Chapter 58: Blue Bottle

Lin Zhangqing was extremely fortunate that he had taken ten thousand Spirit Stones from his grandfather; otherwise, even if he encountered something suitable at the Market Stalls, he might not have had the Spirit Stones to buy it.

After more than an hour had passed, during which he had browsed roughly one-third of the Market Stalls, Lin Zhangqing finally saw the Aura Halo he had been eagerly awaiting appear.

This time it was a blue halo; the Shopkeeper of the stall was a burly man with a fierce expression, selling Dharma Artifacts and some Spiritual Artifact Fragments and the like.

"Shopkeeper, what is this Dharma Artifact used for?" Lin Zhangqing asked, pointing to the blue bottle-shaped Dharma Artifact emitting the blue halo.

The Shopkeeper glanced at Lin Zhangqing and said, "This should be considered a brewing Dharma Artifact! It can purify the Spirit Wine stored inside; if First Tier Lower Grade Spirit Wine is stored within it for a year, it can be purified into First-Rank Mid-Grade Spirit Wine."

"It's so small; how many jin of Spirit Wine can it hold?" Lin Zhangqing asked curiously.

"This is a Space Dharma Artifact; inside it can hold over a hundred jin of liquor!"

"Then can it purify First Stage Upper Grade Spirit Wine into Second-Stage Spirit Wine?"

"Of course not; if it could do that, this wouldn't be a Dharma Artifact, it would probably count as a Spiritual Artifact," the Shopkeeper said speechlessly.

"Is that so! Then how many Spirit Stones does this bottle cost?" Lin Zhangqing asked.

"Seeing that you are sincere about buying it, I'll sell it to you for 1500 Spirit Stones!" Seeing that Lin Zhangqing was asking the price, a slight smile appeared on the Shopkeeper's face.

"What? Selling a Dharma Artifact for 1500 Spirit Stones is too expensive; how about 500 Spirit Stones!" Lin Zhangqing bargained.

"No way; this is an ancient Dharma Artifact discovered in an Ancient Cultivator's Cave Abode; such Dharma Artifacts can no longer be found nowadays; how about 1400 Spirit Stones!" The Shopkeeper began telling a story.

After several rounds of back-and-forth, the price was settled at 1000 Spirit Stones; the Shopkeeper insisted he would not go any lower, and Lin Zhangqing did not want to complicate matters, so the deal was closed at 1000 Spirit Stones.

Seeing that a mere Dharma Artifact bottle was being sold for 1000 Spirit Stones, his father and second uncle nearby immediately stepped forward to stop Lin Zhangqing from such wasteful behavior, refusing to allow Lin Zhangqing to do such a foolish thing.

However, Lin Zhangqing told them that this bottle might offer some assistance in planting Spirit Plants and should not result in a loss, urging them to rest assured.

Nevertheless, they still believed this bottle was not worth 1000 Spirit Stones; Lin Zhangqing exerted tremendous effort before finally persuading them to stop obstructing his purchase of the bottle.

After giving the Shopkeeper 1000 Spirit Stones and taking the blue bottle in hand, Lin Zhangqing realized that since it was a Space Dharma Artifact, it could not be placed into a Storage Bag and could only be carried by hand.

Thinking for a moment, he decided to let his father hold it for now, as holding this item himself was inconvenient.

His father took it and prepared to examine it, but Lin Zhangqing stopped him, saying they could examine it after returning home; right now was the time for scavenging bargains and hunting for treasures, so they could not waste time casually.

Continuing on, today he intended to browse to his heart's content; there were actually many items at the Market Stalls, but many were not what Lin Zhangqing needed.

Now, whenever Lin Zhangqing arrived at a Market Stall, he would first check for any Halo Items, then look for suitable Spirit Medicines or Spirit Plants, and Spirit Seeds were also acceptable.

Next, he would search for Spiritual Materials with the Thunder Attribute, and finally keep an eye out for special materials for Talisman Making for his mother; with clear and definite goals, browsing the Market Stalls became much more efficient.

Along the way, he acquired quite a few First Stage Spirit Grasses and Spirit Medicines; they were all relatively ordinary and not expensive, but they were items Lin Zhangqing did not yet possess, so he bought all that seemed suitable.

There were about twenty or thirty varieties; Lin Zhangqing planned to plant them in his Space, and even if his Growth Technique could not attend to them all, letting them grow naturally in the Space would ensure they could be found when needed in the future.

Currently, this was the only method available to improve the utilization rate of his Space; otherwise, leaving over two hundred mu of Spiritual Field fallow would be such a waste!

