Chapter 29: Chapter 29: The Price of Peach Blossom Wine and the Willow Puzzle
This arrangement of more than thirty pieces of living spirit plants, capable of being pieced together, showcases an incredibly frightening vitality.
He pondered over this in his mind, examining each spirit plant to confirm that every part of the Spirit Vein Willow was present.
However, the problem was, there were over thirty plants, and buying them all at once would cost a substantial number of Spirit Stones.
Moreover, buying everything in one go could easily make him appear to be a foolish spendthrift.
If word got out, it would be troublesome, especially since he was about to leave the Zhou Family, who knew if someone might attempt to rob him?
Therefore...
He glanced at Third Uncle Zhou’s empty gourd and his expression of fondness for alcohol.
Suddenly, he recalled hearing from Zhou Qiumai that Third Uncle Zhou considered wine as essential as life itself but disliked farming, so he didn’t have many Spirit Stones.
Coupled with his earlier miserly behavior...
Li Ye immediately had an idea. It seemed he needed to perform a little act.
With this in mind, he pretended to sigh with frustration and prepared to stand up: "Not a trace of Spiritual Qi, and difficult to ascertain their origins. The price is exorbitant; it seems I am powerless."
As he walked away, he thought that if Third Uncle Zhou remained indifferent, he would have to rely on Zhou Qiumai later to see if he could purchase these, or simply find a cultivator to help him.
"Hey, hey! Don’t go! I can lower the price!" Third Uncle Zhou’s previously calm expression couldn’t hold anymore, and he hurried to stop him.
Even though these items were brought from the Huiya Grotto Heaven, a few Foundation Establishment cultivators casually discarded them.
At that time, he was just in Qi Refining and thought they were treasures, so he ran off with them, only to let them sit untouched for years.
The last time he went to catch a Golden Red Dragon Carp, the old lady had already given him a whack with her cane.
Seeing that the wine was about to run out and his pockets were empty of Spirit Stones. Even if Li Ye was trying to haggle, he had no choice but to accept.
However, just as he mentioned lowering the price, Li Ye decisively walked away.
"Hey, hey!"
He was dumbfounded and didn’t care about the laughter from a few of his brothers nearby, quickly following up.
"My friend! My friend!"
Third Uncle Zhou awkwardly smiled and stopped Li Ye, whose expression darkened: "Senior, are you trying to force a sale now?
Just now you claimed one hundred Spirit Stones with no haggling, and now you lower the price and stop me. Do you think I’m really a fool?"
His expression was displeased, but inside, he sighed in relief.
As expected, Third Uncle Zhou’s fondness for wine outweighed his pride!
"That’s not what I meant!" Third Uncle Zhou rubbed his hands: "I find Taoist friend amiable, and since you previously bought my carp and are a friend of my nephew Qiumai, such fate is rare indeed.
If Taoist friend is willing, take everything for... five hundred... six hundred Spirit Stones!"
He gritted his teeth and quoted a price.
Li Ye’s expression slightly eased, but he still shook his head: "Six hundred Spirit Stones for a pile of useless items is still too much. If these things were truly useful, Senior should have long gone to the Four Seasons Sect to exchange them for Spirit Stones.
Therefore, three hundred Spirit Stones!
Considering Taoist Friend Zhou Qiumai, I can send Senior a bottle of wine in a few days, a bottle of Peach Blossom Wine."
"Peach Blossom Wine!"
"Could it be the Peach Blossom Wine from Huiya Marketplace!"
Third Uncle Zhou’s face lit up with joy: "Of course, that’s great!"
After speaking, he felt sheepish: "Then I’m indeed making a profit, the Peach Blossom Wine of Mountain God’s Jade Reward costs at least two hundred Spirit Stones a bottle, it’s a fine item."
Two hundred Spirit Stones?
Considering in this world, a bottle of wine equal to one liter is equivalent to two pounds, my fifty pounds of wine should sell for five thousand Spirit Stones... this is truly a path to wealth.
