Chapter 70: Tea Tree

After class, Li Zhen visited the Going Beyond Swordplay Museum again to study ancient texts. He found a moment to practice Talisman Making as well.

He was spending less time practicing swordsmanship at the museum now, having made up for it with extra training at school. The additional practice at school had allowed him to adjust his study plan at the museum.

Through reading these texts, he was enriching his experiential knowledge.

Upon returning home, he immediately detected the aroma of spirit meat as soon as he entered. Nowadays, he could eat spirit meat every night.

Eating spirit meat daily might not show immediate benefits, but articles on the Cultivator Network suggested that consuming spirit meat over a long period could improve a cultivator’s physical attributes.

Certain special types of spirit meat could even enhance specific traits of a cultivator.

During dinner, Li Zhen pondered how to bring out some of the spirit rice.

However, by the end of the meal, he still hadn’t found the right moment to do so.

The truth was, he didn’t know how to explain the origin of the spirit rice. This was mid-grade first-stage spirit rice, which only a select few at the mid Qi Refining stage in Yunxi County were qualified to purchase and consume.

The reason behind this was that mid-grade first-stage spirit rice required both mid-grade first-stage spirit fields and mid-grade first-stage spiritual energy, resources unattainable by ordinary spirit farmers.

The Xian Nation had mastered the mass production of low-grade first rank spirit soil. However, the cost of producing higher-grade soil skyrocketed, making it far less economical compared to the low-grade variety. This was the primary reason why most spirit farmers opted for the latter.

Another significant hurdle was the stringent application process for mid-grade first rank spiritual energy. Yunxi County’s total spiritual energy supply was fixed, necessitating rigorous review of all applications to balance the county’s overall consumption.

The scarcity of mid-grade first rank spirit fields naturally led to a limited output of mid-grade first rank spirit rice.

More critically, the spirit rice in Li Zhen’s possession differed markedly from the varieties found in the Xian Nation.

In the end, he decided against selling the spirit rice directly and considered instead trading it for spirit stones at the market.

Despite his seemingly substantial collection of spirit stones, each journey between worlds required eighteen of them. No matter how many he amassed, it would never be enough.

He entered his cultivation room, absorbing the medicinal energy from the Dragon Heart Space.

After an hour’s practice, he returned to his bedroom.

Upon entering, he activated his spatial divine ability, vanishing from the Xian Nation and reappearing in another world.

After conducting his usual inspection and finding nothing unusual, Li Zhen emerged from the log cabin.

“Mr. Qian!” Li Zhen exclaimed, greeting the cultivator he spotted outside. Relief washed over him, realizing no mishap had befallen Mr. Qian.

“Li, my young friend, it seems luck has been on our side!” Mr. Qian replied with a smile.

“What about the others?” Li Zhen asked, concern etched in his voice.

“The nearby log cabins are all empty now!” Mr. Qian said, shaking his head.

Though he didn’t explicitly state what had happened to the others, it was clear: the empty cabins could only mean death or abandonment.

“Ah!” Li Zhen let out a heavy sigh.

“In time, a new batch of cultivators will arrive,” Mr. Qian said, his tone indifferent, as if speaking of a common occurrence. “These log cabins will soon have new occupants!”

“What about the market’s rules? Have there been any significant changes?” Li Zhen inquired.

No new rules had been announced yet, but Li Zhen feared future alterations. This world was his crucial resource hub; instability here would leave him feeling uneasy.

“The market’s rules can’t change,” Mr. Qian explained with a smile. “These rules aren’t actually set by the market managers, but by the sects above. The sects don’t care who manages the markets; if their rules are broken, the managers can expect punishment from the sects!”

Hearing this, Li Zhen was taken aback, but on further thought, it made sense. Despite the market gathering so many rogue cultivators, at the end of the day, it was just a part of the sects’ sphere of influence.

Many of the sects’ disciples were selected from the various markets, so the markets also formed one of the foundations of the sects’ power.

After bidding farewell to Mr. Qian, Li Zhen arrived at the spirit shop.

The spirit shop specialized in selling spirit plant-related resources. He came here to purchase spirit rice seeds.

As he looked at the spirit plants on display at the counter, he saw two types of spirit rice seeds - low-grade and mid-grade, along with a variety of other spirit seeds and seedlings.

The seedlings were placed within formation arrays, which helped preserve their spiritual energy as much as possible.

“What kind of spirit seedlings do you have?” Li Zhen asked the shopkeeper.

“To what spirit seedling are you referring?” Unexpectedly, the shopkeeper replied with a question.