After more than three hours, he had finally finished browsing the entire ordinary Market Stall section, acquiring some more common Spirit Medicines and Spirit Grasses, selecting only living ones that could be replanted; he also obtained two types of special materials suitable for Talisman Making: one was Lapis Lazuli and the other was Cinnabar of the Red Sun, both excellent materials for Talisman Making that his mother would surely like.

At the edge of the Stall Square, there were also some stalls occupying a huge area, such as various bustling specialty Spirit Meal Shops and Yan Zhi Shui Fen Fangs specializing in products beloved by female Cultivators.

Of course, there was also the Gambling Stone Workshop, surrounded by many people, where bursts of cheers or sighs frequently erupted.

Lin Zhangqing had spotted this early on, but he would not go today, because if he went, his father and second uncle would surely stop him from buying Raw Stones; it was better to wait until tomorrow to find an opportunity to slip out and see for himself! Having browsed for so long, all three were hungry; Lin Zhangqing suggested going to the Spirit Meal Shop by the square to eat, to which his father and second uncle readily agreed; his second uncle chose a Spirit Meal shop specializing in beast offal, saying he had eaten there before and guaranteed it was delicious.

Each person received a large, fragrant bowl of beast offal; it wasn't expensive, costing only one Spirit Stone; after his father paid the Spirit Stones, the three began to eat heartily; the taste was indeed quite good, and they could come again next time.

After eating, the three headed back, returning to the lodging arranged for them by the External Affairs Courtyard; his father wanted to know exactly why Lin Zhangqing had insisted on buying this bottle.

Lin Zhangqing could hardly say that he saw a blue halo and knew this was a good thing, so he had to buy it.

He could only analyze it for his father and second uncle: this item could purify Lower Grade Spirit Wine into Middle Grade Spirit Wine; although its capacity was only around a hundred jin, even if one earned one Spirit Stone per jin, the cost would be recovered in ten years.

Moreover, Spirit Wine was essentially a type of spiritual water; if Spirit Wine could be purified, there was no reason spiritual water could not be; thus, for a Spirit Plant Master, this was the best auxiliary tool.

This was because spiritual water was more easily absorbed by Spirit Medicines and Spirit Plants that had been treated with the Nourishing Origin Catalysis Technique, effectively shortening the recovery period.

For instance, if natural recovery required ten days to half a month, with spiritual water it might only take three to five days to recover to a level capable of withstanding the Nourishing Origin Catalysis Technique again, so purchasing this item was extremely worthwhile.

His father and second uncle often helped at Baicao Garden and understood some planting knowledge; after hearing the explanation, they suddenly realized the truth, feeling fortunate that Lin Zhangqing had persisted in his own view and not listened to them, otherwise they would have missed out on a Treasure.

The three chatted for quite a while longer, mainly with his father and second uncle imparting to Lin Zhangqing various methods and experiences for dealing with Demon Beasts.

Lin Zhangqing knew they were worried he lacked experience and would easily make mistakes, so he studied with particular diligence, simply not wanting to drag his father and second uncle down.

Finally returning to the lodging assigned to him, Lin Zhangqing began using his Divine Sense to carefully inspect every inch, checking for any surveillance formations or other monitoring measures; fortunately, he discovered none, which put Lin Zhangqing at ease.

He brought the various Spirit Medicines and Spirit Grasses acquired today, along with the blue bottle, into his Space; first, he selected suitable locations to plant them, then applied both the Spirit Rain Technique and the Growth Technique together, busying himself for quite a while before finally finishing.

Picking up the blue bottle to examine it closely, Lin Zhangqing did not believe that a blue halo item would have only such a useless function; the most likely possibility was that the exterior of this blue bottle was a layer of disguise used to conceal the bottle's true function.

Of course, if he guessed wrong, it didn't matter; after all, it was only a thousand Spirit Stones, a loss Lin Zhangqing could afford.

Taking out the Golden Thread Escape Light Needle, he stabbed directly at the bottle's surface; with a "Ding!" sound, the bottle flew several meters away; Lin Zhangqing picked it up and inspected it, finding it surprisingly undamaged.

Then he could only try a different Dharma Artifact; summoning the Golden Thunder Sword, he infused a large amount of Spiritual Energy into it, then struck the bottle's surface with full force; with another "Ding!" sound, this time the bottle flew over a hundred meters away; Lin Zhangqing picked it up and inspected it.

Finally, he saw tiny cracks; naturally, he persevered, repeating the process several more times until the outer layer of disguise was completely destroyed, shattering into thin flakes.

Revealing its true form beneath, this was also a blue bottle-shaped Treasure; on the bottle's body, written in Golden Seal Script, were the five characters "Xuan Yuan Heavy Water Bottle."

Fortunately, Lin Zhangqing had always persisted in studying Golden Seal Script, so he did not need to consult references to read the characters above.

(End of Chapter)