Wang Shouye

Wang Daoyuan was, after all, a transmigrator with memories of his previous life. After thinking it over, he recalled a famous saying about financial investment from his past life: "Never put all your eggs in one basket."

Since he could not sell large amounts of spirit grain, he could grow something else. Selling several kinds of spirit medicine would draw far less attention than selling spirit grain alone.

The Wang Clan had fifty mu of Spirit Fields scattered throughout Jade Spring Peak. Yet the varieties of spirit medicine they cultivated were few. Among the First-Order Spirit Medicines, there were only some ten types, including spirit grain, Yellow Cloud Grass, Crimson Blood Ginseng, and the like.

Yellow Cloud Grass was the main material for making First-Order Talisman Paper. The other spirit medicines were ingredients for refining Clear Spirit Pills, Spirit Gathering Pills, Rejuvenation Pills, and other medicinal pills commonly used by Qi Refining cultivators.

As a member of the Wang Clan, and one with outstanding talent in talisman crafting, he would very likely grow into one of the Lineage's economic pillars... Obtaining First-Order Spirit Medicine seeds should not be difficult.

Having thought up a solution, Wang Daoyuan's heart, "like a pack of eunuchs climbing into a brothel," blazed hot again.

Unable to suppress his excitement, he immediately ran out of his cave abode and headed straight for the residence of the elder in charge of the Spirit Fields.

The elder managing the Spirit Fields was named Wang Shouye. He ranked twelfth among the Shou generation and was the youngest and most gifted elder in the Lineage, not yet forty. He had broken through to Qi Refining Layer Nine at twenty-five and reached the Qi Refining Peak at twenty-eight. He could break through to the Foundation Establishment realm at any time.

However, the Wang Clan had no reliable means of obtaining Foundation Establishment Pills. Without one, forcing a breakthrough was far too dangerous. Failure meant nine deaths and one slim chance of survival.

For one, he was still young. As long as he broke through before his qi and blood began to decline at seventy, his chances of success would not be affected. For another, the Qi Refining stage was when one laid the foundations. The more one accumulated, the firmer one's foundation became, the higher the chance of a successful breakthrough, and the farther one could travel upon the Dao Path.

Therefore, Wang Shouye had long delayed forcing a breakthrough. To care for this elder, the one most likely in the Lineage to reach Foundation Establishment, the Lineage had assigned him its most leisurely post: Grand Manager of the Spirit Fields.

His main task was simply to inspect the yearly yield of the Spirit Fields. As long as it remained within a reasonable range, there was nothing for him to do. The miscellaneous work was handled by stewards at every level.

This Grand Manager was renowned throughout the clan, but Wang Daoyuan had never met him. Wang Shouye was "unrestrained and wild, in love with freedom," and since his cultivation had become difficult to advance further, he spent his free time roaming outside. He returned to the mountain only when major clan affairs arose.

It was now the end of the year, when the Lineage would audit its annual income and expenses. The Grand Manager of the Spirit Fields had to be present, so Wang Shouye was very likely on the mountain.

Wang Daoyuan arrived before Wang Shouye's cave abode. Just as he was about to call out, he heard a lazy yet somewhat familiar voice. "Come in."

Wang Daoyuan pushed open the door and entered. Other than a stone couch, the cave abode contained only wine vats, wine jars, wine flasks, and wine gourds.

A man in white lay on the stone platform with one leg crossed over the other, holding a wine gourd and pouring wine into his mouth.

Once Wang Daoyuan saw the white-clad man's face clearly, he felt somewhat depressed. It was the very "immortal" who had brought him up the mountain years ago.

Who would have thought that the famous genius elder and his own frivolous guide were actually the same person?

Wang Daoyuan hurriedly bowed. "This junior, Wang Daoyuan, greets Twelfth Uncle."

Wang Shouye did not even rise. With a wave of his hand, a wine gourd hanging on the wall flew toward Wang Daoyuan.

"So it's you, kid. Cut the empty formalities. Drink first, then talk."

Wang Daoyuan had never drunk wine before, but since he had come to ask for a favor, he could hardly refuse.

He took the wine gourd and swallowed a large mouthful. The moment the wine entered his throat, it felt as though he had swallowed a ball of fire, its flames burning down his throat.

The burning sensation gradually faded, transforming into a warm current that flowed into his dantian. His cultivation actually increased by a trace. That mouthful of wine was worth a full day of meditative cultivation.

Having tasted the benefits, he raised his head and drained the entire gourd in one gulp. He felt as though he had fallen into a furnace, yet he was not drunk in the slightest.

