"By the way, Steward He, could you please bring me two hundred Spirit Firefly Grass seeds?" After Steward He passed on the message, Lu Xuan continued speaking.
"Sure, just wait here a moment."
Because of the recommendation from Hundred Herbs Hall, Lu Xuan almost got into trouble. The old man might have felt a bit guilty, so he didn’t ask about the previous batch of Spirit Firefly Grass and went straight into the Hundred Herbs Hall.
Following the previous discount, each Spirit Firefly Grass seed cost thirty Spirit Fragments. Lu Xuan paid sixty Spirit Stones and received two hundred dried seeds that looked like tea leaves.
He planned to plant these seeds after joining a sect, harvest them for cultivation, and then use some to create more seeds for continuous planting.
Back in his yard, Lu Xuan glanced at the four second-grade mutated spiritual plants he had bought. Focusing his mind, he saw that the progress bar was already more than halfway filled.
Due to the damage during the mutation process, the spiritual plants were severely harmed. Further refined cultivation wouldn’t greatly affect their quality, so Lu Xuan decided to harvest them all.
Instead of selling them to Hundred Herbs Hall, he took them to Wanbao Tower.
Inside Wanbao Tower, treasures of all kinds dazzled the eye. As soon as Lu Xuan entered the hall, a beautiful female cultivator approached him with a warm smile.
"Friend, if you need anything, just ask me."
"I want to sell four second-grade spiritual plants. Please find someone who can make a decision."
The young woman nodded gently.
After a short while, a white-haired old man came over and clasped his fists to Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan took out the four second-grade mutated spiritual plants and placed them on a flat area.
The old man squinted and examined each plant carefully.
"Friend, these four spiritual plants are of average quality. Three of them are of inferior quality, and one is of normal quality. How about this: I'll offer eighty Spirit Stones for each inferior quality plant and a hundred for the normal one. What do you think?"
"That works."
Lu Xuan nodded.
After receiving three hundred and forty Spirit Stones, he asked the young woman, "I heard that Wanbao Tower has many branches in the cultivation world. Can resources be transported and exchanged between them? Can cultivators travel to specific areas?"
"That's right! Wanbao Tower has several third-grade large flying artifacts called Wanxiang Ships, which can transport a lot of cultivation resources. Cultivators can pay a certain amount of Spirit Stones to ride along."
The young woman said proudly.
"How many Spirit Stones would it take to get to the nearest place to Tianjian Sect?"
"Are you looking to join Tianjian Sect? I’ve heard that unless a cultivator has exceptional talent, the minimum requirement to join is to have advanced Qi training."
The girl looked at Lu Xuan with curiosity. When she sensed his intermediate Qi training level, she couldn’t help but ask.
"That’s none of your concern. As long as I can earn Spirit Stones, that’s all that matters."
Lu Xuan wouldn’t reveal his advanced Qi training level or that he had a Qingyun Token. He said calmly.
"Sorry, that was my mistake."
The girl straightened her expression and continued, "The Wanxiang Ship has four types of rooms: A, B, C, and D. D is the lowest level, with just a small independent room at the bottom of the ship. A level is equivalent to a small courtyard, accommodating up to ten people, with soundproof formations and female cultivators to serve. They also provide the freshest spiritual fruits and tea daily."
"How much for a D-level room to the nearest Tianjian Sect?"
Lu Xuan asked directly. He knew that an A-level room was beyond his means, so a D-level room would be sufficient for him.
"From Linyang Market Town to the nearest place, which is called Jianmen Town, a D-level room costs two hundred Spirit Stones."
"Two hundred Spirit Stones! That’s so expensive!"
Lu Xuan couldn’t help but exclaim. Two hundred Spirit Stones were equivalent to an ordinary second-grade artifact, and this was just for a one-way trip.
"Friend, the straight-line distance between the market and Jianmen Town is several thousand miles. You also have to navigate around several dangerous areas, so the actual distance is no less than ten thousand miles."
The girl smiled and explained, "The Wanxiang Ship is a third-grade flying artifact, equipped with third-grade formations, and has foundation-building cultivators for protection, so you don’t need to worry about encountering spirit beasts or evil spirits."
Lu Xuan nodded. The girl made a valid point. If he had to travel alone, it would be very difficult to reach Tianjian Sect safely.
The journey was long and uncertain. If he accidentally stepped into a dangerous area, he could end up in trouble with spirit beasts or evil cultivators lurking in the mountains and forests.
"Alright, I’ll go with the two hundred Spirit Stones."
After some bargaining, Lu Xuan reluctantly agreed. Fortunately, his recent trip to the secret realm had yielded good returns, or he might not have been willing to part with such a large sum of Spirit Stones.
With the girl’s guidance, he exchanged two hundred Spirit Stones for a special talisman from Wanbao Tower. With this talisman, he could board the Wanxiang Ship.
He learned that the next Wanxiang Ship heading from the market to Jianmen Town would depart in about ten days.
Back in his yard, time was tight, and he needed to handle everything quickly.
First, he needed to sell off a large amount of beast materials, spiritual herbs, and medicines. He set up stalls at various shops and markets, selling everything at relatively favorable prices.
Since his artifacts and storage bags were not obtained through regular channels, he visited the black market to sell the second-grade artifact and several storage bags he got from Li Jianfeng.
In this way, the four second-grade mutated spiritual plants, a large amount of low-grade beast materials, spiritual herbs, medicines, and the storage bags and artifacts brought Lu Xuan a total of over a thousand Spirit Stones. His wealth had reached an unprecedented two thousand Spirit Stones.
During this time, he visited the snake-catching boy Yu Jie’s home and bought all the Bi Shui Python blood he had. It was enough for the Flood Dragon Vine to absorb for a long time.
He also went to say goodbye to Zhang Xiuyuan and Steward He.
In the yard, the Pure Snow Lotus seeds had reached maturity. The day before he left, Lu Xuan harvested them.
He obtained sixteen seeds that were as white as jade. These seeds were a key ingredient for the second-grade elixir, Spirit Nourishing Pill, and could also be consumed directly to help cultivators maintain clarity of mind for a period.
After harvesting the Pure Snow Lotus, a white light orb floated on the surface of the Spiritual Spring Pool, gently flickering.
Lu Xuan carefully picked it up, and the orb transformed into countless light points that surged into his body. In an instant, a thought flashed through his mind, and a small bottle of ointment appeared in his hand.
The ointment was a light green color, and its fragrance filled the air, refreshing his spirit.
[Sweet Dew Ointment, a second-grade elixir, can stop bleeding, promote tissue regeneration, and heal wounds.]
"An ordinary quality first-grade Pure Snow Lotus can produce a second-grade healing ointment. That’s not bad."
Lu Xuan sighed and stored the ointment in his storage bag.
Before leaving, he gathered the remaining second-grade Pure Wondrous Tea, Copper Bone Bamboo, third-grade Phantom Smoke Fruit, Flood Dragon Vine, first-grade spirit beast Iron Claw Crab, spirit pet Cloud Stepping Leopard, and Straw Puppet into his storage bag.
He also put away the Mist Concealment Array into his storage bag, his gaze firm as he looked up at the sky, as if his sight could pierce through mountains and rivers.
(End of Chapter)