by Fang Xiang
Zuo Mo asked her his question.
This female disciple brushed away the hair in front of her head and smiled: “Shixiong might not know but all the herbs in this yard belong to the sect. Other than a certain amount that can be withdrawn, all others need people to pay with jingshi. But the price is two tenths lower than the market price. Shixiong is a ling plant farmer. If you have ling plants and grasses, you can sell them to this yard. The purchase price of normal herbs are about two tenths lower than the market price but other than jingshi, Shixiong will receive contribution points to exchange for scriptures and other things. If it is rare and valuable ling herbs and grasses, our sect’s purchase price is the same as the market. In the future when Shixiong becomes accomplished at dan-making, the sect can help sell the dan that Shixiong makes. Our sect’s Yan Le Shishu is skilled at business and usually can sell them for a good price. He only takes two tenths as a commission. But like before, other than jingshi, Shixiong can receive contribution points.”
Finishing, she handed Zuo Mo a jade stick: “The price of ling grasses and herbs will change each month. Yan Le Shishu will order someone to make it into a jade stick. This is the inventory list of the prices for this month of ling herbs.”
Zuo Mo took it and gave his thanks.
“Shixiong doesn’t have to be too polite. Shimei is Xu Qing and the first seat of this yard’s outer sect disciples. In the future, Shixiong, please take care of me. If Shixiong has any questions, come find me. You can also find me if you need to purchase any materials.” Xu Qing said respectfully.
“Thanks, Shimei!” Zuo Mo said gratefully.
Taking the list, Zuo Mo went back to the dan room and studied the list. He calculated and found the cost of the raw materials for the fasting pill was about three pieces of second grade jingshi, and its price was only half a second grade jingshi over the cost of the materials. If the success rate was accounted for, there was basically no profit. As expected, it was basically impossible to rely on low level dan to make money. It really was just practise. But that was normal. If fasting pills were really that profitable, then countless people would be breaking their heads for a chance to learn how to make dan.
In the following days, Zuo Mo continued to make fasting pills. In the process, he had failed once, but as he became more familiar, it took a lot less effort.
Ten portions of materials, it made six fasting pills. This kind of result could only be called just passable. There was nothing that was worth being proud of. Other than leaving behind the five pills, the last one he sold to Xu Qing and received three pieces of second grade jingshi.
Adding on that he would have an allowance of twenty pieces of second grade jingshi, he finally wasn’t penniless.
In the ling fields of West Wind Valley, Zuo Mo carefully examined each stalk of ling herbs and grass. In the jade sticks of Elder Wei Nan, there had been detailed introductions of these herbs and the methods of cultivating them that he had found.
Like Snowy Foxtail Grass, it was snowy white and soft, named for its foxtail-like shape. It’s biggest use was to make a famous kind of paper [Snowy Fox Paper]. Snowy fox paper was soft and pure white, extremely well-suited for making paper seals. Paper was a kind of widespread material. Other than all kinds of paper cranes, it was an essential ingredient in making seal curses and seal soldiers.
But the cultivation of snowy foxtail grass wasn’t easy as its growth was slow. Especially for snowy foxtail grass which was above third grade. The price was never low. Only third grade snowy foxtail grass could be used to manufacture fourth grade snowy fox paper.
Elder Wei Nan had discovered a method for cultivating snowy foxtail grass. The most effective way was to plant it with butterfly grass.
Butterfly grass was an extremely common kind of ling grass. Only the most docile and hardy ling beasts would eat it. Basically, no one would plant it. But if butterfly grass and snowy foxtail grass were planted together, the growth speed of snowy foxtail grass would increase, and the blue-purple butterfly grass would become a rare sky blue.
This sky-blue butterfly grass was deeply favoured by all kinds of ling beasts, especially high grade ling beasts. The price wasn’t low.
Many times, Zuo Mo couldn’t help but be in awe of Elder Wei Nan who he had never met. In Elder Wei Nan’s jade sticks, there wasn’t any profound scriptures, but useful techniques like this one were countless. Like the method of growing butterfly grass and snowy foxtail grass together, he felt that even the most experienced and powerful ling plant farmers wouldn’t have thought of it.
