Chapter Ten: The Rogue Cultivators’ Market

“My spirit grain…”
Old Xu, who had been watching Zhou Changwang exterminate insects from the side, cried out in distress when he saw what had happened. He hurriedly rushed down into the field and carefully propped up the bent spirit grain.
“You can’t blame me for this. The stubbornness of the spirit locust is well known. Only by mastering the Ice Finger from the ice arts—freezing it with the power of cold—can you stop its forelegs from flailing and destroying the spirit grains.”
Zhou Changwang placed the corpse of the spirit locust into a cloth bag, speaking with a touch of helplessness.
The Ice Finger was, after all, considered one of the spiritual plant techniques. It allowed one to freeze spirit insects with ice energy, preventing further harm to the crops.
But this spell was costly, priced at fifteen lower-grade spirit stones by the Spiritual Plant Hall. He couldn’t afford it, nor did he have the stones to exchange for it.
“I’m not an unreasonable old man,” Old Xu said, still pained but fair. He knew the nature of spirit locusts and understood Zhou Changwang was not at fault.
Then, he gazed at the damaged plant and swiftly cast a spell.
Moments later, delicate spiritual light emanated from him, flowing into the spirit grain.
It was the Rejuvenation Art—a healing spell that could be used not only on spiritual plants but also to aid the recovery of injured people.
At this moment, Old Xu intended to use it to treat the spirit grain. Whether it would be effective depended on the vitality and resilience of the plant.
Zhou Changwang then resumed his inspection and continued exterminating pests.
Fortunately, the rest of the task went smoothly, and he found no more spirit locusts.
By the time he had finished inspecting all three acres of spiritual fields, his cloth bag contained seven more spirit insects.
“Seven spirit insects, plus the nine I had before—that’s sixteen. I’ve heard some in the marketplace are willing to buy spirit insects at fifteen for one lower-grade spirit stone, and sometimes traveling traders come to the fields to purchase them directly. If I sell them, I can get another spirit stone.
That means I earned two full lower-grade spirit stones today.”

Zhou Changwang did some quick math, feeling a surge of joy.
Of course, this was not the norm; usually, he earned only one lower-grade spirit stone from Old Xu every three days. But this spirit insect harvest was a tangible gain.
By the time he returned home, dusk had just fallen.
He quickly washed the rice and started cooking, preparing six of the spirit insects as side dishes.
After all, he needed the spiritual energy contained in the spirit insect meat to aid his cultivation.
From his recent experience, six spirit insects were enough to restore his depleted spiritual power and even increase his level in the Qi Refining realm by a bit.
With his proficiency in the Five Elements Method, he could also gain a little cultivation each day during his practice.
Though these increments were small, accumulated over time, they would steadily raise his strength.
As for the remaining ten spirit insects, he planned to save them until a traveling merchant came by, then exchange them for spirit stones.
After all, spirit insects were spiritual beings. Their flesh was both delicate and tough, and even after three or five days, they would not spoil, nor would much of their spiritual energy dissipate.
“This lower-grade spirit stone…”
Coming out of meditation, Zhou Changwang couldn’t help but take out the spirit stone again.
It glowed gently, refusing to gather dust even in the mundane world, and even at night, it emitted a soft, luminous glow.
He quickly put it away, already knowing how he would use it—
To buy spiritual rice.
Food is the foundation of existence.
Cultivators, unless they have attained true enlightenment, still need to eat, drink, and tend to bodily needs.
But ordinary rice could only fill the belly; it offered no benefits for cultivation.
Spiritual rice, on the other hand, not only satisfied hunger but also contained spiritual energy that could be easily absorbed and refined, gradually converting into his own spiritual power and increasing his strength.
“This spirit stone is valuable, but as a cultivator, only cultivation and strength can truly secure my place in this world,” Zhou Changwang mused.
So, early the next morning, he set out in haste.

But instead of heading toward the spiritual fields, he made his way to the inner city of the Phoenix Song Market.
Naturally, he didn’t go to the official shops but headed for the loose cultivators’ bazaar in the northwest corner of the inner city.
There, countless cultivators set up stalls to sell various items. The prices were often lower than those in the shops, and one could occasionally stumble upon a bargain, attracting many cultivators to gather there.
“So this is the inner city market— even the air tastes sweeter.
If I could live here, I might live several years longer.”
As Zhou Changwang stepped into the inner city, he took a deep breath, marveling inwardly.
He knew that the Phoenix Song Market was built atop a first-grade spirit vein. The spiritual energy here was far denser than in the outskirts. If ordinary people lived here, they might not live to a hundred, but being free from illness, they could easily live past eighty.
“If I have spirit stones in the future, I must move into the inner city,” Zhou Changwang sighed, but he didn’t linger. He quickly headed northwest.
Soon, a long street appeared before him.
On either side, cultivators were setting up their stalls.
The street bustled with people of all kinds, some walking by, others pausing at stalls to ask prices.
“So many tools for cultivation,” Zhou Changwang thought as he glanced at the items on display.
There were palm-sized talismans covered with intricate patterns, antique books bearing the names of wondrous arts and spells, seemingly ordinary objects that the vendors claimed were powerful magical tools stolen from the tombs of Foundation Establishment cultivators, jade slips said to record advanced techniques, bottles of pills with various effects, and seeds of second- or even third-grade spiritual plants.
Zhou Changwang carefully avoided the more aggressive vendors, well aware that while the bazaar’s goods were cheaper, there were also many swindlers and tricksters.
If you believed every boastful claim, you were sure to suffer a loss.
Fortunately, he had grown up in the market and was alert.
Before long, he found himself in front of a rice stall.
On display were all kinds of grains—not only ordinary rice for commoners, but also various spiritual rices: the spirit grain he was currently growing, crescent-shaped Moon Rice, Blood Red Rice streaked as if dyed with blood, even Spirit Fruit Rice the size of grapes…