Essence of All Things: One Hundred-Year Spirit Medicine per Month

But he had heard of Mid-Grade Spirit Stones. The universally accepted exchange rate was one to a hundred, yet if one actually went to trade, a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone could easily fetch 120 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

He and Black Bull hid in an unoccupied corner, their gazes constantly sweeping the surroundings, one hand clenched tightly around the Mountain-Splitting Axe.

"Old Bull, we're rich." Chen Xun whispered in delight.

"Moo~" Black Bull called softly, resting its head against Chen Xun's chest, its eyes brimming with joy.

The greatest use of Low-Grade Spirit Stones was cultivation. The pure spiritual energy within them was far better than the spiritual qi of Tiandi, which they had to constantly refine to remove its impurities during cultivation.

But that was how the filthy rich of the Cultivation World did things. Ordinary cultivators could only use them for trade, because pills worked better, though they caused medicinal resistance.

And anyone who could eat enough pills to develop medicinal resistance was already an absurdly wealthy tycoon. Medicinal resistance was simply not something ordinary cultivators needed to consider.

The next day, they continued peddling booklets and finally scraped together a hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Chen Xun trembled with excitement from head to toe, while Black Bull kept mooing and circling around him.

"Old Bull, we must keep a low profile."

Chen Xun said it furtively, feeling as though everyone wanted to rob them of their Spirit Stones.

"Moo! Moo!" Black Bull called. It understood.

On the third day, they stopped selling booklets and began browsing the various stalls. Suddenly, Chen Xun's eyes lit up as he spotted a familiar "old acquaintance."

"Miss, it's you."

The girl's appearance had not changed much. She still looked as she had before, with several Spirit Medicines and bottles of pills laid out before her stall.

Her expression jolted. Those were still the same familiar legs, and those were still the same four familiar Black Bull hooves. An involuntary thought surfaced in her mind—Why was this bandit dragging a bull around again?

"Hehe, it's you." The girl forced a smile. That appearance was simply too unforgettable; even if she wanted to forget it, she could not.

"We're here to buy things. We have Spirit Stones."

"Then that's great. What would you like to buy?"

The girl's eyes brightened, and she instantly perked up. As long as they were not here to toy with her, anything was fine.

"Could you introduce these three Spirit Medicines to me...?"

Chen Xun crouched down and smiled awkwardly. Still, he had studied medicine, so he could make out a few things.

Under the girl's astonished gaze, Chen Xun pulled several Spirit Stones from his crotch and showed them to her as proof that he really had them.

"Alright..."

The girl froze awkwardly, her gaze dropping as she pointed at a Spirit Medicine. "This is Watercloud Grass. It is twenty years old and is an ingredient for the Qi-Gathering Pill."

"This is Frost Maple Grass, though it is only ten years old. It is an ingredient for the Heavy Feather Pill."

"This is Divine Convergence Grass. It is thirty years old, and it is also an ingredient for the Heavy Feather Pill."

The girl introduced them one by one. Though they were not very old, it was already no easy feat for a Rogue Cultivator to gather so many Spirit Medicines.

If they were any older, quite a few demon beasts and spirit beasts would come fighting over them.

"Miss, how many Spirit Stones? I'll take them all."

Chen Xun licked his lips, staring fixedly at the Spirit Medicines. Their ages seemed particularly easy to judge, just as he had expected.

"Twenty." The girl thought for a moment before naming her price.

"What?!"

Chen Xun sprang to his feet with a cry. The piercing sound made the girl frown. She said delicately, "Then how much are you offering?"

"Eight."

"What?!"

Now it was the girl's turn to leap up in shock. Was that how one bargained? "Why don't you just go rob someone?!"

Chen Xun looked troubled. One hand reached into his crotch, and he laboriously pulled out several Spirit Stones. "Ten Spirit Stones, then. This is all I have."

The girl's chest rose and fell slightly as she studied Chen Xun's expression, but she could see nothing. Only his nose, eyes, and mouth were exposed.

"Fine, deal." The girl nodded heavily.

"Give me three more boxes too. I don't have anything to store them in..."

Chen Xun looked at the medicine boxes behind her stall, having coveted them for a long time. As expected of someone selling Spirit Medicines—this was what professionalism looked like.

