"It's fine."
Chen Qiu suppressed the excitement in his heart, drew a deep breath, and forcibly pressed down his emotions. No matter what, there was hope at last. He immediately chose the first White Trait.
"Every Blade of Grass and Every Tree."
Almost at the same moment, he saw a large amount of spiritual energy suddenly gather before him. In the blink of an eye, it condensed into three Lower-Grade Spirit Stones and fell to the ground.
The trait he had selected granted him three Spirit Stones every time he broke through a minor realm. 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, "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 are divided into lower, mid, upper, and supreme grades. Among them, a Lower-Grade Retrospection Talisman can only be used by cultivators below the Foundation Establishment Realm. In other words, you can only reselect a trait you discarded from a pick-one-of-three during the Qi Refining Realm."
"But there's no opportunity to pick one out of three in the Qi Refining Realm, so lower-grade retrospection talismans are also the cheapest. They only cost fifty Spirit Stones each."
"And the higher the grade, the more expensive they get."
"A Mid-Grade Retrospection Talisman already costs upwards of five hundred Spirit Stones, and that only applies to traits discarded from a pick-one-of-three at the Foundation Establishment Realm. Think about it—the higher your cultivation, the higher the grade of traits you can randomly obtain."
"By then, an upper-grade or Supreme Heavenly Dao Retrospection Talisman might be equivalent to a Gold Trait or Pink Trait. No matter how expensive it is, people will fight to buy it."
"And besides—"
It had to be said that Fat Dragon's sources of information were truly extensive. He was born suited to exploring new worlds. But Chen Qiu had already lost the patience to keep listening. He had only heard one thing.
One Lower-Grade Heavenly Dao Retrospection Talisman only cost fifty Spirit Stones.
Ordinary people had no use for it, while he happened to be able to use it.
But even so, the price was already comparable to ten Yellow Grade, Lower-Class Spirit Treasures produced by the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm.
Just then—
The Huang Shikai wraith in Chen Qiu's hand completely vanished between heaven and earth. In exchange, he gained nearly thirty more Human-Faced Spider wraiths at the seventh or eighth layer of the Qi Refining Realm. This was another method that would prove immensely useful at critical moments.
This Green Trait was truly useful.
Before the two could say anything else, a piercing sound of something tearing through the air suddenly came from the sky. They instinctively looked up, only to see the 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 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 the three instantly vanished from where they stood.
Nothing remained but utter wreckage.
"Alright."
The Scholar sat cross-legged on the ground. When he saw that Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon had suffered hardly any injuries, a trace of surprise flashed through his eyes. Still, he smiled and said, "Next, it is time to send you two back to Heaven-Question Market. We shall meet again if fate allows."
"Wait!"
Chen Qiu looked solemnly at the Scholar seated 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."
"After that, five hundred Spirit Stones every month."
"And your monthly wages will rise by five hundred Spirit Stones every year. How about it?"
"..."
The Scholar had instinctively been preparing to refuse, but upon hearing that price, his mouth slowly fell open without his realizing it. Three thousand Spirit Stones upfront? And another five hundred Spirit Stones in monthly wages afterward?
That had far exceeded his expectations!
He had expected that the three thousand Spirit Stones paid upfront would be blood money. There would be no need for any monthly wages afterward—food and lodging would be enough. As long as he had three thousand Spirit Stones to buy a Heavenly Dao Treasure Jade, purge the Bone-Eroding Poison from his body, and live a few more years, he would be satisfied.
But this young man before him was directly offering him three thousand Spirit Stones?
This was the highest price anyone had ever offered him!
Truthfully, it was difficult to refuse.
Yet the Scholar quickly came to his senses. He looked Chen Qiu up and down, taking in his clothes and appearance, his expression twisting with indescribable awkwardness. "Um... Young Master, are you sure you can afford that many Spirit Stones?"
"Or are you making me a promise first, then planning to return and apply to the Lineage behind you?"
Truthfully, the man before him did not look like someone who possessed that many Spirit Stones. Yet neither did he look like a young master from some great Lineage. No matter how low-key a young master might be, he would not wear the coarse hemp clothing of ordinary mortals.
"I'm sure."
Chen Qiu crouched down with a serious expression, meeting the Scholar's gaze as he said softly, "It isn't just anyone giving them to you. I am. There is no Lineage behind me. I roam the world alone. My forces may not be very large, but the treatment I give you will absolutely not be poor."
"However... 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 five days later, you will only have worked five days for nothing. You will not lose much."
"How about it?"
"Huff..."
The Scholar fell silent where he sat. He raised his head and looked at his younger brother, who was watching him expectantly from the side. After a long while, he said hoarsely, "Alright. But let us make this clear first. My brother and I were injured in our early years. We have almost no combat ability. We only possess this one method for traveling quickly."
"There is no hope if you expect us to fend off enemies."
"I understand. That is enough."
"How should I address you, Young Master?"
"Chen Qiu."
"Alright."
The Scholar, seated cross-legged on the ground, struggled to straighten his upper body. Then he leaned forward slightly and said softly, "Can Ren lost his name long ago. People of the martial world call him Scholar. Scholar pays his respects to Young Master Chen."
The bearded brawny man standing nearby revealed an excited expression for the first time. He likewise straightened his body, faced Chen Qiu, and solemnly bowed.
"Good!"
Chen Qiu's expression was equally joyful as he answered with a "Good!" With these two joining him, many of his plans could be accelerated tremendously. It was good that they had no combat ability. His current strength was still rather weak; if two highly capable fighters suddenly joined him, he would not be able to keep them under control.
Wasn't this much better?
When Chen Qiu had encountered the two this morning, he had thought they would ask for some sky-high price. So three thousand Spirit Stones were enough.
At this moment, Chen Qiu clearly had not realized that if he had earned three thousand Spirit Stones by chopping wood, Great Xia would probably have fallen three or four times over before he made that sum. If that amount of Spirit Stones were truly so little, these two brothers would not have spent years in Heaven-Question Market unable to find a good master.
"With the two of you joining us, I believe that before long, we will surely carve out a name of our own in Great Xia."
"But there is one small problem at the moment."
Before you continue