Enticement with Profit

After seeing Cai Lao Jiu off.

Qin Ming closed the courtyard gate and began pondering alone.

He had not expected the Spirit Feather Sect's teleportation array to be repaired so quickly. Given the current situation, his position would become exceedingly awkward.

Qin Ming was now living under another's roof, performing compulsory labor within the Spirit Feather Sect. Nothing was up to him, and the sect restrained him at every turn.

The sect higher-ups changed their decisions on a whim. Today, they might drag you to the frontline War Camp as cannon fodder; tomorrow, they might forbid you from privately selling Spirit Rice.

In peacetime, they drained your body; in wartime, they used your life!

These sects simply did not treat Spirit Farmers like them as human beings. They treated them purely like oxen and horses.

Besides that.

The Immortal Cultivation World was a treacherous sea of shifting winds and clouds, its situation changing by the moment. Though the Spirit Feather Sect and Goldcloud Valley appeared harmonious now.

Who knew when they might suddenly fall out over the resource interests of the Cloud Marsh Great Wilderness and go to war at the slightest disagreement.

When that happened, low-level cultivators like them would be the first to suffer.

The frontline War Camp had been fighting those barbarian cultivators for years without making any progress or gaining the slightest advantage. Instead, they had suffered grievous losses.

What did that mean?

The natives deep within the Cloud Marsh Great Wilderness were likely not as easy for the Spirit Feather Sect and Goldcloud Valley to handle as the two sects believed.

If those natives struck back, that would spell serious trouble.

"I have to make plans early."

Qin Ming's gaze flickered. The desire in his heart to leave the Spirit Feather Sect had grown ever stronger!

"Running away outright isn't very realistic."

"I still need to find a way to be exempted from compulsory labor and regain my freedom."

He pondered for a while.

To be exempted from the Spirit Feather Sect's compulsory labor, he had to fulfill any one of the three conditions laid out by the sect.

The first condition was to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm. Qin Ming dismissed that at once; it was far too impossible for him to establish his foundation within a short time.

The second condition was to hand over any resource that could assist with Foundation Establishment. Well, he could skip that one too. He did not even possess such a rare resource, much less have one to hand over.

After thinking it over.

Qin Ming felt that the third condition had more potential and was highly feasible: reaching Tier 2 in any one of the Hundred Cultivation Arts.

He was already a Tier 1 Mid-Grade Spirit Planter. After next year, he would likely advance to a Tier 1 High-Grade Spirit Planter.

With Affixes in hand, Qin Ming had great hope of breaking through to become a Tier 2 Spirit Planter.

However, he currently had no idea what conditions had to be met to advance to a Tier 2 Spirit Planter.

He would have to visit the Hall of Affairs another day and ask about it.

At this thought.

Qin Ming's eyes became resolute. He had already made up his mind about his plans for the future.

He then began seriously considering how exactly he should handle selling Beast Fang Rice next year.

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month passed.

As expected, just as Cai Lao Jiu had said.

During this year's spring plowing, Elder Gu brought people to the Spirit Fields and announced an order banning the private sale of Spirit Rice.

To the Spirit Farmers, this was nothing less than snow added atop frost.

This year, Qin Ming still planted Golden Spirit Rice in his three mu of Spirit Fields.

He then cast the Greater Spirit Rain Technique, bringing down Spirit Rain.

After finishing his work in the Spirit Fields.

Qin Ming returned to his courtyard and began his day-after-day arduous cultivation.

With vast quantities of Supreme-Grade Blood Locust Rice piled up, he had forcibly pushed the Body Refining Art, the "Hundred Treasures Glazed Scripture," to the peak of the sixth layer.

The five Faint Vital Energy Affixes and two Abundant Vital Energy Affixes in his Sea of Consciousness had also been used up one after another through cultivation.

Even with such an accumulation of vital energy, he still could not break through to the seventh layer of body refinement.

One could imagine the terrifying quantity of spirit materials that enhanced vital energy required by the later stages of the "Hundred Treasures Glazed Scripture."

As for his magical power cultivation.

Qin Ming could now refine Qi Gathering Pills himself. Though their effects were far inferior to Spirit Gathering Pills.

The magical power within his body was still increasing in an orderly fashion.

One day.

Qin Ming was cultivating when the formation restrictions outside the courtyard gate rippled.

He ceased his cultivation, opened his eyes, rose to his feet, and went to the gate to peer outside.

He had seen this person before.

The visitor wore his hair bound beneath a wooden crown, with a jade belt around his waist. His skin was fair, his features arrogant, and his eyes slightly puffy as he yawned incessantly.

He was at the seventh layer of the Qi Refining Stage, somewhat short in stature, and wore the blue inner-sect robes of the Spirit Feather Sect.

Though he was a scion of wealth, one glance made it clear that he had spent far too much time lingering in brothels and pleasure houses.

This man was precisely the short cultivator who had followed Jiang Kun's group that day and snatched the old man's treasure on the street.

