Chapter 4: The Anomaly of Spirit Rice

After setting his heart on a goal, Fang Yun suddenly felt much lighter.

He began to harbor even more expectations for the future.

Subsequently, Fang Yun carefully counted the sprouted Spirit Rice Seeds.

He indeed found only 63, confirming that the Golden Finger was reliable in this regard; he just didn't know whether the remaining seeds would sprout later.

It seemed that in the next planting, he should improve the breeding methods to increase the seed survival rate.

Fang Yun noted the positions of the seeds that had not sprouted.

Then he returned to the cave.

Over the next few days, Fang Yun visited the spirit field every day to observe the sprouted seeds.

He sensed their emotions, checking if there was any discomfort.

At the same time, he checked if there were any changes in his own panel.

He also paid attention to the previously unsprouted seeds to see if there were any new signs of germination.

However, after several days, there was no change to the Golden Finger, and the remaining thirty-seven seeds still hadn't sprouted, causing Fang Yun to give up on them completely.

After digging up these non-sprouted seeds, he stopped paying any attention to them.

He continued to focus his attention on the sixty-three sprouted seeds.

Time flowed by, and a month passed in the blink of an eye.

The sprouted seeds grew exceptionally well, now emerging above the water.

Each one was lush and green without any flaws or problems.

This was the result of Fang Yun's careful nurturing, as it wasn't without the growth of weeds.

However, as soon as the weeds started to emerge, the Spirit Rice sent out a warning, which Fang Yun discovered immediately.

He pulled out the weeds before they could grow further.

This prevented the weeds from competing with the Spirit Rice for Spiritual Energy, allowing the Spirit Rice to grow so well.

However, Fang Yun could not let his guard down yet, because according to the growth cycle of Spirit Rice, it would take another eleven months for them to fully mature.

Fang Yun was helpless about this.

Although he was eager inside, longing to see if his Golden Finger would change after the Spirit Rice matured,

the fixed growth cycle of plants was something Fang Yun could do nothing about.

A few more days passed, and while inspecting the spirit field, Fang Yun suddenly felt a sense of discomfort from one of the Spirit Rice plants.

This unusual sensation was far more intense than when he had previously discovered weeds, making Fang Yun pay immediate and serious attention to it.

He walked into the spirit field, approaching the problematic Spirit Rice.

Fang Yun crouched down, intently observing the Spirit Rice in front of him.

He found it still stood tall and straight, its color as green and vibrant as ever, and he did not detect any abnormalities.

There was no trace of insects, and no weeds growing nearby.

Looking at his panel, there were no alerts either.

It seemed his Golden Finger was not as powerful as he thought.

Or perhaps more functions of the Golden Finger relied on his own perception rather than the panel.

The panel was just a summarizing display.

This made Fang Yun frown, and he sensed the Spirit Rice even more carefully.

After a long time, he discerned that the Spirit Rice seemed to be hungry, or in other words, it wasn't getting enough nourishment.

Not getting enough nourishment?

Fang Yun stood up and looked around the entire spirit field.

```

Instantly realizing, this means that there is a shortage of Spiritual Energy supply!

After all, growing Spirit Rice requires the spiritual energy from both the dark soil and the spring water.

And the spiritual energy in these two is actually just barely meeting the standards; under such circumstances, it's only logical that it cannot satisfy the demand of the Spirit Rice.

Previous Cultivators didn't have a Golden Finger like Fang Yun, hence they never noticed such a situation; as far as they were concerned, having a harvest was good enough, and there was no need to worry about anything else.

Moreover, even if they did discover it, they were powerless to solve it.

Fang Yun walked out of the spirit field, standing beside it and frowning as he pondered over the entire spirit field.

Although he understood that it was normal for the current spirit field to not meet the growth requirements of Spirit Rice.

Yet, the current Spirit Rice was after all related to his own Golden Finger, that is, his path of Cultivation.

He couldn't just ignore it.

If he were to leave it unattended, these Spirit Rice would, even if they managed to survive the pest infestation, inevitably experience reduced yields due to malnutrition.

This was definitely not the outcome Fang Yun wished to see.

As his first batch of planted Spirit Rice, Fang Yun wholeheartedly hoped they could grow up flawlessly.

Even if it meant paying a certain price!

Fang Yun made a firm decision in his heart!

If he wants the Spirit Rice to grow perfectly.

There are but two approaches: increase the source or reduce consumption.

Increasing the source refers to enhancing the supply of Spiritual Energy in the spirit field, while reducing consumption means decreasing the number of Spirit Rice so that the remaining ones have sufficient resources to grow.

Reducing consumption was not in line with Fang Yun's expectations.

So, he could only choose to increase the source.

The only way Fang Yun could think of to increase the Spiritual Energy in the spirit field was by using the handful of Spirit Stones he had.

These were the only valuable possessions Fang Yun had on hand.

However, without sacrificing something, one cannot gain anything; at such a point, it was necessary to forsake those Spirit Stones, nothing too grave.

He was not the original Fang Yun, who, until his death, was too miserly to use a single Spirit Stone.

With the existence of the Golden Finger, he firmly believed he would soon earn back the lost Spirit Stones.

Thus, Fang Yun returned to the cave and took all the Spirit Stones in one fell swoop.

Since one stalk of Spirit Rice had already shown such a reaction, it wouldn't be long before other Spirit Rice would face similar situations.

That small number of Spirit Stones would definitely not be enough; it would be better to take them all and then adapt according to the actual circumstances.

Back at the side of the spirit field, Fang Yun looked at the Spirit Rice within the field.

He began to contemplate how to maximize the utilization of the Spirit Stones he held in his hands.

After all, the number of Spirit Stones in his hands was truly limited; they could not be squandered or wasted indiscriminately.

If the Spirit Stones were depleted before the Spirit Rice in the spirit field fully matured, then his plan would be completely ruined.

This was not a scenario Fang Yun could accept.

Hence, Fang Yun took out three from the fifteen Spirit Stones he had, setting them aside as reserves for emergencies.

The remaining twelve were divided into two portions; six stones he planned to apply directly to the spirit field to increase the concentration of Spiritual Energy within it.

The other six were temporarily kept back in case the first six were exhausted and there were no Spirit Stones for replenishment.

Afterward, Fang Yun carefully placed the six Spirit Stones throughout the spirit field in an evenly distributed manner, according to its layout structure.

And he didn't bury them in the soil because Fang Yun planned to let the Spirit Stones release their contained Spiritual Energy slowly under the continuous rinse of the spring water.

If he placed the Spirit Stones in the soil, the roots of the Spirit Rice would not be able to break through the hard shell of the Spirit Stones to access the Spiritual Energy inside.

If so, the Spirit Stones would not be able to play their due role.

```