The girl's eyes widened. This man really was born a bandit, plucking even a feather from a passing goose. Still, she gave them to him, and even flashed Chen Xun a sweet smile at the end.

"Old Bull, save where we should save, spend where we should spend. Understand?"

"Moo moo!"

Black Bull nudged Chen Xun in dissatisfaction. They had spent so long in the Mortal Realm that they had long understood that principle.

"Brother, how much is this Fireball Technique?" Chen Xun walked over to a stall selling spells, his eyes as still as an Ancient Well.

A middle-aged man glanced at Chen Xun, and his pupils widened slightly. "Four Low-Grade Spirit Stones."

Chen Xun looked troubled, hesitation filling his eyes. Black Bull tugged at him. Go! Go!

"Wait, fellow cultivator."

The middle-aged man looked at Chen Xun, then at Black Bull. "You really want it?"

"Mm, I'm somewhat sincere." Chen Xun nodded once.

"Take it for two Spirit Stones!"

"Brother, you're straightforward."

Chen Xun praised him, pulled two Spirit Stones from his crotch, took the spell, and left in one smooth motion.

The middle-aged man shook his head slightly, then pulled another copy of Fireball Technique from beneath his stall. It was a common little spell found everywhere; he could print countless copies.

Chen Xun and Black Bull bought one spellbook from each of the various stalls, never buying more than one.

Object Manipulation Technique, Basic Alchemy Technique, Encyclopedia of Spiritual Herbs, Spirit Insight Technique, and more. They also bled themselves dry buying a bag of Spirit Medicine seeds, and their hundred Spirit Stones quickly ran low.

Chen Xun and Black Bull walked through the valley, their hearts pounding rapidly. They felt that their family fortune was far too abundant, and that countless Rogue Cultivators wanted to rob them.

"Old Bull."

"Moo~"

Man and bull exchanged a deep look, their steps gradually quickening. They charged straight out of the valley and vanished soon after. Before the Ten Great Immortal Sects had even made an appearance, they had already fled.

On the outskirts of Ningyun Mountain Range, they occupied a beast's den. A massive boulder sealed the entrance tightly, too heavy for ordinary people to move.

The boulder was covered in dense, tangled vines. Unless one looked deliberately, it would be impossible to notice that there was a cave here.

Crack!

Firelight flared up, illuminating the entire cave. Chen Xun's face was flushed red, while Black Bull ran in circles as though its hooves had wings.

"Old Bull, wealth must not be displayed. Steady your heart."

Chen Xun said with a trembling voice, chuckling softly. "Look at you. When will you ever be like me?"

"Moo~~"

Black Bull kept rubbing against Chen Xun, overflowing with joy. "Moo moo!"

"We each have 15 points of Essence of All Things, making 30 in total. In one day, we can accelerate the growth of Spirit Medicines by more than two years."

The more Chen Xun spoke, the more excited he became, spittle flying everywhere. "Old Bull, can you do arithmetic? How many years is that in one month?!"

"Moo moo?" Black Bull called twice, then picked up a stone and began scribbling on the ground as it worked out the calculation.

"Seventy-five years!"

Chen Xun said excitedly, looking at Black Bull. "One hundred-year Spirit Medicine every month, heavens above!"

"Moo? Moo moo!"

Black Bull was suddenly stunned, and the stone fell from its hoof. They had asked around before—a single hundred-year Spirit Medicine was worth roughly one to two hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

They still had Spirit Medicine seeds. Sell them, buy more, and repeat endlessly. Who in the Cultivation World could have more Spirit Stones than them?

"Don't let your imagination run wild. We don't yet have the strength to ensure we can sell large quantities."

Chen Xun could tell what Black Bull was thinking from its expression. "Fire one shot, change one cannon. That way we won't draw attention. Besides, we still need to refine pills ourselves."

"Moo moo!"

Black Bull kept nodding, its eyes wide and blank with shock. It had nearly floated away on cloud nine.

"Let's first cultivate the three Spirit Medicines in the medicine boxes to one hundred years. As for those Spirit Medicine seeds, we'll do them one plant at a time."

Chen Xun said calmly. The distinctive medicinal fragrance of hundred-year spirit herbs planted outside could draw the attention of quite a few demon beasts and spirit beasts.

These medicine boxes could not only preserve their medicinal properties but also block their medicinal fragrance. We'll have to get more of them in the future, Chen Xun thought.