Chapter 255: The Second Layer Function of the Altar

Heavenly Palace.

Above the Great Thunder Origin Pool.

Yin Qi sat cross-legged. With a wave of his hand, ten three-inch-long jade swords flew out from the pool and landed in his palm.

"Sword Rice, it's done!"

These ten jade swords were not jade ornaments, but rather Sword Rice he had refined based on Dragon Tooth Rice.

The Sword Rice was three inches long, crystal clear, and contained pure life essence.

It required no five-colored soil, no jade spring water, and certainly no Thunder.

As long as it was planted in soil, it could absorb the essence of the sun and moon to grow.

Compared to Thunder, the light of the sun and moon was far more common.

According to Yin Qi's estimates, even in barren soil, this Sword Rice could reach a yield of three hundred catties per mu.

Do not underestimate these three hundred catties; in reality, even in fertile fields with sufficient water sources, the yield of ordinary rice is roughly this much.

If planted in fertile fields, the yield of Sword Rice could reach six hundred catties per mu.

Not only that, Sword Rice also possessed advantages such as drought resistance, waterlogging resistance, and pest resistance, requiring almost no meticulous care.

Promoting this nationwide would not only double food production, but long-term consumption of Sword Rice would also improve physical constitution and increase stamina, even for those who do not practice martial arts.

If one practices martial arts, half of the population could reach the Innate Stage of Organ Refining.

The Sword Rice had been successfully refined; the next step was to increase the rice seed supply.

Yin Qi cleared thousands of mu of fertile fields within his small world, irrigated them with Thunder Water, and used Red Refined Origin Copper True Qi to accelerate their growth, quickly obtaining one million shi of grain seeds.

Although this million shi of grain seeds was not enough for nationwide promotion, it was sufficient to cover three or four prefectures near Yujing City.

Once these prefectures had a bumper harvest next year, it would naturally be possible to cover the entire country very quickly.

……

Emerging from the Heavenly Palace, just as Yin Qi was about to step out of the Practice Room, a sudden explosion rang out in his mind!

Boom!

His consciousness spun violently and appeared deep within his mind, where he saw the second layer of the Altar blooming with brilliant Chaos-colored light, with countless runes floating out and radiating Divine Light.

After a year, having received the faith of the masses, the second layer of the Altar was finally activated.

In reality, if he had only spread the Immortal Dao, activating the second layer of the Altar would likely have taken another half a year, but by publishing the I Ching, he became the literary Saint of the age and received the faith of countless scholars.

Some great Confucian scholars even proposed placing his clay statue into the Saint Temple of the Gongyuan.

However, this matter was temporarily suppressed by the Qian Emperor.

After a long while, the floating runes slowly dissipated.

At the same time, a piece of information inexplicably appeared in Yin Qi's mind: the second layer had been activated, and the Luck Altar had gained a new function—it could perform a Sacrifice by consuming Luck.

In truth, calling it a Sacrifice is less accurate than calling it an exchange.

For example, with materials for refining a Breakthrough Pill, one could perform a Sacrifice using Luck to obtain a Breakthrough Pill.

For example, with a piece of refined iron, one could perform a Sacrifice to obtain a weapon.

This was equivalent to using Luck as payment to request the Altar's help with Alchemy, Artifact Refining, Talisman Making, and so on.

It saved time and effort, though it was a bit wasteful of Luck.

Yin Qi's eyes lit up; this function was extremely practical.

For instance, refining an Immortal Pill, or even a Divine Pill!

This was equivalent to possessing an all-around alchemist, artifact refiner, and so on.

As long as the materials were prepared, any pill, Spirit Treasure, array diagram, etc., could be obtained at his fingertips.

…………

This day.

A piece of news spread from the Longxiang Earl Mansion: Yin Qi had used Dragon Tooth Rice as a blueprint to refine a type of spirit rice called Sword Rice, which contained pure energy without any impurities.

One grain of Sword Rice was enough to satisfy the daily needs of an ordinary adult.

Five grains of Sword Rice could sustain an ordinary martial artist's practice for an entire day.

Even Martial Saints and Human Immortals could use Sword Rice, though the quantity required would be somewhat larger.

If it were only this, it would be fine, and everyone would merely be envious.

After all, spirit rice was not lacking in the Great Thousand World; the Zhu Zi Families all had their own spirit rice, such as Snow Leaf Rice, Lotus Crystal Rice, Phoenix Fire Crystal Rice, Pearl Rice, Jade Flower Rice, and so on.

