Chapter 13 – The Nouveau Riche Young Master

“I’ll take it!” Proclaimed Mei Ling.

“This ghostvine is good enough for me to refine and use for a long time. Can you sell it to me for 8 spirit stones?”

Ren quickly agreed. She had offered the market rate, and he did owe her for all her help. They both went their separate ways looking pleased.

The next day, Ren went to the market with the spirit plants to sell. He had already found a buyer for the three sunseeker plants in Chun Wei. He went to the agreed-upon meeting spot and saw the older man next to his stall. He still had lots of cultivator resources on display.

“Greetings, Senior Brother. I’ve brought you the sunseeker plants I had talked about,” Ren said, opening the box to reveal the plants. Chun Wei took a few minutes to inspect them and accepted them.

“I’ll give you six spirit stones for those two and 7 for the other. It’s slightly richer in qi. You’ve done a decent job in raising them. And remember, if you grow more such plants, you can always come to me.”

That gave Ren an idea. “If you are looking for any specific plant, I could try growing it for you?” The sect had large fields of medicinal herbs that it was always growing, but that sometimes made it harder to find more special plants. Since Ren didn’t have any such needs at the moment, he could try accepting orders from others who did. Especially since he could ask for slightly more for the service.

His unusual success rate made him more confident in not taking losses in the long term. And he could learn more about a variety of different plants with experience. Definitely liking the idea, he decided to ask around later at the Hall of Contribution.

Chun Wei let him know about some others who might be interested in having Ren raise plants for them. They were all in the late stages of the qi gathering realm who didn’t have a strong affinity for herb growing.

Ren thanked him for all his help and then went to sell the final ghostvine. Walking out of the shop, he counted his new wealth. 32 spirit stones! He felt like a young master again. That was one aspect he definitely missed: not having to worry about money. The Zhao family might be a poor cultivation family, but a starving camel was still bigger than a horse.

He wondered if he should send some of his new fortune back home. “Not yet.” He decided in the end. “Whatever I can spare now won’t be worth much to them anyway. It would be better spent improving myself. That way, I can earn more later. Strength determines all.”

He spent the next few days talking to other disciples about any spirit plants they wanted and then researching them. He was trying to raise them together, so he was searching for orders where the plants would complement each other. He finally accepted three custom orders for spirit plants of three different attributes.

With his ability still being untested, no one was willing to pay him to buy the seeds, only offering a reward for a fully grown plant, so most of his new wealth immediately went into buying those three seeds. He additionally bought two seeds of the remaining attributes to complete the cycle. These two wouldn’t be too profitable but, according to his research, would help the three main plants attain balance. Purchasing all the seeds left him with only 6 spirit stones.

He spent two more spirit stones on a batch of Myriad Path Tortoise eggs. He had been looking for some spirit beasts to raise as either guardians or resources when he found an entry on those tortoises. They were spirit beasts with an interesting trait of gaining different qi attributes with age despite coming from the same parents.

The eggs would be laid in large batches in all kinds of environments, and the hatchlings would settle into their attribute over a period of a year. Those with qi attributes favorable to their environments had better chances of surviving. It was an unusual case because the offspring of most spirit beasts rarely strayed from the qi distribution of their parents. The only exceptions were caused by special treasures or external events.

The 18 eggs Ren had bought would hopefully grow into little tortoises of various qi attributes, and he could use them to support the growth of spirit plants. Their waste would be perfect fertilizer for plants. Also, the Myriad Paths Tortoise preferred insects over plants, though they could eat both, so they could keep certain pests at bay. The seller promised they should be hatching soon.

Standing in his courtyard, Ren planned the new layout and began laying out formations to gather qi. His formations class had taught him formations that drew only a specific qi, and he tried his best to ensure they wouldn’t clash. All the studying had been tiring as he struggled to find time between all his responsibilities and cultivation, but if it worked, it would all be worth it.

He needed only 1 success to earn back all he spent on the seeds. If he was right about the Nurturing Rain Sutra, he didn’t have to worry about unreasonable failures. Still, he put in a great amount of effort to ensure his venture was successful. This could become a very fun way to study, gain experience, and earn a lot of spirit stones at the same time.

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As Ren walked over to the 3rd and final class, he felt a little worried. He hadn’t pushed his cultivation very hard to avoid standing out but the unexpected breakthrough might draw attention to him again. He really didn’t want to gain more enmity from Jian Feng.

Stolen novel; please report.

He anxiously waited for class to start, doing his best to ignore looks from around him. Some were wondering who was likely to win the teachers’ prize this time. Those who hadn’t yet broken through were looking even more worried than him. This was their last chance to become cultivators. Faced with the prospect of returning home in shame or struggling for an unknown length of time for the small chance of awakening on their own, the air was crackling with nervous energy. Class started promptly as always.

“Greetings. I can see everyone has worked hard these past months. Talent should be honed with dedication. Step forward, Jian Feng and…” Ren felt a spike of tension at the pause. “Mo Ying.” Ren felt a mix of relief and irritation. Feeling like he had missed out on a possible reward because he hadn’t tried his best annoyed him.