14: Chapter 14 I am willing to offer up the hybrid spiritual rice to contribute to the sect.

Zhao Mo gave a cold laugh.

"When did I ever say my spirit rice could be used as spirit rice seeds?"

"I reminded you repeatedly back then, have you forgotten?"

"And the rest of you, if there's nothing else, get lost."

"I never sold any spirit rice to you."

Zhao Mo recognized these Faces; they were the very people who had forced him to sell his spirit rice back then.

"The problem is with the spirit rice you sold in the first place, so why shouldn't there be compensation?"

Zhao Mo flared up in anger.

"Get out!"

"When did I ever sell spirit rice to you? If you're so capable, go find Liu Daqiang. Stop bothering me here."

With this surge of anger, Zhao Mo channeled his True Qi. His Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivation acted like a sharp blow to the head, instantly calming the crowd.

"Qi... Qi Refining Seventh Layer?"

The crowd's tongues were tied.

Who at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer would still be farming in Xiao Ji Village? Was there something wrong with his head?

The most shocked person was Luo Yan. After all, she knew best what his cultivation level was when they used to play cards together.

"It's only been a few years, how did you reach the Qi Refining Seventh Layer?"

Zhao Mo ignored her, as a buzzing sound reached his ears once more.

"These damn bugs."

With that, he moved through the spirit fields with his iron stake, his movements as agile as a spirit monkey.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Zhao Mo had to intercept and strike these fast-flying Demon Worms first to slow them down before he could pin them down.

"Three of them. Where on earth are these Demon Worms coming from? Are they going to let anyone live?"

Fortunately, the sound of increasing Experience Points reached his ears, improving Zhao Mo's mood slightly.

"Get lost now. Go find whoever sold you the spirit rice. If you bother me again, these bugs will be your example!"

Zhao Mo held up the iron stake, which now had the three Demon Worms he had just pinned to death skewered upon it.

The group that had come to cause trouble for Zhao Mo ended up leaving in an anticlimactic fashion. They never expected that Zhao Mo, whom they thought was the easiest to bully, would actually be at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer. Seeing that they couldn't win, they naturally dispersed.

Most importantly, Zhao Mo was right. Their spirit rice hadn't been bought from him, so they had no legal or moral ground no matter where they complained.

"Hmph, this isn't over!"

As the people behind her scattered, Luo Yan naturally didn't dare to stay. She left a harsh word and walked away.

Zhao Mo watched her retreating back, feeling incredibly annoyed. This woman was definitely going to cause him more trouble.

The heading stage for spirit rice lasts twenty-five to thirty days. As time passed, more and more people became restless.

The crowds surrounding the Rice Shops grew larger. Seeing that the situation was getting out of hand, Liu Daqiang reported the matter directly to the Xuan Sect.

And the one the Xuan Sect sent to clean up the mess was, naturally, Steward Liu.

"Liu Daqiang, you bastard! You should be glad our Family branches split hundreds of years ago, otherwise I'd beat you to death!"

Steward Liu was filled with regret. He had originally believed Zhao Mo's words, but after being egged on by that fellow Liu De, he had wavered, leading to the current situation.

"Brother, I didn't know this spirit rice had sterile seeds either! Who could have known? If you want to blame someone, blame that kid surnamed Zhao for being mysterious; he's the one who set us up!" Liu De was Liu Daqiang's biological uncle and often worked in tandem with him. By seniority, he was a distant cousin to Steward Liu.

"Shut up!" Steward Liu was about to go mad.

The Liu Family was already being suppressed within the Xuan Sect. Countless people were eyeing his position as Steward, waiting for him to make a mistake.

Most importantly, he had received inside information that Zhao Mo had already caught the attention of a Nascent Soul True Lord of the Xuan Sect. He didn't dare do anything to Zhao Mo.

Otherwise, if the True Lord were to get angry, killing him would be as easy as a flick of a finger.

But he had no idea how to resolve the situation, so he planned to go see Zhao Mo first.

In the spirit fields, Zhao Mo was checking the grain filling of the rice ears, worried that the spirit rice might not have enough nutrients.

"Busy?"

"Oh, Steward Liu, what wind blew you here?"

