The Eternal Farmer: I Trade My Harvest for Immortality

Chapter 288: Spirit Vein Returning Green Rice

“Let’s go,” Jiang Chen urged. “Take me to see it.”

The two hurried out of the Outer Peak disciples’ residential quarters and plunged deep into the Spirit Farm. After a brisk trek, they arrived at a remote, usually desolate patch of land.

Today, however, the isolated plot was packed shoulder-to-shoulder. Outer Peak disciples swarmed the area.

Having managed them since spring, Jiang Chen recognized most of the faces.

“Good afternoon, Senior Brother Jiang!”

“Senior Brother Jiang, over here! You have to see this!”

Seeing him arrive, the crowd parted, their eyes lighting up with relief and excitement as they greeted him.

Had any other formal disciple shown up, these novices would have kept their heads down, terrified of accidentally causing offense. But Senior Brother Jiang was different. He was fair, approachable, and didn’t mind a bit of lighthearted banter. To them, he felt more like a reliable mentor than an aloof superior.

Jiang Chen stepped through the parted crowd and stopped at the edge of the one-acre, first-grade Spirit Farm. Summer was well underway. Given the standard three-month maturation cycle, the crop was currently in its mid-stage growth, a sea of transitional green and yellow stalks.

Yet, right in the middle of that field, one single stalk of Spirit Rice stood out like a lone pine in a field of weeds. It was fundamentally different from everything around it.

The ear of rice was a vibrant, deep emerald. The kernels nestled within looked exactly like miniature Spirit Stones, radiating a warm, incredibly pure, and natural aura.

As an official Spirit Cultivator, Jiang Chen recognized it instantly. It was a rare mutation. Spirit Vein Returning Green Rice.

Base Effect: Actively absorbs free Wood Spirit Qi from the air to continuously nourish the surrounding Spirit Farm.

Special Effect 1: Consumption slowly repairs damaged Meridians and permanently accelerates the cultivation speed of Wood-type techniques.

Special Effect 2: Planting its stalk in ordinary soil slowly catalyzes the growth of minor Wood-type spirit plants.

It was a treasure boasting one passive trait and two potent active effects. If exchanged at the sect, it would easily fetch two thousand contribution points. On the open market? It would command at least two to three thousand Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

If a grizzled veteran farmer with decades of experience had cultivated this, it would be celebrated, but not shocking. But here? On the barren periphery of the Outer Peak? This was a bottom-tier, first-grade Spirit Farm utterly devoid of nutrient-rich black soil. It was tended by a raw Novice disciple using the lowest-tier Evergreen Art.

The only person present with enough expertise to even theoretically induce such a mutation was Jiang Chen himself. Even Lin Ya had only been a formal disciple for two years. Combining all these factors, the existence of this plant wasn’t just rare—it defied all logic.

Jiang Chen swept his gaze across the crowd. “Who tends this plot?”

The surrounding disciples immediately turned their attention to a scrawny young man in gray Outer Peak robes. He had delicate, almost pristine features, carrying the unmistakable, deer-in-the-headlights aura of a sheltered youth. Under the weight of everyone’s stares—especially those of two formal disciples—he was practically trembling.

Jiang Chen strode over, sizing him up. “You’re Miao Huayu?”

The young disciple nodded frantically. “Y-yes… Senior Brother Jiang! I am Miao Huayu!”

Jiang Chen pointed a firm finger at the glowing stalk. “Did you grow this?”

Miao Huayu scratched the back of his head, looking utterly bewildered. “Uh… I think so?”

Jiang Chen stared at him, briefly lost for words. “Is this your assigned plot or not?”

“Yes! This is definitely my plot,” Miao Huayu affirmed.

“Then why do you sound so unsure?” Jiang Chen asked, exasperated.

Miao Huayu flashed a foolish, helpless grin. “I’m just a Novice disciple. I don’t really know how any of this works!”

Flawless logic, Jiang Chen thought, entirely deadpan.

The kid wasn’t wrong. Most of the Novice disciples here were stumbling in the dark. But while everyone else was struggling to harvest barely edible, low-grade crops—or good-quality at best—this complete amateur had accidentally spawned a miracle.

Producing a mutated crop on his first try? There wouldn’t even be an assessment for him. The sect would instantly promote him to a formal disciple purely on the sheer, undeniable weight of his latent talent.

“Senior Brother Jiang, how should we handle this?” Lin Ya asked softly from behind him.

Jiang Chen didn’t hesitate; his pragmatic instincts took over. “Lock down this entire plot immediately. I want our most trusted people standing guard around this stalk around the clock. No one else gets within ten paces of it.”

Lin Ya glanced sideways at the trembling boy. “And him?”

Jiang Chen took a deep breath. “I’m taking him straight to the core area to see Elder Mu.”

With a flick of his wrist, Jiang Chen summoned his Giant Leaf. He hopped onto the hovering artifact and beckoned to the wide-eyed boy. “Don’t just stand there. Get on.”

Miao Huayu blinked, processing the command a beat too late. But before he climbed aboard, he did something utterly bizarre: he painstakingly scraped every last speck of mud off the soles of his boots against a rock. Only then did he leap onto the right side of the Giant Leaf.

Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow at the fastidious display but said nothing. He channeled his Qi, and the Giant Leaf shot into the sky, carving a direct path toward the heart of the Spirit Farm.

The sudden altitude and speed terrified the novice. Clearly having never flown before, Miao Huayu visibly paled, shuffling anxiously toward the center of the leaf. Terrified of falling but too intimidated to grab Jiang Chen directly, the boy compromised by nervously pinching the very edge of Jiang Chen’s sleeve.

Jiang Chen chuckled lightly. “Relax. There’s a stabilizing air current wrapped around the Giant Leaf. You couldn’t fall off even if you tried.”

Glancing back, Jiang Chen probed casually, “Judging by your manners, you come from a fairly wealthy mortal background?”

Miao Huayu flinched slightly before offering a vague, deflective answer. “I… had a few years of schooling, that’s all.”

Sensing the evasion, Jiang Chen dropped the subject. Everyone has their secrets, he thought. Not my problem.

The rest of the flight was spent in silence.

Half an hour later, the towering, flat-topped mountain of the core area loomed ahead. Despite his promotion, Jiang Chen still lacked the authority to fly directly into the managerial compound. Touching down at the base, he led Miao Huayu up the long, sun-baked stone steps on foot.

Fortunately, the ascent was brief. Because it was just past noon, the usually bustling courtyards were largely empty. They only spotted a handful of veteran farmers checking the daily task boards inside the main hall.

Jiang Chen marched Miao Huayu straight into the central office. Spotting the Manager, he respectfully clasped his hands and bowed. “Elder Mu!”

Stepping aside, he gestured to the trembling boy. “This is Miao Huayu, a new Novice Outer Peak disciple with a Wood Spirit Root that we recruited this summer.”

Elder Mu’s piercing gaze swept over the scrawny youth before settling on Jiang Chen. “You brought him all the way here. I assume there’s a reason?”

A wry, almost disbelieving grin spread across Jiang Chen’s face. “This kid—a complete amateur tending a barren, first-grade plot—just managed to cultivate a stalk of Spirit Vein Returning Green Rice.”