With the bamboo basket on his back and his Sword in hand, Chu Mu set off once more.

He moved through the mountains in fits and starts, sometimes stopping to gather herbs, other times to sense the changes in his Qi Blood.

As the basket on his back slowly filled, Chu Mu’s expression grew more and more puzzled.

As he moved through the mountains, he repeatedly sensed his Qi Blood. Almost without exception, it became slightly more active each time.

The massive Goose-shaped Mountain was lush and verdant, its forests dense and deep. Without a specific target, how could he possibly uncover the reason behind the changes in his Qi Blood?

’So... is it a result of the environment as a whole?’

By dusk, Chu Mu had already descended to the mountainside. He gazed at the fiery red brilliance of the sky and murmured with a frown.

After thinking for a long time without any leads, he was no closer to an answer. Following the path he had cleared on his way up, Chu Mu hurried down the mountain.

He had often heard that the mountains were full of fierce beasts, but perhaps due to luck, Chu Mu had yet to encounter any.

The journey was uneventful. As the sun set behind West Mountain, Nanshan Town, bathed in the light of the dying sun, faintly appeared in Chu Mu’s vision.

It was now the spring planting season. Outside the town, in the sprawling terraced fields carved into the landscape, figures could be seen toiling away.

In many of the fields, rice seedlings had already been planted.

However, likely due to Nanshan Town’s decline, many fields were visibly abandoned and overgrown with weeds, with no one to clear and cultivate them.

Chu Mu stopped on a path between the fields, crouching down to look at the seedlings in the paddies.

In his past life, he hadn’t come from a wealthy family either. He often went back to his hometown to help with the spring planting and autumn harvest, so he was no stranger to farm work.

The rice seedlings before him didn’t seem any different from the ones he remembered from his past life.

But from what Chu Mu knew, if these seemingly ordinary rice seedlings were taken to his previous world, they would probably make the jaws of countless rice experts drop.

Their yield was incredibly high, and they weren’t picky about growing conditions. Drought or cold, as long as it wasn’t too extreme, would barely affect the seedlings’ growth.

And... most importantly, they didn’t require very fertile soil. You could just find any empty plot of land, clear it a little, plant the seedlings, and a bountiful harvest was practically guaranteed.

All these unique advantages resulted in incredibly cheap grain.

Here in Nanshan Town, you could say the common folk had hard lives, that their existence was precarious, but they would absolutely never go hungry.

The effects of this incredibly cheap grain went far beyond mere abundance and low prices.

Because grain was so cheap and these seedlings so easy to grow, it was inevitable that the people of this era would not have the same desperate craving for land as those in his past life, where crop yields were entirely dependent on soil fertility.

The fundamental cause behind millennia of dynastic changes in his past life was, in this era, effortlessly suppressed at its very root by this seemingly insignificant rice seedling.

It was undeniably absurd, but it was also clearly the truth.

’Were these crops naturally this perfect, or were they made perfect through artificial modification?’

Chu Mu frowned slightly, unable to stop himself from pondering the question.

This tiny rice seedling before him was simply too perfect. In terms of yield, temperament, and needs, it had reached what was, for humans, the absolute pinnacle of perfection.

You could say that with a crop this perfect, it would be difficult to starve even if you tried!

After a moment of contemplation, Chu Mu selected a seedling and carefully placed it in the bamboo basket on his back.

With the spring planting underway, he could experiment a little. No matter how extravagantly the books described it, nothing could compare to experimenting himself and witnessing the results with his own eyes.

If it worked, Chu Mu thought, he might even be able to clear a patch of land at home and expand the scale of his planting.

Medicinal herbs could transcend their natural growth cycles, so what about these rice seedlings that were already perfect?

Could they be perfected even further?

Chu Mu was eager to try, his heart filled with a sudden, inexplicable excitement.

Buoyed by his excitement, his steps seemed to grow much lighter.

He hurried along the paths between the fields. In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Nanshan Town, with smoke curling from its chimneys, was just ahead.

The town was as desolate as ever. Barely any common folk could be seen on the streets, only Inspectors coming on or off duty. The streets were filled with stern-looking soldiers in armor, just as before.

Carrying the bamboo basket, Chu Mu walked straight into Mingxin Hall. Elder Li wasn’t the least bit surprised by his appearance.

Glancing at the bamboo basket Chu Mu set down, Elder Li seemed to notice the single rice seedling, so different from the other herbs. He chuckled and said, "Went to the mountains for herbs and came back with a rice seedling? Are you planning to start a farm at home?"

"I’m just curious. These rice seedlings seem too perfect."

Seeing Elder Li bring up the topic himself, Chu Mu felt less hesitant and slowly voiced his doubts. "From what I’ve observed of various medicinal herbs, they all have certain flaws, whether in their medicinal properties or their growing requirements."

"But these rice seedlings, in terms of their intrinsic value, seem perfect in every aspect. That doesn’t seem to follow common sense..."

Elder Li set down his teapot and gave Chu Mu a slightly surprised look. "Everyone eats rice, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard such a question."

Then, Elder Li pondered for a moment before saying slowly, "These rice seedlings are indeed not a natural crop. They are the product of artificial modification."

Chu Mu’s head snapped up, a look of disbelief on his face.

A guess was, after all, just a guess.

When a guess becomes reality, the significance is completely different.

To modify a crop to such a degree of perfection!

And in an era like this?

’Is it... the Extraordinary?’

Chu Mu subconsciously thought of the true Extraordinary, still shrouded in layers of mystery.

"However, it’s nothing to be that surprised about."

Elder Li stood up, shaking his head with a smile. "Brother Mu, you research the way of understanding people and medicine. Naturally, there are others who research the way of understanding plants."

"Cultivation has a hundred arts. Countless people spend their entire lives exploring their ultimate principles. Countless points of wisdom gather, collide... and bloom..."

"Brother Mu, you may think this rice seedling is perfect, but there will always be someone who thinks it isn’t."

"Nothing is impossible. It only depends on whether people dare to imagine it and are willing to investigate."

Chu Mu was lost in thought. After a moment’s contemplation, he then told Elder Li about the anomaly with his Qi Blood that he had confirmed in the mountains that day.

"Your Qi Blood became slightly more active..."

Elder Li looked out the door, his gaze seeming to pierce through the rows of houses toward the towering mountain range.

"The mountains are rarely visited by people. Because they are untrodden, the Spiritual Qi there is naturally a bit denser than in the town. It’s quite normal for you to feel that."

Chu Mu froze for a moment. When he processed what was said, he snapped his head up to look at Elder Li.

’Spiritual Qi? Cultivation Immortal?’

Chu Mu’s heart pounded in his chest. He wanted to ask, but for a moment, he didn’t even know where to begin.

After a long while, Chu Mu finally spoke. His voice was slow, and it even trembled slightly. "May I ask, Elder Li... what is Spiritual Qi...?"

...