Chapter Ninety-Eight: One Year

Time flew by swiftly.

In the blink of an eye, Ye Mo had already spent more than six months at Azure Cloud Immortal Academy. The profound iron ore he’d stored within the ancient painting was completely exhausted; most had been forged by A Li into profound iron spiritual swords, which were sold to cover his daily cultivation expenses. The last few hundred pounds of ore Ye Mo gave to Wang Hu and Yang You, who were learning the art of forging. The material was just enough for their practice, and there was no need to buy more, since profound iron could be smelted and reforged repeatedly.

With the depletion of the ore, Ye Mo’s source of income was severed.

He had considered buying profound iron ore from the market in Immortal City, forging them into spiritual swords and selling them for profit. But after trying, he was forced to abandon this idea: the cost of acquiring the ore was too high. Azure Cloud Immortal City was a vast main immortal city—not like Eastern Lai Immortal Village. Even the lowest grade spiritual weapon, the profound iron sword, would not sell for weeks at a street stall; at the very least, only five-element spiritual swords would attract cultivators of the Qi Refining stage.

But forging five-element swords required forging blueprints, and they weren’t even available for purchase. There were plenty of blueprints in the Academy, but only official city lords had the right to buy them.

Ye Mo’s visits into the ancient painting became noticeably less frequent, only occasionally entering to check on the little fox A Li, the earth chicken A Zhi, and the fire crow Little Huo.

“Master, what have you been busy with lately? You rarely come to see A Li now,” the little green fox asked curiously.

“I’m trying to find a way to earn spirit stones. With no ore to forge weapons, I have to think of another method,” Ye Mo replied, troubled.

“Trying to earn spirit stones? A Li can forge, and can also refine pills. But pill refining requires pill formulas and the right spiritual herbs; if I have those, I can do it. But refining pills isn’t like forging weapons—if the refinement fails, the materials cannot be recovered. When you start refining pills, lack of skill means you surely won’t make a profit,” A Li immediately spoke of her other talent.

“Refining pills? That won’t work—not just because of skill, but because pill formulas are simply not available for purchase. Formulas and blueprints are monopolized by the Immortal City and various merchant associations, never shared with outsiders,” Ye Mo shook his head with a bitter smile.

“Apart from forging and pill refining, you could also plant spiritual grains or herbs in the spiritual field, or raise spiritual beasts. Those don’t require blueprints—can’t Master earn spirit stones that way?” A Li tilted her head, offering ideas.

“Farming? It’s only an acre—how much could it yield? Besides, farming is slow: only one harvest per year. Even if an acre of spiritual grain brought in a few dozen spirit stones, it wouldn’t be enough. My expenses at the Academy are high; I’d need dozens or hundreds of acres just to barely manage.

Raising spiritual beasts is even less valuable. Low-rank beasts take decades to mature; I’d grow old before they did. Apart from the great cultivation families who pass it down generations, no loose cultivator would bother with it,” Ye Mo continued to shake his head.

“One harvest per year? Not at all! Spiritual grain only needs three days. You can ask A Zhi—he wanders about the spiritual field every day, tending his few stalks. Each day he eats one, and if there was only one harvest per year, those few stalks would have been eaten long ago,” A Li replied in surprise.

“Three days per harvest? How is that possible? Are you sure, A Li?” Ye Mo shot to his feet, utterly shocked.

He had noticed the few lonely stalks of spiritual grain in the ancient painting’s field, always growing there, with the proud phoenix A Zhi frequently wandering about. He’d never paid much attention.

To his astonishment, those stalks matured every three days.

“Of course! Spiritual grain grows fast; three days are enough. But that acre of field has always been monopolized by A Zhi. He eats it all himself and won’t let me or Little Huo near,” A Li clearly resented A Zhi’s domination of the field.

“The outside world yields once a year, but here it’s once every three days. That means the growth rate in the painting is a hundred times faster!” Ye Mo was not distracted by the little fox’s complaints; he was completely stunned.

This ancient painting scroll was far more powerful than he had imagined. That acre of spiritual field he’d always overlooked possessed such a miraculous ability.

Ye Mo’s anticipation soared—a hundredfold growth rate was astonishing. If so, perhaps he could solve his shortage of spirit stones.

“A Zhi doesn’t listen to me; only Master himself can speak to him!” A Li hopped onto Ye Mo’s shoulder.

Ye Mo nodded, left the forging pavilion, and walked to the acre of field in front of the thatched hut.

“Master, you want to plant spiritual grain?” A Zhi raised his head as Ye Mo approached.

“I want to plant some spiritual herbs and medicines. A Li said this field is your domain—what must I do to plant here?” Ye Mo asked.

“Master only needs to provide the seeds; A Zhi will cultivate them. However, for the seeds to grow, sufficient spirit stones are needed.

Spiritual grain matures in three days; other spiritual plants I haven’t cultivated, their times differ. But as long as the spiritual energy is rich, they all grow quickly,” A Zhi declared, seemingly gazing at the workshop roof.

