Chapter 40: The Plan to Earn Spirit Jade

  The entire Zhengning Platform consists of more than a dozen streets, and most of the shops on both sides of the street near the entrance are selling various things. Going south to the gathering source platform is a free trading venue. After taking Zuo Xiaoyao to visit several characteristic shops due to his own needs, Luo Hongtian took her directly to this trading venue.

  All the stalls in the trading venue were set up on the ground, and she found that the environment here was very similar to the antique trading market she had only been to once in S city. Looking at the bustling crowd in front of her, Zuo Xiaoyao couldn't help but joke: "This place is really lively, it seems that with more people, it's indeed a national characteristic that won't change due to differences in environment!"

  "Hah...hah, no way! If it weren't for the Jiutai Mountain Trade Fair about to take place, this place wouldn't have such a high turnout on normal days. And it wouldn't be open every day like this period of time either. Nor would it gather countless things from all over the world like this. Although it's not as good as the three days when the trade fair officially opens, it's still much better than usual! Take this bag of spiritual jade first and use it, if you find something you like, just buy it!"

  Hong Tian smiled and explained as he handed a grey cloth pouch the size of his palm to Zuo Xiao Yao, "This is a storage bag. As long as you apply spiritual energy, you can freely take out things from inside or put other things in."

  Although she was a little curious when she first saw the storage bag, Xue Xiaoyao didn't plan to take it and just smiled gently and shook her head. "Thank you for your kindness, Brother Luo, but I don't need this for now. I'm not familiar with these things, and I don't plan on buying anything at the moment. If I need something in the future, I'll ask you again."

  For Zuo Xiao Yao, accepting this bag of spiritual jade was different from letting him take care of her living expenses on the road. Her refusal made Luo Hong Tian pause for a moment before he seemed to understand something and couldn't help but laugh and tease, "Xiao Yao doesn't need to worry too much, consider these as me lending them to you, besides, that Open God Fruit of yours is still with me, I don't have to worry about you not paying me back!"

  Intentionally ending the topic, Zuo Xiao Yao still had a warm and smiling face, but her eyes were firm as she shook her head and said "I understand Brother Luo's meaning, it's just that for now I really don't need these things. The distribution of the Kai Shen Guo, I already discussed with Brother Luo at the time, only two will be distributed, let alone being able to get two, has already benefited from Brother Luo's influence, and doesn't have the qualifications to want more. So, the remaining few Kai Shen Guo are completely owned by Brother Luo, and have nothing to do with me. Let's go in and take a look around first, and then we'll talk about it later, and again thank you for your trouble, Brother Luo!"

  Although they haven't been together for a long time, Luo Hongtian has already discovered that Zuo Xiaoyao is a resolute person. Once she makes up her mind about something, it's very difficult to change her attitude easily. Knowing that continuing to persuade her would be useless, Luo Hongtian could only give up.

  After truly coming into contact with the Cultivation Realm, Zuo Xiao Yao's understanding of Cultivation common sense naturally underwent a change in both quantity and quality. Some things that Luo Hong Tian had previously mentioned, she could now see with her own eyes, giving her a more realistic and intuitive feeling. This taste was really complex, containing three parts curiosity towards new things, three parts excitement from learning about these things, two parts expectation for the future, one part inexplicable nervousness, and one part eagerness that shone through!

  The free trade fair covers an area of eight hundred square meters. Under the circumstances that Zuo Xiaoyao only asked and didn't buy, the two of them finished browsing in less than half a day. At dusk, after booking a room at a nearly full inn, they sat in a tea house's private room. Lu Hongtian finally couldn't help but ask: "What Xiao Yao is most concerned about seems to be the price of first-rate elixirs, and even asked about the rent for stalls in the trading market at the end. Are you planning to start refining and selling elixirs from now on? Do you have any plans?"

  "I didn't plan to hide it from you," Zuo Xiao Yao shook her head and replied frankly, "It's not that I'm planning to start refining pills now. My plan is to rent a stall tomorrow and sell some first-grade medicinal pills to earn some spirit jade. I still have some of these first-grade medicinal pills on hand, and if I can sell them all at the current market price for similar pills, it will definitely bring me a tidy sum and help me shake off my current poverty... Brother Luo doesn't need to worry, while you can support me with spirit jade, as cultivators, we must still prioritize self-reliance. If we become too dependent on others, it will surely be detrimental to our cultivation."

