Spirit Rice Price Drop

Inside the Alchemy Room.

Su Yuqing stared blankly into the pill furnace. Six azure pills tumbled up and down within, practically ready to burst forth!

What he found even harder to understand was—

Among those six Qi Gathering Pills, one of them actually had a thin layer of Pill Veins radiating from its surface!

"Premium Qi Gathering Pill?!"

Without waiting for Qin Ming to make a move, Su Yuqing raised a hand and beckoned.

The six pills inside the furnace instantly flew into his hand.

He inspected them one by one with painstaking care, his brows tightly furrowed as he confirmed it again and again.

"Brother Su, please take a look for me. Would you say this batch of Qi Gathering Pills counts as qualified?"

"Is there anything I should be mindful of?"

Qin Ming was overjoyed at his successful pill refinement. A sincere smile appeared on his face as he humbly sought Su Yuqing's guidance.

After all, the other man was a genuine High-Grade Alchemist.

Even across the entire area surrounding Qingyang Market, such people were exceedingly rare. If Su Yuqing were willing to offer him a word or two of instruction, Qin Ming would benefit endlessly.

After a long while.

Su Yuqing finally returned the pills in his hand to Qin Ming.

Then, a complicated look crossed his face. He forced out a faint smile and squeezed out a few words. "Heh heh. Not... not bad. Barely qualified."

He looked calm and unruffled on the surface, but inside, stormy waves had long been overturning the seas.

"This kid's pill-refining talent is almost catching up to mine, isn't it?!"

"Hadn't he been failing nonstop some time ago?"

"This is truly strange. How did he suddenly become enlightened all at once?"

"Could it be that he really learned every last bit of my unique pill-refining techniques?"

"Is this kid's comprehension really that high?"

"No, no. Next time, I need to hold something back."

Qin Ming happily admired his own "groundbreaking masterpiece," a swell of accomplishment rising naturally within him.

At the same time, he felt deeply grateful to Su Yuqing.

If not for Su Yuqing letting him observe at the side every time he refined pills, allowing him to absorb things through constant exposure, he would not have learned so much real knowledge.

Even with his greatly strengthened soul, he could not have stepped into the threshold of a Low-Grade Alchemist so quickly.

Dinner.

Qin Ming cooked personally, using Beast Fang Rice to prepare a whole table of delicious dishes. He and Su Yuqing ate to their hearts' content.

"Brother Qin, the Beast Fang Rice you grew is truly quite good."

Su Yuqing wolfed down two large bowls of Beast Fang Spirit Rice in a row. Even as he spoke, he did not forget to scoop more rice vigorously from the pot.

"If Brother Su needs some, I can sell you some at the market price," Qin Ming said with a smile.

The last time he had bought Spirit Gathering Pills from Su Yuqing, the man had given him Superior Spirit Gathering Pills.

This was the perfect chance to repay the favor.

The moment Su Yuqing heard this, he perked up, his eyes shining as he asked, "Really?!"

"How much can Brother Qin provide? I'll take however much you have."

Qin Ming immediately took out a bag of Beast Fang Rice from his Storage Bag and set it before Su Yuqing. "This is all I have for now, roughly a hundred pounds."

"I'll give it to you at the market price, seven Spirit Stones per pound."

Su Yuqing's face lit up with delight. Without even looking, he waved a hand toward the bag, storing it away in his Storage Bag.

Then he took out seven hundred Spirit Stones and handed them to Qin Ming.

Qin Ming accepted the Spirit Stones and put them away. His little treasury instantly swelled to over sixteen hundred Spirit Stones.

He raised his wine cup toward Su Yuqing and toasted him happily. "Come, come, today calls for a grand cup."

Su Yuqing also broke into a rare grin, raised his cup, and drained it in one gulp.

After dinner, Qin Ming bade him farewell and left.

During the meal.

Su Yuqing had once again asked Qin Ming to help him cultivate Spirit Plants for the final year.

They were still supplementary ingredients for pill refinement.

Only this time, the Spirit Plants Su Yuqing wanted him to grow were rather difficult.

One was a first-rank high-grade Spirit Plant, Demon Flame Grass.

The other was a first-rank Supreme Spirit Plant, Seven-Leaf Huangling.

Both Spirit Plants happened to have a maturation period of one year.

Even though Qin Ming looked troubled, he could not withstand Su Yuqing's repeated invitations.

Su Yuqing now had even more confidence in Qin Ming's skill with Spirit Plants than Qin Ming himself did.

