Chapter 57: The Garden

The Qingdan Palace ranked second among all major immortal sects, and its mastery of alchemy was unrivaled in the entire cultivation world. Consequently, the Qingdan Palace had the greatest chance of obtaining Foundation Establishment Pills, and the demand for its spiritual items was even more intense than that of the first-ranked Gujian Sect. Lu Xiaotian himself only needed a few more types of spiritual herbs to complete his collection, but after scouring almost every street and alley in Wangyue City, he had failed to find anyone selling them.

Therefore, Lu Xiaotian quickly decided to head to the Lingxiao Palace. Time was precious, and he could not afford to delay; he still held a significant amount of the spiritual herbs required by the Qingdan Palace. Lu Xiaotian decided to bring them out for sale immediately. Although his asking prices were high, the cultivators rushing to buy them nearly crowded the adjacent stalls to bursting.

In a very short amount of time, Lu Xiaotian exchanged the spiritual herbs required by the Lingxiao Palace with cultivators who had come hearing the news. He also acquired over a dozen Ice Silkworm eggs.

In order to obtain the mission items for the Qingdan Palace, the rogue cultivators present had fallen into a state of near-madness, offering precious spiritual ores or even third-grade spirit beast eggs.

Some cultivators even brought Foundation Establishment stage cultivation techniques to trade. However, none of these were what he wanted. To a rogue cultivator, the Foundation Establishment stage was lofty and unreachable, and cultivation techniques were even rarer; yet, once he entered the Lingxiao Palace, obtaining such techniques would no longer be difficult. Furthermore, he did not wish to waste too much energy on beast taming. Taking advantage of the fact that these spiritual herbs were currently rare commodities, Lu Xiaotian had the rogue cultivators engage in a bidding war, purchasing them directly with spirit stones.

The rogue cultivators coming to bid nearly choked the entire street, causing a period of tension among the city guards.

"Senior Brother Zhao, this kid is incredibly insolent! To think he is openly selling our Qingdan Palace's mission items while acquiring those for the Lingxiao Palace. Our Qingdan Palace is, after all, the second-largest sect in the Wangyue cultivation world. Is it possible that we cannot even compare to an insignificant sect like the Lingxiao Palace? Is he truly so beyond our notice?" Inside a tavern facing the street, among several cultivators in yellow robes, an impetuous young man slammed the table and said, "I say, why don't we go and teach him a lesson!"

"Junior Brother Zhu, there is no need for anger. This is Wangyue City, where every sect has a branch office; this is not within our Qingdan Palace. Normal spiritual item trades are permitted. If you cause trouble in the city, do you intend to spark a conflict between our Qingdan Palace and the Rogue Cultivator Alliance? Are you not afraid of being mocked by other sects?" An older Foundation Establishment cultivator nearby rebuked him.

"Yes, Senior Brother Zhao." Receiving the reprimand, the youth surnamed Zhu sat back down reluctantly.

"Indeed, Junior Brother Zhu, your Qingdan Palace is vast and prosperous, and your fame is widespread; our Lingxiao Palace naturally cannot compare. But if he prefers to join our Lingxiao Palace, is that any of your business?"

At that moment, three cultivators armed with weapons walked up the stairs. The leader wore a golden crown and silver robes, with a precious jade belt around his waist, looking exceptionally ostentatious. He spoke with sarcasm directed at the youth surnamed Zhu. The idle customers in the tavern scattered one after another; these rogue cultivators could not afford to provoke disciples with sect backgrounds. Whether it was the Qingdan Palace or the Lingxiao Palace, even a single hair from them would be thicker than their thighs. Moreover, the individuals in the dispute were Foundation Establishment seniors, a rare sight.

"Hmph, I wondered who it was. It turns out to be you, Hou. How is it that you recover from your wounds so quickly and forget how you were beaten off the stage by our Qingdan Palace's Senior Sister Qi during the sect competition?" the youth surnamed Zhu retorted mockingly.

"You... very well. In the next sect competition, it would be best if I didn't run into you," the golden-crowned youth said harshly, his smile freezing as his sore spot was hit.

"Our Qingdan Palace has many disciples. When the time comes, any senior brother or sister could step forward and deal with you; you might not even last a few rounds," the youth surnamed Zhu said disdainfully.

