Under Yang Hong’s divine sense, the paddy fields outside the village showed a vibrant state of vitality. However, the grains, which should have been ripening and plump, were only bearing ears but no plumpness.
In other words, these grains were hollow, all “chaff.”
Although chaff could be used as feed for livestock, its value as food was greatly diminished.
More importantly, chaff contained no seeds, making it impossible to propagate and replant.
If only a small number of paddy plants had this problem, it would be fine; one could simply plant more and expand the cultivation area.
But under Yang Hong’s divine sense, a hundred-acre paddy field was affected by this situation, with a grain plumpness rate of less than ten percent!
This was a catastrophic consequence!
Not only would the villagers’ food supply be in jeopardy this year, but they might not even have enough seeds for the next planting season.
It wasn’t just the paddy rice; nearby rice, wheat, millet, and various other staple crops all suffered from this issue. Even ordinary wild grass had fewer ears and even fewer seeds.
“Fellow Daoist, have you also noticed the problem?”
Seeing Yang Hong’s grim expression, Patriarch Zhaoyang asked with a solemn face.
“When did this situation come to light?”
“Last autumn harvest, a relative of a disciple from the sect approached us because of the widespread crop reduction.
The sect initially thought it was an isolated case, a minor issue, but as we investigated, we realized that all plants in the Taiyuan Realm were experiencing this, including spiritual plants.”
“After discovering this, the sect first dispatched Foundation Establishment disciples to handle it, then Core Formation, and even Nascent Soul cultivators, but none could resolve the problem.
Later, the sect’s higher-ups paid attention, but even Tribulation Crossing and Mahayana cultivators, using high-level spiritual plant techniques, were unable to make the plants bear ears and seeds normally.”
“Let me try.”
Yang Hong’s expression turned serious, and his magic power began to surge. Without forming any hand seals, a flow of Dao charm circulated around him. Then, a faint purple halo of magic power spread outwards from Yang Hong’s body.
“Nine… a ninth-grade spell? A ninth-grade spiritual plant technique?”
Sensing the spiritual energy fluctuations and Dao charm of the “Xu Yang Creation Technique,” Patriarch Zhaoyang’s speech became slurred.
The entire Taiyuan cultivation world held the belief that spiritual plant techniques did not extend to the ninth grade.
Now, Patriarch Zhaoyang felt as if he had lived long enough to witness the unprecedented. Even a Mahayana cultivator who had lived for over ten thousand years felt unfamiliar.
In his ten thousand years of existence, he had never encountered a “ninth-grade spiritual plant technique” before.
Yang Hong rolled his eyes at Patriarch Zhaoyang and continued to maintain the magic power output of the “Xu Yang Creation Technique.”
As he output magic power, his divine sense followed closely, carefully observing how various plants accepted the “Xu Yang Creation Technique.”
The midday sun was scorching yet warm. Under the guidance of the spell, golden sunlight transformed into wisps of purple spiritual energy that descended.
The purple spiritual energy, under Yang Hong’s divine sense guidance, landed on the plants. The slightly withered and yellowed plants visibly turned emerald green.
A stalk of dried and yellowed paddy rice, nourished by the purple spiritual energy, gradually turned green again. In the untimely early autumn, small, egg-yolk-colored flowers began to bloom at the tips of the stalks.
As spiritual energy from the surroundings poured in, the paddy ears rapidly formed and became increasingly plump.
Everything seemed to be proceeding normally, moving in a positive direction.
However, Yang Hong’s brow furrowed deeper.
The paddy ears had formed, but even with the spiritual energy infusion and regulation of Yang Hong’s eighth-grade spiritual plant technique, more than half of the grains remained seedless and still chaff.
When this was scaled up to the entire hundred-acre field, the number of grains that successfully developed seeds was only about thirty percent.
“Fellow Daoist has remarkable skill.”
Just as Yang Hong was frowning, Patriarch Zhaoyang began to clap and exclaim in admiration.
