Cultivation begins with harvest.

The hatching of the first thousand-needle warbler was like sending a signal, and the rest hatched one after another within five days.

Only the one with the weakest vitality was buried when its brothers and sisters were born.

Although it was regrettable, Chen Guang still chose to bury it on the spot. The spiritual soil had a strong digestive ability. If it was buried now, it would be completely gone without a trace next year if he couldn't remember the location, and he wouldn't be able to find it.

The four newly hatched wrens were unaware of this, and Chen Guang didn't care either; the joy of the four wrens successfully hatching overwhelmed him.

The day after all the Thousand Needle Wrens hatched, as the Heart-Breaking Grass matured, reward orbs that only he could see began to appear in the Spirit Field. Chen Guang also began to collect the Heart-Breaking Grass seeds. The flowers of the Heart-Breaking Grass were very small, withered and shriveled, but the seeds were plentiful in the dry grass clump at the base of the plant. A single Heart-Breaking Grass plant could produce a small handful of seeds.

According to normal evolution, the red locusts will use this place to raise their young. The nymphs feed on the seeds of the fiery heart grass, but they cannot completely digest the seeds. Some of the seeds retain their vitality and are carried away by the red locusts, spreading with them. After all, the habits of the red locusts and the fiery heart grass are similar to some extent.

But now Chen Guang has simply stripped her of this right to reproduce. Chen Guang feels that the Fiery Heart Grass has no complaints, because its in-laws, the Red Locusts, have long been sent away by Chen Guang one by one.

The red locusts and their eggs will both contribute to the growth of the thousand-needle wren. The germination rate of the heart-piercing grass seeds is worrying anyway, and Xingfengtang won't take them back, so let's contribute to the growth of the thousand-needle wren as well.

The seeds that Chen Guang planted were all high-quality seeds specially allocated by the Earth Hall. Correspondingly, the germination rate was also worrying. The higher-ups just let these spirit farmers collect them as long as the spirit plants were delivered on time and in the required quantity.

After the Heart-Piercing Grass matures, the entire spirit field exudes an aura that makes people anxious and restless, a kind of scorching heat.

Chen Guang, who had cultivated the Blood Scripture, felt it even more clearly. A slight heat seeped into his heart. Since the heart belongs to fire, this kind of appropriate heat actually had some benefits, but prolonged contact would not be good. It was estimated that only the few days when the Heart-Piercing Grass matured had such an effect, which was actually beneficial to cultivators. Therefore, the branch did not remind him.

Chen Guang cast an Ice Heart spell on himself, which actually had some effect, isolating much of this special heat.

The cultivators from the branch buildings also toured the area under Jiang Zuoyun's guidance.

"A small portion isn't mature enough yet. The branch will come to harvest it in two days. During this time, the scent of the Fiery Heart Grass will attract more Red Locusts. You'll have to work a little harder, but it won't be too much, since there's a protective formation. It will definitely be more than usual," Jiang Zuoyun said professionally. "There are a total of 95 Fiery Heart Grass plants. As for 60%, you need to pay 57 plants. Your Fiery Heart Grass is of very good quality. You can keep the seeds given to you before the New Year. As for the remaining 40% of the Fiery Heart Grass, based on your quality, we can give you 7.5 jin of spirit rice per plant. How about it? Do you want to sell it to the branch?"

There weren't many Heart-Piercing Grass seeds left from before the New Year, only 13. In addition, Chen Guang was still thinking about Fang Lintang's 20% discount, so he refused Jiang Zuoyun's request and preferred to sell the remaining 38 Heart-Piercing Grass plants in the market.

The quality of this batch of Heartfire Grass is truly exceptional; its superior quality is evident to the naked eye. Two Heartfire Grass plants even have intertwined red and yellow leaves that appear to be burning, a sign of outstanding quality. These unusual features, unlike other mature Heartfire Grass plants, indicate that this type of Heartfire Grass has broken the conventional lifespan limit and can be cultivated into a century-old elixir.

