"The marketplace isn't safe. I'll have to be more careful whenever I come out from now on..."
Chen Changming sighed silently.
Exchanging for various cultivation resources within the sect was a little more expensive, but it was safe and convenient, with no risk to his life at all.
Going out alone to sell things really did carry considerable risks.
Chen Changming searched the short, stocky man and found a Storage Bag. Inside were three Spirit Stones, and nothing else.
This Storage Bag had the same capacity as his own.
He also found a Storage Bag on the lanky man, which contained seven Spirit Stones.
To Chen Changming's delight, this Storage Bag had a much larger capacity, a full thirty cubic meters or so.
He now had three Storage Bags, enough to carry over twenty thousand jin of Spirit Rice at once.
In other words, if he risked going out one more time to sell all his Spirit Rice, he wouldn't need to leave the mountain again.
Several hours later.
Chen Changming encountered no more danger on the way and reached Lingxiao Sect safely. The round trip had taken the entire day. That night, he took a Spirit Gathering Pill and continued cultivating the Evergreen Art.
He took the second Spirit Gathering Pill in the latter half of the night, too.
Whoosh, whoosh... Spiritual power surged through his body like a river battering its banks, sending waves crashing in a roar.
Chen Changming was delighted.
After taking the Spirit Gathering Pills, the spiritual power in his body had grown even stronger.
At dawn, he got up without hesitation and went to the Pill Pavilion, where he spent 100 contribution points to exchange for two Spirit Gathering Pills.
After returning,
he took the Spirit Gathering Pills one after another.
At that moment, Chen Changming noticed that the spiritual power in his dantian had increased considerably. If he unleashed the Spirit Finger Flick at full power, he could use it thirty times.
"I hope I can break through to the second level of Qi Refining soon..."
Chen Changming thought to himself.
He had been in Lingxiao Sect for over a year, yet he was still stuck at the first level of Qi Refining. The other outer disciples had all reached at least the second or third level, while the inner disciples were at the fourth or fifth.
"I wonder how Linger is doing at Glazed Sect..."
The image of that scrawny little girl appeared in Chen Changming's mind again. He pictured her crying in the ice and snow, and heard those words echo in his ears once more: "This world is too bitter. I won't come back in the next life..."
The young man grew sorrowful.
On that day when snow had swirled through the air and the wind had cut to the bone, a scoundrel from Xiliang City had driven him into a corner. Hadn't he, too, wanted to die back then?
But...
The twists and turns of life were so wondrous. That Silver-Robed Immortal Master, whose origins were unknown, had descended from the sky and completely changed the fates of two little beggars.
"Ha..."
The young man let out a breath and murmured, "I need more Spirit Gathering Pills to speed up my cultivation!"
Yes, his progress was far too slow. It was all because of his trash Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root aptitude.
If he could take a Spirit Gathering Pill every day, Chen Changming's cultivation speed would increase tremendously!
He packed the remaining twenty thousand jin of Spirit Rice into his Storage Bags, then left the valley, exited Lingxiao Sect, and headed straight for Lingyun City.
After entering Lingyun City, Chen Changming made his way to a secluded corner. He changed into a black robe, put on a black bamboo hat, and then headed to the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.
This time he was trading twenty thousand jin of Spirit Rice, so he had to be doubly cautious. He couldn't let anyone see him—not even a disciple of Lingxiao Sect.
Otherwise, he would be punished for secretly clearing land and planting crops without handing over a share to the sect. At best, everything would be confiscated; at worst, he might be kicked out.
"Hey, I'm here to sell Spirit Rice. Tell your shopkeeper I want to speak with him."
As soon as he entered the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, Chen Changming got straight to the point.
Now eleven years old, he had grown taller and sturdier.
Chen Changming deliberately made his voice hoarse and aged, his expression cold, his whole bearing radiating chill. It would be hard for most people to connect him with a boy barely into his teens.
"All right."
The young attendant sensed that the black-robed man was no pushover, and hurriedly led Chen Changming to a private room on the second floor.
