Chapter 120
Chapter 120
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: A Bountiful Harvest
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Chen Jianghe stepped out of his room and into the courtyard. Beneath the lotus leaves in the pond, both Xiao Hei and Maoqiu were cultivating.
Processing the hides and fur of demon beasts was a very time-consuming task.
The flesh, organs, and marrow could only be eaten after the hides were fully cleaned.
Therefore, Maoqiu's cultivation time was mostly limited to the last two months of the year.
As for Xiao Hei, who devoured spirit cores, he didn't need to refine them deliberately. They would be gradually absorbed as he cultivated the Three Revolutions Demon Ascension Art.
Chen Jianghe didn't disturb Xiao Hei and Maoqiu. He first inspected the processed beast hides and the spirit blood.
These two were the most valuable parts of the demon beasts.
The two Flame Fox hides were processed reasonably well, barely meeting the Beast Emporium's standards for purchase.
This time, he expected they would fetch a good price.
He then checked the spirit blood casks. There were thirty-two in total. Opening one for a look, he saw the blood was processed to a high purity, with almost no impurities visible.
"Master, let's wait a couple more days before heading out."
At that moment, Xiao Hei's voice echoed in Chen Jianghe's mind, prompting him to ask with some confusion.
"What's wrong?"
"Maoqiu just started devouring the flesh and marrow. He'll need another two or three days to fully refine it."
"Alright, we'll wait for Maoqiu to finish his cultivation then."
Chen Jianghe looked into the pond. Maoqiu's aura was steadily growing stronger. It probably wouldn't be long before he broke through to the late stage of the first tier.
When that happened, he would have two late-stage first-tier spirit pets.
Given the combat prowess of spirit beasts, even if Maoqiu had just broken through, his strength would be no less than that of an eighth-level Qi Refining cultivator.
If he had a specially crafted offensive magical artifact, Maoqiu's combat power might even rival that of a ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator.
"Xiao Hei, how much longer do you think it will take for Maoqiu to reach the late stage of the first tier?" Chen Jianghe asked.
"Devouring the flesh and spirit cores of two mid-stage first-tier demon beasts, plus the flesh of two late-stage first-tier demon beasts each year, it should be very soon."
"About two years, three at the most."
Xiao Hei's voice carried a hint of helplessness as he sent the telepathic message. "It's just that once Maoqiu breaks through to the late stage, the pressure on you will increase again."
"Uh, it's fine. I'll just work a little harder and draw a few more spirit talismans."
Chen Jianghe was a bit taken aback by Xiao Hei's sudden show of concern, but after a moment, his heart filled with warmth.
Xiao Hei was growing up.
He was even starting to worry about him.
In truth, even if Maoqiu broke through to the late stage, Chen Jianghe could still afford to support them.
Over the past four months, his success rate for crafting mid-grade protection talismans had finally reached forty percent.
His talisman crafting skills had improved significantly.
This year, he could try crafting mid-grade five-element escape talismans. As long as he could get the success rate for those up to forty percent...
Then, supporting Xiao Hei and Maoqiu would be absolutely no problem.
And it wouldn't delay his future body tempering progress either.
Furthermore, as his cultivation level increased and his spiritual power became purer, his speed at drawing talismans had also improved.
The purer the spiritual power, the greater its stability.
This not only increased the efficiency of talisman crafting but also boosted the success rate to a certain extent.
Last year, he had crafted a total of forty-two mid-grade protection talismans, six more than the year before. A large part of this was due to the benefits of his increased cultivation.
Of course, the Myriad Waters True Scripture deserved the most credit.
It boosted his spiritual power by thirty percent.
It was just a shame that the unique properties of his spiritual power couldn't be applied to talisman crafting. Otherwise, an extra twenty percent success rate would be incredible.
He dismissed the fanciful thought.
He returned to his room to continue crafting talismans.
His dantian's sea of qi was currently full of spiritual power, enough to craft talismans five more times. In two or three days, he could produce two more.
Each one was worth spirit stones.
Time could not be wasted.
Three more days passed.
On the ninth day of the new year, Xiao Hei sent a message saying that Maoqiu had finished cultivating. They could now go out and sell the demon beast parts.
In those three days, he had produced two more mid-grade protection talismans, but his spiritual power was down to thirty percent.
And that was after nearly a full day of recovery from circulating the Myriad Waters True Scripture and absorbing spiritual qi.
Crafting talismans was extremely draining on one's spiritual power.
Without the aid of Qi recovery pills, recovery by simply absorbing spiritual qi was very slow.
But taking Qi recovery pills would undoubtedly increase the cost of crafting talismans.
Chen Jianghe recalled Xiao Hei and Maoqiu into the spirit beast space, then put the Flame Fox parts into his storage pouch and headed for the Beast Emporium.
Fortunately, Flame Foxes weren't very large. Otherwise, his storage pouch wouldn't have been able to hold everything, and he would have had to make two trips.
However, the fur of a Flame Fox was quite valuable.
