Crow Immortal
Chapter 8: Replicating Spirit Rice

"Kid, do I look fine to you?" Old Daoist Li scoffed with a sideways glance, his bony fingers gripping Han Yu's wrist painfully tight. "So this is what immortal masters are like... hah! And I thought they were something special!"

"In my eagerness to learn from them, I even stopped practicing the Blood Refinement Technique!"

"Seems I didn't need to stop after all—it makes no difference—cough!"

At this point, the ugly hollows of Old Daoist Li's face twisted into a bitter smile of shattered illusions. The emotional outburst even made him cough up blood.

Han Yu helped him back to his stone house and carried over his seeds. Watching the boy bustle about, Old Daoist Li's gaze gradually softened. This kid was nothing like his grandfather—his kindhearted nature reminded him more of Wan'er.

"Boy, why are you helping me? I tried to hit you just yesterday, remember?"

Han Yu thought for a moment before answering, "Elder Daoist, you kept threatening me along the way, but never actually harmed me. If you truly wanted to rob me, like Village Chief or Steward Wang would, you wouldn't have wasted so many words on me."

Old Daoist Li relaxed into a smile, his cloudy eyes glowing gently though his voice remained hoarse. "Not stupid after all."

In the afternoon, Steward Wang returned, tossing hundred-pound sacks of coarse rice at Han Yu and Old Daoist Li each before leaving without explanation. Neither needed him to spell it out—this was clearly the paltry compensation for 10% of their biannual harvest.

Given Steward Wang's tyrannical nature, expecting a second food delivery was utterly hopeless.

That evening, Sun Kang brought fifty pounds of regular rice each to Old Daoist Li and Han Yu. Hearing about the beating Old Daoist Li suffered for angering Steward Wang, he sighed: "Steward Wang has always been absolute ruler over our spirit fields. He treats potential outer disciples like Sun Lan somewhat better, but those without prospects face brutal exploitation."

"A single pound of Green Sprout Spirit Rice exchanges for two hundred pounds of mortal rice within Wangu Valley. Outside, among mortal nobility? Hundreds, even thousands of pounds wouldn't be enough—let alone coarse rice."

"For Steward Wang to demand 10% of your harvest for this measly hundred pounds of coarse rice is truly..." Sun Kang suddenly feared eavesdroppers and trailed off.

Impressed by Sun Kang's genuine kindness in delivering food—more trustworthy than Zhang Shan's empty promises and steadier than young Liu Lan—Old Daoist Li expressed sincere thanks, hoping to build goodwill. Han Yu joined in gratitude before asking, "Senior Brother Sun, what's special about Green Sprout Rice? How does it differ from regular rice?"

"Of course it's different!" Sun Kang laughed. "Mortal rice just fills your belly. Green Sprout Spirit Rice contains spiritual energy that aids cultivation! Eat it daily, and your progress would accelerate dramatically!"

Old Daoist Li lamented, "With that Wang bastard around, when will we ever taste spirit rice?"

Han Yu's mind raced, recalling his replicated token and blood essence. If I can replicate spirit rice...

"Senior Brother Sun, do you have any spirit rice? Could I see what it looks like? It's not the same as the seeds we were given, right?"

Sun Kang scratched his head awkwardly. "Mature spirit rice and processed sect seeds are indeed different. I do have a little, but... I need it for cultivation. Can't lend it out!"

As a four spiritual roots cultivator entering his fifth year, currently attempting to break through to Qi Refining third layer, every cultivation resource was precious. He could spare regular rice, but spirit rice? Absolutely not.

"Senior Brother Sun, I don't want to borrow—just see what it looks like."

Eventually, Sun Kang's soft heart prevailed. "Wait in your house. I'll show you shortly."

Han Yu nodded eagerly.

Back in his stone house, Han Yu didn't wait long before Sun Kang arrived carrying two cloth bundles. Unwrapping the first revealed a fist-sized rice ball.

"This is cooked Green Sprout Spirit Rice."

The second bundle held a small handful of faintly glowing milky-white grains.

"And this is raw Green Sprout Rice."

Both rice and rice ball carried an indescribable quality Han Yu had never seen in mortal rice—perhaps the touch of spiritual energy?

"Senior Brother Sun, may I touch it?"

Sun Kang nodded, handing over the rice ball. Noticing he didn't offer the raw grains, Han Yu didn't press further—Sun Kang was already being extraordinarily generous, and spilled spirit rice would be disastrous.

As Han Yu held the rice ball through the cloth, his right palm suddenly burned hot as when replicating the Wangu Valley token and his blood essence. Something heavy materialized inside his robe.

Success!

Suppressing his joy, Han Yu returned the rice ball with sincere thanks: "Senior Brother Sun, I'm so grateful! Without you, I'd never have known what spirit rice looks like!"

Sun Kang rewrapped both bundles with a kind smile. "No need—you'd have learned eventually. I just showed you sooner."

Little did he know what this encounter meant for Han Yu, who thanked him with such heartfelt sincerity it actually made Sun Kang blush.

After Sun Kang left, Han Yu retrieved a cloth bundle from his robe—unwrapping it revealed a small Green Sprout Rice ball. With this, his cultivation would advance much smoother!

That night, Han Yu skipped Blood Refinement, merely feeding the raven with his horse blood essence before sleeping early.

Next day, Old Daoist Li remained recuperating while Han Yu waited. Come evening, Han Yu took out his sole rice ball and replicated it. In a blink, one became two.

Overjoyed, Han Yu stored one and ate the other. After a day's fasting, the warm satisfaction flooding his body was divine. He immediately began practicing the Green Sprout Qi Cultivation Technique, attempting to gather internal energy flow for eventual full circulation.

For Qi Refining first layer cultivators, the hallmark wasn't spellcasting but completing one energy cycle. Beginners like Han Yu and Old Daoist Li could only absorb wisps of spiritual energy, slowly accumulating enough for that first cycle.

Thanks to the spirit rice, Han Yu cultivated late into the night without hunger or fatigue, even sensing faint energy strands forming—still far from first layer, but no longer hopelessly distant.

At dawn, Han Yu tended his five spirit fields. After half an hour, Zhang Shan, Sun Kang, and Liu Lan each stopped by with planting tips—proper spacing and methods for Green Sprout Rice.

Han Yu mused: Not all Wangu Valley immortals are as vile as Steward Wang. The gate guard was haughty but not evil. Jin Qi and Sun Kang were genuinely helpful seniors. He and Old Daoist Li just had the misfortune of landing under Steward Wang's thumb.

When Old Daoist Li emerged to work his fields, his vigorous demeanor suggested he'd used horse blood essence to heal. Spirit soil proved tougher than ordinary earth—like untamed wilderness. After a full day's labor, they'd barely planted two acres.