Slightly away from the crowd, Li Zhirui opened his mouth to thank his elder, "Thank you, Grandfather Shihe, for helping me out of that tight spot."
"What's there to thank?" Li Shihe shook his head and then looked at Li Zhirui with a serious face, admonishing, "Alchemy is broad and profound, but cultivation is the foundation. Don't get too engrossed in it."
"I understand."
"As long as you understand, that's good," Li Shihe's mouth revealed a trace of bitterness as he spoke, "Go back now."
After speaking, Li Shihe turned and walked away. Li Zhirui watched his greatly aged figure with a surge of emotion in his heart. Although he did not know the specific reasons, it wasn't difficult to guess what was happening.
Over the course of several days, Li Zhirui and Li Shihe taught another clan member and there was also one with a potential for success, but Li Zhirui did not return to the Alchemy Room, since his help was no longer needed.
Such a generous act from Li Zhirui significantly improved his situation on the island. At least, he no longer saw jealousy in the eyes of his fellow clanspeople.
One day, Li Zhirui applied to go out again. He intended to find a way to sell the several thousand pounds of Spirit Rice he had on hand at the Marketplace.
The buyer was already lined up by Li Zhirui, the same group of traveling merchants previously mentioned by Li Shiren; the reason he chose them was that they offered the highest price!
Li Zhirui had learned of this matter unintentionally through Li Shile. It was said that these merchants were planning to sell the Spirit Rice to the distant Northern Boundary, where, because of the constant cold, the cost of cultivating Spirit Rice was too high. Thus, they generally bought it from the south.
The price of Spirit Rice in the Northern Boundary was twice as expensive as in the Yunqing Marketplace. Hence, their offered price was also higher than some shops', although it was only one and a little over half a Spirit Stone per pound, not double.
However, these traveling merchants heading northward only passed through Yunqing Marketplace once every few years, and their arrival times were unpredictable.
Like this year, they arrived somewhat late, and most of the harvested Spirit Rice from other forces had long been sold.
Except for the Li family!
The reason was simple. Because of the relocation, the Li family's Spirit Rice didn't grow well. The family had to think of many methods to save those Spirit Rice, but the yield had been significantly reduced.
The family originally planned to sell this year's late-harvested Spirit Rice slowly in the general store due to the inability to fetch a good price. To their surprise, they stumbled upon such good fortune, selling the majority of their stored Spirit Rice for several thousand Spirit Stones.
After Li Zhirui heard this news, naturally, he did not want to miss out. Otherwise, wouldn't all that Spirit Rice be sold for too cheap?
…
After landing, Li Zhirui disguised his appearance and, clad in a black outfit, entered the Marketplace heading straight for the inn where the traveling merchants were staying.
He found out which room the merchants were in from an attendant for a few Spirit Stones, and Li Zhirui strode to their door, knocking lightly.
"I hear you're buying Spirit Rice at a high price?" Li Zhirui spoke in a rough voice.
"Yes," the portly merchant said with a smile, "Would you like to come in and talk in detail?"
Li Zhirui shook his head to refuse. Although the Marketplace was safe, who knew if they would take advantage of him being alone and do something to him?
"May I ask how much Spirit Rice you have, my friend? And what is its grade?" The merchant didn't seem to mind, and started negotiating with Li Zhirui right at the doorway.
"I have a total of five thousand eight hundred pounds of Spirit Rice, all top-grade first-order, belonging to both the water and wood elements." Li Zhirui conveyed this message through a whisper, at the same time taking out a storage pouch and holding it in his hand for the other to inspect with Divine Sense.
A storage pouch couldn't hold that many pounds of Spirit Rice— Li Zhirui took it out just to show the grade of the Spirit Rice.
"Hmm, first-grade, top-quality Cloud Water Spirit Rice, not bad quality," the merchant nodded satisfactorily and said, "The purchase price is 1.05 Spirit Stones per pound, so if the weight is correct, that would be 8,700 Spirit Stones."
