A Long-Term Business

As that surging, powerful aura drew near, a yellow earthen film of light suddenly appeared before Shi Mo.

At the same time, Zhen Yuanzi and Hongyun appeared beside Shi Mo, both wearing grave expressions as they looked toward the figure formed from gathered yellow light above the wilderness opposite them.

"Greetings, Ancestral Witch!" Kuafu hurriedly bowed, while the Wu Clan members behind him all fell to their knees.

"Houtu?" Shi Mo's gaze sharpened as he looked at the figure emanating a surging yet gentle aura, with a human body and serpent tail, seven hands growing from her back, and two Teng Snakes weaving around her body and hands.

"Earth Book? So Fellow Daoist Zhen Yuanzi of Longevity Mountain has come," Ancestral Witch Houtu said calmly and gently upon seeing the yellow earthen film before Shi Mo and the others. "And Fellow Daoist Hongyun as well. This must be Fellow Daoist Shi Mo of Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain?"

Houtu looked at Shi Mo as she spoke. "My clansmen had no intention of offending you. However, the millet you grow is indeed useful to my Wu Clan."

"Now that our Wu Clan has more and more members, we require vast amounts of meat. Hunting too many beasts and even members of the Monster Clan has also strained the relationship between the Wu Clan and the Monster Clan," Houtu continued.

"The millet Fellow Daoist Shi Mo grows contains pure spiritual energy. If our Wu Clan members can eat it, we can reduce some of the slaughter. So, would Fellow Daoist Shi Mo be willing to provide some millet for my Wu Clan?"

"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Houtu, since an esteemed Ancestral Witch like yourself has come personally to speak with me, I can provide the Wu Clan with millet in large quantities. But surely you can't expect me to give it away for free?" Shi Mo said with a chuckle, signaling Zhen Yuanzi with a glance. Zhen Yuanzi understood at once and withdrew the Earth Book's light barrier.

Houtu's eyes immediately lit up, but then she frowned and asked, "What does Fellow Daoist Shi Mo want?"

"I want all kinds of spiritual materials, preferably innate ones. Of course, innate spiritual treasures would be even better. As for acquired spiritual materials, based on how much millet I provide the Wu Clan, you'll have to offer me a correspondingly greater quantity in exchange," Shi Mo said directly.

"Innate spiritual treasures and various spiritual materials?" Houtu actually sighed inwardly in relief.

To the Wu Clan, their physical bodies were their greatest strength. At most, they used some innate spiritual materials to forge divine weapons. Innate spiritual treasures truly had little use for them.

Living upon the lands of the Primordial World, the one thing the Wu Clan lacked least was the various spiritual materials nurtured by the Primordial World.

"Fine. I can agree on behalf of the Wu Clan," Houtu said with a slight nod, then immediately began discussing the specific terms of exchange with Shi Mo.

It had to be said that the Wu Clan was truly wealthy. For the first batch of acquired millet Shi Mo provided, Houtu gave him three innate spiritual treasures, along with a batch of innate spiritual materials and a large quantity of acquired spiritual materials.

For Shi Mo, growing a batch of millet was simply too easy. He could even plant far more millet on a massive scale.

As long as he had enough millet seeds, the vast lands of the Primordial World had plenty of ownerless wilderness for him to reclaim and cultivate.

The only concern was that with repeated cultivation, this acquired millet would continuously degenerate and eventually become ordinary acquired spirit plants. It would then be unable to provide the Wu Clan with enough energy, and its value would be greatly diminished.

The reason his first transaction with Houtu had earned him several innate spiritual treasures was also because that batch of millet was truly of exceptional quality and contained pure energy.

Having witnessed Shi Mo's transaction with the Wu Clan firsthand, Zhen Yuanzi and Hongyun could not help admiring his skill in business.

His previous transaction with the Monster Clan had already been sizable. Now, he had reached a long-term trading agreement with the Wu Clan as well.

After Houtu, Kuafu, and the others departed, Hongyun could not help saying, "Little Brother Shi Mo, impressive! One deal, and you made the Wu Clan give up several innate spiritual treasures. Just selling millet to the Wu Clan from now on will make you a fortune."

"Hehe, it's not that exaggerated," Shi Mo said with a shake of his head and a smile. "The Wu Clan isn't stupid. Now that they have a large number of millet seeds, do you think they won't grow millet themselves?"

"That's true! Then wouldn't this be a one-time deal?" Hongyun's eyes widened.

"Otherwise, why do you think Houtu was so generous and barely even haggled with me?" Shi Mo asked in return.

Zhen Yuanzi could not help asking, "Little Brother Shi Mo, you couldn't possibly have failed to consider this, could you?"

"Of course I considered it," Shi Mo said with a meaningful smile. "Brother Zhen Yuan, do you know that all this acquired millet came from a single stalk of Innate Millet? It was an innate spirit plant of fairly good quality."

"Oh, I remember now. Little Brother Shi Mo, there really is a great deal of millet in the valley of your Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain. There's even some innate spirit plant millet!" Hongyun's expression shifted.

Shi Mo nodded slightly with a smile. "That's right! That highest-quality innate spirit plant millet did produce some more innate spirit plant millet, but its quality declined somewhat. The seeds of the lowest-quality innate spirit plant millet then produced acquired spirit plant millet."

"So the acquired spirit plant millet you gave the Wu Clan..." Hongyun was beginning to understand.

"That was acquired spirit plant millet that had already propagated through many generations. Once its seeds are planted, the quality of the millet that grows will decline rapidly. After at most a few generations, it will become ordinary acquired spirit plant millet, the kind found everywhere in the Primordial World," Shi Mo said with a smile.

"Otherwise, where do you think I got so many seeds to plant such a vast field of acquired spirit plant millet?"

"Ah, Little Brother Shi Mo, you really are... really crafty," Hongyun cried strangely.

Zhen Yuanzi also looked at Shi Mo somewhat speechlessly. "So if the Wu Clan wants acquired spirit plant millet in the future, they'll still have to buy it from you?"

"Of course! I intend to keep this business going for a very long time," Shi Mo said, his eyes shining as he looked into the distance and swept out his hand.

"So next, I plan to plant as much acquired millet as possible. The Wu Clan has many members, and they'll only grow more numerous. They need an enormous amount of food. This is a huge business."

"What do you say, brothers? Come with me and reclaim land to farm in the Primordial World! I guarantee you'll both make a fortune," Shi Mo said, turning with a smile toward Zhen Yuanzi and Hongyun.

The two exchanged glances upon hearing that.

"Little Brother, you provide the seeds while we only help you plant them. We'd be taking too much advantage of you," Hongyun said, shaking his head as he was about to refuse.

"Then how about this? I provide the seeds, and you two do the planting. I'll take the larger share—sixty percent—of the profits from trading with the Wu Clan. That way, the more you plant, the more I earn. It benefits all of us!" Shi Mo quickly said.

Upon hearing this, Zhen Yuanzi was immediately tempted and nodded. "All right, that works."

"B-but I don't know how to farm!" Hongyun's words nearly made Shi Mo collapse.

Rubbing his nose, Shi Mo could only ask patiently, "Brother Hongyun, can you make it rain?"

"That, I can do," Hongyun said with a slight nod.

Smack. Shi Mo clapped his hands. "Then it's settled! Ample rainfall is crucial to growing this millet. The other key is dense earth-vein spiritual energy, and Brother Zhen Yuan can gather and provide that with the Earth Book. The two of you can join forces to grow millet. Perfect! You're the perfect partnership!"