Chapter 20: Purchasing Talismans

Several days later.

Qin Ming went to Su Danshi and obtained the lease plaque for the spiritual field.

He then headed to the spiritual field, ready to plow and sow.

As for cultivating Yin Ning flowers, to be honest, he was a complete blank—absolutely no experience whatsoever.

He had spent these past days cramming on spiritual plant cultivation texts.

Fortunately, Yin Ning flowers have low environmental requirements; otherwise, with the spiritual energy of a first-rank spiritual vein, it would’ve been a struggle.

But he never expected this.

The hardest part of cultivating Yin Ning flowers is pollination during blooming.

Unlike other spiritual plants, Yin Ning flowers require at least seven pollinations within their seven-day flowering period.

This requires a technique to command bee swarms.

If pollination is insufficient, the flowering period ends prematurely, the herb’s potency weakens, and it becomes unusable for pill refining.

This stumped Qin Ming.

“Even if I could accelerate growth, I can’t possibly pollinate the flowers myself, can I?”

“Sigh, I’ll just take it one step at a time.”

Qin Ming carried his spiritual hoe and began turning the soil in the field.

Since he reached the third layer of his body refinement technique, the Hundred Treasures Glazed Scripture, his physical strength had surged.

He now found farming more energetic—no more back pain or leg aches.

He felt he could plow ten li in one breath.

Fortunately, Yin Ning flowers mature in just one year, so he wouldn’t have to wait long.

Qin Ming had heard from Su Danshi that the main ingredients for the “Xi Sui Pill” all required at least fifty years of growth to be usable.

Their prices started at over a hundred spirit stones.

Moreover, pill refining carried a high failure rate, requiring multiple batches of materials at once.

This gave Qin Ming a profound understanding of the concept of “burning spirit stones.”

After plowing, Qin Ming planted all the seeds Su Danshi had given him—three mu in total.

Qin Ming cast the Intermediate Spiritual Rain Technique over the field and nodded in satisfaction.

“Whether they grow on their own is up to fate.”

“If all else fails, I’ll just use my acceleration technique.”

Currently, the remaining entries in Qin Ming’s spiritual sea from the past six months were:

Weak Magic Power ×6, Weak Blood Qi ×2, Advanced Spiritual Rain Technique ×5, Acceleration ×1—all other entries had been consumed in cultivating the Hundred Treasures Glazed Scripture.

Qin Ming had never dared use the Advanced Spiritual Rain Technique: first, its casting was too conspicuous and would draw attention; second, he planned to use it at the right moment on higher-grade spiritual plants.

After all, it doubled the harvest.

Qin Ming gazed at his one mu of Beast Tooth Rice field, estimating it would take another year to fully mature.

After planting the spiritual herbs,

Qin Ming returned to his room to cultivate.

He gently opened a delicate jade vial, inside which lay two green pills, emitting a refreshing, soothing aroma.

Spirit Gathering Pills! He had painstakingly traded a full hundred jin of spiritual rice to Su Danshi for them.

Qin Ming sat on his straw-woven mat, took out one pill, and began cultivating.

As he swallowed the pill, its power dissolved and spread through his body, continuously expanding his meridians.

The efficiency of his magic power circulation also improved significantly.

Qin Ming began circulating the Evergreen Technique to absorb this vast amount of spiritual energy.

Long moments passed.

Qin Ming opened his eyes, a hint of joy appearing on his face.

“These Spirit Gathering Pills truly live up to their reputation as miraculous pills for boosting Qi Refining cultivation.”

“Just this one pill increased my magic power by far more than an entire ‘Weak Magic Power’ entry.”

“One pill equals a year of hard cultivation.”

“If I could eat pills like this every day, I wonder if I could break through to Qi Refining fourth layer soon.”

Qin Ming mused.

…

After cultivation, Qin Ming was in high spirits.

He planned to visit Shopkeeper Liao to sell some of his spiritual rice and see if he could purchase a technique to command bee swarms.

