"One starry blue flower, three Ice Arrow Grass, two Rotten Bone Spirit Flowers, one Blue Dragon Ginseng, two Heart-Eating Mushrooms, one Thousand Gold Vine—all first-grade low-level spirit herbs, totaling twenty-six family contribution points."
"Ye Bai, please check if there's any mistake?"
Behind the counter, an elderly man in a gray robe, with a kind and gentle demeanor, always wearing a soft smile on his face, carefully examined the items on the counter. After a quick look, he pushed them aside and looked up at the young man in front of him. His voice was warm and friendly as he spoke.
"No need. This price is very fair. Thank you, Ye shopkeeper!"
The young man in gray, Ye Bai, smiled slightly but did not go over the items again.
"Haha." The old man chuckled, then waved over a worker to move the items away. His gaze then turned back to Ye Bai, with a hint of meaning behind his words. "Ye Bai, you usually return every few days, sometimes three days for small amounts, sometimes five days for larger batches. But this time, you've been gone for half a month, and only now do you come back. This is rare. Don't tell me that what you've brought back this time is just these ordinary items? Don't you have something better? Hurry, take it out and show me. Don't worry, I won't cheat you."
"If I didn't trust you, Ye Lao, I wouldn't come here so often."
Hearing the old man's words, the young man smiled faintly and actually took out a slightly smaller bundle from behind him, placing it on the counter.
The old man's eyes lit up immediately. He could tell from the young man's behavior—hiding the items in a separate package as if to mislead—that these things were definitely not ordinary goods. It was rare for Ye Bai, who was usually cautious and composed, to act so secretly. The things inside the bundle must be valuable.
With a look of eager anticipation, the old man carefully unwrapped the package. The items inside were revealed: a pale blue mysterious plant, a flower that resembled a sunflower but was a fiery red and golden color, a silvery white grass, and a segment of black snake bone with nine nodes.
The old man's excitement grew with each item he examined.
"This is... the Thousand Mirage Blue, a first-grade mid-level herb worth four contribution points. This is the Nine-Tailed Dragon Sunflower, a first-grade mid-level herb worth six contribution points. This... the Snowy Grass, second-grade low-level herb—wow! How did you find this? This is one of the eight main ingredients for the 'Bone Washing Pill,' worth twelve contribution points... And this, the Heart-Piercing Snake Bone! A fantastic material for crafting a first-grade low-level weapon, the 'Snake Bone Whip.' This snake is a second-grade low-level beast. At your current strength, you probably couldn't handle it, right? How did you manage to get this? Impressive, very impressive..."
The old man continued to inspect, his joy and excitement growing. However, when he reached the Heart-Piercing Snake Bone, Ye Bai's face briefly flickered with a flash of unease, which quickly turned into a resolute expression.
"Heart-Piercing Snake Bone, worth twenty-one contribution points. And... this..."
The old man muttered to himself, eyes wide as he reached for the final item in the package—a peculiar piece of iron, crimson with purple streaks, as though there was mercury flowing within. It radiated a chilling aura.
The moment his finger brushed the iron, there was a faint "sizzle," and a wisp of cold mist appeared where his finger had made contact. Startled, the old man immediately withdrew his hand. But after taking a second look, he saw that the tip of his finger was covered with a thin layer of blue frost.
"Cold Light Iron! It really is Cold Light Iron!"
The old man couldn't contain his excitement. His eyes gleamed with a fervor as he stared at the strange iron piece. For a moment, he almost forgot Ye Bai was still standing there.
Fortunately, after a few moments, the old man regained his composure and, with a sudden burst of enthusiasm, grabbed Ye Bai's sleeve. "Ye Bai, where did you find this Cold Light Iron? Do you have more? If you do, I'll buy as much as you have, no matter the price. You won't regret it..."
Ye Bai sighed in helplessness and spread his hands. "I wish I had more, Ye Lao. But I only found this small piece by accident in the Cold Ice River. If I had more, I'd have brought it to you earlier. You know how desperately I need contribution points. But there's really only this little piece, and it was pure luck that I found it. It's a rare treasure, so I can't ask for more."
