"An Annual Raise of Five Hundred Spirit Stones—How About It?"

"Nothing."

Chen Qiu suppressed the excitement in his heart, took a deep breath, and forcibly pushed down his emotions. No matter what, there was finally hope. He immediately chose the first White Trait.

"Every Blade of Grass and Every Tree."

Almost at the same moment, he saw a great amount of spiritual energy suddenly gather before him. In the blink of an eye, it formed three Lower-Grade Spirit Stones, which fell to the ground.

The trait he had chosen granted him three Spirit Stones every time he broke through a minor realm, and this breakthrough counted as well.

"Huh?"

Fat Dragon stared blankly at the three Spirit Stones that had condensed out of thin air, unable to react for a moment. Spiritual energy in the air could gather into Spirit Stones? What kind of trick was this?

Chen Qiu did not answer Fat Dragon's question. Instead, he asked directly, "That Heavenly Dao talisman you mentioned earlier—the Heavenly Dao Retrospection Talisman. How many Spirit Stones does it sell for at Heaven-Question Market?"

"They're divided by grade."

Fat Dragon patiently explained, "Heavenly Dao Retrospection Talismans come in four grades: lower, mid, upper, and supreme. Among them, Lower-Grade Retrospection Talismans can only be used by cultivators below the Foundation Establishment Realm. In other words, you can only reselect a trait you discarded from a three-out-of-one choice during the Qi Refining Realm."

"But there aren't any chances to choose one out of three during the Qi Refining Realm, so lower-grade Retrospection Talismans are the cheapest. They only cost fifty Spirit Stones each."

"And the higher you go, the more expensive they get."

"Mid-Grade Retrospection Talismans already cost more than five hundred Spirit Stones. And those only apply to traits discarded from three-out-of-one choices during the Foundation Establishment Realm. Think about it—along with higher cultivation, the grades of traits you can randomly obtain also become higher."

"By then, a single upper-grade or supreme-grade Heavenly Dao Retrospection Talisman might be worth a Gold Trait or Pink Trait. No matter how expensive they are, people will fight to buy them."

"And besides—"

It had to be said that Fat Dragon's sources of information were truly extensive. He was naturally suited to exploring a new world. But Chen Qiu had already lost the patience to keep listening. He had heard only one thing.

One Lower-Grade Heavenly Dao Retrospection Talisman cost only fifty Spirit Stones.

Ordinary people had no use for it, but he happened to be able to use it.

Even so, its price was already comparable to ten Yellow Grade, Lower-Class Spirit Treasures produced in the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm.

Just then—

The resentful spirit of Huang Shikai in Chen Qiu's hand completely vanished from heaven and earth. In exchange, he gained over thirty more resentful spirits of Human-Faced Spiders at the seventh or eighth level of the Qi Refining Realm. This was another method that would be of great use at critical moments.

This Green Trait was truly useful.

Before the two could say anything more, a piercing sound of something tearing through the air suddenly came from the sky. They instinctively looked up, only to see that bearded, brawny man plummeting straight down from high above!

The two hurriedly dodged aside.

Boom!!!

This was the first time the two had seen the bearded, brawny man fall from the sky right before them. After smashing a sizable crater into the ground, he patted his backside as though nothing had happened, climbed to his feet, grabbed both of them by the arms, and then all three vanished from where they stood.

Leaving behind only a complete mess.

"All right."

When the scholar sitting cross-legged on the ground saw that Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon had barely suffered any injuries, a trace of surprise flashed through his eyes. Still, he smiled and said, "Next, it's time to send you two back to Heaven-Question Market. If fate allows, we'll meet again."

"Wait!"

Chen Qiu looked gravely at the scholar sitting cross-legged before him and said seriously, "Didn't you say this morning that my offer was too low? Work for me. I'll give you three thousand Spirit Stones upfront."

"Five hundred Spirit Stones every month afterward."

"And your monthly pay will increase by five hundred Spirit Stones every year. How about it?"

"..."

The scholar had instinctively been about to refuse, but upon hearing that price, his mouth slowly fell open.

Three thousand Spirit Stones upfront? And another five hundred Spirit Stones in monthly pay?

This was far beyond what he had expected!

His expectation had been that three thousand Spirit Stones would be life-buying money, with no monthly pay needed afterward. Food and lodging would be enough. As long as he had three thousand Spirit Stones to buy a Heavenly Dao Treasure Jade, remove the Bone-Eroding Poison from his body, and live a few more years, he would be satisfied.

But this young man in front of him was directly offering three thousand Spirit Stones?

This was the highest offer anyone had ever made him!

To be honest, it was hard to refuse.

But the scholar quickly came back to his senses. He looked Chen Qiu up and down, examining his clothes and appearance, his expression twisting with unspoken awkwardness. "Um... Young Master, are you sure you can afford that many Spirit Stones?"

"Or are you promising them to me first, then planning to go back and request them from the Lineage behind you?"

Truthfully, no matter how he looked at it, this man did not seem like someone who possessed that many Spirit Stones. Yet he also did not look like the young master of some great Lineage. Even the most low-key young master would not wear the coarse linen clothes of a mortal.

"I'm sure."

Chen Qiu crouched down with a serious expression, meeting the scholar's gaze at eye level as he said softly, "It's not just anyone giving them to you. I am. I have no Lineage behind me. I'm alone, roaming the martial world. My force may not be very large, but the treatment I offer you definitely won't be low."

"But... I need five days. I can only give you these Spirit Stones five days from now."

"For these five days, you need to work for me. Even if I break my word after five days, you'll only have worked five days for nothing. You won't lose much."

"How about it?"

"Hah..."

The scholar fell silent. He raised his head and looked at his younger brother, who was gazing at him with eager anticipation. After a long while, he said hoarsely, "All right. But let's make this clear first. My brother and I were injured in our early years. We have almost no fighting ability. We only have this method of traveling quickly."

"There's no hope if you expect us to fight enemies."

"I understand. That's enough."

"How should I address you, Young Master?"

"Chen Qiu."

"Good."

The scholar sitting cross-legged on the ground struggled to straighten his upper body, then leaned forward slightly and said softly, "Can Ren lost his name many years ago. People of the martial world call me Scholar. Scholar greets Young Master Chen."

For the first time, the bearded, brawny man standing beside him showed a rare expression of excitement. He too straightened his body, faced Chen Qiu, and solemnly gave him a salute.

"Good!"

Chen Qiu likewise said "Good" with delight. With these two joining him and working for him, many of his plans could be accelerated greatly. It was good that they had no fighting ability. Otherwise, with his current strength still so weak, if two extremely capable fighters suddenly joined him, he would not be able to control them.

Wasn't this much better?

When Chen Qiu had encountered these two this morning, he had thought they would demand some sky-high price. So three thousand Spirit Stones were enough after all.

At this moment, Chen Qiu clearly had not realized that if he had to earn three thousand Spirit Stones by chopping firewood, Great Xia would probably have fallen three or four times over before he managed to earn that sum. If those Spirit Stones were truly so little, these two brothers would not have spent years in Heaven-Question Market without finding a suitable master.

"With the two of you joining us, I believe that before long, we'll surely make a name for ourselves in Great Xia."

"But right now, there's one small problem."