Not all spiritual plants can withstand the accumulation of spiritual energy over a hundred years. Spiritual trees can generally grow for a hundred years, but spiritual herbs are not necessarily so. Unless they are of exceptional quality, they cannot withstand such a massive amount of spiritual energy.

To cultivate these two exceptionally high-quality Heart-Piercing Grasses into a century-old elixir requires further effort, but their appearance is a fitting reward for Chen Guang's dedicated cultivation.

Inferior - Ordinary - Excellent - Superior - Outstanding

This is a quality chain for elixirs; once you reach the "Excellent" level, it's basically the end.

After confirming with Jiang Zuoyun that the harvesting of each plantation would begin with the ordinary quality and be done later, so that the better quality plants could be reserved for Lingnong as much as possible, Chen Guangcai felt at ease.

In this respect, Qingheng Sect is indeed authentic.

As long as the quality is up to standard, the harvest will proceed from inferior to superior.

Come to think of it, why would such a large sect be greedy for such a small advantage? What the sect needs is quantity. This high quality is left for the spirit farmers themselves, and the spirit farmers will only be grateful.

"Junior Brother, since your trip to Chunyuan Residence, your skill in cultivating spiritual plants has visibly improved. You are truly talented in the path of spiritual plant cultivation," Jiang Zuoyun exclaimed. In less than two years, you have cultivated spiritual plants of exceptional quality. Other spiritual farmers would have to spend ten years exploring before they could cultivate their first exceptional quality plant. "Out of duty, I still have to say a few more words. The sect has a demand for spiritual plants of exceptional quality. Hundred-year-old spiritual herbs are not so easy to cultivate. Even with the concentration of spiritual energy on Ziling Peak, it would take you more than thirty years to cultivate them yourself. There are all sorts of troubles in between that you are unaware of."

"You can cultivate them for the sect. For every ten outstanding spiritual herbs you contribute, you will receive one day of meditation time at Chunyuan Residence."

"For every 100 plants you contribute, you will receive an additional three days of time to study and comprehend them. You can also choose one mature, century-old spiritual herb from the variety of plants you contribute for free. However, contributing spiritual plants to the sect is voluntary. Apart from this reward, the sect will not pay any other price to purchase spiritual plants."

"There are such rules?" Chen Guang asked in surprise.

Jiang Zuoyun smiled and said, "Only spirit farmers who have cultivated exceptional quality spiritual plants will know this news. If they haven't cultivated them, telling them in advance might create an obsession. Junior brother, it's best not to spread this outside. Just keep it to yourself. Junior brother, think it over carefully. I can give you a sneak peek. The Qi Nourishing Pill is made from Jade Heart Grass. For cultivators below the late stage of Qi Refining, it can increase their cultivation by one month with one dose. However, to reach the seventh level of Qi Refining, it requires fifteen pots of mana; the eighth level requires thirty pots; the ninth level requires sixty pots; and the tenth level of Qi Refining requires one hundred and eight pots of mana. How long will it take to use the Qi Nourishing Pill?"

"Cultivators in the late stage of Qi Refining use Jade Heart Grass of a hundred years. One Hundred Year Spirit Pattern Qi Nourishing Pill made from it is equivalent to a year's worth of cultivation, and it only takes a little over ten days to refine. Ordinary Blazing Heart Grass is used to refine Crimson Fusion Pills, which can only last for a few hours. However, using Hundred Year Blazing Heart Grass to refine Crimson Fusion Pills with Spirit Patterns is enough to last for three days. These are all very valuable spiritual herbs. Shops outside do not supply such pills. If they do, they are kept as family reserves in the clan treasury for their own disciples."

"Only the sect will bestow one Spirit Pattern Nourishing Qi Pill every year. If you want more, having a hundred-year-old spiritual herb is a good choice. In the late stage of Qi Refining, spiritual rice and Qi Nourishing Pills are not as valuable as other hard currencies. Only hundred-year-old spiritual herbs are valuable. If you can offer a hundred-year-old spiritual herb directly, one herb can be exchanged for three days of comprehension time."

