Cooperation

After quickly arriving in Jingnan Prefecture and then rushing back to the Chongming Sect, Sect Leader Kang Da was truly terrified. He immediately abandoned any thought of going out again, leaving the four heads of the Four Ghosts of the Liu Household's four ghosts to dry in his Storage Bag for the time being.

After spending another half month in the secret chamber, Kang Dabao pretended to have returned from outside and rushed back to the Chongming Sect, covered in dust from his journey.

Upon returning, he lost his appetite even for the braised pork knuckle that Jin Shilun had personally brought to greet him, and immediately went to his sect leader's quarters. He had hoped to recuperate in peace for a while, but unexpectedly, someone came looking for him that evening.

"Oh? Fellow Daoist Lu wants to place a box of spirit bees in my house as well?" Kang Dabao looked at the female cultivator from the Lu Household in front of him, but showed little interest after hearing her purpose.

The reason why Sect Leader Kang Da showed little interest was simply because he was in a bad mood. It was definitely not because the younger sister of the Lu Household head in front of him was of average appearance, with rough hands and feet, and neither curvy nor attractive.

He had heard Jiang Qing mention this female cultivator to him before. During the time when the Lu Household members fought Jiang Qing, this female cultivator's methods were the most ruthless, far surpassing those of the two Lu Household heads.

"Tsk, it's not like it's anything urgent, why bother coming to find me so late at night?" Kang Dabao sat in the main seat, outwardly greeting the female cultivator opposite him, but inwardly he was grumbling.

"I saw the locust tree that your sect transplanted earlier. I imagine that Spirit Plant that could warrant the personal intervention of Sect Leader Kang must be extraordinary. Therefore, upon hearing that Sect Leader Kang had returned to the sect today, I took the liberty of coming to visit. If Sect Leader Kang agrees to this matter, with such excellent locust blossoms, my family's spirit bees will surely be able to produce fine locust blossom honey."

The female cultivator from the Lu Household seemed to be a practical person. She wasn't good at flattery, but her eyes would light up when she talked about spirit honey and spirit bees.

Hearing that the female cultivator from the Lu Household had some insight into her words, Kang Dabao was not completely defeated by his frustration. He realized that what the female cultivator was talking about was a serious matter that needed to be taken seriously.

He cast aside his gloomy mood and comforted himself with the thought, "Anyway, I've gotten used to being poor all these years, and the things that were stolen were just things I picked up from other people's coffins anyway."

Sect Leader Kang Da felt that professional matters should be asked of professionals, so he turned to Zhou Jiashi, who was sitting to his left, and asked, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, what do you think? Is Fellow Daoist Lu's suggestion feasible?"

"Well, in my humble opinion, Fellow Daoist Lu's suggestion is not unreasonable. However, to implement this matter, I must first see the box of spirit bees that Fellow Daoist Lu intends to place under the locust tree before I dare to make a judgment." Zhou Jiashi's words were indeed mature and insightful.

Kang Dabao and the female cultivator from the Lu Household both nodded in agreement. Kang Dabao was about to suggest discussing it again tomorrow when the female cultivator from the Lu Household spoke up, "Fellow Daoist is quite right. I have already brought this box of spirit bees."

As she spoke, she took out a gray wooden Law Artifact from her spirit beast pouch, opened the lid on the side of the box, and a large swarm of black spirit bees buzzed out of the box, circling and dancing around the blue lamp in the hall.

Fortunately, Chongming Sect was not wealthy, and the lamps and candles in the hall were all made of animal oil, so the fires were all ordinary. Even if some mindless spirit bees were curious and rushed over, they would only get burned and their wings would smell slightly burnt, but nothing serious would happen. Otherwise, in just this short time, most of the spirit bees in the Lu Household female cultivator's hive would have been lost.

Instead of checking the spirit bees in the hall, Zhou Jiashi activated his spiritual energy shield and probed towards the beehive.

Although the surrounding soldier bees were anxious, the female cultivator from the Lu Household controlled the queen bee and did not give any orders. They could only watch helplessly as Zhou Jiashi reached into the hive, picked up a spirit bee larva, dipped it in honey, and began to chew it.

"Fellow Daoist Lu's box of spirit bees is quite remarkable. Although it's only First-Tier Lower-Grade, it tastes somewhat like First-Tier Superior-Grade Dark Jade Bee," Zhou Jiashi praised.

Kang Dabao and the female cultivator from the Lu Household had never seen his method of identifying spirit bees before. Despite their surprise, the latter said with admiration, "Fellow Daoist Zhou is right; my Black Jade Bee were indeed trained from the Dark Jade Bee."

