Deposit

Old Huang stood at the edge of his own Spirit Field, gazing at the rice plants glistening like jade, his heart filled with deep satisfaction.

This acre of Spirit Field, cultivated to the first rank, had absorbed an enormous amount of his painstaking effort—and brought him generous returns in turn.

What a pity. In just over a year, he would have to leave the sect, and this Spirit Field could not be passed down to his grandson.

At that thought, Old Huang let out a quiet sigh. More than half of his good mood vanished.

"Senior Brother's Azure Corn has brought in another bumper harvest."

Ji An walked over and stood beside Old Huang.

He immediately sensed the difference in a first-rank Spirit Field. The vigorous spiritual energy mingled with the fresh fragrance of Azure Corn, making his spirits jolt awake.

"Haha, cultivating this ranked Spirit Field is the only thing I've done in all these years worth boasting about."

"Senior Brother, you've planted so many Spirit Fields. Other than the field rent and taxes paid to the sect, who do you sell the remaining spirit grain to?"

Ji An asked. Old Huang cultivated ten acres of Spirit Fields. With his current skill, he harvested at least over two thousand jin each season.

The talisman bird had limited carrying capacity and could bear at most five hundred jin. Factoring in his own weight, it could carry less than four hundred jin of spirit rice per trip.

He currently had sixteen hundred jin of Yellow Bud Rice on hand and needed to sell at least a thousand jin. Making several round trips to the General Affairs Hall would be too troublesome and waste too much time.

He knew that people in the sect made a business of buying and selling spirit grain. Many older Spirit Farmers sold their harvests to such people.

His harvests had been too small in the past, so there had been no need to deal with people like that.

But his future harvests would only grow larger. He would inevitably need to establish connections with them to make selling more convenient.

"That? Many clans send people over to trade in spirit rice.

The profits from spirit rice are thin, but the daily volume of transactions is large enough. None of the clans able to get involved in this trade are small. The ones I deal with are from the Baiyuan Mountain Li Clan.

Selling to them saves worry too. The price is about the same as selling to the sect, except you can't exchange it for Contribution Points.

But Contribution Points are useless to me now."

Perhaps because he was old, or perhaps because he felt that his remaining days in the sect were few, Old Huang prattled on for quite a while without getting to the point.

Ji An did not feel right urging him on, so he listened quietly, chiming in from time to time.

"Look at me, going on about a pile of nonsense."

Old Huang came back to himself and said with a smile:

"I've arranged a time with the Li Clan. On the third day of every third month, they come to buy our goods once.

If Little Brother An wants to sell his spirit grain, I'll let them know. Just stay home that day."

"Thank you, Senior Brother."

Ji An remembered that Li Changfeng was from the Baiyuan Mountain Li Clan. He wondered whether the token Li Changfeng had given him could earn him a few more crystal stones.

The two chatted for a while longer before Ji An took his leave.

Old Huang watched his receding back, a glint flashing through his eyes.

Every morning, after returning from Azure Water Lake where he extracted Water Essence, he passed by this junior brother's Spirit Field.

Naturally, Ji An's harvested Spirit Field could not escape his notice.

He had once heard higher-ranking Spirit Farmers mention that there were only two possible reasons Yellow Bud Rice could mature faster.

First, a ranked Spirit Field could have such an effect.

Second, the Minor Cloud and Rain Art at the Perfected Realm.

He had inspected it before. Ji An's Spirit Field was not ranked, leaving only one possibility.

"Could Junior Brother Ji possess some special constitution?"

Old Huang thought to himself, then sighed softly.

"If Fei Hu were half as outstanding as Little Brother An, I'd wake up laughing from my dreams."

Azure Water Market.

Wei Songnian abruptly slapped his thigh. After glancing to either side, he lowered his voice and said:

"Junior Brother, your skill in making talisman paper has improved so quickly!"

He had just counted the talisman paper Ji An brought over. The total amount of talisman paper that could be made from an acre of talisman grass would not vary much, but the eighty-one sheets of mid-grade Talisman Paper Ji An had delivered this time made him look at him in a new light.

