Vigorous Spirit Seedlings, New Year Market

Seeing that Hu Bugui remained silent, with a strange expression on his face.

"Haah."

Hu Bugui sighed. "Fine, I admit I used it. How about forty jin of spirit rice?"

"What?"

Xu Changqing's eyes widened. "Damn it, this thing's already been used!"

"Thirty jin of spirit rice. I can't go any lower." Hu Bugui looked as though someone were cutting flesh from his body.

"Who said I was buying it?" Xu Changqing rolled his eyes irritably.

"Huh? You don't want it?" Hu Bugui was incomparably embarrassed.

Xu Changqing waved a hand. "I don't want the paper man. What's in this bottle?"

Hu Bugui immediately said, "Hundred-Year Monkey Wine. Absolutely good stuff."

"What does it do?" Xu Changqing was curious.

Hu Bugui answered, "It can slowly replenish spiritual power."

"It isn't much use to me." Xu Changqing shook his head, then turned his gaze to the third item and asked, "What kind of seeds are these?"

Hu Bugui shook his head. "I don't know what spirit plant these seeds belong to, but they were shat out by a thousand-year spirit beast, so they aren't cheap. You probably can't afford them."

"Name a price and let me give up." Xu Changqing truly did not believe some new trinket could be that expensive.

Since it had been eaten by a thousand-year spirit beast, it definitely was not some ordinary spirit plant.

There was an element of gambling involved, but wasn't that where the charm lay?

He had nothing better to do anyway. What if he got an unexpected harvest?

"Three hundred jin of second-grade spirit rice." Hu Bugui raised three chubby fingers on his right hand.

"Shameless merchant!" Xu Changqing instantly lost all interest.

"If you're not buying, I'm leaving." Hu Bugui did not want to waste too much time.

Xu Changqing called out, "Wait."

Hu Bugui grinned. "I knew you needed paper men—"

Xu Changqing hurriedly said, "I'm not buying anything. Can you help me find a recipe for brewing wine?"

"You want to brew Spirit Rice Wine?" Hu Bugui put away his lecherous expression.

"Yes." Xu Changqing nodded.

"Fine. I'll bring it to you next month, but you'll need to pay a deposit first." A sly glint flashed through Hu Bugui's eyes.

Xu Changqing immediately asked, "How much?"

Hu Bugui blurted out, "Ten jin of first-grade spirit rice. Give me five jin first."

"Take it." Xu Changqing was not short on this little bit of spirit rice.

"Same time next month." Looking as if his scheme had succeeded, Hu Bugui led his spirit beast camel away at once.

After reaching a place where no one was around.

He opened his small storage pouch, rummaged through it, and pulled out a recipe for brewing Spirit Rice Wine.

This thing was not exactly everywhere on the streets, but plenty of spirit farmers had it.

Though spirit rice itself was not expensive, Spirit Rice Wine was another matter.

But why had he not sold it outright just now?

Wouldn't that have turned it into a one-time deal?

Only by keeping the other party thinking about it could he make them remember him.

Several more days passed, and the temperature grew colder and colder.

Only then did Xu Changqing begin planting spirit rice.

The quality of spirit rice had much to do with the spirit field.

The higher the grade of the spirit field, the more spiritual energy it contained.

Naturally, the quality of the spirit plants grown there would also improve.

At the same time, the yield would rise as well.

In a first-grade spirit field, one could only mass-produce one thousand jin.

No matter how much more there was, it would not exceed fifteen hundred jin.

Even Lin An, after finding people with earth and water spiritual roots to help, had only managed eleven hundred jin.

But in a second-grade spirit field, the yield directly doubled, starting at two thousand jin.

If cultivation realm, spell level, external factors, and everything else were combined.

It could even reach three thousand jin.

That was why Xu Changqing had bought spirit beast dung.

However, those few dozen jin were nowhere near enough to spread across the entire spirit field.

Thus, he deliberately arranged it in one corner as an experiment.

He wanted to see how much the quality and yield of the spirit plants would improve with the dung of a hundred-year spirit beast.

And so, planting for the fourth quarter officially began.

