Chapter 49: Capsizing the Little Boat

Shopkeeper Fang’s real name was Fang Weixing. He had worked as a shopkeeper in the grain business for many years. Lan City was the largest city on Beisheng Continent, and Cloud-Ascent Street was the most prosperous place in Lan City. The five grains eaten by mortals were not qualified to be placed in shops on Cloud-Ascent Street, so naturally, the grain shop Shopkeeper Fang worked at sold only spiritual food.

In the past, all the spiritual rice, spiritual millet, and so on that Yu Xiu Pavilion needed to make pastries had also been purchased from this grain shop.

Shopkeeper Fang was usually low-key and simply dressed. He was never seen showing off or flaunting his wealth. Yet if one were to rank who in Lan City currently had the most spirit stones, this Qi Refining mortal, Shopkeeper Fang, would probably make it into the top ten.

The reason lay in the secret purchasing channel he controlled.

For example, a bag of Moonlit Cotton seeds containing one hundred seeds usually fluctuated between nine and twelve spirit stones on the market, while the purchase price was around four or five spirit stones. But through Shopkeeper Fang’s secret channel, the purchase price for a bag of seeds could be pressed down to two spirit stones. In other words, on each round of buying and selling, he earned at least half the price difference.

There was nothing wrong with the grain shop’s accounts, but by relying on this one point, he had siphoned away half of the grain shop’s capital. Sometimes, when he encountered private orders, he did not run them through the grain shop’s official accounts and could earn even more profit.

Shopkeeper Fang had been doing this for many years. He believed he was careful and cautious, patiently erasing his traces every time he went back and forth. He had never expected that one day, a fresh-faced unfamiliar cultivator would expose him with a single sentence!

In his heart, Shopkeeper Fang had already cursed Shopkeeper Hu bloody. The fake smile he usually used for business negotiations could no longer be maintained. His back hunched slightly, and the fingers hanging at his sides trembled nonstop. He lowered his head and said respectfully, “This lowly one awaits Immortal Master’s instructions.”

By this time, Chi Yixuan had already swept clean the pastries on the table.

After all, spiritual food was different from mortal food. Once eaten, it did not pile up in the stomach and slowly digest. Instead, it quickly transformed into spiritual qi in the stomach and circulated through the whole body. Besides, a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s digestive ability was even stronger. A jin of spiritual food went into his stomach, and before he could even savor it carefully, more than half had already been digested.

For a foodie like Chi Yixuan, this was simply fantastic. If not for financial limitations, he could absolutely eat for an entire day while working!

The snacks he had brought back last time had been the same. Under the control of spiritual power, those delicious foods had lined up and jumped into his mouth one after another. Before he knew it, he had eaten them all.

Since he was in the middle of discussing business, Chi Yixuan felt he could indulge slightly and eat a little more. Just as he was about to call for the waiter to bring another three jin of snacks, he was stopped by the life-bound artifact.

[Your Majesty, your snack quota for today has already dropped to zero.]

Chi Yixuan was shocked. “What snack quota? There’s such a thing?”

The life-bound artifact’s tone was helpless. [The spiritual vein you planted in Zhaoge has not yet reached the mystic grade. At present, it can only produce one thousand spirit stones each month. Out of those one thousand spirit stones, part must be set aside for wages, part must be used to purchase goods Zhaoge needs, and the rest must be saved for emergencies. Only a mere fifty stones are left for Your Majesty to buy spiritual food.]

[Of course, Your Majesty may also spend all fifty today. For the remaining twenty-nine days of this month, you will spend day and night facing fasting pills.]

The taste of spiritual food had not yet faded from his mouth when Chi Yixuan inevitably recalled the flavor of fasting pills. After comparing them with spiritual food, he realized that the blandness of fasting pills had become even harder for him to tolerate.

Chi Yixuan struggled for a moment, then quickly made a decision. “Fine. From now on, you’ll be responsible for supervising me. If I ever exceed my spiritual food limit, remind me.” As he spoke, he began to grow sorrowful. “Just why have I fallen to such a state, where I can’t even fill my stomach? A cultivator, and yet even eating one’s fill has become a luxury…”

Life-bound artifact: [Although this may be somewhat offensive, I believe no other cultivator eats twenty jin of spiritual food in one day.]

Chi Yixuan: …

Chi Yixuan’s silence fell in Shopkeeper Fang’s eyes as dissatisfaction with him. That was how it was for the weak. Even if the strong did nothing at all, merely responding a little slowly was enough to make them anxious and unable to sit still.

In an instant, Shopkeeper Fang imagined all sorts of terrible possibilities. A slightly better outcome would be that this cultivator seized his channel. A worse one would be that the other party exposed everything he had done all these years to the immortal gate behind the grain shop. He and even his family would all be executed by the immortal gate!

