Chapter 74: Seeing Through

Until they were within the borders of Xishan Prefecture, the caravan master Kang Niu was still pondering a question.

This journey... was it not a bit too peaceful?

Not to mention ferocious beasts or wicked people, they hadn't even encountered a single mountain bandit to pay off as they usually did along the way, which had saved him quite a bit of silver; it seemed this trading trip was destined to make him rich.

"There must be something wrong somewhere."

Chen Ci touched the Spirit Nourishing Bottle in his bosom, then looked at the vast, surging river before him, and could not help but fall into deep thought.

He had originally intended to just send those two children out of the Changping County region and be done with it, but as he kept sending them, not only did they go further and further, they had even reached the borders of Xishan Prefecture.

The Essence Refining in the Spirit Nourishing Bottle also kept increasing as he sent them along.

A rough estimate put it at over two hundred drops; if placed on the black market, that would be the profit of three or four Spirit Pearls.

There was definitely something wrong somewhere, but it certainly wasn't Chen Ci who was wrong.

"In this world, are there really so many people blocking the road to rob?"

Chen Ci rubbed his head: "If I could have bumped into a few on the road earlier, I wouldn't have needed to rack my brains for Essence Refining these past few months; it really is baffling."

Forget it, these drops of Essence Refining should be treated as an unexpected windfall; no need to dwell on it.

"I really am only thinking of my Dao path, it is absolutely not because I am being led by the Essence Refining, going further and further; you all must believe me."

Chen Ci tucked the Spirit Nourishing Bottle away and muttered a few words.

At a ferry outside the city of Xishan Prefecture, Liu Heming and Liu Yanyi were searching for a ferry boat, hoping to travel down the river to reach Quanshan.

Xishan Prefecture was nearly a thousand miles away from Quanshan; if they traveled by land, not only were the mountains high and the roads long with many dangerous paths, but the time consumed would also be much longer, yet if they followed the Liuyun River down, after eight hundred miles of waterway and then a hundred-plus miles of land, they would arrive, which could be much faster.

As the true core area of Quanzhou, the flow of merchants and travelers near Quanshan was naturally high, and the boats on the Liuyun River were as numerous as scales; although not every boat could travel a thousand miles downstream, finding a passenger boat outside Xishan Prefecture was not difficult.

The difficulty lay in the boat fare.

And safety.

The great river was not like land; if they really encountered a boatman inviting them to eat "river-center wontons," these two little ones would likely have no way to deal with it. Although Liu Heming carried over ten taels of broken silver, he dared not reveal his wealth at all. After pleading for a long time with Liu Yanyi, a boatman finally saw they were young and allowed them on board to do some cleaning and scrubbing work to offset the fare.

This was a three-masted sailing ship with the characters "Changshun" hanging on it; it looked quite imposing and was not likely to be a pirate ship.

"They've been sent all the way to Xishan Prefecture, this should be enough, right?"

Chen Ci watched the two little ones board the ship and finally let out a sigh of relief. He had been out for over ten days already, and even his cultivation had been delayed quite a bit; this mortal caravan's pace was truly slow enough.

If there were no accidents, in about six or seven days, they would be able to reach the vicinity of Quanshan. As for whether they could achieve their wishes afterward, that could only be left to heaven's will.

"But they've been sent to Xishan Prefecture, really not send them one more leg?"

Chen Ci's face was full of conflict, and he actually had a rare feeling of being anxious about gains and losses: "What if, what if something happens on just this stretch of road?"

To tell the truth, compared to the methods of the He Mountain Sect, he was actually more inclined toward the Qi Refining methods of Longhu Mountain, because one point was very important: he estimated he would not have a second chance to switch his Qi Refining cultivation method.

At the ripe old age of thirty-two, with a cultivation of Thirty-six Apertures, it was truly heart-wrenching.

That is to say, once chosen, there is no regret; before reaching the Hundred Apertures cultivation, he had to make a decision. These two little ones were the only opportunity he could grasp; otherwise, he would really only be able to walk the path of the He Mountain Sect to the end.

Conflict, truly conflict.

"High risk, high reward; it's not like these few days matter, send them one more leg!"

Chen Ci made up his mind and lifted his leg to walk toward the sailing ship.

Then he slunk back in a dejected manner.

He had seen the shadow of a Longhu Dharma Robe from afar.

He had forgotten that he was still bearing the identity of a He Mountain Sect Apprentice. Approaching Quanshan like that, wasn't that like an old man drinking arsenic? He wouldn't bump into any Longhu Mountain Apprentices here in Xishan Prefecture, but it was hard to say near Quanshan.

