Chapter 95: Intending to Cultivate the 3-Leaf Spirit-Gathering Vein Diagram, Re-entering the Marketplace

Chapter 95: Chapter 95: Intending to Cultivate the 3-Leaf Spirit-Gathering Vein Diagram, Re-entering the Marketplace

Time flowed like a river; three months passed in the blink of an eye.

Since both the Demon Hunting Corps and the Patrol Guards had gone to develop the new Spiritual Land, the maintenance of the Marketplace was handed over to Steward Shen Tu, who was responsible for transporting supplies back and forth.

Under his management, the chaotic Marketplace regained its former peace, and the Loose Cultivators no longer had to worry about their lives and properties.

Moreover, because the entire Demon Hunting Corps was dispatched to the new Spiritual Land, many Spirit Beasts gradually appeared within a thousand-mile radius around Zafeng.

This allowed many Loose Cultivators to make a fortune, making the Marketplace even more bustling, and an increasing number of Loose Cultivators ventured here.

In a remote corner at the foot of the mountain within the Spirit Field Zone, on the second floor of a simple courtyard.

"PHEW..." Li Changsheng slowly exhaled a breath of impure air, opened his eyes, and fixed his gaze upon himself.

[Target: Li Changsheng]

[Cultivation: Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer "21%"]

[Cultivation Technique: Golden Turtle Spirit Technique (6/9). Traits: Resilience, Spirit Recovery.]

[Magic: Insect Mark (Incomplete) "Great Mastery 13%" / Five Poisons Spirit Refining "Minor Mastery 13%" / Golden Turtle Shield "Minor Mastery 38%" / Minor Cloud Rain Magic "Minor Mastery 32%" / Sharp Gold Magic "Minor Mastery 21%" / Three-leaf Spirit Absorption Vein Map...]

Over the past three months, he had swallowed a Refining Jade Pill every seven days. With the assistance of five insect-beasts absorbing Spiritual Qi, his cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, breaking through to the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer a month ago.

The Magic he practiced had also seen varying degrees of improvement.

Among them, the Three-leaf Spirit Absorption Vein Map—after more than a year of exploration—was finally sorted out, untangling its complex meridians.

Li Changsheng pondered for a moment, then flipped his hand to take out the Soothing Incense and lit it.

Swirling smoke rose and slowly flowed into his body with his breaths.

As the smoke entered, Li Changsheng felt the distracting thoughts in his mind gradually decrease, and his state of mind became exceptionally relaxed.

A few breaths later, a stream of information flooded into his mind.

[Soothing Incense: Primarily made of Bright God Flower, mixed with Jade Spiritual Bamboo powder and Spirit Stone powder, bound together with Spirit Water and baked, then undergoing...]

After digesting the information, Li Changsheng quickly snuffed out the incense stick and put it away.

"Fortunately, it isn’t as troublesome as Alchemy..." Li Changsheng breathed a sigh of relief. "The Bright God Flower is a Tier One Lower-grade Spirit Medicine, so it shouldn’t be hard to buy. But the Jade Spiritual Bamboo and Spirit Water..."

After pondering for a few breaths, Li Changsheng’s eyes suddenly lit up. "Chang’s Pill Pavilion!"

He remembered that there was a stalk of Jade Spiritual Bamboo displayed in Chang’s Pill Pavilion, and Alchemy also required Spirit Water...

Li Changsheng thought for a moment, scooped up Xiaobai—who was sprawled out limply on the couch—and walked downstairs.

Three months had passed, and Xiaobai had grown another size fatter. Its cultivation progress had also reached Tier One Mid-Grade 35%. And the Spirit Beasts he raised had also undergone different changes.

Stepping into the courtyard, Li Changsheng looked at Xiaohua’s family lying by the door, his gaze fixed.

[Target: Xiaohua. Tier One Mid-Grade: 71%]

[Target: Little Xiaohua. Tier One Mid-Grade: 23%]

Li Changsheng merely glanced past the two of them, his gaze landing on Big Flower.

[Target: Big Flower]

[Species: Tusked Pig (Female)]

[Tier One Mid-Grade: 68%]

[Talents: Tough Skin, Sharp Teeth.]

[Status: Pregnant.]

After more than a year, Big Flower was pregnant with cubs again.

