Acquiring Purple Mist Grass

"I don't have any money! Take my life instead!" Shen Xiu angrily shoved Chang Ping away.

She tossed the luxurious lingerie, miniskirts, stockings, and other goods onto the table, then sat down on the bed with her legs crossed and her arms folded over her chest, sulking to herself.

She'd worked herself to the bone outside all afternoon and come back with a dry throat, only to be denied even a cup of tea—not to mention a single word of praise. He was treating her like she wasn't even human. It was just too much!

"All right, don't be mad. I was only joking." Chang Ping fitted the replacement latch into the door, then turned toward Shen Xiu, deciding to give this capable woman a proper reward. "Thanks for all your hard work. I'm going to reward you properly."

Shen Xiu stared blankly at Chang Ping as he walked over, undoing his buttons. Was this how he rewarded people?

A while later.

Shen Xiu lay facedown on the bed, her face buried in the pillow. She was as motionless as a dead fish and had no desire for tea at all now.

Chang Ping sat on the bed, counting the Demon Crystal Cards one by one.

Exactly ten. That was a hundred thousand Demon Spirit Coins.

"I've got forty bottles left here. Take them all to sell this afternoon. Then we'll use the money to buy up Purple Mist Grass. Once the price shoots up, we'll sell it all and make a killing!" Chang Ping poked Shen Xiu with a finger as thick as a cucumber.

"Did you hear me? I'm talking to you!"

Shen Xiu gave a halfhearted "Mm." She was utterly exhausted, body and mind, and didn't want to say a word.

Smack!

Chang Ping slapped her round bottom, stood up, put the forty bottles of shampoo on the table, and left.

He planned to use the hundred thousand Demon Spirit Coins to buy up some Purple Mist Grass first.

In the Glory City, people only knew that Purple Mist Grass could drive away mosquitoes and other insects. They had no idea it had other uses.

But Chang Ping knew that Purple Mist Grass could increase the success rate and yield of Soul Gathering Pill refinement. Soaking in it could also improve one's appearance and boost Soul Force.

However, Chang Ping only knew those two uses, while that old geezer Nie Li knew sixty-three.

Even if Chang Ping wasn't as knowledgeable as that old geezer Nie Li, the uses he knew were enough to send the price of Purple Mist Grass soaring. Even without Nie Li stirring things up, he could still make a tidy profit.

Selling shampoo was more profitable, but his Strength Value was precious. He needed it to upgrade his talent and exchange for cultivation techniques, so he didn't want to use it unless absolutely necessary.

While buying up Purple Mist Grass at a medicine shop on Academy Street, he ran into someone he knew.

Xiao Ning'er!

She was there to buy medicine, too.

Their eyes met, but neither said a word.

Xiao Ning'er only paused for a moment before putting away the Chinese medicine and leaving the shop with a cool expression.

"Such an aloof girl." Watching Xiao Ning'er's retreating figure, Chang Ping couldn't help sighing. "She must be buying medicine to treat her Extreme Cold Sickness, right? Maybe I should help her."

Chang Ping went to the counter and asked the shop assistant what medicine the blue-clad girl had just bought.

The shop assistant replied that she'd bought medicine to improve circulation and relax the muscles.

Chang Ping nodded. Just as he'd thought—it was for treating Extreme Cold Sickness.

"Sir, what medicine would you like? We have top-quality tiger-bone tonic wine. It's great for boosting virility and nourishing the kidneys. One cup can keep you going for an hour." The shop assistant worked at a pharmacy and could tell from Chang Ping's complexion at a glance that he seemed a little short on vitality.

"I don't need it!" Chang Ping glared at the shop assistant in annoyance. What nonsense. He was as vigorous as a dragon and tiger—how could he have weak kidneys? "How much Purple Mist Grass do you have in the shop? I'll take it all!"

Purple Mist Grass was very cheap at the moment. A single Demon Spirit Coin could buy several pounds.

"What do you want Purple Mist Grass for? All it does is repel mosquitoes. It can't cure kidney weakness." The shop assistant offered a well-meaning reminder.

Chang Ping flew into a rage. He grabbed the shop assistant by the collar and lifted him with one hand. "Say 'kidney weakness' one more time, and I'll beat your two kidneys to a pulp. You believe me?"

"I won't say it again! I swear!" The shop assistant swallowed hard and begged for mercy.

This man was a human-shaped ferocious beast. He couldn't afford to provoke him!

Nie Li and the others had already bought up most of the Purple Mist Grass on Academy Street. Chang Ping only managed to get a few thousand pounds, for a little over a thousand Demon Spirit Coins.

With no other choice, Chang Ping went to other shopping streets in the North District to keep buying.

He spent the whole afternoon riding around the North District in a carriage. By the time he finished, he'd used up all the hundred thousand Demon Spirit Coins he had.

When he returned to the dormitory that evening, Shen Xiu had once again completed her task to perfection, bringing Chang Ping a whopping six hundred thousand Demon Spirit Coins.

"Shouldn't it have been four hundred thousand?" After counting a thick stack of Demon Crystal Cards, Chang Ping couldn't believe it.

"The price went up!" Shen Xiu explained patiently, lying on the bed. "When something's scarce, it's worth more. I told them those were the last forty bottles of shampoo, so I charged extra. That rich lady had money to burn. She agreed, and even gave me lots of gifts."

She didn't understand. She'd been lying on the bed for so long, yet Chang Ping still hadn't made a move. Wasn't this position alluring enough?

What Shen Xiu didn't know was that Chang Ping had taken the shop assistant's words to heart and decided to stop indulging himself. No more than twice a day.

Once in the morning while bathing, and once at noon as a reward. Nothing tonight.

Shen Xiu really was a vixen who brought trouble. She'd stolen his heart, and now she was going to ruin his kidneys, too. He'd have to keep his distance from her from now on.

"Thanks for all your hard work."

Chang Ping offered a perfunctory word of praise, stored the money in his small ring, and stood up.

Just as Shen Xiu thought Chang Ping was about to reward her, she heard him say, "By the way, don't forget to wash my clothes in a bit." With that, Chang Ping strode out of the dormitory, leaving Shen Xiu alone to spend the night.

Shen Xiu was stunned. She'd gotten excited for nothing.

"Bastard! I'm never talking to you again!" Shen Xiu was so frustrated she could have spat blood.

Night fell quietly.

Chang Ping leaped over the wall and entered the Trial Ground.

He was already a Gold-ranked Fighter. A wall barely a dozen meters high wouldn't stop him.

The dim forest was silent.

Maybe because he'd killed all the Horned Sheep, the area was eerily quiet. It seemed as if you could hear a needle drop.

For some reason, he searched the forest for ages without spotting Xiao Ning'er.

"Strange. Where'd she go?" Chang Ping crouched on a tree branch, slapped dead a venomous snake that had tried to ambush him, and glanced around in confusion. "I'm here to save you, not to mess around with you. Why are you running off?"

What Chang Ping didn't know was that, after discovering him hunting Horned Sheep in the beginner area, Xiao Ning'er had moved to the intermediate area.

Suddenly, a faint medicinal scent drifted through the air.

Chang Ping furrowed his brow and followed the smell.

"Is that her?" Seeing Xiao Ning'er packing up her medicine pot, Chang Ping was utterly puzzled. Why had she come to the Stone Forest in the intermediate area? Wasn't she afraid that the Great Rock Pythons living here would swallow her whole?

As he crouched on a tree branch, puzzled, a large boulder behind Xiao Ning'er moved.