The Spirit Vein Willow Being Decomposed

Need mineral materials?

That was rather troublesome.

"If I want to raise these Golden Horn Ants, how much metal ore would they need each day? How much would be appropriate?" he asked.

The Female Cultivator shook her head. "Since you truly intend to buy them, Fellow Daoist, let me explain more clearly.

If they could purify mineral materials just by being raised, I would not be selling them.

They only like digging downward. They will not even glance at mineral materials placed beside them.

I often have to dig into the ground myself and bury some Spiritual Materials inside, then watch them carry them out grain by grain. If not for that, I would not be willing to sell them either."

"..."

He had to admit, this fellow Daoist was quite honest.

One look was enough to tell that even her Daoist Robe could not conceal her well-proportioned figure.

She was indeed sturdier than those slender Female Cultivators. Rather than an immortal cultivator, she looked more like a wandering martial heroine.

"They only like mineral materials that have been buried in the ground?"

"That's right."

"Very well. I'll buy them. Here are one thousand Spirit Stones. Count them, Fellow Daoist."

Li Ye casually took out one thousand Spirit Stones.

Honestly, this thing was indeed a bit troublesome, but fortunately, he had the Micro-Stream Beavers to help.

Those little fellows were quite good at digging too. At worst, he could ask them to bury some Spiritual Materials in the soil.

It was somewhat superfluous, but... it was not him doing the labor.

"Fellow Daoist is truly forthright!" Seeing that she had finally cast off this burden, the Female Cultivator beamed. As she placed the ant nest into a box, she took out a jade slip and handed it to Li Ye.

"This contains the experience I have compiled on what Spiritual Materials Golden Horn Ants like to eat. Also, Fellow Daoist must be careful not to let them escape. You need to use a special spirit liquid to mark out their boundaries..."

She clearly still liked these spirit ants very much. She chattered on for a while, until even Li Ye found it strange. "Fellow Daoist should like them greatly. Why sell them?"

The Female Cultivator sighed. "Ah, isn't it because I raised too many? Just burying Spiritual Materials for them every day takes up a great deal of time.

Besides, my energy is limited. If I cultivate so many, I certainly cannot take proper care of them all. I might as well focus on raising a few nests well."

"So that's how it is."

"Then I wish Fellow Daoist may get what you desire."

Li Ye picked up the box containing the spirit ants and took his leave. He casually placed it in his Storage Pouch, then took out the jade slip and sat in a corner to read it with his Divine Sense.

What was written inside was fairly detailed. At the very least, it listed several kinds of mineral materials the Golden Horn Ants liked to eat, ores such as Turbid Iron Ore and Sharp Metal Ore. Based on the descriptions, they should be first-grade ores.

This ant nest contained only two hundred worker ants, one hundred male ants, one Ant Queen, and fifty soldier ants.

They consumed roughly three jin of ore each day.

Li Ye fell silent when he saw that number.

If all of them needed to be bound, would that not cost tens of thousands of points of Vital Essence?

It seemed that these numerous spirit insects truly were not suited for him.

Without question, if he wanted to maximize the power of his Golden Finger, he could only pursue quality.

If he greedily tried to bind many of them, he would likely have to spend an unknown amount of effort and Vital Essence.

Raising the Micro-Stream Beavers had made him realize that properly raising spirit beasts was no simple matter. It required a great deal of Heart Power.

No wonder the famous spirit plants beside the immortals in myths and legends numbered only a few.

It seemed even immortals could not attend to so many.

"Since I've already bought them, I'll see whether I can buy some mineral materials here as well." He rose and continued browsing.

It was a Zhou Family banquet. Not many people had been invited, but those connected to the Zhou Family might know one another, and there was so much food as well.

As a result, the entire venue felt somewhat strange. Sometimes, when Li Ye turned a corner, he would see two cultivators chatting while eating, perhaps with a stall selling goods set up beside them.

Whenever he encountered such a scene, he would offer a friendly smile.

Then he would continue searching for what he needed.

After roughly half an hour of bustling about, he bought one hundred jin of Sharp Metal Ore. This ore was a basic first-grade Spiritual Material, the sort of material needed to forge Magic Tools such as flying swords.

Flying swords were practically standard equipment for cultivators. Li Ye currently had a first-grade magic sword in his Storage Pouch.

During that time, he also came across several earth-element spirit beasts and spirit plants, but none suited his fancy. He did not even see a single one that could be bound.

Afterward, he no longer held much hope of finding earth-element spirit plants or spirit beasts.

Yet while browsing, he unexpectedly discovered a small island nestled among lotus blossoms.

Only a few stalls were scattered across the island. One of them was run by the middle-aged male cultivator who had previously sold the Crimson-Gold Dragon Carp.

"What a coincidence, Fellow Daoist. It's you again. What items are you selling today?"

Li Ye stepped forward. After greeting him, he looked over the stall.

A scattering of strange roots and half-dead flowers and grasses lay atop the stall.

No matter how he looked at them, they seemed like unsold leftovers bundled together for a clearance sale.

Behind the stall, Third Uncle Zhou sat reading an ancient book, swaying his head as he did so. Even when a customer came, he merely glanced over.

"I don't know whether these things are good or bad either. One hundred Spirit Stones per plant. Take them if you want them."

"One hundred Spirit Stones?"

"A single Crimson-Gold Dragon Carp you sold me a while ago was only eighty Spirit Stones, Senior. Yet these... are actually being sold for a hundred Spirit Stones!"

He might be good at making money, and he had earned quite a few Spirit Stones since coming here, but that did not mean he could accept such an outrageous price.

Even if he had a Golden Finger that let him cheat and see their details, he could not just be a sucker and pay up.

Haggling was a must!

But Third Uncle Zhou immediately shook his head. "These things were all taken from Ripple Cliff Grotto-Heaven. I need the money from selling them to buy wine. If you want them, Fellow Daoist, three hundred Spirit Stones for five plants, or five hundred Spirit Stones for eight!"

Li Ye was instantly speechless. This Third Uncle Zhou was truly clever enough—he actually came up with such pricing. If one bought the five-hundred-Spirit-Stone deal, they could take eight plants straight away.

Though if one calculated carefully, the five-hundred deal actually cost more per plant than the three-hundred one, it was obvious that he was trying to make people buy more.

At least, at first listen, it really did sound convincing.

What a profiteer!

Yet Li Ye truly was curious.

He lowered his head and pretended to inspect these bizarre spirit plants with his Divine Sense, trying to judge them by the intensity of their Spiritual Energy.

But in the end, the Spiritual Energy in all of these spirit plants was faint—indeed, exactly the same.

Without Divine Sense to infer their worth through Spiritual Energy, no wonder Third Uncle Zhou was selling them for a hundred apiece. So it all came down to luck.

'In that case, don't blame me for cheating.'

Li Ye began scanning them through the panel, and a tremendous wave immediately surged through his heart. This pile of entirely different spirit plants was actually all part of the same plant!

Name: Spirit Vein Willow · Leaf

Status: Disassembled, Dormant

Mood: None

Bindable: After being completely assembled, it can be bound to any spirit beast that loves Spiritual Energy mineral veins or spirit veins.

There were more than twenty pieces of varying sizes, yet every single one was a different part of the Spirit Vein Willow—just what rank of spirit plant was this?