This was the first time Zhao Mo had seen Steward Liu act so approachable.

"This spirit rice is growing well. It looks like another bumper harvest year."

Steward Liu squatted by the edge of the field, closely examining a stalk of hybrid spirit rice.

"Did you know all along that this hybrid spirit rice used sterile seeds?"

Zhao Mo replied, "I only had some suspicions, which I did mention to you."

Steward Liu was choked with frustration. His mind raced as he looked at Zhao Mo—should he just kill him right here?

As the saying goes, 'death cancels all debts.' If he killed Zhao Mo and pushed all the responsibility onto him, the matter would be easier to handle.

But thinking of that Nascent Soul True Lord again, Steward Liu gave up. He couldn't bring himself to gamble his future.

Just as Steward Liu was pondering how to speak, Zhao Mo handed him a thick stack of papers.

"This is?"

"I am willing to offer the spirit seeds as a contribution to the Sect."

"These are my thoughts on the hybrid spirit rice and the experimental data from the past two years."

Steward Liu's eyes widened.

"Truly?"

Zhao Mo didn't answer, but simply pushed the papers forward a bit more.

"Good, good, good! It seems the Xuan Sect didn't nurture you for twenty years in vain. This will count as a great merit for you."

Steward Liu's voice trembled. He never expected Zhao Mo to be so magnanimous, which in turn made his own previous thoughts seem petty.

Zhao Mo wasn't actually as noble as Steward Liu thought. In his heart, he felt that something like this, which could increase food production, shouldn't be kept to himself.

As for Liu Daqiang, he could only call that an accident; he certainly hadn't intended to plot against him.

Besides, last year he had been underprepared with spirit rice seeds; otherwise, if he had sold the seeds directly, wouldn't he have made even more?

Although he didn't have a great need for Spirit Stones now, who would ever complain about having too many?

Steward Liu left in a hurry. He didn't mention anything about rewards, but Zhao Mo wasn't worried. The tens-of-thousands-of-years-old Xuan Sect had its own System of rewards and punishments, so he wasn't afraid of Steward Liu playing tricks.

...

"You handed it in?"

"Handed it in."

Ding Xin and Zhao Mo sat opposite each other. Ding Xin had known about Zhao Mo organizing the hybrid spirit rice technology.

To that end, he had even consulted his sister, Ding Qingning. She in turn asked her Master and received a definite answer: hand it over.

This matched Zhao Mo's own thoughts and solidified his resolve to surrender the technology.

"You~"

"Sigh!"

"From now on, the title of 'the fool' belongs solely to you."

"You realize that was a fortune in Spirit Stones, right?"

Zhao Mo smiled slightly.

"Don't worry, when it comes to selling seeds in the future, we will still be the exclusive providers." He had handed over the hybridization technology, but he wasn't stupid enough to give away the full suite of techniques provided by the System. What he gave was a simplified version, though its yield would likely still reach ninety percent of what he currently produced.

In the future, the spirit rice seeds he sold could yield a thousand catties per mu, while the Sect's seeds would only yield nine hundred. Don't underestimate that hundred-catty difference; Zhao Mo's seeds would likely sell like crazy.

Shortly after Zhao Mo handed over the hybrid spirit rice technology, the crowd in front of the Rice Shop dispersed. It was heard that Steward Liu had stepped in to waive this year's rent for the problematic spirit fields, and Liu Daqiang was made to refund the Spirit Stones used to buy the spirit rice.

"Daqiang, suffering a loss is a blessing. Do not, under any circumstances, go looking for trouble with Zhao Mo again. He has someone backing him."

Steward Liu repeatedly emphasized Zhao Mo's background, fearing Liu Daqiang would do something foolish. "Also, he has already handed the hybrid spirit rice technology over to the Sect. Once the seeds are developed, I will allocate them to you early. With rice that yields a thousand catties per mu, your losses will be recovered in just one year."

Liu Daqiang's eyes were bloodshot. The 'Divine Rice' incident had not only caused him heavy losses in Spirit Stones but had also made him lose Face completely. He now wished he could eat Zhao Mo alive.

However, the Family wouldn't lend him any men, and with his own cultivation, he was no match for Zhao Mo.

His eyes darted around as a plan formed in his mind.