While Li Changsheng was happy, he was also somewhat worried. If Xiaohua bred another dozen or so cubs then, should he sell them or not?

There were also some changes within the five beast pens now. The three female snow sheep had given birth to seven lambs a little over a month ago, which wasn’t a bad yield. To prevent the male snow sheep from accidentally injuring the lambs, Li Changsheng had moved him to another pen.

At the same time, the two Red Foxes were also doing well; a week ago, the word ’Pregnant’ appeared in their status bars again.

Li Changsheng rubbed his temples, stopped dwelling on it, and walked towards the courtyard gate.

After herding Little Xiaohua and Big Flower into the beast pen, Li Changsheng straddled Xiaohua and rushed towards the Marketplace at the top of the mountain.

Swarms of insects flew up from all corners of the courtyard and converged above his head. After circling for a few breaths, one group flew slowly around him under Big Bro’s leadership, while another group, led by Little Bro, swept through the surrounding grass to hunt bugs.

It was only because he rarely went out, and the Spirit Fields easily attracted bugs, that the surrounding bugs hadn’t already been eaten to extinction by his domesticated insect swarm.

By now, the insect swarm mostly consisted of Tier One Low-Grade Spirit Insects, with only the thirty-odd newly contracted bugs remaining unranked.

Passing by the residence of Dong Xing’s Family, the courtyard was empty and deserted.

Li Changsheng didn’t think much of it; just a few days ago, Dong Xing had visited his home as a guest and seemed to be in pretty good spirits.

When Xiaohua reached the Yunwan Courtyard, a loud BAM echoed out—the sound of a door slamming shut.

Li Changsheng glanced over, sighed in his heart, and urged Xiaohua to leave quickly.

By the second-floor window, two little heads watched him ride away on Xiaohua, their eyes full of longing.

"I really want to go out and play!"

"Me too!"

"Mother is so annoying. She keeps a straight face all day long..."

After a few breaths of pause, a weak voice sounded, "I’m a little scared..."

Outside the room door, a slender figure trembled slightly, their raised hand suddenly starting to shake...

After a while, a somewhat weak and feeble voice drifted into the room. "Qing Lan, Qing Yue, it’s time to eat..."

Li Changsheng had no idea that two little ones were watching him with envy. As he traveled along the path, passing by one courtyard after another, his heart suddenly grew heavy.

Because of the Spirit Plant inheritance, the warm atmosphere that used to characterize the Spirit Field Zone was gradually fading. Some courtyards were empty with overgrown weeds in their Spirit Fields. Other courtyards, though clean and tidy, lacked much of their former vitality...

When he saw other Spirit Farmers crossing paths on the road, they merely nodded at each other, completely lacking the lively banter of the past.

When Xiaohua stepped onto the main road, Li Changsheng looked at the endless path stretching into the distance. His expression paused slightly, and he fell into deep thought.

A dozen breaths later.

Hearing Xiaohua’s grunting noises, Li Changsheng patted its back. His brow relaxed a little as he whispered to himself, "The road is very, very long. What is before my eyes is nothing more than passing scenery..."

Time passed slowly, and night began to fall.

At the East Gate of Zafeng Marketplace, a massive figure slowly walked up from the main road onto the platform.

Li Changsheng looked up at a glowing white pearl suspended above the tall tower in the center of the Marketplace and praised, "This is what cultivation is all about!"

Unlike the dark mountain paths, the Marketplace was bathed in the pearl’s illumination, making it bright as day.

Li Changsheng vaulted to the ground, put Xiaohua away, and walked inside.

The streets were surging with crowds; there were even more people than the last time he had visited. Li Changsheng stopped to cast a few glances around before heading towards Ding-Eight Street.

Soon, a shop with a sign reading "Chang’s Pill Pavilion" came into view.

Li Changsheng walked inside.

At this moment, a few scattered customers were buying pills in the shop. Li Changsheng swept his gaze around, his eyes landing on the Jade Spiritual Bamboo in the corner.

A servant boy hurried forward and said respectfully, "Sir, if you wish to purchase any pills, just tell me."

Li Changsheng withdrew his gaze and asked, "Is Chang the Pill Master here?"

He wanted to buy some branches and leaves of the Jade Spiritual Bamboo. The servant boy certainly wouldn’t have the authority to make that decision, so he could only ask Changxing.

