To the naked eye—and indeed, in reality—the field was currently lined with only a hundred Golden Crow Vines along its perimeter.

But under the influence of the array, the scene shifted.

Whether it was the “Mirror Flower” by day or the “Water Moon” by night, the formation’s essence was deception. It bent light and perception, refracting a false reality to fool the world.

Jiang Chen nodded in approval. “Those few hundred Mid-grade Spirit Stones were money well spent.”

With this illusion in place, he no longer had to worry about prying eyes discovering his Variant Spirit Rice. Even if someone questioned the visual of a field overflowing with Golden Crow Vines—an expensive and aggressive plant—he had a perfect cover story ready.

I’m a High-level Alchemist. I need them for ingredients.

Who would dare question that?

Tie Xin extended her right hand, wiggling her fingers expectantly. “If it’s worth it, then pay up.”

Jiang Chen didn’t waste time. He drew the remaining one hundred and fifty Mid-grade Spirit Stones from his Jade Green Gourd and placed the heavy pouch in her hand.

“You even handle after-sales service,” Jiang Chen chuckled. “Impressive.”

Tie Xin uncorked the jar of Top-quality Spirit Wine he had given her earlier, taking a massive swig before wiping her mouth. “Only when I have time.”

She burped, satisfied. “Alright, I’m going back to drink properly. Have fun with your new toy.”

She walked straight toward her ink-black flying shuttle, which sat cratered in the earth nearby. Before boarding, however, she paused and cast a lingering, suspicious glance at the Poplar Tree.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that the tree was no longer just a tree.

Moments later, the shuttle lifted off, swaying drunkenly as it carried Tie Xin into the distance.

Jiang Chen watched until she was a speck on the horizon. “Now,” he murmured, “with the [Mirror Flower Water Moon Array] active, I finally have the security to bring the Variant Mother Rice out of the dark.”

But not yet.

He hadn’t eaten since lunch, and the sun was already setting.

As a cultivator, he could survive without food or water for days, but Da Huang and the Pearl Chickens couldn’t. They needed to eat.

He turned and headed for the kitchen. First, dinner. Then, the heist.

Time slipped away, and soon, deep night settled over the valley.

The wind howled like a grieving ghost, the sound sharp enough to make one’s scalp tingle. This winter was harsher than the last, the cold biting deep into the earth.

Lying on his bed, Jiang Chen closed his eyes and merged his vision with the Fire Crow. He scanned the perimeter of the Spirit Farm, circling twice.

No one.

Satisfied, he slipped out of the warm house and ran into the freezing wind, heading for the stone mountain.

During the day, he had told Tie Xin he would wait to transplant the crop. By night, he was sneaking out to do exactly that. If anyone knew, they’d say his mouth was full of lies. But in the cultivation world, honesty was a quick way to die.

He reached the hidden entrance, moved the rock, and crawled inside.

The air in the cave was frigid.

Two plants greeted him in the darkness.

One was the mutated Frost Cabbage, thriving in the gloom. The cold air radiating from it was even more intense than during the day.

The other was the star of the show: the double-mutated Variant Mother Rice.

Jiang Chen ignored the cabbage for now. His eyes were locked on the golden stalk.

He circulated the max-level [Green Lotus Art]. Wood Spirit Qi surged from his Qi Sea, flooding the cave and wrapping gently around the Mother Rice.

Having grown here for nearly two years, the plant’s root system was extensive. Fortunately, rice roots spread horizontally rather than vertically, remaining in the shallow layer of the black soil.

“Up,” Jiang Chen commanded softly.

Under his precise control, the golden roots began to move. Like awakening earthworms, they wriggled free from the soil, retracting without snapping a single fiber.

In moments, the entire plant was hovering in the air.

It was magnificent. From the tips of its leaves to the ends of its roots, the entire organism glowed with a faint, regal gold.

