Volume 8, Chapter 496 – Making the Entire Immortal Alliance Grow Vegetables for Me (Part 2)

“What is it?”

Elder Zuo’s impatient voice rang out. His cooperation with Qi Huang had always been purely for profit—it didn’t mean their grudges had vanished.

“You haven’t forgotten our agreement, have you? That Lü Yi has already come knocking, saying he’ll marry me on the sixth day of the sixth month next year.”

Qi Huang reminded him first.

“Relax, there’s still a year left. Even if I didn’t care about you, I’d still have to consider my granddaughter’s future.”

Elder Zuo was blunt.

“Good! Actually, the reason I’m contacting you this time is about something else. Roughly two years ago, in Bajiao Village of Huangtian County, the Heyi Sect planted ghost tomatoes that poisoned an entire village…”

Qi Huang then recounted the tragedy from two years ago.

“Such a major incident. Why didn’t you report it to the Immortal Alliance at the time?”

Zuo Bo turned the tables. Of course, he had known about it back then, but the Heyi Sect had bribed the Immortal Alliance, so he had turned a blind eye.

“An incident this big, I refuse to believe Steward Cai didn’t inform you. Or did he not know either?”

Qi Huang’s tone was laced with sarcasm.

“So? What exactly are you trying to say?”

Zuo Bo remained unflinching, not a hint of shame on his face.

“After that tragedy, I began spending a fortune to buy up ghost tomatoes, hoping to eliminate that poisonous crop. But over the past two years, many profit-driven scum have seen this as a money-making opportunity and followed the Heyi Sect’s example, secretly planting ghost tomatoes in remote, highly yin-rich areas. The threat this poses to nearby commoners, I’m sure Elder Zuo understands, right?”

Qi Huang laid out the situation in detail.

“There’s actually something like this happening?”

Elder Zuo’s tone instantly turned grave. As the overseer of the Western Radiance Dynasty’s cultivation world, if such incidents kept recurring, he wouldn’t be able to escape blame.

“I hope the Immortal Alliance will step in. My purchasing of ghost tomatoes was meant to help the common people. I don’t want to end up harming them instead.”

Qi Huang made her demand.

“Don’t worry. I’ll immediately issue orders to all Immortal Alliance branches across the Western Radiance Dynasty. We will crack down hard on this behavior that endangers civilians.”

Zuo Bo made his promise.

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“Then, on behalf of all the commoners of the Western Radiance Dynasty, I thank Elder Zuo.”

Qi Huang politely expressed her gratitude before ending the communication.

‘Zuo Bo, Zuo Bo… I’ve already handed you this money-making opportunity. Whether you can seize it is up to you now.’

Qi Huang’s lips curled into a satisfied smile. She wouldn’t trust ordinary people to grow ghost tomatoes, but if the Immortal Alliance did it? She’d be completely at ease.

At the Immortal Alliance’s branch in the imperial capital…

After setting down the Thousand-Mile Communication Tube, Zuo Bo immediately called out toward the door:

“Someone!”

“What are your orders, Elder Zuo?”

A disciple respectfully pushed the door open.

“By this elder’s command, effective immediately, all branch offices in every province are to crack down on the illegal cultivation of ghost tomatoes in the wild. Those found violating this rule, cultivators are to be detained at the branch offices, commoners handed over to the local government offices.”

Elder Zuo issued his decree.

“Understood!”

The disciple bowed in acknowledgment and turned to leave.

Zuo Bo’s eyes flickered before he suddenly added:

“Wait! Also order all branches to confiscate any illegally grown ghost tomatoes and send them to me for centralized disposal.”

“Yes!”

The disciple cupped his fists again.

‘Qi Huang, Qi Huang… You’ve taken so much advantage of me. This time, I’ll take it all back, with interest.’

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Elder Zuo smirked triumphantly.

That’s right, he had already realized the immense profit potential of ghost tomato cultivation and intended to monopolize it.

“Someone! Relay my orders! Immediately clear out two warehouses and prepare the wasteland to the west for cultivation.”

He issued another command.

Qi Huang returned to the Golden Fortune Auction House in high spirits. If her predictions were correct, it wouldn’t be long before she started receiving ghost tomatoes grown by Elder Zuo, and eventually, others in the Immortal Alliance.