“Your ninth-grade spiritual plant technique is truly extraordinary, Fellow Daoist. It can triple the seed formation rate. Our Zhaoyang Sect, using seventh-grade spiritual plant techniques, can only increase the seed formation rate by fifty percent.”
Patriarch Zhaoyang plucked a stalk of paddy rice from the air. With a slight surge of spiritual energy, plump grains detached from the ear and landed in his palm.
“Most commendable is that the paddy rice nurtured by your spiritual plant technique is even more plump than ordinary paddy rice.”
As he spoke, Patriarch Zhaoyang crushed a grain. The white rice automatically flew into his mouth.
*Crunch*
While chewing, he nodded with satisfaction.
“And the taste is sweet, much better than the original ordinary paddy rice.”
Yang Hong extended his hand and beckoned slightly. A few grains of rice from the nearby field detached from their stalks and flew towards him, simultaneously shedding their husks.
The polished rice flew directly into his mouth. The taste was indeed far superior to ordinary rice, even carrying a faint trace of spiritual energy.
But it was this faint spiritual energy that made Yang Hong’s expression grow even more grim.
These paddy plants had evolved. Although they hadn't become true spiritual plants, they were now quasi-spiritual plants. And this was even after he had tried to control the amount of spiritual energy infused.
If he had unleashed the full power of his spiritual energy infusion, these paddy plants, and all the plants in the vicinity, would have evolved into first-grade spiritual plants under his eighth-grade “Xu Yang Creation Technique.”
This was not his original intention.
“Fellow Daoist Zhaoyang, let’s find a new plot of land and have you demonstrate your spiritual plant technique. I want to see its effect.”
“Haha~ No problem. Although my spiritual plant technique is not as good as yours, it is still a sixth-grade spiritual plant technique.”
“Please~”
Without paying any attention to the ordinary mortals drawn by the magic power, the two of them disappeared on their swords before the mortals could even approach to pay homage.
A hundred miles away, the two landed outside another village. The field before them was also dominated by paddy rice, along with various other crops. Using a spiritual plant technique here would provide a good comparison to the previous field.
“Dragon Ascends, Rain Falls, Nurturing All~”
With Patriarch Zhaoyang’s soft exclamation, the air became slightly humid. Soon, dark clouds gathered in the sky, and a fine drizzle began to fall.
The slightly wilted and yellowed paddy rice began to turn green again, and the speed of its recovery and revitalization was even faster than when Yang Hong had used the “Xu Yang Creation Technique.”
“Six Yang Spirit Gathering Technique~”
As Patriarch Zhaoyang’s hand seals rapidly changed, a faint golden light condensed from the sunlight and was then infused into the hundred-acre field.
The paddy rice, millet, soybeans, white beans, and other crops visibly grew at an accelerated pace. The wild grass on the field borders grew rampant.
The crops began to flower and bear fruit, and the wild grass was already evolving towards becoming spiritual plants.
“Hiss~ Fellow Daoist Zhaoyang, your spiritual plant technique is truly terrifying!”
Yang Hong couldn’t help but exclaim, regardless of whether he was disturbing Patriarch Zhaoyang’s spellcasting.
“Hehe~ Ordinary, ordinary. It cannot compare to your ninth-grade spiritual plant technique, Fellow Daoist.”
Patriarch Zhaoyang spoke humbly, but his face was full of pride. It was evident that he was quite pleased with himself, and he continued to output magic power.
“Condense Qi, Mature Grain~”
Patriarch Zhaoyang’s spell lasted for a full two hours. As the last spell was cast, the formerly emerald green farmland had turned golden yellow.
However, Yang Hong’s expression was rather strange.
“Fellow Daoist Zhaoyang’s spiritual plant technique is truly masterful. A hundred acres of ordinary plants were cultivated into first-grade spiritual plants in just two hours, even the weeds became spiritual plants.
Admirable~ Admirable~”
He spoke words of admiration, but inwardly, his worry deepened.
This was because the seed formation rate of the crops was less than fifteen percent, roughly only about 14%.
This meant that the seeds produced were still insufficient for the next planting season.
The Taiyuan Continent was truly in trouble.