Chapter 245: Departing for the Liang Kingdom

In mid-October, autumn arrived, and the harvest season came once again.

Qin Ming gazed upon his few mu of spiritual fields, where the Ice-Skin Jade-Colored Spirit-Perching Rice had fully ripened.

When planting this batch of spiritual rice, he had consecutively used two 【Quality Improvement】 traits.

As expected, this entire harvest consisted of top-grade Spirit-Perching Rice; the rich spiritual energy contained within the grains was even somewhat beneficial to him, a cultivator on the verge of reaching the peak of Foundation Establishment.

Besides this.

The dozen or so mu of Beast-Tooth Rice that the Heaven-Devouring Mouse had tinkered with had also ripened.

The moment it harvested the spiritual rice, it hoisted the sacks of grain and rushed to Qin Ming to claim credit.

This had required a tremendous amount of heart and blood to successfully cultivate.

It could truly be called blood-and-sweat rice. Qin Ming praised and encouraged it, then rewarded the Heaven-Devouring Mouse with two Rice-Flower Spiritual Fish.

Having gained this benefit, the creature declared that from now on it would learn from Qin Ming and farm with even greater diligence.

Apart from these.

The spiritual rice beneath the Spiritual Island had also ripened.

Wu Jiang had also paid all of the Wu family's spiritual rice taxes to Qin Ming.

The yield of various spiritual rice this time was more than double that of the previous harvest, showing that Wu Jiang had put in no small amount of effort.

Wu Jiang had also grown from the spirited young cultivator he once was into a middle-aged man with slightly wheat-colored skin, becoming much more mature and steady.

Qin Ming pondered for a long time.

With such a massive quantity of spiritual rice, Qin Ming could never finish eating it all himself; after setting aside a portion as reserves.

he said to Wu Jiang, "Fellow Daoist Wu, please sell the remaining spiritual rice and exchange it for spiritual stones for me."

"The situation in the outside world is about to become tense again, so the price of spiritual rice should rise; you might also consider selling off a portion yourself."

"Alliance Leader Li of the San Alliance is currently short on supplies and is aggressively purchasing cultivation resources; you can go sell a batch of spiritual rice to him, where the price should be about ten percent higher than the market rate."

Wu Jiang hurriedly nodded in agreement, then took people out to handle the matter.

Two days later.

Wu Jiang returned and handed over more than one thousand mid-grade spiritual stones to Qin Ming.

"Fellow Daoist Wu, there is another important matter I must entrust to you; I may need to leave Moon-Gazing Island for a period of time soon, and during my absence, I will rely on you to look after the Spiritual Island," Qin Ming said with a slight smile after accepting and storing the bag of spiritual stones.

"The matter I am about to handle is somewhat complicated and may take a while, so I estimate I will not be able to return very quickly."

Hearing this, Wu Jiang did not pry further, but hastily agreed, saying, "Island Master, please rest assured; I will take care of everything here."

"Mm, if there is anything you cannot handle, you can use my name to seek aid from Gu Gezhu Gu of the Mirror Jing Xue Ge, or ask True Person Canghai for help."

"However, Moon-Gazing Island is as solid as gold and stone, so you will basically encounter no danger; as long as you all stay on the island and farm peacefully, safety should not be a concern," Qin Ming said.

After giving his instructions to Wu Jiang, Qin Ming returned to his cave dwelling to pack his belongings.

For this long journey, he had to take what needed to be taken, and harvest all the spiritual plants in the fields that could be harvested.

The next day.

Qin Ming rose early, went to the place where he planted the third-tier spiritual plant, the Three-Purple Soul-Returning Grass, and used a 【Leaf of Space-Time】 trait to accelerate its ripening.

A little less than half a day later.

Two purple, orchid-like spiritual plants ripened, emitting a rich spiritual fragrance.

A multicolored auspicious light enveloped these two Three-Purple Soul-Returning Grasses, appearing quite miraculous.

"It's a pity that no trait refreshed."

"It seems I can only wait for the next opportunity."

Qin Ming placed the two Three-Purple Soul-Returning Grasses into a wooden box and preserved them carefully with a Spirit-Sealing Talisman to ensure their spiritual essence would not dissipate.

He also found some spiritual seeds of the Three-Purple Soul-Returning Grass in the nearby soil, which he could continue to plant in the future.

After accomplishing all this, Qin Ming gazed into the distance and said, "That is about enough."

He communicated with his innate spiritual plant, the Yin-Yang Profound Vine, whereupon the towering giant tree in the spiritual field instantly transformed into a pool of black liquid, coiled up onto Qin Ming's arm, and formed a tree-shaped tattoo.

