nyslfriends Chapter 24 The Awakening of Insects Has Arrived
Chapter 24 The Awakening of Insects Has Arrived
Fang turned back, and sure enough, it was Han Laoliu again.
He strode over casually, no longer using telepathy like last time, and said, "Kid, go back and tell the person behind you that the rogue cultivators who draw talismans are getting together to discuss selling them."
Fang Shi cupped his hands and asked, "Senior, what is it?"
Han Laoliu said, "It's nothing big, just agreeing on a price so everyone can sell accordingly. It's been a tradition for a while; we get together on the first and fifteenth of the month to set the price for the next ten days. The person behind you must be a newcomer; he'll be involved too."
Agreed-upon prices are an old tradition among independent cultivators.
Those who draw talismans, gather herbs, and sell talismans—the independent cultivators of various statuses would gather together every now and then to negotiate a roughly reasonable price.
Everyone sells at this price, without arguing or bidding against each other, and no one tries to lower anyone else's price.
In this way, independent cultivators who buy talismans will have a better understanding of the situation, so that the price won't drop the day after they buy it, and sellers won't keep lowering their prices, resulting in a situation where no one makes a profit in the end.
Although the constraints are limited, it's still better than a complete mess.
Fang Shi said, "Senior, the uses of mid-level first-tier cold-resistant talismans are ultimately too limited, and the market is only so big. There is a market for low-level first-tier protective talismans, but the price has been fixed for decades, one talisman per piece. What's there to discuss?"
Han Laoliu frowned and said, "What about the mid-level first-tier protective talisman? You can't decide that. Have the person behind you tell them. You're just a gofer; you can't make the decision."
Fang Shi opened his mouth, about to say, "Actually, I drew that talisman to keep warm," but Han Laoliu had already turned around and strode away without looking back.
……
Three days later.
Zhao Hu rents a house.
Fang Shi made a hand seal, and a wisp of pale blue light condensed at his fingertips, probing into the Spirit Locking Array like a gossamer thread.
In just a short while, the broken array pattern resumed operation.
[Spirit Locking Array Proficiency +1]
【Spirit Locking Array (Proficient): 13/200】
Fang Shi said, "Alright."
Zhao Hu grinned and said, "Brother Fang, your skills are getting better and better. You're faster and more steady than last time. Come, come, this is the Soul Shard."
He took out a fragment of spirit from his pocket and handed it over.
Fang Shi took it, put it in his pocket, and laughed, "Brother Zhao, you flatter me. It's just a matter of practice makes perfect. The problems with this Spirit Locking Array are just a few kinds. Once you've practiced it enough, you can figure it out even with your eyes closed."
Zhao Hu laughed and said, "Brother Fang is too modest. I don't think your skills are any worse than Li Daoyuan's."
Fang Shi smiled but didn't reply.
Even if he had Li Daoyuan's skills, he wouldn't be able to repair the formation perfectly—he would still leave some loopholes where necessary and loosen the key points of the formation where appropriate.
These are the rules of Qiyuan Town; as a rogue cultivator, he has no reason to break them.
He even planned that in another month or two, the spirit-locking array in his cultivation room would "break" again, and then he would ask Chen Santai to repair it, so that everyone could save face.
Zhao Hu added, "By the way, have you heard? Chen Santai's son, Chen Yuanjie, is said to have passed the entrance exam for the outer sect of Sanpan Temple."
Fang Shi was taken aback and said, "That powerful? I remember he only broke through to the Lesser Green Wood Skill about two months ago."
Zhao Hu said, "That's right. Ordinary students, even if they break through before the age of sixteen, only qualify for the assessment. They have to work hard for half a year to a year to be admitted to the Three Plates Temple as an outer disciple. But he was lucky; he was admitted in just two months."
Fang Shi exclaimed, "Impressive!"
Zhao Hu said, "I don't think it's the 'powerful' one, it's that Immortal Master Zhou who's powerful. Think about it, Chen Santai works for Zhou Yan, and his son entered the outer sect so smoothly. Can there not be some connections involved? Once he becomes Zhou Yan's man, a meteoric rise is practically guaranteed..."
He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence, a hint of embarrassment on his face, and said, "Brother Fang, I'm sorry, I forgot that you also participated in that assessment that day."
Fang Shi remained calm and said, "It's alright. There's nothing to say about being less skilled. Fellow Daoist Chen is indeed stronger than me, I admit that."
Hearing this, Zhao Hu became even more embarrassed and said repeatedly, "Brother Fang, I really didn't mean it that way, I just said it casually... Don't take it to heart. Here's what we'll do: I'll help you get more business in the future. I know a lot of people, and I'll introduce you to a few places later."
Fang Shi said, "I appreciate Brother Zhao's kindness. I will naturally accept regular customers, but there's no need for new ones."
Before Zhao Hu could say anything more, Fang Shi cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Brother Zhao, I'll head back now; I have other matters to attend to."
Zhao Hu had no choice but to see him to the door, muttering "I'm sorry" as he walked away. Fang Shi waved his hand and strode out of the alley.
……
In the private room of Zuixianlou.