Maybe, it was because Elder Wei Nan didn’t have very high cultivation so he would spend so much effort studying those things.
Every day, Zuo Mo would cast the spells of a ling plant farmer on the plants in the ling fields. The amount of work was much greater than he had imagined but he had endured. Over time, he had gotten used to it.
He kept on cultivating [Embryonic Breathing Spiritual Cultivation] each day in the rock room. In the past, he hadn’t know the many uses of spiritual energy and had more or less been inattentive. Now that he had seen the effects, he was much more focused. In a reversal of the past, he actually was not in a hurry to enter zhuji anymore. His spiritual power was much stronger than before but there was a lot of room for him to improve.
With the help of the ling vein, the progress of the ling energy in his body was faster than his estimations.
Zhuji wasn’t far away – he had a premonition.
Dong Fu, Dong Fu Hall.
Dong Fu Hall was the residence of the master of Dong Fu. It had been constructed for Dong Fu xianren and had been used since then. It took up the biggest secret paradise in Dong Fu and it was Dong Fu’s one true secret paradise. The so-called secret paradises that were sold on the market were only places with slightly more abundant ling energy and couldn’t be really considered a secret paradise.
Yu Bai slowly woke up from his meditation, satisfaction gleaming in his warm eyes. The density of ling energy in Dong Fu Hall was multiple times what it was outside. The fact that he could become the leader of the younger generation of Dong Fu was in large part due to this point.
The effects of his daily meditation was two or three times what other people had. After accumulating over the years, this kind of advantage would increasingly become greater.
“Master.” Seeing Master, he hurriedly stood.
“How have you been feeling recently?” Tian Song Zi asked as he smiled harmoniously. Tian Song Zi was wearing the robes of a Daoist, a knot on his head, extremely carefree.
“Relatively stable, but still far from becoming jindan.”
“No hurry, no hurry.” Tian Song Zi waved his hand: “You are still young, don’t rush. Becoming jindan is a process. Did you hear the news about the Sword Test Conference?”
Yu Bai paused: “Does Master want this disciple to attend the Sword Test Conference?”
Even though he had a shining reputation in Dong Fu, but he really have didn’t much confidence in attending the Sword Test Conference which was a large scale completion for the entire Kun Lun Jing. And from what he had seen, Master never really cared about worldly rewards, so why would he suddenly become interested in the Sword Test Conference
Tian Song Zi smiled, answering: “Wait for me to finish. The internal happenings of the Sword Test Conference are layered but we don’t have to touch that dirty water.” His expression became sever, his gaze worried and said solemnly: “I received news that two thirds of Bloody Sky Metropolis has already landed in the hands of yaomo.”
“Ah!” Yu Bai paled in shock: “How could that be so?”
“Yaomo are starting to recover their strength.” Tian Song Zi sighed: “Three thousand years have passed. Yaomo recuperated and have adapted. Would they be satisfied being suppressed?”
Yu Bai’s expression was incomparably bad. He knew what this meant.
“The situation in the future is hard to predict. My Dong Fu needs to prepare early.” Tian Song Zi said heavil
y: “I will host a Dong Fu Sword Test Conference in hopes of finding some potential talents. When the nest is being attacked, will there be unharmed eggs? I will tell the other sects. Right now, it has to be a united front in order to fight for a chance at survival.”
Yu Bai was silent. A beat later, he said: “I’m afraid Master will put in the effort but not be thanked.”
“Do within the limits, and depend on the heavens.” Tian Song Zi sighed and waved his hand: “Go and create a list of youths that should be taken note of.”
“Yes.” Yu Bai bowed and retreated with a worried expression.
Chapter 43: First Grade Lingdan
His cold-faced master seemed to have no intentions of wanting to come out of her dan room.
With jingshi on his hands, Zuo Mo decided to start working on his dan-making skills. At the very least, for basic dan like fasting pills, he shouldn’t have problems such as the efficiency rate. Buying the materials from Xu Qing Shimei, Zuo Mo started to furiously practice making fasting pills. His income and costs basically was even. The biggest question Zuo Mo faced was how to avoid failure. Failing once meant losing three pieces of second grade jingshi.