Although these spirit rices were decent, they all contained some impurities, and their planting conditions were harsh, far incomparable to Sword Rice.

But along with this news, the Longxiang Earl Mansion also announced that they would fully open up the rice seeds.

This news was like dropping a bomb.

The entire Yujing City was in an uproar.

"Heavens, Master Yin is actually releasing the Sword Rice, and the seeds are only one tael of silver per catty. This is truly too cheap; even ordinary farmers can grit their teeth and afford it. A Saint, he is a Saint!"

"Master Yin is truly a living Saint. This Sword Rice can yield three hundred catties per mu even in barren lands. From this day forth, there will be no more people starving to death in this world, nor will there be any beggars."

"Hahaha, wonderful, wonderful! In the future, by consuming Sword Rice, we will no longer need various secret medicines for our cultivation."

"Go, go, hurry to the Longxiang Earl Mansion; if we are late, the seeds will run out!"

……

Which of the powerful nobles in Beijing did not possess hundreds of qing of fertile land?

They were the first to react, flocking to the Longxiang Earl Mansion, carrying chests upon chests of gold and silver.

Yin Qi did not show himself, instead letting Yin Tiancheng receive the various parties.

According to his plan, he would first satisfy the needs of the powerful nobles, as they possessed vast amounts of land and sufficient manpower and resources, and had the courage to plant the Sword Rice.

Although one tael per catty was cheap and ordinary people could afford it, it was estimated that few would dare to take the risk.

Once these powerful and influential people have planted it first and set an example, the common people will naturally follow suit.

Not only Great Gan, but even if the Yunmeng Empire, Yuantu Kingdom, Rouran Kingdom, and others come to purchase it, Yin Qi will allow it all, because he positions himself as the "Heavenly Emperor" who rules the entire universe, and these countries will sooner or later be his subjects as well.

Chest after chest of gold and silver is moved into the Longxiang Earl Mansion, and stone after stone of Sword Rice is carried out.

The first thing those who purchased the Sword Rice did upon returning home was to consume it themselves, discovering that the Sword Rice was indeed as Yin Qi had said, containing pure energy and being even more effective than cultivation secret medicines.

Consequently, Yujing City was in an uproar once again.

Those scholars who were still lingering in Beijing sang the praises of Yin Qi's magnificent feat one after another, calling it unprecedented in ancient times.

Even the great Confucian scholars of the Zhu Zi Families had to publicly acknowledge that Yin Qi is a Saint with boundless merit, so a large number of scholars once again jointly submitted a petition requesting that Yin Qi's clay statue be placed in the Saint Temple of the Gongyuan.

This petition was supported by many civil officials in the imperial court, such as Minister of Rites Li Shenguang.

Subsequently, great Confucian scholars from all sides also submitted petitions one after another.

Faced with the surging public opinion both inside and outside the imperial court, even the Emperor of Great Gan could no longer suppress it and had to issue an imperial decree of consent.

After the decree was issued, all the Confucian scholars cheered.

Yin Qi's reputation reached its peak.

Not only in Great Gan, but he also possessed unparalleled prestige among the common people in countries such as Yunmeng, Yuantu, Rouran, Huoluo, and Shenfeng.

……

Imperial Palace.

Imperial Study.

Hong Xuanji held a bowl of Sword Rice porridge and drank it all in one gulp.

He set down the jade bowl and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, this Sword Rice truly has not a single impurity, and the energy it contains is extremely vast; even for your humble servant, eating ten jin every day is enough."

One must know, he is currently a Peak Human Immortal!

In the past, if he did not eat spiritual medicine, he would have to eat at least one large water buffalo every day.

Killing intent was fully revealed in the eyes of the Emperor of Great Gan, and he said coldly, "Xuanji, Yin Qi can no longer be allowed to remain. Otherwise, in this Great Gan, he will be the true uncrowned emperor, and I will be constrained by him at every turn."

It is true that he is the Emperor, but if the civil and military officials of the entire court do not cooperate, he would likewise be at a loss.

By publishing the I Ching, Yin Qi has become a Saint in terms of the "Dao."

By publishing the Sword Rice, Yin Qi has also become a Saint in terms of "merit."

A person who is thus perfect in both morality and merit is a Saint in the world; every word and action of his represents the Dao, represents reason, and also represents possessing the highest power of interpretation in this world.

In front of a Saint, imperial power must also bow its head.