The assistant at the Beast Emporium inspected the Flame Fox parts and then said respectfully, "The spirit blood is pure. At our purchase price, it's ten grains of spirit sand per cask. Senior has brought a total of thirty-two casks, so that comes to three spirit stones and twenty grains of spirit sand."
"The purchase price for a Flame Fox hide is six spirit stones each, but the ones Senior brought have some minor flaws in their processing, so we can only offer five spirit stones. For two hides, that's ten spirit stones."
"The claws and teeth of the Flame Fox aren't very useful, but we can give you one spirit stone for them."
"In total, that's fourteen spirit stones and twenty grains of spirit sand."
Chen Jianghe didn't immediately take the spirit stones offered by the assistant. His heart was filled with delight. He then asked for fifty more blood casks before leaving the Beast Emporium.
Although he still had some casks at home, it was better to stock up so he wouldn't have to make another trip for a year.
Fourteen spirit stones and twenty grains of spirit sand, minus the fifty grains spent on fifty casks.
Today's profit was thirteen spirit stones and seventy grains of spirit sand.
It might not seem like much, but this was earned by Xiao Hei and Maoqiu. It was already a rare achievement, and he was very satisfied.
Adding the one spirit stone and eighty-five grains of spirit sand from last time, Xiao Hei and Maoqiu had earned a total of fifteen spirit stones and fifty-five grains of spirit sand last year.
Well...
The sixty-two spirit stones in costs were on him.
After returning home, he didn't let Xiao Hei and Maoqiu out. He stored the casks in the utility room and went back to his room to recover his spiritual power.
He was waiting for Ruan Tieniu to visit.
Normally, Ruan Tieniu should have visited by now.
In previous years, their transaction was always completed before the ninth day of the new year. Today was already the ninth.
However, Chen Jianghe wasn't in a hurry for a day or two.
Three days passed, and Chen Jianghe's spiritual power was fully restored, but Ruan Tieniu still hadn't shown up.
He had no choice but to first head to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion to purchase the resources he needed for cultivation.
He wasn't in a rush to buy talisman crafting materials.
He had bought plenty before. He still had sixty-five portions of spirit blood pigskin and two full boxes of spirit ink.
His wolf-hair talisman brush, however, was showing some wear.
It could probably be used another three hundred times or so, which was enough for the next two years. He would buy a new one after it was completely worn out.
Arriving at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, he first spent forty spirit stones on two True Spirit Pills.
Then, he went up to the third floor.
He planned to buy a more comprehensive magazine.
The "Yun Clan Magazine" was starting to feel incomplete for his current needs. It didn't even have an entry for the Purple Glow Vermilion Fruit.
Clearly, its content was no longer sufficient.
Chen Jianghe browsed the magazine section and ultimately chose the "Qinghe Magazine." It was written by the Core Formation expert, the Venerable Qinghe.
Furthermore, it had been refined over hundreds of years by the family backing Qinghe Market City, so it should be quite comprehensive.
He paid two spirit stones and left the Hundred Treasures Pavilion.
Without lingering outside, he headed straight back to his small courtyard.
As he reached his gate, he walked a couple of steps past it to glance at Ruan Tieniu's courtyard door. A sign hung there, reading 'Away'.
He probably hadn't returned from the Wandering Immortal Mountain Range yet.
Or perhaps...
"Could Ruan Tieniu not be coming back at all?"
A sudden thought struck Chen Jianghe. The Wandering Immortal Mountain Range was home to many second-tier demon beasts.
There were even third-tier demon beasts in its depths.
Even Foundation Establishment cultivators risked their lives by venturing deep inside, let alone Qi Refining cultivators.
Although Ruan Tieniu and his group stuck to the outer regions of the mountain range, what if a second-tier demon beast happened to wander into the periphery?
That would be a disaster from the heavens. Once targeted, those Qi Refining beast hunters would have no chance of escape.
He shook his head, pushing aside such grim thoughts.
He returned to his courtyard, leaving the 'In Seclusion' sign off the gate. He then took a True Spirit Pill and began to cultivate.
Afterward, he continued to craft talismans.
He was still making mid-grade protection talismans. He had originally planned to start on mid-grade five-element escape talismans, but his transaction with Ruan Tieniu was still pending.
He couldn't hang the 'In Seclusion' sign on his gate.
If someone knocked on the door, it would disturb his talisman crafting.
It didn't matter so much with mid-grade protection talismans. His success rate was decent, so he wouldn't be affected by such a minor disturbance.
But crafting mid-grade five-element escape talismans was a different story.
He had never made them before and had no established success rate to speak of.
Unconsciously, two months passed.
As he finished his last stroke, a spiritual light flashed across the spirit blood pigskin. A mid-grade protection talisman was complete.
In these two months, Chen Jianghe had used nineteen portions of spirit blood pigskin and successfully crafted eight mid-grade protection talismans.
His success rate had stabilized at forty percent.
"Where are the demon beasts?"
"Why haven't they been delivered yet? This is causing such a delay!"
"Maoqiu's and my cultivation is a small matter, but the real issue is that we can't earn spirit stones. This will hurt Maoqiu's motivation."
