Several days passed, and Li Zhirui had finished processing the first batch of ripe Spirit Rice in his space, ultimately obtaining over two thousand four hundred catties of Spirit Rice.
Looking at the storage bag full of Spirit Rice, Li Zhirui prepared to go to the Marketplace alone, but before that, he needed to apply to his family for permission to leave.
This was a rule set by the Li family to protect their members and prevent their yet-to-grow young from falling before their time.
The family rule was that those who were not of age, or who were not in the later stages of Qi Cultivation, were not allowed to leave family territory.
Because they were young and had low cultivation levels, it was difficult for them to escape safely if they encountered any danger.
Even if one met these two conditions, they still needed to apply to the family, report their destination, and be searchable by the family. Only Foundation Establishment Cultivators could come and go as they pleased.
However, generally speaking, if a family member met the conditions and applied, the family would not refuse, so Li Zhirui easily obtained the Token to leave the island.
Li Zhirui walked to the edge of Da Rong Island and threw a paper crane into the sky; as the spell was cast, the paper crane expanded in the breeze, and with a swift move, Li Zhirui leaped onto the paper crane.
This paper crane was one of the cheapest Flying Artifacts that Li Zhirui had bought before. Its flying speed was slow, it lacked protective Spirit Light, and it could only carry one person—in short, it had a pile of shortcomings.
But the only two advantages it had were enough for Li Zhirui, or most Qi Cultivation Cultivators, to choose it: one was that it was cheap and the other was that it didn't consume too much Mana.
You see, Flying Artifacts were the most Mana-consuming devices. Spirit Boats and the like were better because they could be powered by Spirit Stones, but most other Flying Artifacts had to be driven by a Cultivator's Mana.
The paper crane flew slowly, and a journey of over two hundred li took more than an hour.
Fortunately, the journey was smooth sailing; he neither encountered Cultivators intending to rob him nor encountered any Devil Beasts.
After landing safely, Li Zhirui did not rush into the Marketplace. Instead, he found a secluded spot, changed into a new set of clothes, and specifically put on a black gauze hat.
In reality, such mundane items on Li Zhirui's person could not block the probing of Divine Sense. However, under normal circumstances, no Cultivator would perform such an offensive act.
Li Zhirui's attire did not stand out in the Marketplace, as many others were dressed similarly.
After entering the Marketplace, instead of heading to the street with stalls, Li Zhirui randomly chose a general store.
"May I know what you would like to purchase?" a Qi Cultivation early-stage Cultivator immediately came up to greet him.
Suppressing his voice, Li Zhirui said, "I wish to sell some Spirit Rice. Does your esteemed store take it?" He emphasized the words "some" on purpose.
"Fellow Daoist, please come inside." The most important skill for a shop assistant was to be astute, and this person certainly grasped the implication in Li Zhirui's words.
Once inside a small compartment, the person then asked, "May I know how much Spirit Rice you have? What type of Spirit Rice is it?"
"Mid-grade Level One Green Glow Spirit Rice, a total of five hundred catties."
As Li Zhirui possessed a Water-Wood Spiritual Root, the Spirit Rice he grew naturally had these two attributes. Apart from this batch of ripe Green Glow Spirit Rice, he still had top-grade Level One Cloud Water Spirit Rice and Green Stem Spirit Rice in his space.
"The purchase price for Green Glow Spirit Rice is one Spirit Stone per catty."
Upon hearing this price, Li Zhirui's brow slightly furrowed; the market price for a catty of Green Glow Spirit Rice was two Spirit Stones!
Of course, he understood that the purchase price would certainly be less, but he didn't expect it to be directly half!
Seeing that Li Zhirui didn't speak, the person knew he was dissatisfied with the price and smiled as he explained, "Fellow Daoist, the prices at Linlang Pavilion are very fair. No other store will offer a price higher than ours by a single Spirit Stone."
"Enough, I'll sell them to you," Li Zhirui didn't insist. Whether his words were true or false would be known soon enough.
After obtaining five hundred Spirit Stones, Li Zhirui left Linlang Pavilion and wandered around the Marketplace. He entered another store, which specialized in selling Spirit Rice; their price was nine Spirit Stones for ten catties of Spirit Rice.
Li Zhirui's face darkened; the original purchase price of one Spirit Stone had already dissatisfied him, and now it was even less?! Without saying anything more, he stood up and left immediately.
Later, Li Zhirui visited several more stores. The best offer he got was just one Spirit Stone. Li Zhirui sold five hundred catties each at the two stores that offered the highest prices.
Even so, Li Zhirui still had nearly a thousand catties of Spirit Rice left!
Having no other choice, Li Zhirui had to go to Street of Stalls and rented a temporary stall, where he displayed part of the Green Shoot Spirit Rice, pricing it at fifteen Spirit Stones for ten catties, five Spirit Stones cheaper than in the stores.
Because of the low price, quite a few cultivators were attracted to purchase it, but after several hours, he had only sold around five or six hundred catties. That was it, he couldn't sell much more.
"Sigh," Li Zhirui sighed silently, got up, and started packing up his stall. The sun was beginning to set, and it was time for him to return to Da Rong Island.
Considering today's sales, the subsequent batches of Spirit Rice would probably not sell much. What should he do with the remaining Spirit Rice?
Li Zhirui was so preoccupied with this question that he failed to notice three sneaky cultivators following him!
When Li Zhirui arrived at the seaside, ready to summon his paper crane, the three cultivators who had followed him could no longer restrain themselves and made their move.
A sudden sound of splitting the air alerted Li Zhirui, and without hesitation, he activated the Water Mist Bead. A dense fog quickly spread out, shrouding him completely.
In the span of a breath, three fist-sized fireballs slammed into the water mist, exploding and scattering it. However, fortunately, they did not penetrate the mist or harm Li Zhirui.
Although Li Zhirui had never encountered something like this before, it didn't mean he didn't know how to fight back.
"Da Qing, you take aim at those three people and use the Water Arrow Skill," as a vassal family of the Beast Taming Sect, the Li family members never fought alone when engaged in battle.
Da Qing nodded absentmindedly, and with a wide open mouth, instantly formed a Water Arrow and launched it.
Seeing Da Qing cooperating so well, Li Zhirui felt slightly steadier amidst the panic, quickly injecting a mana into the Water Mist Bead to strengthen his defenses.
Then, he took out a Spirit-Replenishing Pill from his storage bag and held it in his mouth to slowly replenish his own mana, preventing a shortage.
Li Zhirui scattered a handful of seeds towards the three people; with his fingers fluttering, a series of green Spirit Lights flew out from his palms, and soon thick vines shot up into the sky, clawing at the three people with ferocity.
These vines were specially cultivated by Li Zhirui; some were covered in reverse thorns, some carried toxins, others were exceptionally tough. All in all, while they were not Spiritual Objects, they were not so easily dealt with.
Facing the airtight assault of the vines, the three people were thrown into disarray and occasionally lashed by the vines.
As time went on, the poison from the poisonous vines, due to their intense movements, had already seeped into every corner of their bodies!
It wasn't that they hadn't noticed the poisoning; rather, Li Zhirui simply did not give them a chance to retaliate or to detoxify. After all, the Green Wood Sword floating nearby wasn't there just to intimidate them!