“Do you have any high-grade first-rank spirit tea seeds?” Li Zhen asked, his curiosity piqued by the shopkeeper’s audacious claim.

The shopkeeper scrutinized Li Zhen, his gaze flitting across the longsword at Li Zhen’s waist before returning to his attire.

Li Zhen wasn’t wearing native clothing from this world; when he first arrived at the market, he had been clad in garments prepared by Gu Yun, Ten Directions Valley’s gatekeeper. Now, while his clothes matched the local style, they were made from the finer fabric of the Xian Nation.

This fabric, more tightly woven and dense than that of the current realm, betrayed its special origin to those with keen eyes. Moreover, Li Zhen exuded an exceptionally unique aura, distinctly different from ordinary rogue cultivators. Normally, a rogue cultivator would be deferential to a spirit plant shopkeeper, but Li Zhen radiated an innate sense of superiority.

“Do you have enough spirit stones?” the shopkeeper whispered, their conversation now private with no others in the store.

Li Zhen’s eyes narrowed slightly. If he was correct, this shopkeeper indeed possessed a first-rank high-grade spirit tea seed. “I assure you about the spirit stones. You do have the spirit tea seed, don’t you?” After a moment’s hesitation, he couldn’t bear to let this opportunity slip through his fingers.

Even if he revealed his background, it wasn’t like he had no backup.

“Let’s sign a confidentiality agreement first!” the shop owner said, taking out a contract paper.

Contract paper was a variant of talisman paper. Information accepted by both parties was written on it, and each party then left a spiritual imprint to activate it.

If either party violated the contract within a certain period, they would suffer the repercussions of the contract’s power.

This was a common method for maintaining secrecy in this world, though contract paper was quite expensive, costing around forty spirit stones per sheet.

The shop owner took out a contract paper. Aside from ensuring Li Zhen’s secrecy, he wanted to check if Li Zhen was serious. If Li Zhen didn’t have the means to honor the agreement, the shop owner wouldn’t waste contract paper, as doing so could bring trouble upon himself.

The shop owner wrote down the agreed terms on the contract paper. After reviewing it, Li Zhen left his spiritual imprint.

Li Zhen was very interested in contract paper. This technology wasn’t available in the Xian Nation; there, oaths were sworn instead, with no written contract to clearly outline the terms.

The shopkeeper invited Li Zhen into the inner room and presented him with a spirit tea.

“Top-grade spirit tea!” Li Zhen exclaimed, recognizing it from the scent alone.

He had once enjoyed first-order superior spirit tea at the principal’s office of Second High School, allowing him to identify it immediately.

“Please, have some!” The shopkeeper’s eyes gleamed slightly; Li Zhen’s reaction showed he was genuinely discerning.

Li Zhen picked up the spirit tea and took a dainty sip. This drinking manner confirmed to the shopkeeper that Li Zhen was indeed familiar with first-order superior spirit tea.

An inexperienced cultivator would likely gulp down their first taste of such rare tea in a single swig.

Having passed this subtle test, the shopkeeper finally produced a small pouch and placed it before Li Zhen.

Ordinary rogue cultivators wouldn’t have the privilege to enjoy first-order superior spirit tea, the shopkeeper mused. He now considered Li Zhen to be either a direct affiliate of a certain faction or perhaps a disciple from a prestigious sect—or at least someone with substantial resources.

“Let’s examine the goods first!” the shopkeeper waved his hand, gesturing for Li Zhen to proceed.

Li Zhen placed his hand on the pouch and focused his mind, entering its contents perceptively.

As soon as Li Zhen entered the bag, he knew this was no ordinary storage pouch, but a special space bag designed for storing spirit plants.

Within the spirit plant bag, he found a one-meter-tall spirit tea tree. Its aura indicated it was of first-tier high quality, with the tree’s roots wrapped in first-tier high-quality spiritual soil.

“Did you steal this?” Li Zhen asked the shopkeeper outright, looking up from the bag.

“Do not ask where it came from,” the shopkeeper replied mildly. “But now that you have this, do not grow it here in the market. If anyone finds out, I won’t acknowledge it!”

The contract paper bound both parties, ensuring that even after the transaction, Li Zhen would be gagged for at least a year from revealing the true source of the first-tier high-quality spirit tea tree.

At this point, Li Zhen was certain: this tree had indeed been plundered from somewhere in the market.

Recalling the recent chaos, he realized that any place capable of growing such a first-tier high-quality spirit tea tree was likely territory claimed by either the Iron Sword Gang or the Zhao Clan. This shopkeeper had pulled out a tooth from a tiger’s mouth, managing to snatch the spirit tea tree right from under the Golden Blade Gang’s nose.