Chapter 31: Exchange for 1 Low Grade Spirit Stone
Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Exchange for 1 Low Grade Spirit Stone
"Are you really a Breeder?" Mei Hua’s eyes widened, staring at the Spirit Plant Cultivator before him in disbelief.
It should be known that nurturing a Breeder required feeding them massive amounts of Spirit Rice. Even the most basic Tier One Spirit Yellow Rice was not something a single person could afford!
Faced with the question, Chen Mo smiled and nodded.
"How many... s-seeds... do you have?!" Mei Hua stammered in excitement, even switching to a more respectful tone.
Chen Mo took out a grain bag from his robes and gently placed it on the counter.
The moment the shop assistant saw the Spirit Seeds, he didn’t say another word. He rushed to the entrance and slid the wooden shutters shut one by one, closing up the already deserted shop.
The room grew dim. Mei Hua lit two oil lamps, then said, "This... this must be several catties’ worth, right?"
"Five catties."
"F-five catties?"
Mei Hua could hardly believe his ears. He picked up an oil lamp and leaned in to carefully examine the Spirit Seeds. He also practiced the Qi Crossing Technique, though he had yet to reach the entry-level. Still, even without reaching the entry-level, he was more than capable of verifying the authenticity of the seeds!
After confirming there was no issue with them, Mei Hua realized that the matter at hand was no longer just about the Spirit Seeds themselves! A Spirit Plant Cultivator who could produce five catties of Spirit Seeds was the true key!
He set the seeds down and said solemnly, "Fellow Daoist, please wait a moment."
With that, he headed straight for the backyard. The implications were massive. He had to report this to the shopkeeper; it was a matter far beyond his authority to decide!
Chen Mo waited for a short while. Soon, Mei Hua returned, leading a Cultivator of a similar, if not younger, age.
Upon meeting, the man looked him over, took the initiative to extend a hand, and introduced himself. "Fellow Daoist Chen, I’ve heard much about you. I am Song Yunxi, the shopkeeper of Yi Er San Grain Station. It is a true pleasure to finally meet you today!"
"A pleasure to meet you, Shopkeeper Song." Since the other party was offering him so much face, Chen Mo naturally responded with utmost politeness. He reached out to shake hands. Although his strength and status were clearly inferior to the man’s, he did not show any signs of groveling.
"Brilliance truly knows no age!" Song Yunxi sighed in admiration. He glanced at Mei Hua beside him, signaling the assistant to serve tea and water.
Guided by Song Yunxi, Chen Mo was soon led to the grain station’s private reception room.
Once the two were seated, the shopkeeper took the initiative to ask, "May I ask if Fellow Daoist Chen has any plans for the future?"
"The future?" Chen Mo pondered the words. "Just cultivating the land honestly, taking it one year at a time."
Song Yunxi smiled and shook his head. "With such great talent, how could you be like those ordinary Spirit Plant Cultivators?"
"Ordinary or not, I’m still a Spirit Plant Cultivator!"
"No, no, no. A Spirit Plant Cultivator is a Spirit Plant Cultivator, and a Breeder is a Breeder! Although both tend to Spirit Fields, there is a world of difference between their true natures."
Chen Mo easily caught the underlying meaning in his words. A Breeder capable of consistently producing seeds was incredibly valuable to a small Marketplace shop like Yi Er San Grain Station! The shopkeeper had personally stepped forward to host him, and his motive couldn’t be any clearer—he wanted to recruit him!
"Fellow Daoist Chen, if I may be so bold to ask, how many catties of Spirit Rice did it take you to produce these five catties of Spirit Seeds?"
"Two hundred catties." Chen Mo did not intentionally hide it.
Seeds were not like Spirit Rice. Five acres of land only required a catty and a half of Spirit Seeds. Having a surplus was of little use. What he needed most right now was Spiritual Sand, or even Spirit Stones! With Spiritual Sand and Spirit Stones, as long as he was willing to keep grinding away, both his Cultivation Realm and Magic Realm would continuously grow.
"A forty-to-one ratio?!" Song Yunxi exclaimed. "If that is the case, Fellow Daoist’s Qi Crossing Technique must have already reached Mastery, hasn’t it?"