She didn’t believe the old man could truly keep it all to himself or maintain absolute secrecy.

“Young Master, why did you leave in such a hurry earlier?”

Liu Yingyue asked curiously.

“Nothing urgent. Just remembered something I had to take care of.”

Qi Huang brushed it off casually before adding:

“I’ll handle the issue of people illegally growing ghost tomatoes. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“That’s a relief.”

Liu Yingyue exhaled softly, then asked:

“What was the other matter you mentioned?”

“First, I, this fairy, wanted to ask you to gather information about Anemia Paste.”

Qi Huang made her first request.

“This… this fairy?”

Liu Yingyue shuddered, her expression turning strange.

“N-no! I mean, this young master! This young master wants you to investigate the origins of Anemia Paste.”

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Qi Huang broke out in a cold sweat and quickly corrected herself. She had only halted the feminization process, the root issue remained, so she still occasionally slipped into referring to herself as “this fairy”.

“Understood. I’ll do my best! Anemia Paste is rare, but the Liu family’s auction houses span the entire Western Radiance Dynasty. We should have news within a few days.”

Liu Yingyue agreed without hesitation.

“Many thanks, Manager Liu!”

Qi Huang clasped her hands in gratitude before continuing:

“There’s one more thing, I’d like you to appraise a few items for me.”

“Please present them, Young Master. Though I must warn you, my knowledge is limited. I may not recognize everything.”

Liu Yingyue spoke modestly.

Qi Huang then pulled out all the treasures she had looted from Ye Donglai, except for the Heaven-Deceiving Water.

Liu Yingyue’s eyes widened momentarily before her delicate face filled with shock:

“Where did you obtain such treasures, Young Master?”

“A secret!”

Qi Huang awkwardly deflected before hastily changing the subject:

“So? Are they valuable?”

“Valuable? They’re practically priceless! Any one of these could trade for multiple grand courtyard mansions in the imperial capital.”

Liu Yingyue sighed in amazement, picking up a flame-patterned lingzhi mushroom:

“This is a Flame Vein Lingzhi. In the western region of our cultivation world, it only grows in the ashes of the extinct volcano in northern Xitong Kingdom. Its growth is excruciatingly slow, this fist-sized specimen is likely over a thousand years old.”

“What’s it used for?”

Qi Huang pressed eagerly.

“The Flame Vein Lingzhi contains an overwhelming concentration of fire-attribute spiritual energy, so dense that only Divine Realm cultivators can endure it. But due to its rarity, even they reserve it solely for critical breakthroughs.”

Liu Yingyue explained in detail.

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“And its worth?”

Qi Huang couldn’t wait to ask. Since it was a fire-attribute treasure, useless to her and her allies, she could sell it without hesitation.

“At least a million taels of silver. Potentially more at auction.”

Liu Yingyue mused briefly before answering.

“What?! A million taels?!”

Qi Huang’s face twisted in excitement. A million taels was equivalent to Yongning Prefecture’s annual tax revenue, enough to buy thousands of ghost tomatoes!

‘Hah! Just secured laborers to grow crops, and now I’ve got the capital to fund it. This is perfect!’

Her heart swelled with glee.

“This is a scale from a Dragon-Headed Koi, a monster with a dragon’s head and a fish’s body. It only lives in the magma of active volcanoes and is similarly rare. Its effects mirror the Flame Vein Lingzhi, and its price is comparable.”

Liu Yingyue then picked up a palm-sized, fiery-red scale.

Qi Huang snapped back to attention and listened carefully. But as time passed, her lips curled higher and higher. Because all ten treasures were priceless, averaging a million taels each, totaling over ten million taels.

‘Ten million taels! That’s enough to buy tens of thousands of ghost tomatoes, enough to push my divine sense forward by a whole minor realm! And with so many seeds, I can expand my operations several times over!’

She happily calculated the possibilities.

“In that case, this fairy… ahem, this young master will leave these treasures with your auction house. Please handle the sales, Manager Liu!”

Qi Huang was practically vibrating with impatience.

“Uh…”

But Liu Yingyue hesitated unexpectedly.

“Is there a problem?”

Qi Huang frowned.

“Young Master, forgive my impertinence, but… may I ask again, where exactly did you obtain these treasures?”

Liu Yingyue ventured timidly.