Selling

Chapter 7: For Sale

A quarter of an hour later, Shi Yue arrived at the valley entrance. A bustling sound drifted from within.

At the valley entrance stood a white stone tablet, inscribed with four vermilion characters: "Great Void Market."

Shi Yue's eyes flickered, and he stepped into the valley.

The entire market consisted of a single street running north-south. The buildings on either side were neat and orderly, with shops of varying sizes, from towering multi-story pavilions to low, single-story stone houses no more than ten feet tall.

The street was bustling, a tide of people flowing through. Cultivators entered and exited various shops, creating a lively scene.

Shi Yue had visited the market many times and was quite familiar with its layout.

Before long, he arrived at a two-story pavilion with a plaque that read "Spirit Grain Pavilion."

Spirit Grain Pavilion, as the name suggested, dealt in Spirit Grain.

Behind a long counter, numerous leather bags were displayed, each filled with Spirit Grain. A faint, fresh aroma permeated the air.

Behind the counter, three shop assistants in uniform green robes were explaining the efficacy of Spirit Grain to a few customers.

"Fellow Daoist, how may I help you?" Shi Yue approached the counter, and a green-robed shop assistant said with a smile.

"Do you buy Spirit Grain?" Shi Yue asked directly.

"We do. Please follow me," the green-robed shop assistant nodded and led Shi Yue to a side room.

"There's no one else here now. You can take out the Spirit Grain you wish to sell, and I'll offer a price based on its quality."

Shi Yue nodded and took a stalk of unhusked rice from his storage bag, handing it to the shop assistant.

With a rub of his hands, the husk split open as if made of paper, revealing snow-white grains that emitted a faint fragrance.

He took out a small golden dagger, cut off a small piece of the Spirit Grain, and chewed it a few times.

"Low-grade Spirit Grain. One Spirit Stone per jin. What do you think, Fellow Daoist?" the shop assistant asked, narrowing his eyes with a smile.

"No problem. Weigh it and tell me how many jin it is and how many Spirit Stones it's worth." Shi Yue nodded and tossed the storage bag filled with Spirit Grain to the shop assistant.

The shop assistant produced a palm-sized silver disc engraved with numbers.

After injecting some Magical Power, the silver disc expanded to about five or six zhang in size.

The shop assistant tossed the storage bag into the air. With a flick of his wrist, a spell was cast upon the bag, its opening unfurling. A beam of light shot out and landed on the silver disc.

As the light subsided, a pile of fist-sized grains appeared on the silver disc.

"Eighty-seven jin in total, which comes out to eighty-seven Spirit Stones," the shop assistant said, stepping forward and looking at the bottom right corner of the silver disc.

Shi Yue stepped forward and saw the black characters "Eighty-seven" displayed on the bottom right corner of the silver disc.

"Deal," Shi Yue nodded. The weight was within his expectations.

He took a storage bag from the shop assistant, confirmed the quantity was correct, and walked out.

Leaving the Spirit Grain Shop, Shi Yue wore a faint smile. Every effort yields a reward. The moment the Spirit Stones were in hand, the toil of the entire year vanished.

With eighty-seven Spirit Stones suddenly in his possession, Shi Yue felt as if everyone on the street was a thief.

With Spirit Stones, the natural next step was to purchase elixirs for cultivation.

Shi Yue walked along the street, and before long, he arrived in front of an elegantly decorated pavilion. Above its entrance hung a golden plaque about ten feet wide, inscribed with three large, flowing characters: "Hundred Pills Pavilion."

Inside the hall, twenty to thirty cultivators bustled about, clustered around several counters, conversing with shop assistants dressed in red.

Shi Yue scanned the hall and walked towards the counter with the fewest people.

"A bottle of Qi Refining Powder is twenty Spirit Stones. Isn't that too expensive? Can you make it a little cheaper? I'll buy two bottles." A middle-aged man stood at the counter, haggling.

"You get what you pay for. This Qi Refining Powder was refined by the Alchemists of our Great Void Sect. Its quality is definitely much better than what's sold at those small stalls. Fellow Daoist, you're at the peak of Qi Refining Layer Seven. Taking some Qi Refining Powder might very well allow you to advance to Qi Refining Layer Eight," the shop assistant said in a tempting tone.

"Alright! Give me two bottles," the middle-aged man said after a moment's thought.

After paying the Spirit Stones, the middle-aged man pocketed the two bottles of Qi Refining Powder and left. Shi Yue seized the opportunity and quickly walked up.

"Fellow Daoist, what do you need?" the shop assistant asked with a smile.

"Give me two bottles of Qi Refining Powder," Shi Yue said directly.

The shop assistant nodded, took two porcelain bottles from the shelf behind him, and handed them to Shi Yue.

Shi Yue pulled out the stoppers, sniffed them, nodded, paid the Spirit Stones, and left with the two bottles of Qi Refining Powder.

Five li outside the market, Shi Yue flew towards the sect on his artifact.

Upon returning to his residence, Shi Yue sat cross-legged on his stone bed, took out a white porcelain bottle, poured out a green pill, and swallowed it.

The elixir melted instantly upon entering his mouth, transforming into a stream of pure Spiritual Energy that circulated through Shi Yue's meridians.

He hastily circulated the Great Void Art, refining this pure Spiritual Energy, and slowly closed his eyes.

The next morning, as soon as he woke up, Shi Yue could sense the changes in himself. His divine sense was much sharper than before, especially his perception of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, which was most evident.

Shi Yue's face lit up with joy. He knew this meant he had advanced to Qi Refining Layer Three.

He had been stuck at Qi Refining Layer Two for over two years and should have advanced to Layer Three long ago. However, he hadn't had the Spirit Stones to buy Qi Refining Powder for cultivation until now.

It felt so good to have Spirit Stones!

Shi Yue calmed his excited emotions and entered the Mysterious Space.

Compared to yesterday, the plants in the three mu of Spirit Fields had all grown considerably taller.

Shi Yue walked around the three mu of Spirit Fields, carefully inspecting each plant. After confirming there were no abnormalities, he nodded with satisfaction.

Shi Yue formed a hand seal, and waves of blue light appeared out of thin air above his head, transforming into a white cloud cluster dozens of feet wide.

"Go," Shi Yue pointed forward, and the white cloud cluster quickly flew over the Spirit Rice.

Raindrops the size of beans immediately poured down, falling onto the mu of Spirit Rice.

A short while later, the rain stopped. The white cloud cluster flew to the left, arriving above the Blazing Sun Grass.

Shi Yue formed a hand seal, and after the white cloud cluster churned and surged, drizzling rain fell from it, sprinkling onto the Blazing Sun Grass.

Half an hour later, the rain stopped. The white cloud cluster flew over the Condensing Smoke Grass. After churning and surging, raindrops the size of beans poured down.

A quarter of an hour later, Shi Yue retracted his hand seal, and the white cloud cluster dispersed and vanished.

After advancing to Qi Refining layer three, Shi Yue found it much easier to water the three mu of Spirit Fields. The troublesome part was that the Spirit Rice, Blazing Sun Grass, and Condensing Smoke Grass had different water requirements, so he had to water them one by one.

However, when he thought about earning Spirit Stones, Shi Yue didn't feel bothered.

Once the Spirit Rice was harvested, the Spirit Field in the courtyard would be empty. Shi Yue needed to buy a batch of Spirit Rice seeds and plant them early. Also, he should go to the Deacon Hall to pick up his routine tasks, otherwise, he wouldn't earn a single Spirit Stone this month.

Lost in thought, Shi Yue withdrew from the Mysterious Space and flew towards the Deacon Hall using his artifact.