A Nighttime Conversation in the Zhang Household
They did build a spirit beast garden in the fake base.
But it's basically empty inside.
In other words, these are just a few scattered spirit beasts of varying quality and species that I've caught during my time in the Immortal Cultivation Realm; the number is really small.
The fertilizer they produce is needed to supply the vast fields of spiritual energy at the foot of the mountain; even if we fed them laxatives every day until they died, it wouldn't be enough.
Therefore, it is also necessary to set up breeding farms.
Although the breeding farm also needs manpower, it doesn't need as many as the Spirit Plant farmers. One person can manage many spirit beasts. It's just that I don't know if the currently recruited Spirit Plant farmers have any who are good at raising them. If not, it would be best to recruit a few people who are good at this from outside.
The group finalized the plan and assigned tasks, intending to begin implementation as soon as it was light the next day.
However, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst; they currently have too little spiritual fertilizer and need to go to the city to purchase another batch.
In the small conference room on the mountain, people were discussing matters by lamplight, while the newcomers down the mountain were talking to their families about their experiences since joining the sect that day.
That night, Zhang Xunye had dinner with his family and they started chatting casually.
They were used to carrying all their belongings with them when the whole family went out, so now that Zhang Xunye had been successfully selected, they didn't need to go back to their old homes to pack up any things.
Anyway, apart from what they brought with them, there wasn't much of value left in their old home except for that dilapidated house that they couldn't take with them and had been repaired and patched up for many years.
Now that they've moved, it's still necessary to send letters to a few of their close friends to let them know.
During the conversation, his family naturally inquired about the details of his arrival at the house that day.
Zhang Xunye recounted in detail everything he had seen and experienced that day.
"You mean this sect provides two meals of spirit rice every day, and even gives Spirit Stone as a supplement?" Zhang's father paused, stroking his beard, quite surprised.
Zhang Xunye nodded, "Yes, and we went to the Affairs Hall to see what we could exchange for with sect contributions. There were so many things, many of which were hard to find on the market before. And... I even saw Jade Begonia Marrow-Replenishing Pill."
"Jade Begonia Marrow-Replenishing Pill?" Zhang Xunye's wife exclaimed softly upon hearing this. She turned to look at Zhang's mother beside her, "Isn't this the pill that Mother needs most?"
Zhang Xunye nodded, "Yes, we've been begging everywhere for these Jade Begonia Marrow-Replenishing Pill, scraping together every penny we could, and only managed to buy a few. Mother has never been able to take them on time, and her health hasn't recovered over the years. Now, finally..."
Towards the end of his sentence, his voice became slightly choked with emotion.
He didn't finish speaking, but everyone in the family already knew what he had left unsaid.
The few Jade Begonia Marrow-Replenishing Pill that had been found intermittently before had long been consumed by Zhang's mother. However, because they hadn't been able to replenish her on time, they were only keeping her alive, but her body was very weak. Let alone cultivating, the fact that she was still alive was a feat the whole family had done.
Zhang's mother suffered severe injuries in a secret realm more than ten years ago. To fully recover, she needs to take Jade Begonia Marrow-Replenishing Pill regularly. Although most of the medicinal materials required for Jade Begonia Marrow-Replenishing Pill are not expensive, and even one or two more expensive ones are not hard to find, these pills are not easy to make and require a high level of skill from the Alchemist.
In addition, the demand is not particularly large, so many individual Alchemist are unwilling to refine this, or rather, do not know how to refine it.
Because most individual Alchemist, without the backing of an organization, have relatively low skill levels.
Those Alchemist of higher rank who are backed by powerful Lineage or sects basically refine the pills they need each month according to the requirements of the forces behind them.
Even if non-essential items like the Jade Begonia Marrow-Replenishing Pill are refined, only in small quantities. These pills are mostly consumed internally; some are sold, but very few.
This has led to a situation where there is demand but no price.
However, it is also a type of elixir that is relatively expensive but not readily available.
This elixir is most effective when taken by Qi Refining Stage cultivators; its effects are only moderate for Foundation Establishment cultivators.
This resulted in a low actual demand for Jade Begonia Marrow-Replenishing Pill. In addition, due to its high production difficulty, no one was willing to supply this product to the market. Under the influence of multiple factors, it was impossible to maintain a stable supply and sales route for this product.
Therefore, it is very difficult for lower-level cultivators who truly need this pill to obtain it if they do not have the connections.
Zhang's mother had long since resigned herself to her fate, but the rest of the Zhang family were still persisting.
Even disregarding emotional considerations, from a purely practical standpoint, for a family like theirs, which is practically at the bottom of the Immortal Cultivation Realm besides mortals, Zhang's mother is only sixty-five years old. As Qi Refining Sixth Layer cultivator, if she is healthy, she could live for at least several more decades. If she dies, it would be a significant loss for the Zhang family.
After all, the average cultivation level of the Zhang family members was only around the fifth or sixth level of Qi Refining.
If Zhang's mother dies, it's equivalent to the family losing a quarter of its fighting strength at once.
This only considers the objective needs and combat capabilities of the family, not to mention that this person is a relative or family member they have lived with for decades.
After listening for a long time, Zhang's father slowly nodded and said, "Good, good."
"Did you ask how to earn sect contribution points? Is it difficult?"
Zhang Xunye shook his head. "No need to ask, Steward Bai showed us everything back then. One bottle of Jade Begonia Marrow-Replenishing Pill could be exchanged for 200 contribution points. He also showed us some task lists; each task could basically earn us around 100 sect contribution points..."
He paused, looking back now, and even he felt a sense of disbelief, as if a dream had suddenly come true. His tone was somewhat uncertain as he said, "Those tasks, from what I saw, were all about managing and assigning various administrative duties, and guarding some shops..."
"It looks like they can earn at least several hundred or even a thousand in contributions a month."
"Hundreds or thousands?!" Zhang Xunye's wife exclaimed in surprise.
If that's really the amount, then if Zhang Xunye diligently completes all the sect's missions every month, wouldn't he be able to exchange a bottle of Jade Begonia Marrow-Replenishing Pill for his mother every month and still have a considerable surplus?
She was abandoned by her parents when she was young, and it was Zhang's mother who took her home and raised her well. Therefore, she has always regarded Zhang's mother as her own mother.
Hearing that there was progress in Zhang's mother's medicine, she was overjoyed.
"Yes." Zhang Xunye nodded, his face beaming with joy. "Once I've settled things at home in the next couple of days, I'll hurry back to the sect to take on my mission and try to get next month's medicine for my mother as soon as possible!"
"Husband, why don't you go back tomorrow? We'll take care of things at home, so you don't need to worry. What if you go back too late and all the tasks have already been taken by others?" Zhang Xunye's wife advised.
They reasoned that since the rewards for these missions were so generous and they weren't dangerous, there must be a limited number of missions available. They worried that if they returned too late, all the missions would be taken, and they would be in big trouble.