Chapter 21: Acquisition

After walking a short distance, Li Zhirui spoke up to express his gratitude: "Thank you, Grandfather Shihe, for helping me out of that predicament."

"What is there to thank me for?" Li Shihe shook his head, then looked at Li Zhirui with a serious expression and cautioned, "The path of alchemy is profound and vast, but cultivation is the foundation. Do not become too obsessed with it."

"I know."

"As long as you know, as long as you know." A trace of bitterness appeared at the corner of Li Shihe's mouth as he said, "Go back now."

With that, Li Shihe turned and left. Watching his figure, which seemed much older than before, Li Zhirui felt a surge of complex emotions. Although he did not know the specific reason, it was not difficult to guess what had happened.

Over the next few days, Li Zhirui and Li Shihe taught another clansman, and there was even one showing signs of success. However, Li Zhirui no longer went to the alchemy room, as he was no longer needed there.

Li Zhirui's generous actions significantly improved his situation on the island; at the very least, he no longer saw jealousy in the eyes of his clansmen.

One day, Li Zhirui applied to go out again. His purpose for visiting the market this time was to find a way to sell the several thousand catties of spiritual rice in his possession.

He had already found the buyers: the group of traveling merchants Li Shiren had mentioned previously. The reason he chose them was that they offered the highest price!

Li Zhirui had learned of this matter inadvertently from Li Shile, who said those traveling merchants intended to sell the spiritual rice in the distant Northern Territory. Because of the year-round cold there, the cost of growing spiritual rice was too high, so they generally sourced it from the south.

The price of spiritual rice in the Northern Territory was twice as high as in the Yunqing Market, so the price they offered was also higher than that of some shops. Of course, it was only one point zero five spirit stones per catty, rather than doubling along with the market price.

However, these traveling merchants heading north only passed through the Yunqing Market once every few years, and their timing was unpredictable.

This year, they had arrived somewhat late; most of the spiritual rice planted by the various factions had already been sold.

Except for the Li family!

The reason was simple: due to the family's relocation, the spiritual rice had not grown well. The family had eventually employed many methods to preserve the crops, but the yield had decreased significantly.

Originally, the family had intended to sell the late-harvest rice slowly through grocery stores since they wouldn't fetch a high price, but they hadn't expected such a stroke of luck. They immediately sold off more than half of the family's stored spiritual rice, earning several thousand spirit stones.

When Li Zhirui heard this news, he naturally did not want to miss out. Otherwise, wouldn't all that spiritual rice be sold for a pittance?

...

Upon landing, Li Zhirui concealed his appearance and entered the market dressed in black, heading straight for the inn where the traveling merchants were staying.

After learning the merchants' room numbers from a waiter using a few spirit stones, Li Zhirui strode to the door and knocked lightly.

"I heard you are purchasing spiritual rice at a high price?" Li Zhirui said in a coarse voice.

"Yes." A prosperous-looking merchant said with a smile, "Would the fellow Daoist like to come inside for a detailed discussion?"

Li Zhirui shook his head in refusal. Although the market was very safe, who knew if they might try something while he was alone?

"May I ask how much spiritual rice the fellow Daoist has, and what its grade is?" The merchant did not mind and continued to negotiate business with Li Zhirui right at the doorway.

"There are five thousand eight hundred catties in total, all first-grade high-quality spiritual rice of the water and wood elements." Li Zhirui spoke these words via voice transmission, while simultaneously producing a storage bag and holding it in his hand for the merchant to inspect with his divine sense.

A single storage bag could not hold that much spiritual rice; Li Zhirui only brought it out so the other party could verify the grade.

"Hmm, first-grade high-quality Cloud-Water spiritual rice. The quality is quite good," the merchant nodded in satisfaction. "The purchase price is one point zero five spirit stones per catty. If the weight is correct, that will be eight thousand seven hundred spirit stones."

Including the three storage bags, it would require an additional few dozen spirit stones; after all, it would be too much trouble to keep transferring the rice back and forth.

The merchant expressed a willingness to give Li Zhirui three empty storage bags, but Li Zhirui feared they might tamper with them, so he refused. Instead, he chose to buy storage bags from them at a low price, including that one dirty storage bag.

However, Li Zhirui did not trust them, and they did not trust him either. He suspected that as soon as he left, they would simply resell the storage bags.

Furthermore, the transaction for the rice in those three storage bags required three separate exchanges. It was quite cumbersome, but both parties were satisfied with the outcome.

"If the fellow Daoist has more spiritual rice, feel free to come find us!" Once the transaction was complete, the merchant did not forget to add, "We won't be leaving for another seven days."

"Alright," Li Zhirui agreed readily. In reality, he wouldn't be able to obtain that much rice again. All the spiritual rice in his space had matured, leaving him with only a few hundred catties reserved for himself and Da Qing.

After leaving the inn, Li Zhirui immediately found a secluded, deserted spot to change his clothes and put on a pure white mask to hide his features.

At the same time, he performed the Cicada Breathing Technique to completely conceal his aura, then blended into the crowd, wandering aimlessly through the market to avoid any potential pursuit.

After confirming that no one was following him, Li Zhirui entered a shop that sold spiritual herbs and seeds. He intended to supplement his collection of first-grade spiritual herbs as much as possible and purchase second-grade seeds.

Although Li Zhirui was currently only at the seventh level of Qi Refinement, the growth period for second-grade herbs was very long.

Since he did not plan to plant much more spiritual rice, his space had dozens of acres of empty spiritual fields. It was the perfect time to plant second-grade herbs; perhaps by the time he broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage, a batch of second-grade herbs would just be maturing.

If all else failed, he could use spirit stones to accelerate their growth, which would also save him some money in the long run.

When the waiter heard that Li Zhirui wanted to buy second-grade seeds, he gave him a strange look. However, as a host to a customer, he naturally would not turn away business coming to his door.

It was only when Li Zhirui heard the price of the second-grade seeds that he understood the meaning behind the waiter's previous look.

Most first-grade seeds were very cheap; ten spirit stones could buy a large bag.

But second-grade seeds were sold by the grain! And each single grain cost dozens, even hundreds of spirit stones!

"Is it really that expensive?" Li Zhirui couldn't help but click his tongue in surprise. No wonder the clan placed such importance on second-grade seeds and wouldn't allow him to even go near them.

"Fellow Daoist, once a second-grade herb matures, its price is at least in the triple digits. The seeds we sell are already very cheap!" the waiter said. "You can buy just one grain of each kind to cultivate yourself; that way, it will be more affordable."

Moreover, seeds were not consumables; once they matured, they would produce more seeds. This meant that as long as the seed did not wither halfway through, no one would need to buy them a second time, so the shop naturally had to set the prices high.

"Heh." Li Zhirui gave a dry laugh. Although he had nearly nine thousand spirit stones in hand, if he followed the man's advice and bought one grain of every single kind, he would go bankrupt immediately!

Still, he had to buy them. After some careful consideration, Li Zhirui said, "Golden-Edged Flower, Spirit-Nurturing Fruit... give me one grain of each!"

One after another, he named over a dozen common second-grade herbs used in alchemy.

One grain was enough!

Li Zhirui decided that once he returned, he would use spirit stones to accelerate their growth so the second-grade herbs would mature quickly. Then, he could harvest a large number of seeds and expand his scale of second-grade herb cultivation!

However, as he pulled out spirit stones to pay, Li Zhirui couldn't help but feel the sting in his heart. A mere few dozen seeds had cost him over a thousand spirit stones!