Chapter 99: Transaction

Early morning at Wangyue Lake.

It resembled a fairyland isolated from the mortal world, wreathed in thin mist, dreamlike and illusory.

Gentle morning sunlight spilled onto the island, like a transparent curtain gently fluttering beneath the vast sky.

Qin Ming naturally awoke to the sound of birdsong, stepped out of his cave dwelling, and took a deep breath of the fresh, washed lake breeze.

Ever since the progress of his spiritual body cultivation had increased,

he could clearly perceive the condition, good or bad, of every blade of grass and tree here.

This would also be of great help to his future planting of spiritual plants.

Coupled with his breakthrough in cultivation, his mood was truly excellent.

Thus, he released that nest of Four-Winged Yin Frost Bees from his spirit beast pouch.

He hung it upon the Longevity Vine.

In an instant,

countless spirit bees drilled out of the hive, darting toward those dozens of gray skull flowers to begin their diligent labor of gathering nectar and pollinating.

As the swarm's activity continued, the purple spirit patterns on their bodies flashed intermittently, as if they had gained considerable benefits once again.

After releasing the hive, Qin Ming left it to develop on its own.

"Hmm~"

"With such a large island, I ought to raise a spirit beast to guard the home and protect the courtyard."

Qin Ming propped up his chin and pondered for a moment.

Of course, since it was meant for guarding the home and protecting the courtyard, it could not be a cute pet.

It absolutely had to be formidable in strength and exude an imposing aura.

However, raising a spirit beast still depended on fate.

Next,

Qin Ming tended to his medicinal field for a while and ate lunch.

Immediately after, he mounted his spiritual light shuttle and flew toward the direction of the Mo family's Qingxiadao.

Two hours later,

Qin Ming arrived at the sect gate beneath the main peak.

The guards here had seen him before; upon learning his identity, they naturally dared not be negligent and immediately went inside to report.

A moment later,

Elder Mo, with his head of silver hair, walked out, looked Qin Ming up and down, and then exclaimed in surprise, "Congratulations, Daoist Qin, on your great advancement in cultivation! I didn't expect that in just a few short days since we parted, you would already break through to the ninth layer of Qi Condensation!"

"Please come inside, Daoist Qin!"

On the surface, Elder Mo was pleasant and amiable, but inwardly he was greatly shocked; it seemed the family head's choice had been correct.

"I have some matters to discuss with Qingxia Xianzi; I wonder if it is convenient?" Qin Ming asked, getting straight to the point.

Elder Mo nodded gently. "The family head is currently on the island; please follow me, Daoist Qin."

The two followed a stone path through the mountains and arrived at a rather magnificent cave dwelling.

Mo Lingwei, dressed in a long green gauze skirt, came out to greet them; her first reaction upon seeing Qin Ming was also a surging turmoil within her heart.

However, she did not reveal it, but instead offered a faint smile and congratulated him, "Congratulations, Daoist Qin, on taking another step forward on the immortal path!"

"Just good luck, nothing worth mentioning," Qin Modestly replied.

"Daoist Qin is far too low-key; the matter of you suppressing all heroes and seizing Wangyue Island is still being enthusiastically discussed throughout the nearby spiritual islands."

"I never expected that even Zhao Chanzhen would have to admit defeat."

When Mo Lingwei had first heard this news, she too had been truly greatly surprised.

One could only say her judgment of people was accurate; who could have imagined that the ordinary-looking Qin Ming possessed such formidable strength?

Mo Lingwei invited Qin Ming to take a seat, then poured him tea, and asked gently, "Daoist Qin has suddenly visited today; I wonder what the matter is?"

"It is like this: I heard that the Mo family possesses spirit seeds of the Spirit-Perching Rice, so I have come specifically to visit and purchase some," Qin Ming stated his purpose directly.

Upon hearing this, Mo Lingwei paused, revealing a look of surprise; she had not expected the other party to be here specifically for the Spirit-Perching Rice.

Her hands, white as jade, gently toyed with the teacup, and then she smiled and replied, "Daoist Qin's sources of information are quite well-informed."

"That is correct; I do indeed still have a small portion of the Spirit-Perching Rice spirit seeds left, though not much."

"They were left behind by my ancestors."

"However... surely Daoist Qin also knows the preciousness of this Spirit-Perching Rice?"

"Naturally; I wonder what conditions Daoist Mo requires to be willing to sell?" Qin Ming naturally knew that obtaining the spirit seeds of Spirit-Perching Rice was not easy.

Upon hearing this, Mo Lingwei pondered for a while, unsure of what she was thinking.

A moment later,

she suddenly broke into a bright smile. "Is Daoist Qin so confident that you can successfully cultivate it?"