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother. I am willing to offer these two extraordinary spiritual plants to the sect." After a moment's thought, Chen Guang agreed.

Jiang Zuoyun nodded: "Then I'll be going now. The contribution of the extraordinary spiritual plant needs to be witnessed by the disciples of the Earth Hall. We'll come back in two days."

After seeing off the disciples of the branch building, Chen Guang looked at the two exceptionally high-quality Blazing Heart Grasses. It was the first time he had ever heard of such a connection between a century-old spiritual herb and a spirit-patterned pill.

The cinnabar has spiritual patterns, and its properties are even purer.

A single stalk of exceptional quality Heartfire Grass can fetch over a hundred coins in the market. Compared to other quality Heartfire Grass, which increases in quality by half a pound or a pound, exceptional quality Heartfire Grass can increase in price by ten to twenty times. Chen Guang initially thought it was a good deal, but now he realizes that giving it to the sect seems more worthwhile.

A hundred-year-old elixir is a level of refinement, but sects clearly have the means to make elixir reach the level of a hundred-year-old elixir in a short period of time.

Those cultivation families are a step behind, but a few decades is enough. If we let Chen Guang, who has no experience, come, how many years will it take is another matter. There may be unexpected events along the way. For now, it is better to directly contribute to the sect. The time for enlightenment at Chunyuan Residence is also very valuable.

If you can cultivate one plant of exceptional quality, you can cultivate more. It's not too late to cultivate them yourself once you have the cultivation methods and experience for century-old medicinal herbs.

Chen Guang suppressed the urge to immediately activate the Heart-Piercing Grass reward.

The Heart-Piercing Grass hadn't been harvested yet, and I'd have to stay in the field for a long time, which wasn't convenient. Harvesting it would be a delicious treat, and rushing between the yard and the spiritual field wouldn't be pleasant.

To calm himself down, Chen Guang went into the Ice Mist Formation during the day. Everything inside the formation was fine; at the bottom of the largest pond, black algae as thick as chopsticks were bubbling up.

The previous black filamentous algae cuttings have survived, and their reproductive efficiency is indeed amazing. In just two or three months, there are already more than ten plants. Each black filamentous algae plant can produce more than ten slender differentiated leaves every day and give them to ice-tailed shrimp and ice-shelled turtles. They will recover the next day. Any more than that will affect their maturity. It takes quite a long time for black filamentous algae to truly mature. It is the kind of algae that can reproduce even before it is fully grown.

Of the initial 100 Icetail Shrimp, only 84 remain. In a few days, this batch will reach maturity. The Icetail Shrimp's growth period of nearly half a year is considered short among spirit beasts, and its lifespan is also short, only about three years. Chen Guang estimates that he will have to sell a batch by the end of the year.

Because they have been breeding for several months now, there are more than 300 fish in the pond. It is difficult to count the smaller ones, so there will only be more. The pond is still too small. It is too crowded, which not only increases their food demand but is also not good for their growth. It is easy for them to fight and get injured or killed.

Maintaining a population of around 500 fish in the pond is ideal.

"After the Fiery Heart Grass, there are Ice Tail Shrimp, Spirit Rice, Fiery Blood Tortoise Shell Tree, Jade Heart Grass, Red Peony, Black Silk Algae, Cold Fragrance Orchid, Frosty Grass, White Mist Duckweed, Mysterious Pattern Bamboo, Linquan Pumpkin, Concentrating Flower, Blood Polygonum multiflorum, and Moonlit Robe. This is the order in which we can harvest this year. As for the Steadfast Tea Tree, Unyielding Thorn, Ice Pine, Thousand Needle Wren, and Ice Armor Tortoise, there are still several years to wait. This year will be busy. In the blink of an eye, there have been so many kinds of harvests. I myself am quite surprised."

Having just calmed down, Chen Guang became excited again after briefly reminiscing about this year's harvest. Coupled with the reward for Guangtuan, behind the seemingly frugal life, he was actually starting to become incredibly wealthy.

"Hehehehe."

Chen Guang entered the ice mist array with a smirk, and then left with a wide grin.