Luo Feifei was extremely excited. "Leave this matter to me from now on," she said. "But... this is a huge deal. It’s best to wait a few years before we act."

She felt her current standing wasn’t high enough. While influencing ordinary high-ranking figures was no problem, the top leadership was another story. Besides, they might believe her about minor issues, but for something so momentous—something that would affect future national policy and require an immeasurable amount of resources in manpower, finances, and materials—the top brass would never act rashly.

Li Xiang said, "There’s no rush. Five or six years in advance will be enough."

’It wasn’t that it wasn’t urgent—it was that it couldn’t be rushed. Mustn’t be rushed.’

Once the Apocalypse arrived, it would be an arduous, protracted war. They would need to preserve their strength for a fierce battle that would last many years—the kind of fight that couldn’t be rushed. Perhaps it would last for decades, perhaps centuries, or maybe... even millennia.

Li Xiang had a feeling the Human Race must have failed in his past life. Otherwise, why would the "System" have appeared to let him start over?

’Maybe there had been many rounds of "trial and error"?’

’He didn’t know why the "powers that be" had chosen him, but since the opportunity was in his hands...’

Li Xiang slowly exhaled, then inhaled, circulating his Breathing Technique. A clear light suffused his flesh, and a fragrance emanated from his body. For the past few days, he had been at home, cultivating diligently.

Then, it was time to harvest the mid-season rice.

Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, and Lei Xiaohui came over to help.

Yao Yao joked, "You smell really good, Li Xiang."

Zhao Xueqing and Lei Xiaohui nodded in agreement. Li Xiang had always smelled nice, but this was different. Taking a few deep breaths of his current fragrance cleared the mind and brought a sense of sudden clarity.

It was a profound experience, difficult to put into words.

Li Xiang smiled. "This is one of the signs of Minor Spirit Body Achievement. If you all cultivate diligently, you’ll be able to do this in the future too."

"Minor Spirit Body Achievement?" The three young women were confused. After all, they were only Tier One; that was still a long way off.

Li Xiang began to explain it to them. ’Still,’ he thought to himself, ’even if they reach Tier Six or Tier Seven, they’ll be a long way from Minor Spirit Body Achievement. My situation is a special case.’

However, Li Xiang had only reached Tier Five in his past life, so his understanding of this area was limited. He decided to go find Luo Feifei to discuss it.

In her past life, Luo Feifei had cultivated all the way to Tier Eighteen and was a genius of stunning talent. In this life, more and more of her Dream Realm memories were awakening. She was both a great teacher and a helpful friend on the path of cultivation—a hidden gem of a girl worth getting to know better.

The rice-paddy fish that had been raised in the mid-season paddy were indeed not big enough yet, so they were moved to the late-season paddy to continue growing. With the three young women helping, the fields were filled with cheerful laughter, creating a much livelier atmosphere than working alone. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

He didn’t get much from the mid-season rice harvest—just over six hundred kilograms from two mu of land. Because he didn’t use pesticides or chemical fertilizers, relying solely on the fish to eat insects, the yield was limited. A normal yield would be around seven hundred kilograms per mu, or even higher. Two mu should have produced at least thirteen to fourteen hundred kilograms.

Li Xiang was just doing it as a hobby, so he didn’t mind. In the past, his grandmother had a "go with the flow" attitude; she wasn’t physically able to farm much and lacked the money and strength for pesticides and fertilizers, so she took whatever the land gave her.

This just goes to show how important fertilizers and pesticides are to modern agriculture. If farming were purely organic, more than half the current population would starve.

A few years ago, for example, Sri Lanka completely banned the import and use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, launching a nationwide organic farming initiative.

Not many people may have heard of Sri Lanka, but everyone has surely heard of the Maldives. Like the Maldives, Sri Lanka is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, only it’s larger and closer to India.

It measures about four hundred kilometers from north to south and two hundred kilometers from east to west. Agriculture is one of its pillar industries.

The shift to fully organic agriculture was one of that president’s campaign slogans. At the time, he was ambitious, wanting to make Sri Lanka the world’s first 100% organic farming nation.

Back then, due to certain... unmentionable special circumstances, Sri Lanka’s other pillar industry—tourism—collapsed. Even so, the president insisted on pushing forward with organic agriculture.

As a result, the entire country collapsed. Grain production plummeted, famine struck, and a series of consequences followed: a fiscal deficit, hyperinflation, and a debt crisis. The president was forced to announce to parliament that "the country has gone bankrupt," after which he announced his resignation.

Although the collapse of its agriculture wasn’t the sole reason for the bankruptcy, it was undoubtedly one of the most fatal factors. If there had been enough food—even high-yield grain with excessive pesticide levels—they might have been able to hold on.

Why did Elder Yuan research high-yield hybrid rice, focusing only on maximizing production? It was to save lives in critical times. If Li Xiang were to establish agriculture in the Underground City, taste would not be the primary factor. There would be only one goal: "high yield!"

Before the Apocalypse, he would collect all varieties of rice seeds and save them for later use. But in the future, high-yield hybrid rice would be the primary variety he would promote, bar none.

Li Xiang decided not to plant rice next year. He had more Thai Fragrant Rice and Indian Fragrant Rice in his system’s warehouse than he could possibly eat, so there was no point in planting more.

Until he could get the Underground City’s agriculture up and running, these stored grains would be their primary food supply.

After Li Xiang told his grandmother, she agreed. After all, the family was well-off now, so it didn’t really matter whether they grew their own crops. Planting some vegetables in the front and back yards would be enough.

The heavy snow in the north had stopped, but the temperature didn’t rise quickly. The south also remained cold, and its own heavy snows were not far off. Li Xiang, integrating his Breathing Technique into his daily life, built a reinforced greenhouse for the vegetable garden.

Its roof was sloped to make it easy to sweep snow off and to allow heavy snow to slide down on its own. The cats, the two goslings, and the hedgehog loved playing inside it.