"Tsk, as expected. Then the matter of the spirit bees collecting honey will probably need to be reconsidered." Zhou Jiashi frowned and sighed upon hearing this.

"Why is that?" The female cultivator from the Lu Household asked, and even Kang Dabao showed a look of confusion on his face.

"Fellow Daoist has cultivated these Black Jade Bee for many years, so you should know their nature. If I'm not mistaken, your spirit bees are quite similar in habits to the Dark Jade Bee. Although they are good at pollinating, they are extremely fierce and brutal when collecting nectar, often damaging even the petals and stamens of spirit flowers."

"If my family also had fruit trees Spirit Plant, it wouldn't be so bad. Even if these spirit bees tore off some of the blossoms, the remaining harvest might still be better. But what Sect Leader Kang obtained was a locust tree, and most of its value lies in its locust blossoms. If they are ruined by your spirit bees and we only get a little spiritual honey, then it would be a loss."

After Zhou Jiashi explained the reason, the doubts on their faces disappeared.

Kang Dabao wasn't particularly interested in the matter to begin with, and was about to decline the suggestion from the female cultivator from the Lu Household. However, she spoke up, saying, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, you have a remarkable memory. The Black Jade Bee do indeed have this vice, and your concerns are not without merit. I admire you. But I wonder if I could personally see that locust tree? After I've seen it, our two families can then make further plans."

The female cultivator from the Lu Household was not good at flattery, so her praise of Zhou Jiashi was not just polite words, but a sincere appreciation.

She wanted to see the big locust tree, but Zhou Jiashi couldn't make that decision, so she looked in the direction of Kang Dabao.

Sect Leader Kang Da had no objection; a glance from her wouldn't cost the locust tree a piece of bark. Anyway, the deal was unlikely to go through, so she might as well return the young bee that Zhou Jiashi had just eaten.

The three walked under the moonlight to the big locust tree. The female cultivator from the Lu Household was quite perceptive; she could sense that the locust tree was originally of a high grade, but for some reason, its vitality had been damaged.

But with Zhou Jiashi here to prescribe the right medicine, even she, an outsider, could feel the vitality of the big locust tree, which was rapidly recovering.

"This is at least First-Tier Superior-Grade Spirit Plant." The female cultivator from the Lu Household was tempted. Her Black Jade Bee needed to feed on various high-grade spiritual flowers to make honey in order to accelerate their advancement.

Even if one is lucky enough to find a high-quality spiritual flower, the quantity is often limited, and the pollen alone is not enough for all the Black Jade Bee; it must be used to cultivate queen bees.

However, among the sufficient number of spiritual flowers, the ones that could be found were of too low a grade to be used by the Black Jade Bee for upgrading.

If this locust tree can truly provide nectar for the Black Jade Bee, then in three to five years, at least half of her several boxes of Black Jade Bee will be able to advance to the First-Tier Middle-Grade, and the spiritual honey they produce will be of a higher grade than it is now.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the grade has only increased by one level. First-Tier Middle-Grade spiritual honey can already be used as an auxiliary ingredient in refining some Second Tier pills, greatly increasing its value.

"There's no better option than this locust tree; we must reach an agreement!" Thinking this, the female cultivator from the Lu Household lowered her original offer, saying, "Sect Leader Kang, if our two families cooperate, your family will get 40% of the locust honey, and my family will get 60%."

Before Kang Dabao could finish calculating the score, he saw Zhou Jiashi walk up to the big locust tree, draw a difficult-to-understand rune in the air with his finger, crush a Spirit Stone in his hand, and sprinkle it on the rune.

Then, the runes shone with light and imprinted themselves on the trunk of the locust tree. Instantly, two flower buds sprouted from the tenderest branch of the tree. Then, the flower buds split open one after another, and two small white flowers bloomed at the same time, adding a clean and refreshing fragrance to the quiet night sky.

Zhou Jiashi then borrowed another Black Jade Bee from the female cultivator of the Lu Household. The Black Jade Bee rose from Zhou Jiashi's fingertip and pounced on the locust flowers like a hungry tiger. While picking nectar, it also gnawed at the petals, leaving them full of gaps. In the end, it even tore off a petal.

Seeing this, Kang Dabao and Zhou Jiashi's expressions grew even more grim. The latter said, "Alas, Fellow Daoist Lu, your Black Jade Bee are even more ferocious than I imagined. Let alone dividing the spiritual honey into forty percent, even sixty percent would probably only barely break even."

