Purchasing Spirit Grass

At the stall, a woman with a fair face and simple clothing raised her head, an uncertain expression flickering in her eyes.

"Are you... Senior Brother Jiyin?"

This woman was named Chen Yi, the only female among the four mortals who had entered the sect at the same time as Song Wen.

Back then, she and the other three men had chosen to become spiritual plant farmers, which carried far lower risks.

What surprised Song Wen was that in just over two months, Chen Yi was already able to set up a stall in the market.

One had to know that setting up a stall here required a daily fee of five Spirit Stones. In other words, one had to earn at least five Spirit Stones a day just to break even.

A spiritual plant farmer's monthly stipend was only ten Spirit Stones. That Chen Yi dared to set up a stall here made Song Wen view her in a new light.

Song Wen focused his gaze on her stall and saw that she was selling nothing but Spirit Grass.

He knew very little about spiritual herbs and could not recognize their names or effects. However, he figured their value could not be too high; otherwise, she wouldn't be openly displaying them on a roadside stall.

Although Song Wen and Chen Yi had never spoken before, they had entered the sect together. Compared to other disciples, there was a natural sense of familiarity between them.

Furthermore, when they first met, though Song Wen had seemed somewhat cold, he was not overbearing and disdainful like Wu Sheng.

A smile appeared on Chen Yi's face.

"It really is you, Senior Brother Jiyin! I didn't expect us to meet again so soon."

"Senior Brother Jiyin, is everything going smoothly for you over at the Corpse Dismemberment Cave?"

After a brief exchange, both gained a basic understanding of each other's recent situations.

Of course, Song Wen would not reveal everything, and Chen Yi did not go into absolute detail either.

From Chen Yi's words, Song Wen learned the news.

It turned out that after the four of them entered the spiritual plant garden together, Zhang Xiaofan had quickly displayed an extraordinary talent for alchemy. By a stroke of immense luck, he was taken as a disciple by a Golden Core Elder.

The originally mediocre Zhang Xiaofan had undergone a complete transformation, becoming the personal disciple of the Corpse Demon Sect's Pill Hall Elder. His status had undergone an earth-shattering change.

When one man attains the Dao, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven!

The three who had entered the sect alongside Zhang Xiaofan shared a close relationship with him, so they received immense benefits.

Zhang Xiaofan had been granted a sizable spirit field by his master. However, because he needed to dedicate his time to studying alchemy, he had no time to tend to the field himself. Thus, the task of managing it fell to Chen Yi and the other two.

Simple and honest by nature, Zhang Xiaofan gave them thirty percent of the spirit field's profits, dividing it equally among the three as compensation for their hard work.

The spiritual herbs Chen Yi was selling today were the very first batch harvested from that field. They were mostly low-grade Spirit Grasses commonly used by low-level disciples of the Corpse Demon Sect for healing wounds, alchemy, or refining corpse puppets.

The proceeds from selling these spiritual herbs did not belong entirely to Chen Yi. She had to take them back and divide them with the other two according to their profit-sharing agreement.

"Junior Sister Chen, do you have any Azure Spirit Grass here?"

Azure Spirit Grass was a common auxiliary herb used in refining low-grade pills, and it was also a standard material for crafting corpse puppets. It was an extremely common low-grade spiritual herb, and it happened to be the most common food for Beetle Gu.

"Of course I have Azure Spirit Grass. I happen to have two stalks right here at the stall. Consider them a gift to Senior Brother Jiyin."

She picked up two stalks of Spirit Grass from her stall and handed them to Song Wen.

These two stalks of Azure Spirit Grass were of exceptional quality, a vibrant, lush green, looking as though they could keep growing if replanted.

She assumed Song Wen needed the Azure Spirit Grass to refine a corpse puppet, which typically only required one or two stalks. Since Azure Spirit Grass was incredibly cheap, she intended to give them away for free.

Faced with Chen Yi's goodwill, Song Wen did not accept.

