A faint hint of fish-belly white appeared in the eastern sky. The cacophony of insect chirps and frog croaks that had lasted all night receded like the tide.

With a creak, the door of the wooden hut behind the Spirit Farm opened.

Jiang Chen, carrying the Green Wood Water-Dividing Hoe on his right shoulder, stepped out.

Da Huang, curled up in his warm doghouse, tilted his head at the noise. Seeing it was his master, he immediately scrambled out, wagging his tail vigorously and stretching with a wriggling motion.

Then he trotted happily behind Jiang Chen, wearing a rather fawning smile.

As for the Pearl Chicken, it was still curled up in its coop, fast asleep. Ever since it laid two eggs, its sleeping hours had grown longer and longer.

Jiang Chen observed this and remarked in surprise, “Da Huang is still growing because he’s not fully grown yet, but why has this chicken also gotten bigger?”

Compared to when it first arrived, its current size had at least doubled. It was a very large lump; if it didn’t stick its head out, it looked almost like a football.

Although puzzled, Jiang Chen did not delay his daily work.

He took off his shoes and, holding the hoe in his right hand, stepped down into the Spirit Farm.

Where water needed to be divided, he immediately dug a channel. Where weeds grew, a wave of his hand pulled them out cleanly.

After farming continuously for three years, his experience and skills had become increasingly proficient.

Once the first step was done, he began the second.

Aiming at the center of the Tier-2 Spirit Farm, he gave a gentle toss. The seed flew over with a whoosh and landed steadily.

As the Wood Spirit Qi in his Dantian began to deplete, a cool aura spread out with the expansion of the Green Lotus Domain. Jiang Chen stood within it, feeling a refreshing comfort as if he had just finished bathing.

The spirit plants in the farm—specifically the Spirit Rice and vegetables—all revived with vigor, their colors deepening.

Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes slightly, assessing the state of the farm. At this pace, a second harvest could be conducted in at most ten days.

Previously, harvest periods occurred only at the end of each season. But now, with the help of the Green Lotus Domain, the schedule was already half a month ahead.

At first glance, half a month might not seem like much. But if calculated across all four seasons, being half a month early each season would add up to two extra months in a year—equivalent to one entire extra harvest cycle.

Moreover, this fifth harvest required no submission of profits to the sect. It all belonged to him alone.

Next, Jiang Chen activated his max-level [Spirit Finger].

Starting from the left, he performed “Spirit Pointing” on each Spirit Rice plant.

Although the chance of mutation for each plant was only one in a thousand, once successful, the gains would be beyond imagination. Even if it failed, the only cost was a trace of weak Spirit Qi.

It was essentially a sure profit without financial loss, far better than simply selling regular Spirit Rice.

Jiang Chen was neither discouraged nor disappointed by the lack of immediate results. He had been failing these past few days; not even the vegetables had succeeded. He had long grown accustomed to such outcomes.

Next came the vegetables.

For summer, he had planted Chinese cabbage and watermelon. Without exception, they all resulted in “failure.”

Finally, only a patch of Spirit Clover remained beside the irrigation ditch.

The vast majority had three leaves. A few had four leaves. Not a single plant had one or two.

Both Spirit Rice and vegetables had mutated before. It seemed only the Spirit Clover hadn’t yet.

Jiang Chen crouched down and began pointing at them one by one.

The Spirit Clover itself wasn’t tall; it clung almost flat to the water-soaked soil. A slight touch, even without force, made it sway uncontrollably.

One plant, two plants… until the fortieth plant.

Suddenly, a [Ding] sound rang out.

Jiang Chen was startled, then looked down.

Right beneath his feet, a Spirit Clover plant he had just poked with his [Spirit Finger] was visibly changing before his eyes.

First was its size; originally small and cute, it was now continuously expanding. Its four leaves were growing increasingly plump and large.

Its overall color shifted from light green to dark green. At first glance, the leaves looked as thick as those of a tree.

Jiang Chen pondered, If I remember correctly, “Spirit Farm Anecdotes” recorded that if Spirit Clover mutates, there’s a high probability it becomes [Giant Leaf].

Its main uses were twofold: feeding millennium-old spirit beasts, or refining flying artifacts.

When Spirit Clover mutated into [Giant Leaf], it contained a trace of Wind Spirit Qi. A single leaf could be refined, with a current market price of 66 Low-grade Spirit Stones.

If all four leaves were refined together, the resulting flying artifact would achieve greater altitude and speed. The market price for such an item was roughly between 3 to 5 Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

It was considered valuable, but not excessively so.

“Several months have passed, and finally there’s one mutation,” Jiang Chen murmured.

However, he had no intention of selling it.

His high-grade Paper Crane had been damaged last time in the flower sea. Its flight speed, range, and safety were all somewhat compromised. Using the [Demon Wood Boat] would be too flashy, not fitting his low-key style.

Using this [Giant Leaf] as transportation seemed like a good alternative.

Generally speaking, apprentices weren’t qualified to forge items for others. Asking the Luo siblings probably wouldn’t work; it required a blacksmith from Fire Peak.

Jiang Chen thought for a moment but didn’t rush to find someone to custom-make a [Giant Leaf] flying artifact. There was no hurry anyway; he could wait until after summer passed.

Afterwards, he continued pointing at the remaining Spirit Clover plants.

Unexpectedly, on the very last plant…

Good heavens, good things really do come in pairs.

The last Spirit Clover also mutated.

Unfortunately, like the first one, its evolutionary direction was also [Giant Leaf].

Jiang Chen thought deeply. With one extra plant…

Right at that moment, a vibration came from his storage pouch. Clearly, someone wanted to communicate.

Jiang Chen took out the talisman and looked; it seemed somewhat unfamiliar.

Communication talismans from people like Chen Bo, Lin Yu, and Jin Fugui were kept in the most conspicuous spots, making it easy to remember who was who. But this talisman was buried in a pile of miscellaneous items.

One look told him it hadn’t been used for ages.

“Is this Fellow Daoist Cai?”

“I am Shen Rong from the Loose Cultivator Market!”

“So it’s Patriarch Shen. What can I do for you?”

“Fellow Daoist Cai, it seems you haven’t visited the Loose Cultivator Market for several months now?”

“What? Have you already finished those 250 kg of Tier-2 Spirit Rice?”

“Not exactly. It’s just that we haven’t seen each other for so long; I kind of miss… hehe!”

“Alright. I’ll visit the Loose Cultivator Market in a few days.”

Meanwhile, in Green City.

Loose Cultivator Market, Sun Family Residence.

At that moment, two people stood within a spacious cultivation chamber.

One was Shen Rong, who had just put down his communication talisman. The other was very young, his appearance quite similar to Shen Rong’s.

Seeing the call end, the young man hurriedly pressed, “Father… how did it go?”

Shen Rong smiled slightly. “Peng’er, that Fellow Daoist Cai will visit the Loose Cultivator Market in a few days. Your proposal using Tier-2 Spirit Rice can finally be put on schedule!!!”