"Then 60%!" The female cultivator from the Lu Household watched as the Black Spirit Bee, having finished collecting pollen, flew back to her hand with a satisfied look on its belly. Her resolve hardened, and she was determined to reach this agreement.

"Heh, fellow Daoist, hold on. If 60% goes to my family, there's no profit to be made. Why would I bother having you, a spirit bee, make honey?" Kang Dabao chimed in at this moment. He couldn't do a losing business.

"Seventy percent to your family!" The female cultivator from the Lu Household swiftly and decisively raised the price.

"Eighty percent!" Sect Leader Kang Da without any hesitation, slashing again.

"Absolutely 80%! Then it's settled." This time, the female cultivator from the Lu Household answered decisively.

"I'll take my leave now, and return when the locust flowers bloom." This female cultivator from the Lu Household was quite efficient; she bowed and left as soon as the matter was settled.

"Tsk, I should have asked for 90%, what a loss." Seeing how readily the female cultivator from the Lu Household agreed, Sect Leader Kang Da started calculating the odds again.

"Sect Leader Kang, even if it's just one percent, it's still a profit." Zhou Jiashi said as he watched the female cultivator from the Lu Household walk away.

"What do you mean by that, fellow Daoist?" Kang Dabao asked curiously, his interest piqued.

"If Fellow Daoist Lu had tamed a swarm of First-Tier Superior-Grade Dark Jade Bee, then our locust flowers would indeed be greatly damaged during their honey-gathering process. But the Black Jade Bee she tamed are only First-Tier Lower-Grade, with ineffective mouthparts, and cannot even bite the petals of First-Tier Superior-Grade locust flowers, so they will not cause any damage to our locust flowers," Zhou Jiashi chuckled.

"So... Fellow Daoist, you cheated just now?!" Sect Leader Kang Da realized halfway through his sentence, and how could he not know that it was Zhou Jiashi had used tricks?

"The two locust blossoms that I forced to ripen against the season using Master Jia's secret techniques were merely for show and naturally couldn't withstand the bites of those spirit bees." Zhou Jiashi's expression was somewhat smug, which seemed out of place with his honest and kind appearance.

"Without exception, the flowers of this locust tree can be harvested by two hives of spirit bees, yielding about six to eight liters of locust honey. If the locust honey is brewed into medium-grade spirit honey, it can sell for twenty-five Spirit Stone per liter. That year would be..." Zhou Jiashi's joy grew stronger as he spoke.

Kang Dabao couldn't help but chime in, "Even without counting the locust flower profits, the spirit honey alone would net a profit of 120 to 160 Spirit Stone."

"That locust tree alone can bring Chongming Sect two to three hundred Spirit Stone in revenue every year." Sect Leader Kang Da's joy deepened at this thought.

"Hiss, I didn't expect this honest man to have such a cunning side." Kang Dabao was delighted but also somewhat wary.

Sure enough, someone who can make a living alone in a large Xuanwei City for so many years is definitely not as simple as he seems.

At this moment, the Sect Leader Kang Da looked at Zhou Jiashi had begun to show a hint of something special.

Thanks again to JianV for the donation! I was supposed to add more chapters, but typing on my phone is just too inefficient, so I'll have to postpone it for now.

Thank you to reader 20180203053622586 for the 100-coin reward! Thank you everyone for voting, commenting, and following along!

After the first two chapters were written, some disagreements arose. I've read all the comments from Lao Bai guys, and they all make sense.

The biggest problem is probably that Lao Bai didn't lay the groundwork for Kang Yilong's appearance.

Actually, Lao Bai's original intention was to show the feeling of great joy and sorrow, like someone who has obtained many treasures in the beginning but then falls asleep and it all turns into a dream, so that everyone can feel the absurdity that cultivating immortality is not something that can be achieved overnight, and that all sorts of unexpected events can happen at any time.

But after seeing everyone's feedback, it seems it wasn't written well and felt a bit abrupt; this is Lao Bai's problem.

Thank you all for your constructive feedback. When I woke up this morning, I saw that many readers who criticized Lao Bai still voted in his support. I am truly grateful to them.

For those of you who are concerned about the outline, there's no need to worry. I'm still sticking to my main storyline and writing.

I've also seen some arguments between people in the comments. I think everyone reads to relax, and any problems are the author's fault. There's no need to hurt each other's feelings. So, I'll be Lao Bai some of the more aggressive comments. I hope everyone understands.

Thank you again everyone!