Chapter 54: Strolling

A massive mountain shimmering with a cyan light appeared profoundly mysterious. However, upon closer inspection, one would discover that the peak was bristling with cyan spiritual swords; it was the presence of these very swords that created such a singular, wondrous spectacle.

This spiritual mountain, composed of countless discarded spiritual swords, was named Green Sword Mountain and served as the gateway to the Green Sword Sect.

At the mountainside stood a magnificent grand hall where a group of cultivators had gathered. All those present were the power holders of the Green Sword Sect.

"Are you prepared?" Seated at the highest position was not the Sect Leader, but a middle-aged man. From the aura faintly leaking from his body, it was evident that he was a powerful Golden Core cultivator.

The Sect Leader hurriedly stood up and said, "Everything is ready. As soon as the time comes, the arranged personnel will act to divert all of the Yuanming Sect's attention toward the Yunqing Market."

"Mhm." Yu Qing responded indifferently. "Go and check one more time. We must ensure there is absolutely no room for error. This is the opportunity for our sect to rise; not a single mistake can be permitted!"

"Yes!" Everyone stood up, their eyes flashing with fervor and anticipation.

After the crowd departed, Yu Qing looked up at the green swords outside the hall and whispered to himself, "The Yuanming Sect will eventually turn to nothingness under the sword light. The masters of this region can only be the Green Sword Sect!"

His voice was extremely faint, yet it carried a profound sense of determination and confidence.

——

Great Rong Island.

Li Zhirui was preparing to make a trip to the market. Aside from the restlessness that comes from staying within the family estate for too long, he also wanted to purchase more spiritual seeds for second-tier spiritual herbs.

He could now see the gateway leading to the ninth level of Qi Refinement. Once he stepped through that door, the Foundation Establishment stage would no longer be an unreachable existence.

Li Zhirui believed that with his aptitude, that day would not be far off, and it was time to prepare for the slow-growing second-tier spiritual herbs.

In truth, this was already Li Zhirui's third time collecting second-tier seeds. During the previous two times, he had collected several commonly used second-tier herbs. After investing a large amount of spirit stones to accelerate their growth, the second-tier herbs now occupied a significant portion of his space.

Therefore, this time, Li Zhirui intended to collect some precious and rare second-tier seeds.

Since they were precious and rare, the prices would naturally not be low, which was precisely why Li Zhirui was only starting to collect them now.

Although Li Zhirui could earn a vast amount of spirit stones through alchemy, he was also consuming them rapidly. With the two offsetting each other, he could barely save any spirit stones.

Fortunately, as the scale of his second-tier herb plantation grew, they gradually no longer required him to use spirit stones to stimulate their growth, allowing him to finally save some funds.

Carrying the same ordinary paper crane, Li Zhirui flew leisurely toward the market.

However, upon entering the market, Li Zhirui did not notice that there was a large number of cultivators dressed in black among the crowds entering the city today.

Following his usual routine, Li Zhirui found a merchant to sell his spiritual pills, then proceeded to a shop selling spiritual seeds, saying in a coarse voice, "I wish to purchase some spiritual seeds."

"Follow me, fellow Daoist." Upon hearing Li Zhirui's request, the shop assistant knew a big business deal had arrived and hurriedly led him into a private compartment.

As soon as he entered, Li Zhirui stated his requirements: "Bring me the catalog for second-tier spiritual seeds."

The catalog was not a valuable item, so the assistant immediately took out a jade slip from his storage bag and handed it over.

As Li Zhirui read, he cross-referenced the seeds he lacked and noted them down.

After half a quarter of an hour, Li Zhirui looked up and said, "I want Qingyun Grass, Red Crane Flower, One Yang Fruit..."

There were a total of over thirty types of second-tier spiritual seeds, with a total value reaching over four thousand five hundred spirit stones.

Ignoring the shock in the assistant's eyes, Li Zhirui continued on his own, "I will take one seed of each of these."

"...Please wait a moment, fellow Daoist," the assistant replied after a brief pause.

"By the way, do you have seeds for second-tier spiritual fruit trees? Both water and wood elements."

In reality, the seeds for spiritual fruit trees were not considered precious. However, because their growth cycle was so long—taking ten to twenty years just to grow—and the effects of the resulting fruit were inferior to spiritual pills, while they absorbed more spiritual energy than herbs, few cultivators purchased them.

Even the Li family only grew two second-tier spiritual fruit trees: one Water Cloud Spiritual Fruit tree and one Yellow Earth Fruit tree.

However, spiritual fruits were not without benefits. For instance, once mature, they could be harvested every few years, they lacked the medicinal persistence and pill toxicity of spiritual pills, and they tasted excellent.

If Li Zhirui did not possess his spatial dimension, he would not have considered planting second-tier spiritual fruit trees.

"We do. The catalog is here; please take a look first, fellow Daoist, while I go to the warehouse to fetch these seeds." After handing over a somewhat aged jade slip, the assistant hurried away.

With such a large transaction, his commission alone would amount to dozens of spirit stones; how could he dare to delay? He wished to complete the trade immediately.

But because the quantity of seeds Li Zhirui requested was so large, the warehouse assistant would need time to search, causing a slight delay.

"Water Cloud Fruit, Green Crystal Fruit, Azure Blue Fruit..." There were not many varieties of water and wood element spiritual fruits, only about a dozen, and Li Zhirui finished reading through them quickly.

Li Zhirui was currently debating whether to buy them all. The price of the tree seeds was not high, only about a hundred spirit stones each; with his current wealth, taking them all was not a problem.

However, if he truly did that, he wouldn't have enough spirit stones left to stimulate the growth of his herbs.

After some deliberation, Li Zhirui decided to buy them all. He likely wouldn't be coming out again for a long time, and it wouldn't be easy to ask the family to help with these tree seeds; however, he could sell spiritual pills to the family to earn spirit stones.

Furthermore, having spent so many spirit stones this time, he might very well be targeted. It was best not to appear in the market again for a short while.

Before long, the assistant returned with the seeds, but he quickly went back out to fetch the tree seeds Li Zhirui had requested.

Ultimately, Li Zhirui paid nearly six thousand spirit stones and obtained dozens of types of second-tier spiritual seeds and tree seeds.

In the backyard, where Li Zhirui had not yet stepped, a burly man with a fierce glint in his eyes said, "Shopkeeper, should we follow him..."

"Follow him first and see. If there is a Foundation Establishment cultivator backing him, return immediately." The shopkeeper did not reject the suggestion, but a Qi Refinement cultivator capable of producing so many spirit stones was rare. This person surely had a background, so it was better to be cautious to avoid exposing their own identity.

"Yes!" Although the burly man was greedy, he was not blinded by it, and he followed Li Zhirui cautiously.

When he followed Li Zhirui and saw him enter the backyard of the Li Family Grocery Store, he instantly guessed his identity. Not daring to linger for even a second, he immediately withdrew.

After the burly man left, Li Zhirui instantly felt the gaze that had been following him vanish. He couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion; fortunately, he had the Li family to rely on. If he were a rogue cultivator, how could he have slipped away so easily?

"You brat, instead of cultivating properly on Great Rong Island, what are you doing running to the market?" Li Shiren said crossly.

Li Zhirui chuckled and said, "It's just that it's been a long time since I've seen you, Uncle Ren, so I came to visit you today and take the opportunity to do some business."