Perhaps after following Jiang Kun for too long, he had become just as overbearing and arrogant as his master.

When Qin Ming saw him, his brows furrowed.

He could not help but inwardly curse his bad luck.

Still, he braced himself and opened the gate for him. After all, the man was from the Spirit Feather Sect.

"Oh? Fellow Daoist Qin, right?"

"I am Chen Zi'ang of the Spirit Feather Sect."

"I heard Fellow Daoist recently advanced to a Mid-Grade Spirit Planter? Congratulations!"

"Senior Brother Jiang would like to invite you to Mingzhen Pavilion for a drink, Fellow Daoist Qin. Would you honor us with your presence?"

Contrary to his usual manner, Chen Zi'ang wore a smiling face and extended the invitation with great sincerity.

The moment Qin Ming heard this, he knew it was not up to him whether he accepted or not.

There was no way he could evade this trip.

"Since it is Senior Brother Jiang's invitation, then please lead the way, Fellow Daoist Chen."

Qingyang Market was, after all, within the Spirit Feather Sect's own jurisdiction. On the surface, Jiang Kun and his group would not go too far.

Moreover, the market was tangled with forces of every kind, and there were quite a few powers that even the core members of the Spirit Feather Sect had to weigh carefully.

Mirror Snow Pavilion was one of them.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, a pleasure, a pleasure."

Inside a private room at Mingzhen Pavilion, Jiang Kun, a core disciple of the Spirit Feather Sect dressed in a blue-and-gold silk Dharma robe, sat with an imposing bearing. His phoenix eyes smiled as they assessed Qin Ming.

"Senior Brother Jiang invited me here. Might I ask—"

"No hurry, no hurry. First, taste this finely brewed Spirit Grain Wine."

Jiang Kun took out two white jade cups and personally poured wine for Qin Ming.

He then poured himself a cup as well, raised it in a toast to Qin Ming across from him, and drained it in one gulp.

Qin Ming was almost flattered by such treatment.

He picked up the cup before him and, without the slightest hesitation, downed it in one gulp as well.

The "Hundred Treasures Glazed Scripture" he cultivated rendered him immune to all poisons, so he did not fear the other party tampering with the wine.

The Spirit Grain Wine slid down his throat.

It was mellow yet sharp, with spiritual energy lingering between his lips and teeth. It truly was fine wine.

"Fellow Daoist Qin is indeed a forthright man."

A trace of imperceptible surprise flashed through Jiang Kun's eyes.

Then a smile curled his lips. "Speaking of which, there was a slight misunderstanding between us last time. That day at the Hall of Affairs, I was securing a slot for one of my subordinates, and in my urgency, my tone was somewhat harsh. I hope Fellow Daoist Qin will not take it to heart."

"Heh heh, Senior Brother Jiang jests. Had Senior Brother not mentioned it, I would have already forgotten the matter." Qin Ming forced out a smile, his smile not reaching his eyes.

"Then it seems this elder brother worried too much. Fellow Daoist Qin is so magnanimous that I should punish myself with a cup." As Jiang Kun spoke, he actually filled his own cup and drained it in one gulp.

Afterward, Jiang Kun chatted with him about various matters from the past few years.

For instance, regarding Spirit Rice cultivation, he was lavish in his praise of Qin Ming and congratulated him on advancing to a Mid-Grade Spirit Planter.

Naturally, he also asked how Qin Ming had gotten connected with Mirror Snow Pavilion.

Qin Ming spoke to people as people, and to ghosts as ghosts.

He said what he could say, while everything he could not say was glossed over vaguely.

Had Qin Ming not personally witnessed Jiang Kun's true face some time ago.

He might truly have believed at this moment that the man was a humble, approachable senior brother who valued talent.

After three rounds of wine.

With a smile on his face, Jiang Kun took an exquisite Jade Box from his Storage Bag and gently pushed it before Qin Ming.

"A small token of my regard. I hope Fellow Daoist Qin will accept it."

Qin Ming was immediately left baffled by this move.

"Senior Brother Jiang, what does this mean?"

Amid his confusion, Qin Ming reached out and opened the Jade Box.

What lay inside moved him deeply.

Five round, gleaming Spirit Stones gave off a dazzling radiance. The dense spiritual energy within could be felt even from far away.

They were actually Mid-Grade Spirit Stones!

Each one could be exchanged for one hundred Lower-grade Spirit Stones, and sometimes even more.

This was worth more than five hundred Spirit Stones.

Besides that, an exquisite porcelain bottle rested within the Jade Box.

Qin Ming picked up the bottle and opened it, and a refreshing medicinal fragrance wafted forth.

Inside lay a single deep-green spirit pill.

He was exceedingly familiar with this type of pill. Qin Ming had personally watched Su Yuqing refine one before.

"A breakthrough pill for the Late Qi Refining stage—the Marrow Cleansing Pill!"

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