When the spirit seedlings filled the second-grade spirit field, the surrounding wood spiritual energy swiftly increased.

It truly was the core area.

The concentration of wood spiritual energy was much denser.

Xu Changqing immediately sat cross-legged on the ridge between the fields and circulated the Evergreen Formula.

At once, a powerful suction force drew the wood spiritual energy from the spirit field into his body.

Five strands of spiritual power began to circulate.

They completed cycle after cycle through the heavenly circuit.

In the days that followed, Xu Changqing cultivated continuously.

At last, the next month arrived—December.

It was time for his appointment with Hu Bugui, the disciple from Beast Spirit Valley.

Xu Changqing cultivated while waiting patiently.

Just then, as more and more spiritual power accumulated within his body.

Suddenly, a sixth strand of spiritual power appeared.

Though it seemed to be only one additional strand of spiritual power.

It represented another step forward in his strength.

"Fellow Daoist Xu!" Hu Bugui's voice rang out from afar.

Xu Changqing opened his eyes and looked toward the source of the voice.

The familiar spirit beast camel.

The familiar bells.

The familiar bundles.

And those familiar, fleshy cheeks.

Hu Bugui said with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Xu, I was punctual, wasn't I?"

"Of course." Xu Changqing nodded slightly.

"This is the spirit rice you planted?" Hu Bugui had not cared much at first, but as he looked, he suddenly froze.

Though he was a disciple of Beast Spirit Valley.

He often traded in the core area of the spirit fields, so his eye was not poor.

At a glance, he noticed that the spirit rice before him was astonishingly vigorous.

This was winter planting, after all.

It was more difficult and tested one's skill even more.

Yet it was not inferior in the slightest to the crops grown by those old spirit farmers with abundant experience.

If he remembered correctly, the other party had only become an official disciple two months ago.

This truly shocked Hu Bugui.

Then, the smile on his face became even brighter.

"Winter cultivation really is difficult." Xu Changqing smiled.

"Yes, yes, exactly." Hu Bugui echoed him outwardly, though inwardly he was speechless.

If this was called difficult to cultivate.

Then what were everyone else?

Trash?

"Did you bring the wine-brewing recipe?" Xu Changqing looked expectant.

"Since I promised you, brother, I had to get it." Hu Bugui patted his chest, then took it out of his small storage pouch.

Xu Changqing accepted it and took a look.

Sure enough, it was a recipe for brewing Spirit Rice Wine.

The main ingredient was spirit rice.

The process consisted of soaking the rice, steaming it, spreading it out to cool, mixing in the starter, saccharification, and alcoholic fermentation.

The steps were extremely detailed and easy to understand at a glance.

However, what surprised Xu Changqing was this.

The attribute panel suddenly changed.

Below [Evergreen Formula (Level Five)].

Another entry had appeared: [Spirit Rice Wine (Beginner) ↑].

What did that mean?

It meant it could also be improved by consuming lifespan!

"Don't worry, it definitely isn't fake." Hu Bugui dared to guarantee it.

"All right, I'll give you the remaining five jin of spirit rice." Xu Changqing came back to his senses and took out his small storage pouch.

After receiving the remaining five jin of first-grade spirit rice, Hu Bugui asked curiously, "Fellow Daoist Xu... brother, how many jin of second-grade spirit rice can your mu of spirit field yield?"

After thinking it over, Xu Changqing replied, "Around fifteen hundred jin."

Without any surprises, the yield should be two thousand jin.

And the quarterly task only required him to hand in one thousand jin.

In other words, he would still have an additional thousand jin in profit.

He certainly could not reveal all of it, so he deliberately concealed half.

No matter what, one must always guard against others.

Hu Bugui pondered. "Five hundred jin of second-grade spirit rice... that should be enough."

"What do you mean?" Xu Changqing raised a brow.

"During the New Year, the Immortal Sect will hold a market in Red Maple Valley. Official disciples and even core disciples from every major area will take part," Hu Bugui explained.

"What does that have to do with me?" Xu Changqing still did not understand.

"You can use spirit rice to trade for other things." Hu Bugui spoke earnestly.

"Right." Only then did Xu Changqing realize.