Wait. Could this person have been sent by the immortal gate to investigate him? Had the immortal gate long since noticed his dealings over the years?

In that instant, Shopkeeper Fang’s face turned as white as paper.

“What are you afraid of?”

Just then, the unfamiliar cultivator finally spoke to him. He was tapping the tabletop idly with his fingers, and each dull knock overlapped with every word he uttered.

“I don’t only need Moonlit Cotton. I also need all sorts of spiritual rice, spiritual millet, and spiritual wheat seeds. Bring me some other vegetable and fruit seeds too. The more varied the types, the better.”

As Shopkeeper Fang listened, he realized the other party seemed to have truly come to discuss business. He gradually calmed down, though his attitude remained deferential, and he did not dare show the slightest neglect. Once the other party finished speaking, he immediately calculated the account, even took the initiative to wipe off the odd amount, forced out a smile, and asked, “With this many items, I still need to go back and take inventory. May I know where Your Immortal Master’s cave dwelling is located, so this lowly one may deliver them to you?”

Chi Yixuan waved a hand. “My cave dwelling is very far from here. Just prepare the goods and bring them over. I’ll receive them here tomorrow.” As he spoke, his fingers moved. He took a stalk of spiritual herb from his backpack slot. The instant the spiritual herb appeared, a clear, cold fragrance immediately began to spread, but in the next moment, Chi Yixuan controlled it well within a few steps around them. Not the slightest bit leaked out.

When Shopkeeper Fang saw this spiritual herb, his breathing thickened, and his eyes went slightly fixed. No wonder he lost his composure. This spiritual herb before him was called Bitter Cold Star. It was a mystic-grade spiritual herb and a main ingredient of the Foundation Establishment Pill.

People on Easternmost Continent only knew that if one wanted Foundation Establishment, one had to cultivate diligently, and when one’s opportunity arrived, one would naturally establish a foundation. But the people of the immortal continents had somewhat broader knowledge. They had long known that if comprehension was insufficient, pills could make up for it. Thus, many people who were unable to reach Foundation Establishment even after a long delay would seek the help of Foundation Establishment Pills.

However, spiritual pills were hard to obtain, let alone a nearly heaven-defying spiritual medicine like the Foundation Establishment Pill. It had always been controlled by Worryfree Sect, the foremost of the Three Great Sects. On the market, a single Foundation Establishment Pill was almost equivalent to an astronomical price, and it was not something one could buy simply by having many spirit stones. Without a Heaven-sent opportunity, someone like Shopkeeper Fang would never touch the edge of a Foundation Establishment Pill in his entire life.

Yet now, an opportunity for a Foundation Establishment Pill was right before his eyes. Although it was only the main ingredient, once he had the main ingredient, he could gather the other materials and find an alchemist to refine it. Then it would be something Shopkeeper Fang could obtain if he stood on tiptoe.

He, Fang Weixing, could finally touch the threshold of Foundation Establishment!

Looking at the spiritual herb handed to him, Shopkeeper Fang wanted to raise his head and howl at the sky. In reality, however, all his excitement was locked inside his reddened eyes. Before he knew it, both fists had clenched into tight balls. Shopkeeper Fang’s voice was so hoarse that even he himself was startled. “What… what do you mean by this?”

He shifted his gaze to that cultivator, but the corner of his eye remained fixed on the spiritual herb.

If one did not reach Foundation Establishment for a single day, one would remain mortal flesh and blood for life. Even mortal emperors could not resist the temptation of transcending the ordinary. Fang Weixing, a mere common man, naturally could not resist either.

That cultivator’s expression, however, was extremely calm, as if this valuable spiritual medicine were merely roadside weeds. “It’s for you,” he said. “The price you calculated just now was thirty percent lower than what I should have paid.” Not only thirty percent lower, he had even wiped off the odd amount. “I don’t take advantage of you. Besides, since I need you to supply me long-term at a low price, I ought to give you something to win you over. Take it. In the future, once you have the power to protect yourself, you can open a shop of your own and won’t need to keep sneaking around.”

Shopkeeper Fang’s expression shook. He still did not dare believe such a good thing existed in this world, but his hands were already steadily supporting the spiritual herb. As if afraid the other party might regret it, he hid it inside the clothes over his chest.

That cultivator bought some spiritual food pastries, settled the bill, and left. Shopkeeper Hu watched from afar as Shopkeeper Fang attentively escorted the man a long way out. He could not help going over to warn him, “How much did you earn today to be this happy?”

“Am I?” Fang Weixing pressed down the corner of his mouth and touched the stubble that had grown out again. He said vaguely, “I suppose I made a huge profit!”

Shopkeeper Hu immediately frowned. He carefully glanced around before lowering his voice. “You’d better rein it in. That one isn’t stupid. If he figures it out one day, won’t he skin you alive?”

Shopkeeper Fang nodded along, “Mm, mm, mm,” then swiftly left.

