Chapter 20: Asking Around

Qingyang Market.

Inside a private room at Juxuan Pavilion.

Qin Ming ordered a table full of fine wine and dishes, eating and drinking with Cai Laojiu like a whirlwind sweeping away clouds, devouring everything with great relish.

Shopkeeper Liao sat nearby, wearing a smile, accompanying the two as they drank.

He naturally knew that the two had come to the shop not merely to eat and drink.

Shopkeeper Liao had been craving Qin Ming's Beast Tooth Rice for a long time.

After three rounds of wine, both Qin Ming and Cai Laojiu were fully satisfied with food and drink.

Only then did Shopkeeper Liao rub his hands together and say with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Qin, that... that Beast Tooth Rice you promised..."

Qin Ming tilted his head back to drink a cup of wine, then unhurriedly took out the Golden Spirit Rice and the Beast Tooth Rice.

"Over five hundred jin of Golden Spirit Rice, and one hundred jin of Beast Tooth Rice; it is all here."

Shopkeeper Liao's eyes sparkled; he barely glanced at the Golden Spirit Rice, his gaze fixed solely on that sack of Beast Tooth Rice.

He reached out, took out several grains of the white-with-a-hint-of-red Beast Tooth Rice, and began to examine them carefully.

A long while passed.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, this Beast Tooth Rice of yours is truly well-cultivated; the quality is superior, nearly reaching the level of premium grade!"

He looked at the interior of the Beast Tooth Rice, where that trace of blood-red appeared increasingly bright.

Even though Shopkeeper Liao was usually capable and steady, at this moment a trace of excitement could not help but appear on his face.

Having operated here for so many years, this was the first time he had encountered Beast Tooth Spirit Rice of such high quality.

If handled well, the price of this batch of Beast Tooth Rice would surely multiply several times over, yielding an extremely considerable profit margin!

The key point was:

He had now established a good relationship with Qin Ming, allowing him to firmly control an exclusive channel for supplying Beast Tooth Rice.

Given Qin Ming's attainments in spiritual planting, it would likely be no trouble for him to cultivate Beast Tooth Rice on a long-term basis in the future.

If things proceeded this way,

a significant and brilliant entry would be added to Juxuan Pavilion's merit ledger for him! At that time, once the Pavilion Master was satisfied, perhaps after sitting in this position for so many years, he might even be promoted.

Thinking of this,

Shopkeeper Liao seemed to have figured something out and made up his mind.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, for this batch of Beast Tooth Rice, I have the authority to purchase it at a price twenty percent higher than the market rate."

"That would be six spirit stones per jin of Beast Tooth Rice; what do you think?"

Qin Ming pondered for a moment and did not reply immediately.

Seeing this, Shopkeeper Liao quickly stepped forward, took a jade token from his storage bag, and solemnly handed it to Qin Ming, saying, "This is a discount token from Juxuan Pavilion."

"Holding this token, Fellow Daoist Qin will enjoy a twenty percent discount on all future purchases at Juxuan Pavilion or any of its branch stores."

Qin Ming took the jade token, examined it carefully, and then nodded in agreement, saying, "Deal."

Seeing the matter settled, Shopkeeper Liao's face lit up with joy.

He immediately brought out a large-scale magical artifact to weigh the goods.

"Five hundred and ten jin of Golden Spirit Rice, valued at one hundred and seventy spirit stones."

"One hundred and five jin of Beast Tooth Rice, valued at six hundred and thirty spirit stones."

"The total is eight hundred low-grade spirit stones."

After finishing the weighing and calculation, Shopkeeper Liao deftly took out the spirit stones and handed them over to Qin Ming.

Qin Ming accepted the spirit stones and placed them into his storage bag.

With eight hundred spirit stones added to his account at once, he felt much more confident at heart.

Beside him, Cai Laojiu, seeing such a large amount of spirit stones, began to drool, his face inevitably revealing an expression of envy.

Shopkeeper Liao then asked with a smile, "Does Fellow Daoist Qin have anything he needs to purchase?"

"Nothing for now," Qin Ming replied expressionlessly.

"By the way, has anything happened recently?"

Qin Ming suddenly asked another question.

Shopkeeper Liao was slightly stunned at first, then replied:

"Same as always; the Lingyu Sect is still busy repairing the teleportation array, and it is estimated that it will not be fixed anytime soon." Shopkeeper Liao replied in a low voice and said no more.

Qin Ming nodded.

This time, by selling one hundred jin of Beast Tooth Rice to Shopkeeper Liao in one go, he intentionally revealed a bit of his own value to the other party.

The background behind Shopkeeper Liao was significant, allowing him access to information and trends from the upper levels.

