Chapter 12: The Spirit Rice Enters the Maturation Period

He quickly checked the data on his panel.

Fang Yun

Cultivation: First Level Qi Training

Mana: 12

Life Energy: 0

Control over Plants: Spiritual Rice (63) Astragalus (2536) …

Indeed, his mana had increased by one point. Although this was partly due to the refining of spiritual energy over the past few days, the contribution of life energy was significant as well. Most importantly, he had confirmed that life energy could aid in cultivation, which was of utmost importance to him.

Furthermore, compared to the scarcity of spiritual energy, life energy was much more accessible and easier to obtain. If he had enough life energy, Fang Yun might even directly break through to the second level of Qi Training, or even the third level. The only difference would be the quantity of life energy available.

With that thought in mind, Fang Yun walked to the edge of the spiritual field, gazing at the spiritual rice with fiery anticipation in his eyes. He wondered how much life energy these spiritual rice would provide once they matured. Regardless, these were crops infused with spiritual energy, and he hoped they wouldn't let him down.

A month later, Fang Yun stood on an open piece of land, clearing his mind, calming his spirit, and concentrating intensely.

"Earth energy is strong, the thick soil as its root. Spiritual breath flows, the earth veins return to the heart…"

As he recited the incantation, his hand seals changed continuously, and a yellow energy gradually coalesced in his hand before shooting into the ground.

Instantly, Fang Yun felt the distribution of matter and energy within a radius of several meters. As his hand seals transformed, the scattered energy in the land seemed to open up a pathway and began to gather gradually.

As the energy in the land accumulated, a patch of ground beneath Fang Yun's feet turned deep and dark. After a while, he withdrew the spell and hurriedly checked his panel.

Fang Yun

Cultivation: First Level Qi Training

Mana: 12

Life Energy: 0

Control over Plants: Spiritual Rice (63) Astragalus (2536) …

Spell: Earth Force Technique (Beginner 1%)

Seeing the spell's name appear on his panel and that his Earth Force Technique had reached the beginner level brought a sigh of relief from Fang Yun.

It had truly been difficult to cultivate this spell over the past month. Now that he had finally reached the beginner level, it was a pity that the panel was just a summary of his abilities and did not have a point system; otherwise, cultivating would be much more convenient.

After closing the panel, Fang Yun crouched down and picked up a handful of the black soil beneath him. Just by squeezing it casually, he could feel the rich nutrients contained in the soil.

Fang Yun realized that the energy he had sensed earlier was precisely the nutrients contained in the land. Unfortunately, this particular piece of land did not contain any spiritual energy, so the gathered energy was merely ordinary. Otherwise, he would have genuinely wanted to test whether the spiritual energy in the land could be gathered.

However, as one of the spells specifically for farming, the Earth Force Technique should have some effect on the spiritual energy in the land. With such a spell, he would be able to cultivate crops in the future without needing any fertilizers; just concentrating the nutrients in the soil would be sufficient to meet his planting needs.

Nevertheless, at this stage, Fang Yun's mana was limited, so he wouldn't waste it like that. He decided to wait until his cultivation improved further. Over the following months, Fang Yun practiced the Earth Force Technique diligently, and after several months of practice, he finally leveled up the technique.

Fang Yun

Cultivation: First Level Qi Training

Mana: 12

Life Energy: 0

Control over Plants: Spiritual Rice (63) Astragalus (2536) …

Spell: Earth Force Technique (Proficient 3%)

Having progressed from beginner to proficient level, he was now able to gather the energy in the land more quickly to enhance its fertility. Moreover, he could evenly distribute this energy across the entire piece of land to ensure balanced nutrition.

Unfortunately, the Earth Force Technique could not move physical soil; it could only drive the energy within the land. If it could move soil, this spell would have had considerable offensive capability.

Months passed, and the growth of the spiritual rice was going smoothly. One day, while carefully observing the spiritual rice in the field, Fang Yun noticed that they had begun to sprout ears. This meant that the rice had now entered its maturity phase.

According to his previous memories, the last batch of spiritual rice had been attacked by green beetles during the grain-filling period. Remembering this brought Fang Yun back to reality, as he realized that there were only a few days left until the spiritual rice entered the grain-filling stage. It was crucial to prepare early.

Otherwise, facing a large number of green beetles or other pests, Fang Yun would find it impossible to eliminate them all. Fortunately, he was not entirely unprepared for this situation.

He hurried down the mountain and rushed to the manor. Upon seeing Fang Lin, Fang Yun wasted no time in greeting him and urgently asked, "How is the silkworm net I asked you to prepare last time?"

Seeing his clan leader so anxious, Fang Lin understood the importance of the matter and quickly led him to the hall, saying as they walked, "Don't worry, clan leader. What you entrusted us with is our family's top priority. We have used up all the silkworm silk stock from our household and spent several months weaving a thick, three-layered silkworm net. Just wait a moment, I'll go get it!"

Upon hearing that everything was ready, Fang Yun finally felt relieved. This was his secret weapon against those green beetles! If it hadn't been completed, the spiritual rice would have been completely doomed.

At that point, whether it was the life energy contained in the spiritual rice or the value of the rice itself, it would vanish in an instant. The loss would be far too severe. Even if Fang Yun didn't fall back into obsession, he would definitely be furious enough to spit blood.

In a short while, Fang Lin returned, carrying a long strip of white material. Fang Yun took the strip from him and handed the other end back to Fang Lin. Together, they gently unfolded the white material.

Though it was relatively small when folded, once unfolded, it revealed a massive silk net over a hundred square meters in size. The net's mesh was tiny enough to block the invasion of green beetles. Despite its three-layer structure, the silk itself was incredibly thin, allowing sunlight to easily penetrate through.

Fang Yun examined the silk net closely, pulling and rubbing it with his hands, and found that both its toughness and the density of the mesh met his requirements.