Chi Yixuan continued traveling through Beisheng Continent in search of business opportunities. During this time, the life-bound artifact kept its scouting mode on, filtering all information within three hundred li around them, then providing it to Chi Yixuan according to his needs. For example, where some good spiritual herbs were hidden, or where there was a magic artifact that could be used with a bit of repair.

The spiritual herb he had just given out had been obtained that way.

[Your Majesty, three hundred paces away, if you push aside the weeds, there is an ownerless storage bag.]

Chi Yixuan excitedly ran over and pushed aside the man-high weeds, only to find the storage bag’s owner—a battered skeleton—staring at him.

Chi Yixuan: …

He happily picked up the storage bag, found a place where the original owner could see the morning sun and buried them there, then began opening his package even more happily.

After quietly unpacking for a while, Chi Yixuan suddenly realized the life-bound artifact was being too silent. After all, at times like this in the past, it would always comment on the harvest. Sometimes it was even slightly sharp-tongued. For example, when the harvest was too poor, it would even suggest digging the original owner back up and interrogating them, an absurd operation.

“Why are you so quiet?”

Life-bound artifact: [I am pondering Your Majesty’s intention in giving the spiritual herb to Shopkeeper Fang just now. I carefully called up the scene replay from that time and discovered that Shopkeeper Fang is neither a worthy talent nor a beauty, nor does he have the ability to take revenge on Your Majesty.]

Here it came again. Here it came again.

Chi Yixuan had discovered that the life-bound artifact’s thinking was extremely simple, and also very characteristic of the Longevity Realm. Sometimes it even left him between laughter and tears.

Forget it. In the end, it was his own life-bound artifact.

Chi Yixuan explained, “Shopkeeper Fang’s channel can’t be reached by the portal.” The portal was not able to go just anywhere. It could not open a door in places where restrictions or barriers had been set up.

And the fact that Shopkeeper Fang, a Qi Refining mortal, could enter meant that there was indeed something special about him. Either his life-bound artifact was special, or he had some other opportunity.

As for places with barriers or restrictions, the life-bound artifact’s scouting could not penetrate them. In other words, he had no way of knowing whether there were any additional dangers inside that place. What he wanted was only seeds anyway, so why go to great lengths to figure out the root of the matter? Who eats eggs and specifically goes to visit the hen?

“Besides, in order to save a few spirit stones, I exposed Shopkeeper Fang’s secret. That secret concerns the life and death of him and his whole family. He will never allow a cultivator who poses a threat to him to hold that handle. In the future, he’ll probably trip me up in all kinds of ways and cause trouble for me.”

As the saying went, little devils were hard to deal with. Chi Yixuan would not underestimate anyone with low cultivation. “Rather than that, I might as well send him an opportunity. It’s only one spiritual herb, not a ready-made Foundation Establishment Pill. The value of this gift isn’t so high that it will make him suspicious, and it can also make him grateful and take me seriously. As long as he isn’t stupid, he’ll know that having a good relationship with me has more advantages than disadvantages. And if he really is stupid, at worst I’ll just have one more Foundation Establishment opponent in this world.”

In any case, he was still carrying the Tyrant Blade Sect’s debt and had yet to collect on it. There were so many Foundation Establishment cultivators in the world. One more was not even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth.

Moreover, Chi Yixuan had also thought of another layer. People like Shopkeeper Fang and Shopkeeper Hu specialized in guarding shops and doing business for immortal gates. They had broad networks and many resources in their hands. If his Zhaoge wanted to open business channels with cultivators, it would inevitably need people like them to smooth things over up and down the chain in the future.

He did not even need them to put much effort into advertising. In the future, whatever the immortal gates above them wanted to purchase, as long as they handed the order to Zhaoge, it would be enough for Zhaoge to earn endlessly.

…

Not long after, Boatmaster Fan came to Beisheng Continent by transferring through kun boats and met with Shopkeeper Fang. The two were old acquaintances. After the two people, who had not seen each other for a long time, exchanged greetings for a while, Boatmaster Fan noticed that Shopkeeper Fang’s face was glowing with health and asked him what good thing he had encountered.

Shopkeeper Fang said reservedly, “There was a good thing. Mainly, I met a cultivator of noble character and unstained conduct.”

At the mention of this, Boatmaster Fan had something to say. “Then the one you met definitely wasn’t as good as the one I met.”

Shopkeeper Fang’s brows twitched. He was faintly unhappy. “Don’t brag blindly. The one you met definitely wasn’t as good as the one I met.”

Boatmaster Fan grew even more unhappy. “I saw it with my own eyes.”

Shopkeeper Fang said, “I saw it with my own eyes too!”

In the end, the two old friends reunited after a long separation had a huge fight over whose cultivator was better and parted on bad terms.

Shopkeeper Fang was extremely angry. After returning home, he capsized another little boat.

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