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Having taken on a three-day side job recommended by Ye Botong, Chen Qing headed to the marketplace at the foot of the mountain to buy four Spirit Sheds.
Passing by Li He's house, he saw the guy sitting dejectedly on his doorstep.
It was said that this guy had saved Spirit Stones for two months and excitedly bought materials worth more than two hundred Spirit Stones to cultivate his Gu insects.
A few days ago, he had been all smiles, but today, looking like this, it was likely that those two hundred Spirit Stones went down the drain.
Cultivating Gu insects was pretty much a gamble.
Since each Gu insect was unique, their Growth Requirements varied, and each stage was different.
Gu had nine transformations, each different.
Although it was a gamble, there was still a certain method to follow.
They would feed them different Spiritual Objects, Spiritual Medicines, or demon beast materials every month.
Based on whether the Gu insects shed and advanced after feeding each month, they would determine what materials their Gu insects needed to grow.
Once a Gu insect shed, they would switch to different materials to cultivate until they found the materials that could make the Gu insect transform again.
Li He sat on his doorstep, his eyes hollow as he looked at the Gu insect in his hand. Seeing Chen Qing pass by, his eyes suddenly lit up, "Mr. Chen, do you think it's possible that I didn't buy enough Green Spirit Grass to support its promotion?"
Li He didn't mind Chen Qing seeing his Gu insect.
In fact, production-type cultivators generally did not hide their Gu insects because if others didn't know what your Gu was, how could you earn Spirit Stones?
Chen Qing looked at the Gu insect in Li He's hand,
[Mortal Alcohol Gu]
Quality, Sixth Transformation
Life Span, 24/58
Effect, Extracts ginseng essence, condensing into Ginseng Wine.
Growth Requirements, Mica
Growth Progress, 1/100
Promotion Requirements, Ninth Transformation, a thread of Earth Mother Spirit, one Iron Wood Core
Chen Qing casually said, "What if it's not enough?"
Li He pondered for a long while, "I'll buy another fifty lower-grade Spirit Stones worth of Green Spirit Grass, just fifty lower-grade Spirit Stones."
"As long as it promotes to the Seventh Transformation, it might be able to brew Ginseng Ganoderma Wine. A bottle of Ginseng Ganoderma Wine is worth at least twenty-five lower-grade Spirit Stones, more than double the price of Ginseng Wine."
"Just another fifty lower-grade Spirit Stones worth..."
Seeing that Li He couldn't listen at this time, Chen Qing was no longer interested in persuading him.
Fortunately, he was able to see those special pieces of information; otherwise, he'd probably be worse off than Li He.
Chen Qing's current thought was simple, slowly save money, and promote his Grass Spirit Gu to the Eighth Transformation.
He didn't cause any trouble, and as a production-type, no one bothered him much.
In this harsh world, Wuyou Mountain was one of the few peaceful places.
After taking a few more days of side jobs, Chen Qing finally managed to gather enough money for the Grass Spirit Gu's materials.
In the blink of an eye, a year passed, and it was the festival again. Chen Qing sat alone in his stone cave, taking out that bottle of Ginseng Wine worth ten Spirit Stones, hesitated for a long time but still didn't open it.
He heard that Elder Chen's descendants had gone out and wouldn't be back for this year's festival. He planned to visit him tomorrow to pay his respects.
After a sumptuous dinner, Chen Qing picked up the last piece of Earth Spirit Crystal to start feeding his Grass Spirit Gu.
After less than an hour of feeding, the Grass Spirit Gu began to change; the plump Grass Spirit Gu lay still on the table.
As if petrified, the Grass Spirit Gu seemed to solidify in an instant.
Chen Qing reached out to touch it again; it felt hard, like a piece of jade.
Was it going to transform?
The information on the Grass Spirit Gu also changed to "transforming," and seeing these words, Chen Qing felt slightly relieved.
"I wonder how long this transformation will take."
"Luckily, it's the festival days, and there's nothing much to do."
Chen Qing stayed beside it, and after two hours, the Grass Spirit Gu trembled slightly.
Shortly afterward, the outer skin of the Grass Spirit Gu cracked, and out came a slightly larger Grass Spirit Gu than before.
"Transformation successful!"
It had grown from the size of a soybean to a very large soybean.
Chen Qing collected the spirit shed of the Grass Spirit Gu, an item that could be sold.
The information on the Grass Spirit Gu had also changed.
[Mortal Grass Spirit Gu]
Quality, Eighth Transformation
Life Span, 42/78
Effect, Manages Gu Spirit Grass within a six-acre range and improves growth speed and quality
Growth Requirements, Wood Drying
Growth Progress, 0/100
Promotion Requirements, Ninth Transformation, ten drops of Earth Mother Spirit Liquid, one Soul Stealing Flower
Eighth Transformation!
