Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Deal

At dawn, Moon-Viewing Lake lay hushed and radiant, like a secluded paradise cut off from the mortal world. A veil of pale mist drifted over its surface, dreamlike and unreal.

Warm morning light spilled across the island, as though a translucent curtain had been lightly drawn beneath the heavens.

Qin Ming woke naturally to the sound of birdsong, stepped out of his cave residence, and drew in a deep breath of the lake’s crisp, newly washed air.

Ever since his spiritual body cultivation had advanced, he could clearly sense the condition of every blade of grass and every tree here.

That would be of great help when he began cultivating spiritual crops in the future.

And with his cultivation having broken through, he was in excellent spirits.

So he took the nest of Four-Wing Frost Bees out of his beast pouch and hung it upon the Longevity Vine.

In an instant, countless spirit bees poured from the hive and swarmed toward the dozens of gray skull-like blossoms, beginning their tireless work of gathering nectar and pollinating the flowers.

As the hive worked longer and longer, the purple spiritual markings upon the bees flickered on and off, as though they had gained considerable benefit from the endeavor.

Once the hive had been set out, Qin Ming simply let it develop on its own.

“Mmm...”

“An island this large ought to have a spiritual beast to guard the home.”

He rested his chin in his hand and considered it for a moment.

Of course, if it was to serve as a guardian beast, it could not be some adorable little pet.

It would have to be formidable, the sort of creature that radiated dominance just by standing there.

Still, obtaining a spiritual beast depended on chance and opportunity.

After that, Qin Ming tended to the medicinal fields, ate lunch, and then mounted his spiritual light shuttle and flew toward Azure Glow Island, the Mo clan’s territory.

Two hours later, Qin Ming arrived at the mountain gate beneath the main peak.

The guards here had seen him before, and once they learned his identity, they dared not delay him. They immediately went inside to announce his arrival.

A short while later, Elder Mo, with his silver hair, emerged. After sizing Qin Ming up and down, he said in astonishment, “Congratulations, Daoist Qin, on your great advancement in cultivation. Who would have thought that in just a few short days since we last met, you would already have broken through to the ninth level of Qi Refining!”

“Please, come inside.”

Although Elder Mo wore a genial expression, inwardly he was shaken. Clearly, the family head’s choice had been the right one.

“I’ve come to discuss something with Fairy Azure Glow. I wonder if she is available?” Qin Ming said directly.

Elder Mo nodded lightly. “The family head is on the island. Please, Daoist Qin, follow me.”

The two of them followed the mountain path of stone steps and arrived at a rather opulent cave residence.

Mo Lingwei, dressed in a long green gauze gown, came out to greet them. At the sight of Qin Ming, her first reaction was also a surge of emotion, though she did not show it. Instead, she smiled faintly and offered her congratulations.

“Congratulations, Daoist Qin, on your further progress along the immortal path!”

“Only a stroke of luck, nothing worth mentioning,” Qin Ming said modestly.

“You are far too humble, Daoist Qin. The matter of you overruling the heroes and taking Moon-Viewing Island for yourself is still being spoken of enthusiastically throughout the surrounding spirit islands.”

“Even Zhao Chanzhen had to bow his head and admit defeat.”

When Mo Lingwei first heard the news, she too had been greatly startled.

All one could say was that her eye for people was remarkable indeed. Who would have guessed that the unassuming Qin Ming possessed such astonishing strength?

Mo Lingwei invited Qin Ming to sit, then poured him tea and asked gently, “What brings Daoist Qin here so suddenly today?”

“It’s like this. I heard that the Mo clan has seeds of Spirit-Dwelling Rice, so I came to see whether I might purchase some.” Qin Ming got straight to the point.

Mo Lingwei paused in surprise. She had not expected him to have come for Spirit-Dwelling Rice.

Her slender white hand toyed lightly with the teacup before she smiled and replied, “Daoist Qin’s information is quite well-informed.”

“Yes, I do still have a small quantity of Spirit-Dwelling Rice seeds. Not many, though.”

“They were left behind by my ancestors.”

“But... I trust Daoist Qin understands just how precious these seeds are?”

“Of course. I wonder what conditions Daoist Mo would require before parting with them?” Qin Ming naturally understood that Spirit-Dwelling Rice seeds were not easy to obtain.

Mo Lingwei thought for a while, as though weighing something.

After a moment, she suddenly smiled brightly. “Does Daoist Qin truly have such confidence that he can cultivate them successfully?”