"Hahaha, good lad! What a drinker! As expected of someone I took a liking to—your future is limitless."

Wang Daoyuan looked helpless. So Your Excellency judged a cultivator's future by his capacity for drink?

Wang Shouye sat up from the stone couch and asked, "What did you come to see me for, kid?"

Wang Daoyuan replied, "This junior wishes to plant spirit medicines near his cave abode and earn a little extra. That is why I came to ask Twelfth Uncle for some First-Order Spirit Medicine seeds."

Wang Shouye slapped the storage bag at his waist and took out more than ten cloth packets the size of eggs.

"There are only these dozen or so First-Order Spirit Medicines in the clan. Take whichever ones you want."

Wang Daoyuan thought, Twelfth Uncle just took out a gourd of precious Spirit Wine to entertain a junior of poor aptitude like me. After I drained it in one gulp, not only was he not distressed, he even laughed heartily. Clearly, he is a forthright and generous man. Rather than politely declining, I might as well take them all openly and honestly.

Thus, he put away all the packets of seeds and said, "In that case, this nephew will not stand on ceremony."

Sure enough, just as Wang Daoyuan had expected, after he put away all the seeds, Wang Shouye burst into laughter. "Good lad. You really are someone who never lets himself suffer a loss. That suits my taste."

As he spoke, he pulled out a sheet of paper from his storage bag and tossed it to Wang Daoyuan. "You can hold your liquor well. This is the recipe for the Crimson Blood Brew you just drank. I'll give it to you too. When you brew good wine, don't forget to send me a few jars."

Spirit Wine recipes were extraordinarily precious. A recipe required not only the proportions of its spirit ingredients, but also the making of the Fermented Starter and the brewing process. Among these, preparing the Fermented Starter was the most difficult.

Creating a Spirit Wine recipe from nothing consumed more manpower and resources than developing a pill recipe of the same grade.

Wang Daoyuan accepted the recipe and cupped his hands. "Thank you, Twelfth Uncle. If I brew good wine, I will absolutely not forget you. This junior will not disturb Your Excellency's drinking any longer. I'll return now to plant spirit medicines."

Wang Shouye nodded. "You run the moment you get an advantage. You have the makings of someone fit to venture out into the world. Get lost, and don't forget the several jars of Crimson Blood Brew you owe me."

Wang Daoyuan quickly replied, "How would I dare renege on a debt to Twelfth Uncle?"

After returning to his cave abode, he first dug several pits in the flat ground around it and planted a few seeds of every type of spirit medicine.

Then he entered the cave abode, sent his divine sense into the space, and planted the seeds he had obtained in the Spirit Fields of the Spirit Pearl Space.

As the master of the Spirit Pearl Space, Wang Daoyuan did not need to wield a hoe to dig pits and scatter seeds. He merely had to use the power of his divine sense, and small pits would appear in the Spirit Fields. Then he controlled the sowing, burying, and watering with his divine sense. It was simply rather draining on his divine sense.

Of the ten mu of Spirit Fields, he planted four mu of spirit grain, two mu of Yellow Cloud Grass, one mu of Crimson Blood Ginseng, and one mu each of the spirit medicines needed for Spirit Gathering Pills, Clear Spirit Pills, and Rejuvenation Pills in the remaining three mu.

Because he lacked planting experience, Wang Daoyuan did not dare plant all the seeds he had just obtained. He planted only a little of most spirit medicines to build up experience.

Since he had studied talisman crafting, he knew Yellow Cloud Grass well, so he planted more of it. Moreover, he could make Talisman Paper himself, fully capable of producing and selling it on his own. By making it into Talisman Paper and then refining Talismans, he could both increase his income and avoid directly selling Yellow Cloud Grass, reducing the risk of drawing the attention of those with ulterior motives. It killed two birds with one stone.

Crimson Blood Ginseng was the main ingredient in Crimson Blood Brew. The wine recipe Wang Shouye had given him mentioned several methods for cultivating Crimson Blood Ginseng, so he planted more of it as well.

The spirit grain he had planted earlier had already sprouted successfully in the space, so Wang Daoyuan planted more of it too. With four mu of spirit grain, he could eat spirit grain every day in the future and sell the rest in batches and at different locations. That should not cause much of a stir.

After planting the spirit medicines, he examined the few spirit grain seedlings he had planted earlier. They looked rather like foxtail grass from his previous life, except they were sturdier, with sword-like leaves standing straight and rigid.

These few spirit grain seedlings had already grown half a foot tall. They were growing rather... fast?

Then he realized something was wrong. It had only been a day and a half since the spirit grain seedlings sprouted. How could they have grown half a foot tall in such a short time?