The old man froze, then sighed, clearly disappointed. However, after a few seconds, he became excited again. "Yes, this is a rare treasure. If it were easy to find, it wouldn't be considered such a precious material. Even just this small piece can be used to forge a mid-grade weapon. Ye Bai, this is a huge stroke of luck for you. You could be rewarded for this. The Cold Light Iron is worth seventy contribution points! That's equivalent to your work for seven or eight months! It's such a good find!"
He continued, "If you take this to Vice Elder Ma, you'll definitely be praised. This is an incredible discovery. Good, good... just this one small piece is worth seventy contribution points. If you find more in the future, bring it to me first. I'll give you the best price and you'll never be shortchanged."
Ye Bai nodded. "Yes, Ye Lao. If I find more Cold Light Iron, I'll definitely bring it to you."
The old man seemed more than satisfied with this answer. He beamed and went back to the counter to rummage through a drawer, pulling out a violet-blue box. He carefully selected some crimson powder from inside and rubbed it onto his hands. Then, with great care, he picked up the Cold Light Iron again. This time, there was no cold mist. Apparently, the powder neutralized the freezing aura.
The old man couldn't help but admire the Cold Light Iron for a long while. Eventually, he reluctantly returned it to the package and, without thinking, picked up the last item—a flower.
"Cloud Mist Flower, second-grade low-level, worth sixteen contribution points."
The old man then quickly calculated the total value of the items. "Thousand Mirage Blue, four contribution points, Nine-Tailed Dragon Sunflower, six contribution points, Snowy Grass, twelve contribution points, Heart-Piercing Snake Bone, twenty-one contribution points, Cold Light Iron, seventy contribution points, Cloud Mist Flower, sixteen contribution points—totaling one hundred twenty-nine contribution points. Add the earlier first-grade low-level spirit herbs worth twenty-six contribution points, Ye Bai, this time your total is one hundred fifty-five contribution points!"
Ye Bai's eyes widened. This amount of contribution points was almost equivalent to a year's worth of hard work for him. Despite knowing the risks he faced in obtaining these treasures, hearing the final amount still made him gasp in awe.
Out of the one hundred fifty-five points, eighty-five were from his own hard work, while seventy points came from luck. The Cold Light Iron alone saved him half a year's effort.
Ye Bai took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement, and said, "Ye Lao, as usual, subtract three points for me and give me three more Illusion Heart Grass."
Every time he returned from a dangerous mission, Ye Bai would always exchange three Illusion Heart Grass, a seemingly useless herb that caused intense hallucinations. No one knew why he kept buying it, and the old man often tried to dissuade him, but Ye Bai always insisted.
The old man sighed. "You really don't know how to spend your contribution points. Why buy these useless things? You could exchange for real treasures like spirit pills or techniques! You could increase your cultivation speed and your chances of survival in future missions. Don't you want something that could actually help you?"
Ignoring Ye Bai's response, the old man began pulling out a variety of items from behind the counter: jars of spirit pills with labels like "Bone Washing Pill," "Soul Nourishing Pill," "Spirit Essence Pill," and "Flowing Heaven Pill." There were also ancient, yellowed technique manuals such as "Green Leaf Art," "Strength Formula," "Essence Formula," and "Body-Sculpting Art." Two low-grade spiritual weapons, a red curved sword and a blue iron hook, also lay on the table.
He began to explain. "Look, this 'Green Leaf Art' is perfect for you. You go on missions and explore secret realms—this will double your speed and improve your chances of survival. The 'Strength Formula' increases your arm strength by one hundred percent for half an hour. It's great for killing powerful beasts. The 'Essence Formula' and 'Energy Formula' help you maintain your stamina... Every one of these is better than that useless Illusion Heart Grass!"
But when he went to pick up the two low-grade weapons, Ye Bai stopped him.
"Thank you, Ye Lao, but no," Ye Bai said with a bitter smile. "You know that I've been saving these points for the upcoming exchange event. It's my only chance to obtain a family secret technique for cultivating Qi. I can't waste these points now."
Looking at the items on the table, Ye Bai was undeniably tempted. The spirit pills and techniques were all helpful, and the low-grade spiritual weapons would make his job much easier. But... He had a bigger goal in mind—he couldn't be distracted now.