39: Gift of Green Dew Rice

Lin Yan felt the suspicion in Senior Sister Ye's gaze, knowing she must think he was not cultivating them well.

He quickly thought of a countermeasure in his mind, but his face remained calm.

"Senior Sister's Sword Grass is indeed precious, and I have been exceptionally attentive." Lin Yan's tone was sincere:

"It is just that this Sword Grass has extremely high requirements for the purity of Spiritual Qi; the slightest carelessness could affect its spirituality."

"I specifically set up a multi-layered Spirit-Gathering Formation to filter out Impurities and ensure the Spiritual Qi is as pure as possible. However, this also means the spirit field is temporarily unsuitable for outsiders to enter."

He deliberately used some ambiguous terms, implying that he had some unique insights into cultivating Sword Grass.

At the same time, he also explained why he refused to let Senior Sister enter to check.

The suspicion in Senior Sister Ye Wangshu's eyes lessened slightly, but she still had doubts.

She gave a soft hum: "Junior Brother Lin is so cautious; could it be that you have encountered some difficulties in cultivating this Sword Grass?"

Lin Yan explained unhurriedly: "Senior Sister, please rest assured. These Sword Grass are growing very well. I have a certain degree of confidence in completing Senior Sister Su's task!"

Senior Sister Ye Wangshu stared at Lin Yan for a few seconds, seemingly judging the truthfulness of his words.

Finally, she nodded slightly: "That is good. I am indeed concerned about the progress of the Sword Grass, but since Junior Brother is so confident, I will not force the issue."

Afterwards, she changed the subject, her expression turning stern: "This Sword Grass is of vital importance to Senior Sister Su! If you can really succeed in cultivating it as you said, you will definitely not be treated unfairly, Junior Brother!"

"Senior Sister, rest assured, I will do my utmost." Lin Yan's attitude was very proper, and then he hurriedly changed the topic:

"Senior Sister, I was fortunate enough to Cultivate two stalks of Qinglu Rice recently. It is rare for you to come here, so you cannot leave empty-handed. Wait for me to go and get them."

After saying this, he turned around and was about to go into the spirit field.

"Oh?" Senior Sister Ye Wangshu was clearly interested: "What kind of Spirit Rice?"

"Qinglu Rice, water-wood attribute Qinglu Rice, two stalks!" Lin Yan said with a serious expression.

"Are you sure you are not deceiving me, Junior Brother?" Ye Wangshu found it somewhat hard to believe, yet she also felt a bit of anticipation.

Because her Spiritual Root was of the dual water-wood attribute, and she was on the verge of Foundation Establishment.

Qinglu Rice was the Mutated Rice most suitable for assisting her to Cultivate.

Ye Wangshu was just worrying about having nowhere to buy it.

Spirit items like Mutated Rice always had a market price, and Qinglu Rice was even rarer than typical Mutated Rice.

Lin Yan naturally did his homework before bringing up Qinglu Rice today, knowing that Ye Wangshu had a dual water-wood Spiritual Root.

This was not difficult to find out; as long as one was attentive, the Spiritual Roots of all Disciples in the Spirit Herb Hall could be inquired about.

When entering the Sword Pavilion, everyone's Spiritual Root would be tested on the spot.

"Senior Sister, please wait a moment, I will be right back."

Lin Yan did not waste any words and went straight to the spirit field to retrieve two stalks of Qinglu Rice, roots and soil still attached.

This thing, he still had three more stalks in his spirit field.

Each stalk of Qinglu Rice was about three feet tall, and the rice ears were covered with crystal-clear, dew-like grains, shimmering with a strange luster under the sunlight.

"I read in the 'Records of a Hundred Spirit Rices' that the Spirit Rice of this Qinglu Rice not only contains abundant Spiritual Qi, but can also help Cultivators nourish their Meridians, and is very beneficial even to Cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Stage."

As Lin Yan spoke, he handed the Qinglu Rice in his hand to Ye Wangshu.

Ye Wangshu took the Qinglu Rice, and after observing it carefully, the surprise in her eyes was hard to hide:

"This... is indeed Mutated Qinglu Rice... Where did Junior Brother Lin obtain it?"

"It was something I cultivated by accident." Lin Yan said modestly: "It was also good luck; this year, several stalks of Mutated Rice were cultivated in these four acres of spirit field."

"I thought that Senior Sister might be able to use this Qinglu Rice."