Jiang Chen didn’t strip the roots bare; he kept a clump of the original black soil attached to minimize shock. He grabbed the sunflower as well, then dug up the stone for the [Concealing Breath Formation] on his way out.

Emerging into the night, he carefully resealed the cave entrance.

The Mother Rice was gone, but the Frost Cabbage remained. The cave still had its uses.

Under the cover of darkness, he sprinted to the second mu of Second-Grade Spirit Farm.

He moved to the exact center of the field and dug a hole.

This was the strategic pivot point. The Variant Mother Rice’s buff covered a radius of two zhang—roughly seven meters.

Within that circle, the yield of any rice—Ordinary, Top-quality, or Variant—would double.

It was a small area, but the effect was heaven-defying.

He planted the golden stalk, packing the earth firm. Immediately, he summoned his Companion Green Lotus, deploying the Green Lotus Domain to stabilize the transplant.

Now for the army.

Knowing this day was coming, Jiang Chen had already pre-germinated the Variant Rice seeds inside the Jade Green Gourd. There was no need to wait.

He began the planting process.

The inner circle—everything within the two-zhang buff zone—received the seedlings grown from the Mother Rice’s first batch of seeds. These were the highest quality offspring.

The outer circle received seedlings from the second generation, the “Variant Child Rice.”

Why the split? Because he simply didn’t have enough first-generation seeds left.

Jiang Chen stood in the field, waving his hand like a conductor.

Golden seedlings flew from the gourd in arcs of light.

Vine Bind!

He cast the spell repeatedly, not to attack, but to guide. Wood Spirit Qi caught the falling seedlings, gently drilling holes in the black soil and tucking the roots in with surgical precision.

It was farming at the speed of magic.

Before long, the entire second field was studded with 1,080 golden seedlings.

Jiang Chen wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead, a profound sense of satisfaction swelling in his chest.

He did the mental math.

1,080 plants. Assuming a yield of forty jin per hundred plants, that was roughly 400 jin.

Add the Mother Rice’s doubling effect on the inner circle… the final harvest should be around 500 jin.

Compared to the 4,000 jin he could get from standard Top-quality Spirit Rice, the volume was pitiful—only one-eighth of the mass.

But quantity wasn’t the goal.

The Spirit Qi density in this Variant Rice was double that of the Top-quality strain. This was food for breakthroughs, not just sustenance.

“With the Green Lotus Domain accelerating them daily,” Jiang Chen mused, “I should be able to harvest the first batch before the New Year.”

He reinstalled the portable [Concealing Breath Formation] as a backup, then returned to the wooden house.

He didn’t sleep immediately.

Lying on his bed, he closed his eyes and linked with the Fire Crow again.

He looked down at his property from the sky.

The [Mirror Flower Water Moon Array] was fully active. The “Water Moon” illusion shimmered in the night air. To the outside world, the second field appeared to be a tangled, overgrown thicket of Golden Crow Vines.

There was no trace of the golden rice seedlings. No sign of the priceless Mother Rice.

“Perfect.”

Jiang Chen opened his eyes, relaxing his tense shoulders.

The night was still young.

He retrieved a jar of Golden Wine—a lower grade than the Top-quality stuff, but good for casual drinking—and took a sip.

While savoring the burn, he pulled up the manual for a high-tier spell: [Scorching Sun Finger].

Currently, his arsenal was unbalanced. His Wood-attribute arts were entirely defensive or restorative. He was a tank with no cannon.

Until he awakened a Metal Spirit Root, Fire was his only option for lethal damage.

A Spirit Farmer shouldn’t need to fight. But Jiang Chen lived by a simple code: Better to have a sword and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

Relying on others was foolish. Relying on himself was survival.

He studied the manual until the Wood Spirit Qi in his Qi Sea was nearly exhausted.

Finally, he stood up and opened the window. He waved a hand toward the dark fields.

In the distance, the Companion Green Lotus stopped its rotation and flew back to him, landing gently in his palm.

Tonight’s ripening session was complete.