Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Wheat Harvest, Enormous Profits
Guyu.
This is also a very important day in the solar terms.
The temperature rises, and the rain increases.
For spring plowing, this is the crucial period.
Just like the name of this solar term, after midnight, the sky began to drizzle. Li Ye, braving the rain, placed some oil lamp magical artifacts to provide light in the courtyard.
He looked at his wheat with joy on his face.
The wheat planted in his two acres of land in the courtyard had all matured. Clearly, it was still immature when he checked the day before, but after midnight of Guyu, it suddenly seemed to transform all at once.
Each stalk of Spring Wheat was two meters tall, with heavy ears of wheat, golden yellow.
"Time to harvest."
"It must all be harvested today."
"If not harvested by the end of Guyu, it wouldn’t count as qualified Spring Wheat."
He took a deep breath, picked up the sickle, and began harvesting. Inevitably, some wheat ears fell during the harvesting process.
But they were all carried back by the long-waiting beavers, who also gave some to the Golden Red Dragon Carp.
The harvesting was quite laborious.
But according to the task description given by the Spiritual Mechanism Vine, the wheat must be harvested by oneself.
Fortunately, having a cultivator’s physique helped. After all, he had reached the Ninth Layer Qi Refining. If he couldn’t manage a bit of farm work, that would be absurd.
His movements were very fast, taking two two-hour periods to harvest all the Spring Wheat, tying them up, and stacking them on one side of the open ground.
The wheat he harvested lost its vitality rapidly after losing the essence of its ears.
Only those few stalks of wheat bound with the Cold Ice Wheat remained alive after their stalks were cut.
He carefully protected these few stalks along with the Cold Ice Wheat.
The Wheat Spirit stood silently on his shoulder throughout, just like a truly hard-working old ox, watching the wheat it had protected for so long being harvested.
Once all the wheat was harvested, Li Ye exhaled deeply and began counting the number of Wheat Pills produced.
Total: one thousand one hundred and fifty stalks of wheat.
Not a single stalk died; they were all in good health.
All the wheat ears were very full, and according to his calculations, the yield per acre should be around ten thousand catties... Truly a terrifying number, considering there were only a thousand or so stalks.
And the number of Wheat Pills produced.
A staggering five hundred and twenty stalks!
Li Ye was astonished by the number he calculated—it was right there before his eyes, for the status bar of these five hundred and twenty stalks he singled out showed the words [Wheat Pill Completed].
"Why are there so many?"
He was somewhat puzzled; logically, even with the binding of those five special stalks and the catalysis of the Wheat Spirit, reaching one or two hundred should be the limit, yet there were a full five hundred.
However, success could not be replicated.
This period of wheat planting saw so many events, like the late spring cold snap, subsequent snowfall of Spiritual Qi, and the Peach Blossom Immortal Brew rain...
These countless coincidences created this miraculous scene.
He had done his best, and it had indeed yielded good results.
"It’s time to submit the task."
Li Ye packed these spiritual grains into a special large-capacity storage pouch, took the pouch along with some small gifts, and left home.
On the way, there were those as hurried as him, presumably also going to submit tasks.
If it were someone else, they might worry about waiting in line, but no sooner had he arrived than Su Ya beckoned him into a quiet room.
Seated in the quiet room was a young Foundation Establishment cultivator who appeared to be youthful.
Seeing Su Ya bring someone in, he smiled and said, "Senior Brother Su, this must be Taoist Friend Li?"
The Foundation Establishment cultivator took the initiative to exchange pleasantries with Li Ye, even with a hint of flattery, which made Li Ye feel a little strange.
"Yes." Su Ya sat to one side, speaking casually, "Taoist Friend Li, this is Junior Brother He, who is responsible for receiving the wheat. Just take out the Spring Wheat and let him have a look."
So, he was specifically responsible for receiving wheat.
Li Ye suddenly understood. Earlier talks with Su Ya had revealed this; at the Four Seasons Sect, almost every kind of spirit plant had a dedicated receiver, with even entire families engaged in this trade.
That’s why a Spirit Plant Master capable of consistently producing excellent spirit plants was a God of Wealth to them, which explained Taoist Friend He’s behavior.
He genuinely wanted to see how his wheat turned out, so he directly took out all the wheat and piled it in the quiet room.
"!!!"
Taoist Friend He’s eyes lit up instantly at the sight of this pile of wheat.
"Fantastic!"
"These Spring Wheat are brimming with spiritual aura, and their grains are full. Let me see... Not a single stalk of over a thousand is missing; all have survived."
The young man leaned in for a closer look and picked a wheat ear, exclaiming with surprise, "It has cultivated Wheat Pills! Senior Brother Su! These are Spring Wheat Pills!"
His voice was not just excited but clearly filled with agitation, his fingers even visibly trembling.
"Really?" Su Ya, though a little shocked, managed to keep his calm and said directly:
"Hurry and tally up how many Wheat Pills there are, for it can’t be just one!"
"Yes!" The young man quickly proceeded to examine closely, producing a jade wheat ear, which he waved lightly over the pile of Spring Wheat.
A gentle breeze emerged, sweeping over all the Spring Wheat. As each stalk landed again, the youth gathered detailed information.
"Five hundred and twenty stalks!"
"Senior Brother Su, these wheats..."
Upon hearing the count, his hanging heart completely dropped.
This was beyond his capacity to decide—a thousand one hundred and fifty stalks yielding five hundred and twenty Wheat Pills was simply terrifying.
Only the Golden Core Masters in the sect could make such judgments.
"Why panic."
Su Ya scolded, "This is Huiya Market, Spiritual Mechanism Vine Uncle’s territory. Do you fear someone suddenly robbing you here?"
"Right now, your priority is to swiftly calculate all the Spring Wheat tasks’ results and invite Spiritual Mechanism Vine Uncle back!"
Upon hearing this, the He-surnamed young cultivator nodded immediately.
"Right! I’ll go now!"
Before leaving, he pitifully looked at Li Ye:
"Taoist Friend, please let me handle this lot of Spring Wheat! I’m willing to offer two hundred spirit stones per Wheat Pill! The other wheat, three spirit stones each!"
Su Ya found this guy somewhat embarrassing, and as he finished, grabbed a duster from his storage ring and slapped him:
"Hurry up and go! Won’t there be credit for you when the Spiritual Mechanism Vine Uncle returns!"
"Yes, yes!" He hurriedly ran out.
Leaving Su Ya to smile awkwardly at Li Ye: "You may not know, Taoist Friend, Spring Wheat is sown from the beginning of spring and harvested at Guyu. It accumulates the vitality left over from winter, further brewing with spring’s growth.
The Wheat Pills of Spring Wheat are the essence of essences.
In theory, the vitality-gathering Spring Wheat should not produce Wheat Pills, but if it does, they are treasures.
This price is not excessive."
At this moment, Li Ye’s expression was calm, but inwardly he nearly roared—a Wheat Pill worth two hundred spirit stones, all five hundred and twenty of them!
That would be a massive ten thousand four hundred spirit stones.
A truly immense amount of spirit stones for him.