“You should know that throughout history, only a handful of people have ever managed to grow this spirit rice.”

“If not, it would not have vanished from the world as it has today.”

“Heh, I’ve only recently arrived here, and I’m rather interested in this rice. I simply want to give it a try,” Qin Ming said with a light laugh.

“Whether it can be grown successfully is still unknown.”

Mo Lingwei nodded. “In that case, I can sell the seeds to Daoist Qin, but there is one condition.”

She then stated the terms of the transaction.

Qin Ming’s brows drew together at first, then relaxed again.

After some discussion, the two reached an agreement.

Mo Lingwei produced a spirit contract, and Qin Ming signed his name upon it.

Afterward, she instructed Elder Mo to retrieve a small box of emerald-green rice seeds from the clan’s storehouse.

The seeds were sealed intact inside a jade box, with their spiritual nature perfectly preserved and not the slightest loss.

“So this is Spirit-Dwelling Rice?” Qin Ming asked, accepting the jade box with delight. After comparing it with Gu Qingzhao’s description, he confirmed that it was indeed correct.

Then he put the seeds away, exchanged a few more words with Mo Lingwei, and took his leave from Azure Glow Island.

Inside the Mo clan’s cave residence, Elder Mo, his silver hair falling about his shoulders, hesitated before asking Mo Lingwei in puzzlement, “Family head, why did you really give the seeds to him?”

“That was the last bit we had. We even invited a level-two superior spirit plant master to cultivate them before, and still failed. Much less him.”

“If we had not given them away, they would only have remained here gathering dust.”

“Though it is the final remembrance left to us by our great-grandfather, if there truly comes a day when Spirit-Dwelling Rice reappears in the world of cultivation, I’m sure the old man would be pleased,” Mo Lingwei said calmly.

“Besides, even if Daoist Qin fails, we won’t lose out. He already agreed to my conditions.”

Elder Mo nodded after hearing this and said no more.

After obtaining the seeds, Qin Ming hurried back to his cave residence without delay.

The seeds in his hands were only enough to plant about three mu of land.

But that was sufficient.

As the condition for the sale, Mo Lingwei had asked that if Qin Ming succeeded in cultivation, he would provide the Mo clan with fifty jin of Spirit-Dwelling Rice.

If he failed, then he would pay an equivalent value in spirit stones.

Qin Ming felt that these terms were still acceptable, so he agreed.

After returning to Moon-Viewing Island, Qin Ming did not rush to plant the Spirit-Dwelling Rice.

Instead, he converted the three mu of spiritual fields he had prepared for it into paddy fields.

Then he diverted the island’s spirit spring water into the fields.

Next came the raising of seedlings.

This step was critically important; whether the seeds would survive depended on it.

Qin Ming found a small patch of ground nearby.

First, he burned the stalks of the second-tier spiritual crop, Five-Colored Rice, then mixed the ash with spirit soil and the droppings of a spiritual bird called the White Spirit Heron, blending in other spiritual materials to prepare a batch of spirit fertilizer.

This, too, came from some of the ancestral experience passed down to Mo Lingwei.

Only then did he sow the Spirit-Dwelling Rice seeds.

Once the seedlings had grown, they could be transplanted into the water fields.

After finishing this, he made another trip to Celestial River Market and found the Spirit Plant Guild.

There he learned that advancement beyond second-tier spirit plant master also required entering the Botanical Illusion Realm and passing the corresponding trial.

The process, however, was not nearly as cumbersome as the rules of the Spirit Feather Sect.

At Celestial River Market, once the recorder in charge of spirit plant master examinations registered a cultivator at the start of planting, all that remained was to return for another inspection at harvest time.

This spared one many unnecessary complications.

Moreover, the number of places granted for entering the illusion realm was distributed preferentially according to the difficulty of the spirit crops each spirit plant master cultivated and the final grade achieved.

The wooden formation used to enter the Botanical Illusion Realm was set up within the major immortal cities of the cultivation world.

And the closest one to here was Cloudsea Immortal City.

After all, the Mother Qi of Ten Thousand Woods could accelerate the growth and advancement of Qin Ming’s natal spiritual plant.

Leaving aside everything else, he had a strong desire for this thing.

On this day, Qin Ming was tending the spirit fields when the protective formation rippled, and a transmission talisman flew in.

He opened it and saw that it had been sent by Wu Jiang.

Then he opened the formation and let it in.

“Daoist Qin, I’ve found news of the method for refining a spiritual flame that you asked me to look for, as well as the whereabouts of the two medicinal herbs.”