Chen Mo nodded, neither confirming nor denying.
"For these five catties of Spirit Seeds, I will purchase them at this year’s rate of eight taels per catty. What do you say, Fellow Daoist Chen?"
Song Yunxi spoke with a refined and gentle tone, making one feel entirely at ease. The man didn’t seem much older than him, yet possessing such strength and bearing meant he was naturally no ordinary person!
Chen Mo had inquired during his last visit to Yi Er San Grain Station; eight taels was their selling price. Now they were offering it as their buying price. It was obvious they were taking a loss just to build a reputation. This was done, on one hand, to attract more Spirit Plant Cultivators to buy seeds from their grain station, and on the other hand, to entice Breeders like him to join their ranks.
"Alright!" Chen Mo nodded. Forty taels of Spiritual Sand was quite a substantial sum.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, I have a presumptuous request."
At this moment, Mei Hua had brought the tea, and Song Yunxi personally poured Chen Mo a full cup. Such treatment would be absolutely impossible for any other Spirit Plant Cultivator! It proved that the man’s earlier statement was completely correct: a Spirit Plant Cultivator was a Spirit Plant Cultivator, and a Breeder was a Breeder.
"Please go ahead, Shopkeeper Song."
"The grain station still has two hundred catties of Spirit Rice. I wonder if you could convert them into Spirit Seeds for me? I’ll pay you two taels for every catty of seeds you yield."
Out of two hundred catties of Spirit Rice, he could yield six catties of seeds. That calculated to a twelve-tael income. It was a guaranteed profit. However, Chen Mo was also keenly aware that the main reason the other party offered this price was to test his abilities—to see if he could truly achieve a forty-to-one seed yield ratio!
"I can do it, but it will take a day’s time," Chen Mo agreed.
Song Yunxi smiled and nodded. Right now, he was sparing no expense just to keep Chen Mo at the grain station and make him their exclusive Breeder. In the future, this would bring tremendous benefits to his business!
"This way please, Fellow Daoist Chen!"
Working as a shop assistant required one to be perceptive. Before the shopkeeper even had to ask, Mei Hua had already prepared a room and the Spirit Rice according to his intentions.
After leading Chen Mo into the room, Song Yunxi excused himself, leaving Mei Hua behind to act half as a host and half as an observer.
Over the course of a day, the two hundred catties of Spirit Rice were successfully converted into six catties of Spirit Seeds. During the process, he had also consumed nearly one tael of Spiritual Sand to replenish his Spiritual Qi.
Mei Hua stepped forward and weighed the yield on a scale. When he saw that the amount of Spirit Seeds was not five catties, but six, he was dumbfounded!
This wasn’t a forty-to-one ratio! This was closer to thirty-to-one!
"Fellow Daoist, please wait a moment, I’ll go call..."
"No need!" Song Yunxi, having kept track of the time, was already waiting outside. In the time it took to speak, he had already entered the room.
He took out a sachet and personally handed it to Chen Mo, saying, "Here are fifty-two taels of Spiritual Sand. Please accept it, Fellow Daoist."
Chen Mo shook his head and didn’t take it. Instead, he pulled out a similar sachet holding Spiritual Sand from his robes and poured some out onto the table.
"Here are forty-eight taels of Spiritual Sand. I wonder if Shopkeeper could exchange all of this for a Low Grade Spirit Stone?"
"A Low Grade Spirit Stone?" Song Yunxi couldn’t help but frown. "May I ask what Fellow Daoist intends to use it for?"
"Cultivation."
Spirit Stones were far too rare. Very few people in an ordinary Marketplace used them as currency, and even fewer would use them as a Cultivation resource!
It was true that cultivating with a Low Grade Spirit Stone would be much faster, perhaps nearly doubling the speed. However, even though one Low Grade Spirit Stone could be exchanged for one hundred taels of Spiritual Sand, the total Spiritual Qi contained within it was likely less than seventy percent of that amount!
Song Yunxi looked at Chen Mo, and for a moment, he found himself entirely unable to read the Spirit Plant Cultivator standing before him!