First of all, a mere two stalks were completely insufficient. Beetle Gu possessed immense appetites, especially during their growth phase, requiring a vast amount of food to develop. Since the Spiritual Qi within a single stalk of Azure Spirit Grass was thin, his demand would naturally be huge.

Secondly, Song Wen disliked owing favors, especially for two low-value stalks of Azure Spirit Grass.

"Thank you for your kindness, Junior Sister Chen, but the amount I need is rather large. It is better if I purchase them with Spirit Stones."

"Oh? How much Azure Spirit Grass does Senior Brother Jiyin need?"

Hearing Song Wen's words, Chen Yi's interest was instantly piqued. She had plenty of Azure Spirit Grass on hand, but it was not easy to sell.

"Give me a hundred stalks first," Song Wen said.

According to the records in the Blood Gu Technique, a juvenile Beetle Gu could consume about one stalk of Azure Spirit Grass per day. If all the insect eggs in his possession successfully hatched, a hundred stalks would only be enough to feed a few Beetle Gu for ten days or so.

Chen Yi's eyes brightened slightly. "Senior Brother Jiyin needs that many? Senior Brother, please wait a moment. Let me check how many stalks I have in total."

As she spoke, Chen Yi immersed her spiritual sense into her Storage Bag.

A moment later, a look of regret appeared on her face.

"Senior Brother Jiyin, I only have eighty-eight stalks of Azure Spirit Grass left here. Will that be enough?"

Chen Yi spoke with a trace of anxiety, fearing she might lose this large order from Song Wen.

"Eighty-eight stalks? That will do," Song Wen nodded.

Chen Yi hastily retrieved a wide jade box from her Storage Bag. All her Azure Spirit Grass was stored inside it.

"The total comes to eleven Spirit Stones, but ten Spirit Stones will do, Senior Brother Jiyin."

The standard price for Azure Spirit Grass was usually eight stalks for one Spirit Stone. Given that Chen Yi's stalks were of exceptional quality, selling them at this price was already quite a discount.

Song Wen took the jade box and handed ten Spirit Stones to Chen Yi.

"Senior Brother Jiyin, what do you need so much Azure Spirit Grass for?"

Chen Yi asked out of curiosity. Seeing Song Wen look at her with a hint of wariness, she worried he might misunderstand her intentions and hastily added, "Senior Brother Jiyin, please don't misunderstand. I don't mean to pry into your secrets. It's just that if Senior Brother has a long-term demand for Azure Spirit Grass, I can supply it to you regularly."

Song Wen replied, "I am not entirely sure myself yet. If I need more in the future, I will definitely prioritize you, Junior Sister. Why don't you give me a communication jade slip?"

Chen Yi smiled. "Alright."

With that, the two exchanged communication jade slips.

Song Wen's request for Chen Yi's communication jade slip was naturally not just for purchasing Azure Spirit Grass. Chen Yi worked in the spiritual herb garden and could easily access various types of Spirit Grass. Furthermore, behind her stood a personal disciple of the Pill Hall.

Maintaining a good relationship with her would provide him with another channel to acquire rare spiritual herbs and pills in the future.

After bidding farewell to Chen Yi, Song Wen went straight back to his cave dwelling.

He took out the Gu cauldron, placed all eight insect eggs inside, and then fetched a Spirit Stone. He crushed it into a fine powder and scattered it inside.

The Spiritual Qi slowly released by the crushed Spirit Stone would increase the spiritual density inside the Gu cauldron, aiding the hatching process of the insect eggs.

Then, Song Wen took out the Qi Gathering Pills he had purchased and began his cultivation.

To his pleasant surprise, cultivating with the Qi Gathering Pills and corpse aura, supplemented by the inexhaustible essence blood in his body, yielded a speed significantly faster than utilizing Corpse Blood Pills.

The only drawback was that these Qi Gathering Pills were rather expensive. If Song Wen could not steal essence blood from the Corpse Dismemberment Cave to exchange for Spirit Stones, he would never be able to afford them on his meager monthly stipend alone.

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