  As soon as she mentioned her own Lingyu plan, Zuo Xiaoyao's heart was filled with anticipation. She stopped Rong Hongtian from trying to persuade her, after all, the two of them were just friends who had only recently met. Emotions belonged to emotions, and benefits belonged to benefits - it was impossible for her to accept help from someone out of goodwill while also relying on that person to cover all her living expenses and cultivation costs for an extended period of time. This account had its own calculations in Zuo Xiaoyao's heart.

  Lingyu is just like money in the Cultivation Realm, and when it comes down to it, it's still more comfortable to earn and spend your own money!

  It was already known that she would refine the elixir, and to this plan, Lu Hongtian didn't feel surprised, only a little unexpected. She still had quite a few elixirs in her hand, previously at the trading conference, he hadn't heard her mention it. "I wonder what kind of elixirs Xiao Yao has on hand, can I take a look first?"

  Knowing that he wanted to use this opportunity to understand his own technical level, Zuo Xiao Yao did not decline and directly took out two labeled bottles from her backpack. "It's clear that Brother Luo is quite skilled at identifying the quality of Dan medicine, so please help me sign them first!"

  He casually picked up a jade bottle containing Jingchen Dan, and Hongtian's eyes flashed with surprise. "Xiao Yao's master is indeed an alchemist, not to mention the Jingchen Dan in this bottle, but this dan bottle made of top-grade jade is also extremely valuable. In my opinion, you'd better sell the medicine and keep the bottle, as it's hard to find such a good jade bottle on the market now."

  Because compared to other jade bottles on the shelves in Danfang, this pure white jade bottle gave her a relatively inferior feeling, and there were the most of them. However, no matter what, these jade bottles all came from the Danfang in the Purple Boundary Sky, they must have been used by the purple-robed woman in the past, and they were definitely not ordinary. For a moment, Zuo Xiaoyao couldn't help but feel a little regretful in her heart, but she smiled and nodded on the surface, "Thank you for pointing this out, Brother Luo, I didn't think of these things. To say that, these are all things left behind by my master, and they can't be sold casually. It's just that others' selling jade and getting pearls has become buying elixirs and getting bottles here, I don't know if the buyers will agree or not!"

  As he poured the elixir out of the jade bottle, Lu Hongtian chuckled and said, "This is no big deal. As long as the quality of the elixir is good, there's no need to worry about finding a buyer. The current market for elixirs is in extremely short supply, and most buyers have empty jade bottles on hand, but their main goal is still... Hmm! Good elixir! Xiao Yao's alchemy skills are truly exceptional. From the appearance and fragrance of this elixir, it has already reached mid-grade quality. I wonder what kind of effect this Jingchen Elixir will have? I've never heard of it before!"

  A few grains of Dan medicine with a clear and moist color were poured out, and Hong Tian smelled them before repeatedly praising them. He then set up a soundproof seal around the two of them.

  He received his praise and was so heavy, although he was delighted in his heart, Zuo Xiao Yao said, "Brother Luo is overpraising, the greatest effect of this Qing Chen Dan is to remove impurities from the body. I started taking this pill when I entered the Nascent Soul stage, and the effect was not bad. However, since my cultivation advanced to the Merging Liquid stage, the effect of taking this pill has been very limited. Therefore, I am not sure if this pill will be effective for fellow cultivators above the Merging Liquid stage. However, it may also have something to do with me having taken too much of it already. Brother Luo, if you don't mind, you can take this bottle and try it out!"

  What Zuo Xiaoyao didn't say was that even with her current cultivation base, after taking the water from the pond in the Purple Boundary Realm's empty space and refining it into a top-grade Pure Dust Pill, it would still be effective. However, without using that water, although the success rate of pill refinement was high enough, she could only occasionally refine a high-grade Pure Dust Pill, and most were just medium-grade.

  PS: Thanks for the support from Hear the Wind and Sweep the Snow, the second update will be posted around 6 o'clock!