“Provide spirit stones? But A Li said you eat a stalk every day and never seem to use any spirit stones,” Ye Mo’s expression changed. He wanted to earn spirit stones from the field, not spend them.

“The ancient painting absorbs a small amount of spiritual energy from the outside world. I’ve only cultivated three stalks, so the consumption is little—no spirit stones required. If Master wants to plant on a larger scale, the stored spiritual energy won’t be enough; you must supplement it massively,” A Zhi retorted.

Ye Mo’s mind raced. Spirit stones supply spiritual energy for growth; the field accelerates the process. If the spirit stones earned from selling herbs exceeded those consumed, he’d profit.

“I’ll go to Immortal City and buy some spiritual herb seeds to test if this works,” Ye Mo decided after a moment.

Spiritual grain wasn’t worth much; an acre yielded only a few dozen spirit stones. If he was going to plant, he might as well choose more valuable spiritual herbs for greater profit.

He hurried out of Azure Cloud Immortal Academy.

After wandering the streets for a while, he entered a medicinal shop in Immortal City.

But soon, Ye Mo exited with a grim expression.

None of these shops sold spiritual herb seeds or seedlings—only finished, dried medicinal herbs.

He asked the clerks and learned that seeds were controlled by the major plantations, unavailable in herbal shops.

Moreover, in Azure Cloud Immortal City, every inch of land cost spirit stones; cultivators had no space or inclination to farm, so herbal shops never stocked seeds.

Unwilling to give up, Ye Mo scoured ten streets and entered more than a dozen shops, only to receive the same answer every time: no seeds for sale.

Finally, he gave up, standing dejectedly in the bustling city street.

“Do I have to go to the deserted islands of the Eastern Sea to gather wild herbs and find seedlings or seeds?” Ye Mo was helpless, and shook his head. The Academy’s curriculum was tight—he had no time for such excursions.

Looking around in confusion, a shop sign suddenly caught his attention.

“Li’s Spiritual Grain Shop! Selling edible spiritual grain and grain for feeding spiritual beasts.”

“Spiritual grain! Looks like I’ll have to buy grain to plant,” Ye Mo thought, smiling wryly.

He entered the shop.

Different types and grades of spiritual grain had different prices—the cheapest first-grade grain cost one spirit stone per pound, while the more expensive third-grade grain went for three.

Ye Mo, naturally, chose the pricier ones for higher profit.

All his assets amounted to less than a few dozen spirit stones. He spent three stones to buy a pound of third-grade spiritual grain.

With the grain in hand, Ye Mo hurried back to his residence in the Academy. Closing his bedroom door, he unrolled the ancient painting, and in a flash of light, entered the immortal village within.

“I’ve brought back the spiritual grain. A Zhi, it’s up to you now!” Ye Mo placed the pound of grain before A Zhi.

“This is third-grade? Far better than what I’ve grown!” A Zhi pecked a grain and swallowed it, becoming instantly excited.

With a sweep of his wings, he scattered handfuls of spiritual grain into the acre of field in front of the hut.

Ye Mo’s remaining few dozen spirit stones were also placed in the field and crushed by A Zhi’s talons.

The stones released vast amounts of spiritual energy.

The patch of spiritual grain in the field sprouted, rooted, and grew tender leaves before Ye Mo’s eyes, growing ever taller.

In just a short while, the newly sown grain had reached over an inch, and kept growing.

Ye Mo watched, dumbstruck.

“This is definitely a hundredfold growth rate! What kind of magical artifact is this ancient painting scroll?! I’ve checked the Academy’s library—nothing like this exists in the cultivation world,” Ye Mo marveled.

Though the spirit stones were being consumed rapidly, the profit far outweighed the expenditure.

Ten days later, the acre of golden spiritual grain matured fully, exuding a tempting aroma of spiritual rice.

Ordinarily, third-grade grain would take three years to mature.

A Zhi swept his wings, and the mature grain flew into the large hemp sack Ye Mo had prepared.

“One acre yields thirty pounds of third-grade grain! Sold at three spirit stones per pound, that’s ninety stones. The cost was only three stones for seeds, plus thirty stones for spiritual energy. Net profit is about sixty spirit stones!”

Ye Mo hefted the sack, estimating the harvest.

Thus, harvesting from the acre three times a month, he could earn a net profit of one hundred eighty spirit stones monthly.

For the city lord heirs at the Academy, one hundred eighty stones was barely pocket change—a meal at a famous immortal tavern in the city would cost dozens or hundreds of stones.

But for Ye Mo, a commoner and loose cultivator, these stones were urgently needed.

His shortage of spirit stones was finally alleviated; at least he could guarantee the supply of first-grade vital energy pills for cultivating his soul.

With this stable source of income, Ye Mo could finally settle down to focus on his cultivation and studies at the Academy. There was even a surplus of spirit stones to share with Mo Ling, Wang Hu, Yang You, the five guards, Chang Fei, and Lin Zhi, the students who assisted him.

Unnoticed, a year slipped by.

The Academy’s curriculum lasted only a year. When it ended, the most severe and ruthless graduation assessment for city lord students began, with a nine-tenths elimination rate.