Chapter 22: Qi Crossing Technique, Obtained! Breeder!
Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Qi Crossing Technique, Obtained! Breeder!
Wei Wuwei stopped in his tracks, stunned. The servant assisting him beside him covered his mouth and chuckled.
"You also want to become..."
"If any other Spirit Plant Cultivator wanted to buy the *Qi Crossing Technique*, I definitely wouldn’t sell it." Wei Wuwei looked at Chen Mo with a sincere expression and continued, "However, you and I have known each other for a long time and consider each other fellow cultivators. For twenty taels of Spiritual Sand, I can make the decision on behalf of the Patriarch and sell it to you privately."
"Twenty taels?"
Hearing this, Chen Mo instantly felt a sharp ache in his wallet. Even though he now had nearly two hundred taels of assets, he couldn’t just squander it like this! But if he wanted to pursue Breeding, there was no way around Qi Crossing Magic. For a moment, he hesitated, caught in a dilemma.
"Why don’t you think about it?" Wei Wuwei offered a timely reminder. He walked through the corridor and headed deep into the shop, into an area where Spirit Plant Cultivators were not allowed to enter.
Chen Mo watched his retreating back, weighing the pros and cons. In the long run, learning this magic was definitely a guaranteed profit. However, for the time being, it was entirely optional.
While he pondered, Mr. Wei returned, holding a sachet and a porcelain bottle. He handed over the Fasting Pills in his right hand and asked, "How is your consideration going?"
"I do want it, but the price is a bit much." Chen Mo looked somewhat troubled. He figured the man was just asking an exorbitant price, and all he had to do was bargain him down.
"If you sincerely want to learn it, I’ll pay out of my own pocket and subsidize you five taels. How about that?"
"How could I? I couldn’t possibly accept that." Chen Mo waved his hands repeatedly.
It was obviously just polite talk. Their relationship wasn’t close enough for the man to be gifting him Spiritual Sand. However, the fact that he said this also proved that the *Qi Crossing Technique* manual was essentially worthless!
"Nonsense! We are practically brothers. I’ll cover five taels, so you’ll still walk away with twenty." Wei Wuwei pretended to be angry. Saying this was his way of forcing the purchase. Since he had actively offered to fork out five taels, if this Spirit Plant Cultivator surnamed Chen still refused to buy it, wouldn’t that be a slap in the face? If he didn’t make a profit during a good harvest, was he supposed to wait for a famine?
"Thank you, Mr. Wei! Thank you!" Chen Mo instantly displayed excitement and deep gratitude. During the bargaining phase, he could act hesitant, but in this situation, it was naturally best to be as decisive as possible.
Although the other party was clearly ripping him off, wasn’t he also taking advantage of the situation? When the time came and he actually produced seeds, would this man refuse to buy them? After all, the *Qi Crossing Technique* had been sold to him by Niu’s Shop. And he just so happened to have successfully mastered it by accident!
Wei Wuwei smiled and brushed his sleeve. It seemed this kid knew how things worked.
"Here are twenty taels of Spiritual Sand, and here is the *Qi Crossing Technique*. Hold onto them carefully."
Chen Mo took the sachet and the ancient text, gave them a quick glance, and stuffed them into his pocket. Another sum of Spiritual Sand had been credited to his account, but this wasn’t the bulk of his profits. The big money would come the next time he visited, or the time after that.
"Thank you, Mr. Wei. I won’t bother you any longer."
"I won’t keep you then. Remember to come pick up your seeds in the spring."
"Will do!"
Chen Mo bid his farewells and left the courtyard of Niu’s Shop.
As soon as he was gone, the servant who had been stifling his laughter finally burst out loud.
"A Spirit Plant Cultivator actually dreaming of becoming a Breeder! HAHAHA!" He clutched his stomach, his laughter somewhat exaggerated. "Does he even have enough Spirit Rice to practice with?!"
"Why else would I sell this magic to him?" Wei Wuwei’s eyes were also filled with amusement.
The *Qi Crossing Technique* wasn’t exactly a rare magic. It was a mandatory magic for any Spirit Plant Cultivator hoping to transition into the specialized profession of a Breeder, but its very existence was peculiar. Practicing this magic required an enormous amount of Spirit Rice to feed its progression. At the very beginning, feeding it one or two hundred catties might not even yield a few taels of seeds. To cultivate it to the Proficient Realm, where the consumption rate stabilized at one catty of seeds per hundred catties of rice, required at least several thousand, if not tens of thousands, of catties of grain! That was a cost of nearly ten Low Grade Spirit Stones!
