Steward Song did not stay for long.
He chatted with Fang Yun for a moment before leaving with one final sentence.
"Wait for my good news tomorrow."
Tomorrow was the first day of the tenth month.
Since his background was clean, the reporting process Steward Song initiated should be quick. Otherwise, it would be impossible to have confirmation by tomorrow.
After returning to his residence, Fang Yun first boiled half a jin of Purple Corn for himself.
Both were Tier One, Lower Grade Spirit Rice, but while Clear Water Rice tasted as bland as water, Purple Corn had a hint of sweetness.
The latter obviously tasted better.
With half a jin of Purple Corn in his stomach, Fang Yun quickly entered a state of cultivation.
He had finished his work ahead of schedule, leaving him with more time to cultivate, so naturally, he ate more.
He could completely consume and absorb half a jin of Purple Corn.
Compared to Clear Water Rice, Purple Corn contained more Spiritual Qi and could significantly speed up Fang Yun's cultivation.
As soon as the ninth month ended, Fang Yun immediately checked his monthly settlement, hoping the fleeting thought he'd had during the day wouldn't come true.
Fortunately, it was just a false alarm.
If it turned out that only harvesting crops he planted himself counted, then he could consider dedicating his time to helping others harvest for free in the future.
——
Harvested Purple Corn * 232 (jin), Talent Points +580.
Perfect Rainfall * 9 (times), Talent Points +27.
Standard Rainfall * 5 (times), Talent Points +5.
Perfect Weeding * 4 (times), Talent Points +12.
Standard Weeding * 12 (times), Talent Points +12.
Perfect Pest Control * 12 (times), Talent Points +36.
Standard Pest Control * 2 (times), Talent Points +2.
Affiliated Faction: [None]
Talent Point Bonus: 0%
Settlement: Talent Points +674.
——
The number of Talent Points provided per jin of Purple Corn was 2.5 times that of Clear Water Rice.
Fang Yun had only figured out the trick to Perfect Weeding in the last two months.
The requirement for Perfect Weeding was to clear out the weeds before they broke the surface, or just as they barely started to, thereby minimizing their competition for nutrients.
With the addition of 674 Talent Points, the total in the bottom-right corner had reached 731.
He could now do seven consecutive draws.
The seven draws for Life Talents began.
Planting Talent Fragment * 2
Alchemy Talent Fragment * 3
Artifact Refining Talent Fragment * 2
The changes to his Life Talents were as follows:
Planting Talent ★ (5/6)
Alchemy Talent ★ (5/6)
Artifact Refining Talent ★ (3/6)
His Planting Talent and Alchemy Talent were both just one fragment away from upgrading to two stars.
'Not bad. With a bit of luck, I'll have a two-star Planting Talent or a two-star Alchemy Talent next month. Once my Alchemy Talent reaches two stars, I can start getting into Alchemy...'
Closing the light screen, Fang Yun lay in bed and planned his next steps.
Gradually, he drifted off to sleep.
Early the next morning, just as he was waking up, he heard a knock on his door.
"Coming."
He opened the door to find Steward Song standing outside.
"Elder Song."
"You must have worked hard cultivating last night."
"Haha." Still a bit groggy, Fang Yun laughed awkwardly.
He had indeed cultivated for quite a while yesterday. Plus, since he didn't need to go to the Spirit Fields today, he had woken up a little later than usual. Normally, he would have been wide awake by this time.
"Pack your things and come with me. From now on, you are an Outer Sect Disciple of our Celestial Cloud Sect."
Evidently, the report Steward Song submitted yesterday had gone through the process smoothly.
"Yes, Elder Song."
For discovering Fang Yun and his remarkable Planting Talent, Steward Song received a reward from the sect.
The Celestial Cloud Sect strongly encouraged its Stewards to do such things, but only on the condition that the recruited Cultivator's background was clean. If a Steward brought in a spy from another sect, they would suffer the consequences as well.
...
Celestial Cloud Sect.
The moment he stepped through the sect's main gate, Fang Yun could feel that the concentration of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi inside was different from the outside.
Compared to his small house, cultivating anywhere within the sect would result in a faster cultivation speed.
"Little Fang, your Planting Talent is quite good. After becoming an Outer Sect Disciple, the tasks the sect assigns you should all be related to planting, though the possibility of other tasks can't be ruled out."
After they entered the sect gate, Steward Song acted like a doting grandfather, clearly explaining the affairs of the Celestial Cloud Sect and the situations Fang Yun might encounter in the future.
Throughout the entire process, Fang Yun just listened and nodded.
"The Cultivators in the sect responsible for planting are the most numerous, so there's a special ranking list for them."
It was normal for there to be a large number of farming Cultivators. Fang Yun figured this was likely the case in most factions.
Whether in the mortal world or the world of Cultivators, farming was always the most fundamental form of production. Producing something like Clear Water Rice, a Tier One, Lower Grade Spirit Rice, was the foundation of the foundation.
"A ranking list?" Fang Yun's interest was piqued.
"The top one hundred names on the list are announced annually. Anyone who makes the list receives an extra reward each year. The reward for ranks fifty-one to one hundred is ten Lower Grade Spirit Stones."
"The rankings on the list are related to the average annual harvest, right?"
"Clever." Steward Song glanced at Fang Yun. "It's about what you guessed. Harvests from planting are converted into points for ranking."
"Last year, the person in one-hundredth place had over eighteen hundred points." Steward Song also gave a simple explanation of how the points were calculated. "For example, if you're planting Purple Corn, harvesting one hundred jin gets you one hundred points."
Fang Yun nodded in understanding. This meant that to get into the top one hundred by planting Purple Corn, he would need to harvest over 1,800 jin annually, which was more than 900 jin every six months. This would likely require eight or nine mu of Tier One, Lower Grade Spirit Fields.
With this estimate in mind, Fang Yun knew that the senior brother or sister in one-hundredth place must be at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer or Qi Refining Sixth Layer, with the latter being more likely.
"Little Fang, you should have no problem earning six hundred points a year right now."
Steward Song had learned that Fang Yun hadn't been in the Qi Refining Third Layer for long. When he was tending to the two mu of Purple Corn, he was still at the Qi Refining Second Layer for most of the time.
Now that he was at the Qi Refining Third Layer, if he tended to three mu of Purple Corn, harvesting twice a year for a total of over two hundred jin per mu wouldn't be a problem.
"We're here. This is where you'll be living."
Steward Song led Fang Yun to a small house and stopped. The plaque on the door read, "Outer C, Number Eighty-eight."
The residences for the Celestial Cloud Sect's Outer Sect Disciples were divided into four major zones: A, B, C, and D.
Aside from Zone A, which was rather special, there wasn't much difference between the other zones.
Fang Yun was assigned to the C Zone mainly because it was very close to many of the sect's Spirit Fields. Most disciples like him, who became Outer Sect Disciples due to their Planting Talent, were assigned to the C Zone.
Fang Yun had learned all of this from Steward Song. His parents had passed away early, and before they even knew he lacked Spirit Root Talent, they hadn't told him much about sect matters.
"Elder Song, I'd like to know where Huang Mengzhu lives. She just became a Sect Disciple this past July."