didn’t hesitate, even afraid the other might change his mind.

As for why Jiang Chen needed techniques… Although curious, he dared not ask. After all, with some things, the more you know, the worse the outcome. As long as he could stably obtain Top-quality Spirit Rice, what did it matter if he worked hard?

And adding another fifty jin of Tier-2 Top-quality Spirit Rice produced from the Spirit Farm given out… Jiang Chen still had 2,400 jin left in hand!