The servant boy hesitated for a moment before saying, "Please wait a moment, sir. I’ll go ask Chang the Pill Master."

Li Changsheng nodded and walked over to the Jade Spiritual Bamboo.

As he approached, a crisp bamboo fragrance suddenly surged out from within the rich medicinal scent. Like a clear spring amidst the mud, it invigorated his spirit and somewhat soothed his fatigue.

"Worthy of being a Tier One Top-Grade Spiritual Bamboo," Li Changsheng praised inwardly. "It’s much better than the Snake Saliva Spirit Tree..."

While he was observing, the servant boy led an elder with completely white hair and beard out from the backyard. The servant boy pointed at Li Changsheng and whispered a few words to Changxing.

Changxing nodded, walked over, and smiled. "My young friend, it has been a long time. What business do you have with me?"

"Greetings, Chang the Pill Master." Li Changsheng cupped his hands and pointed to the Jade Spiritual Bamboo in the corner, saying, "I need some branches and leaves from the Jade Spiritual Bamboo for my cultivation. I wanted to ask if you could sell me some."

Changxing’s expression remained unchanged. He looked him up and down and suddenly asked, "You are a Spirit Farmer from the Spirit Field Zone, right?"

Li Changsheng didn’t know what he meant but openly admitted, "I’m just a farmer."

"Very good..." Chang Xing looked at his brow and smiled. "If I’m not mistaken, you want to use the Jade Spiritual Bamboo’s mind-calming and spirit-nourishing effects to cultivate the Spirit Plant inheritance passed down by Lan Cai Shen, right?"

"Lan Cai Shen? Is that Steward Lan?" Li Changsheng wondered. Taken aback for a moment, he then simply nodded. "Yes. I ask that Chang the Pill Master grant this request."

Chang Xing pondered for a while, then looked up at him and said, "It’s not impossible to give you some. How about this: if you truly become a Spirit Plant Master, do me a small favor, alright? Rest assured, this matter will be very simple for a Spirit Plant Master."

"Alright." Li Changsheng thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

After all, that would be a matter for after he became a Spirit Plant Master. According to what Steward Ma had said, once he became a Spirit Plant Master, his status would absolutely not be inferior to that of Chang the Pill Master standing before him.

At that time, if the task was too difficult and he didn’t want to do it, Chang the Pill Master wouldn’t be able to do anything to him.

Seeing his agreement, the smile on Chang the Pill Master’s face deepened. He flipped his hand and took out a branch of the Jade Spiritual Bamboo—about half a meter long, as thick as a pinky finger, and as verdant as jade throughout—and handed it to him.

Li Changsheng looked surprised and asked, "How many Spirit Stones for this branch?"

He had only wanted to buy some fragmented twigs and leaves; he hadn’t expected Changxing to give him an entire sub-branch directly.

"No Spirit Stones needed." Changxing shook his head, smiling amiably. "Just don’t forget to do me a small favor after you become a Spirit Plant Master."

"This..." Li Changsheng hesitated for a second, then took it and put it away. He cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Chang the Pill Master. When the time comes, I will definitely come."

Changxing nodded, smiling. "Does my young friend have any other business?"

Li Changsheng hurriedly replied, "I also want to buy a bit of Spirit Water and some pills..."

After leaving the Marketplace, the smile on Li Changsheng’s face couldn’t be contained.

This trip to the Marketplace could be considered exceptionally rewarding.

He had not only obtained a section of Jade Spiritual Bamboo for free, along with a small bottle of Spirit Water, but he also spent 690 Spirit Stones at a twenty percent discount to buy three bottles of Refining Jade Pills, with each bottle containing nine pills.

Considering his grade-five Spirit Vein and his impending breakthrough to Late-Stage Qi Cultivation, he also spent 320 Spirit Stones at a twenty percent discount to buy a First-rank top-grade Breaking Barrier Pill.

Coupled with his purchase of the Bright God Flower, he now had less than seventy Spirit Stones left in his pocket in total.

It could be said that he had returned to his impoverished state overnight, becoming poor once again.

"Chang the Pill Master is a good man..." Li Changsheng sighed in admiration. He summoned Xiaohua, vaulted onto its back, and happily hurried home.

Now, he lacked for nothing.

The next nine months would be dedicated to advancing his cultivation and practicing the Three-leaf Spirit Absorption Vein Map.