His level of familiarity had greatly increased. The time needed for the process shortened from the previous ten hours to six hours, but the cost was also enormous. His twenty something pieces of second grade jingshi had been completely squandered. It was all due caused by the failures. But thinking about the future, he could only grit his teeth and bear it.
This was the last portion of ingredients for the today. If he could successfully make it, he could just manage to return to Xu Qing Shimei the three pieces of second grade jingshi that he owed her. These days,as he had become familiar with Xu Qing Shimei, he could leave a tab as he brought materials daily.
Zuo Mo didn’t want to owe any debts. After making this fasting pill, he wanted to rest for a time and wait for the ling herbs in the ling fields to mature. Even though there was only a single portion, he wasn’t nervous. After the repeated high-intensity practice of the past days, he was now extremely familiar with the process of making fasting pills. He didn’t know if it was caused by the spiritual power, but his head seemed to be functioning better. He hadn’t been weak before, but it had felt like he was in the clouds and mists. Now, he seemed to have left behind those clouds.
Did cultivating [Embryonic Breathing Spiritual Cultivation] make someone smarter?
This idea was too nonsensical. Even Zuo Mo felt it was extremely absurd and threw it to one side.
Just like normal, Zuo Mo threw the different herbs into the cauldron and put his hands on the eight trigrams plate to start. The consciousness was especially sensitive to changes in ling energy. He occasionally was able to even feel the ling energy changes in the herbs inside the cauldron. Some became excited, some flashed and disappeared, some slowly became weaker… …
Even though he was very familiar with the fasting pill, but the kinds of ling energy transformations, and vibrations between the herbs still attracted his attention.
Unconsciously, his consciousness became muddled. It was like the hands that were controlling the eight trigrams plate suddenly were possessed and abruptly changed their position.
A thin string of gold light dropped from the sky and landed in his hands, then was deflected into the cauldron.
After a while, he slowly became clear headed again. When he saw the gold string, he stared in shock. How did he end up casting [Art of Crimson Flame]?
He shook. Damn it! Don’t ruin the dan! He still owed Xu Qing shimei three pieces of second grade jingshi. If this dan was ruined, then he really had outstanding debts.
His consciousness penetrated through the cauldron. A reaction had not occurred inside. Zuo Mo’s heart jumped and he hurriedly opened the cauldron.
A green dan was lying silently on the bottom. Zuo Mo released a breath. It looked as though that it hadn’t been ruined. He raised the fasting pill and prepared to put it in the pouch when he saw a glitter of gold light from the corner of his eye. He first blanked, and then rushed to hold this fasting pill on his hand in front of his eyes for a closer examination.
Only upon close examination did he find that this fasting pill was different than the fasting pills he had made previously. The color was deep green, not the blue-green. If he looked even more closely, he found that there were extremely thin gold patterns mixed inside. That was the cause of that gold light that Zuo Mo had detected just now. Also, the weight of it was slightly heavier than normal fasting pills.
Was this still a fasting pill? Zuo Mo wasn’t so sure.
Eating it to try it out, Zuo Mo didn’t dare. But he didn’t bear to throw it away. Selling it to Xu Qing Shimei, he was afraid of conning someone else. He knew that the transformation definitely was caused by the [Art of Crimson Flame] that he unconsciously cast when his thoughts had been wandering. Theoretically, [Art of Crimson Flame] was used to gather the essence of the sun. Its base attribute should lean towards fire and logically, the dan shouldn’t be harmful.
Pondering for a while, he still decided to keep this dan. After Master came out of the dan room, he would then ask her.
Master had entered the dan room over ten days ago yet the door to the room was still tightly shut. Sometimes, Zuo Mo couldn’t help but think, was all skilled dan cultivators like this?
He had finished his quota a long time ago, but Master didn’t show any signs of coming out of the dan room. Zuo Mo decided to work on his own cultivation. Under the present circumstances, he had reached his limits with the five spells of a ling plant farmer. To progress, he needed to have jade scrolls about future stages.