"Fellow Daoist, how much Spirit Rice do you have?"
After hearing the attendant's report, Shopkeeper Xu looked at the black-robed man and asked calmly.
"Twenty thousand jin."
Chen Changming replied.
"I'll take it."
Shopkeeper Xu's face lit up. The times were turbulent, with war and disorder everywhere, and Spirit Rice was selling very well.
Chen Changming handed over three Storage Bags.
One held ten thousand jin, and the other two held five thousand each, for a total of twenty thousand jin of Spirit Rice.
Shopkeeper Xu took out some of the Spirit Rice and sniffed it closely. His expression suddenly changed, and he hurried out.
This was the first time Chen Changming had encountered something like this, and he felt a little flustered. Still, he pretended to be perfectly calm and demanded angrily of the attendant beside him, "What does your shopkeeper mean by this?"
"Please wait. There may be a problem with the quality of the Spirit Rice. The shopkeeper went to find someone to check it."
The attendant thought for a moment before answering.
A problem with the Spirit Rice's quality?
Chen Changming's heart lurched. Could the land he had cleared be unsuitable for growing Spirit Rice?
But he had inspected the harvest, and it seemed no different from the Spirit Rice grown in those five acres of spirit fields!
Just as he was getting anxious, Shopkeeper Xu returned, beaming.
"Fellow Daoist, where did this Spirit Rice come from?"
Shopkeeper Xu smiled as soon as he came in.
"What a stupid question. I grew it myself, of course!"
Chen Changming pretended to be annoyed.
"Fellow Daoist, you have quite a knack for this. This isn't ordinary Low-grade Spirit Rice. It's rich in spiritual energy, and it's already approaching Mid-grade Spirit Rice."
Shopkeeper Xu smiled and raised one hand. "The Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion has always been fair in its dealings. Your Spirit Rice is excellent, so we can offer you an extra twenty percent. If you can grow Mid-grade Spirit Rice, I'm willing to pay one Spirit Stone for every fifty jin!"
"I'll give it a try!"
Chen Changming hesitated for a moment, then agreed.
Perhaps if he enhanced the Cloud Rain Art a second time, he could improve the quality of the Spirit Rice.
And perhaps the Spirit Rice from this newly cleared land had been affected by the poor soil quality. But when he watered it so generously, it had unexpectedly produced an excellent result!
Those ten acres had brought him an extra twenty percent in earnings!
When Chen Changming left the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, he had 160 Low-grade Spirit Stones in his Storage Bag.
Although he couldn't feel the weight inside the Storage Bag, Chen Changming still felt as if the pouch were heavy with its precious contents.
This was the first large sum of money he had ever made in his life.
He went to a stall on the street and, after some haggling, bought nineteen Low-grade Spirit Gathering Pills from a rogue cultivator.
"My pouch is empty again..."
Chen Changming felt his Storage Bag and nearly wept.
Only one Spirit Stone remained inside—the one he had used to kill Zhu Fang.
To shake off anyone following him, he spent the next while circling around Lingyun City. After making sure no one was tailing him, he changed into the clothes of a Lingxiao Sect servant disciple, hurried out of the city, and headed straight for Lingxiao Sect.
He had been overly cautious this time, so the return journey went smoothly.
The top floor of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.
A White-Clad Woman gazed at the horizon and said softly, "Elder Xu, keep an eye on this cultivator who practices the Evergreen Art. If he can grow Mid-grade Spirit Rice, it means he has considerable skill with the Cloud Rain Art, and would be well suited to growing spirit medicines."
"Miss, are you thinking of inviting him to work in the medicine fields?"
Shopkeeper Xu was surprised.
The White-Clad Woman nodded and said slowly,
"Yes. Yue Kingdom is at war with Chu Kingdom, and many cultivation sects have been dragged into the conflict. The demand for pills is enormous. But the medicine field at the ruins of our Taicang Mountain Medicine Sect has always been poorly managed, and the spirit medicines are growing very slowly. My father asked me to find someone skilled in the Cloud Rain Art to water them regularly and help them mature sooner."