Looking at the tender shoots that had grown to two centimeters, Lu Feng felt a mix of surprise and delight.
It seemed the seedling cultivation time for the spirit rice needed to be adjusted. At this growth rate, they would be ready for transplanting in about a week.
To observe the growth of the spirit rice closely, Lu Feng sat right on the ridge of the field and began to cultivate.
Over the next three days, Lu Feng spent his days sitting on the field ridge practicing cultivation while keeping an eye on the spirit rice, and returned to his thatched cottage at night to practice. His daily routine became remarkably regular.
During this time, Li Yang did not come to visit him again. The quiet and fulfilling life brought Lu Feng great contentment.
The only uncomfortable part was having to drink spirit rice porridge every single day; his mouth was practically devoid of any flavor.
When the seventh day after sowing arrived, the spirit rice seedlings in the nursery area had grown to a height of ten centimeters.
This was even taller than the eight centimeters Lu Feng had anticipated.
"It is time to transplant them!"
With that, Lu Feng planted the seedlings one by one into the spirit field using dense planting methods.
Although this step was a bit time-consuming, it was an absolute necessity.
Fortunately, Lu Feng only had one mu of spirit field, and by the greater part of the day, the transplanting work was completely finished.
[You have performed a spirit rice transplanting task, Spirit Planter proficiency +1]
Looking at the neatly arranged seedlings in the spirit field, a faint smile appeared on Lu Feng's face.
The next three months would be spent waiting for the seedlings to grow until they headed out.
During this time, various tasks such as weeding, irrigation, and pest control were required for the spirit field.
Seeing the sky turn dark, Lu Feng hoisted his spirit hoe and returned to the thatched cottage.
After finishing his bowl of spirit rice porridge, he resumed his seated meditation and cultivation.
The night passed quickly.
The next morning, before Lu Feng even stepped outside, Li Yang's exclamation rang out from outside.
When Lu Feng stepped out, he saw Li Yang standing by his spirit field, shouting and gesturing with a shocked expression.
"Morning, Fellow Daoist Li!"
Li Yang turned to look at Lu Feng, his eyes filled with astonishment. "Fellow... Fellow Daoist Lu, how... how did the seedlings in your spirit field grow so large?"
Lu Feng smiled faintly. "Ha ha, these are just the seedlings I cultivated earlier. Didn't you already see them?"
Li Yang looked stunned. "You mean all these seedlings were cultivated in that small patch from before?"
"Yes!" Lu Feng did not hide it, nodding directly.
Li Yang found it hard to believe. "But... but how is that possible?"
Li Yang circled the spirit field a few times, clicking his tongue in wonder. "Aren't these seedlings already over ten centimeters tall? This speed is simply too fast. Brother Lu, what method did you use? Could you teach me?"
Lu Feng scratched his head. "I didn't do anything special, I just planted them normally."
Clearly refusing to believe him, Li Yang said, "Stop joking, Brother Lu. We've known each other for a while now, so don't keep secrets from me."
Lu Feng said helplessly, "There really is no secret. It's probably just that I have better luck."
Unwilling to give up, Li Yang pestered him persistently for a long time, but Lu Feng stubbornly insisted that he had no special method.
In the end, Li Yang had no choice but to leave in low spirits. Watching his retreating back, Lu Feng laughed inwardly. They had only known each other for a short time; naturally, he wouldn't share his cultivation methods with someone else.
Afterward, Lu Feng cast the Spirit Rain Spell three times over the spirit field to ensure the soil maintained adequate moisture.
Over the next few days, the seedlings grew at a ferocious pace.
Lu Feng irrigated them with the Spirit Rain Spell every day and personally went down into the field to weed.
[You have performed a spirit rice irrigation task, Spirit Planter proficiency +1]
[You have performed a spirit rice weeding task, Spirit Planter proficiency +1]
.........
His Spirit Planter proficiency was steadily increasing, while his Azure Wood Formula and cultivation level were also advancing rapidly.
Meanwhile, Li Yang came to see Lu Feng every day, eager to learn his planting secrets, but Lu Feng brushed him off each time with various excuses.
On this day, Li Yang came to Lu Feng's dwelling once more, wearing a mysterious expression as he said, "Brother Lu, I know you have a unique planting method. I won't take your method for free either—as long as you are willing to teach me, I can trade items with you."
Lu Feng felt a momentary surge of interest and slowly spoke, "Oh? What do you plan to use for the trade?"
"Spirit rice, spirit stones, pills, cultivation techniques—just name it."
Judging by his words, the other party was truly eager to learn his spirit rice cultivation method.
Curious, Lu Feng asked, "Fellow Daoist Li, why are you so insistent on learning my planting method? Even without my method, the sowing season will arrive in half a month anyway, won't it?"
Looking left and right, Li Yang lowered his voice and said, "Brother Lu, you underestimate your own planting method. Through my observation, I've found that the seedlings you grow are not only full of vitality, but also grow at an extremely fast rate."
"Oh? Is that so?"
Lu Feng had never seen the growth condition of other spirit rice seedlings, but Li Yang had been in this profession for many years and knew it inside out.
"You have no idea. The emergence rate of the spirit rice seedlings we plant is only about thirty percent, and their growth speed is nowhere near as fast as yours. Among them, some seedlings even have low vitality with yellowish leaves."
"I see!"
Through Li Yang's description, Lu Feng roughly understood the situation.
The planting methods used by Li Yang and the others were simply too crude, which was why all these problems arose.
"Brother Lu, using my previous method, one mu of land yields only about three to four hundred catties of spirit rice. But judging by the state of this mu of yours, I'd guess a harvest of at least five hundred catties."
Lu Feng smiled. "Ha ha, I can certainly teach you my planting method, but you must agree to two conditions."
"Please go ahead, Brother Lu."
"First, without my permission, this method must not be passed on to outsiders; second, if you want my planting method, you must trade items of equal value for it."
Hearing this, Li Yang nodded and said, "No problem, I will absolutely not pass this method on to anyone else. Um... I wonder what Brother Lu would like in exchange?"
"Spirit stones and cultivation techniques, perhaps."
Li Yang pondered for a moment. "I only have one cultivation technique called the Longevity Formula, which is a middle-grade Yellow-tier technique. I wonder if Brother Lu would be satisfied with that?"
Lu Feng frowned slightly. His own Azure Wood Formula was a middle-grade Earth-tier technique, so he cared nothing for such Yellow-tier techniques.
However, since he now possessed the Proficiency Panel, he could certainly consider practicing an additional technique.
"Middle-grade Yellow-tier? The value is too low. Throw in two spell-craft manuals and ten low-grade spirit stones," Lu Feng named his price directly.
Li Yang frowned slightly, a bitter look crossing his face. "Brother Lu, I do have spell manuals, but the spirit stones... are a bit lacking."
Hearing this, Lu Feng looked at Li Yang. The price he had set was already very low—merely ten low-grade spirit stones. Did he not even have that?
"Then how many do you have?"
Li Yang held up five fingers. "I only have five low-grade spirit stones!"
After thinking for a moment, Lu Feng said, "Then add another hundred catties of spirit rice."
"Uh, Brother Lu, are you serious?"
"Of course I'm serious."
Overjoyed, Li Yang said, "Then it's a deal! I'm going back right now to get the spirit stones and spirit rice."
With that, Li Yang turned and left immediately. Watching his departing back, Lu Feng felt that something was amiss, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
A moment later, Lu Feng realized what felt wrong.
"Could it be that the market price of spirit rice is very low?"