Other than practicing finger motions to avoid becoming out of practice, he spent the rest of his time on [Embryonic Breathing Spiritual Cultivation] and refining his sword essence.
He didn’t know if refining was the word commonly used but he felt that it was very descriptive. Right now, his sword essence had only formed. It was like a sword embryo that needed continuous hammering and grinding before it could become a true sword. Xin Yan Shishu’s sword essence was deeply engraved in his head. Under that sky-shattering sword essence, he had died countless times.
What he needed to do was to try to mimic Shishu’s sword essence. If he couldn’t get the aura, at the least, he had to form the appearance. Then he could frighten people with it.
He was resolute that unless it was necessary, he wouldn’t show it. Even Yu Bai could clearly see his origins. If it landed in the eyes of Master and the shishu, it would be strange if they weren’t suspicious. Xin Yan Shishu had never taught him. If they pressed, Pu Yao’s existence most likely couldn’t be hidden. Whenever he thought about Yin Xan Shishu’s icy gaze, Zuo Mo felt shivers go up his spine.
No matter the sect, stealing was a great crime.
Zuo Mo was very regretful now about having fought in Dong Fu. Who would have thought that Yu Bai’s eyes were so keen that he could see the origins of his sword essence?
But regret was useless now. In any case, it was dealing with it as it came, the barefoot wasn’t afraid of those wearing shoes. He actually put even more effort in practicing now.
He couldn’t use a flying sword. As a result, he could only work with [Art of Aged Gold]. He faithfully followed the basic sword scriptures that Wei Sheng Shixiong had left behind in the jade sticks. He hadn’t felt it before but after comprehending sword essence, Zuo Mo found that while these basic scriptures might be simple, but every one of them was important. So he turned back and started to practice these most basic scriptures.
Before this, Zuo Mo had never cultivated the sword and really could be considered a blank page in this area. After being sliced countless times by Pu Yao using Xin Yan Shishu’s sword essence, he finally comprehended something. But his fundamentals were really lacking and so even with his comprehension, it was not rooted. If he didn’t steady it, the comprehension would quickly be worn away.
Because of it, he was now turning back to cultiva
te the most basic of the basic sword scriptures.
These basic scriptures were all gathered from Wei Sheng’s experience of countless battles. They were practical and effective. Zuo Mo, who had a slight comprehension of sword essence, could look from a higher viewpoint to judge these basic scriptures and he learnt extremely quickly. These basic sword scriptures managed to help fill the gaps of Zuo Mo’s fundamentals.
In the Little West Wind Yard, Zuo Mo solitarily practiced those basic sword scriptures.
The sword scriptures were very simple. It could be learned on the first try. But it was like Zuo Mo was enchanted as he patiently practiced over and over.
Before meeting Pu Yao, before meeting Wei Sheng Shixiong, the spell he was most skilled with, [Little Art of Cloud and Rain], had been refined like this. He never hoped for any kind of enlightenment. In his mind, nothing was more practical than working at something bit by bit.
Behind the most beautiful and exquisite things, was the most dullness and loneliness.
He was very skilled with [Embryonic Breathing Spiritual Cultivation] and his ling energy was steadily increasing. In comparison, his spiritual power progressed much faster. He was like a cultivator in seclusion, each day was scheduled to the fullest, and no time was wasted.
What was worth celebrating was that the damned crazy woman hadn’t bothered him recently.
Time passed like this.
A sword energy fly out of the sky. Zuo Mo, who had been practicing sword scriptures in the yard, stopped. Master had come out.
Jumping onto the roof, climbing on to the back of the grey beaked goose, the grey beaked goose gave a clear call and flew up with spread wings. It carried Zuo Mo towards the Fragrant Ginger Yard.
Fragrant Ginger Yard.
There was tiredness on Shi Feng Rong’s face. The dan-making process had been more than a month and it had taken a heavy toll on her. When Zuo Mo arrived, Xu Qing was reporting to her what had happened in the yard during the time.