Li Zhengyuan sat on the left, toying with an empty wine cup in his hand, a lukewarm smile on his face.
He turned to Qi Xueyi, who was in the center, and said, "Junior Sister Qi, it's not that I don't want to stop, it's just that Zhang Yuanqi won't let me go. He's just running his herbal medicine business, but he insists on interfering in my talisman business. I've had my shop in Pan Market for so long, and he just quietly set up his Jicaotang shop right across from mine. Isn't he deliberately making things difficult for me?"
Zhang Yuanqi on the right slammed his hand on the table, his voice suddenly rising, and said, "Bullshit! Do you think I didn't know you were tampering with things in Shangyuan Blessed Land? My batch of 'Neiyuan Pills' has been refined for seven days and seven nights, and the fire is already ninety percent complete, just needing the final gentle heat to finish it off. But you, instead, were fighting with someone else across the way, messing up the earth's spiritual energy. Once the fire was out of control, that batch of pills became complete waste! Seven days' worth of medicinal herbs, hundreds of herbs, all wasted! Li Zhengyuan, you still have the nerve to say I won't let you off the hook?"
Li Zhengyuan sneered, "What evidence do you have that I did it? Countless cultivators come and go from Shangyuan Blessed Land, why are you blaming me?"
Zhang Yuanqi said, "Besides you, who else would have the leisure to ruin my elixir?"
Li Zhengyuan said, "That's because you have many enemies, what does that have to do with me?"
Zhang Yuanqi was so angry his face turned red, and he was about to yell again when Qi Xueyi suddenly said, "Stop arguing!"
Both of them were startled and looked at her simultaneously.
Li Zhengyuan and Zhang Yuanqi exchanged a glance, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes.
Their conflict had absolutely nothing to do with Qi Xueyi.
She neither deals in talismans nor herbs, and she is not a backer for either side.
Today, she took the initiative to send someone to tell them that she wanted to invite them for drinks to mediate, which the two of them found completely baffling.
The mediation hasn't even reached a conclusion yet, and she's already gotten angry. That's even stranger. Based on past experience, it's already a miracle that Junior Sister Qi doesn't add fuel to the fire or gloat. Why would she take the initiative to mediate?
Li Zhengyuan reacted quickly, picked up the wine pot, poured a cup of Biling wine, and handed it over with both hands, saying, "Junior sister, come, have a drink to calm down. We were wrong to argue in front of you."
Qi Xueyi looked down at the glass of wine. The liquid was clear, with a slight amber glow, and the aroma was tangy and slightly bitter...
Snapped!
She swept the wine cup away, sending it flying and crashing into the wall, shattering into pieces. The wine dripped down the wallpaper like dark tear stains.
"I don't drink alcohol!"
Lee Jung-won's outstretched hand froze in mid-air, and the smile on his face also froze.
Zhang Yuanqi opened his mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.
Qi Xueyi's chest heaved a few times as she said, "In short, none of you are allowed to be so arrogant anymore. Nobody is allowed!"
After saying that, she pushed back her chair and walked out with a thud.
Li Zhengyuan and Zhang Yuanqi exchanged a glance, looking at each other in bewilderment.
……
[Food Consumption and Guarding Proficiency +1]
[Food Consumption and Guarding Proficiency +1]
[Eating and Maintaining Balance (Proficient): 100/100]
[Feeding and Guarding Level Up: Beginner → Proficient↑]
Fang Shi rolled out of bed and eagerly scooped out half a bowl of Biling rice and put it into the pot.
Once it was cooked, he ladled out a bowl, sat down at the table, and after completing the ceremony, he noticed the difference.
The spiritual energy dispersed much faster than before, entering the stomach, sliding into the intestines, spreading through the meridians, and flowing into the dantian in one smooth motion, unlike the sluggishness of the past.
Fang Shi took a few more bites, savoring the experience, and was secretly amazed.
He put down his chopsticks and began to ponder—
It turns out that the spiritual energy contained in this Jade Spirit Rice is very different from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth is free and unrestrained, and can combine with essence, energy and spirit to transform into magical power.
The spiritual energy in the food, however, is combined with the spiritual energy, already integrated into the grains of rice, becoming one with the essence of the grains.
Once combined, it is no longer so convenient to directly refine it into magical power. It must be processed by the spleen and stomach to extract its essence and remove its dross.
But there are advantages to combining them.
The spiritual energy in the food, once absorbed by the body, has a special effect—it can make the cultivator's body purer.
In other words, when cultivators eat food produced by spiritual plants, what they are actually consuming is the "vitality power" that the spiritual plants themselves condense after absorbing the free spiritual energy from heaven and earth and transforming it.
This magical power, when absorbed by the human body, is like repeatedly washing a coarse cloth with clean water; over time, it gradually washes away the dirt and sand from the cloth.
The rogue cultivators on the edge of the wilderness ate ordinary rice.
Where is the spiritual energy in that ordinary rice?
It's just enough to fill your stomach.
Over the years, the body accumulates impurities, and the meridians become like silted-up riverbeds, full of mud.