"A person still has to rely on themselves; if this plan doesn't work... I can only say I am fated with the He Mountain Sect."

Chen Ci looked at the sailing ship from afar, no longer lingering, and turned to leave with long strides.

For a small character like him, choices were never many. Being able to obtain an Upper Grade Qi Refining Method inheritance in the He Mountain Sect was already not easy, and laying a hidden trap within Longhu Mountain was even more audacious; he had done it to the extreme. The remaining risks were not something a small Qi Refining cultivator like him could control.

Earning resources and improving cultivation was the right path. If one day he obtained an Upper Grade Qi Refining Method but his cultivation was insufficient to impact an Upper Grade Dao Foundation, that would truly become a joke.

"Feeling weak, sometimes it is after excessive fatigue, with sore waist and legs, low spirits, as if the body has been hollowed out."

Chen Ci stood before the counter, carefully observing his surroundings, and said in a low voice: "Shopkeeper, I think you might have these symptoms. I have a miraculous pill, called the Health Preserving Pill, based on twenty-two types of Spirit Material; it can nourish the body back after it has been hollowed out. Would you like to try a pill?"

"Even if you don't need it, perhaps you have a friend who does?"

"It's you again!"

At Baibao Pavilion, the mask on the shopkeeper's face twitched, quite helpless: "What are you trying to sell at a stall? Why come to this old man? Do you really have to earn something from me?"

But although he said that, he didn't drive Chen Ci away directly.

For no other reason than that he had really touched upon his heart.

A Qi Refining cultivator is also a person. As one gets older, cough cough, he did have a few old friends whose bodies were indeed worse than when they were young.

"What do you mean earn something? We have a friendship worth a few Spirit Pearls; saying that hurts our feelings."

Chen Ci took out a bottle of Health Preserving Pills, just about to hand it over, then pulled it back, poured out one Health Preserving Pill, and handed it over: "You verify the goods first; if it's not good, I won't take your money."

The shopkeeper took the pinkish-red pill, pinched it into two halves, and sniffed it slightly, then set his mind at ease. The medicinal principles of this pill were very simple, and there were no hidden harmful methods.

"Hey, I thought it was something else; it turns out to be just the essence of grains plus some things to nourish the origin."

The shopkeeper smacked his lips, feeling the heat slowly rising from his stomach, and clicked his tongue twice: "Except for the taste being passable, the pill quality is just so-so, but it is still sellable. It's just that the price won't be very high; if you sell it to me, it will have to be even lower."

Chen Ci: "..."

Sigh, making money is truly hard.

He had thought it could be a flagship product, but it was tasted out by these old veterans in one bite, pointing out the core in a single word. Truly, he didn't have a shred of protagonist halo.

The shopkeeper looked Chen Ci up and down, saw his long face, and laughed: "Why, also want to rely on alchemy to make money and accumulate cultivation resources?"

Chen Ci sighed, which counted as an admission.

"Alchemy is a dead end! Little brother, listen to this old man's advice: go back and cultivate properly."

The shopkeeper looked nostalgic and said as someone who had been through it: "The alchemy industry is very deep; you can't handle it."

Chen Ci was silent; fortunately, he hadn't quoted a price, otherwise, who knows what would have happened.

"But you're right, the two of us do have some friendship."

The shopkeeper said leisurely: "I won't let you make the trip for nothing, but don't think about selling it for a high price. I can only give you this price; if you can do it, give it to me, if you can't, go set up a stall yourself."

After speaking, the shopkeeper stretched out his palm and gave a dark chuckle.

Five taels of silver?

Bah, you old geezer, you bully me too much!

Even if I took it to feed a dog, I wouldn't give it to you!

Chen Ci's expression was unpleasant, and he huffed twice; if he weren't already getting on in years, he would have shouted "Don't bully the young for being poor" to let the man know how tough he was.

"I'm not selling."

Chen Ci tucked the Life-Nurturing Pill into his bosom and took one step, two steps, three steps.

Approaching the doorway, Chen Ci turned back, smiling sheepishly: "Shopkeeper, raise the price a little more."

"Hmph, I saw through your little scheme at a glance."

The shopkeeper leaned back slightly, looking quite disdainful: "Five taels of gold per pill, take it or leave it."

Chen Ci: "."???

"It's just that I—cough, I have an old friend who happens to need this kind of Qi-Nurturing medicine, otherwise I wouldn't be able to offer this price."

Chen Ci: "."

In this world, there really are many good people after all!

kale

(End of this chapter)