In the evening, at the entrance of Chen Qing's cave dwelling, a nonstop stream of children came to invite him.
In just two hours, he had already received almost a month's worth of work, and the price had changed too, from one piece of low-grade Spirit Stone per acre to four pieces for three acres.
Previously, he earned one hundred eighty Spirit Stones a month, now it had become two hundred forty Spirit Stones a month.
Having planned his schedule, Chen Qing began his work, and during this time, he didn't plan to go to the market at the foot of the mountain to buy anything.
Though the wages increased, so did the prices of goods.
A month slowly passed, and the wave of price increases finally subsided.
Lotus Cave had already issued a statement saying that those two Evil Cultivators who attacked Wuyou Mountain were actually their expelled disciples and had nothing to do with them.
"Such a pity, it only lasted a month. If it had lasted longer, that would've been great."
"But it's okay, my Grass Spirit Gu is about to advance to the Ninth Transformation. Who knows, maybe after advancing to the Ninth Transformation, I can still earn eight pieces of low-grade Spirit Stone a day."
With forty pieces of low-grade Spirit Stone in hand, Chen Qing prepared to buy some Wood Drying to give it a try.
After inquiring at Wanbao Pavilion, he discovered that Wood Drying cost ten pieces of low-grade Spirit Stone per qian, which was indeed quite expensive.
After wandering out from Wanbao Pavilion, Chen Qing intended to check the market to see if there were any cultivators selling new goods outside.
After making a round, he finally spotted a small piece of Wood Drying at a cultivator's stall.
"How much for this Wood Drying?"
"Nine pieces of low-grade Spirit Stone per qian."
It was indeed a bit cheaper than at Wanbao Pavilion, "Cheaper, and I'll buy more."
"If you buy it all, I'll give it to you for eight pieces of low-grade Spirit Stone per qian."
Chen Qing thought about it, uncertain of how much he needed at the moment. In case he bought too much, he was too lazy to come out and sell it.
"Four qian for thirty-five pieces of low-grade Spirit Stone, will you sell?"
The cultivator, clearly in a hurry, agreed, "Alright then."
Back home, Chen Qing took out one qian of Wood Drying to feed his Grass Spirit Gu. After consuming one qian, it still didn't seem enough, so Chen Qing took out another qian to feed it.
The following evening, Chen Qing checked again, and the Growth Progress had increased from zero to 8.
One qian of Wood Drying could increase the Growth Progress by 4 points.
"It seems I still need two liang and one qian of Wood Drying."
With enough money now, he brought it all to wander through the market.
After searching around, he couldn't find the cultivator selling Wood Drying from the previous day, and Chen Qing had no choice but to reluctantly buy one liang from Wanbao Pavilion.
Recently, he needed to come back here frequently; Wanbao Pavilion's greedy merchants were indeed selling things too expensively.
On his way back, as he passed by Li He's house, Li He called out to Chen Qing, "Mr. Chen, come have a feast!"
Chen Qing cupped his hands and laughed, "What's this, has your Alcohol Gu advanced?"
Li He laughed awkwardly, "Though I spent three years of my savings and bought more than twenty types of materials, it finally succeeded."
Chen Qing congratulated him, "Congratulations, Fellow Daoist, on your Alcohol Gu reaching the Seventh Transformation!"
Entering the courtyard, there were some neighbors from around, plus a few Wuyou Mountain combat disciples familiar with Li He.
It was evident that when others looked at Li He, their eyes carried envy.
Gu advancing was comparable to the joy of a grand celebration or a promotion.
As for Chen Qing, he wasn't qualified to enjoy such a feeling.
After all, it took him three years to raise his Gu from the Sixth to the Seventh Transformation, and last month, he advanced his Gu from the Seventh to the Eighth Transformation, and this month, it was going to the Ninth.
In his joy, Li He specifically brought out a bottle of Ginseng Ganoderma Wine worth twenty-five Spirit Stones to share with everyone.
This showed that, after his Gu reached the Seventh Transformation, he was already able to brew Ginseng Ganoderma Wine.
After drinking three small cups of Ginseng Ganoderma Wine, Chen Qing felt some looseness in his cultivation, so he bid farewell and returned to his cave dwelling for cultivation.