Even if those rogue cultivators were given the same spiritual energy, the same cultivation techniques, and the same level as Fang Shi, the speed at which the rogue cultivators transformed their magical power would be much slower than that of Fang Shi.
Just like a field that has long been hardened and dry, even the best seeds sown there will not sprout strong buds.
Fang Shi roughly calculated that by mastering the Food Absorption and Guarding Technique, the absorption efficiency had increased by a factor of 20%.
Don't underestimate 20%. If you consume it for half a year, your mana refining speed will increase by 10%—one year can become ten months.
He was overjoyed and glanced at the panel again—
【Xu Xing Shou Zhong (Beginner): 98/100】
Two more points until I'm proficient.
I wonder what surprises this ceremony will bring.
……
The next day.
Han Laoliu pushed open the door and entered the room, his face showing an expression as if he had seen a ghost.
Zhao Xuan was drinking tea at the table as usual. Seeing his expression, she frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"
Han Laoliu exclaimed, "This is terrible! Lingfuxuan and Jicaotang have lowered their prices!"
Zhao Xuan said, "Price reduction? How much has it been reduced that you're making such a fuss?"
Han Laoliu swallowed hard and said, "It's not the selling price, it's the purchase price—it's dropped from seven to four!"
Zhao Xuan's teacup wobbled, spilling tea and scalding his hand.
He, however, seemed oblivious, his eyes widening as he exclaimed, "Four? Yesterday it was seven, and today it's down to four? Who told you that?"
Han Laoliu said, "I saw it with my own eyes. The price tags on both stalls have been changed, written clearly in black and white."
Zhao Xuan asked, "Did both sides surrender at the same time?"
Han Laoliu said, "They all surrendered together. One family surrendered, and the other followed suit. No one was higher or lower than the other. It was as if they had planned it beforehand."
Zhao Xuan remained silent for a long while, then slowly placed the teacup on the table, let out a long sigh, and said, "After fighting for so many days, we finally couldn't hold on any longer. If we continue fighting, no one will gain anything. Four grains it is, it's better than nothing."
Han Laoliu gritted his teeth and didn't reply.
Zhao Xuan glanced at him and said, "What, you want to go and demand an explanation from them?"
Han Laoliu was silent for a moment, then suddenly said angrily, "It must be that kid at the second level of Qi Refining who's causing trouble. We were just about to discuss the price of the talisman when he turned around and leaked the news, instigating both sides to lower the price. Incompetent people like to do this kind of thing."
Zhao Xuan shook his head.
He knew that Han Laoliu was just holding a grudge and needed to find someone to blame.
Whether that kid has the ability to instigate Lingfuxuan and Jicaotang is completely irrelevant.
……
Fang Shi also knew that the price had been lowered.
He wasn't really bothered by it.
Whether it's seven or four grains, he never intended to live off this fleeting trend for the rest of his life.
Make money when you can, and stop when you can't; just go with the flow.
In the days that followed, the price of the winter talisman decreased day by day.
It turns out that the Frost Spirit Grass of the Cold Mist Ravine eventually comes to an end.
The grass is gone, the herb gatherers have dispersed, and the talismans for warding off the cold are no longer sought after.
Half a month later, Fang Shi passed by the north end and happened to meet Lin Zhong packing up his stall.
Lin Zhong looked up and saw it was him, and said, "Brother Fang, thank you for taking care of my business these days."
Fang Shi said, "You're just leaving like that?"
Lin Zhong dusted off his hands and said, "What else can we do but leave? If we run out of Frost Spirit Grass, who will we sell our talismans to? Our Spirit Talisman Pavilion is on the east side. You can go there to sell talismans from now on. We buy ordinary talismans year-round at fair prices, and we don't haggle."
"The talismans you've been selling these past few days have been consistently high quality, much better than those that look like they've been chewed by a dog. It's a pity that this business is gone."
Fang Shi said, "Okay. I'll come find you at the east end later."
Lin Zhong waved his hand and pushed the cart away.
Fang Shi stood there, watching the cart disappear around the street corner, before turning around and walking back.
It was already mid-January, and the cold was even more intense than in the twelfth lunar month.
The northern part was much quieter. Without the incident at Cold Mist Gorge, even the shouts and pedestrians were about 70-80% fewer.
The old locust tree by the roadside was bare, its branches stretching towards the gray sky.
Fang Shi touched the money pouch in his arms—458 coins.
This money is enough for him to cultivate with all his might for more than five months.
As for Wu Tong, that kid went to Cold Mist Ravine and never came back.
……
One and a half months.
Winter has passed and spring has arrived; in the blink of an eye, it's already the Awakening of Insects.
Fang Shi opened his eyes on the futon and glanced at the panel: [Xu Xing Shou Zhong (Beginner): 99/100].
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and let the chaotic thoughts recede like the tide.
The sea of consciousness gradually cleared, leaving only a faint spark of light flickering within.
After an unknown amount of time, a sudden flash of inspiration appeared—
[Xu Xing's proficiency in defending the center +1]
【Xu Xing Shou Zhong (Proficient): 100/100】
[Xu Xing's Guardian Level Up: Beginner → Proficient↑]