Ye Wangshu carefully put away the Qinglu Rice, and the look in her eyes as she gazed at Lin Yan held a bit more sincerity:

"It seems that Junior Brother indeed has quite a talent for cultivating spirit plants. This Qinglu Rice is exceptionally precious and is indeed of great use to me."

Accepting food from others makes one soft-spoken, and accepting gifts makes one soft-handed.

After obtaining two stalks of Mutated Rice, Ye Wangshu felt much better.

Lin Yan waved his hand: "Senior Sister, you are too kind; it was just a small effort. Cultivating the Sword Grass is the top priority, and I will definitely do my utmost."

Ye Wangshu pondered for a moment, then suddenly took out a Storage Pouch from her sleeve and handed it to Lin Yan:

"Junior Brother is so generous, I cannot fail to reciprocate. This Storage Pouch is one I replaced; although its capacity is not large, it should be helpful to you, Junior Brother."

Lin Yan took the Storage Pouch, overjoyed in his heart.

Although he had long anticipated that Senior Sister Ye would not take advantage of him for free, he did not expect Senior Sister to be so generous.

This trade was definitely not a loss.

On the market, a brand new Storage Pouch costs at least three hundred Spirit Stones.

Even those worn-out ones that are about to fail are worth a hundred Spirit Stones.

Although this Storage Pouch from Senior Sister Ye is not brand new, it is not too old either, and its remaining service life is still quite long.

The value of this Storage Pouch is not much different from the two stalks of Qinglu Rice.

Moreover, Lin Yan had been coveting a Storage Pouch for a long time.

"Senior Sister, you are too polite." Lin Yan said politely, but his hands very honestly took the Storage Pouch.

"I still have a few stalks of Mutated Rice here, and I am worrying about not being able to sell them. If Senior Sister has any needs, or has other channels..."

"Speaking of which, I must remind you about this." Ye Wangshu added:

"I heard you intend to do business with Mutated Rice?"

"Oh, please don't mention that." Lin Yan hurriedly explained:

"Previously, I wanted to earn some extra money, but I didn't expect that doing business with Mutated Rice is truly impossible without connections. I couldn't buy any and couldn't sell any; it ended up being a losing business for me!"

"That is exactly right. The business of items like Mutated Rice is basically controlled by the Lingxu Pavilion; this is an unwritten rule."

"From the menial laborers down to the Elders in the Spirit Herb Hall, everyone only recognizes the Lingxu Pavilion when it comes to trading Mutated Rice."

"You should stop wasting your efforts in this area; it is thankless work and will also offend the Lingxu Pavilion..."

"Senior Sister is right. I have already given up on this business and am now honestly selling my spirit wine." Lin Yan said.

"That is good." Ye Wangshu nodded.

The two exchanged a few more pleasantries, and then Senior Sister Ye Wangshu took her leave, citing her busy Cultivation schedule.

Lin Yan watched her leave, and only after her figure disappeared around the bend of the mountain path did he let out a long sigh of relief.

"Finally, I managed to handle that." Lin Yan muttered to himself, turning to walk towards the tightly protected spirit field.

He reached out and gently stroked the leaves of the Sword Grass, feeling the surging Sword Qi contained within, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

Senior Sister Ye Wangshu probably could not even imagine in her wildest dreams that the Sword Grass entrusted by Senior Sister Su was actually already nearing success.

The ten stalks of Sword Grass had slightly different growth rates; among them, the three best-growing Sword Grass had already reached 90 points in growth progress:

【spirit plant Name: Sword Grass】

【growth progress: 90 / 1000】

【Growth Status: Absorbed a small amount of spirit fertilizer, experience + 1】

After the growth progress reached 90 points, the height of the Sword Grass was already extremely close to one foot.

Even more surprisingly, the Sword Qi within the stems of the Sword Grass was faintly undergoing a miraculous transformation.

When resonating with the Sword Grass during catalysis, rare spiritual fluctuations appeared within the Sword Grass, sometimes faintly causing him to feel a subtle, ethereal stinging sensation.

Lin Yan had once gone to the Mountain Gate of the Spirit Herb Hall to borrow relevant books, and after verification, this was a sign that the Sword Grass was about to undergo the Awakening of Sword Intent.

"These three best-growing Sword Grass, I estimate they will be successfully cultivated in about a month." Lin Yan looked in the direction where Ye Wangshu had left, a flash of deep meaning in his eyes:

"But I cannot make it public for the time being. I will wait another three months, and then I will give Senior Sister a surprise."