For this long journey, it was naturally necessary to bring his innate spiritual plant along.

Qin Ming's first innate magical treasure, the Wood Emperor Nail, was also slowly growing under the nurturing of the Yin-Yang Profound Vine.

In fact, it was already much stronger than ordinary low-grade third-tier magical treasures; he estimated that if he fed the Yin-Yang Profound Vine some more blood beads in the future to obtain Qi of Years, the Wood Emperor Nail could grow to the level of a mid-grade third-tier magical treasure.

As long as the fertilizer supply remained adequate, it would not be difficult for the Wood Emperor Nail to reach the peak third-tier level.

"This 【Spirit Plant Seed Treasure】 trait is truly excellent; it is worthy of being a purple trait." Afterwards, Qin Ming brought along his three spiritual beasts, bid farewell to Wu Jiang, and departed from Moon-Gazing Island.

"Hee-hee! Finally going on a long trip."

"I, the Great Lord, have been to the Liang Kingdom Immortal Realm many times; Second and Third, I will tell you all about it along the way."

"So we won't be too bored during this long journey."

The Heaven-Devouring Mouse said proudly to the other two beasts from within the spiritual beast bag.

"Oh? You have actually been to the Liang Kingdom?" Qin Ming also became interested and asked.

Hearing Qin Ming's question, the Heaven-Devouring Mouse immediately replied with a laugh:

"Hee-hee-hee! To be honest with you, Master."

"Back when I was still a first-tier little demon, I grew up messing around in the Liang Kingdom; later, I gained some opportunities and successfully broke through to the second tier."

"After that, I went to the Beast Cry Mountain Range and advanced to the third tier."

"If not for that time in the Liang Kingdom, I don't know in which obscure corner I would be digging holes right now..."

After hearing this, Qin Ming could not help but chuckle.

One hour later.

Riding the Silver-Winged Frost Bee, Qin Ming arrived at Canghai Immortal City.

Since the journey from the Wei Kingdom to the Liang Kingdom was extremely distant, relying solely on flight would consume a considerable amount of time.

The selection of disciples by the Pill Tower of Profound Stream Valley would begin in half a year, and Qin Ming still intended to use this opportunity to infiltrate the Pill Tower and obtain the formula for forming a Jin Dan.

The Mirror Jing Xue Ge's business spanned various nations, so there should be a dharma boat reaching the State of Liang as well.

Qin Ming planned to take the Mirror Jing Xue Ge's dharma boat, which would save considerable time and effort.

However, Qin Ming did not want others to know his specific whereabouts; thus, as soon as he arrived at Yunze Xiancheng, he activated his True Demon Illusion, transforming into the image of Daoist Long.

Subsequently, he recalled his Yin Yi Shuangfeng and descended toward the city gate.

The moment his fierce aura appeared, it caused the cultivators at the gate to turn their heads one after another.

"It is actually Senior Long, ranked first on the Foundation Establishment list!"

"I did not expect that after defeating the fake-dan Laozu of Spirit Sword Mountain last time, Senior Long has come to the immortal city again."

"Wow! Is this the legendary great cultivator of the Wei State's Immortal Realm? Today I finally witness his true appearance!"

"Truly, this life has not been lived in vain!"

"Greetings, Senior Long!"

"Senior Long, please go first!"

In an instant, the rogue cultivators at the city gate promptly parted to form two lanes, allowing Qin Ming to enter the city very quickly.

Although the recent beast tide had subsided, the patrols in Yunze Xiancheng remained extremely strict, and entering or exiting now required considerable trouble.

After 'Daoist Long' entered the immortal city, he followed the main road straight toward the Mirror Jing Xue Ge in the inner city.

Inside the first floor of the Mirror Jing Xue Ge.

The hall was full of guests, and Shopkeeper Liao was directing his subordinates, who were bustling with activity.

Just at that moment.

A burly man with a tangled beard, radiating an aura of rough banditry and overflowing with domineering presence, strode into the shop.

"Shopkeeper, summon your Gu Gezhu to come out and see me!"

As soon as he entered the shop, Daoist Long spoke in a deep, resonant voice, loud as a bell, audible to everyone on the first floor, causing them all to fix their gazes upon him.

Shopkeeper Liao had originally approached with a professional smile plastered on his face, but upon seeing the visitor's countenance, he was so startled that his hand trembled, nearly dropping the account book onto the ground.

Before he could speak.

A voice as clear and cold as a spring came from the staircase, accompanied by the appearance of a graceful figure clad in plain gauze robes.

"Fellow Daoist Long, I have long admired your great name! Please proceed upstairs!"

(End of Chapter)