Gathering Spirit Grass Has Matured

"Shopkeeper Qin said that, to ensure the Spirit Carp's freshness, she hoped you could purchase the Spirit Carp within the first three days of a ten-day period..."

Within the first three days of a ten-day period?

That meant the first three days of the month?

Or the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth?

Or perhaps the twenty-first, twenty-second, and twenty-third—the first three days of that ten-day period?

There was no way he could make it during the first three days of the month.

There was also the matter of safety.

After all, he had heard last time that the end and beginning of each month happened to be when the auction and black market opened at the marketplace.

There would be many outside cultivators.

Right now, he was only a skinny-armed, skinny-legged seedling of an immortal cultivator. There was no need to take such risks.

Don't say that the marketplace had Qin Clan patrol cultivators.

With his current strength, if he encountered someone malicious, they could casually strike him down. What use would it be even if the patrol cultivators arrived afterward?

Unless he possessed the power to protect himself.

Only once he was certain he could endure the first wave would he choose to take a risk at a critical moment.

Other than the beginning of the month.

He feared he might not make it during the first three days of the middle ten-day period either.

Of course, if he adjusted his cultivation plan, it was still possible to manage it, but was there really any need?

After retrieving his identity token, Yue Shuo returned to the Spirit Field and resumed his usual Divine Sense recovery.

He continued communicating with Gu Jiu through the Spirit Field formation.

"Can you safely bring back the Spirit Carp?" After discovering how useful Gu Jiu was, Yue Shuo became increasingly unwilling to leave home himself.

If he made a trip to the marketplace himself.

The round trip alone took an hour. Add even a little time wasted on the road, and that meant two or three points of Divine Sense.

That was only because on the road, at sea, and inside the marketplace.

He could recover Divine Sense.

It was simply nowhere near as efficient as in the Spirit Field.

Of course, not going personally to shop and collect the goods also carried certain risks.

For example:

Gu Jiu might develop crooked intentions.

Or he might encounter other cultivators on the road, who could snatch away his Spirit Carp. Or Gu Jiu might use such an excuse, and so on.

Yue Shuo cared about the Spirit Carp, but not overly so.

His growth.

Would not be greatly affected by whether he had Spirit Carp or not.

Buying one Spirit Carp would merely save him some potential trouble in the early stages. He was simply preparing for a rainy day.

"This little one can do it!"

After pondering for several seconds, Gu Jiu answered firmly.

He then described every detail of this round trip, while also reporting the information about pirates that Yue Shuo had asked him to investigate.

He had followed the Qin Clan's supply ship the entire way, taken the direct route, and not wandered about.

Once inside the shop, he had properly delivered the message.

After completing the task, he had once again returned by the direct route. At the marketplace island's docks, he had waited in the Qin Clan subordinate rest area, then returned when the ship arrived.

Other than the time needed to wait for the ship.

His task was not complicated.

In Gu Jiu's view, when he went to purchase the Spirit Carp, he could also follow the Qin Clan team delivering supplies to the marketplace.

The return trip could be handled the same way.

For someone like him, a second-class martial servant listed in the Qin Clan martial registry, he also had a certain network of connections within the Lineage.

Without connections and potential.

He would not have been able to secure the identity of an attendant to a guest disciple.

On average, there were only two or three guest disciples a year, while the number of new martial hall servants added every year was at least several dozen or even over a hundred!

"When does the Qin Clan supply ship..."

Yue Shuo actually understood as soon as he spoke.

Shopkeeper Qin had made it very clear: to ensure the Spirit Carp was fresh, she suggested he go within the first three days of a ten-day period.

In other words.

The Qin Clan's supplies of things like Spirit Carp would most likely arrive on the first day of a ten-day period!

Or the final day of one!

Considering the distance between Hemu Island and the marketplace island, it was truly very close. There was no need to send supplies over too far in advance.

Other than accounting for consumption, delivering them on the same day was perfectly reasonable.

Yue Shuo also asked Gu Jiu about this.

The answer he received matched what he had thought.

"Then it'll be the first day of the last ten-day period, the twenty-first of next month... Right, do we still need to make another trip to confirm the time?"

"Shopkeeper Qin said she would reserve one Spirit Carp for you next month!"

"Then you may go."