He could now afford premium Beast Tooth Rice; he no longer needed to hoard ordinary Jin Ling Rice—better to sell it while prices were high.

Exchange it for talismans and magic artifacts.

Qin Ming navigated the alleyways of the shantytown, winding through until he reached the main road: Qingyang Bazaar.

“Oh my, Qin Daoist, you’ve come! Come in, come in—tea, tea!”

Inside Ju Xuan Pavilion, Shopkeeper Liao flashed his signature smile and greeted Qin Ming warmly.

Qin Ming smiled.

Without delay, he pulled three large sacks of spiritual rice from his storage pouch and laid them before him—making Shopkeeper Liao’s eyes light up with delight!

“That’s over three hundred jin, isn’t it?”

“Hehe, Qin Daoist, you’ve had another bountiful harvest!” Liao said, then personally fetched a large measuring device to weigh them.

“Jin Ling Rice: three hundred and eighty jin!”

“Qin Daoist, same as always—twelve spirit stones per jin, so twelve hundred total. Deal?” Liao asked with a smile.

Qin Ming paused, then asked: “Shopkeeper Liao, is the price for spiritual rice still the same? Hasn’t it risen further?”

“Correct, Qin Daoist. For now and the foreseeable future, spiritual rice prices won’t rise further,” Liao glanced around, then added: “But talismans, protective artifacts, and life-saving pills will see slight increases.”

“If you have any need for those, buy soon—prices may change in a few days.”

Qin Ming felt a flicker of suspicion and asked: “Has something happened?”

“Nothing major—just that Lingyu Gate and Jinyun Valley are currently at a stalemate.”

“But Lingyu Gate’s frontier colonization camps are struggling, suffering heavy casualties repeatedly.”

“Rumors say Lingyu Gate is recruiting another batch of cultivators to reinforce them.”

“Sigh.”

Shopkeeper Liao sighed deeply as well.

Qin Ming frowned—he knew Lingyu Gate was luring free cultivators to clear paths in that barbarian-infested region again.

He took the spirit stones from Liao and asked: “Do you have a technique to command bee swarms?”

Hearing another sale was coming, Liao immediately replied: “Of course—we rarely lack anything.”

He called someone to bring down three jade slips from upstairs.

“Qin Daoist, these are the ‘Beast Taming Scripture,’ ‘Insect Driving Technique,’ and ‘Spirit Controlling Classic.’”

“All three have the same price—I can offer you a ten percent discount.”

“Each one is three hundred spirit stones.”

With that,

Liao gazed at Qin Ming expectantly—this sale would mean another big commission.

He’d earn a hefty cut.

Qin Ming snorted. “Forget it.”

‘This old fox always tries to get me to spend every last spirit stone—what a shrewd businessman.’

He remembered he’d just earned one hundred and twenty spirit stones from selling the rice.

He had only three hundred and some spirit stones left in total.

He felt that with his recent surge in rice output, he’d accumulated a decent amount of wealth.

Yet any one of these techniques could drain his pouch in an instant.

‘Sigh—cultivation really burns through spirit stones!’

Was this going to kill him?

“How much for a mid-grade attack talisman?” Qin Ming asked next.

Liao had just started to look disappointed when Qin Ming asked this—his spirits instantly lifted.

“Mid-grade Cloud Fire Talisman: eighty spirit stones each.”

“Mid-grade Thunder Arrow Talisman: one hundred spirit stones each.”

“Mid-grade Golden Spear Talisman: eighty spirit stones each.”

"Mid-grade Golden Spear Talisman, eighty spirit stones each."

“Qin Daoist, which one do you want?”

Qin Ming gritted his teeth. “Give me one mid-grade Thunder Arrow Talisman.”

Liao beamed and immediately handed Qin Ming a blue talisman.

Qin Ming took it.

Transaction complete.

Transaction completed.

Shopkeeper Liao saw him off with great enthusiasm.

(End of Chapter)