Having fully refined the three small cups of Ginseng Ganoderma Wine, Chen Qing emerged from his cultivation state.
"My cultivation improved a bit."
After drinking this Ginseng Ganoderma Wine, his cultivation speed was more than three times faster than usual.
It truly was a good thing, just unaffordable.
No rush; the Grass Treasure would soon be at the Ninth Transformation, and by then, the speed of earning money would be even faster.
Anyway, after the Ninth Transformation, the promotion materials were known; just save up and it would be enough for promotion.
By then, he could save money to buy an Alcohol Gu and brew his own wine daily.
He was only 21 years old this year, full of vigor and in the prime of life, what was there to hurry about?
With the lack of the daily profit of eight Spirit Stones, Chen Qing prepared to return to the Spirit Plant Elder's place to work a few days.
These days, after his daily work, he went wandering around the market because, with the recent potential for war, many returning disciples from Wuyou Mountain's War Affairs Hall had come back.
He wasn't worried about any trouble, and after wandering for three days, he finally encountered the cultivator selling Wood Drying once again.
This cultivator now appeared even more despondent, evidently having suffered some setback.
Chen Qing ignored such details and directly asked, "Ninety Spirit Stones for one liang and one qian of Wood Drying, will you sell?"
The despondent cultivator hesitated for a long time but eventually nodded, "Alright, I'll sell it to you."
Having just sold to Chen Qing, the cultivator immediately packed up and headed towards Wanbao Pavilion, muttering to himself, "Buy eighty Spirit Stones more, the last eighty Spirit Stones!"
Well, looks like another one fell into it.
But Chen Qing had no interest in understanding more, his entire focus was on his Grass Treasure now.
By his calculations, in six days, the Grass Treasure would reach the Ninth Transformation, and he wondered what special changes would occur after the Ninth Transformation.
"I heard those senior brothers said that Gu at the Ninth Transformation would have a significant improvement."
"Hopefully, it enhances the range."
After six consecutive days of feeding, the Grass Spirit Gu finally hardened again, turning into a small jade-like bug.
After waiting for almost two hours, the shell broke open, releasing a Grass Spirit Gu that had grown larger by a circle.
Chen Qing focused on observing the new Grass Spirit Gu, and the information had changed:
[Mortal Grass Spirit Gu]
Quality: Ninth Transformation
Life Span: 42/86
Effect: Manage Gu Spirit Grass within the range of eight acres, enhance growth speed, and quality
Growth Requirements: None
Growth Progress: 100/100 (Ready for Promotion)
Promotion Requirements: Ninth Transformation, ten drops of Earth Mother Spirit Liquid, one Soul Stealing Flower
The range increased from six acres to eight acres!
Great, great, that's wonderful!
Now able to earn eight pieces of low-grade Spirit Stone a day, wealth was finally starting to accumulate.
But as for promotion, that wasn't going to happen presently.
Never mind that the Soul Stealing Flower costs around eight hundred low-grade Spirit Stones, just the Earth Mother Spirit Liquid alone required nearly a hundred low-grade Spirit Stones per drop.
Chen Qing estimated that it would take about one to two thousand Spirit Stones to handle it all.
For now, it was best not to think about advancement, just slowly save up money.
Luckily, now he could earn eight low-grade Spirit Stones daily.
Over two months had peacefully passed in this time; the entire sect had remained quiet, with no major disturbances, and everyone lived in harmony.
Returning home, Chen Qing carefully counted the four hundred Spirit Stones he had recently saved, beginning to imagine what scenes would follow the promotion of his Grass Treasure.
While feeding the Grass Treasure, Chen Qing monitored its information with delight in his heart.
Yes, it was still so pleasing to the eye.
Uh, wait a minute!
Why had the required Earth Mother Spirit Liquid changed to nine drops?
What was happening?
Could it be that since he had been raising it well recently, its requirements had decreased?
Alternatively, was there any Earth Mother Spirit Liquid in the soil he managed today, and this little guy devoured it by chance?
Currently, a drop of Earth Mother Spirit Liquid cost eighty Spirit Stones!
It took him nearly half a month to earn that kind of money!
Tomorrow, he'd find an excuse to visit the market again.