Yue Shuo had obtained his answer.

He had also learned the information connecting the pirates to Rogue Cultivators.

Since cultivators were involved.

Naturally, this was not something a newly initiated minor cultivator who had yet to reach Qi Refining Level One could even entertain thoughts about.

From that day onward, he focused even more intently on cultivation and nurturing spirit plants, supplemented by a few cultivation resources.

In the end, advancing to Qi Refining Level One a little sooner.

Would be entirely understandable.

To put it bluntly, Yue Shuo subconsciously believed that his parents in this life might have had other secrets.

The Foundational Talisman-Making Notes they had left behind also proved this.

It was enough for him to show some concern.

If he truly heard a scrap of news and foolishly rushed onto that Fire Gourd Island.

That would not be deep affection and loyalty.

That would be pure stupidity!

Still, once he advanced to Qi Refining Level One and obtained resources, he ought to reveal something in this regard.

With the arrangements made.

What followed.

Was once more the daily routine of cultivation and nurturing Gathering Spirit Grass.

His cultivation rose bit by bit.

His cultivation method and spell proficiency also steadily increased. Thus, his first month on the island passed in calm, unruffled peace.

Zou Chongying and Tian Wan also seemed to gradually grow accustomed to this cultivation-focused life.

They no longer possessed that initial surging urge to socialize.

They merely sent servants to ask him.

Whether he wanted to go to the marketplace in the middle of the month. After he refused, the two of them seemed to immerse themselves in cultivation and growth once again.

On the eighth day of the month.

Under the routine of being cast thirteen times every day, the Qi-Replenishing Technique filled its 200 proficiency points at the "proficient" tier.

It successfully advanced to the "minor mastery" tier!

That night, he once again reduced the number of times he needed to cast the Qi-Replenishing Technique and increased the proportion of Lesser Cloud-Rain Technique casts.

He recorded the changes in data on the eighth.

[Cultivation: 395.2/500 (+2.2)]

[Qi-Replenishing Technique (Tier One): 9/500 (Minor Mastery)]

(Minor Mastery: Consumes half a tenth of spiritual power; you can additionally restore around fifty percent of your spiritual power.)

[Lesser Cloud-Rain Technique (Tier One): 122/200 (Proficient)]

He was one step closer to filling his cultivation progress.

The minor mastery Qi-Replenishing Technique gave him more Divine Sense and spiritual power to cast the Lesser Cloud-Rain Technique.

The ten Gathering Spirit Grass plants that had originally been expected to mature in less than twenty days.

Also had their maturation time shortened.

After all, he had previously cast the spell in two rounds each night, but now it had become three rounds.

At the same time, aside from the spellcasting periods, the Gathering Spirit Grass was also growing somewhat better than expected.

Perhaps it was because he remained in the Spirit Field so often.

By constantly staying in the Spirit Field, aside from continually practicing talismanic patterns and comprehending other tier-one spells.

He was also able to monitor every situation that arose within the Gathering Spirit Grass field at any time.

Whenever weeds appeared.

He pulled them out at the first opportunity.

Besides that.

Perhaps a cultivator's presence had also prevented pests and the like from appearing. So far, his Spirit Field had never suffered any insect infestations.

By the fourteenth day of cultivation.

The Lesser Cloud-Rain Technique, whose casting frequency had increased, also rose to the minor mastery tier.

The Lesser Cloud-Rain Technique he cast finally changed from a bowl-sized mass of spirit mist into true spirit rain.

Although it was only a thin rain that barely covered one-tenth of a mu at a time.

Its enhancement effect was no weaker than when it had been at the beginner tier.

For the ten Gathering Spirit Grass plants he was focusing on nurturing, he cast the spell repeatedly. Yet by the tenth cast, the Gathering Spirit Grass clearly could no longer absorb it.

This proved that accelerating the cultivation of Gathering Spirit Grass.

Still had its limits.

Those ten casts increased the growth of the ten Gathering Spirit Grass plants in that tenth of a mu by a full year.

At the same time, Yue Shuo's Gathering Spirit Grass cultivation plan had been completed.

Ten Gathering Spirit Grass plants with a ten-year maturation period.

Could be harvested at any time!

It had been completed three days ahead of schedule.

Next, should he wait a few more days before going to the marketplace?