"You must know that in history, the number of successful cultivations of this spirit rice can be counted on one's fingers."

"If not for that, it would not have fallen to the point of being extinct today."

"Hehe, I am new here and also have a deep interest in this rice; I just wish to give it a try," Qin Ming said with a laugh. "Whether it can be grown successfully remains to be seen."

Mo Lingwei nodded. "In that case, I can sell the spirit seeds to Daoist Qin, but there is one condition."

Immediately after, she stated the terms of the transaction.

Upon hearing this, Qin Ming furrowed his brows, then relaxed them again.

The two discussed and agreed upon the details.

Mo Lingwei took out a spirit contract, and Qin Ming signed his mark upon it.

Subsequently, Mo Lingwei instructed Elder Mo to retrieve a small box of emerald-green spirit rice seeds from the clan's treasury.

These spiritual seeds were sealed intact within jade boxes, their spirituality completely preserved.

"So this is Spirit-Perching Rice?" Qin took the jade box, his expression brightening; after comparing it with Gu Qingzhao's description, he confirmed it beyond doubt.

Shortly after.

He stored the spiritual seeds, exchanged a few brief words with Mo Lingwei, then took his leave from Qingxiadao.

……

Inside the Mo family's dwelling.

Mo Lao, his head full of silver hair, hesitated a moment before asking Mo Lingwei in puzzlement, "Clan Leader, why did you really give the spiritual seeds to him?"

"That was the very last of them; previously, we invited a second-tier upper-grade spirit planter to cultivate them, yet they failed—how much less likely is success with him?"

"If we do not give them away, they will only remain here gathering dust."

"Although these are the final memento left to us by our great-grandfather, should Spirit-Perching Rice ever reappear in the Immortal Realm, I believe he would be delighted," Mo Lingwei said lightly.

"Moreover, even if Fellow Daoist Qin fails, we lose nothing; he has already agreed to my conditions."

Hearing this, Mo Lao nodded and spoke no further.

……

Once he obtained the spiritual seeds, Qin Ming rushed back to his dwelling without delay.

The spiritual seeds he possessed were only enough for him to plant about three mu.

Yet that was sufficient.

As a condition for selling the spiritual seeds, Mo Lingwei's demand was that if Qin Ming succeeded in cultivating them, he must provide the Mo family with fifty jin of Spirit-Perching Rice.

Should he fail, he would have to deliver spirit stones of equivalent value.

Qin Ming considered these terms acceptable and readily agreed to them.

After returning to Wangyue Island, Qin Ming did not immediately plant the Spirit-Perching Rice.

Instead, he converted the three mu of spiritual fields prepared for planting Spirit-Perching Rice into paddy fields.

Then he diverted water from the island's spiritual spring into the spiritual fields.

Next came nurturing the seedlings.

This step was extremely crucial; whether the spiritual seeds would survive depended entirely on this.

Qin Ming found a small patch of land nearby.

First, he burned the stalks of the previously grown second-tier spiritual plant, Five-Colored Rice, mixed them with spiritual soil, added the droppings of a local spiritual bird called the White Spirit Egret, stirred everything evenly, blended in other spiritual materials, and thus formulated spiritual fertilizer.

This was also some experience passed down from Mo Lingwei's ancestors.

Afterwards, he sowed the spiritual seeds of Spirit-Perching Rice.

Once the Spirit-Perching Rice seedlings had grown, they could be transplanted into the spiritual paddy fields.

Having completed these tasks, he made another trip to Tianhe Market and located the Spirit Planter Guild.

He learned that advancement beyond the second-tier spirit planter likewise required entering the plant illusion realm to complete corresponding trial assessments.

However, it was not as cumbersome as the regulations stipulated by Lingyu Sect.

The recording official at Tianhe Market responsible for spirit planter assessments merely needed to register the planter when planting began and then conduct an inspection again upon harvest.

This eliminated many intermediate troubles.

Furthermore, quotas for entering the illusion realm were allocated based on merit, according to the difficulty of the spiritual plants each spirit planter cultivated and their final grade.

The wooden formations leading into the plant illusion realm were established within the major main cities across the Immortal Realm.

The nearest one was Canghai Xiancheng.

After all, the Mother Qi of Myriad Woods could accelerate the growth and advancement of Qin Ming's innate spiritual plant.

Not to mention other benefits; he was exceedingly eager for this item.

On this day.

Qin Ming was tending to his spiritual fields when the protective formation rippled outward, and a message talisman flew in.

He opened it and saw it was from Wu Jiang.

He immediately deactivated the formation to let him in.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, there is news regarding the method for refining spiritual fire that you entrusted me to find, as well as the whereabouts of the two spiritual herbs."

(End of Chapter)