Thinking of those Spirit Farmers who bought pills one or two at a time, Wei Songnian could only sigh.

They were both Spirit Farmers, so why was the gap between them so great? Why did he earn crystal stones so easily?

His heart felt sour. These mid-grade Talisman Papers alone were worth six Spirit Stones.

Among the Spirit Farmers in the entire sect, excluding Qi Condensation Stage disciples cultivating atop the spirit vein, there might not even be enough with such an income to count on both hands.

"My craftsmanship improved a little."

Ji An showed an honest, simple smile. His talisman paper-making technique had not improved; rather, his skill as a Spirit Farmer had risen considerably.

When the materials were good enough, the rate of high-quality products naturally rose with the tide.

"With such craftsmanship, why worry that you won't be able to reach Foundation Establishment in the future!"

Wei Songnian sighed in admiration, quickly counted through the remaining talisman paper, and said:

"The talisman paper and talisman ink come to a total of 970 Spirit Crystals."

Ji An nodded slightly and said with a smile:

"There are still some Azure Jade Pills left from last time. Buying fifteen this time will be enough, along with materials for ten bottles of talisman ink."

"Alrighty."

Wei Songnian beamed. This Junior Brother could earn Spirit Crystals, and he was never stingy when spending them either. He was bound to achieve great things in the future!

He quickly prepared the materials and pills, then said:

"The pills are 450 Spirit Crystals, and the talisman ink ingredients are 230 Spirit Crystals, leaving 290 Spirit Crystals. Does Junior Brother want anything else?"

Ji An shook his head.

"Not for now.

"Next season, I'm planning to plant two mu of talisman grass. Senior Brother, please keep an eye out for a Spirit Absorption Array formation plate for me.

"When the spirit grain ripens again, I'll come collect it. The remaining Spirit Crystals from just now can serve as the deposit. What does Senior Brother think?"

Junior Brother was still the same Junior Brother—he had not changed one bit. He never kept any Spirit Crystals in his hands!

Where else could one find such a high-quality customer?!

The warmth in Wei Songnian's smile practically overflowed as he laughed heartily.

"Sure, no problem."

He cleared his throat and slowly began:

"Spirit Absorption Arrays are divided into ordinary, superior, and premium grades according to quality. Formation plates made by Falling Maple Valley are the best.

"Ordinary formation plates may seem cheap, but they consume more to activate, and their efficiency in converting Spirit Stones into spiritual energy is somewhat lower.

"From my experience, if Junior Brother intends to use one long-term, I suggest buying a superior-grade one directly.

"It may seem like a greater initial expense in Spirit Stones, but you'll save it back later."

"Senior Brother, tell me the prices and differences between these grades so I can use them as a reference."

Ji An did not feel pained when spending Spirit Stones, so long as he had them and they were useful to him.

"Falling Maple Valley is renowned for its formations, and the formation plates they make are generally of better quality.

"An ordinary-grade Spirit Absorption Array costs twenty-two Spirit Stones. It can convert roughly thirty percent of the spiritual energy in the Spirit Stones. Loading it with three Spirit Stones at a time can support about ten hours of cultivation.

"A superior-grade one costs forty-five Spirit Stones. It can convert roughly thirty-five percent of the spiritual energy in the Spirit Stones. With five Spirit Stones loaded, it can support sixteen or seventeen hours of cultivation.

"Premium-grade ones are beyond what people like us can covet. I hear they require over a hundred Spirit Stones and are only used by great Foundation Establishment cultivators."

After hearing about the strengths and weaknesses of the formations, Ji An slowly said:

"Senior Brother, of course I want a superior-grade formation plate, but I don't have enough Spirit Crystals on hand. I wonder whether Senior Brother would be willing to help me out a little?"

"No problem!"

Wei Songnian patted his chest and readily agreed. In private, he kept records of what money-making skills all his high-quality customers possessed, and this fellow was on the list.

Having just assessed Ji An's income, he found that it would take him less than a year to save enough Spirit Stones for a premium formation array—and that was without delaying his cultivation.

"Junior Brother still has 290 Spirit Crystals from just now. That counts as a deposit of three Spirit Stones."