"Chirp chirp~" (I don't mind.)
Thump thump~
"Chirp chirp~" (Yes, yes, we're all very anxious.)
Xiao Hei's telepathic voice sounded in Chen Jianghe's mind. A light flickered on the spirit beast ring, carrying Maoqiu's sentiment as well.
He was also puzzled.
Why hadn't Ruan Tieniu come yet?
Two months had already passed. It shouldn't take this long.
Ruan Tieniu had mentioned before that with the pills from Alchemist Zhuang, a trip to the Wandering Immortal Mountain Range now only took him a little over two months.
More than two months had passed, and it was highly unlikely that Ruan Tieniu would have timed his trip to the mountain range to coincide exactly with their transaction date.
"Could he have really perished in the Wandering Immortal Mountain Range?"
Every year, dozens of beast hunters from Qinghe Market City died in the Wandering Immortal Mountain Range, including some at the ninth level of Qi Refining.
So, it wouldn't be strange at all if Ruan Tieniu had met his end there.
Chen Jianghe wasn't concerned about Ruan Tieniu's death.
What he cared about was that his talismans had lost their sales channel.
The price difference between selling to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion and selling directly to a beast hunting team was significant. After tasting the sweetness of selling to a hunting team, how could he accept going back to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion?
He was the type to pinch every grain of spirit sand.
The difference was more than ten spirit stones; he couldn't bear it.
"Don't worry, let's wait a little longer."
Chen Jianghe soothed his two eager-to-work spirit beasts.
Another three months passed.
The number of mid-grade protection talismans Chen Jianghe had accumulated reached sixty-four. He was left with only sixteen portions of spirit blood pigskin.
He also had only half a box of spirit ink left.
"Don't tell me that Ruan Tieniu really died in the Wandering Immortal Mountain Range?"
Chen Jianghe could afford to wait a bit longer, but Xiao Hei and Maoqiu couldn't. They had already wasted nearly half a year.
They were getting extremely restless.
Moreover, he absolutely had to buy more black pigskin and spirit ink.
He currently had seventy-eight spirit stones and sixty grains of spirit sand. It was enough to buy the black pigskin and spirit ink.
It was also enough for Xiao Hei and Maoqiu's cultivation resources.
But the key was, it was such a loss!
*Knock—knock knock!*
Just as Chen Jianghe was hesitating about whether to head to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion to first buy resources for Xiao Hei and Maoqiu...
The door knocker sounded.
Chen Jianghe walked out of his room, recalled the disgruntled-looking Xiao Hei and the well-behaved Maoqiu into the spirit beast space.
Only then did he open the courtyard gate.
Standing outside was none other than Ruan Tieniu, but his face was etched with sorrow.
"My apologies for making you wait, Brother Chen. I'll go sell the talismans for you right away."
Ruan Tieniu forced a smile and spoke apologetically.
He handed his storage pouch to Chen Jianghe. Inside were still four demon beasts.
But the storage pouch's capacity had increased.
It was now three cubic meters in size. It was clear that Ruan Tieniu had replaced his storage pouch.
This puzzled Chen Jianghe. How could a beast hunter like Ruan Tieniu have the extra spirit stones to upgrade his storage pouch?
A three-cubic-meter storage pouch was worth three hundred spirit stones, and the price could even inflate with market demand.
That was no small sum.
However, Chen Jianghe didn't press the matter, nor did he ask what had happened to Ruan Tieniu.
They weren't close friends.
Even if he learned of some misfortune, he wouldn't offer help, so what was the point of asking?
It would only be annoying.
Still, it was good that Ruan Tieniu had upgraded his storage pouch. Chen Jianghe had a lot of talismans to sell this time.
Otherwise, the value of the demon beasts in the old storage pouch wouldn't have been enough to cover the value of the talismans.
He then took out sixty-four mid-grade protection talismans and handed them to Ruan Tieniu, which made the latter's eyes widen in surprise.
But then he remembered how long he had delayed, and his surprise faded.
He wasn't afraid of Chen Jianghe crafting too many talismans. There were nearly a hundred beast hunting teams in Qinghe Market City, and he was on good terms with several of them.
Never mind sixty-odd mid-grade protection talismans; he could turn even one hundred and sixty into spirit stones.
It would just take a bit more time.
"Brother Chen, after I've sold the talismans, could we perhaps meet at the Qingping Teahouse?"
"I have a matter to discuss with you, which might be a fortuitous opportunity for us both."
Ruan Tieniu said.
Although he spoke of good things, his eyes were filled with sorrow. Three of his brothers from the hunting team had died during the recent beast unrest in the outer regions of the Wandering Immortal Mountain Range.
Chen Jianghe nodded.
He also wanted to know why Ruan Tieniu had sought out Alchemist Zhuang, and why he had mentioned him.
And in the end, he never told Alchemist Zhuang what he wanted.
Now, the man had come to him, speaking of a matter to discuss, and calling it an opportunity.
Chen Jianghe had no reason to refuse.