"Uncle Hou, shall we sit down?" a Qi Refining stage follower nearby asked cautiously.

"Sit my ass! Can't you see the flies here?" the golden-crowned youth snapped, turning to leave.

At this time, Lu Xiaotian was still unaware that his necessary actions had sparked a dispute between two Foundation Establishment cultivators. He put away the large amount of spirit stones and insect eggs he had obtained through exchanges. After selling the last of the Qingdan Palace's spiritual herbs, the barrier had already accumulated over five thousand low-grade spirit stones, and even five rare mid-grade spirit stones. Compared to most who went bankrupt just to gather the items required for sect missions, Lu Xiaotian was undoubtedly wealthy at this moment.

Returning to his courtyard residence, Lu Xiaotian was grinning from ear to ear. Not only had he collected all the spiritual herbs needed for the Yuanqi Pill, but through exchanges, he had also obtained pill recipes for first, second, and third-grade Spirit Beast Pills, as well as a large quantity of spiritual herb seeds. Even after entering the Lingxiao Palace and progressing to the Foundation Establishment stage, he would not have to worry about pills again.

Lu Xiaotian wondered if he should use the spiritual herbs in his possession to cultivate a batch within the barrier to sell, which would likely yield even more spirit stones. However, the thought was dismissed as soon as it arose. His actions in the market today had already attracted significant attention; if he were to mass-sell the herbs required by sects, he would likely be targeted by those with ulterior motives very soon. He was currently only at the mid-stage of Qi Refining; if he possessed tens of thousands of spirit stones, there was no guarantee that Foundation Establishment cultivators wouldn't set their sights on him.

The only thing he lacked was a proficient spiritual tool. As his cultivation increased, his previous short sword was no longer sufficient, but there should be better options after entering a sect, so there was no need to rush.

The various immortal sects would be recruiting disciples for two days. There was no benefit to going early, so he decided to first organize the spiritual herb seeds and spirit stones within the barrier.

"The Purple Spirit Grass has actually grown this much."

As his divine sense entered the barrier, Lu Xiaotian gave a bitter smile. The Purple Spirit Grass within the barrier had grown into a small patch of pale purple, numbering hundreds of plants. During his previous adventures in the mountains, he had consumed Qi Gathering Pills every day; aside from what his meridians could hold, the excess had entered the barrier. Because he had prepared a large amount of pills and needed to be ready at any moment to deal with threats from demon beasts and other cultivators, he had not entered the barrier to consume the drifting spiritual energy.

Currently, the spiritual energy within the barrier was extremely dense, several times thicker even than that of the Wangyue Mountain Range. Just taking a breath made Lu Xiaotian feel refreshed, and this was with the spiritual energy in a floating state, mostly drifting in the air. Only a small amount drifted to the ground to contact the herbs; otherwise, the Purple Spirit Grass would have grown even more profusely.

Since the Purple Spirit Grass no longer held much value for further cultivation, Lu Xiaotian pulled them all up to stop planting them. He had already obtained the recipe for the "Qi Condensation Pill" used in the mid-stage of Qi Refining, and utilizing the abundance of spirit stones over these two days, he had acquired the corresponding herbs and some seeds.

Aside from the Purple Spirit Grass, over a hundred types of spiritual herbs had now grown within the barrier. The most vigorous among them was naturally the transplanted Red Ice Mulberry. It was already nearly half a zhang tall, with its crimson mulberry leaves growing impressively. Due to its height, the Red Ice Mulberry was more easily able to contact the floating spiritual energy in the air; judging by the size of the tree, it was approximately twenty years old.

Taking advantage of the time, Lu Xiaotian managed the spiritual herbs within the barrier. He set aside some spiritual seeds that were not yet needed, storing them in jade boxes. He also promptly pulled out excess herbs. After a period of busywork, the herbs within the barrier formed several separate medicinal gardens. Beneath the tall Red Ice Mulberry, the herbs in the gardens were growing vigorously, giving Lu Xiaotian a great sense of achievement. These herbs would be enough for him to refine pills for a long time. In another area, there were large quantities of spirit stones, which Lu Xiaotian had sorted into different attributes. There were eight small piles of spirit stones in total.

(End of Chapter)