Including the three storage bags, a few more Spirit Stones would need to be added since naturally, you couldn't be expected to transfer the Spirit Rice in and out, could you? That would be too much trouble.
The other party was willing to give Li Zhirui three empty storage bags, but he was worried they might tamper with them, so he declined, opting to sell the storage bags to them at a low price, including the dirty one.
But Li Zhirui didn't trust them, and they certainly didn't trust Li Zhirui. They probably planned to sell the storage bags as soon as Li Zhirui left.
Moreover, the Spirit Rice in these three storage bags was traded three times, quite a hassle, but both parties were satisfied with the outcome.
"If friend Daoist still has Spirit Rice, feel free to find us!" After completing the transaction, the merchant did not forget to say, "We won't leave for another seven days."
"Sure," Li Zhirui readily agreed, but in reality, he could no longer get that much Spirit Rice. All the Spirit Rice in the space had matured, and he only had a few hundred pounds left for himself and Da Qing to eat.
After leaving the inn, Li Zhirui immediately found a quiet and deserted place, changed into a new set of clothes, and put on a pure white mask to cover his facial features.
At the same time, he cast the Cicada Breathing Skill, completely concealing his presence, and then blended into the crowd, wandering aimlessly through the marketplace to avoid any possible pursuit.
Once sure no one was following him, Li Zhirui entered a shop selling Spiritual Medicines and Spirit Seeds, intending to complete his collection of first-grade Spiritual Medicines where possible, as well as purchase second-grade Spirit Seeds.
Although Li Zhirui was still at the seventh level of Qi Cultivation, the growth time for second-grade Spiritual Medicines was quite long.
Since he was not planning to grow too much Spirit Rice anymore, there were dozens of acres in the Spirit Field freeing up, perfect for planting second-grade Spiritual Medicines. Maybe by the time he reached Foundation Establishment, a batch of second-grade Spiritual Medicines would have just matured?
And if not, by then he could use Spirit Stones to promote their growth, which would save him some Spirit Stones as well.
When the shop assistant heard that Li Zhirui wanted to buy second-grade Spirit Seeds, he gave him a strange look; however, a customer is a customer, and naturally, he would not turn away business.
But when Li Zhirui heard the price of second-grade Spirit Seeds from the assistant, he realized what that look had meant.
Most first-grade Spirit Seeds were very cheap, a large packet could be bought for ten Spirit Stones.
But second-grade Spirit Seeds were sold by the seed! And each one cost dozens, or even hundreds of Spirit Stones!
"So expensive?" Li Zhirui couldn't help but click his tongue in surprise; no wonder the Li family valued second-grade Spirit Seeds so highly; he wasn't even allowed near them.
"Friend Daoist, once second-grade Spiritual Medicines mature, their prices start in the triple digits; the Spirit Seeds we sell are already very cheap!" the assistant said, "Daoist friend can just buy one seed of each kind to cultivate yourself, which would be cheaper."
Moreover, Spirit Seeds are not consumables; once they mature, they will produce more Spirit Seeds, meaning, as long as the Spirit Seed does not wither midway, there would be no reason for someone to come and buy a second time, so naturally, the store would set a higher price.
"Hehe," Li Zhirui gave a dry laugh. Although he now had nearly nine thousand Spirit Stones in hand, if he really did as the assistant suggested and bought one of each kind, he would go bankrupt in an instant!
However, he still needed to make purchases. After some deep thought, Li Zhirui said, "Gold-edged Flower, Spirit Nurturing Fruit… give me one of each!"
He named more than a dozen common second-grade Spiritual Medicines that are often used in Alchemy, one by one.
One seed would be enough!
Li Zhirui decided when he got back to use Spirit Stones to promote rapid maturity of the second-grade Spiritual Medicines. That way, he would be able to harvest a large number of Spirit Seeds and expand his cultivation of second-grade Spiritual Medicines!
However, when it came time to pay and take out the Spirit Stones, Li Zhirui couldn't help feeling the pinch; a tiny handful of Spirit Seeds had cost him over a thousand Spirit Stones!