Life Span increased by 13 years, and the range increased by an acre, meaning it could earn six Spirit Stones a day!
That was a full one lower-grade Spirit Stone increase!
"This is my stake in life!"
"In a month now, I can earn nearly two hundred Spirit Stones!"
"In a year, it's more than two thousand Spirit Stones!"
"Save up a little, and things like Iron Skin Gu, sword Gu, Power Gu, Wind Gu, wouldn't they be within my grasp?"
He could cultivate Gu insects dozens of times more conveniently than others, "When I have money, I'll collect one of every Gu!"
"Let you all know what a hexagonal warrior really is!"
When visiting Elder Chen again, this time, Elder Chen said nothing; everyone just exchanged some auspicious words.
He accepted his wine, kept him for a meal, and when leaving, he stuffed a red envelope containing twenty lower-grade Spirit Stones.
During the festival, without any invitations, he simply went to the sect to take on Spiritual Field management tasks.
This day, after finishing the Spiritual Field management, he encountered the inspecting Spirit Plant Elder on his way, "Chen Qing, you've been managing six acres of Spiritual Field every day recently?"
Chen Qing replied, "I wasn't too familiar with the use of the Grass Spirit Gu before, but now that I'm familiar, I can manage six acres."
The Spirit Plant Elder nodded in satisfaction; he was quite fond of disciples with Spirit Plant-type Gu insects, "Very good, your Gu insect's initial appearance is excellent, although its Life Span surely cannot match those with poor initial appearances, you should save some Spirit Stones for transformations."
Chen Qing cupped his hands, "Thank you for the advice, Elder."
After Chen Qing left, the Spirit Plant Elder murmured to himself, "Just contracted an eighth to ninth transformation Grass Spirit Gu; just not sure how its Life Span will be. If it's longer, it might be worth considering."
On the night of January fifteenth, just as Chen Qing was about to sleep, he heard someone knocking outside.
Chen Qing opened the door to find a team of Wuyou Mountain disciples, led by a young man dressed in sword clothes, carrying a sword in his arms. His aura was restrained, clearly indicating his cultivation was not low.
"Are you Chen Qing?"
Chen Qing nodded, still unsure of what was happening.
The young cultivator said, "There are two Evil Cultivators from the foot of the mountain, probably here to assassinate production cultivators like us from Wuyou Mountain. You need to come with me up the mountain for a while."
Upon hearing this, Chen Qing hurriedly grabbed some essentials and followed at the back of the group.
Li He pulled him over, and the two pretended to hold swords. As they left, Li He drew his sword, its rust even thicker than Chen Qing's.
Chen Qing also showed his rusted sword to Li He, and the two exchanged a smile, quickly catching up with the senior brother ahead.
Arriving halfway up the mountain, they were settled in a cave in the rear mountain. The young cultivator sat at the entrance, leaning on his sword, vigilantly watching everything outside.
About a dozen production cultivators sat inside the cave, not very worried, chatting and laughing about their Gu insect cultivation.
Chen Qing sat beside Li He, "What's going on?"
Li He said, "No big deal, it's not like we have to go up and fight. We just have to wait for those two Evil Cultivators to be dealt with."
"Although we live at the foot of the mountain, beyond the mountain live all the Sword Cultivators."
"Two Evil Cultivators aren't enough for them to kill."
Production cultivators were the foundation of a sect's rise and stability; whenever turmoil arose, the sect protected them first.
Wuyou Mountain was particularly good at this.
Others didn't care much either, "Just two Evil Cultivators daring to act rampant at Wuyou Mountain, they must be sick of living."
After staying in the cave for only three hours, someone came to report, "Brother Gongsun Xiu has already taken down those two Evil Cultivators!"
Upon hearing the crisis was resolved, someone got up, handed ten lower-grade Spirit Stones to the sword-wielding cultivator at the entrance, and said, "Thank you, brother, for your protection."
Then they left.
Chen Qing followed, pulling out ten lower-grade Spirit Stones from his chest, thanked the senior brother, and took his leave.
Returning to his cave, nothing appeared to have been taken; it seemed no one would come to this broken cave of his.
The next morning, as Chen Qing passed outside the sect, he could see two patches of blood in the distance.
It seemed they met a gruesome end.
A crowd gathered around, discussing, "I heard those two Evil Cultivators last night were likely from Lotus Cave nearby."
"The sect is now urgently buying Gu Spirit Grass for preparation; Gu Spirit Grass prices are going to rise."
"Aren't cultivators with Grass Spirit Gu in high demand then?"
"Of course, after all, Gu Spirit Grass is necessary for the daily needs of Gu insects, it's indispensable."
Upon hearing this news, Chen Qing felt a bit delighted, he was going to get rich!
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