Qin Ming also considered that he still needed to keep freeloading off the man's pill-refining expertise, as well as inherit his Alchemy Room, so he hurriedly nodded in agreement.

One of the requirements for advancing to a High-Grade Spirit Planter was successfully cultivating two or more types of first-rank high-grade Spirit Plants.

This time, Su Yuqing had given him only twenty Spirit Seeds of each kind.

At the level of high-grade Spirit Plants, even the Spirit Seeds became increasingly precious.

Qin Ming made his way to the Spirit Fields on the hillside.

After tilling the soil, he planted the several dozen Spirit Seeds separately.

He used the Greater Spirit Rain Technique to bring down Spirit Rain.

Then he looked toward the three mu of Beast Fang Rice Spirit Fields.

The Beast Fang Rice in the fields was growing splendidly this year, promising a bountiful harvest.

Only then did he leave in satisfaction.

Qingyang Market.

Qin Ming returned to his Secluded Cool Abode.

He glanced at the corner of the courtyard, where the transplanted Withered Blood Poison Vine stood.

Qin Ming had observed it for a long time.

Without using the "Accelerated Growth" Affix, this Spirit Plant grew extremely slowly. Since being transplanted here, it had almost shown no change at all.

The Accelerated Growth Affixes in his Sea of Consciousness were also running low, so he could only let it grow like this for now.

Just as Qin Ming was about to enter the quiet room, the Message Talisman on him stirred.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, come quickly for a discussion. There is a new development."

Qin Ming picked up the Message Talisman and frowned. It was a message from Manager Liao.

"Did something happen again?"

He had a bad feeling about it.

One incense stick later.

Qin Ming arrived at Juxuan Pavilion.

The moment Manager Liao saw him, he piled on smiles and ushered him into a private room on the fourth floor.

He then activated a Soundproof Talisman before speaking gravely. "Fellow Daoist Qin, I have some rather bad news."

"The Spirit Rice in the market is about to drop in price."

"It will likely happen within the next day or two. Not only that, other cultivation resources such as magical artifacts and pills will also gradually fall in price."

Qin Ming's brows drew tightly together. He instinctively asked, "Has the Spirit Feather Sect's teleportation array been repaired?"

"Fellow Daoist Qin has guessed correctly. A few days ago, the Spirit Feather Sect completed the repairs to the teleportation array and restored its logistical supplies." Manager Liao nodded lightly.

"Not only that, the Spirit Feather Sect and Goldcloud Valley will add two teleportation arrays directly connected to Cloudmarsh City in the Immortal City currently under construction."

"In the future, the two sects will certainly make Cloudmarsh City their center, and Qingyang Market's status will gradually be replaced."

"The Pavilion Master intends that once Cloudmarsh City is completed, Juxuan Pavilion's main businesses will all move there as well."

"Only a few insignificant branch stores will remain in Qingyang Market."

Hearing Manager Liao say this, Qin Ming could not help frowning as he pondered it over.

After a long while.

He lifted his teacup and took a light sip, then suddenly asked, "Will the rent for houses in the market go down?"

Manager Liao seemed to have anticipated this question long ago and answered directly, "Housing rent in the market will not go down."

"Ah, after all, there are so many independent cultivators now, while housing is in short supply. Even once Cloudmarsh City is completed, it will first open only to a portion of cultivators, with a certain threshold for entry."

Qin Ming was somewhat dumbfounded.

He had not expected Spirit Rice prices to fall while housing rent remained so high.

He had only moved here a few days ago.

"If Fellow Daoist Qin still has surplus Spirit Rice, you should quickly sell it within these next two days." Manager Liao poured Qin Ming another cup of tea, his words carrying an unmistakable implication.

A beaming smile hung on his face.

Qin Ming could not help curling his lip as he thought, "So after all that, this old fellow has his eye on my bag of Spirit Rice."

"Ah, Manager Liao, if you had told me earlier, I really did have a little over a hundred pounds of Beast Fang Rice left."

"But not long ago, I sold it all to Brother Su." Qin Ming sighed and shook his head helplessly.

At those words, the anticipation in Manager Liao's eyes immediately turned to disappointment.

"Er, it's fine. After all, next year's Beast Fang Rice will be ready to harvest soon!"

The conversation ended.

Manager Liao still warmly escorted Qin Ming out of the shop.

After leaving the shop.

Qin Ming pondered for a moment.

He immediately sent a Message Talisman to Cai Lao Jiu.

"Old Jiu, if you still have Spirit Rice stockpiled, sell it quickly within the next two days. Keep this matter to yourself."