How could an ordinary Spirit Plant Cultivator possibly afford such an exorbitant expense? Because of this, the Breeders within every Marketplace were personally nurtured by the Pavilion Master, spoon-fed with grain little by little!
It was only that Cultivator surnamed Chen, who had been a Spirit Plant Cultivator for far too short a time and remained ignorant of many unwritten secrets, who would actually ask to learn the *Qi Crossing Technique*. If it had been any other Spirit Plant Cultivator? If you asked them whether they wanted to buy the *Qi Crossing Technique*, they would just roll their eyes and leave a single word: "Crazy."
Wei Wuwei was in a fantastic mood. Fifteen taels wasn’t a massive amount, but every little bit added up. He had indeed saved quite a bit this year.
"Come on, I’m taking you to Fragrance Pavilion for a pot of wine!"
The servant beside him instantly beamed with joy.
***
Carrying twenty taels of Spiritual Sand, twelve Fasting Pills, and the *Qi Crossing Technique* manual, Chen Mo left Niu’s Shop. He stood by the entrance for a moment, finally deciding to spend these twenty taels along with the final fifteen taels of Spiritual Sand he had left over from his cultivation!
Last time, he had been ambushed by Tribulation Cultivators on his way back from the Marketplace to his Spirit Field. Now, even though he had reached the Qi Refining Second Layer and his Flaming Palm had reached Minor Achievement, he still didn’t feel entirely confident.
Chen Mo walked along the main street of the Marketplace, passing by the Elixir Shop, Spiritual Food Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Fragrance Pavilion, and the like. Only the brothels took the initiative, inviting him in to enjoy himself. They euphemistically called it "experiencing the harmony of heaven and earth."
Of course, this time Chen Mo didn’t refuse outright, but instead asked for the price. However, upon learning that a pot of ordinary Spirit Rice wine cost five taels of Spiritual Sand, listening to a short ditty cost one tael, and enjoying an intimate encounter cost three taels, he ultimately declined.
These prices were not cheap in the slightest. He made a rough estimate. If converted into mortal gold and silver, one tael of Spiritual Sand was roughly equivalent to ten taels of gold. If calculated using the currency of his previous life, it was equivalent to twenty to thirty thousand yuan. In other words, sleeping with someone for one night would cost sixty to ninety thousand yuan. Talk about being plated in gold!
However, Chen Mo had taken a quick peek. The women of Fragrance Pavilion weren’t lacking in beauty, and rumor had it they were even Cultivators at the Qi Refining Early Stage. He wondered if Cultivators also worked in the flesh trade. Chen Mo suddenly let out a self-deprecating laugh; after all, Cultivators farmed fields, too. Weren’t they all just trying to make a living?
The greeter, having agonizingly lost out on a piece of business, didn’t stay dejected for long before ushering in the next wave of customers.
"Senior Brother Wei, isn’t that the Spirit Plant Cultivator from earlier?"
Wei Wuwei looked in the direction he pointed, and sure enough, it was Chen Mo’s figure. He hadn’t expected him to show up here.
"Let’s go, let’s go. I told you, where would a Spirit Plant Cultivator get the guts to enter Fragrance Pavilion? That would truly be choosing lust over life!"
This little interlude didn’t dampen their spirits. Soon, surrounded by a flock of beautiful courtesans, the two entered the alluring and romantic Fragrance Pavilion.
As for Chen Mo?
After browsing the street for a while, he finally walked into a Magic Robe Shop. Indeed, what could bring him the greatest boost in strength in the shortest amount of time was a Magical Artifact!
Dressed in mortal cotton clothes, he stepped into the shop and swept his gaze around. The vast majority of the items cost anywhere from several dozen to over a hundred taels of Spiritual Sand. If he chose carefully, he could afford to buy one.
The shop owner, sitting to the side and resting with his eyes closed, merely shot him a glance, completely lacking the interest to even stand up and greet him. A Spirit Plant Cultivator was actually here to buy a Magic Robe? Laughable!
"You can look, but don’t touch!"