Once sold out, I can continue brewing until the spring season ends, which should allow me to brew once more, totaling ten thousand Spirit Stones — naturally, I’ll keep some, not selling everything.
Li Ye remembered this information, took out three hundred Spirit Stones, and handed them over, then said:
"Alas, Senior has given me a bunch of possibly useless spirit plants, I need to go back and test them, the rest of the banquet I won’t attend.
Would you please convey this to Zhou Taoist Friend and me?"
"Sure, sure." Third Uncle Zhou indeed needed to find Zhou Qiumai and buy some wine.
Li Ye stored those spirit plants in his Storage Pouch and left directly, on his way meeting Su Ya, whom he greeted.
The latter knew that some cultivators didn’t particularly enjoy such banquets, so he smiled and nodded.
Later, when Li Ye reached the place he entered earlier, the mortal girl from the Zhou Family was already waiting there.
She smiled at Li Ye: "Is Senior returning now? Please board the carriage, I’ll take Senior back to the marketplace."
"Hmm." Li Ye got onto the carriage, today’s harvest was not insignificant.
A thousand pounds of Spiritual Grain powder, over fifty Wheat Pills, and one Wheat Spirit, Gold Horned Ant, and Spirit Vein Willow all needed careful organization once back.
...
The journey was uneventful.
No incidents of robbery, demons, or monsters, he peacefully entered the marketplace and arrived at the gate of his own courtyard.
"Your driving skills are decent, I’ll put in a good word with Zhou Dao You for you."
"Senior’s great kindness, I’m eternally grateful!"
He casually remarked to the driving girl, who felt immensely thankful.
This task was something she pleaded for; even a few good words would make life easier for her and her family.
"Yes, go ahead."
Upon returning home, Li Ye first checked his Spirit Beast and spirit plants, finding no changes since they’d only been gone a few hours.
Then he released the Wheat Spirit that was in his pocket the whole time.
The little creature, apparently quite stifled, floated straight to where Li Ye’s wheat was planted, finding any stalk to plop down and nap.
Coincidentally, it landed right on the Cold Ice Wheat.
Since it turned out this way, Li Ye directly bonded the Wheat Spirit with the Cold Ice Wheat, spending a hundred Vital Essence, seemingly calculated on a second-tier basis.
Over more than a month, Li Ye had been indulging in much food containing Spiritual Qi, accumulating eight hundred and thirty points of Vital Essence.
This was already his limit; eating more would be unbearable.
Not just due to appetite, but also because so much Spiritual Qi accumulated in his body, it wouldn’t suffice without refinement.
He now truly felt what it was like to overflow with Spiritual Qi.
’Should I use these spiritual materials to have an alchemist refine some spirit pills to replenish vitality?’
Spirit pills should provide more Vital Essence and be easier to digest, otherwise, a lot of Spiritual Qi would be wasted, which is a pity.
"An alchemist, hmm."
Li Ye shook his head and took out a substantial pile of Sharp Gold Ore weighing a hundred pounds.
These ores were encrusted with stony impurities, but according to the Jade Scroll provided by the female cultivator, the Golden Horned Ants adored the process of decomposing and carrying.
So he asked the Beavers to bury these ores in the shallow underground without touching the array area of the marketplace.
Then released the Golden Horned Ant’s nest, letting them roam freely.
After completing all this, he finally had time to handle the mysterious Spirit Vein Willow properly.
"It always feels dirty."
"Sigh, did Third Uncle Zhou not think of washing these items first, or does he think leaving them dirty and shabby makes them seem more like treasures?"
He muttered complaints while quickly cleaning these various-sized pieces, pondering how to assemble them, but it seemed...there really was no way to piece them together.
——In front of him, these truly appeared to be standalone spirit plants; three resembled tree branches, two were densely packed rootstocks, and there were a bunch of scattered branches and leaves.
Honestly, if it weren’t for the panel indicating these were part of the Spirit Vein Willow, anyone would think they were separate spirit plants.
He looked at this heap, trapped in a quandary.