Tonight's the ranking push! Brothers and sisters, please help Baili climb the recommendation rankings! o(n_n)o... Please cast your votes. Thank you!
"What are you asking for this guide?"
Ye Qin's expression remained unchanged, and his tone was mild, as if he were asking about something utterly worthless.
The dark-skinned man had been watching Ye Qin's expression closely. But after seeing Ye Qin leaf through the guide and remain unmoved, as though he didn't take it seriously at all, he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. Still, since Ye Qin had asked the price, he enthusiastically recommended the book.
"This Illustrated Guide to Rare Herbs is really excellent. It doesn't just contain detailed illustrations, it also includes complete recipes. If you can make even one of the medicines in it and sell it, little brother, you'll make a fortune. Unfortunately, I'm not in that line of work and don't know how to make medicine. Otherwise, I'd never sell this book. One gold leaf, firm. It's an absolute bargain. What do you think?"
"I believe that all the rare herbs recorded in this book really are precious. I've seen every single one of them listed in the Herb Gathering Hall's herbal compendium, without exception. But asking me for a gold leaf for it—isn't that a rip-off? This book isn't worth that much. Ten silver leaves at most. If you're willing to sell it for that, I'll take it. If not, then forget it."
Ye Qin held the tattered Illustrated Guide to Rare Herbs and brushed the dust off it.
The man grew anxious. "How can it not be worth that much? It contains medicinal recipes. Any one of them is worth that price."
Ye Qin gave a cold laugh. "You can't even find the rare herbs listed in it. What good is a recipe by itself? I've been in the Herb Gathering Hall for years, and I've barely seen a few of those herbs. Besides, the Herb Gathering Hall has plenty of recipes. The ones included in your book aren't even unique. If you don't believe me, take this guide to the Herb Gathering Hall and try selling it to one of the masters there. See if they'll buy it."
At the mention of selling the book to the Herb Gathering Hall, the dark-skinned man immediately wilted. He had actually gone there himself, hoping to sell the guide at a high price. Unfortunately, one of the hall's herb appraisers had only flipped through a few pages before tossing it back to him, saying the book contained nothing but herbs and recipes that had been recorded long ago and had no value. Selling it to the Herb Gathering Hall at a high price was out of the question.
So the dark-skinned man had been looking for a young, inexperienced disciple of the Herb Gathering Hall to sell the book to. As luck would have it, he had run into Ye Qin. He just hadn't expected Ye Qin to be so experienced and sharp-eyed that he saw right through the scam.
"Don't be fooled by all the rare herbs and recipes recorded in this book. It's worth ten silver leaves at most. Ordinary people can't do anything with it because they don't know how to identify or prepare herbs. For people like us, who work with herbs professionally, it's just a white elephant. The herbs listed are so rare that you might not see even one in ten or twenty years. Some haven't appeared at all in the past fifty or sixty years, let alone been used to make medicine. What use is a book of recipes when you don't have the herbs? If I buy it, all I can do is keep it around and read it."
"Fifty silver leaves!"
"Thirteen!"
"Twenty. That's my final offer. I won't sell it for less!"
The dark-skinned man's face was full of pain as he gritted his teeth and spoke.
Ye Qin considered it. The price was within what he could afford, so he took out twenty silver leaves and exchanged them for the Illustrated Guide to Rare Herbs. Afterward, he continued browsing the other stalls in the market, hoping to find some Spirit Stones. But he searched the entire market without finding anything noteworthy.
Unless he tried them himself, it was difficult to tell whether the Spirit Stones could be moved into his Purple Mansion with his spiritual sense. But in a crowded trading market like this, there was no way he could test them. All he could do was rely on his eyes and instincts to examine the stones on the stalls and see whether any were Spirit Stones. Unfortunately, this kind of visual inspection was practically useless. A simple glance couldn't distinguish Spirit Stones from ordinary rocks.
Ye Qin found nothing special and left the market with the only thing he had bought, the Illustrated Guide to Rare Herbs.
Although he hadn't found any Spirit Stones, obtaining this guide was still a considerable gain. On the last few pages, he had unexpectedly spotted an illustration of Dew Grass: a lone little plant, with a dewdrop hanging from the tip of one leaf.
When he first saw the illustration of Dew Grass on the stall, he had nearly let his surprise show. Fortunately, he had already finished cultivating the first level of Sitting and Forgetting Selflessness, which allowed him to control his expression completely. Otherwise, he might have revealed his astonishment right there.
After leaving the trading market and walking along the county town's streets, Ye Qin eagerly opened the Illustrated Guide to Rare Herbs again to make sure. It was definitely Dew Grass. The guide directly called this exceptionally rare little plant "Dew Grass," a very fitting name.
It also recorded the herb's taste, medicinal effects, appearance, and other details.
The book also included a medicinal recipe. With precious Dew Grass as the primary ingredient and more than a dozen uncommon but not precious herbs as supporting ingredients, it could be used to make a superb restorative medicine called the Clear Heart Pill, designed specifically to regulate the inner energy of martial artists suffering from qi deviation.
As far as Ye Qin knew, there were many kinds of medicines for treating qi deviation. They were divided into low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and top-grade varieties, each able to suppress qi deviation of different severity. The more severe the qi deviation, the higher the grade of medicine needed to resolve it.
The Clear Heart Pill was a top-grade restorative medicine. It could regulate the inner energy of anyone suffering from qi deviation, no matter how severe their symptoms. But Dew Grass was too rare, and no medicine of this top grade had appeared in the martial world of Ping Province for decades.
Most of the restorative medicines currently available in the martial world were somewhere between high-grade and low-grade.
Among the first-rate and top experts in the martial world of Ping Province, the number who died each year from qi deviation was by no means small. Having a single top-grade Clear Heart Pill on hand was practically like having an extra death-exemption token.
Ye Qin still had dozens of Dew Grass plants stored in his Purple Mansion, so he planned to make one or two Clear Heart Pills for himself, just in case. If something went wrong while he was cultivating one day, he would have medicine on hand to save his life. The primary herb was already available, and using up one plant of Dew Grass wouldn't significantly affect his cultivation progress.
Ye Qin put the guide away and weighed his money pouch. He still had more than one hundred and sixty silver leaves left, so he strode toward several jade shops in the county town. He wasn't expecting much and only meant to take a look around. If he could find a Spirit Stone, all the better; if not, there was nothing he could do.
People who made their living selling jade were sure to know more about all kinds of unusual stones than he did. Perhaps they knew where to find stones filled with spiritual energy. Even if he had to pay a huge price, he was determined to get one.
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