In the future, Qin Ming would inevitably need to inquire about information regarding the Immortal Realm from him.

Subsequently, Cai Laojiu also took out two hundred jin of Golden Spirit Rice and sold it to Shopkeeper Liao.

The transaction ended.

Qin Ming prepared to pay the bill and leave; Shopkeeper Liao very readily gave him a twenty percent discount, charging only five spirit stones, and even gifted a small pot of spirit wine.

Afterwards, Shopkeeper Liao, wearing a smile, escorted the two out of the shop door.

Leaving the shop,

Qin Ming prepared to go to the Steward Hall of the Lingyu Sect to take the spiritual planting knowledge assessment and complete his promotion to a first-grade spiritual planter.

He exchanged farewells with Cai Laojiu, and the two parted ways, each going off to attend to their own affairs.

Qin Ming arrived alone at the Steward Hall; the assessment went very smoothly, taking only one double-hour to complete.

It mainly consisted of some basic knowledge on cultivating spiritual plants, plus an essay on experiences and insights regarding the planting of first-grade spiritual plants.

The spiritual planter responsible for the assessment soon gave the result: assessment passed.

On the spot, an official magic power seal was stamped onto Qin Ming's wooden Spirit Planter identity token.

On the back of the Spirit Planter token, one leaf of the spirit plant illustration was illuminated, marking Qin Ming's status as a first-tier lower-grade Spirit Planter.

"To advance to a middle-grade Spirit Planter, you must successfully cultivate three or more types of first-tier middle-grade spirit plants."

"When that time comes, you may return here to undergo your promotion."

The Lingyu Sect elder in charge of the assessment glanced twice more at Qin Ming, seeing how young he was, and added this instruction.

"Yes, thank you, Elder." Qin Ming bowed respectfully and departed from the Elder Hall.

Walking along the market street, Qin Ming toyed with the Spirit Planter identity token for a while before storing it in his storage bag.

"Aiyo-wei~"

"What a fate!"

"Fellow Daoist, don't rush off! Two spirit stones per person, care to play?"

The road to the Ruan Family Compound required passing by the neighboring brothel district once again.

It was still that same bewitching female cultivator in green robes; she cast coquettish glances vigorously at Qin Ming.

Her mouth never stopped calling out.

Qin Ming kept his gaze straight ahead, ignoring her completely, and walked toward the Ruan Family Compound.

"Pah! So boring!" The green-robed female cultivator spat.

Just as she finished speaking, two people emerged from the gate behind her, one of whom was that same bearded burly man.

"Didn't take the bait again."

The Ruan Family Compound was located near the center of Qingyang Market.

Along the way, several alleys were lined with numerous buildings, all large, single-family courtyards with substantial areas.

Inside, all kinds of facilities were fully equipped, including separate cultivation meditation chambers and various rooms for crafting immortal arts.

Beyond that, isolation arrays covering the entire compound had even been added to prevent others from spying.

After all.

In the Immortal Realm, privacy and security were also very important for cultivators.

The cultivators capable of renting here.

Were often mid-to-late stage cultivators with deep foundations, or even Qi Condensation stage perfect cultivators.

Qin Ming casually inquired about the housing rental situation here.

He learned, however, that rental prices within the market had been soaring since last year, skyrocketing several times higher than in previous years.

"Nowadays, even the worst housing in Qingyang Market requires an annual rent of three hundred spirit stones."

Qin Ming clicked his tongue inwardly upon hearing this.

"However, all housing in Qingyang Market is currently fully rented; if any courtyards become vacant, one must apply for a quota at the Lingyu Sect Elder Hall."

"I heard that this year, the queue of cultivators applying for housing rental quotas at the market has already reached over nine hundred."

Qin Ming: "."

He had originally thought.

That the rent within the market was already outrageously expensive, yet unexpectedly, even at such high prices.

He hadn't expected that one would still need to fight for a quota!

"Sigh, if it weren't for the protection of the second-tier formation within the market."

"Not even a dog would rent here!"

"He~tui~"

At the entrance of the Ruan Family Compound.

Thump, thump, thump! Qin Ming knocked on the door for a long time, but no one inside responded.

He immediately sent a message talisman to Daoist Ruan.

A short moment later.

Qin Ming received a reply to his message talisman from the other party.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, I am truly sorry; I am handling some matters outside and cannot rush home in the short term."

"How about I give you an address? It would be troublesome for you to make a trip, but it is not far."

Upon hearing this, Qin Ming's eyebrows furrowed into the shape of the character 'Chuan'.

After pondering for a moment.

He replied with great caution: "Fellow Daoist Ruan, the outside world is not very peaceful right now; perhaps I should just wait a bit longer."

"Just inform me once you have returned."

(End of Chapter)