Chapter 6 – The Magic of Agriculture

"Huh? Spiritual rice?"

Wang Hao's mind froze for a few moments before he stepped forward to inspect the cloth sack. As he suspected, it was indeed spiritual rice—and it looked to weigh about one hundred jins (roughly 50 kg).

His face lit up with joy.

"Haha! So that's how the farm works! It's like those spirit-plant plots in the novels… Only better, since I don't even have to tend it manually!"

He began to run the numbers.

Normally, a real spiritual rice field yields between fifty and one hundred jins per acre, depending on how diligently the "farmer monk" cares for it. Most cultivators simply cast a Rain-Droplet Spell occasionally and ignore pests or weeding—and even then, one hundred jins is considered miraculous.

But professional spirit farmers, using specialized methods, achieve much higher yields. It seemed Wang Hao's virtual farm was producing the maximum—equivalent to a carefully tended spirit field.

The farm's planting cycle was just ten days—one-tenth the time it would take in the real world. With his two plots, he could harvest two hundred jins of spiritual rice every ten days, worth about twenty spirit stones.

Doing the math:

60 stones per month

720 stones per year

He was rich! Not even old Wang earned that much! It was a pity he still couldn't return to the Wang family. With a family base, he could, in a few years, make the Wangs the undisputed lords of Qingniu City…

But he dismissed the thought.

A seasoned webnovel reader, Wang Hao knew discretion was paramount. Flaunting wealth was a crime. If he tried to sell spiritual rice on a large scale, he'd quickly become a target—and not even old Wang could protect him!

Moreover, like in those farm-sim games, unlocking more fields and enriching the soil (red earth, golden earth, etc.) required spirit investment—i.e., a lot of stones. So for now, the farm's rice couldn't be wasted on sales. His focus was on unlocking additional plots.

At least he could eat some.

Now armed with a dual-attribute cultivation method and a steady supply of spiritual rice, he would reach Qi Refinement Peak far sooner—and Foundation Establishment would be within reach!

Wang Hao bought more spiritual-rice seeds and planted them in the third plot he'd unlocked. When he clicked to open the fourth, he saw the price: 150 spirit stones. He frowned—it wasn't cheap.

Recalculating:

Each ten-day cycle with two plots yields 200 jins

Wang Hao consumes 10 jins

Leaving 190 jins → 19 spirit stones

Seed cost: 2 stones

Net profit per cycle: 17 stones

To save 100 stones: needs 6 cycles (60 days)

According to Tencent-style scaling, each new plot's price would double. Unlocking thirty plots would take decades! Better to keep his expectations in check.

Still, thirty ten-day plots equals three hundred real acres—more than a small clan with a single Foundation cultivator could manage. But it still trailed mid-tier clans and Golden Core sects.

Taking a steadying breath, Wang Hao cooked a pot of farm rice—in the real world this time—and returned to cultivation.

Cultivation ignores real-world time!

In the blink of an eye, two months passed. Sitting up on his futon, Wang Hao opened his eyes. He had reclaimed Third-Level Qi Refinement, now on a firmer, purer foundation. The red-and-green yin-yang fish vortex in his dantian was denser and more concentrated.

His virtual farm had unlocked the third plot; the fourth still cost 150 stones—less than he feared, but requiring six more harvests.

For fun (ahem, data-organizing), he built his status panel. After all, cultivation without a UI panel isn't fun—indeed, it hardly feels like cultivation at all!

Name: Wang Hao

Age: 18

Cultivation: Qi Refinement Stage Level 3 – 91.5 / ??

Cultivation Technique: True Scripture of the Red Lotus and Illusory Wood – Level 1

Mana: 90 / 90

Skills:

Alchemy: First-Order Low Grade (not yet studied)

Talismans: First-Order Low Grade (not yet studied)

Spells: Fireball (unmastered), Ensnaring Technique (unmastered)

Divine Abilities: None mastered

Staring at it, he nearly laughed.

"'Not yet studied,' 'unmastered'… Why did I write that?""Oh right—otherwise the panel looked empty and ugly…"

The "90" mana wasn't arbitrary—it came from real calculations. Since he hadn't mastered any spells, he used a First-Order magic tool for basic attacks, each costing 1 mana. In other words, 90 possible attacks.

As for the "91.5 / ??" in cultivation, 91.5 represented his usable energy. Even with 90 functional mana, residual impurities from other elements remained. Hence the extra 1.5. The "??" signified that he didn't know the total mana cap for Level 3. He was cultivating further to discover it.

By earlier comparisons:

Stage 1: capacity 50

Stage 2: capacity 75

Stage 3: he estimated 112.5

The panel remained useful—he could monitor mana flow in real time, since the computer was integrated into his body.

Of course, cultivation didn't always follow strict scientific logic. But the more data, the better.

He was still in early Stage 3. Fireball and Ensnare were mid-stage spells—hence unusable for now.

Simple spells like Rain Drops or Qi Condenser he didn't even want to learn—not a spirit farmer, nor eager to fight yet.

Better to focus on cultivation and reach mid-Stage 4 as soon as possible.

By his calculations:

With spiritual rice: 0.18 progress/day

Without spiritual rice: 0.09 progress/day

Every six days, his dantian capacity expanded a bit

If the cap was 90, he'd need nearly two months to hit Peak Stage 3

But he still had two vials of Spirit-Condensing Pills left by Wang Yanzhao, each containing ten pills.

"Time to use them! Pills speed cultivation significantly!"

Indeed, the effect was substantial—nearly double the rice bonus. Each pill yielded six days' worth of cultivation.

After two and a half months and fifteen pills, Wang Hao finally touched the threshold of Stage 4 Qi Refinement.

At 30 stones per vial in Qingniu's market, he'd "eaten" the equivalent of 45 stones in two and a half months.

That may not sound like much, but:

Wang Yanzhao, an elder of the Wang clan, received 40 stones per year—10 extra for his elder status.

A common cultivator at late Refinement earned 30 stones/year.

Early Refinement? Only 10 stones/year!

And no one dared consume Spirit-Condensing Pills like candy, as Wang Hao did now.